Customer protection from unethical coral vendors??

reefracer · #1 08-19-2009, 10:47 PM

I along with most likely numerous others have been burnt by a certain unscrupulous coral vendor that has failed to ship goods, does not communicate about business deals, lies and cheats us out of hard earned money. Is there any way that we can protect ourselves from people like this?? I have a fairly substantial sum of goods owed me from some DOAS and unshipped goods and I though everything was going to be settled only to be experiencing the same old games again. Games like not responding to e-mails, statements of intent to ship with no shipment or response as to why, and no calls back and constantly full voicemail boxes. I have even heard complaints about this vendor on other forums. If anybody has any information as to what people/channels need to be opened to recoup lost funds from this vendor please share it. Also, some ideas about how we as consumers can protect ourselves from having to deal with things like this in the future would be nice. One just doesn't expect to have service and treatment like that when a vendor has a website and his banner on a country-wide forum. Anyway, information and thoughts are appreciated.

Myka · #2 08-19-2009, 11:25 PM

If the money is substanial then small claims court would be the best bet. Other than that there is not much else you can do. Report to Better Business Bureau? There is really not much you can do to get your money back besides court, but you can help to prevent others from enduring the same treatment as yourself by informing them. Personally, when dealing with a new-to-me vendor I always look very closely at vendor ratings (including an internet search), and I am careful to only spend an amount of money I am comfortable losing. Once I have gained a relationship with a new vendor I will spend more.

PoonTang · #3 08-19-2009, 11:43 PM

A little bit of reasearch on this site alone would have told you that people have been having nothing but troubles with him all along. With so many good vendors here why would you even have taken a chance?

reefracer · #4 08-19-2009, 11:49 PM

I honestly didn't realize he was on here and that there were complaints otherwise i wouldn't have bothered. I ordered again just to make it worthwhile while trying to get stuff that was missed. He seemed pretty nice at first then the BS started to happen. I just think it's sad that there are so many crooked people that you have to cover your a_ _ on a hobby as well.

shrimpchips · #5 08-20-2009, 12:42 AM

As I've advised others who've dealt with this vendor, if you've paid via credit card or CC linked to a paypal account, and you've documented how the vendor did not come through either with product or through neglectful shipping procedures, then start a claim through the CC company - paypal is awfully slow and they'll take a portion anyways.

Other than that, options are that you could file a claim in court, but unless you've invested thousands, it's probably not really worth your time. You could try calling the police as apparently someone has already done on the past on this vendor - no idea how that turned out though.

reefracer · #6 08-20-2009, 02:13 AM

So how many of us across Canada have had issues with this particular vendor??

jsmth321 · #7 08-20-2009, 02:14 AM

If you paid via credit card like others said you can dispute the charges, best course of action for you.

If you paid cash or cash like payment (check, money order, debit) then your at the mercy of the retailer unless you take them to court, but the amount needs to be worth the effort.

Nebthet · #8 08-20-2009, 05:09 AM

I share your experience. I am one of those people who got screwed.

Paypal will not do anything for you except be a front line moderator until you try to escalate. Once you do that, a message will come up stating the following

Quote:

Not as described - Claim - #PP-750-985-761
Disputed Amount:
$124.10 CAD
Status
We're unable to decide this claim in your favor at this time. PayPal's Buyer Complaint Policy applies to the shipment of goods but not to disputes about merchandise quality.

What happens next

We encourage you to work directly with your seller to resolve this matter.

This came from my own Paypal.

I have now contacted the Better Business Bureau to see what they will do.

If that doesn't work, then I will be following through with a lawsuit.
As such, I will be offering for anyone who has issues with Burc that are not resolved to be respresented in that lawsuit if they wish.

I think that would be the only final way for any of us to get any satisfaction from Burc.