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BEWARE RAKUTEN.COM

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Feb 7, 2013 at 2:52 pm #1298965

Sam Farrington
BPL Member

@scfhome
Locale: Chocorua NH, USA

An interesting experience occurred recently ordering a tent made in Japan through a "global" seller, global.rakuten.com, an affiliate, tenshi.com, and the store, kompas.com.

I used a bank service that assigns a separate credit card number to each transaction, a number that can only be used once, and under a limited amount.

The order was taken and confirmed by all of the above. My credit card account was then deluged with attempts at charges from a number of companies I never heard of in the USA, but only one went through, the bank's system having worked as expected, and as of last check, was for a fairly inexpensive subscription to a glamor (nice word) magazine. I then got an email from Kompas telling me they would not ship the tent outside Japan. The credit card account was immediately closed, so am not up to speed yet with what's happened since.

But if a regular credit card # had been provided, I'd probably have gotten creamed.
The banks usually accept the risk for this type of thing, but it can still be a hassle.

Thought you should know.

Feb 7, 2013 at 2:59 pm #1951883

Daryl and Daryl
BPL Member

@lyrad1
Locale: Pacific Northwest, USA, Earth

Wow. Thanks for the tip.

Feb 7, 2013 at 4:46 pm #1951935

Andrew U
Spectator

@anarkhos
Locale: Colorado, Wyoming

This is what happens when you don't buy local. Internet tries to eat your wallet.

Feb 7, 2013 at 5:32 pm #1951958

EndoftheTrail
BPL Member

@ben2world-2

"This is what happens when you don't buy local. Internet tries to eat your wallet."

Actually, I am confused. Was the deluge of charges made by companies in the USA?? Or they were companies that OP, living in the USA, had never heard of?? Something about the phrasing…

Feb 7, 2013 at 6:58 pm #1951995

Bean
BPL Member

@stupendous-2
Locale: California

>I used a bank service that assigns a separate credit card number to each transaction

What bank is that, and what is the service called? I want that.

Thanks!

Oh, and sorry to hear you got ripped off. I've got screwed by buy.com (rakuten.com) affiliates a few times, like used stuff sold as new or a lower quality alternatives being shipped. It gets fixed after I say something, but the frequency of it is driving me to shop elsewhere.

Feb 7, 2013 at 10:46 pm #1952102

josh wagner
Member

@stainlesssteel

scary…

Feb 8, 2013 at 12:27 am #1952109

Jared Baker
BPL Member

@simply_light
Locale: Midwest, US

I knew there was a reason my gut wouldn't let me shop there. Ever since they went from buy.com to rakuten.com, I have not shopped there. So many of these online "superstores" have these 3rd party marketplaces that are not really backed by the parent website.

In general, I have found that 3rd party marketplaces are hit or miss. The only 3rd party marketplace I trust is Amazon's. And the only reason I trust their marketplace is because I have a seller's account with them and have had to eat a couple of sales from scammers. Amazon is always 100% in favor of the customer and if you don't agree to take care of the customer, regardless that they are scamming you, you won't be allowed to sell on Amazon. They view it as your cost of doing business and reaching their customer base.

Excellent that your bank's policy is to use individual one time credit card #'s to limit your/their exposure to false charges.

Feb 8, 2013 at 6:59 am #1952156

Sam Farrington
BPL Member

@scfhome
Locale: Chocorua NH, USA

"Actually, I am confused. Was the deluge of charges made by companies in the USA?? Or they were companies that OP, living in the USA, had never heard of?? Something about the phrasing…

Yes, Ben, as stated in the OP, by companies with USA addresses. But also as stated, I never heard of them. Hope that's clear, but to muddy it up a little, just because a company has a US address doesn't necessarily mean it is based in the USA.

Brandon, a bank that offers this service is online banking with Bank of America.
Please forgive me if i don't reveal my own 'sources and methods' here.

Thanks all for the additional info. I've never had a problem ordering overseas before from Europe, UK, Australia, etc., but I have now learned a lesson about 'global' trading companies. Too bad, as it would otherwise be very helpful to be able to order gear from Asia in this way.

Feb 8, 2013 at 2:14 pm #1952328

Roger Caffin
BPL Member

@rcaffin
Locale: Wollemi & Kosciusko NPs, Europe

Which is why I prefer to use Paypal for purchases from unknown web sites. Much safer than a credit card.

Cheers

Feb 8, 2013 at 5:58 pm #1952403

Greg Mihalik
Spectator

@greg23
Locale: Colorado

Due diligence is always the most effective way of avoiding problems, however…

I use an "internet only" credit card.
If it blows up I lose nothing. And the inconvenience doesn't affect my "personal" card.
If I don't get my product the credit card company refunds my money.

PayPal will protect a card number, but they are worthless at recovering funds from scammers.
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