I was interested in buying an Apple IPhone 4 online except i was obviously looking for a bargain. After looking searching the internet for a while i considered importing one from China as there were lots of sites promising authentic phones at cheap prices. Eventually i stumbled upon a site which actually looked professional and lacked quite a few of the obvious signs involved with scams.
The site in the search came up under the title 'wholesale 100% original apple iphone, mobile phone, nokia, sony, samsung, htc, ipad, macbook, laptop, pc, hp, dell, nokon camera, canon etc.' however on their webpage it is 'Phone-Ipad.com'. When I first started questioning them about their products, namely their 32gb Iphone 4 for USD $290, their customer service agent, Sophie, was very quick to reply. Eventually I decided to make the order through money gram as they only accepted bank transfer, western union and money gram - no PayPal which was an obvious sign that i ignored.
At first I knew their was a risk that this might be a scam except those fears disappeared after i made the order as they confirmed it and within 24hrs let me know that the package had been shipped and provided me with a real tracking number, EE292302314CN, through EMS. The website promises 4-7 days shipping and EMS did ship within this time except not to me. One day the tracking report on EMS stated that the parcel had been delivered to a Shane Baher in Sydney. Upon calling EMS australia i found out that there hadnt been a mistake in delivery but rather that I'd been given the wrong tracking number.
When I tried to contact Sophie again she initially replied promptly asking for some time to sort out the issue. After several days she still hadnt replied and still hasnt to the additional ones I've sent. Overall I lost roughly $330 AUD including the money gram transfer costs.
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