Consumer rage over iPod mini e-tailer sites

The iPod mini is this year's must-have gadget, one that has silicon.com readers slavering. So when a site promised to deliver the slimline iPod ahead of its UK launch, at a not-unreasonable price, a number of readers were willing to flash their credit cards. Unfortunately, while their payments were taken, no iPod minis arrived.

silicon.com has been deluged by complaints from readers about Appleimports.co.uk and Appleimports.com. Many readers wrote to say they had paid for their iPods as far back as March and despite repeatedly contacting the company – via email and phone – they had yet to receive their goods.

One reader wrote: "I paid for mine and I was told that it would arrive on 21 April. They are now saying by email that it won't arrive until 11th May." Another said: "I placed my order, as many others did, early April and paid. Got given various lines about delivery but still nothing!"

Others were given dates promising delivery on 28 or 31 May. To date, none of our readers have received their orders.

Some became fed up with waiting and asked for a refund, only again to receive promises and no sign of the money.

silicon.com's own attempts to contact the company have met a wall of silence. Email and phone enquiries haven't been acknowledged.

And now it appears Appleimports has set up a sister site – iPodimports.com – featuring the same look and feel, as well as the same contact details.

iPodimports, however, bears the Kelkoo logo – claiming the company is listed on the search and comparison shopping site. It's not.

A Kelkoo spokeswoman told silicon.com that neither website is among its listings and that Kelkoo has informed the company that since there is no relationship, it has no right to display its logo. Appleimports was removed from Kelkoo's listing following complaints from readers.

Kelkoo's own investigations into the company reveal the contact email address for the registered holder of the domain name doesn't work and the postcode appears to be false.

Both of the company's sites offer email and phone contacts but no mailing address. That in itself is a breach of distance-selling law, under which all ecommerce firms trade in the UK. Kelkoo won't include a company without one.

For anyone in the UK who has a complaint about an ecommerce site, the first people to talk to are typically local Trading Standards officials.

Trading Standards told silicon.com that when dealing with companies registered in the UK, as well as complaining to local authorities, consumers can ask for their money back through their credit card companies.

Several silicon.com readers have tried the same approach and met with success.

The Trading Standards spokesman said that if the government body receives enough complaints, it will investigate a company such as Appleimports and talk to its ISP but was unable to confirm how many, if any, specific complaints it has received to date.

A spokesman for ISPA (Internet Service Providers Association) said that until it is confirmed whether or not Appleimports and iPodimports has done anything wrong, the site will remain up – ISPs won't remove a site without a 'burden of proof' being established.

Until either Trading Standards, the police or Customs and Excise prove whether or not the site is doing anything wrong, it seems the Appleimports and iPodimports sites will remain live and, no doubt, keep attracting orders from the iPod-hungry masses.

Have you an experience, good or bad, with either Appleimports.com or iPodimports.com? Let us know by posting a Reader Comment below.