Friday, December 28, 2007

Scam Alert: Style Runway Running Away With Your Money

Many people across the world have been cheated this Christmas by a scam site running under the names Style Runway, Fashion Putz, Fashion Runway and many others. The site offers allegedly authentic designer brands for huge discounts but, as is often the case, it is too good to be true.

Hundreds of Internet consumers have ordered through their site which offers delivery in 5-7 business days, but have either never received their goods or have received cheap imitations weeks after the promised delivery date. When the customers placed their order they invariably were sent a confirmation email without a tracking code and told that it would take 2-3 business days before a tracking code would be available.

For those that did receive their shipment, the products were sent from China without return address information or packing slips. The clothing is cheaply made and falls apart without even being washed. Others waited months without receiving anything. The phone number for the company has been disconnected, emails go unreturned and the live chat is rarely operational.

Several customers who got tired of waiting for their purchases attempted to cancel their order but were told that the item had already shipped or were simply not answered at all. Others were told that the item was out of stock and were charged repeatedly for their purchases. On occasion, customers were informed that their credit card had been declined and were asked to resubmit their card information. Scam comment sites are cropping up all over the Internet and the list of victims is growing. One site found here has over 100 comments from customers that have been taken in by this Israel based company.

If you are considering a purchase from a site that you are unfamiliar with, it is important to do some research. Investigate with the Better Business Bureau or Google the name of the company for rip off alerts. It is always best to stick with sites that are well known and have good reputations. Whenever possible, utilize PayPal to protect your personal information and remove the risk of repeated charges. If you are unfortunate enough to get scammed, do other consumers a favor and report the company immediately.

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