A caution has been issued by the CT Business Bureau to consumers about an online retail site based in Cheshire, Connecticut that sells t-shirts, sweatshirts, jogging pants and backpacks.
According to consumers’ complaints, Ultra Rare Apparel charged for products they did not ship, failed to provide transaction confirmations or tracking numbers, ignored consumers’ phone calls and emails, and neglected to respond to BBB complaints. Some customers detail losses in the hundreds of dollars.
Because of the volume and pattern of complaints along with its refusal to respond to them, Ultra Rare Apparel has an F rating on its BBB Business Review.
A total of 87 complaints have been filed against the company since November 15, 2017, when consumers contacted Connecticut BBB at an average rate of nine complaints a week.
Forty-one of these complaints are now closed. Though Ultra Rare Apparel failed to respond to any of them, six complaints were closed as resolved after consumers told BBB that they had received their merchandise. Another 46 complaints against the business are still going through the complaint process.
One complaint from December 13, 2017 is a typical example of consumers’ grievances with the online retailer:
“They took the money out of my account on November 27th and sent me an email that my items shipped on December 1st. No tracking info was provided and two weeks later I still have not received my packages. I have made numerous attempts to contact the…company through email text and phone but none of their provided contact info works. I cannot get in touch with anyone from the company and have no idea where the items they have already taken the money for are. It is past the (stated) shipping date and still no tracking info has been provided.”
Other consumers submitted 34 reviews about Ultra Rare Apparel, all of which were negative.
While Ultra Rare refuses to respond to complaints filed with BBB, it has commented on customer reviews with identical or similar wording, including:
“Your Ultra Rare clothing is on the way, and should arrive soon. We would like to help you out more, but do need some additional information from you. If you could provide us with your order number we will be able to locate your tracking information!”
Under the Federal Trade Commission’s Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule, businesses are obliged to deliver merchandise within 30 days of receiving payment unless otherwise expressly stated or the consumer agrees to a later shipping date. If the delivery does not arrive in the stated time frame, consumers have the right to cancel an order and receive a full refund within one credit card billing period. For this reason, businesses do not debit a consumer’s credit card or bank account until an item is shipped.
BBB recommends consumers check their accounts to see when a company debits a credit card or bank account. If no confirmation of sale or tracking number is provided within several days, consumers are urged to contact their credit card issuer or bank to investigate the transaction. In many cases, credit card companies will remove a charge pending the outcome of its investigation. In addition, consumers are urged to file a complaint with BBB to attempt to resolve a dispute, and warn other consumers about their experience.
Visit bbb.org to check the reputation of a business or charity, file a complaint or find additional consumer resources.