In December last year, Siw Annichen Lundquist ordered a blow-drying brush for NOK 2,499 from the online store Moderneliv.no. The day after she received the product, she returned it. Eight months later, she’s still waiting to get her money back, but there’s a problem. The online store has stopped responding and it looks like it doesn’t exist anymore. But it does – it just got a new name. Scratch the whole picture Feeling cheated – I ordered, but immediately regretted it, says Lundquist, who explains that she got a bad feeling in her stomach. She tried to undo the purchase, but was told it was too late. – I still agreed that I would return the item when I received it. It was zero problem. The day after she received the item, it was returned. That’s when the problems arose. – I sent countless emails, and got a reply that “now it wasn’t long until they arrived on the account”. This was just a fluke, because now more than 8 months have passed. At the beginning, Modernlife responded to the e-mails she sent, but after a couple of months of apologies and explanations, it became completely silent. – I feel really cheated, and it is very annoying that I could be so foolish as to take up their offer. – Do you think you will ever get your money back? – No, I probably don’t think so. WAITING FOR EIGHT MONTHS: In December last year, Siw Annichen Lundquist bought and returned a blow-drying brush from the online store Moderneliv. Eight months later, the store has changed its name to Alvastores and Lundquist has still not received his money. Photo: private news has previously written about the same online store, which sent an invoice to a customer who wrote a negative review about his experience with the store. More waiting It is not only Lundquist who has not received his money back. Joanne Hellem has also returned a blow-drying brush to the same online store. She returned the product towards the end of February. – I got in touch to find out if it had been received. Was told that the “returns department” had not yet picked up the package, says Hellem. – Time passed, no money in the account. I refused to give in and contacted them again. On 21 April, both Lundquist and Hellem were informed that the online store had new owners. That was the last time any of them received a reply from Moderneliv. Moderneliv became Alvastores Although Moderneliv stopped responding to Lundquist and Hellem, they still respond to new customers. When news sent an e-mail from a private e-mail address and asked where the online store had become, we received a reply from “Kristoffer – customer service employee”. He says the owners have switched to a new chain and merged with the Alvastores brand. – We will continue to include all products that we had in Moderneliv.no. The only difference is that the sales will go through the Alvastores chain, he writes in an email. However, it became more difficult to get a response when we sent an e-mail signed news. Questions from news to Alvastores and Moderneliv It is claimed that the store has new owners. Who is the old owner of Moderneliv.no and who owns Alvastores.no and Alvabutikken.no? When and why did the store change its name? How many customers still need a refund from you? In what way are you going to sort this out? What responsibility do you have as an online store when it comes to the Contracts Act, the Consumer Purchase Act, the Marketing Act, the Right of Cancellation Act and the Trade Act? And why are these not observed? Modern life never came up with an answer. Someone calling himself John answered on behalf of Alvastores. – As I mentioned to your colleague who contacted us earlier, we acquired Moderneliv late in February 2023. Unfortunately, we are unable to refund orders placed before that time, as our payment system was not yet connected. In any case, we take this very seriously, and have informed the previous owners that this must be resolved as soon as possible. As “John” did not answer many of the questions we sent, we are sending a new email requesting the names and contact information of both old and new owners. Then we won’t get any more answers. Can claim interest from the online store Consumer lawyer Nora Wennberg Gløersen of the Consumer Council says that a consumer should not have to wait eight months to get their money back. – Even if an online store changes owners, name or payment solution, the company must ensure that it maintains efficient customer service so that consumers get what they are entitled to. Consumer lawyer Nora Wennberg Gløersen says that the Consumer Council has received several inquiries about the online store Moderneliv. Photo: Forbrukerrådet Gløersen says that if you as a customer have made use of the right of withdrawal, you are legally entitled to get the money back within 14 days. – If the online store does not pay out as they should, you may have the right to claim late payment interest. Today, this interest rate is 11.75 per cent. Tip from the Consumer Council – If you have complained to the online store and got nowhere, you must consider other options, says Gløersen. She offers the following advice: If you have paid with Klarna, you can report the case there. On its online days, Klarna markets that they have something they call “buyer protection”, that is, Klarna can support you in the dispute and contact the online store to try to find a solution. If you paid by credit card, you should contact your bank as soon as possible. You may be entitled to a refund from the credit card company if the online store does not take your complaint seriously. VISA and Mastercard debit cards also give you some similar rights. If you have shopped in a Norwegian online store, you can also take the case to the Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority for mediation. Finally, Gløersen recommends checking other consumers’ experiences before shopping in an online store. – If an online store operates unscrupulously, there are usually warnings.
ttn-69
Moderneliv.no became Alvastores.no – customer has waited eight months for a refund – news Nordland
