A few weeks ago, I shared stories of “too good to be true” product advertisements that can be found on social media. Often these ads link to overseas websites that appear to be legitimate, but if you place an order, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll receive the item you order.
Some of my readers have found out the hard way that when these kinds of websites offer an item at a rock-bottom price, your money is taken, but no item shows up — or, a completely different item will arrive in its place:
“Dear Jill,
I was scrolling through a social media site and saw a cheerful-looking bright green prefabricated gardening shed and greenhouse combination. It was only $59 with free shipping and was a 10' x 8' size. Yes, this seemed like a great deal! I ordered it online and paid right away. Almost two months later, I received an envelope from China with garbage in it. Literal garbage, as it included some brown paper and a few screws.
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I filed a chargeback with my credit card company, but the shed website fought it and said they did ship the item to me, and they had the tracking information from the garbage package to 'prove' it. It has made me not trust anything I see in a web ad.
Wendy C."
“Dear Jill,
Many ads on a popular social media site now are a rip-off. They advertise something at a low price. You order it and one day a box will show up with a tracking number. The problem is that is usually a piece of junk watch or some other trinket. When the item you ordered doesn’t show up and you reach out to the company, they prove it was delivered by giving the Tracking number which was used to ship you some piece of junk. Many items offered in these sale ads are also in China, and if they actually ship what you ordered it is weeks before you see it.
I ordered a space shuttle die-cast model and a metal model of Air Force One from a well-known online retailer. What I received was a broken space shuttle toy and a small Air Force One half the size expected. When I confronted the company, the seller offered me a $14 refund and told me to glue the shuttle back together. The stand that held the shuttle upright was broken. Finally, after submitting photos, I got a refund from the retailer. It took months and pictures and many emails to get the results.
In another case, I ordered something posted on Facebook: a clock made of old radio tubes. I already own one like this and paid a couple of hundred dollars.
When I saw another advertised on social media for $36, I thought it was too good to be true, But I ordered one. What I received instead was a package from China with a dime-store-type wristwatch. I threw it in the garbage and learned my lesson: Don’t buy items advertised on social media ads.
Buyer beware! If it looks too good to be true. It is!
Ken H."
It’s not always easy to tell if an online retailer is legitimate, and it’s important to keep in mind thatprofessionally designedd advertisements and websites are not a guarantee of a site’s legitimacy. I too have seen many of these ads on social media, and they primarily seem to appear on the largest and most popular social networks where people post daily updates or photographs. Remember that anyone can post an ad online, and social media networks are not placing orders themselves to determine the legitimacy of the advertisers on their platforms.
If the website you’re ordering on has a strange name or simply a string of unrelated characters as a domain name, this is also a clue that the website may simply be an operation designed to collect credit card and personal information, which scammers can then use to steal your identity.
Email your own couponing victories and questions to jill@ctwfeatures.com.
