Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona is alerting consumers to Blade Empire- an online knife and sword retailer with ties to Tucson- that has racked up 64 consumer complaints since 2010.

In the complaints- 51 of which the company has not answered- consumers allege they never received merchandise they ordered from Blade Empire, or they received incorrect or incomplete orders. In addition, consumers have reported that Blade Empire customer service became extremely hostile towards them when they inquired about their orders.

When contacted by BBB about their unanswered complaints a Blade Empire representative said that there was confusion as to how to properly answer the complaints, and blamed most of the complaints they had received on “impatient people.” The representative also claimed that the company is actually based in Ukraine.

Multiple consumers who contacted BBB said that Blade Empire began using profanities, and threatened them when they emailed the company to inquire about their orders. In email exchanges obtained by BBB, Blade Empire used numerous epithets to belittle and threaten the consumers, and refused to provide the consumers with the requested status update on their orders.

To date the company has not taken steps to rectify the pattern of complaints they have received, while racking up more complaints than any other Southern Arizona business so far in 2013.

The company has used several Tucson addresses to receive mail over the years- most recently 3849 E. Broadway Blvd, but is incorporated in Nevada, and employs customer service representatives in Ukraine. The owner of the company legally changed his name from Michael Lopez to Thayvian Zayon before incorporating Blade Empire in Nevada, but still appears to be using the Lopez alias in recent videos uploaded to Youtube.

BBB Tips for shopping online:

• Beware of too-good-to-be-true deals. Offers on websites and in unsolicited emails may offer free or very low prices on hard-to-find items. There may be hidden costs or your purchase may sign you up for a monthly charge. Look for and read the fine print.
• Verify the online retailer’s track record. Visit www.bbb.org to verify that the company you’re considering ordering with has a good track record when it comes to not only shipping their orders in a timely manner, but also in resolving any customer complaints.
• Pay with a credit card. Under federal law, you can dispute the charges if you don’t receive an item. Shoppers also have dispute rights if there are any unauthorized charges on the card, and many card issuers have zero-liability policies if someone steals and uses your card number. Check your credit card statement regularly for unauthorized charges. Never wire money.
• Keep documentation of your order. Save a copy of the confirmation page of an order or emails confirming the order until you receive the item and are satisfied.
• Obtain a tracking number for shipments. If you need the product before the holidays, find out when the seller intends to ship it and if possible, how it will be shipped. The tracking number can help you find a lost order.
• Know your rights. Federal law requires that orders made by phone, mail or online be shipped by the date promised or within 30 days if no delivery time was stated. If goods aren’t shipped on time, shoppers can cancel and demand a refund. Consumers also may reject merchandise if it is defective or was misrepresented.

For more information about Blade Empire or other online retailers, consumers can visit www.tucson.bbb.org or call (520)888-5353.

Do you have unclaimed property? If so, how would you know? Is it worth it to pay a service to help you identify unclaimed property?

Unclaimed property describes accounts in financial institutions and companies that have had no activity or account holder contact for one year or more. This can include savings or checking accounts, refunds, customer overpayments, contents of safe deposit boxes, etc.

To begin searching for lost property, check legitimate sites like missingmoney.com, which is endorsed by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA). This site has official records of unclaimed property from every state and most U.S. territories, plus Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec in Canada. Check for property in every jurisdiction in which you have resided. It is free to search; however, you may have to pay a small fee to obtain the property.

According to NAUPA, there are many businesses (sometimes called finders or locators) that find legitimate lost property for owners and inform them how to obtain it for a fee, usually a percentage of the total (some states limit the fee to 10 percent). Sometimes, companies will hire these firms to find you before they turn the funds over to the state. Ultimately the finder will ask you to sign a contract.

The majority of firms that provide these services work within the law, but there are also some unclaimed property scams around. Before signing any contract, Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona recommends caution. If you are unsure that the firm is legitimate, contact your BBB or the unclaimed property office in your state for more information.

To prevent accumulating unclaimed property, NAUPA suggests the following tips:

• Deposit or cash all checks for dividends, wages, insurance settlements, etc. without delay.

• Respond to legitimate requests for confirmation of account balances and stock holder proxies.

• If you have a safe deposit box, record its number, bank name and address, and give the extra key to a trusted person.

• Prepare and file a will detailing the disposition of your assets.

For more information on how to recover unclaimed property, check out unclaimed.org/what/. For additional consumer tips, please visit bbb.org.

With baseball season now in full swing, be sure your tickets are the real deal. Buying on the secondary market can be useful for non-season ticket holders, occasional fans, or those making a last-minute decision to head to the ball park. But how do you know if the tickets are real?

BBB asked the National Association of Ticket Brokers (NATB), a group whose members offer a 200% guarantee on tickets that don’t arrive in time for a game, concert or show. NATB says buying from one of their authorized ticket brokers is the safest way to purchase resale tickets for Major League Baseball.

BBB of Southern Arizona and NATB offer the following tips for safe ticket purchasing:

1. Check out the seller/broker. Look them up on bbb.org and check to see if they are a member of the NATB.
2. Know the difference between a ticket broker (legitimate and accredited reseller) and a ticket scalper (unregulated and unlicensed ticket seller).
3. Check the ticket broker’s refund policy. Only buy from a ticket reseller that provides clear details about the terms of the transaction.
4. Always use a credit card so you have some recourse; never use cash.
5. Always ask for section, row and seat number to avoid obstructed view seats or seats that do not exist.

Also, feel free to ask questions to make certain you get all the answers you need to feel comfortable with your ticket purchase.