Businesses in the South Island tourist town of Arrowtown are warning consumers to be cautious when shopping online after a website claiming to be a local boutique allegedly misled customers across New Zealand into purchasing poor-quality products or, in some cases, receiving nothing at all.
Several shoppers told Stuff they believed they were supporting an Arrowtown clothing store called The Hawke Sisters, only to discover the business was not what it claimed to be. Customers reported receiving items that looked significantly different from those advertised, while others said their orders never arrived.
According to a report by Stuff, Christchurch resident Gail Rule said she purchased what appeared to be a quilted floral jacket for about $99, believing she was supporting a New Zealand business. However, she later began receiving emails in Dutch and was disappointed when the product finally arrived.
“It was advertised as vintage floral quilted jacket. It feels like it's made out of recycled milk bottles,” as quoted by Stuff.
Rule said the purchase represented a significant expense.
“That's heating for a month. It makes you feel like an idiot. It sucks away all the confidence to do anything online.
“I would never have bought it if I knew it was overseas [business]. I thought I was supporting a New Zealand business that was trying to get on its feet,” Stuff has quoted.
Auckland shopper Parekura Mowbray said she ordered clothing and a decorative dog-shaped lamp but received poor-quality items that did not resemble those displayed on the website. She also reported receiving review requests before the products had even been delivered and said the courier tracking number provided did not exist.
Another Auckland customer, Robyn, spent $223 on clothing and a handbag after discovering the retailer through social media. She said the website appeared genuine, but her order never arrived.
“I saw the advertisement on Facebook, but didn’t click through from that. Instead I visited the website, which looked professional and believable,” she said, as quoted by Stuff.
“I didn’t notice at the time there was no address or phone number. Something I will check from now on,” Stuff has quoted.
According to Stuff, Dunedin resident David also believed he was buying a handmade quilted bag from an Arrowtown business after seeing a Facebook advertisement. His concerns grew when shipping notifications suggested the parcel was travelling through an airport despite supposedly being sent from Arrowtown.
“I live in Dunedin and Arrowtown is about 3-4 hours’ drive away. Further suspicion came after I saw others post about the legitimacy of the company in the comments on their Facebook page,” Stuff has quoted.
Although the item eventually arrived, David said it was not handmade or produced in New Zealand.
“The scam seems to be of the ‘not as advertised’ kind. I have since done a little digging and found these items for sale on a Chinese website as well as seeing other differently named stores selling the same thing.
“I have been quite alert to online scams over the years, so I was taken aback to fall for this one,” he said, as quoted by Stuff.
The website promoted free NZ Post shipping, a 30-day money-back guarantee and claimed to be trusted by more than 55,000 New Zealand women. However, many customers reported receiving no response when requesting refunds.
Arrowtown Promotion & Business Association manager Nicky Busst confirmed there is no physical boutique called The Hawke Sisters in the town and no company by that name is listed on New Zealand's Companies Register.
She said the association was “extremely disappointed” that Arrowtown's reputation had been used in a misleading way.
“Our town has earned a strong reputation for its authentic, locally owned businesses, and it’s concerning to see Arrowtown’s name being used in a way that could mislead consumers,” she said, Stuff has quoted.
The association said it became aware of the website after receiving complaints from customers around the country, with several local businesses also fielding calls from confused shoppers asking about the boutique.
According to Stuff, when contacted for comment, the operators of The Hawke Sisters did not respond to emailed questions. By Friday, the website had been taken offline and replaced with a message stating that the store was unavailable.
The association reported the matter to Netsafe, whose chief online safety officer, Sean Lyons, said fake websites impersonating New Zealand retailers are becoming increasingly sophisticated.
“These are not the simple scams of five or 10 years ago where somebody would throw up a website that would look terrible and we could spot the difference between that and somebody that was actually trying to do genuine business online,” Lyons said, as quoted by Stuff.
“What we’re increasingly looking at are really high-quality impersonations of actual websites or complete fabrications of something that looks like it would be the business,” as quoted by Stuff.
Lyons advised shoppers to verify businesses before purchasing by checking the Companies Register, confirming contact information and reviewing the age of a website's domain, Stuff has reported.
He also warned that receiving a product does not necessarily mean a customer has avoided being scammed.
“If you ordered a blue jacket made from 100% cotton by a particular brand, and what arrives isn’t what you ordered, that alone may not necessarily be fraud. But if there’s no way to return the goods and you can’t get in touch with the company, then it becomes quite clear that it is fraud,” he said, Stuff has quoted.
ISSUE
Leave a Comment