buyer warning.

Some might know a bit more about this then me, however I tracked down "Underground Imports" on the web and from what their site showed they were still active.
I made a purchase, got an e-mail receipt, paid my money and not heard a thing since. Any e-mails I send get bounced.

Mychael

Well you can still get to their osCommerce site which I assume is what you made the purchase through. For some time now their main page has said that they would be closed indefinitely.

http://www.undergroundimports.com.au/

It's stupid enough to leave the actual store still open for purchases and have the main page as saying that they've closed down indefinitely. What they should have done is just allowed the page saying theyre closed, and restricted any of the other pages that the site had so people don't actually use the thing.. If you go through google straight to the site, I can't see anything to indicate that they've closed down.

---dens

That's it exactly how it happened to me. I googled them to see if they were still around and as you said their site still seems to be active.
I even got an automated e-mail receipt to my order.

Mychael

fairtrading should sort it out for you

or try doing a whois on the domain and contact the host?

or if someone has ash's number with the white gutted micra in brissy get him to give you contact details to them, as they helped get pieces for his car

I asked Cisco about it. He said he did not have any contact numbers.
Mike

Here's the whois linkage

http://whois.domaintools.com/undergroundimports.com.au

There isn't a whole lot of useful info there except this really:

Registrant: Travis Stanley
Registrant ID: ABN 26104504359

---dens

Thanks mate. I'll see what I can do from here.

Mike

"will be close indefinitely", hmm, doesn't really sound like the language a "Travis Stanley" would use.

That was on the link we used to have on this site. I then googled the company and found their site as was discussed earlier. It seemed to be active so I carried on with my order.

Mychael

Uhh, do you know him or are you just assuming that from his name?

---dens

Well never heard anymore. No replies to my e-mails and parts have never arrived. Looks like I'll be contacting fair trading.
Not a huge amount of money but it's the principle of the thing.

Mychael

Another perspective.....

From previous experience operating an E-commerce site through a service provider, your e-commerce site may still remain active even after you have cancelled it (or the business has closed down if it has failed to notify the provider). It is the fault of the provider then if it is still operating. The link from the business's website to the E-commerce site may have been terminated but if you've bookmarked it or found it through a search engine then you will still find a supposedly active place to spend your money. The question now is who has taken your money? The E-commerce site provider or the business who previously ran it? This could be tricky as it may be both parties.

Why would you bother leaving it active when you're closed down? If you're actually smart about it, just setup your webserver to disallow people to view anything but that front page. If you're unsure how to do that, then there should be an option in osCommerce to disable the site entirely or at the very least disable purchasing through the site.

They could have easily just disabled anyone external from accessing /shop/ through the webserver so they'd get a 403 Forbidden error. I honestly don't know why you'd leave your business and your money up to an ISP or to a hosting provider.

The content and running of the site should be the responsibility of the site owners, no one else.

---dens

Have to agree with Dens.As the site let me place an order and sent me an invoice confirming my order.
However, having said that I am pleased to report that I have received an e-mail from Travis and he has indicated he will sort it out for me.
Not sure if he means a refund or the parts I ordered.

I'll keep you all posted and credit where it's due if Travis sorts out the problem I'll let everyone know.

Mychael

Good luck with it and it's good to hear that he's responded. Just hope he keeps to his word.

---dens

Cyber space!! Yes I buy things off e bay but nothing like dealing direct with a company/ person face to face. That way any hassels you can go eye ball them.Not always possible I know and so far I have had no bad experiences with e bay purchases.
Good luck Mike, nothing worse than getting ripped off even if a small amount.

Credit when it's due. Travis was true to his word and supplied the parts I ordered plus a spare. Thanks mate. Well done.

Mychael