Open Media Pty Inc review: Beware of this fraud! 29

Exactly the same as my experience. Now raised with my credit card company.

[censored], I wish I read this note before I bought. These people do not respond to emails, charge you up front for the merchandise and so far haven't delivered or communicated. It's been 2 months.

I ordered a book to be received next day... weeks ago. Not only did I leave numerous voicemails, as there is no direct customer service, but I also emailed quite a few times.

No response.

I called my bank and had my card reimbursed for non receipt of product.

Exactly the same

I too feel I have been cheated and that this company is a fraudulent one. Ordered a book on June 21st. Cancelled the order within minutes. But they (Rushcutters)charged my credit card with $96AU within hours on 22nd June. Sent numerous emails to the above addresses - no response. Have now written to their PO boxes in both Phoenix and Sydney and am forwarding copies of my letters and will now attach copies of comments on this page to the British Consulate General in Los Angeles and Sydney, Australia ,to see if they can determine the status of this company.

I THINK WE HAVE BEEN CONNED. WHAT CAN WE DO TO REGAIN OUR MONEY? I am a 74 year old pensioner who can ill afford to lose this large amount of money.

I received a strange confirmation notice when I ordered some books. For such a large store, the order number they gave me was rather small. The e-mail was full of computer jargon and even though I ordered from World Retail Store, the e-mail had things

It mentions "open group" a lot. I am calling my credit card company. I looked the company up on the web's yellow pages for Arizona, and couldn't find any listing.
The Arizona address is listed as on their site,
10640N 28th Dr.
Suite B203
Phoenix, AZ 85029

I started getting nervous when I tried to contact them about their order, and THEY HAVE NO PHONE NUMBER, except a fax number to place orders and also a "voicemail" number.

If anyone knows anymore, please let us all know.

Also, when I placed my order, suddenly the screen changed to a different business in Texas that handles books. Their web browsing system does not work to search for books very well.

I ordered some make up and paid online through their store payment system and then had confirmation email for the order and then received another email saying that the item was out of stock and was not going to be available in the near future. Has someone reported this company to consumer affairs or the accc? This was the first website that I found that confirmed my suspicsions. Something should be done. I even emailed them through their website inquiry page, no response. I even sent a fax to their office with no response.

hello, I do not have a news of the two books which I ordered on worldretailstore.com

Friday evening (codice fejervary-mayer and codice laud) not even the sequence number. Is this normal? Do I have to await these books? I am not on my malls reach you. Thanks for you answer.

This is exactly the same situation I am in. Has anyone tried reporting them to consumer protection regulators in Arizona or Australia, where they have PO Boxes? Or to internet authorities who might be able to shut down their website? Does anyone know how to figure out who is hosting their website?

Update: I have filed complaints with the NSW Office of Fair Trading and the Arizona Attorney General's office, referencing this website.

I ordered a book from the World Retail Store on the 9th Nov 2007, they have taken the payment from my account but have not sent me a confirmation email as they stated they would, and my item has not arrived!

They don't reply to my emails!

Any ideas what I should do?

Regards, Fran.

I live in New Zealand and ordered a book on Forensic Science from these people on 2nd July 2007.

The money was taken from my credit card account a few days later by Open Media Pty, Rushcutters Bay, Australia, but no book was ever delivered.

I allege Internet fraud !

Australia also has laws relating to deceptive advertising and the claim that customers are not charged until their orders ship looks pretty shaky now.

Although the amount of money involved was small I have chosen to report the matter to the e-crimes unit of the Australian Police, and in view of the Netsore USA connection to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) in the USA.

If these complaints are upheld, then it will be goodbye NetStores !

If the operation does prove to be fraudulent, these web sites need to be closed down.

I urge anyone else who has suffered at the hands of these people to report the matter. If you are unsure as to what to do talk with your loacl police.

If your alleged fraud tool place in Australia start at:

www.polixe.qld.gov.au/programs/CrimePrevention/eCrime/Internet/default.htm and follow the contact links.

My experience with World Retail Store (www.worldretailstore.com) parallels those
reported above:

I placed an order with this site for a book on 11/25/2007. I received an automated e-mail response on 11/27/2007 which stated that I would be notified when the item shipped and as to when I could expect to receive it. This e-mail stated further that
my bank account would not be debited until shipment was initiated. On 11/28/2007 two debits appeared on my checking account statement, the total of which exceeded the amount on the order confirmation by $0.72. I have since sent several e-mails to World Retail Store inquiring as to the status of
my order. These have been copied to my own e-mail address by them, but I have not as of this date received any genuine reply from this organization. Needless to say, I have not received the ordered item either. I have today reported this situation to the bank which issued the ATM card which I used to transact this purchase, and that institution has agreed to investigate the
matter.

These guys are still trading. despite the small amounts that we may have lost ! Why ? - no one else has complained to law enforcement agencies. Nothing will happen unless you do your bit !

A person called Simon Verdon in Australia (Listed as simonv@pobox.com) seems to be involved in this scam. He gets his e-mail but never answers it.

The Netstore ISP is likely to get a nasty surprise as they are now technically a party to fraud..

I have also now taken the matter up at a political level.

If you want your money back and your Bank turns you down then you need to act quickly because unless you lodge a criminal complaint these people will just stop trading and you won't even have an e-mail address.

Lodge a criminal complaint even if you have advised your credit card company of your loss.

Please ACT NOW before it is too late.

See they are collecting for hurricane affected states ? I wonder where that money is going!

Note that this is a public service advertisement by Google !

I am sure that they would not want to be associated with this group so I think I shall tell them!

The correct contact address for Simon Verdon of the Australian Netstore is actually simv@pobox.com - not the one I stated above.

The company carelessly mentioned an invoice number for my shipment which under Australian law requires a tax invoice. I have asked the Australian Taxation Office to obtain a copy of this invoice for me, as I have had no reply from Mr Verdon and have explained the reason as alleged fraud!

For a bit of fun you can go to the Netstore web site and fill up your shopping cart with all sorts of goodies, and you can check out without even leaving a name or credit card number. The system will give you an order number, and invite you to send you to e-mail your friends about NetStore. There is actually a discount voucher attached to this!

As a suggestion, switch off cookies & be aware that your IP address might be monitored if you're contemplating a big purchase & send the discount voucher to Mr Verdon with a suitable message!

There have been developments in my case however for legal reasons I can not disclose them here, and I have reason to believe that Mr Verdon or whatever he calls himself now may get a nice surprise!

If you have ordered from this company, call your credit card company immediately and have the charge reversed! Do not wait. I was lucky to have been suspicious early enough, my account will be credited for the charge; but this will not stop me from taking all necessary steps to get these crooks off the Internet. Please at the very least, file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and the IC3.

I reported them to the IC3.gov, then to the ACCC, who sent me a nice email, telling me to report them here: http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au.

Hopefully we can get Mr. "Verdon" fined/jailed, or both. I doubt all the people he has defrauded will get their money back, though. I was pleasantly surprised that VISA did reverse the charge when I disputed it.

I live in Australia and ordered 2 books off the NetStoreUSA.com on the 31/12/07. My credit card was charged on 3/1/08, and as yet, I have not received the shipment. I have sent 2 emails to NetStoreUSA (Open Media, Rushcutters Bay) asking about the status of my shipment and have not received a reply to either email. I have contacted my credit card company to dispute the transaction as I have not received the goods. I will also be notifying the Australian Federal Police and New South Wales Police about the apparently fraudulent activities being perpetrated by the owner of the website. As suggested by Gillian, I will also be filing a report with the NSW Department of Fair Trading.

I have previously been the victim of another internet based fraud and the perpetrator is now being prosecuted by the Victorian Police. It has taken over 2 years for this case to go to trial, but justice will be done, and justice will eventually catch up with Mr Verdon.

(The following is an addendum to the complaint that I entered into this document
60 days ago as of 2/18/2008.)

Two **credits** appeared in my checking account as of 2/7/2008. Both of these
seem to have been issued by Open Media Pty, and their amounts correspond closely
with the amounts of the two debits to my account made in response to my purchase
of 11/25/2007. They may well be refunds of my payment for the purchased item,
which remains undelivered.

I have received no communications from either Open Media Pty or World Retail
Store, and hence am left to my own devices as to identifying the reason for the two
credits. But it seems reasonable to assume that Open Media Pty has refunded my
payment and therefore removed the basis of my original complaint.

Other individuals who have posted to this document indicated that they have
been trying to interest various agencies in the possibility of fraudulent behavior
by Open Media Pty. It is possible that their efforts lie behind the appearance of the
two credits in my bank account. If this is the case, let me take this opportunity to
express my sincere appreciation.

I ordered a difficult to find book from them in early february, it didn't show up, so I googled their name and got this page and read all the complaints! It seems the filing of complaints with the Australian Fraud Commission is ineffective.

However I called my credit card company and they put it in dispute- ie they are calling the company, if they don't return the call, the money will get reversed back. Seriously though, someone needs to go to the addresses in Australia/Arizona and see what's going on!

I had the same experience. I bought a book from www.worldretailstore.com and it never materialised. The card has been charged and I have not been able to get in touch with a representative from the company at any of the contact details provided at the website. Is there any way to launch an official complaint and get the police involved to stop this from happening to other people and get the sites closed down?

I order a book on 3/7/08. Printed the conf. no sheet out and like everyone else, no phone no to contact them, only fax or voice mail. The address in Arizona is a fake. I called my credit card co and there was a charge of 85.04 on my account from the Record Shop. My print out showed an amount of 82.50. It was credited back and a dispute letter is being sent. Wish these sorry SOB's were men or women enought to face someone. I would give them some thing they needed,, an old fashion ### whipping.

Unfortunately, I'm now a member of the club too. I ordered a book on line from World Retail Store for $41.58 with my credit card and there's no record of it anywhere. Terrible.

I ordered a book last fall and had yet to receive it as well. I sort of gave up trying to figure out how to get my money back until I just noticed ANOTHER charge on my card from the same company! Another 70 dollar charge I did not do! I have no idea what to do. I guess I'll start by going to the bank, but I'm not sure if they can do much for me...any ideas or has anyone had success in getting a refund?

Same happened to me. After 15 days with no product or replies to my email, I disputed the charge with the Credit Card company. Anyone with direction on how to file internet fraud claims in the U.S.?

Same for me. This happened a year ago or so. But now, a few days ago, my card was debited again for the same amount of money (123 euros), without me making any order! Now I'm changing my card.

I guess I'm lucky after reading the complaints against this company. I ordered a book, but some inner-voice told me to not give them my credit card number. Instead, I sent a check to the Arizona address they have listed. I got the check back today stamped "Return to Sender, not deliverable as addressed, unable to forward."

Still, this sleezy company makes me mad for all the people it has cheated. Good luck to all of you. I'm going to stick to Amazon and other well known companies from now on.

VS
Los Angeles, CA

My girlfriend, Eriko Shimada, ordered a book for 120 dollars with them, in June 2008.
They've never sent a book, nor any communication,
and they dont reply to emails at all.

Extraordinary how much money NetStoreUSA is stealing.