Anyone in the UK heard of Electro Hut?

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YarManYak

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May 30, 2013
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Hi guys, I've been looking for a new i5 for some time and recently came across a new i5 4690k for £160 free delivery, 20 to 30 quid less then anywhere else I could find. However, its a website I have never heard of and although its only 20 to 30 off, maybe its a case of too good to be true, added to the fact that I can't find a single review anywhere on the internet for the site, but maybe its just started up. Has anyone had any experience buying products from The Electro Hut before? https://www.theelectrohut.com/default.aspx Maybe I'm being over the top but I always like to research where I'm buying from after some pretty poor experiences in the past.
Thanks in advance, YMY.
 
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Moonstick2
Never heard of them and can't find anything about them either, not in archive.org, even though they claim to have been around since 2010, a huge retailer and so on.

I came across something similar when I was looking for software - a website that looked cheap-but-sort-of-legitimate, a bit of reading around revealed that the service they used for taking credit card payments had a bit of reputation for 'lax security', i.e. people using it were finding their credit cards cloned.

From TheElectroHut website, their 'London Address' is a Virtual Office address that has been used by others (http://mindtimeshare.me/2011/03/23/beware-of-mason-goodwin-lisco/), and their Ts & Cs include...

"...In the event that TheElectroHut.com request...
I've filled out the Action Fraud Form online http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/
So at least thats a couple of us, just need a few more people to do the same to raise the Redlight their end!
 


please to hear it mate 🙂, just hope for everyone elses' and mine :'-(

 
I too have had a refund today! :wahoo:

(I wouldn't mind betting that the guy's seen this forum and has got the jitters? After all, this is the only place where he's being talked about - that I could find anyway.)

Everybody else who is awaiting a refund (or a reply email) - have you had it yet? (Even if you have, he still needs chasing up, because he's illegally taking money from people - i.e. after they've ordered but before any goods have been despatched.)
 


Still no reply to me, or my refund :-(
 
That's good! I had my email confirmation letter from Action Fraud this morning, so that's gone into the system - if others do the same, we may be able to get him closed down. I now have a National Crime Reference Number, and the letter states this:

"Experts, including police fraud specialists, at the NFIB will review the information which you have given us and where possible match it against other information they have, to check the fraud and see if it matches other reports. They assess whether there is enough evidence for the police (or another law enforcement organisation such as Trading Standards) to investigate your fraud."

So the more people who file a report, the more likely it is that the police will take action - please do this if you haven't done so!

(Perhaps hold off with Watchdog for now, to see how many refunds he actually issues? However, refunds or not, don't forget he still has our card information - which it would be wise to stop/change asap!))
 
I've also had a complaint against Electro Hut published on ScamGuard, so if any of you wish to add comments to that, please feel free to do so - here's the link:-

http://www.scamguard.com/categories/online-scam/theelectrohutcom/10641/order-goods-money-taken-refund-is-offered-a-week-later/
 


Stay away from ElectroHut or Not. I would stick to Richer Sounds, not even Amazon. My experience? I was searching for Epson TW5200 projector online. Cheapest Amazon price is £599. Did a PriceRunner search and found Richer sounds at £499. On top of that you get 10% discount by simply signing up. So at the end it was over £150 cheaper than Amazon. Verdict: Stick with Richer Sounds if they are selling what you are looking. P.S. At the end, Electrohut price was about £50 more expensive than Richer Sounds. Also, Richer Sounds are only available in limited towns and cities.
 
I've now received a refund. I wonder if the scam is simply to take in hundreds of thousands, let it sit in a savings account for a month, then issue refunds whilst collecting the interest. With the sort of money going through the site, it could add up to quite a bit. I would hope the bank would question the credibility of the account though.

Hopefully everyone else gets a refund. Did anyone actually get what they ordered?
 
One person in the thread says that they got their TV (eventually) delivered, a whole £50 cheaper than anywhere else. But no invoice or receipt.

If somebody sets up a company, takes a lot of orders and then disappears with the money, that's the kind of crime that the police will take a serious interest in. When there's a few deliveries and the people that don't get their delivery get their money refunded (eventually), the police probably have less interest and it's certainly a lot harder to prove fraud and just starts to look like a civil matter.

More of a warning flag in relation to sites like this is the lack of tax. None of the prices include VAT, and the site's Ts & Cs state
We do not charge any VAT. Any import/customs fees are to be borne by TheElectroHut.com's customers.
Click to expand...
I'm not a tax expert, but my understanding is that if the product is shipped directly from an overseas supplier to the customer, rather than via the supplier (in this case, The ElectroHut), the customer is then directly liable for the (20%) VAT.

So the headline price looks good because it doesn't include VAT, and those who do get their goods would probably be surprised to learn that they owe the tax man 20% on top of what they just paid.
 


WOW, OMG, Your so smart. Im sure we all wish we were you mate! God, We are just trying to warn others. Get over yourself.
 


I opened a case against company with Online Fraud team and I opened a case with my bank. I then received an email from Electro Hut like others here saying that they apologise and that there is no stock.

I didn't believe them, but logged back into my bank account and I've been refunded! Not sure if they are a dodgy company or not, but I got my money back.

Never buying from any company I do not fully research again. EVER! Lesson learned!

 
Nope.

They're a registered company, there's a director with a name, there's this and that and the other that makes it very easy to arrest people who take money and keep it without ever delivering what was ordered.

On the other hand, a company that takes money, doesn't deliver, drags its heels and eventually returns the money, it's much harder to show what was done that was illegal.

Like I said, their prices don't include VAT which is why they look substantially cheaper. Take that camcorder in that previous Which? link: £1369.52 on The ElectroHut, £1619 on Jessops. Except the difference is the 20% VAT is included at Jessops (and there's £150 cashback, but I digress), whereas buying it from The ElctroHut, the buyer should also be sending the taxman £273.90. So the real price total is £1643.42, i.e. more expensive.

So their prices look cheaper then elsewhere yet aren't. The difference is that the VAT liability is transferred to the customer. The customer doesn't realise this, but the website doesn't ever claim that VAT is included and even specifies that the customer is liable in their Ts & Cs, so that makes it an incorrect assumption by the customer.

So, someone can set up a company, advertise items at seemingly low prices which are in fact more expensive than other companies pre-VAT, take the orders, and then try and source the stock. If they find a supplier that lets them fulfill the order and make a decent profit then they do that and the tax liability is left with the customer, not the company's issue if the tax man ever finds out. If the company can't meet the order, they take as long as possible before eventually refunding the customer, having held on to their money for weeks. In such a case, what have the company done that's actually, provably, illegal?

Those who get their orders have got a bargain in the sense that they've been helped to buy something without paying the VAT. They're now in the position of either (a) being honest and paying the outstanding 20% to HMRC, (b) being dishonest or clueless and not paying their dues, and in either case (c) having a piece of kit that might prove very difficult to get returned/repaired should it fail within the next year or two.
 
Hi I ordered a smart watch from them last week on the 10th before I see all this about the site was very worried about being conned but the watch came today delivered by ups i still cannot get in touch with them and it did take a lot longer to get to me then they said but i got the watch
 
I'm sure you have. You've also got a liability to HMRC of 20% of the price you paid, the watch may or may not be a grey import, and unless it was more than 20% cheaper than a more 'regular' website's price that includes VAT, you've effectively paid more.

SLRHut appear to operate in a similar way.
 
No, you're absolutely right to look into the company. I'm suspicious regarding nevets1, the only person in this thread giving a review saying that this is a working company. nevets1 made their account today, and this is their only post, and not many people would go out of their way, making an account just to say they've received a watch. Like it's possible, but highly unlikely.

I've "bought" a Wii U from them for £223 - not a good sum of money to go to waste when you're a student. As described before, my order is just "processing" and the money's gone out of my account. I tried to phone their office number, but it just rang endlessly for 2 minutes before hanging up. I've been suspicious from the start because it was about £40 cheaper than any other deal out there and for a much better price. Well, I've been taught to research my companies now...

I'm going to ask for a refund and then dispute with my bank on the 31st (15 days) if no money comes through, because I really don't want to go through this horrendous cr** right now!

----- Updated:

I've come to say that ElectroHut are indeed not a take-your-mony-and-run scam.

My Wii U arrived today after 10 days, shipped via UPS from Eollis Lab, France with no invoice whatosever. It's a EUA region Wii U (not UKV) with a non UK electric plug (not ideal without a converter), but it definitely arrived, and hopefully without VAT that I'll need to pay for.

Unfortunately I've bought another one from Amazon because reading this sent me into a panic (and I've cancelled my debit card, and the new one is now stuck somewhere in post - this is a lot of unnecessary faff), so I now have two Wii U's... - but it's good to know that the Amazon one is covered by guarantee.... I'm going to try to sell this one on Ebay (I'll lose a bit, but that's what I get for buying without researching).
 



Hopefully you used a credit card? dispute it with your bank immediately, don't leave it.
 
Just to update people, I received a reply from Which?, who were very grateful to have been told about this company - they had no idea. (They told me that they use a company called Pricerunner to do their sales, so they are also going to inform them.)

Summary of what I've done so far:-

- Reported the transaction to my building society (who are opening an investigation)
- Reported to Action Fraud (now have a crime number from them)
- Got a complaint published in ScamGuard

To all those people breathing sighs of relief because they've got a refund - please remember that this guy still has your card details, so you MUST report this straight away. (I ended up getting a refund from Electro Hut AND my building society :).) Details of all my actions are further up in the thread.

(PS. I don't think you can distrust someone just because they're a newbie? I'm a newbie too - I only joined up here in order to discuss this company - this is the only forum that's flagging it up!)
 

Good point - I never thought of that! 🙁 I'll get onto them now.

 
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