Tuesday 27 May 2008

I haven't been scammed after all

The saga of the undelivered briefcase I ordered on 2 May concluded today. Paypal closed the claim after the merchant provided a refund of my USD$125.50 payment and issued an apology:

"Sorry about the delay in getting to you - I am the company director and have been overseas for the last 2 months. I have just come to realise my main IT person has left without telling me. I have issued a full refund and we apologise."

All's well that ends well - but it leaves me wondering if I'd have got such a good result if I hadn't claimed within the 45-day deadline imposed by Paypal. My previous attempts at direct contact with the merchant had failed to achieve any result. No wonder that the company was deregistered earlier this year - perhaps the company accountant had also left without the managing director noticing for two months ;)

This illustrates that it's not always a good thing that the internet provides a level playing field for small and large businesses - that attractive website might belong to a large, established company, or it just may have been thrown together last week by a talented uni student running his start-up business from the coffee table in his shared rental accommodation.

Now I just have to try to find where else I can buy the DICOTA laptop briefcase at a reasonable price. Just as well I've got a couple more months before I go on vacation.

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