Hi everybody,
I'm new here and I joined the forum to tell you about my worst online shopping experience ever, which happened at a Swiss shop (although I live in Germany), so that other people don’t get trapped too.

Here's my story. Last October I decided to buy a notebook which, unfortunately, at that time, was not available in the shops here in Germany. Many shops in Germany had told me that this particular notebook would only be available in two or three months time. Then, after an intensive online shopping survey, I found my chosen notebook in a Swiss online shop called <name removed>. They had a good price, a price that was competitive with German prices even when the conversion from Swiss francs to euros was taken into account. So I decided not to wait any longer and ordered the computer from <name removed>, even though I was afraid because I was buying it from Germany. God, what a mistake!

Although it took a little longer than I expected, <name removed> sent the computer to my address in Germany. As the computer arrived, however, I learned that the German tax I had to pay was way beyond what I initially thought, so I decided there was no point in taking the computer. I thus refused the delivery and the computer was sent back to <name removed>, sealed, in the box, as if the recipient was not available or the address was wrong. Then, my nightmare began. First, they said that I could only cancel my order, according to their AGB, 24 hours after placing it. Excuse me? 24 hours? Ok, it I should have read it, but... How can that be? I mean, if the product gets broken in the post or something, it's your problem, not theirs!

I was furious, but it was my mistake for not reading their AGB, so I apologized and tried to negotiate with Mrs. Y (who later I found out is also a shareholder of <name removed>) without much success. Soon I realized that I need to talk to the firm owner, Mr. X, and so I did. Mr. X seemed to quickly understand that there was no point in paying the absurd German tax, so he promptly agreed to give my money back, provided that I paid the cost of shipping, which I had no reason to disagree.

However, as it turned out, Mr. X was lying. Week after week he had a different excuse: 1) the computer didn't arrived; 2) the computer arrived but we have to pick it up at the post; 3) the computer is here but, for some strange reason, we are being charged the German tax (what??) and we have to sort that out before giving your money back. Just to name a few excuses. This lasted for several weeks, up to a point where there could be no more excuses, so Mr. X finally said that he would be transferring the money back to my bank account.

That last promise was in the week before Christmas. So far, I have not seen the color of my money. To make matters worse, for some reason beyond my imagination, <name removed> have disconnected their telephone and all I hear when I call is a message saying that they are not available on the phone and that I should send them an email. Ha-ha. What a joke! I have sent them loads of emails during the last two months without a single reply. So now, they simply disappeared, although their website (http://www.<name removed>) is still online ready to take your order. (Maybe one of you could try phoning them or pretend you wanted to buy something, just to see what happens.)

All this time, it was pretty hard to talk to Mr. X. He was always on the phone, always busy with other customers, Mrs. Y would say, as if my problem was not important at all, as if I was not busy myself, as if they didn't owe me any money. At some point, I was so fed up that I recorded one call with Mr. X (with his consent, of course) when I told him that I had not received the money, although he had said a week before that he had already made the transfer to my bank account.

So far, this is my story. Mr. X and Mrs. Y disappeared and left me with no money and no computer. Liars! Thieves! They left me without any other option other than to take a legal action. And that's exactly what I'm doing at the moment. The next chapters of this story will be posted here as soon as they unfold...