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.

[Keithh77]

Same with me but have not seen anything from PayPal yet.

[PayPal_Meghan]

Hello @Keithh77,

Thanks for visiting the PayPal Community! 

I'm sorry to hear you haven't received any updates from PayPal yet. It sounds like you might have opened a dispute; is that correct? If so, you can reach out to Customer Support through one of these options to request an update if you don't see anything in your PayPal Resolution Center. If you still need to file a dispute, please review these instructions in our Help Center. 

I hope this helps! 

- Meghan

[Mustang16]

 Here's the POS tower garden I received today after +2 months.

 

[Kkg17kk]

This is terrible. Gives a bad taste for online shopping...

[Lmc72]

My exact experience. Was sent a North Country Wind Bell ( an actual company based in Maine USA) that turned out to be a cheap tin 4 inch piece of junk they were advertising (at a great 50% discount) of $29.99. it is so junky that it is not even worth the $5.99 supposed "shipping" fee. They fraudulently use photos from the Maine based company along with actual glowing reviews from the real Maine company claiming them as their own to sell their cheap junky products. It is a scam and a fraud and PayPal should not facilitate this scam.

[dsj2]

Yes i too fell for this, so upsetting when you cannot trust someone, this needs sorting out so nobody else suffers this.

[Revello]

Beware that Actio Pte. Ltd. is the behind the scenes contractor/supplier for following front companies, all of which have the same Singapore address:  Pressl.co, Scrate.co, and Hiify.co

If you see products advertised on those websites, stay away ... far away, as you'll get bit by their the bait & switch sales tactic which leaves you with either the wrong product, a woefully inferior quality product, and no feasible way to get a refund from the company.  Your only hope, if you used PayPal, is to file a claim and ask PayPal to investigate.  I did that, and pointed out that PayPal had been aware for some time that Actio Pte. Ltd. was using the bait & switch tactic, and PayPal provided me a total refund.  I'm now going on a social media rampage to expose the crooks and have filed a complaint against them with the FTC.  Spread the word about these crooks -- check out those three I mentioned and see if their address isn't the same -- it's the same front company.  They're constantly evolving, changing their company identities (if you go to Pressl.co, you'll get diverted to Hiify.co website, with same company address), and even pulling prior product advertisements (my product was the Nightmare before Christmas wall clock ornament, and the web page where one would order it is gone).  Hope these crooks go belly up and into jail.

[Myxl]

Thanks for the update. Go get ‘em. 👍🏻👍🏻
I managed to get about 50% back I think. Still out $50 -$60. Grrr

i get angry when I see those adds on Facebook. And always comment with my story. 
I lost out on the plexiglass periodic table. Just plexiglass with a sticker of pic on one side. 
I ordered two as gifts. 

[Lmc72]

Also Unitiger.com

[adeargumosa]

My case was for a mini drone, that turned out to be a little girls clothing. These groups use the slowest delivery service for their trash and manage to make disappear their website before the arrival of the package. Once the parcel arrives, we the buyers end up outside the time for claiming the money back.