The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is warning consumers about Bikinishe, an online swimwear retailer with a purported address in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
In February 2019, BBB launched an investigation on Bikinishe after receiving several customer complaints from people in 27 US states. While we have not yet received complaints from consumers in Canada, we anticipate this will become a problem in the next few weeks, due to the new season and warmer weather. The complaints primarily surround paying for merchandise that was never delivered, lack of communication about the status of the order, substandard quality merchandise when compared to what was advertised and difficulty processing returns.
In one complaint, Shanelle C. shared:
“I ordered one bathing suit over a week ago. I paid express shipping. I only paid the extra shipping to receive my bathing suit in time for my vacation. I’ve emailed three times to their so called customer service and no response. Nor has my package been shipped – no tracking or anything”.
Consumers generally visit BBB’s website to review the business profile for a company they are considering to purchase from or contract for a service. Large numbers of inquiries to a specific business profile is usually an indication that consumers are concerned about the business and are referring to BBB to determine if it is a company they can trust. Bikinishe’s business profile was created in July 2018 and has received significant attention since that time. Last year, the business received 1838 customer inquiries. The inquiries increased significantly, with 4624 for the first 2 months in 2019. Since the start of this month, BBB has already received 2782.
The number of customer complaints the business has received is also concerning. In the first 2 months of this year, the business received 24 complaints. Since the start of this month, they have received 62 complaints. In our database of over 4300 businesses, Bikinishe also has the largest number of complaints received for any business in less than 4 weeks. BBB continues to receive complaints about Bikinishe and has notified the company about each one. To date, they have only responded to 2 complaints.
In Laura D.’s complaint, she explained:
“I ordered two items from this company and they say it takes them 2-5 days to ship orders. It’s been 3 weeks and I have contacted their customer service 3 times (they have no phone just email). I have not gotten a response and my order has still not been processed. I bought from them for a trip I’m taking and I ordered bathing suits from somewhere else now because I know I will not get my package in time. In my last email, I asked them to respond or else I was going to file a complaint. No response.”
In light of the alarming complaint activity and lack of response from the business, Bikinishe has received an F-rating.
Our investigations also revealed the following:
The physical address stated for the business is fake.
There is no telephone number or live chat feature on the website to allow consumers to speak directly with a representative for the business.
Customers have 15 days to return their purchases, and are required to contact customer service to get access to the company’s Return/Exchange form. Emails to customerservice@bikinishe.com go unanswered, which results in the customers being unable to get the form within the 15 day return period.
For tips to practice safe online shopping go to: https://www.bbb.org/article/tips/14040-bbb-tip-smart-shopping-online
Source: BBB
