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!!