BlueHippo stifles out cries of scam with multi-million dollar settlement
BlueHippo, a vendor of electronic goods, reached a $3.5-5 Million settlement with Federal Trade Commission which pursued the company for allegedly using unfair trade practices. Attention of FTC was directed to the company after complaints poured in from customers claiming they had been conned.
FTC had alleged that they contravened laws of the country by not delivering orders within a promised and reasonable time-frame. The company that also sells goods through its website BlueHippo.com, had also been charged with denying customers the right to cancel and claim a refund on the order.
The company claimed that its offers were aimed at making computers available even to people with poor means. With down payments as low as $99 and weekly/bi-weekly installments starting from $36, the offer was also directed at people with a poor credit rating. But, FTC believed that this was a scam.
Customers, who were sold goods with a promise of delivery after 13 weeks, were left wondering when their products failed to turn up. Meanwhile, the company continued to debit its installment from customers’ accounts.
Under the scheme, customers had to give the company the rights to debit the installment money from their bank accounts. But, it is alleged that, they were not informed upfront that the scheme does not allow them to claim any refund. Even if they did not receive the goods they paid for!
This is what FTC alleges happened: the company targeted a hapless section of society. It did not inform them timely that they had no rights for refund. Then the company failed to keep its delivery promise. The consumers were left without any cover when they did not receive the promised goods. They also were left helpless to stop the payments being made to the company.
Judge an online offer by its Refund Policy
The right to claim a refund is something that is extremely important for online shoppers. All good online shopping websites offer full cash refund within a fixed timeframe if customers are not happy with their products for any reason whatsoever. And this is not hidden in fine print but stated explicitly on their website in a way that shoppers cannot possibly miss.
A cash refund policy is the only way to claim your money back if a product fails to meet your expectations of it. In fact, I think it is an excellent idea to rate online offers by their policies of refund and their terms of guarantee or warranty for a product. It is a direct measure of the confidence that the sellers have on their product!
This is the reason why it was important for FTC to take the issue further with the company.
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- Internet Business Scams that offer the impossible!
- Free mobile downloads scam: FREE may not be free after all!
- Tax Refund Scam: IRS Warns that Season for Scammers has just begun!
I have recently been scammed by Blue Hippo who promises that if you cancel within 7 days you are due a full refund. Now, they are saying that the refund takes 45 days to process and we are left with the option of sticking with the program for shipping, or dealing with the 45 days refund. The custiomer service rep was rude and refused to allow the customer to be transferred to speak to anyone in management. This company has to be stopped! What can we do?
June 25th, 2008 at 3:11 pm