Greetings all,

If you have the time, pleae let me know what you think:

Today, i had my first truely negative online/phone sword buying e xp erience. For the moment, this company shall be left un-named...and im still pretty mad, so please forgive my bad grammar and spelling.

Firstly, a little history. I have ordered from this website for the first time this past December, early Dec 2009. My first two purchases (great closeout prices) went smooth and i was quite happy with the transactions. A few days later, i was given a follow up phone call. This seemed out of the ordinary, but at first pretty neat. A company asking me how my e xp eriences were and other swords and weaponay i was interested in - and we chatted about new products and so forth. They then started telling me about this one great oppertunity to purchase an investment sword for a great price. I listened, and said 'no thank you'. They kept on pushing, i tried changing the subject to a different sword - the strategy worked...but... The other sword was one i was 50/50 on. They offered it to me a a similar 'blow out' sale price... At first i said 'no' and continued to tell them i wasn't interested in buying anything. After another 10min of them pushing...i decided it wasn't the end of the world - and at that price - it went from 50/50 (on that one sword) to more like 85/15 - so i decided to say 'yes'... That entire phone conversation took almost 1hour....

Then....that last sword i purchased mid December arrived, but without a certificate and the included DVD bonus and poster. I emailed them the day it arrived - they replied stating it's on it's way. Early January - i emailed them again...they replied saying it's on it's way. End of January - i emailed them again - they replied asking me what's missing? I followed up on that email - with no reply. I waited 2 weeks, and emailed them again...but still, no reply....

Today - as in 3 hours ago - i decided to call them. At first i was worried, since the first 3 (of 5) phone numbers did not work.... However, i finally got in touch with an individual... We discussed the matter at hand - and i got it resolved - they claimed they are sending my missing items - that took 10min total.

This is where it gets interesting.... They asked me for my full VISA information - which i thought was standard, to not only verify my past orders, but also to resend me the missing products. And they started chatting again about new products and my interests. Then, out of nowhere - i was transferred to an individual. At first i thought this was the lady to confirm my order that had to be resent (like last time0. But she started telling me about this one great promo offer. I said 'no' right off the bat (learnt from last time). I even told her that i was given this speech before - and also was clear that i called not to purchase anything, but to fix my order from last time. She reassured me it has been fixed, and continued talking about this deal - and since i'm a student she talked to her VP and got an even better deal. She went on to tell me how it's a great investor piece etc etc. Basically it was 3 signed swords retailing for $50 000, but for me it would be $8 000. I said i just couldn't afford it at the time, and that was it. So she asked me to hold - she came back after talking to her VP again. Since i was in a special category of being a student etc etc etc - they will give it to me the 3 signed swords for $2000. Now, being me, i knew the value of the swords, and the price it costs for these certain actors' signatures....that price seemed reasonable. But i asked her to hold since i needed to check with my bank (just a formality, since i already was going to say 'no'). I got back on the phone...told her 'no', since i already had 1 of those swords, and the 2nd one i was only 50/50 on, and the 3rd sword i like, but wasn't planning on purchasing it for a while. She replied: "It's too late, we already put your order through". So then we starting arguing for a good 20min...(this is already 30min into the phone coversation). Her argument was that being signed swords - it is non-refundable, and that over the past 1hr recorded phone convo, i told her that i wanted to buy these swords. My argument was at first that i never said i wanted to, in addition i told them from the start i called only to fix this old problem, not to buy! My argument (realizing i'll try to play it from their side), changed to - well why can't you cancel my order? The only sent an order through, nothings been done specifically for me that was un-doable at this point in time. So, after much arguing - i asked to speak to her manager/VP. He was in a meeting. We argued a little more. Then her VP walked in the room and she talked to him. He offered me now $1500 for the 1 sword i liked, a newer signed sword, and one more item from their website (neither of which interested me....and their other swords aren't that e xp ensive anyways...). They told me it was a big deal that they refunded me $500 after the $2000 non-refundable order went through - and how this lady i was on the phone with was actually on my side.... So then i accused her of being a pushy salesperson, and pressuring me into a purchase i did not want to make. We chatted for a bit about this... At the time i was thinking what else i could do. If i hung up, my order is still through. If i called VISA to have this cancelled....they could try to sue me (i checked on their website....it did state that these swords are nonrefundable). It would be their word against mine - in an international transaction... So we chatted for a bit...we both calmed down a little. And we came to a compramise - the one sword i liked (but didn't want to buy) for $1000, wet ink signed by the actor with a certificate.... Granted, the offer of 3 swords for $1500 would have been a better deal - but i was the point where i wanted them to have as little of my money as possible, and never shop from them again! And even if the other swords were worth the extra $500 - it wouldn't be worth it for me.... Oh, almost forgot...they offered me free shipping the entire time. Now after i confirmed the order of $1000 - she stated "So in the end, the final cost is now $1200". Apparently shipping isn't free to Canada, but she was kind enough to reduce the $400 shipping charge to $200 just for me.....

Well - that's the summary for the over 1 hour phone conversation i had. I called about getting an order fixed from mid Dec - to now having spent $1200 on a sword that's arriving in 1 to 2 weeks....

*Sigh....

Don't get me wrong - i know it's a good deal, and the money is actually worth what i've bought. In addition, it's a signed limited edition sword...so it is an investment piece - and a sword i contemplated purchasing eventually (but the sword itself is worth under $200).... It's just the principle of the matter that's got me fuming!!!

Sorry everyone - but thanks for listening to my rant...

...........


Never. ever ever ever ever ever ever EVER would I have settled on anything. From what it sounds like, they just charged your card for an item you never ordered and said you "wanted" it? *** is that? If the mods don't mind, I'd be interested to know what company this is. 1200 bucks is no small amount of money to be forced into spending... Quite frankly they stole your money and sent you a sword. That doesn't fix the fact that they stole your money. But technically once you settled, bam... no more case for you.

I think I may know what company you are talking about. If you don't mind pming me with the name. We can discuss some stuff.

*** is right, and the mods don't mind at all, or at least this one doesn't.

This is a cautionary tale, and you should publish the name of that company here so that not a single one more of our members gets roped into something like this.

Jash, my friend, you got scammed, and you won't know exactly how bad until that sword is actually in your hands, along with your visa statement. Furthermore, consider paying extra close attention to those statements over the next few moments. Were I in your shoes, I would call to cancel my card and obtain a new one with a new number.

It's 2:30am, and i work in 7 hours...but i would like to discuss things further. In the meantime, as requested:

http://www.legendaryheroes.com

The reason i settled - the phone convo was going on 1.5 hours almost, and they already had all the info / VISA stuff down, so if i just hung up - it still would have went through. And yes, i shall be watching my VISA very closely - and still considering calling VISA and asking them to cancel this order and change #'s. I've also considered posting that same story on all sword/collector forums i am a member of (5 or 6 i think), even all the way upto SFI... BUT, i just don't want to create a huge fuss that they'll catch wind off before i even get my sword - just in case they decide not to send it and further the problem. I hope that made sense - it's late and i'm tired...lol.

I was thinking - If i do call VISA and ask them to cancel that transaction and then my card.... This company has me recorded on the phone saying i accepted the charges of $1200 total for that item. Could they then follow up on that creating a further problem? Legally speaking... Also, this is an international matter now as well...does that also not complicate things?

I figure i have 2 options at the moment:
1) Call VISA, cancel this order then my card - and be prepared for what may follow.
2) Wait until i get my sword, then post this story on every forum i am a member of - taking the $1200 hit as a lesson, or maybe some good will come from discussing it on other forums...

Sorry for the confusion - as u can tell, i have no idea - this is the first time i've encountered something like this. Any advice, help, opinions, and ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thanks (i think i should get some sleep....lol)

The problem now lies with the fact that they have you recorded as acccepting the charges. This is a common scam tactic used over the phone, and one that will unfortunately legally entrap you into the transaction. Of course, they could be lying about the conversation being recorded, but I've heard of similar things happening before, and I know that these kind of operations do, in fact, record you. You should have had all your wits about you at all times, and have been very careful with what you said, but then again, you probably weren't suspecting anything was amiss, and hindsight is always 20/20.

At any rate, I know as a fact that Visa will always side with the customer when your call them and order a transaction cancelled. The burden of proof lies upon the merchant. Again... unfortunately, I fear you have given them that proof by relating all your card details over the phone, and then at some point accepting that they send you the merchandise. Rest assured these guys will playback only the relevant portions to Visa, but it will likely be enough to convince them that the transaction is legit and that Visa will then be bound to not cancel it. Nevertheless, it never hurts to try and I would definitely give Visa a call, if only to cancel the card because these people are clearly not trustworthy and they now hold your information. Not safe.

Furthermore, and as you pointed out, if they get a whiff of Visa asking them questions, they can withhold shipping the sword and cause you further problems. So, question now is, how badly do you want this sword now that you are ankle-deep in this mess? Do be aware that most credit card transactions have a time limit on how long they can be disputed for. Typically it is about three months, but in some cases it can be much shorter. If you are going to pursue that path, don't wait very long. I hate to tell you this, but they can delay shipping you that sword, giving you all kinds of lame excuses for the delay, when in truth they are merely waiting for this dispute time to e xp ire so that then you have no avenue of recourse with Visa.

I don't know what else to tell you at this point. I hope it all works out in the end, and if no money back, that you at least get what you paid for. If not, then your options are few and difficult.

Also, thanks for posting the name of their business. It shall stand here as a clear warning for our members not to engage in transactions with people that resort to these despicable tactics. One last thing that you can do is pick up the phone, call the Better Business Bureau and lodge an official complaint against these guys. They won't get your money back for you, but enough bad word of mouth and complaints to the BBB can seriously harm a business in the long run.

Jash,
First, thanks for posting this and the name of the company (sounds like we will all be avoiding them).
I think you should contact Visa immediately and inform them of a potential dispute. That you are concerned you may not get what you ordered. Tell them about the way they do business and that your concerned about them having your card info and possible future transactions that you don't approve.
They may close out that card and give you a new one just as a precaution.
The whole thing sounds shady. When someone is willing to claim an item to be worth $50k and turn around and reduce the price by 10's of 1000's, it's got scam all over it.
Even if they did record the conversation, think back, what would Visa hear? A pressured sale and the rest of what was said. Visa might decide to revoke their privilege to accept CC's.

Haha! I knew it. I was totally almost scammed by them as well. They tried selling me a UC Strider sword for $800, oh no $600 because I'm a student, oh well if I buy today $400 including shipping. And they could do it in payments of $100. I told them no, no, no and that a local comic shop had it for $100. They continued calling me about three times a day for almost a week. Every time I told them no, no, no. Finally, I got them to stop by putting a friend of mine on the phone and she was like, oh well my son is under 18 so you should never have been talking to him in the first place.

They never called back. So if you are a college student as well you could easily find a older girlfriend to do the same thing. They HATE dealing with minors. You can easily say that you lied about your age or something. All I know is something similar happened through the ticket site Fandango. they signed me up for something and took over $200 out of my account without my knowledge. Pulled the under 18 card boom all the money magically appears with a little extra. Worth a shot.

Oh and dont take the $1200 as a hit. That would pay for a good part of a semester of school. I wouldn't do it as a student. Let me know once you read the post so I can edit.

[quote=""Jash""]I figure i have 2 options at the moment:
1) Call VISA, cancel this order then my card - and be prepared for what may follow.
2) Wait until i get my sword, then post this story on every forum i am a member of - taking the $1200 hit as a lesson, or maybe some good will come from discussing it on other forums...[/quote]

Wow, this company sounds sketchy to say the least!

Jash, you've said you do want this sword inparticular, and the price is right for you, right? This company obviously has a scammy and questionable tactics. In my opinion, if you want this in your collection then go with option #2. With the amount of people on this forum (registered and not), and the other forums you frequent that will read your story, the damage to this company's reputation will take care of it's self.

Sorry to hear about your negative e xp erience, Jash, but I hope it all works out in the end and you get what you're paying for, buddy.

hi jash,

I would quickly see if there is anything your bank to do because they should help you as they are dealing with your money. Is it possible for you to change your details, if so then do it!

Is it possible for you to put blocks on your bank account which stops people taking money out?

Other than that I have not further help. I really hope you get this resolved as soon as you can.

In canada can you report companies to the local governments?

[quote=""Valkrist""]You should have had all your wits about you at all times, and have been very careful with what you said, but then again, you probably weren't suspecting anything was amiss, and hindsight is always 20/20.
Do be aware that most credit card transactions have a time limit on how long they can be disputed for. Typically it is about three months, but in some cases it can be much shorter. If you are going to pursue that path, don't wait very long. I hate to tell you this, but they can delay shipping you that sword, giving you all kinds of lame excuses for the delay, when in truth they are merely waiting for this dispute time to e xp ire so that then you have no avenue of recourse with Visa.[/quote]
You are correct Val, i should have had my wits about me. But as you stated, everything seemed fine and in control, until I took them off 'hold' and said 'no', followed by "it's too late, we already put the transaction through"...and it just went downhill from there.... And do not worry, if i do dispure this circumstance...it will be either Friday or early next week (i shall e xp lain below...)

[quote=""Thranduil""]Even if they did record the conversation, think back, what would Visa hear? A pressured sale and the rest of what was said. Visa might decide to revoke their privilege to accept CC's.[/quote]
And that's just it Thranduil...if it was recorded and they only play back certain parts...it's done for... After all the arguing, there's a little speech they give in which you reply 'i agree', 'correct' etc etc... Which then has me saying i agree to the "no refund policy", my age, my contact info etc etc.... Remember, at that point though, i already was told it was too late...i just wanted to get off the phone since it was evident continual arguing was getting me nowhere....

[quote=""RevAnakin""] They never called back. So if you are a college student as well you could easily find a older girlfriend to do the same thing. They HATE dealing with minors. You can easily say that you lied about your age or something. Oh and dont take the $1200 as a hit. That would pay for a good part of a semester of school. I wouldn't do it as a student. Let me know once you read the post so I can edit.[/quote]
LoL - i thought of that as well Rev... Only problem is my first 2 purchases from them were via online, and my 3rd was via phone - all with my name on it, all verified - so couldn't pull that off this time around... You're right, $1200 is quite a bit of money... The thing i'm asking myself is - is $1200 worth spending the rest of the month arguing and dealing with this problem? Keep in mind i'm leaving for school next month (different country), so this is the last thing on my "to do" list...lol

[quote=""Rough666""]Jash, you've said you do want this sword inparticular, and the price is right for you, right?[/quote]
Well, i was thinking about that today as well... Let's pretend the sword is what it's claimed to be and then some... And everything works out perfectly well (in relation to the already given circumstance...lol). There's one problem - every time i look at this sword - there will be a dark cloud over it with a gut-splitting feeling of reminding me about this situation. How i was 'fooled' into purchasing a sword that i did not want to... And what makes it worse - it's no cheap $100 sword we're talking about.... So i'm not sure anymore - it is a nice sword/investment...but....u know....lol

So for today:

I obviously spent all day thinking about this situation - and there are a few updates. At first i thought - well i'm already in the hole $1200, so let's see what i can do... I called them back, and got to talking a different person (male this time), who was not only friendlier, but also a lot more knowledgable about their products. I asked him a few questions:

1) Since i was offered 3 swords for $1500 before, and i did not want the other 2 - but now opted for the less of a deal option of 1 sword for $1000 - can i still get the 1 bonus sword for free? Or, even a full dvd set or something to compensate?

2) Seeing how my last 3 individual order of swords had a combined shipping rate of less than $100, how can this 1 sword cost $200 to ship? (i was told by the lady from yesterday to call back today to check with the shipping dept.)

3) If i have to ship, can you use any company other than UPS (also i was told to call back today regarding that issue).

At first he tried to sell me more swords (WOW, who woulda' thought, eh???). But i shot him down quite sternly. He seemed a lot more polite - and said he'd call be back (i was on a break at work) and leave a message as to what he could do for me. That was around 2pm...it's now almos 1am...still no phone call....lol.

I have also been talking to people that might know more about this situation than myself. 1 - my boss at work, used to be one of the head individuals in a huge Canadian company that has been in business for a long, long time (retail business). 2 - my iaido instructor who is retired, but also does major international (with the US) deals regarding purchasing etc... 3 - a good friend of mine into law, who told me he sent this thread link to HIS LAWYER and will get back to me soon.... As i await #3, the first 2 came to the same conclusion from their vast e xp ertise:
***Call VISA, tell them exactly what happened - with my credit history and good standing, VISA will side with me, and tell them to block this company from making future claims on my card. If the sword's already shipped, just deny it, and it's sent back. Worst case scenario - they try legal ramifications - but, would they send an US lawyer to Canada to follow up on a $1200 purchase?!? And if so, VISA has my side of the story, regardless of what they play back from that conversation... Technically, i did not authorize them charging my VISA, i only accepted the charges after it was "too late"....

But - one individual aslo recommended i email this company to tell them i was dissatisified with my e xp erience - would that not then counter-act what i plan to do with VISA - would it be best just to leave it be....

Before i do anything, i'm going to wait to hear back from my friend's lawyer... But in sum, i'm now to the point where i'm highly considering arguing this issue.... (And now to bed...geez, left home at 9am, got home at 11pm, it's now 1am, and i work at 8am - i'm getting too old for this...lol).

Once again, thanks for the opinions

Sounds like a scammer site. First off, the sword you actually phurchased lol. You only recieved the sword, and not the other stuff that was supposed to be included, so it might be a cheap non licensed replica.

Secondly, all the pushing and stuff, typical scammer stuff. An honest salesman would have given up long before.

Third, and most important, them asking for your full VISA information. With all due respect, giving them the info was extremely foolish. When you buy items from honest sites, the places where you write in your VISA info won't even be visible to the owners of the site, that stuff goes directly through VISA.

I say let them steal some money from you, god knows they will. Transfer most of your cash over to another account, and keep, say, a hundred bucks on your VISA account. Let them steal the cash, and let hell lose. If you can prove that they stole that cash, you can probably get everything else back too.

Also, I didn't get the shipping cost. 200 bucks to canada was supposed to be a special friend price or something? I pay between 50 and 100 bucks for shipping when I buy stuff from the US. and I live in friggin' Norway, that's on the other side of the world. Of course, I'm talking American bucks, and you Canadian I assume, but heck, the Canadian dollar can't be worth that little lol.

Well that's just down right bad, that company screams scam...I'd wait for the items to come and as soon as I got them immediatley call VISA and cancel the account...although darlaks idea isn't a bad one either.

Wow sorry they did that. Makes you wonder how some people can live with themselves... anyhoo, thanks for posting the site. Definitely be steering clear of them for any future purchases.

[quote=""Darlak""]Sounds like a scammer site. First off, the sword you actually phurchased lol. You only recieved the sword, and not the other stuff that was supposed to be included, so it might be a cheap non licensed replica.
Third, and most important, them asking for your full VISA information. With all due respect, giving them the info was extremely foolish.[/quote]
Well, the sword is ligit. Made by Marto. And like i said, didn't have problems with them the first 2 orders i made...so, had no reason to doubt them the 3rd time. Also, the 3rd order was done via phone - so my VISA had to be given over the phone that time as well...and they didn't put my order through without my consent that time - which is what made this last (fourth) order so confusing....

UPDATE:

Well, a bit has happened over the last week. I did call VISA and told them about what transpired. Here's the thing - Unfortunetly VISA cannot help me out at this point in time. We discussed the situation, the individual was completely sympathetic to my side of the story. But, VISA has to take the company's rules into consideration - "non refundable, non returnable". And they also agreed with my point of view that if the convo was recorded, that company will only play back the key parts which would help their side of the story. The ONLY thing VISA can do at the moment is refund my money if the sword does not arrive in the quoted time....

Now here's the thing.... At first i was told the sword would ship out in a week, arrive 1 week after - so 2 weeks. Not bad. But as per my last phone convo - if i wanted the additional engraving - there's a 2 week waiting list, then 2 weeks to ship - so 4 weeks. If not, just the standard signature - it's now 2 to 3 weeks. I have been trying to call them back almost every day to talk to that one lady that "sold" me the product initially to tell her i'm moving out of Canada mid-April, and i need to make sure i'll have the sword within the first 2 weeks of April. But, she's been "out of the office" since that last week Thursday... *cough *cough

Oh, that other guy finally called me back a few days ago: Firstly, he e xp lained that $200 in shipping to the fact that they charge shipping costs based on the value of the sword....hhhmmm.... Not much i can really argue here... Secondly, instead of trying to get me a better deal on those "extra" products, he called me back with a "great deal" to try to sell them. I told him i'll call him back.......lol.

In sum - i need to firstly get a hold of them to get an ETA based on their shipping. That way, if it doesn't arrive - VISA's on my side (they've already red flagged this company on my account). So i was thinking - if i post this e xp erience on EVERY main sword forum out there - and even if they catch wind and hold my sword back - i'll win with VISA and get my money back.......

Thoughts?

Sounds like one of two things will happen: you either get your sword, or you get your money back. Only question now is which scenario will make you feel better? Listening to you, it sounds like you will be happy either way, so that's all that really matters.

There may be no rules on shipping but it seems to me that shipping, cargo, freight charges have always been based on weight. Maybe you should call Visa back and ask them about that, excessive over charging based on price rather than the long standing weight.

Hopefully you get your sword the day after its supposed to be there so you can get the sword and the money!

[quote=""Thranduil""]There may be no rules on shipping but it seems to me that shipping, cargo, freight charges have always been based on weight. Maybe you should call Visa back and ask them about that, excessive over charging based on price rather than the long standing weight.[/quote]

While what you say is definitely true, you are forgetting one thing Jash mentioned: the value of the sword. The higher the value of the item being shipped, the higher the additional insurance, taxes, and customs costs, all of which can be lumped under 'shipping.'

[quote=""Valkrist""]While what you say is definitely true, you are forgetting one thing Jash mentioned: the value of the sword. The higher the value of the item being shipped, the higher the additional insurance, taxes, and customs costs, all of which can be lumped under 'shipping.'[/quote]
True, true, didn't think about that.

Thanks guys. You are right, it seems there might still be a (semi) happy ending to this... However, i am currently slightly leaning towards not getting my sword so that i may claim my $1200 back... My friends want to go to Vegas before i leave for school...and i'm sure that money will come in handy...lol

Funny story - today i received a call from this company. It was the lady that sold me my 3rd sword from them. I thought she took over to help my with my shipping questions while the problem lady was out of town. But guess what? She seemed a little hurt that i didn't ask for her for this purchase (seems like they work on commission....), and, low and behold, tried to sell me more swords! Wow...at least these people are persistent...lol.

Anyways. There's a slight problem regarding shipping. During the beginning of this situation, i was told (for just the signature) that i shall receive my sword in roughly 2 weeks. When i called end of last week - there were 2 options. The sole signature would now be 2 to 3 weeks. And if i wanted anything else written on the blade, we're now looking at roughly 4 to 5 weeks. Today, when i finally got a hold of someone to discuss the fact that i'm moving soon... I was given a nice speech as to how difficult it is to put a time on shipping, since it's due to when the actors are there to sign the swords etc etc... So as of today - there's no definite shipping ETA...

So...called VISA... I e xp lained to the nice lady what i was told last week regarding getting my money back if the sword did not arrive in the quoted shipping time. And then asked her how this new development would change the policy. Basically, she said that i must wait at least 30 days from the time of transaction / purchase - and if i still do not have my product, give the company a call to check as to the status - then call VISA. At least VISA knows i'm potentially disputing this purchse from the onset...

I don't know, but I'm starting to get a feeling that says you're getting your money back. These people are yanking your chain way too hard over one stupid sword.

Very true.
Well, not much of an update since last week. I really don't see much point in trying to call them at the moment. I'm not allowed to talk to a manager, and every time i call, they try to push more sales....

Actually, there is one little update:
I went out for dinner with 2 friends - both are buyers for 2 different large Canadian companies. They both recommended (latsr on, almost as a last resort) that i actually contact the manufacturer and let them know how this company does business. So in my case - i should get a hold of Marto and United Cutlery...
Also - later this week, i think i'm going to post this story (without Company Name for now) to a few major sword forums i'm a member of. Maybe someone will have a new idea; but moreso to warn others of this company and how they do business....

Legendary Heroes/Highlander store are the same company, owned by Peter Davis, who is one of the producers and owners of the Highlander property. The quality of the string of Highlander sequels should tell you what kind of business he is involved in. They also had some other division selling Star Trek merchandise a few years ago. I browse the Highlander forums so I have heard other similar problems, and have my own story.

I won't go into lengthy details, but I ordered two Highlander swords from them several years ago. They said they were out of stock, but would be in stock in a few weeks, and they charged my card. Long story short, about four months later, long phone calls, and them finally saying "we don't know when these will ship" I finally got the order canceled and a refund. I will never do business with them again. I ended up getting the swords from Battle Orders in the UK, for the same money, including shipping. Took one week!

I know of several people that bought LOTR stuff from them for silly inflated prices. When I pointed out to those people they could be found many places on the web for half what they paid - they got pissed.

Everything exclusive they sell, like Highlander and Xena stuff, is made or was made by Marto in Spain. I read on another forum that Marto is now bankrupt, so be wary of ordering any of that stuff from Legendary Heroes. I think that is why United Cutlery is making licensed Highlander swords now. United sells to lots of dealers, so no surprise that Legendary Heroes sells United's Highlanders higher than just about any other dealer.

Oh, and every few months I still get sales calls from Legendary Heroes/Highlander Store, always with an opening line like, "Hey Dom, we know you are a Huge Highlander fan, and we want to let you know about some special deals we have"- click. Got tired of telling them I never actually got anything from them, so I hang up.

i took the time to read your bad e xp irience,jash.
and i am a littel supriced about buyers laws over there.

here there is a law over here ,hwo say you always have a 14 days refound.and money back garanty.its the law.

if a comperny try to say that ,you will be boundent,to a non refound,deal" and you say yes, maby."(phone scam).then the comperney breaks the buyers/refound laws.and then you can always get your money transaction back thoug the bank,as eny bank has an insurence to cover the loose,of a scam transaction.

then there will be no more truble fore you.the only thing you need is a new ,bank acount number.

and put up this ****y scam comperny ,to evry forum you might visit

Well...normally i wouldn't be too worried, and a refund would be easy to take care of. The issue this time around is that they charged my card for a "wet ink signed" collectable sword - which, unfortunetly, is marketed as "non-refundable, non-returnable"....

Soooo - as per VISA's request - it has been over a month. The "order" was made March 3rd (i believe), and after a couple days of playing phone tag - i managed to finally talk to someone this past April 8th...to get an update.
Wait.
This actually is a little funny.
Apparently the actor who was to sign my sword has been sick - hence the delay in getting my product. It has been over a month, and this company is only NOW sending my sword to Hollywood to be signed... So that "2 to 4 weeks" i was quoted at the onset is obviously over with... So i e xp ected them to say it should be here in a week or two. I thought she said "6 to 8 days". Nope. "6 to 8 WEEKS" from NOW... Remember, i am leaving the country in a week for the next 4 to 5yrs... I told her i wasn't comfortable having the sword shipped to my family as they do not know what this "e xp ensive collectable" entails, and i wanted to be sure everything was in good order (i'm still waiting for the documents from my sword i ordered back early Dec 2009).... They conveniently ignored my concerns...
Wait.
It gets better.
She by-passed the issue by stating that, due to the inconveniance, i was selected to also get a digital picture of my actor signing my sword! Oh Boy! I was sooooo excited.....*cough *cough. That sure makes up for everything... But guess what, it wasn't a freebie to compensate... Oh no, it's a great $1000 offer!!!! I hung up.
So...
Called VISA, they are processing this incident at the moment. Problem is, though, Legendary Heroes now has 45 days to give VISA a good excuse.... Hhhmmm....

Oo yay, now they can try to sell Visa a few thousand dollars in swords

It's become abundantly clear they are just jerking you around and wasting time until the statute of limitations on disputing visa transactions e xp ires, so that when your sword never shows up, you have no leg to stand on if you complain to visa and they tell you you took too long.

Cancel the transaction, get your money back, and file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau against these colossal losers. Visa will tell them where to shove their non-refundable policy when there was clearly no product shipped or received. That amounts to fraud, plain and simple.

[quote=""Valkrist""]It's become abundantly clear they are just jerking you around and wasting time until the statute of limitations on disputing visa transactions e xp ires, so that when your sword never shows up, you have no leg to stand on if you complain to visa and they tell you you took too long.

Cancel the transaction, get your money back, and file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau against these colossal losers. Visa will tell them where to shove their non-refundable policy when there was clearly no product shipped or received. That amounts to fraud, plain and simple.[/quote]
This, this, for goodness' sake, THIS!

Get your money back before it's too late, Jash. No question about it.

This is a scam scenario I've personally witnessed many (too many) times on another forum I'm a member of.

The onus is on you to call Visa and cancel that transaction ASAP so you can get your money back from those swindlers.

[quote=""Jash""]Soooo - as per VISA's request - it has been over a month. The "order" was made March 3rd (i believe), and after a couple days of playing phone tag - i managed to finally talk to someone this past April 8th...to get an update.
...
Called VISA, they are processing this incident at the moment. Problem is, though, Legendary Heroes now has 45 days to give VISA a good excuse.... Hhhmmm....[/quote]

Since Jash has contacted VISA twice, the first time to find out how to proceed to either get his order filled, or to get a refund, and the second time to tell VISA that he’s waited the requisite amount of time, I think he has done all he can, for the moment.

The ball is now in VISA’s court, and they must give the merchant some specified and no doubt legally mandated amount of time to respond – yes, even thieving merchants like LH.

Jash could call VISA in the interim, but they will likely say that they cannot tell him anything until the merchant responds.

So it will be like sitting on pins and needles waiting to see how LH responds to Visa (if they respond at all) and for VISA to make a determination one way or the other.

“The wheels of justice grind slowly”, yet I think they will grind in Jash’s favor.

That's true.

Aha, there's one thing I remembered!

When an item paid for via credit card doesn't ship within the allotted time, as long as the buyer opens up a dispute with the seller via the credit card company, the buyer has the right to withhold payment for the item from the moment the dispute is started until the dispute is settled between everyone.

So, whatever the outcome of Visa's investigation into this dispute, right now Jash shouldn't have a $1200 (or whatever amount it is) bill sitting there gaining interest on his credit card, woohoo!

Once the card is charged it can be very hard to get Visa to refund. I bought a sword from King of Swords.com a few years ago. I know - worst scammer company out there to buy from - and I was warned about them in advance and ordered anyway. They never even stocked the sword they charged my card for. Visa never refunded, but after four months and threatening them with lawsuits, King of **** finally gave my money back.

Visa charged my card for a Yahoo personals account about four months ago. I have never used that service, or anything Yahoo related, and Visa actually called me because it their fraud division was alerted to it. I told them it was bogus, canceled my card, and Visa was supposed to investigate. Visa still has not refunded the charge, and are saying basically that they are not responsible because Yahoo says it is legit, and there is no way to track who stole my card number to open the account. Yahoo refuses to refund because they claim they are not liable, and they actually won't even cancel the account because it is already paid for, though someone is using the account! It is very frustrating.

I guess it really depends on who they're up against and what the circumstances are. I work in the food and beverage industry, and as an office manager who processes payments, I can tell you that any time there has been a dispute between a credit card customer and us, visa always sides with the customer because the burden of proof is on the business to show that the person was actually at the establishment and purchased the goods shown on their receipt.

Just goes to show that there is no set standard for this sort of thing. Online, it is far more difficult to prove things. In either case, I hope visa sides with Jash in this case because the tactics of these scammers are very transparent.

yes,bud .if you are a custumer in a lokal bank,visa is only a international side comperny who provide money tranceaction sevice between costumer and banks all over the world.

then i say, go to your lokal bank and talk your isue ,whit your bankadviser.

antother thing came to my mind ,is that evry postoffice,registrade evry items packs ,whit a batch .nr ore trace nr. send from who to when.
and sens crapy comperney never sendt you enything,why pay then

hey jash,you have not come around whit eny new information,on you trubble yet?

whot about the post office,??they do regisrate evry thing .(in and out).your case might lay on on this ,and confirmes.

good luck ,my freind and plees ceab us updated on your matter.

Apologies for the delayed response. I, along with 2 friends, just did a one week roadtrip down through North-Central US - Dakota, Minn, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Got back this past Tuesday, then severely injured my knee Wednesday night... So, now that i'm out of Emergency Rooms and can't really move much - have some time to catch upon emails...lol.

Only 2 updates, really:

1) LH has been trying to call me every 2 days since i filed the complaint before i left for my trip... Haven't talked to them - and i'm moving out of Canada next week...

2) VISA has credited the $1200US back to my account temporarily... Before it is set in stone as a full refund, they still need to hear back from LH themselves...

Haha look at that you have $1200 back!

[quote=""RevAnakin""]Haha look at that you have $1200 back![/quote]

Read Jash's post again, Rev.

The money is in his account temporarily.

Whether or not it is there permanently depends on which party VISA sides with: Jash , or LH

[quote=""Deimos""]Read Jash's post again, Rev.

The money is in his account temporarily.

Whether or not it is there permanently depends on which party VISA sides with: Jash , or LH [/quote]
Oh, I clearly read his post. $1200 in his account temporarily will stay there.

[quote=""RevAnakin""]$1200 in his account temporarily will stay there.[/quote]
lol - i hope so too, buddy

[quote=""RevAnakin""]Oh, I clearly read his post. $1200 in his account temporarily will stay there.[/quote]
................................or not.

June 2:
So after VISA had almost 2 months to "investigate" the dispute, i received a long letter from them today. Apparently all they needed was a receipt/proof of my purchase along with a 1 page argument from the company. It was actually quite funny to read...(the 2nd time, the first time i was fuming..) It stated such things as:
-i was calm and collective when i said "yes" to the order
-i was fully aware from the onset that it was "non-refundable"
-they are awaiting the actor to return to the US to sign my sword
-they have threatened using the "recorded phone conversation"
-(there's more, but that's all i currently remember)
-in sum, they said i have no case....
-in addition, they said 6-8weeks from April 8th (when VISA started my claim), which i believe is now over.... Remember, the sword was "ordered" March 2nd...

As far as VISA is concerned, that's the extent of the dispute. However, there is a section on the letter allowing me to press the dispute. Well, "in for a penny, in for a pound", right? My appeal is already in the mail...lol. This time, however, i took full advantage of writing MY OWN 1 page argument, which went along the lines of:

" I would like to continue my dispute over the $1200usd charged by the XXX for a number of reasons.
Firstly, it has now been over 3 months since my day of purchase. When making this order, I was clear to the company that I was departing Canada in 1 month’s time, and was thus reassured that I would receive my order in 2 to 3 weeks. This later changed to 4 to 6 weeks. It is now over 12 weeks with no sign of my product. Unfortunately, I was not told of the e xp ected additional wait time due to the actor signing my sword – you may ask to review their recorded conversation. If known, this fact would have changed matters from the beginning.

Secondly, I still have an issue in the manner of which they conducted business. They confirmed the “non-refundable, non-returnable” order transaction while I put them on hold, without my authorization. After they told me this, I argued the matter with them before my card was charged. They would not let me talk to their manager. Due to their consistent claim that it was now “too late” and “non-refundable”, I had very little choice but to okay the transaction. Please ask them for this recording as well – but make sure it is the full one hour conversation and not just selected portions for this company’s benefit.

Thirdly, I believe I am a member of good standing with CIBC Visa. I have always paid my VISA in full, and have never argued a transaction before. Over the last few years, I have made numerous transactions through American websites, all of which without hassle. This was my fourth order from this particular company, in which I had originally called to fix an issue with my third order I made with them early December 2009. I have yet to receive some of my missing documents from that particular order as well…
[font=&quot] I have attached a copy of the incident as seen from my point of view. This online document was originally written on an online collector forum immediately after the phone conversation; and can be found at:
http://www.ucforums.com/showthread.php?t=4806
But to make things a little easier, I have included a copied and condensed (just my posts) version of the same thing.
"
[/font]

Excellent response, Jash- I really hope Visa ends up siding with you, and soon!

Cancel your card. That's one sure way to get their attention. Visas are a dime a dozen, so if CIBC won't go to bat for you, then kick them to the curb and get a card with another institution. You owe them no loyalty or business if they won't stand behind you. Exercise your rights as a consumer.

[quote=""Valkrist""]Cancel your card. That's one sure way to get their attention. Visas are a dime a dozen, so if CIBC won't go to bat for you, then kick them to the curb and get a card with another institution. You owe them no loyalty or business if they won't stand behind you. Exercise your rights as a consumer.[/quote]

Canceling a credit card may not be the best thing to do. Whether or not it is a good idea depends on the credit limit of the card, outstanding balance, how much other credit one has available, how much other debt, these are all factors that go into determining one's credit score.

Basically you don't want to adversely affect what's called your "debt-to-available-credit ratio".
I learned the hard way just how adversely you can affect your credit score by canceling a card.

Not saying don't do it...just saying run the numbers first.

Well, perhaps I should have been clearer, but I think it goes without saying that no one should be cancelling a credit card while there is an outstanding balance on it. Of course that would adversely affect him, and he would still be owing the money anyway.

What I meant is that once the balance is zero, and if CIBC doesn't do a thing for him in this issue, then were I him, I would have no qualms about taking my business elsewhere. From personal e xp erience, there are no negative effects to simply cancelling a card you no longer want.

In my lifetime, I have purchased two cars, an apartment, and secured two separate bank loans, so I do have some e xp erience with how credit and credit scores work. In fact, I have been told more than once by loan officers that I should consider cancelling some of my credit cards. Why? When looking at your eligibility for loans and credit, having too many cards works against you because it means you have too much credit available and could theoretically rack up a huge debt in no time. This makes lenders jittery and think twice about lending you money. Cutting down your cards improves your credit, not worsens it. You can cancel a zero balance card with no bad side effects. The only possible negative is if you don't have a second credit card at your disposal and then need one for some reason while you are waiting on a new primary.

At any rate, the issue is, Jash claims his credit is in good standing and thus it should be very simple for him to apply for another card and easily get it, telling CIBC he will no longer do business with them because they failed to back him and protect him as a victim of fraud. You'd be amazed at how quickly banks and credit card companies start singing a different tune once you threaten to take your dollars to a competitor. In these tough economic times, banks need all the customers they can get, and if you don't let them bully you and play hard ball with them, they will bend over backwards for you.

You all raise a good point - if Visa does not side with me now, the cancellation of my card is one good option, and one that i have been thinking about lately. I was hoping that by reminding VISA that i have been a client in good standing - this would presuade them to side with their customer....

The morning after i wrote the update on this forum, and before i went to drop off the appeal letter - i made 2 important phone calls:

1) To the problematic company for 2 reasons. Firstly, i wanted to cover my own behind by getting confirmation FROM THEM as to the "updated" status of my sword. After 20min of being on hold while they "looked into the matter" - i was told (by honestly, one of the friendlier individuals i've talked to from this company) that all they can say was "it will be arriving soon". Well, i had to ask what "soon" meant... I pushed it for a good 5min, but all i managed to get out from them was "anywhere from 7 business days to 5 weeks...". I also had to tell the company that IF my sword were to arrive "soon", that my mom (only person to have signing authority for me while i'm away from Canada) will be out of town for selected upcoming days - thus no one would be allowed to accept my package. The gentleman stated he would try to figure something out, and call be back in 2 weeks to check up on the matter.....

2) I called VISA while i was at the post office due to a sudden thought. The letter (from the sword company) stated that one of their policies was if a customer were to cancel their order, they would loose their invested money as well as no longer get their product. So what scared me was if i were to persue the matter with VISA, and VISA continues to harrass this company, would the company then decide that this means my order is to be cancelled and thus screw me over? Well the nice guy at VISA spent about 15min looking into the letter the company sent as well as talking to his supervisor - and they both agreed that i have to tell the company MYSELF that i wanted my order cancelled... They told me to send in the paperwork, my 1 page letter, and any other proof i had (i copied all my posts from UCForums) and to send it....

LOL - sorry guys, i guess i'm also using this site as a means of real-time documentation. I think the fact that i kept UCForums uptodate with this situation has actually given me good evidence for my side of the story

No worries, dude. If so much as one sentence in this entire thread and discussion can be of help in getting your money back, then by all means, do what you need to do.

Continued wishes of good luck in this matter.

If that's their policy then I think VISA is going to find that good reason to revoke their privilege of accepting their credit cards.
Sounds like a subtle form of racketeering with VISA name involved, I'm betting Visa isn't going to like reading that letter; it's got bad business practices written all over it.
I'll be interested in hearing what happens next.
I'm glad you haven't just shrugged your shoulders in this.