As Halloween costume season is driving demand for online retailers, BBB has issued an F rating to Kingdom Swords for failing to respond to 61 recent consumer disputes. Kingdom Swords is a San Antonio-based retailer that sells replica swords and other weaponry (modeled after items in movies, TV, and video games) to consumers nationwide through its website, http://www.swblades.com/.

Consumer disputes filed with BBB allege that replica products ordered online were delayed or not delivered at all. Consumers further allege they have had difficulty contacting the company by phone, email or mail to inquire about the status of their orders. Requests for refunds have been unanswered.

BBB currently reports that the company has not responded to 61 out of 72 total complaints received in the past 36 months. BBB contacted Kingdom Swords regarding these unanswered disputes in August 2010. The company has not yet responded.

Kingdom Swords is also conducting business under the following alternate names: RDSC, Red Dragon Sword Company, Southwest Blades, Sword Dude Enterprises, Swords of Cinema and Swordcorp. For more details, visit the company’s BBB Business Review here.

BBB advises consumers to consider the following advice before purchasing a product online:

· Start With Trust - Shoppers should stop by bbb.org to check on the seller’s reputation and record for customer satisfaction. You can look for a “trustmark” from BBBOnLine and click on that seal to confirm that it is valid.

· Pay With a Credit Card – It is best to use a credit card, because under federal law the shopper can dispute the charges if he or she doesn’t receive the item. Shoppers also have dispute rights if there are unauthorized charges on their credit card, and many card issuers have “zero liability” policies under which the card holder pays nothing if someone steals the credit card number and uses it.

· Keep Documentation of Your Order - After completing the online order process, there may be a final confirmation page or the shopper might receive confirmation by e-mail. BBB recommends saving a copy of the webpage and any e-mails for future reference and as a record of the purchase.

· Know Your Rights – Federal law requires that orders made by mail, phone or online be shipped by the date promised or, if no delivery time was stated, within 30 days. If the goods aren’t shipped on time, the shopper can cancel and demand a refund. There is no general three-day cancellation right, however, consumers do have the right to reject merchandise if it is defective or was misrepresented. Otherwise, it is the company’s policies that determine if the shopper can cancel the purchase and receive a refund or credit.

To check the reliability of a company and find trustworthy businesses, visit BBB.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 15th, 2010 at 10:44 am and is filed under alert, Life, scam, Tips. Tags for this post: Arizona, BBB, Better Business Bureau, complaints, costume, Halloween, Kingdom Swords, scam, sword, Tucson. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.