Friday, August 17, 2012

Ars Sacra - Caveat Emptor (1)

Back in 2009, this blogspot warned of the rip-offs being perpetrated by Hayes & Finch, clerical suppliers based in England and this was moreso in relation to currency exchange.

However, there is now a new rip-off merchant on the block and they are based in Poland, operating under the name Ars Sacra (www.chasubles.eu) and they are to be avoided at all costs as they are, after careful investigation, nothing short of effective scammers.

We were first tipped off about them late 2011 by 2 clergy (1 Ireland and 1 in France) in relation to payments being taken for goods but the goods not being supplied. This then developed into the goods being delivered but not what was ordered....and then Ars Sacra charging the customer to send the (wrong) goods back and failing to provide the goods originally ordered.

CW at the time could not comment until recently as we were (and are) investigating this shoddy practice but now we can confirm due to another recent interaction with them which seems to yet again bear all the imprints of more fleecing of customers and expecting to get away with it.

So, let us now advise you how this works and perhaps save you from being taken in and lose money to this online scam....

* you create an online account with them which is all fine and dandy

* when you are shopping you add to your cart as per normal

* then when you go to checkout it offers you the opportunity to pay in a few  different ways including Paypal

* if you choose to pay by Paypal then it asks you to log into your Paypal account and authorise the deduction from your account

>> it is at this point where things get rather interesting in that when you authorise the payment on your Paypal account you then have to check the account with Ars Sacra to ensure it has been paid....and if you are not careful enough, it might be twice that you are charged.

At the moment, there is a few ongoing issues with this behaviour of Ars Sacra that have been raised with a few debit and credit payment agencies as this has happened on more than one occasion and Ars Sacra are not in the least bit co-operative.

Over the next few days, we will bring you a few issues relating to this company and how it rips off and then attempts to deny any wrongdoing....and we are aware that some people have even gone so far as to involve the Polish embassy in their respective countries just to get through to Ars Sacra....

We will flag when we are going to post and we will ensure we have the documentary evidence to hand when we do so.....watch this space!!