Bait and switch scam from Actio Pte. Ltd.

[jkberry]

A company going by the names "[Removed]." and "awesome-print.com" among others is perpetuating a scam as follows.  I am a customer of this scam and Paypal has been ineffective in protecting the victim.

• Scammer advertises one product online and ships a different, inferior, and worthless product to customer.  In my case, the advertised product was a periodic table with real elements attached for a total of $65.98 but the shipped product was a small piece of worthless plastic.

• When the customer files the inevitable dispute, the scammer will first offer a small refund.  This was $19.80 in my case, which if accepted would result in a $46.18 loss for the customer and at least $30 in profit for the scammer considering shipping costs and the negligible cost of goods sold.

• When the customer inevitably declines the small refund offer, the scammer will offer a full refund contingent on the return of the worthless product.  The scammer provides a fictitious international address so that receipt of the return will never be acknowledged so the scammer will never have to pay the refund.

• Additionally, an attempt to return the worthless product by the customer would cost so much that they are disincentivised to even bother, resulting in even more profit for the scammer.

Paypal's dispute process is flawed and does not support the scammed customer. Simple validation of the return address would help, but even with a valid return address, the scammer still profits and the customer incurs a loss.

I have a dispute open with Paypal but I have no hope that they will address this.

[patty426]

You almost have to think that PayPal is on this.  Too many of these similar situations, where PayPal either doesn't realize it, acknowledge it, or refuses to reply to us or refund our money.   Hate to say, as i love PayPal, but it is becoming obvious.  

[Kellysfriend]

Agree. In the face of all of the complaints Paypal still does business with them. 

[lyndaeaton]

I have also been conned by this  company. The item purchased is nothing like the item i received. I can have a full refund if i send the worthless piece of rubbish back to Vietnam  to do that will cost more than i paid for it and they never acknowledge receiving it back so therefore do not pay you your refund. And as you would expect paypal have completely washed their hands of the whole matter and are no help at all.

I Paid about $25  and it will cost more for the return postage  I HAVE BEEN RIPPED OFF B Y  BOTH THIS COMPANY AND PAYPAL. NOY HAPPY

[Myxl]

I am a victim too. Two junk periodic tables for 90$ US. That’s about $110 Canadian. 
getting tired of getting ripped off. 

tracking showed shipping from China but return address on package was 

<removed>

[Myxl]

So if I’m offered $20 refund, then I should take it because that’s all I’m gonna get!!???

[terrylaurie2000]

I ordered 2 separate tiered planting stations. It took 2 months for it to arrive and was 2 **bleep** pieces of plastic nothing like what I purchased. Probably a $1 worth of plastic and useless but I paid almost $50. Paul Gaston was my email contact during this and is a total lying scammer. PayPal is impossible to discuss anything about my claim with.

Do not do business with this company!!

[Lmc72]

You know there is no "Paul [removed']" nor an "Allena [removed]" in my case. Fraud outright.

[raycheung]

I have the same issue. Actio Pte. Sent me a counterfeit product wooden Jigsaw Puzzle - Fox. The customer service of Paypal is not helpful at all, sending me stupid answers. The even can't provide me with simple answers. First I get a fake address in Vietnam/Singapore. And after I sent messages to the customer service multiple times that it is suspicious, they asked the seller to provide an address again for sending back the product. Now they provided an address in West Linn in USA, without confirming that the case is suspicious. Nothing at all..

[Lmc72]

I have the exact same issue. Bait and switch with a counterfeit product not worth the $5.99 shipping price. Literally a piece of junk. Actio offers to return 50% OR full refund once you return product to some weird address in Viet Nam, which of course would cost more than refund. Actio Ltd is a SCAM a FRAUD and judging from all the similar complaints on this site, PayPal has been made fully aware. PayPal is not providing consumer protection. Actio Ltd advertise themselves as a different bona fide American company and not until AFTER you have checked out with PayPal do you realize you purchased from Actio plus a company named Unitiger.com located in Singapore?

[Revello]

I talked with a PayPal representative who handles the fraud complaints, provided him all of my conversations with Actio Pte (exactly as described by others), and PayPal refunded me my purchase price and said they would take appropriate action with Actio Pte.