I ordered a Sony psp on the 15th November as advertised on MyDV website. I paid 169.95 by credit card and received immediate confirmation and invoice. Having heard nothing more, four days later I telephoned to get a delivery date. Eventually after numerous attempts someone did answer.
The person I spoke to assured me the goods were to be shipped on Tuesday 22nd November and I should receive them by Saturday 26th. I explained that I needed them before the 4th December for a birthday present and again was assured that would not be a problem as they would arrive in plenty of time. I was told that when they were shipped I would receive an email with a tracking number to allow me to track the progress of the delivery.
I hung up reassured that all was ok.
At this point in time I was still under the impression that this company was a UK based web business - they have a.co.uk address, they display all their prices in pounds, they have a Central London telephone number.
I checked every day for emails from them but there were none. Becoming more anxious, I contacted them via their contact forms on the website asking for confirmation of the delivery date. They were not answered so I emailed them - again no answer. I tried to phone every day but never got through as the answering machine was always full.
By now I was becoming very suspicious and annoyed at the huge amount of time I was spending on this. I contacted my credit card company to check if the payment had gone through and that is when I realised I had been ripped off.
The amount taken from my credit card was 186.46! Some 16.51 MORE than on my invoice and MORE than I had authorised. When I questioned the amount, the card company told me it was a dollar transaction from an American Bank.
I immediately sent an email to the company asking for an explanation for this unauthtorised taking of my money and to date have never had a reply, never mind an explanation.
I requested that my credit card company investigate this on my behalf and try to obtain a full refund. I was very angry and upset and now did what I should have done in the first place before I placed the order and carried out a search on MyDV online.
What I found confirmed my worst fears - I was the victim of a calculated scam. Hundreds of other individuals like myself had ordered goods which never arrived, they also had been charged unauthorised amounts and were fighting for refunds which either never came or took ages to be sent.
Meanwhile, I was still trying to get through to My DV every day by email, telephone, contact me forms and their online chat facility to no avail.
Eventually on the 2nd December after waiting online for around an hour I got through on the chat facility. I asked if the goods had now been sent and was given the standard answer of problems in the warehouse, backlog of orders but they were going out early next week and I should get them shortly after.
I told them that was no use as the goods would be too late for my son's birthday and requested that they cancel the order and refund ALL the money taken including the unauthorised amount of 16.51. I was told that they were not allowed to issue refunds on the chat line and I would have to telephone the customer services department on the number given.
I explained how I had been trying to do just that for over a week without success and asked for a reason as to why there was never anyone there and why none of my numerous emails had been answered.
I was told they were very busy and trying to keep up with all the emails that came in was very difficult and they suggested I should try phoning constantly now or in the morning at 9am. Again I told them I had tried phoning at all different times of the day and never got an answer, but whilst online waiting for the replies (which took forever) I tried to phone again and could not get through.
I asked for the registered office address so that I could write a formal letter of complaint about the total lack of customer service being provided and was told that they were not authorised to give that information. Surely for a legitimate law abiding buiness that is neither an unusual request nor one which is likely to be denied. They obviously feel they have something to hide.
This is where the chat line stopped and I never got answers to any of the questions asked. I did try to phone again in the morning as suggested but just got the usual answering machine too full to take any messages.
I emailed and repeated the request for a full refund but have heard nothing further. Needless to say my son did not get his psp for his birthday and was very disappointed and I felt bad at not being able to get one for him as all the retailers in the UK were by then out of stock in the run up to Christmas.
I still have had no news from my credit card company regarding my refund but I am hopeful of getting it as most people (but not all) who paid by credit card did eventually get their money back.
I just hope that by filing this report it prevents someone else from buying anything from MyDV. I have told everyone I know about them and filed complaints with Trading Standards in the UK and with the Attorney Generals Office in Massachusetts, so hopefully something will be done to stop these deceitful business practises from continuing.
June
Glasgow UK
United Kingdom
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