Unfortunately, I wasn't sure whether this was the best place to post this type of thing, but I noticed you've had a couple of threads about the same company I'm referring to, so I figured it would be better than nothing to post it here.  Hopefully you guys can help me out.

Yesterday morning, I visited http://www.samsung-unlock.com/ to get my Samsung BT5310 mobile phone unlocked and paid £15.99 for the unlock code.  They claim to be able to send you the code within 12 hours.  It is now over 24 hours and I haven't heard anything back from them.  They've not responded to emails, their company telephone keeps going to voicemail & the owner's mobile number (which I found from this site) does the same.

I paid with Paypal, so hopefully if it IS a scam, they can refund me but I'm not getting my hopes up as I don't know what to expect.

I'd appreciate some help with this, thanks in advance.

I have just gone on to the Samsung site and there does not seem to be  a BT5310 there. :-?

sherbert wrote on Sep 10^th, 2010 at 4:53pm:

I have just gone on to the Samsung site and there does not seem to be  a BT5310 there. :-?

http://www.samsung-unlock.com/samsung/b5310/

:)

sorry for the double post, but I can't edit my messages for some reason.  Anyway, I apologise as I spelt the model of the phone wrong, it is B5310 not BT5310.

Get in touch with PayPal and see what they have to say on the matter.

Contacted Paypal and they said seeing as I was to receive the code via email, they can't do anything, as they have no proof whether or not I received what I paid for.  I also contacted the Police and they said they were unable to help as it was a "civil matter between two people".

So much for the Police "cracking down on crime".  This is a joke.

I have just read PayPal's 'legal agreement' and I agree with you it is a joke. This kind of transaction that you made is not covered if something goes wrong.

Try getting in touch with Samsung    http://www.samsung.com/uk/info/contactus.html

Thanks for that.  I just contacted Samsung customer services by phone and they they're unable to help me out as this matter is out of their hands, due to the fact they have nothing to do with the unlocking codes website whatsoever, which I suppose is right, but it was worth a shot.

Anyway, I noticed that a few people have posted about this company before on this website, and you've actually responded.  I don't know if you remember doing that or not, but did you ever manage to find out any more information about this company?  I'm really stuck as to what to do now, as Paypal have have told me they can't do anything and so have the Police, which I assumed would be the LAST place to let me down, considering they ARE the law, but they seemed to want nothing to do with it.

I can't understand how people can get away with this.  This person has quite clearly stolen money from me yet the police won't take any action against him/her.  I'm baffled to be quite honest.  It's like a slap in the face on top of everything else.

Anyway, the thread you responded in was - http://www.saynoto0870.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.cgi?num=1269963055

Vanchatron wrote on Sep 10^th, 2010 at 6:41pm:

… so have the Police, which I assumed would be the LAST place to let me down, considering they ARE the law, but they seemed to want nothing to do with it.…

The police are quite right in what they say. This is civil law and not criminal law. They deal in the latter.



Vanchatron wrote on Sep 10^th, 2010 at 6:41pm:

…I can't understand how people can get away with this.  This person has quite clearly stolen money from me yet the police won't take any action against him/her.  I'm baffled to be quite honest.  It's like a slap in the face on top of everything else.

I don't think they've stolen the money from you. You handed it over to them. That doesn't fit the definition of "stolen".

They are, of course, wrong not to have supplied the goods, if that is what they have done.

Clicking on the site http://www.samsung-unlock.com/  which you originally quoted and then contact us gives you this site http://www.unlockingonline.com/mini_site_contact_us.php?website=d3d3LnNhbXN1bmctdW5sb2NrLmNvbQ==

From there you can email, write or phone.

That surely has to be the way to get this sorted out?

I explained in the first post I've already done all that.

I'm gonna leave it anyway, I'll just take it as a loss and move on.

Perhaps the lesson learned is to know who you are dealing with, before entering into any commercial transaction.

Without a full business name, address and company registration number, there is little hope of getting assistance in enforcing your rights.

If there is a company that is engaged in criminal activity through the internet, then the Police could investigate, if provided with evidence of criminal activity. Likewise a trading standards office could get involved if there is deceitful practice. If you need to pursue your own case you should first write to the company and then ultimately seek redress through the courts.

I am a little surprised that Paypal does not provide this information or advice, and I will therefore take care myself before using it.

Vanchatron wrote on Sep 10^th, 2010 at 10:34pm:

I explained in the first post I've already done all that.

Yes, sorry about that. :-[

Still worth trying though.

Write them a letter saying that you will be taking legal action if it is not refunded. That might spur them on

Publicly available whois data on the domain has this, in case it's of any help:

Registrant:
Unlocking Online Ltd
27 Old Gloucester Street
London, WC1N 3AX
GB

Domain name: SAMSUNG-UNLOCK.COM

LV426 wrote on Sep 12^th, 2010 at 12:46pm:

Publicly available whois data on the domain has this, in case it's of any help: Registrant: Unlocking Online Ltd 27 Old Gloucester Street London, WC1N 3AX GB Domain name: SAMSUNG-UNLOCK.COM

That is the same address that is on their contact page that I gave in post #9

1    From memory I believe that that address (27 etc) is a holding and/or forwarding address for all manner of companies and services.

2    And is it not theft if one does not receive what one has paid for?