Legal action possible against "King of Swords"? [Archive]

hulkster

5 August 2008, 12:06

Some detail: I bought some mechandise from the site of "king of swords" last year in August - as a B-Day present to myself.

The transaction was accepted and an order number given to me.

I followed up a month later, and all I kept getting (via e-mail) is: the status of your order is 'Accepted'

Another month and when I followed up they said the order was now late due to their supplier having his shipment stuck in customs.

So I keep getting the same story until 5 months later, they said they ran out of stock on the one item I ordered and I have to choose something else...which I did...and they again accepted the order.

By 7months I lost my cool with them, but no status change until 11 months after order - stating that they have cancelled my order and I must file a dispute with my Credit card company. But of course the credit card company only allows disputes filed within 30 days from purchase.

They are a United States based company. What would my options be in forcing them to either send the order, or refund me?

Nyla

5 August 2008, 16:31

Presumably you mean this site?

http://www.kingofswords.com/

And do you still have the correspondence where they state they "canceled" your order? Because, frankly, if you paid them directly with a credit card, they canceled your order on their own initiative and failed to give you a refund via your credit card, that's the sort of thing that can lose them their merchant account and the ability to directly accept credit cards. I would ask your credit card company if there is a mechanism where you can report this, even if you can't dispute the original charge due to too much time elapsing. Calling your card's customer service line and explaining what you want to report and why may get you transferred to the correct department.

Aside from that, you have several options. Most of them involve complaining, very loudly, with copious documentation, and letting the merchant know you plan on filing said complaints if they insist on keeping your money without sending you any merchandise.

Post complaints on public consumer sites. These search results are a good place to start.

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Better+business+bureau%22+kingofswords.com&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

File a complaint with the Atlanta BBB.

http://atlanta.bbb.org/WWWRoot/Report.aspx?site=39&bbb=0443&firm=12001341

File a complaint with your own state's Attorney General. File a complaint with the Georgia Attorney General. File a complaint with the FTC. https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

If necessary, copy the business on each and every one of these complaints, and include as much documentation as possible at every turn. Be polite, certainly, and don't threaten, but make sure they are aware that you are exercising your consumer rights and that you will be sharing your customer service experience with as wide an audience as possible, which certainly won't paint their business in a very nice light. Keeping your money for nearly a year then refusing a refund when THEY decide they can't fulfill your order doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

Yes, it's time consuming and can even cost a bit of money, but it's much cheaper than directly taking the business to court. Considering you have a quite valid complaint (cancellation of an order by a merchant without issuing a refund), the merchant should see reason.

Honestly, I can't imagine why any merchant in their right mind would actually tell you to file a dispute with your credit card company rather than simply issue a refund. It wouldn't seem to offer any advantage to the merchant at all.