I recently saw a pretty blouse advertised on Facebook and thought I would like to wear it to this year’s Pride Parade. The shirt I liked was for sale at $19.99 USD which seemed like a very fair price.
So, when the seller, Prestigesmi, added $9.99 for shipping, it still felt like a reasonable expense at a total of $29.98 USD.
Then, today when I was checking my credit card account, I noticed I had been billed $50.50 CAD by a business identified as Intellectp UK GBR. Hmmm. By my calculation, $29.98 USD should be about $41.08 CAD, depending on the exchange rate at the time of the transaction. Someone somewhere added a mystery amount to my bill.
I emailed Prestigesmi to let them know I had been overbilled and their website directed me to another outfit, this one called Shiyel, who told me that an additional $6 USD had been charged due to a system error. Riiiiight. They told me to wait 3-7 days for this amount to be credited to my account.
In the mean time Prestigesmi, or Intellectp UK GBR, or Shiyel, is shipping my shirt from a sorting centre in Lawrence USA. Or so they say.
Buyer beware.
*****
21 June 2024
Well, the blouse arrived and it looks just as it did in the picture. The sizing, however, is somewhat less than I had hoped for. I think that the people who live wherever it was made are generally smaller than people in North America.
Snowbird of Paradise 
That is one fabulous top though! I hope, at the end of the day, you feel amazing wearing it.
Thanks, Sally. If it ever arrives …
It is pretty and I hope you get it 🙂
Thanks, June. I may not get it in time for the Pride Parade, but I’ll be happy to get it any time.
Nice blouse! I’ve had trouble with Facebook purchases too.
I have bought one other item from a Facebook ad, but the size was wrong. I didn’t send it back. This “system error” extra billing has made me no longer trust any of these advertisers.
Sometimes these purchases come from the ends of the earth, like China or West Bengal, but they don’t tell you that. Then there are excise taxes to pay. Another time I was told I made 2 purchases which I didn’t make and definitely didn’t want. Had some trouble and it took some time to get that sorted.
Ugh. That is enough to put you off buying from an unknown source again.
True. Although other times I have been very happy with the purchase. It’s a gamble.
I hope this works out okay. It does sound dubious.
From now on, I’m going to stick with sources I know and trust.
I have learned the “hard way” on that as well.