Does Bing Lee see OzBargain as high security risk??

Lnoblenick on 12/04/2014 - 21:48
Last edited 14/04/2014 - 16:12

I bought a Galaxy Note 8.0 from the link shown on Ozbargain last week.

I received a confirmation after the sale and was awaiting the email with shipping details. After one week I followed them up. And was shocked by the response. I can assure you I used my standard CBA issued credit card using the link from Ozbargain on 4th April, nothing else was dodgy just a straight everyday online transaction for what I believed to be a good bargain:

The email from an alleged manager Tristan.

[email protected]

Nicholas,

I will not be allowing you to purchase anything from Bing lee Online, not now or in the future.

The nature of your transactions/cards used and or method of transaction is considered HIGH risk by our security system.

<MOD: Name removed>

Manager.

So my question is does Bing Lee see Ozbargain as a high risk on their security system because the credit card I used is used daily and always has credit limit and has never been questioned before.

General Discussion

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Bing Lee

Comments

  • expertreader on 12/04/2014 - 22:01
    +2

    I dont think they would track where you would endup on binglee's website. They would be happy to receive traffic from any website - its more business for them when more people visits as the likelyhood of people buying increases. From the email, my interpretation is that they have problem with you credit card and not where you have been directed from i.e. ozbargain.com. May be worth asking for clarification via return email - I hope you are using you own creditcard which is not reported lost of stolen…

    • noblenick on 12/04/2014 - 23:09
      +1

      Hi it is my own CBA issued credit card with good credit limit and never had an issue with it. It is used almost daily and the bank said there is nothing wrong with account, so to me the response far outweighs the issue.. He is basically banning me and yet all I did was purchase and receive a confirmation order number. I just followed up for a shipping date a week later..

  • tatnal on 12/04/2014 - 22:53
    +2

    I too purchased a couple of these for my kids. The initial email was to ask for more id verification. I was confused as I had bought stuff from them before. The responding email extract is below. Hope this helps.

    =====
    We have a fraud check system which asses individuals based on many factors and produces a score.
    It is not open to negotiation. The higher the level of fraud transactions we get the tougher the criteria.

    Unfortunately like most things, legitimate people such as yourself get caught up in an inconvenient crossfire,
    As much as i understand your frustration for having to ‘jump through hoops’, im sure you can appreciated
    Every company needs to protect themselves and protect card holders.

    As to why, it was simply a small handful of criteria which pushed your order over,
    • Using a free email provider
    • Using a mobile ph number
    • Purchasing multiple units of an item consider ‘hot’ on the black market.
    • Dollar value exceeded $500

    • cwongtech on 12/04/2014 - 23:19
      +7

      As much as i understand your frustration for having to ‘jump through hoops’, im sure you can appreciated

      No capitalization of i to I? From what I see here, the Bing Lee Online Sales team isn't really professional :|

    • conan2000 on 13/04/2014 - 09:43
      +27

      Never used these guys, but what kind of idiot company actually tells people their fraud scanning criteria? Now I know to buy items at $499 and provide a fake land line number to reduce my score and likely have my transaction approved.

      • noblenick on 13/04/2014 - 10:24

        Agreed.. They clearly haven't made a transition to an online store effectively.. the purchase was for the $248 total so nowhere near $500 using a standard Australian bank issued credit card which is used almost daily with no issues.

    • Lysander on 13/04/2014 - 11:21
      +12

      The grammar and spelling mistakes make me very suspicious. Are you guys sure that this is not a scam? In other words, are you sure that when you made your order, all the info has not been picked up by a scammer who now pretends to be BingLee and ask for more ID so he can get enough info for stealing your ID and buying from BingLee on your card but have it shipped somewhere else where the goods then disappear?

      I would call BingLee and find the number yourself - do not use info contained in the mail as that might also be fake.

      The same goes for the OP's issue - looks very suspicious to me!

      • noblenick on 13/04/2014 - 11:36

        Tristan who is the Web manager in question [email protected] is indeed employed by Bing Lee according to LinkedIn.

        As mentioned I am awaiting a response from them because I am shocked at the unprofessionalism shown by a representative of what I always though was a well trusted business. They haven't asked me for any further information so I really don't see how this would benefit anyone if a scam and I haven't provided any except for the original order.

        • Lysander on 13/04/2014 - 16:56
          +6

          Don't trust LinkedIn. I had this before where a LinkedIn profile showed a guy was employed by a company but when I called to check he had left the company a long time ago. Again, call them and make sure.

        • UFO on 14/04/2014 - 18:35
          +2

          Exactly. Anyone can make a LinkedIn account. You need to call a recognised Bing Lee Customer Support number sourced from a different location (like yellow pages or direct in store).

        • noblenick on 14/04/2014 - 19:18
          +2

          Trust me he works for Bing Lee. A representative from there said it themselves. He wasn't available to speak to when I called and Head office verified a Tristan worked for them. I am going through proper procedures here.

  • noblenick on 12/04/2014 - 23:05
    +1

    That is just it.. I received nothing from them for a week.. I followed them up with this email asking when I was likely to receive my order as I had heard nothing. I was told that they hadn't received payment and to check with my bank.. I checked with bank who said there is nothing wrong with my account and for $248 it would have gone through had they tried to take it.. I relayed this in follow up email and got the response above… Is that customer service? Certainly seems that they are looking at transaction as my bank said there is nothing wrong with card or account and I use it daily.

    First response below.

    Dear Nicholas,

    We haven't receive your payment, you need to contact your bank.

    Kind Regards,

    Online Sales Representative

    T: 1300 980 399

    F: 02 9781 3279

    E: [email protected]

    • cwongtech on 12/04/2014 - 23:16
      +21

      You need to bring on the social media pain and rage on their facebook page.

    • [Deactivated] on 13/04/2014 - 07:46
      +10

      The logical response to the above would be sending proof of remittance to the web customer service team (e.g screen cap from your credit card statement showing the deduction from bing lee), telling them you have also confirmed with your bank, and asking them to investigate further on their side. It's uncommon but not impossible for a payment to be taken but failed to be allocated to a customer account / order.

      That said your main issue is the response received accusing you of fraud; it's completely unprofessional. I agree with other posters you're off the mark mentioning OzB to them, and that it has more to do with them confusing high risk with fraud.

      Don't waste time with this manager, get in touch with head office and tell them 1. the response you received 2.you don't appreciate being accused of theft and that you expect an apology 3. A detailed explanation of why the transaction was assessed by them as high risk 4. Confirmation they have received your payment, and 5. An estimated time of completion for the order, which you'd still like processed despite the above difficulties because it is a great deal from a store you know and trust and that you're willing to provide whatever further details necessary to give their risk assessment team assurance that this is a legitimate transaction.

      Don't go saying 'Tristan should be sacked / disciplined' as tempting as it is, this will make it sound like you're making this personal and won't help your case.

      • noblenick on 13/04/2014 - 10:19
        +9

        Thanks for your response. I have actually drafted a letter to head office with many of your points in it and I certainly would not ask for anyone to be sacked as that is up to the company based on their performance within the company.

        Just for the record at NO point have I actually mentioned OZB to anyone at Bing Lee nor have I mentioned that here on this site. I certainly will not mention OZB as that is not relevant to them. The reason I raise it here in this community, is that I ordered it directly from the link posted on OZB and thought that perhaps they had been inundated with orders from that one OZB link and perhaps I was amongst a few who may have been flagged as high risk or spam etc as he uses the term method of your transaction which could imply the way I arrived at the site to order the goods.

        Anyway thanks for your comments. I appreciate them.

    • noblenick on 12/04/2014 - 23:26
      +16

      I have requested a response from them but as yet received no reply.. Ozbargain is a community and as that bargain was a 'hot deal' it makes sense to me to ask the community as to whether I am a one off or has anyone else had a similar response for this deal.

  • tim_geo on 13/04/2014 - 02:20
    +1

    Sounds like predictive modelling gone wrong, combined with poor communications and process.

    There is a fraud team which may be quite clueless. Customer service gets annoyed because there is nothing they could do, and becomes rude to the customer because there won't be a sale to this specific customer.

    Companies really need to learn to responsibly use these emerging technology and implement sound process with safegards. Getting it wrong can be really bad, sometimes even when the prediction is correct things can still go horribly wrong: How Target knows shoppers pregnant.

    • noblenick on 13/04/2014 - 10:21
      +3

      I agree. The main issues are accusing me of fraud and "banning" me for no reason in a very unprofessional manner and the fact that at NO point to have they contacted me to ask for verification of address or credit card like most companies do if a sale is flagged as a risk.

      Thanks for your comments.

  • c64 on 13/04/2014 - 11:43
    +10

    gee, the solution is simple. just buy elsewhere. binglee doesn't want your $$$.

    certainly their manager should be fired for writing such poorly-worded communications.

    • cheng2008 on 16/04/2014 - 16:46

      Why? They're not owned by Chinese nationals.

      • cookie2 on 16/04/2014 - 20:26
        -2

        maybe because their stores seem to have a huge amount of asian staff working for them. deff a higher number than other retailers, and I have wondered myself why that would be.not sure why tho.

        • mycosys on 19/04/2014 - 00:49
          +1

          Perhaps because asians feel drawn to work with them as they market themselves as asian, use the 'i like chinese' turne etc, and they feel safe to apply there - hence the likelihood of the best applicant being asian are much higher?
          I guess by your logic most of Australia belongs in Britain?

  • MrBillions on 14/04/2014 - 07:58
    +22

    Here is the customer service I received from BingLee based on asking them to match their own price which was advertised on ozbargain. Bye bye binglee after I got this. Never again. They are clueless.

    On xxx, Feb xx, 2014 at xx:xx AM, Website-Manager <[email protected]> wrote:

    Xxxxxx,

    I have reviewed this transaction,

    Can you please explain to me why you believe a 3rd party website dictates to me what i sell my products for ?

    Thanks,

    Tristan

    • noblenick on 14/04/2014 - 08:01
      +26

      I see it is my good friend Tristan again.. Bing Lee management need to look at his future..

      • bigpallooka on 14/04/2014 - 08:58
        +18

        It's always a mistake and very unprofessional for staff to act as if the company and it's money are their own. There must have been 100's of ways to answer you and the other examples that imparted adequate information without any emotion, sarcasm or insult. Tristan obviously needs to take some communication courses and maybe even an anger management course. If he thought you were an identity thief he should have just stated that they need more ID to verify the CC and NOT make any accusation. That is not his place. Suspicion is not proof. If he has proof he should be talking to the police not you. I agree that taking this to a phone would be a logical step. Maybe even your states Office of Fair Trading.
        Good luck

        • UFO on 14/04/2014 - 18:38
          +11

          This Tristan guy is damaging Bing Lee's reputation…. and then some!

          I'm already wary of dealing with online transactions with them due to prior a prior order error, but this just makes things crystal clear for me…. dont buy Bing Lee Online!

    • [Deactivated] on 14/04/2014 - 09:01
      +7

      This is just getting sad. Bing Lee are scumbags

    • AlanHB on 14/04/2014 - 11:30
      +1

      Lol that response is pretty funny! Looks like they have some communication issues going on.

      • mafmouf on 14/04/2014 - 11:38
        +4

        they have some communication issues going on

        It's funny. They sell technology, especially phones.

        • Succulent Synth on 14/04/2014 - 15:49
          +1

          now they just sell lies

        • mafmouf on 14/04/2014 - 16:13
          +1

          But the lies are free in-store only.

    • Ughhh on 14/04/2014 - 11:36
      +1

      Did you link to their own website or the ozbargain post? They never advertised this on ozbargain.

    • pitiek on 14/04/2014 - 11:58
      +17

      Hi Tristan,

      Just in case you see this post, please consider getting your company to pay for these courses:

      http://www.nhaustralia.com.au/courses/business-skills/advanc…

      or

      http://www.nhaustralia.com.au/courses/business-skills/master…

      or

      http://www.nhaustralia.com.au/courses/business-skills/stress…

      You know it is for your own good.. :p

  • Jaxr on 14/04/2014 - 09:05
    +4

    Write a letter to management asking to lodge a safety incident to record your feelings of anxiety after reading this email.

    • mafmouf on 14/04/2014 - 09:19
      +14

      Say you were hoping to be met with compassion and understanding from the older lady in the ads and her son. But instead, you got… TRISTAN! Now you are undergoing deep psychological treatment.

      • Forfiet on 14/04/2014 - 19:21
        +2

        Tell Tristan you want to talk to Isolde!!!!

        • strangeloops66 on 16/04/2014 - 09:34
          +3

          Tristan should be renamed Inotselling.

  • 100nil on 14/04/2014 - 11:43
    +5

    I paid using paypal and it was shipped the same day, I was stoked and I always thought Bing Lee were pretty legit.

    That Tristan guy sounds like a complete jerk though, I would kick his ass. Hopefully he gets fired.

  • cmdwedge on 14/04/2014 - 13:47
    +5

    BingLee needs to get on top of this ASAP.. they do not want to incur the wrath of OzBargain. It can takes years to repair that relationship!

    /Tristan, you're trying a little too hard, sunshine.

  • redraoh on 14/04/2014 - 14:14
    +4

    Tristan is hilarious. He's not going to have a job for long. I can't imagine he's had it for long anyway, as I'm sure others have complained about him.

    • retiredfeline on 14/04/2014 - 16:12
      +2

      Maybe he's the son of the owner and he hates his job. :)

      • retiredfeline on 14/04/2014 - 18:18
        +2

        "Tristan, I am disappoint. You're fired."
        "Yipee!"

  • XCelR8 on 14/04/2014 - 15:31
    +1

    Someone beat you.
    https://www.facebook.com/BingLeeElectrics

    • noblenick on 15/04/2014 - 10:58
      +4

      Looks like the link that was on Facebook to this forum has been removed.. I am beginning to think Tristan controls Bing Lee web and social media elements.. Still he can't do anything about mail going to head office so let's see how that turns out. I am waiting for a formal response from Head Office at the moment.

      • XCelR8 on 19/04/2014 - 22:03

        Yeh i was thinking about reposting it, and saying only deleting posts makes it worse, especially the size of social media.

  • lolmao on 14/04/2014 - 15:52
    +2

    bing lee are noobs

  • sk3iron on 14/04/2014 - 16:05
    +3

    I've always viewed Bing Lee as a sub-standard operator, but reading all of the above and the huge list of unanswered complaints on their facebook page just reconfirms this for me. I for one will be boycotting in the future.

  • mafmouf on 14/04/2014 - 16:15
    +2

    This is a serious question. Can anyone point me to an electrical retailer which is actually good?

    Jokes such as DSE and HN will be shot on sight. Just kidding. Tortured first.

    • ianyelts on 14/04/2014 - 16:47
      +3

      http://www.JBHiFi.com.au

      • Baghern on 24/04/2014 - 16:31

        Actually no,

        As per the OP, I've had the exact same problem and unprofessional response from JB HIFI for the exact same issue, online purchase $190, with credit card I've used before with them (for higher purchases)

    • [Deactivated] on 14/04/2014 - 17:31
      +7

      That kindof question is open ended, it really depends on the store.

      Generally I find TheGoodGuys to be the overall best. They tend to answer your questions, rather than push products onto you.

      • bigsarg7 on 14/04/2014 - 17:50
        +1

        I find our local TheGoodGuys great as well. I prefer to buy from them but if they can't get it in I will reluctantly go to Harvey Norman

        • mafmouf on 14/04/2014 - 22:49
          +4

          Thank you for the honest feedback. JB never seem to have staff when I need them. I end up asking some random person with a lanyard, looking like a fool. Funny thing is, they still help me haha.

  • ThisJustin on 14/04/2014 - 16:35
    +2

    It's kind of funny how much Aussie retailers complain they are losing business to overseas operators yet don't seem to appreciate that maybe their hopeless online presence is driving so many of us away.

    My last encounter with DSE has completely turned me off of them. I have made ~$700 worth of purchases since DSE's screw up (late Dec 2013), some of that business might have went there way of they behaved half-way decent when they screwed up my orders.

  • Aneurism on 14/04/2014 - 16:38
    +11

    I've made the decision after reading this thread to never shop at Binglee and I will encourage all of my friends to do the same.

  • imcold on 14/04/2014 - 16:49
    -5

    I would say going directly to the product page would be a big red flag, especially with no historic visits from your IP address. My guess is you should have gone to home page and manually search for the product in question. The assessment engine would probably find redirects to the product from google search ok, but i doubt the writers of the software has ever heard about ozbargain.

    • [Deactivated] on 15/04/2014 - 10:47

      'cause no-one would ever google a product they want and click on a direct link to the product page…

    • PainToad on 15/04/2014 - 11:09
      +1

      Or clicking on a link directly to a product from within an email from a friend.

      Or using a search engine besides Google.

      Or using a product price comparison site (eg. staticice)

      imcold, no offense, but you have no idea.

  • ianyelts on 14/04/2014 - 16:52
    +5

    Tristan should have just been a Galaxy Nazi and said:

    "No Galaxy For You!"

    • UFO on 14/04/2014 - 18:44
      +3

      Come back… 1 year!!! Next!

  • PCHammond on 14/04/2014 - 17:35
    +20

    I used to work for Bing Lee (quit about 5yrs ago) and I think I know Tristan.

    I'll contact some people that I know. I can't promise anything.

    • Doey21 on 14/04/2014 - 18:48
      +8

      Shit just got serious. Now all we need is a secret ozbargain handshake…

      • Forfiet on 14/04/2014 - 19:27
        +1

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-d0m8W1XEk practicing now….

      • PCHammond on 14/04/2014 - 22:26
        +2

        He was several rungs above the ladder than me, but I still have friends within the company. I'm not saying that I'll get him fired, but I do agree that this is not good for their image and requires some looking after.

        A number of managers that I worked under always hammered into us that customer satisfaction is always the priority. This is no different.

        • [Deactivated] on 14/04/2014 - 22:56
          +1

          "A demonstration of superior judgement."

        • johnno07 on 15/04/2014 - 12:00
          +1

          I think customer satisfaction has wriggled its way down Bing Lee's list of priorities since you left, judging by the "Posts by Others" on their Facebook Page

        • PCHammond on 15/04/2014 - 14:21
          +1

          Actually, it was on the down even when I was there. I won't go into details to protect the site from defamation or whatever but it should be safe enough to say that I don't shop there any more.

  • akula on 14/04/2014 - 19:13
    +5

    The next best job for Tristan would be in OW.

    • redraoh on 15/04/2014 - 15:13
      +6

      He can then continue up the ranks to Harvey Norman.

      • sparkles on 17/04/2014 - 10:34

        Tristan would excel at McDonalds. The other night I got refused to swap BBQ sauce on a burger to tomato sauce. I asked if they were joking. They weren't. So goodbye Macca's. Actually this experience was just what I needed really, I'll probably lose a kilo a month now without actually having to do anything except boycott those fools.

  • Daabido on 14/04/2014 - 19:35
    +5

    On a website this large and with so many members there are bound to be a very, very small percentage of people who try to buy things with stolen credit card details.

    If a retailer is affected by this, they may put OzBargain onto their list of suspicious criteria. Back in the day when referrals were allowed, I was due a payout from a referral scheme that I only posted on OzBargain but a large percentage was clawed back because of the use of stolen credit cards.

    So it might be something that some retailers are wary of. I wouldn't say that the percentage of members trying to obtain goods illegally would be higher than the general population, but with a member base so high it would be at least very close to the general population.

  • ozhunter68 on 14/04/2014 - 23:44
    +2

    Below is a comment from 12/04/14 from the original Ozbargain post

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/139036?page=2#comment

    I ordered this on 4th April after seeing deal on OZB. Got email immediately after from Bing Lee showing receipt and that I will get an email once it is out for delivery. Emailed them yesterday as still hadn't heard from them and they said they still hadn't received payment and to check with my bank. Bank said no issue with my credit card and if they had tried to take payment it would have gone through.. Sounds to me like Bing Lee got too many orders at wrong price and stopped taking payments.. Jokers…

  • MrBillions on 15/04/2014 - 00:22
    +1

    It's like going to a restaurant, the food was good, the price was good but the service absolutely sucked and spoilt the whole experience.

  • [Deactivated] on 15/04/2014 - 08:27
    +3

    Hearing this story about Tristan makes me not want to shop at Bing Lee!

  • DrStinge on 15/04/2014 - 08:49
    +1

    This thread is the highlight of my day!

  • GnarlyKnuckles on 15/04/2014 - 10:43
    +12

    I have it on good authority that Tristan smells mildly unpleasant. And someone said he occasionally wears girl's blouses.

    • cannedhams on 15/04/2014 - 12:52
      +1

      I read that on their facebook page too.

      The internet isnt too keen on Tristan.

      Generally people with the first name "Tristan" and a double-barreled surname tend to be an unfortunate breed of Englishman. I wonder if thats the case here.

  • PainToad on 15/04/2014 - 13:07
    +1

    It seems Janice (02 97813000) runs their social media. Might be worth calling her.

    • noblenick on 15/04/2014 - 14:05
      +2

      Thanks.

      This is also on Whirlpool and one of the responses who had a Livechat with Tristan seems to have also come across his exemplary customer service skills..

      http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1508585&r…

    • noblenick on 16/04/2014 - 09:11

      It was my email to her that then got escalated higher to head of E-commerce who was VERY apologetic and assured me they are using this as a case study to improve their online customer facing approach.
      Thanks for your help.

  • matd81 on 15/04/2014 - 14:13
    +5

    If you have found Tristan's Facebook profile, you will notice why he is so angry…

    • Tafe on 15/04/2014 - 14:21
      +2

      Hey, they DO have souls, OK?

      • johnno07 on 15/04/2014 - 15:38

        Any chance of him having a soul was destroyed by the plethora of bitstrips on his page.

        • redraoh on 15/04/2014 - 15:50
          +2

          I had to laugh at the one captioned "Tristan just got a new job!"

        • misterpotatomato on 16/04/2014 - 12:57

          Wish I coulda seen these…

    • PillowDefender on 15/04/2014 - 16:44

      Ignore me.

    • cannedhams on 15/04/2014 - 18:42

      Do tell.

    • phazor on 15/04/2014 - 22:29
      +3

      Seems like he deleted or changed his linkedin profile and made his facebook private while changing the link to it too. Lol

  • noblenick on 15/04/2014 - 16:59
    +7

    Finally had a response from a representative from Bing Lee in the form of a phone call.

    As I understand it they are working hard on resolving their online customer service problem and were very apologetic about the communication.

    I for one have now closed this chapter and what happens internally at Bing Lee is up to them as a company.

    For me I hope that they do smarten up their customer communication and hopefully this will not happen again and perhaps they can prove they are still the respected business I believe them to be at the core.

    • [Deactivated] on 15/04/2014 - 17:23
      +2

      Are they sending you the Galaxy Note 8.0 ?

      • noblenick on 16/04/2014 - 09:09
        +1

        From the phone call yes they are sending me the Galaxy Note..
        I am awaiting a written response from them.

    • t_c on 15/04/2014 - 17:40
      +2

      Did they compensate you in the form of vouchers/store credit?

      • ianyelts on 16/04/2014 - 11:51

        Words are cheap.

        Anything less than a Gift Card is bulls..t in my opinion.

    • [Deactivated] on 15/04/2014 - 20:51
      +2

      Was this a publicity stunt?

      • noblenick on 16/04/2014 - 09:12
        +1

        Publicity for who?

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