Misleading domain name dupes UK shopper
A United Kingdom shopper is fuming after a website he thought was based in New Zealand was actually in China, and selling fake branded goods.
Ken Smith is a keen tennis player who wanted to buy a second set of his favourite Bjorn Borg gear. There were local stores that sold Bjorn Borg but the specific T-shirt and shorts he wanted were outdated, and no store in the UK had his size, he said.
Smith searched the brand on Google and found what he wanted on wildmonkeymedia.co.nz.
‘‘I believed I was talking to a stockist in New Zealand, and bearing in mind Bjorn Borg tennis gear is sold throughout the world, people play tennis in New Zealand so it all fitted,’’ he said.
One order he made came to £80 (NZ$156) and the second was £73. The site offered a DHL tracking service for £13.
‘‘After two weeks I received a package in the post and it had not come from New Zealand, it had come from China. The package had four tops but they weren’t what I had ordered – they were fake Adidas and Nike tops.’’
Smith said he knew they were fake because the colours weren’t right and the logos were too big.
‘‘They were trying to emphasis it was a Nike top. That’s the only delivery I have had.’’
Smith tried to contact the site via its email address but had not heard anything back after 10 days.
Scamadviser.com gave a ‘‘caution’’ rating to wildmonkeymedia.co.nz and said it’s ‘‘very new and as such doesn’t have an online reputation yet’’.
The site is most likely from Germany or the Netherlands.
When Stuff called the number on the site a message said the number was ‘‘no longer obtainable or had changed’’.
Domain names are overseen by Internet NZ and the Domain Name Commission, which approves companies that can offer the .nz address.
Domain Name Commissioner Debbie Monahan said scam websites had been an issue since .nz began.
‘‘We’d encourage people to follow their instincts and look for certain things like can the company be contacted,’’ she said.