Bought Fake DVD Boxset unknowingly.

[princesskerry]

Hello

I thought I would post here to ask for advice, my husband bought a DVD at the end of the month from an online retailer. It arrived yesterday and I noticed straight away it was clearly a copy.
I have since looked at a earlier series of the boxset and it confirmed my suspiscions as the boxset has a Hologram whereas my fake doesn't and likewise the picture is blurry, the wording does not line up on the individual DVDs.
Well I have sent the company an email advising them I want a full refund, but I have just found on there website that they say they are high quality 100% genuine and therefore they only accept returns at the customers cost.
Now that really grates as OH has paid just short of going rate for a fake DVD and there is no way I am paying the cost of the return.
I have sent them an email, but I am yet to hear back but I'm wondering what any of you would do.
I am wondering if this company is not obliging that I should contact my bank to reverse this payment, OH paid through Paypal with my Visa Debit card.
Likewise I would also like to report this company as no doubt there will be customers who are stung who wont notice, my OH sure wouldn't have.

Thankyou

Kerry

[holliemon]

Why dont you ring up trading standards who would be able to fully advice you

[janedoe]

Ebay are awash with Fake/copied DVD's, is it a well known online retailer? as I know of a few sites that look really professional but they do sell copies from Maylasia etc

[princesskerry]

Thats the problem, I wouldn't have been so surprised if it had been ebay but he didn't buy it through ebay it was a online retailer he found in a search engine. I have never heard of them but they look very genuine and sell a wide range of products.

[BritBrat]

Police, small cliams court or trading standards.

But give the firm the option to make good first.

[muppet11]

have they got a phone nmber or an address on their website?

[angelic]

I would contact Trading Standards and report to FACT - Federation Against Copyright Theft

http://www.fact-uk.org.uk/site/about/index.htm

This site takes piracy (DVD's CD's etc) seriously, you can use it to report any sales of any pirate media from Ebay, private sales or on a car boot sale.
If reporting a seller at a boot sale, they only need a car registration number.

[princesskerry]

have they got a phone nmber or an address on their website?


No they have no details just a contact us page where you can send them a message. Looking at it now it does look very secretive and dodgy, I have contacted Trading Standards though and am waiting for them to get back to me.
I will give them the chance to refund me first including postage.
I always thought it was illegal to sell copied DVD's and CD's and I would think it would slip through the net on ebay but didn't think an actual website could get away with it.

If people would like me to post the name I will as I have had a couple requests by pm.

[far canel]

Recently my local paper reported that someone selling fake dvd's received a jail sentence, thats how seriously they take it.

[deb2108]

sounds similar to the site i used christmas time (thatz dvdz) I had ordered 8 altogether. I ordered a mixture of dvd's and music cd's. took about 2-3 weeks to arrive and when they did they only sent 4 of the 8(all copies of course) I tried emailing to complain but never got a reply and like you said there was no address or telephone number on the website. I just gave up in the finish as i got no reply.

[TaptonKay]

If you paid via Paypal I would advise you to lodge a dispute with them. You may be covered by their payment protection scheme and be able to get a full refund this way.

Hope this helps

[Grace & Favour]

sounds similar to the site i used christmas time (thatz dvdz) I had ordered 8 altogether. I ordered a mixture of dvd's and music cd's. took about 2-3 weeks to arrive and when they did they only sent 4 of the 8(all copies of course) I tried emailing to complain but never got a reply and like you said there was no address or telephone number on the website. I just gave up in the finish as i got no reply.

Deb - - thatzdvdz make it extremely obvious that they sell copies of DVD's . . . but did you report them to Trading Standards?

[BritBrat]

www.thatz-dvdz.com



we have moved to
www.reeves55.co.uk

kevin reeves
6 st Nicholas Gardens
rochester
kent
ME2 3NT
GB

ns1.ekmsystems.net
ns2.ekmsystems.net

Created: 24-Feb-2009
Expires: 24-Feb-2011
Source: whois.nic.uk

Google Map (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=ME2+3NT&sll=54.41893,-4.042969&sspn=27.850061,87.363281&ie=UTF8&ll=51.397773,0.482175&spn=0.007229,0.021329&t=h&z=16&iwloc=addr)

[princesskerry]

I have logged a dispute with Paypal and that was the prompt the seller needed as they responded straight afterwards, they hadn't responded to my emails.
He sounded nice and says he has bought them in good faith and didn't think they were fakes, he sounded so nice it made me doubt it but when I looked at the boxset it looks like a really cheap copy and I know if I was giving it as a gift to someone they would think the same.
He has offered me a 25% refund and keeping the boxset, and now he has said he will refund me in full when I return the Boxset, my gut feeling is though that he wont refund postage and I know it wont be much but it's grating on me a bit that I should pay it.
I'm also thinking an older person for example would never notice the difference so he could be ripping off lots of people.
I also feel the fact he offered me the 25% refund was a sweetner and an admission of guilt, I know I wouldn't offer someone a 25% refund if I was confident my product was genuine.

I dont know how to proceed now to return it and hope he sticks to his word and contact trading standards again or to escalate the claim with paypal when I can as that way I could be guaranteed the extra money for postage.

[pookienoodle]

I have logged a dispute with Paypal and that was the prompt the seller needed as they responded straight afterwards, they hadn't responded to my emails.
He sounded nice and says he has bought them in good faith and didn't think they were fakes, he sounded so nice it made me doubt it but when I looked at the boxset it looks like a really cheap copy and I know if I was giving it as a gift to someone they would think the same.
He has offered me a 25% refund and keeping the boxset, and now he has said he will refund me in full when I return the Boxset, my gut feeling is though that he wont refund postage and I know it wont be much but it's grating on me a bit that I should pay it.
I'm also thinking an older person for example would never notice the difference so he could be ripping off lots of people.
I also feel the fact he offered me the 25% refund was a sweetner and an admission of guilt, I know I wouldn't offer someone a 25% refund if I was confident my product was genuine.

I dont know how to proceed now to return it and hope he sticks to his word and contact trading standards again or to escalate the claim with paypal when I can as that way I could be guaranteed the extra money for postage.

tell him you want 100% refund and you will either destroy it yourself or send it to FACT...his choice.
Make it clear you are prepared to go all the way with this.

[angelic]

Maybe remind the seller as he is operating a business, he has to abide by the Distance Selling Regs -
http://www.oft.gov.uk/advice_and_resources/resource_base/legal/distance-selling-regulations

I didn't wade though it, but the site lists how you as consumer are protected by these regs.

It would seem to me, he must know the DVD's were copies.....regardless of whether he refunds or not, I would report him to FACT as he is committing an offence.

[princesskerry]

Thankyou everyone for your responses.

This is the response I have from my local Trading Standards office

It would seem that your enquiry may come under the scope of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended)

If goods are not as described you may be entitled to a ‘Genuine’ replacement or in certain instances to reject the goods and request a refund refund; this will depend on individual circumstances. You should not incur any costs if the trader is in breach of contract. These rights are only enforceable in court however in our experience most issues are resolved by letter.



We recommend the best way to deal with this is to send a recorded delivery letter under the above Act to the trader. This will put the matter into its legal context and make it more formal (see attachments). The reason we ask consumers to send recorded delivery letters to the trader is because it provides evidence of when you sent letters and how many times you have done so, it also appears to be more formal and official than a phone call or email and as the trader must sign to receive the letters it projects a sense of personal responsibility upon the member of staff who signs for the letter.



As the goods may be counterfeit I have referred the case details to the relevant Trading Standards department for their information, to ensure that they are aware of this trader and their business practices.

So at least he has been reported now and I would have thought they would investigate further.