Compliant Filed: wink-mall.blogshop.com

As part of SH’s preparation for a friend’s birthday, she went gift hunting. Seeing that her target item (a pair of Doraemon Kigurumi pyjamas) was nowhere to be found in any mall she went to, she tried online shopping instead. To her luck, she found a site that sold Doraemon pyjamas for quite a reasonable price.

http://wink-mall.blogspot.com/

Before making any transactions, SH was careful enough to make the necessary background checks. Upon seeing that the site, called *Wink-Mall*, had no questionable feedbacks on the web, she contacted Elsa Jin (the person in charge of the site) on a Wednesday, June 16, 2010.

A prompt reply was received from Jin the following day. The pyjamas in question cost 70 US dollars along with the postage because it was in the cartoon series. And although a picture of the item wasn’t available on the site, Shiau ordered them just as well.

Instead of the pre-order form found on the site, Elsa Jin recommended that she orders through email instead, stating that it would be easier. She further explained that she places the orders during Wednesday’s if it already exceeds three orders.

Jin then assured SH that since there were already 4 orders for the same item, it wouldn’t take long for the item to arrive. At the same time, Jin added that if the necessary payment can be arranged by 12pm on the following Tuesday, then a pre-order won’t be needed anymore.

Assured of the seemingly safe transaction, SH sent all the necessary order details to Jin on a Saturday, June 19. The details included the description of the item, the mode of payment and delivery desired and SH’s contact information.

On that same day, Jin replied with her account number for the transaction to be completed. She also stated that a confirmation should be made by SH once the money transfer has been accomplished and that there was a no-refund policy in action.

After the due transfer was made though, the prompt replies and assurances failed to materialize. Up until now, Shiau has yet to hear from Elsa Jin and the pyjamas she ordered have yet to arrive. SH has even resorted to threatening and calling Jin to no avail.

This is one perfect example of one well-meant shopping attempt that has clearly turned into a disaster. If there’s anything we can all learn from it, it’s that we should be very careful about choosing a reliable site and trusting the right people online.