Here is yet another idiot taken in by these people! I saw this thread and thought I'd join up and add my two-pennorth to the discussion.
Things happened in this order.
1. I ordered a scanner from them on 3-12-14. I very quickly received an email from them as follows:-
"Dear --------,
Thank you for placing your order online with TheElectroHut!
Order ID: --------
Product: --------- Product Name: --------- scanner
Amount: £ ------
Date: 03/12/2014 19:06:30
Your order will begin processing shortly & we'll aim for a smooth and swift delivery..
We'll aim to ship your order within the next 24/48hrs.
Please take note, our delivery time-frame during this peak period is approx 7 working days (this does not incl the weekend period)
We'll endeavour to deliver the order to you faster where possible, but as a general rule of thumb during the Xmas & New Yr period, please follow the above stipulated time period.
We'd appreciate it if emails are only sent to us concerning an order status, once the specified time period of 7 working days have lapsed fully.
Thank you for choosing The Electro Hut & we look forward to seeing you again very soon!
Electro Hut Team"
This just felt wrong to me somehow. It came from noreply@theelectrohut.com (no email address on the site of course - only a contact form). I then went back and looked at my order on the site, and it said PROCESSING ORDER in big orange letters. Hmmm..... I then looked at My Details under My Account - this showed only my 'customer number' and my name and email, and underneath was 'To avoid user abuse we do not allow you to edit the above details once registered'. Alarm bells started ringing at this point, however all I did then was to transfer most of the money of that account, just in case they tried a slam-dunk - but being far too honest, I thought I'd give them the 7-day turnround they'd requested.
2. The next thing that happened, which I didn't realise until today, was that they took the money out of the account on 4-12-14 (the day after!). I was stupid not to check - but there it is, I'm a very busy person! :-/
3. And today I got - yes, you guessed it - the exact same letter above as Napes2 got!! (And I got it twice!) Even if I do get a refund, they've still got my details - so I swung into action, and rang Nationwide, who I bank with. I told them the story and they agreed that it certainly wasn't genuine (apparently no legit company would take your money until your goods were dispatched) - they immediately stopped my current card and arranged for a new one to be sent. They've stopped the transaction (and will refund me the money if it's proved fraudulent), and have also guaranteed that if these people try to take any more money from my account, they'll be alerted and I would be immediately refunded by Nationwide themselves (although they say this is unlikely). They've also launched a high-risk security investigation into the company, and said that I should be getting a letter from them in about ten days about this. I'm guessing that any bank or building society would offer this service? (It seems pretty good to me and was actually more than I was expecting.)
So - lesson learned! :-( To any scoffers, I will just say that I've been online since 1995 and this is the first time I've had a problem (having done hundreds of online transactions). I'm not stupid - just damned busy and stressed at the moment, and I was too distracted by getting the order in quickly for Christmas (which is probably what they were banking on). My money is probably safe, but these people still have my name, address and phone number - so I'm still vulnerable. (I can move my money around, but I can't move house!) Anybody dealing with Electro Hut is in a bad place, some more than others, and we don't need any mocking, thank you very much - it's our mistake and we've got to live with it. But we ARE now forewarned, and the more we can spread the news around about these people, the better. So go forth and spread the word, people - there is certainly not enough info online about this mob, so it's up to us to help others from falling into the same trap.
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