MYDV in the News - Recent article

[jokach]

David Harris has done a story on what is up with Nepco and mydv.co.uk since the emergency court order was issued. This article was found in the Townonline.com newspaper based in West Roxbury, MA....

http://www.townonline.com/roslindale/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=394533&format=&page=1

I'm wondering what this really means though for the future of mydv.co.uk, it appears they have committed to cleaning up their 'growing pains', and I guess only time will tell.

Here is the text of the article:


AG tells Web site to clean up its act
By David L. Harris
Thursday, December 22, 2005

The state attorney general’s office this week came to an agreement with an Internet company registered to a West Roxbury address after seeking an emergency court order to shutdown the consumer electronics Web site that’s allegedly bilked dozens of British consumers out of an untold amount of money.

The site is registered to Jeremy Paradies, who, according to the company, lived on Anderer Lane in West Roxbury until recently and is now chief executive officer. Paradies now lives in Waltham.

Attorney General Tom Reilly last week announced he would shut down mydv.co.uk, now owned by Waltham-based Nepco, after it was investigated by Waltham police detectives who received calls from dissatisfied British customers. Other allegations Reilly said he would use against the company: failing to refund overcharges and misleading British consumers into thinking the site was based in the United Kingdom.

Sarah Nathan, a spokeswoman for Reilly’s office, said last Friday Nepco has to have customer orders refunded or fulfilled by the end of the year. The company also has to alert customers if their order is not delivered by Christmas Day and that they’re not British-based.

According to court documents, 128 consumers contacted the attorney general’s office over the past three weeks to complain about the site.

“I’m sorry they felt they were deceived,” said Matt Wolf, the chief financial officer of the company, in an interview. “With this kind of growth have come growing pains.”

Paradies said the company never profited from any overcharges and blamed the problem on its credit card processor. He also said the company would list its Waltham address on its site to stop any misleading information.

“We’ve had a serious probem with some of these sites,” he said. “We’ve made a lot of changes to our business model.”

Wolf said the company has already made tens of millions of dollars and has 20,000 customers in the UK and Australia, where Web sites such as nepine.co.uk, gardenready.co.uk and oztool.com sell everything from chainsaws to shovels for the Aussie and British markets.

Wolf wouldn’t say how many Web sites there are that cater to these markets, but said his company would expand to other countries. But the company, which seemed to rise out of nowhere, has retained powerful international law firms, including Hogan and Hartson, and Goodwin Proctor, based in Boston.

The company has also hired New York City-based Connors Communications, a company that has represented such big-name clients such as Deloitte & Touche, Disney.com and Amazon.com.

One Internet fraud expert said Nepco had violated customers’ trust.

“This is outright fraud,” said John Kachurick, president of MatrixWatch.org, a Web site focusing on fraud on the Web.

Dozens of customers said they felt ripped off.

Dawn Hindle, a 27-year-old from Coventry, England, said she had ordered an Olympus C7070 Wide Zoom camera from the site on Nov. 3 for the equivalent of $478.53. After canceling her order, Hindle said Nepco refunded an amount of money less than what she had paid originally. Finally, by Dec. 2, Hindle, after not receiving any product, called her credit card company, which refunded the remaining amount.

Hindle isn’t the only frustrated customer.

“They make a big effort to say it’s a site based in the United Kingdom,” said Peter Hoare, a 61-year-old furniture designer from London who purchased a digital camera and was overcharged. “This is what upsets a lot of people.”

Hoare created an anti-mydv.co.uk Web site that Wolf said was “defamatory” to his business.

“This is a purposeful act of deception,” said Hoare. “It’s a blatant act of misrepresentation and deception.”

During a visit to the company’s headquarters in Waltham, Wolf touted the Web site’s achievements and said many of the problems customers experienced were because the company didn’t have the right number of customer service agents in its Bangalore, India, call center and didn’t factor in the currency exchange rates for its British customers.

“Our volume has increased ... we now have 40 reps at our call center,” said Wolf. “This is an exciting business.”

In the company’s nondescript office at 1432 Main St. in Waltham, cubicles fill up about half the space although only a handful of employees and a secretary were seen by a Transcript reporter last week.

“This is a global economy,” said Wolf. “This shirt was made in Thailand. This computer was made in China. We’ll get past all these issues.”

Wolf declined to talk about how the company started or who the angel investors were who jumpstarted the business.

The company uses a Swiss-based third-party logistics company, Kuehne and Nagel, to store and distribute the merchandise.

Steve Cooke, manager for the local Franklin, Mass., distribution center, said he’s processed about 2,200 orders in a two-day period last week.

Two aisles at the huge, 240,000-square-foot center are dedicated to the company.

“They’re our fastest-growing customer,” he said.

Wolf defended the company, putting blame on customers who he said were trying to bring his business down.

“It appears that some people are orchestrating a campaign against us,” he said. “We’re an above-the-board business.”


jokach

[Carolann154]

How do they explain selling goods that's not fit for the UK market.....

[mercinary]

“It appears that some people are orchestrating a campaign against us,” he said. “We’re an above-the-board business.”

I'm honestly offended by this. This suggests that we (Matrixwatch and all the victims of this site) are purposely attacking mydv!

The spin of this article is very one-sided....

-Merc

[mark_in_uk]

Attorney General has told mydv to fulfill all orders before holidays and notify customers if it cant and also to refund before the the end of the year.

CAN THIS REALLY BE TRUE AND THERE BE A CHANCE OF A REFUND!

[jokach]

I agree with what you say merc, i'm not particularly thrilled the way the article was spun, and its important to note that Matrixwatch is NOT in the interest of attacking businesses the way that this article states. Its important that all our members, and even guests, understand what our mission statement states (from our home page):


To provide the most useful and informative web portal for knowledge about the latest internet-based schemes, and work to build, unite, and empower a community dedicated to making the internet a safer place for consumers.


Nowhere does this indicate that we attack people and/or businesses. I'm actually slightly upset that in all the time I spent on the phone with David Harris, he chose to only include one single statement instead of the whole point I was trying to make.

jokach

[Barnaby]

Hello all,
The article above merely confirms what I guess we all knew, that myDV have been making a very large amount of thoroughly dirty money. The utterly dysfunctional day to day operation of this shambolic company, so evident to us all, is not at all surprising when we see evidence in this article of the grubby structure with which it operates.

This knowledge will only serve to infuriate us victims all the more. We need to bring as much pressure as is possible on our CC companies here to cease trading with myDV.

[mercinary]

As a result of this, I would actually urge customers to make much more "noise" to the Mass. Attorney General's Office.

This article doesn't mention a thing about the goods you received that were not UK spec. Many, many, many of you complained about this, and the A.G. is doing nothing about it (it would seem).

-Merc

[prawnstar]

Considering the effort I went to in providing David Harris with information, I think that the one-sided quote at the end of the article defeats the point of what I was trying to achieve.

I think the article really should have addressed that myDV are sending non-UK spec goods. And that myDV are blatantly avoiding paying import tax.
Not once did they update their website to inform customers of delays. Or instantly remedy the overcharging, which I am sure is possible. It is due to being charged in dollars, plain and simple and WRONG. The website now admits they have HQ in the USA. It does not say they ship from there, which is a different matter entirely, especially when you consider the warranty.

This has really wound me up to say the least. I would not try and bring a company down, but protecting consumers from dealing with this company is a different matter entirely. In my opinion, myDV ARE deceiving people at large and need to be made answerable, not allowed to flaunt these rubbish excuses as answers :flame:

Dawn Hindle

[Webwatch]

After reading the article it does nothing but confirm that this is a last ditch attempt by a company of poor standing to try and defend its lack of competence.

The last statement trying to blame customers is priceless, and just shows that they have no understanding of the internet consumer market.

In the UK we expect orders to be delivered within 3 days maximum unless otherwise stated at the time of ordering.

The statement by Wolf is a last ditch attempt to try and maintain some credibility which was lost a long time ago.

The name MYDV will become a benchmark by which all dodgy internet companies are measured.

Like Wolf's name Suggest's the whole article is Fowl.

[MatrixWatch]

“This is outright fraud,” said John Kachurick, president of MatrixWatch.org, a Web site focusing on fraud on the Web.

Yeah!! The Pres lays down the hatchet. Awesome.

And Jokach is right in the context of that article. The overcharges, location misrepresentation, and partial refunds is outright fraud. If it weren't, then the AG wouldn't see the need to act.

Way to get quoted!

[MatrixWatch]

I noticed, though, that the article didn't mention how MyDv is sending gray products. And passing the buck to the payment processors and call centers will not make the problem with MyDv's customers any better. MyDv needs to win their customers back, or they'll totally sink.

[Scottyoz]

As a scot now living in australia (only 2 months), I ordered on 15/12/05, a cannon digital camera from ozdv, as I completely believed it to be an australian company. Obviously to be writing this here, I now know how deceptive this NEPCO,Lp company are. Again as with the UK the web site seems completely ozzy, but on checking my credit card balance I found a charge for changing $A to $US.
I have informed the Office of fair trading in my state, and have also notified my credit card company, as by reading the comments already posted I do not hold out much hope of seeing my camera, or what I exactly ordered. Will update as it goes.....

[misty30xx]

Whilst the media attention is good and highlights myDV and its dubious activities, it doesnt show the total disregard for consumer rights, nor the lack of apparent concern for its sending goods not fit for the purpose for which they were intended.

we are not orchastrating a campaign against myDV, we are trying to claw back money which was obtained without consent, and goods which are always in the next dispatch batch but fail to arrive within the reasonable parameters of time, and to point out that the company fails to respond to questions, queries and attempted contact from customers.

If the problems highlighted above were addressed with half as much vigor as the defensive comments and lame excuses made in the media from myDV and nepco officials, then i am sure that the business would not be in the position it is in now.
It is a sad state of affairs when it comes to relying on legal proceedings to get a company to repsond to your concerns.

Take note myDV the word is out... people are starting to make informed decisions regarding where they spend their hard earned money, and your actions based on testimonials, and our united efforts serve to warn others of the likely outcome of dealing with your company.

[churchward]

You are right Misty the word is getting around. I know I never miss an opportunity to tell people about this dreadful company and the way they do business.

I have now begun to encounter other people who when I mention MyDV in conversation are saying they have heard about their bad reputation.

"Word of Mouth" or rather the old Grapevine can be a very effective way of helping to stop others being fooled by myDV as we have.

The wording in the article about it is a few customers fault is laughable. It shows myDVs concern for who buys from them and how they provide a service to their customer. Whatever happend to "The customer is always right" or "The customer is King"

[misty30xx]

and i my case this rings very true..."once bitten, twice shy"....i shall never again listen to my head when purchasing online....i will always from this day forth doubt every company until i can prove otherwise...
with little effort you should be able to find out everything you need to know about your prospective suppliers ethics, practices, and reviews...

This is one i will chalk up to experience, but trust me when i say i will never fall in this trap again.. ;)

[prawnstar]

I have submitted the following reply to the article, hopefully they will see fit to publish it alongside the original:


23rd December 2005

Dear Sir / Madam,

I am writing with response to the article “AG tells Web site to clean up its act”, published on 22nd December 2005 by David Harris.

I am one of the customers who has experienced problems ordering with myDV, one of the subsidiaries of Nepco.

I would like to point out the following:

1. With regards to the overcharges being made, I find it hard to believe that this fault lies solely with the credit card processor. This has reportedly been happening to customers for months. Surely good customer service would rely on this being addressed after one or two instances at most. Furthermore, why send customers an invoice stating the charge in British Pounds, when they are charged in US Dollars?
2. I note that the Waltham address has been added to the myDV website. This is a step in the right direction. However, it only states that this is the company’s headquarters, and does not make customers aware that the goods are also shipped from the USA. This is the key information that customers need, and is still being avoided.
3. There is no mention in your article of the fact that customers are not told they will not be receiving UK specification goods. For example, a camcorder that uses the NTSC format is no good for a customer who has a UK PAL television. Furthermore, as these products are “grey” imports, UK consumers will not be covered by a manufacturer’s warranty. Are they then supposed to ship items to the USA if they experience problems with their purchase? If so, surely they should be aware of this fact.
4. Mr Wolf states that this is a “global economy”. There is no question of that. And there is no question that some consumers would be happy getting electrical goods at low prices, even if they are from the USA, but surely everyone should be made explicitly aware of this before ordering.
5. I am also concerned about reports that when customers are receiving goods, the value of each package is reportedly stated as $100. This is an evasion of import taxes that are compulsory in the UK. If Nepco want to trade in this country, perhaps they should bear this in mind.

I would also like to point out that people are not “orchestrating a campaign against [Nepco]” without foundation. If Nepco address the above issues, as well as those mentioned in your article, then people would not have complaints to make. Perhaps instead of blaming the consumer, Mr Wolf should address why these customers feel so angry in the first place?

Yours,

Dawn Hindle

[misty30xx]

i wish to write also....what email address did you send it to..?

[prawnstar]

I used the online "contact us" form that can be found here (http://www.heraldinteractive.com/contactus/index.bg)

I selected Site = "TownOnline", Subject = "Opinion"

[mercinary]

I think all victims should write to this newspaper with their opinion!!!

-Merc

[churchward]

Well done Prawnstar. A nicely written and reasoned response to a poor article. I shall try and do the same.

In the meantime I shall be away from all technology with my familly on the farm in North Devon. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Peaceful New Year.

[prawnstar]

Just to let you all know, I also e-mailed this directly to David Harris. He asked if I wanted it published as a letter to the editor. I said yes and this will now be done...

I am really glad that there has been the opportunity to respond to the comments made by Nepco. And I certainly hope they read it, though whether they take any notice is another matter!

[mercinary]

This is good news. I'd again suggest that customers who have something to say about this article write a letter to the editor.

-Merc

[Bob Williams]

i'm not particularly thrilled the way the article was spun, and its important to note that Matrixwatch is NOT in the interest of attacking businesses the way that this article states.

I think Matrixwatch is currently pretty dominated with negative posts/threads etc etc about MyDv or YMMSS etc, so I would imagine that Mr Wolf or Paradies are just as unhappy with Matrixwatch as they are with the mydv-scam website.

However, I don't really see how they can argue that this is unjustified. I agree that the article does seem to fail to address exactly why Mydv has been so successful with orders and why its caused so many problems.

The reason's for their success is simple, yet flawed.

The offer products (such as the sony psp) that are unavailable (or very expensive) in countries such as the UK, to customers in the UK and posing as a UK company.

Thousands of people will search for PSP's, ipods, cameras etc and their business will have boomed in the months towards christmas. I would guess that 90% + of their sales come from google.

I would suspect that every customer who purchases an item, believes Mydv are based in the UK, which the news article fails to address.

Mydv's success is due to this factor and their advertising with Google. It seems as though they may have stopped their ads with Google now though?

In summary, I think the news article fails to address exactly why Mydv has been successful, which is primarily by deceiving its customers.

[MatrixWatch]

Nice respose, Prawnster. One thing you didn't mention was how MyDv is not giving 100% refunds when requested...adding further injury to the overcharges that were made upon the initial purchase.

And to add upon what Merc said, I would definitely suggest sending more letters to the editor, but only if they add to what has already been sent.

The last thing we would want is for that paper to stop reading the responses because there are just too many of them. A few quality letters is better than a large quantity of redundant ones.

[prawnstar]

Nice respose, Prawnster. One thing you didn't mention was how MyDv is not giving 100% refunds when requested...adding further injury to the overcharges that were made upon the initial purchase.

I think this was already in the article, although maybe not as explicitly as it could have been, but mentioned in the information that David wrote about the experience I had with myDV, so I didn't want to cover it again...

The last thing we would want is for that paper to stop reading the responses because there are just too many of them. A few quality letters is better than a large quantity of redundant ones

Perhaps someone else could send a response detailing the fact myDV are not giving full refunds. This would add to my letter without repeating it as Watwchdog suggests.

[Webwatch]

Does anyone know if Nepco can get round the court ruling by setting up another site called www.pspuniverse.co.uk

Seems a bit strange that a new Nepco site should pop up using the same old tricks and still be allowed to trade when the others can't.

[jokach]

My understanding of the lawsuit is that it covers the parent company Nepco and its operations, so they technically should not be allowed to setup another site without following the provisions of the stipulated agreement. This is why the issues came up with the gardenready.co.uk site as well having to make certain statements on their site to satisfy the agreement .........

jokach

[prawnstar]

In order to achieve this objective, we source products from, and ship products to, all over the world usually from the United States. This gives us savings that we then pass along to you.
Is this a step in the right direction? I am not convinced that it is explicit enough with the .co.uk domain being used again, and a UK telephone number (which again they have in the wrong format!), but I suppose they can argue they have supplied the information...

More alarming is this statement:

All warranties on items are directly from the manufacturer.
This is rubbish, as we all know grey imports are NOT covered by the manufacturer, which means there is no cover at all for these items.

Geotrust have put their seal on this site, and people will be using it... Has anyone notified the AG's Office???

[spijker]

According to this article MyDV is not yet closed down. And in fact MyDV.co.uk and MyDV.com are still fully operational. I agree with the complaints regarding commission charges for orders booked in the UK in Pound Sterling. Nowhere on the UK website is there any indication that the orders are booked in USD and that currency fluctuations and commission charges can be attracted. In fact the order confirmation is stating the GBP price. This is a matter I am pursuing with my bank now as, whether it is a large or small amount of money involved, this does not sound right. One gives permission to withdraw the amount as agreed on-line and confirmed by the invoice and that means that no larger amount should be deducted.
I learnt about the problems with MyDV through DHL. DHL is or was the company that shipped the orders from the US, not Kuehne & Nagel. I got a DHL tracking number for my order. Low and behold the tracking system confirmed that DHL had picked up the order and shipped the order. And there the trail stopped. When I finally chased DHL about the order, they suddenly told me that they had stopped trading with DHL in the USA, that MyDV.com is under police investigation and that their Security Department is involved. Today I pressed DHL customer service again very hard. They are not a very helpful lot. I advised them about my contact with MyDV.co.uk and MyDV.com and that they dismiss any of their claims including that they actually have stopped trading with them. In fact MyDV.co.uk claims that DHL lost the parcel and that they have shipped a replacement and will give me a DHL (!!) tracking number shortly. DHL customer service in the UK will not say much other than that MyDV has breached their security system and have put information on the tracking system. So basically they claim that the information on their tracking system is completely false and not from them. Therefore the involved of their Security Department. Well if that is proven to be true, then we are talking about really criminal offenses and the consequences would be more than just closing down MyDV. I can hardly believe it. But in view of the fact that MyDV is still fully functioning despite everything makes me wonder.

[mercinary]

Prawnstar:

Check out this!

http://www.townonline.com/roslindale/opinion/view.bg?articleid=397121


Letter: Claims against Nepco are legitimate
Thursday, December 29, 2005

Due to the holidays, the letters deadline for the Jan. 5 issue of Transcript is 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 30. There will be no exceptions.
To the editor:
I am writing with response to the article "AG tells Web site to clean up its act," published on Dec. 22 by David Harris.
I am one of the customers who has experienced problems ordering with myDV, one of the subsidiaries of Nepco.
I would like to point out the following:
With regards to the overcharges being made, I find it hard to believe that this fault lies solely with the credit card processor. This has reportedly been happening to customers for months. Surely good customer service would rely on this being addressed after one or two instances at most. Furthermore, why send customers an invoice stating the charge in British pounds when they are charged in U.S. dollars?
I note that the Waltham address has been added to the myDV Web site. This is a step in the right direction. However, it only states that this is the company's headquarters, and does not make customers aware that the goods are also shipped from the USA. This is the key information that customers need, and is still being avoided.
There is no mention in your article of the fact that customers are not told they will not be receiving UK specification goods. For example, a camcorder that uses the NTSC format is no good for a customer who has a UK PAL television. Furthermore, as these products are "grey" imports, UK consumers will not be covered by a manufacturer's warranty. Are they then supposed to ship items to the USA if they experience problems with their purchase? If so, surely they should be aware of this fact.
Mr. Wolf states that this is a "global economy." There is no question of that. And there is no question that some consumers would be happy getting electrical goods at low prices, even if they are from the USA, but surely everyone should be made explicitly aware of this before ordering.
I am also concerned about reports that when customers are receiving goods, the value of each package is reportedly stated as $100. This is an evasion of import taxes that are compulsory in the UK. If Nepco want to trade in this country, perhaps they should bear this in mind.
I would also like to point out that people are not "orchestrating a campaign against [Nepco]" without foundation. If Nepco addresses the above issues, as well as those mentioned in your article, then people would not have complaints to make. Perhaps instead of blaming the consumer, Mr. Wolf should address why these customers feel so angry in the first place?
Dawn Hindle
Coventry, England


WELL DONE!

-Merc

[prawnstar]

Thanks Merc - glad to see it published. Redresses the balance of opinion, and it hasn't been altered in anyway, which is good.

Fingers crossed it is another small step in getting Nepco to be answerable to the stress and anxiety they have caused to so many people!

[knight2000fs]

I'm honestly offended by this. This suggests that we (Matrixwatch and all the victims of this site) are purposely attacking mydv!

The spin of this article is very one-sided....

-Merc

Load of rubbish why would we make it up :rant: were just unsatisfied with paying lots to get complete rubbish jap crap and on the top being overcharged up to £95 (I was lucky only being charged £5)

[prawnstar]

pspuniverse is one of the companies that is run under the NEPCO umbrella, the same as myDV.

In fact some people have been successful in getting refunds even when they have paid by debit card.

This FAQ sticky (http://www.matrixwatch.org/forums/showthread.php?t=3561) might be helpful

Good luck!

[Storic]

"Wolf defended the company, putting blame on customers who he said were trying to bring his business down.

“It appears that some people are orchestrating a campaign against us,” he said. “We’re an above-the-board business.”"

If this is supposed to be an "above board company" why on earth do the invoices included with goods, for instance, £366.60 (charged to my credit card account) state that the goods are only worth $100.00? Do "above board companies always understate the value of the goods they are exporting?

Why do the telephone representatives of mydv.co.uk make promises they do not keep? Why do mydv.co.uk send out foreign goods to UK customers without notifying the customer that they do so, and that there may be incompatiblities when using them in the UK? Why do they overcharge UK customers and only send out "part orders"?

I was of the opinion that perhaps I was dealing with a company that had "bitten off more than they could chew". Having dealt with mydv.co.uk and been told so many lies, I am now of the opinion that this company is deliberately defrauding customers - and I am one such customer. :flame:

I am busy composing a letter to our local newspapers, warning people that any website that is affilliated to Nepco - should be avoided like the plague and shall tell them why!!! :rant:

I aint finished with mydv.co.uk by a long chalk. :nono:

Storic

[Barnaby]

.... absolutely right, and neither are most of us. I am still battling with my CC company who are as evasive as myDV.co.uk.