Saturday, August 2, 2014

Anybody Else Ripped Off By Iain Sinclair Design?

Back in February, somebody sent me an offer for a new Iain Sinclair design of a credit card knife (this one, I think).  I was taken by it as a nifty toy and eventually ordered two - one for each of us.  At $16 each, not a terrible expense.  Allow 4 to 8 weeks for delivery.  As we've now hit almost five months, 24 weeks, and nothing but repeated "so sorry, but we're delayed" responses, I think it's time to admit it's probably a ripoff and I'm out my $32.

In June I inquired again and was told they were on track to complete all the back orders by the end of July.  I asked about cancelling the order, and was then introduced to the grim reality of this particular situation.  See, my card was charged back in February.  The Sinclair Design rep says they've changed credit card systems and can't do a refund.  The card company says the deadline for that was a couple of months after purchase.  But the knives are available, they're just apparently not shipping to individuals.  You can buy packs of them on eBay.

In the intervening months, I've seen credit card knives at gun shows for $10 and they're not exactly hard to come by.  I didn't get one at the shows because of the long standing order. 

So I thought I'd ask you, dear readers.  Anyone else been ripped off by these guys?  Anyone else know anything else about the company?  It's hard to fathom why an honest seller with products to sell would take over five months to ship.  Could they have expected a few hundred sales and got a million?  Way more than they could handle?


87 comments:

  1. I've got several, the Cardsharp 2, available from amazon at $3.79. It ships from Hong Kong, so it may be a cheap(er) Chinese forg...uh, I mean "copy".

    I regard them as single use knives, and they are wicked sharp as delivered, so under four bucks per and 3 weeks to get a half dozen isn't an issue for me. One advantage is amazon standing behind the deal.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm in the same position. Same excuses, same e-mails about late July release. Now I'm concerned what to do ....

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's been a year or two, but I've ordered two different knives from them, and while it took a while I did get them.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for the comments, everyone. Chris - I suppose you and I should take comfort from Patrick Henry the 2nd. It may take an inordinate amount of time (it already has) but we should get them sooner or later. Later. Missed sooner already.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for reply, good to know that there is still a chance. Hope the main reason why they ship so late - is care about quality of delivered knives... Keep thumbs up, I'm waiting for response from them since 2 days if I'll get any info - will post at once here.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I got one through their advertisement on Facebook, but knowing that nothing is free, I used my "free stuff" email account. Got my knife in about a week, and about 3-400 emails in the spoof account. Not a bad knife really, more of a "crap I forgot my pocket knife, now how am I gonna cut this string" than anything else.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am currently having the same problem.
    I eventually cancelled my order but they will not send me my money back.
    I hav been constantly nagging them to send my money and I still havent receieved it.
    Does anyone hav advice on how to force the business to send my money and right this wrong?

    ReplyDelete
  8. jhml - I'm sorry, but I can't help. I'm in the same boat myself.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. wat u can do is file a complaint to FTC and econsumer.gov to raise awareness and also visit their twitter and leave a comment you will see my comment there as well. Lets raise awareness to this issue ur efforts may help.

      Delete
  9. Did anyone finally get anything form those scams?? It's been more than a year since I made my order. Got nothing but moaning that they are almost ready to start shipping.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Pete - all I can tell you is that I never received a thing from them. No one has sent me an update since this article.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I've asked for refund, and got it. Got tired with their moaning...

    ReplyDelete
  12. Andrew81 - you're one up on most of us. Are you in the UK? They gave me a run around, saying they couldn't give a refund. They blamed it on the credit card processor who said it was before they were processing for Sinclair and it was Sinclair's problem.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm actually in Germany. Maybe I was a lucky one, I threatened them with anti fraud organizations, and also send them invoice from my lawyer... It was not easy, tons of emails, few calls....

    Wish luck all of you. Now I'm posting posting about how fraudulent they are on every occasion.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I ordered my knife back in Feb 2014, still havent received it...

    ReplyDelete
  15. Well I have been waiting since feb 2014... gotta be some kind of a record

    ReplyDelete
  16. sribnyi - me, too. Ordered mine in Feb of '14, never got it, never got anything out of them.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Graybeard - we gotta spread the word in media. It obviously is not a single not a single order that got botched in such way. I just got an email about my knife being sent to warehouse. Finally. 1 year and two months. Bravo, Iain.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Amazing. Do you think you're really going to get yours? Let me know if you do. You can always email directly. Sigraybeard at gmail dot com

    As for spreading the word, got any ideas how to / who to contact?

    The credit card company told me it was too late last summer. The UK PayPal equivalent said talk to them; they said to talk to the credit card processor.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Same here. Waiting since Januar.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Same here, ordered in Feb £60 they even had the cheek to send me a discount voucher.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Been waiting for over a year for my delivery. Few months ago they offered me a Cardsharp 2 to compensate for delivery charges. Still have the Cardsharp 3 on order from April 27th 2014. They said i cannot be given a refund. Anyone have a phone number for someone at this "company"?

    ReplyDelete
  22. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  23. The right link for reddit post https://www.reddit.com/r/knives/comments/34unik/iain_sinclair_is_a_liar/

    ReplyDelete
  24. I place my order on Dec 16th 2013!!!
    Still waiting
    Have been given the same story: credit card company change, no refund, etc

    have demanded phone numbers, mailing address, etc, quite the scammers
    anyone know where they are located?

    ReplyDelete
  25. I too was sucked in by this company. I ordered my CardSharp 4 one year ago today. Pathetic. Excuses galore, but only if I contacted them. They never proactively contacted me. They still offer the product on their website. I have requested a refund, will see how it goes. Not holding my breath.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Spyro, sawhillr - You're replying to an almost year old post. I've posted an update to this, to keep it more up to date:

    http://thesilicongraybeard.blogspot.com/2015/05/a-repost-anybody-else-ripped-off-by.html


    ReplyDelete
  27. 8 months ago purchased knife. No shipping. Stopped responding on e-mails, no money..
    Ripoff and Scam nothing else. Be aware.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Placed my order on October 17, 2014. I've send them loads of email and always got a response with some lame excuses.
    I tried to call the number they have in their website but "temporarily out order"

    I think we all got ripped off and not sure this company really exists???!!!

    ReplyDelete
  29. I've been waiting about a year and a half, same thing, one excuse after another, I was a previous customer but afaic these guys running it now are just running a fraud operation.

    ReplyDelete
  30. BEEN WAITING SINCE FEBRUARY AS WELL

    CONTACTED BOTH BANK & PAYPAL, SUPPOSEDLY NO PAYMENT RECORDED

    DON'T TRUST IAN SINCLAIR --- SOMETHING VERY WRONG THERE

    ReplyDelete
  31. I ordered two items from them in March 2014. Inquiries to IainSinclair customer support were always met with "production delays" and "shipping soon".

    However, as of 45 days ago, no responses are being sent anymore, neither via email nor via the customer service form on their website.

    Is this £100.34 completely lost? I am in the United States, and don't know what recourse is possible. Any advice appreciated -- thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Anonymous on July 18th - I posted a follow up to this in May but the bottom line is I only have one person report they got something back, a commenter named Andrew up above in this link.

    I keep these comment threads and posts open in hopes that someone thinking of ordering from them might find all of our bad experiences and not fall victim to the trap.

    ReplyDelete
  33. This is all the same exact stuff I'm experiencing. So frustrated beyond belief. I'm trying to figure out what to do. I bought 9 of these stupid knives for my groomsmen in my wedding. Purchased back in January 22, nothing but a couple generic "sorry for the delay, we have back orders being sent out each day" response. Absolute bull

    ReplyDelete
  34. The suspicious part is that their website is still up and running without any warning of 10 months delay or more. They still accept money and not giving anything back. I wish I'm in a civilized country to make a legal action, demanding their website to be seized for fraud.

    Please, everyone who lives in the US, the UK or Germany, where governments care about online fraud: make legal action to seize the website; not only for refund. Let a government official contact them.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Figure I'd throw in: I ordered one Dec 2013, and still waiting...

    ReplyDelete
  36. I ordered 2 knives back in April 2015, nothing has been shipped, I've been fed a stream of excuses from manufacturing errors, a problem with counterfeit copies that apparently meant they had to cease production, even saying that the company was moving. They don't keep their customers informed unless you e-mail them first, then when I finally got fed up of waiting & started asked for a refund they ignored all of my requests.

    I have contacted my Credit Card Company who are more than willing to refund the money & reverse the original transaction through "chargeback"

    PLEASE, PLEASE AVOID THIS COMPANY WITHOUT A DOUBT THE WORST COMPANY I'VE EVER COME ACROSS ONLINE, THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICES ARE DISGUSTING....THE SADDEST PART OF ALL IS THE FACT THEY'RE STILL TAKING ORDERS & TAKING PEOPLES MONEY!!!

    ReplyDelete
  37. I'll throw in, too, hoffy97. I ordered one in December 2013, as well. It's been almost two years of excuses and still no knife!

    ReplyDelete
  38. I am so glad I came across this, however sad to find out there are so many others being ripped off by this company. I have been given the same story as all of you and it will be one year in December of this year (2015) since I placed my order and at this point I just want my money back! I am in the United States and I placed an order for two knives into flashlights and including shipping I was out around $65 and have been told the same thing they cannot refund my money due to changing their credit card system however if I would like to give them all of my banking information they can refund my money. My thoughts are I don't trust them even the slightest bit at this point to give them any more information and there is no reason they cannot send me a refund check! At this point I realize I will probably never received my order nor a refund but I would like to spread the word so no one makes the same mistake I did and trusts this company by placing an order with them. I will also continue harassing the company and letting them know I will continue to report them to anyone that will listen, apparently they've never been told how quickly the word-of-mouth spreads and that going viral spreads even and faster!

    ReplyDelete
  39. Well earlier this month I ordered one of each of their product for testing purposes, which amounts to £290 or $440.

    Initially I wasn't suspicious as their website seemed legit, but after looking for reviews from some of their latest products I started getting worried, and now here I am looking them up (which I probably should've done prior to ordering, but honestly I haven't had problems with other companies before that appeared legit and reputable), seeing there's a ton of issues with them not ordering at all, or shipping out months and months after their promised shipping dates.

    I'm still within my 90 chargeback period, and I'm wondering if I should just start the chargeback right now instead of waiting for them to fullfill the order as it appears some people here have been waiting more than a year.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Yes... me too!
    I placed my order in mid-Dec of last year (2014)... and for the last 9 months they have been leading me on!
    I sent them half a dozen email checking on my order status... to which they reply with apologizes due to a backlog of order... AND the offer to refund my order if I so wished. I pressed on in hopes...
    I ran across this post about a month back... decided to email them again and take them up on their refund offer... and have heard NOTHING from them since. I'll keep emailing them... my I really have no expectations that I'll ever hear a thing.
    It would be nice to hear that the British government is dealing with this fraud... and taking steps to bring restitution to their citizens and foreign consumers, both.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Paid 8 weeks ago, never sent, never refunded. Absolute scam artist. I hope Iain Sinclair dies in a fire.

    ReplyDelete
  42. I'm a retailer and never saw the $700 worth of goods I ordered and paid for in 2014...

    I'm posting all their contact details I know from the invoice I recieved in case someone found them useful.

    IAIN SINCLAIR DESIGN LTD
    HEAD OFFICE
    88 WOOD STREET
    10TH - 15TH FLOOR
    LONDON EC2V 7RS, UK
    TEL ++44 (0)1633 400 509

    Bank name: HSBC Bank Plc
    Bank Address: 62 George White Street
    Account Name: Iain Sinclair Design Ltd
    Sort code: 40-05-15
    Account number: 73410370
    BIC/SWIFT: MIDLGB22
    IBAN: GB64 MIDL 4005 1573 4103 70
    Cabot Circus
    Bristol BS1 3BA
    UNITED KINGDOM

    AVOID!

    ReplyDelete
  43. Dammit man, looks like We've been had people. I'm thinking someone needs to pay this fucker a visit. We have a saying where I come from. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I'm wondering how the weather is over there this time a year? We can send a couple of Ga. Boys over there and just see what's up with all of our orders. I'm the man for the job. I will do this on one condition. If I don't have to absorb all of the cost. What's it worth to you or someone you know to see this person cry like a baby? I'm thinking out loud, hell I would pay something. With that being said, please send $14.95 to a bank ill have arranged here in the good Ole USA. I will personally go over there and ask (whazzz up my brother)? I and a few friends back home would like to chat for a few!!!! Lol. Well? Who is in or atleast agree? Greg.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Sorry to add to everyone's woes but I've been through the same bullshit excuses since March 2015. Bought it for a cousin In Scotland, promised numerous times it would be sent, even offered a free Cardsharp 2 to make up for,the time delay. Now no,response,whatsoever from these guys. I'm coming to the UK In Jan/ Feb and will be spending some time trying to get my money back. Wouldn't trust these guys as far as I could kick them. Why don't we all go to the UK fair trading dept( if that's what you call it) and get a local solicitor to pursue him into bankruptcy if required.

    ReplyDelete
  45. I have been had by these guys too. Exactly the same story as everyone else. Put an order in to Ian Sinclair Official site in Oct.2014. I was invoiced for my order, money was debited straight away, some communication at first and then nothing. I have not had any communication from them since March 2015. Not sure what to do now as it has been so long since I put my order in. I'm in Ireland by the way.

    Anyway, fingers crossed we all get something out of this, but I highly doubt it.

    AVOID IAN SINCLAIR KNIVES AT ALL COST !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  46. ordered on October 23, 2014. still didn't get my order. The same bull shit excuses like above.

    ReplyDelete
  47. I did not get my knife and flashlight too..... F*** THIS S*IT!

    ReplyDelete
  48. hello guys...

    try this:
    Order # Date Order Total Status
    ISDL100034485 16 Dec 2013 £36.95 Processing View Order

    think i am the biggest sucker here.. =(

    ReplyDelete
  49. Have been waiting for almost a year I have only gotten two responses to my 30 emails both of which saying they're on backorder because of a shipment error due to them moving buildings and one thing over 200 of the back order has been shipped will be here shortly and that was 6 months ago I am irate this is a rip off and a scam artist 100% I can't even call the company to get them to refund my money so I've been spamming their stupid email hoping to get even a response of go fuck yourself lady you got ripped where is the Better Business Bureau for international dealings this company is a scam artist scamming people out of money how are they not shut down

    ReplyDelete
  50. Have been waiting for almost a year I have only gotten two responses to my 30 emails both of which saying they're on backorder because of a shipment error due to them moving buildings and one thing over 200 of the back order has been shipped will be here shortly and that was 6 months ago I am irate this is a rip off and a scam artist 100% I can't even call the company to get them to refund my money so I've been spamming their stupid email hoping to get even a response of go fuck yourself lady you got ripped where is the Better Business Bureau for international dealings this company is a scam artist scamming people out of money how are they not shut down

    ReplyDelete
  51. I noted today that the official site is down finally...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Within the last couple of weeks, I got an email from them out of the blue. I had not sent them any inquiry. The email claimed they had fixed some problems and they were going to catch up on all their back orders. I didn't believe it and didn't think it was worth publishing here. "If you want to convince, don't tell me words, send me the knife!"

      The only problem is if they've started doing business under another name, ripping off whole new groups of people.

      Delete
  52. They actually owe me a few things, some knives and two lights. Their excuse have always been production problem, and now the web site is down..

    ReplyDelete
  53. I dont know how good of a thing it is but I got two EON flashlights from them for free instead of my Cardsharp...

    ReplyDelete
  54. Lucky you, at least something…
    The bad thing is, that I still want to own that alu-version of the knife as I think it is a good thing to have in your pocket. Anyway, I do not think that I will ever get the one I ordered or another one. A shame that there is no similar product available.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's the worst part, I genuinely wanted to buy their products, even for their crazy prices.

      Delete
  55. This is so disappointing. I bought 2 of these back in November 2015 that were supposed to be Christmas gifts and have yet to hear a response from them or receive a product. Has anyone had any luck getting a refund through the bank? I'm just tired of this and I could use that $40

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I ordered stuff in September 2015, I made a chargeback claim with my bank in December 2015, I had my money back late January 2015. Any reasonable bank would allow you a chargeback here.

      Delete
  56. Tried to do the right thing by buying the original design for it's ridiculous price of 69 euros. Instead haven't had one email after 6 months. Hopefully he's dead in a gutter somewhere now.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Same story here.

    I've ordered my cardsharp January 2015 and nothing happened since then. Asked them half a year ago and they told me the same story as you: production chaos but they will get on it soon...

    And now this January, 1 year after my order, they dropped a Mail that we are now able to Preorder the CardSharp... a product I allready paid for a year ago. I nearly died for laughing.

    I'm constantly mailing them since that, but got no response so far.
    Somehow I am glad that I wasn't the only dumb nut that fell into this honeypot -.-

    ReplyDelete
  58. How are we going to get this scam out of the world, together, police? Investigators?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Personally, I have no idea. Everything I've tried comes to a dead end - the credit card processor, the card company, and so on. Being on the other side of the Atlantic makes it difficult for me. We need a local law enforcement person who will track things down, build a case and go after them. If I had the name and email, I'd gladly send the roughly 100 comments complaining about them (the 63 on this post and the comments from the followup a year later). Whether anything would happen is still an open question.

      Delete
  59. Iain Sinclair Design owe my company over £1000 in shipping costs from March 2015. They have changed their numbers without telling us and last responded to an email end of 2015 saying they had 000's of orders backed up and as soon as they were paid they would pay us. We told them no. We need payment now! They have gone M.I.A. Fraudsters. We will be taking legal action.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If it wouldn't be too much trouble, we'd appreciate it if you kept us posted on the legal efforts. Perhaps this blog post and it's May 2015 repost would be helpful to the investigators!

      Delete
  60. They have recently posted a phone number on their website. Has anyone tried calling it?

    ReplyDelete
  61. #ISDL100039xxx (placed on 9 September 2014 14:03:48 BST)£105.05
    Still waiting!!
    Spend my money on medicines!

    ReplyDelete
  62. Your Order #ISDL100042271 (placed on 20 February 2015 11:47:56 GMT)

    I placed an order more than 1 year ago. Still have been waiting for a knife((

    ReplyDelete
  63. I ordered an engraved knife in Dec 2015 and have written three times. Today their web site is not coming up. Bozos.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Well ordered one in January '15. The same excuses. Emailed, called no answer. Bank says it has been to late for chargeback. Just spend 30€s. I think money is gone...

    ReplyDelete
  65. Ordered a knife back in January 2015. Called, emailed still no answer. 30€s gone. Contacted my Bank but they said it has been too late in April 2015. So I am sitting here and waiting...

    ReplyDelete
  66. Hello,
    Iain Sinclair owes our company and partner companies alot of money (We are distributors)...
    Legal proceedings are being put in place by our lawyers, if you have any claims or problems with Iain Sinclair and want us to include your issue in this claim please feel free to get in touch with me : iainsinclair@protonmail.com
    Sam

    ReplyDelete
  67. Same here, order placed on 2 September 2014, last reply was on june 16, "Thank you for your email. We are a small team and really busy, so please bear with us while we respond to your email". and their website is still exist.

    ReplyDelete
  68. Just a note to new readers: this is a 2014 blog post and still gets comments. My blog is set to not automatically post comments on posts that are over 14 days old. This lets me weed out spammers. If you have an honest posting, I'll approve it as soon as I get the notification. It could be within minutes and it could be hours after you comment depending on if I'm in or out.

    ReplyDelete
  69. It seems that the company have changed names since September of this year.

    ReplyDelete
  70. Are there any updates on this thief?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not that I have. The latest information is here in the comments, so months ago.

      Delete
  71. just wrote to the museum of modern art https://www.moma.org to demand that they remove all iain sinclair products from their display cases or suffer negative press of proudly displaying the products of a family of thieves. suggest more do the same.

    ReplyDelete
  72. I submitted an order for 2 customized cardsharp 4s in December of 2014 and never received either knife or a refund for either. I just remembered about it today, and decided to google to see if anyone else had the same experience. That's how I came across this thread. I received multiple stories of production delays, needing to stop counterfeiters, every story you can imagine. But here we are nearly 4 years later....no refund, no knives. Terrible company

    ReplyDelete
  73. I finally after more than three years received my refund from Iain Sinclair. In order to achieve that I had to contact Monmouthshire Trading Standards (http://www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/home/trading-standards). I would advice everybody who has been ripped off by this company to do the same.

    ReplyDelete
  74. I also got the following advice from Monmouthshire Trading Standards:

    Thank you for your message. The business also contacted me earlier to today to advise your refund has now been processed.

    With reference to your comments about other consumers who may have been affected and the forum. We would generally recommend that any consumer who doesn’t live in the UK, but who is resident in the European Union make contact with the European Consumer Centre Network in the Country where they are based. They have reciprocal arrangements with the UK branch of the Network and may be able to help with unfulfilled orders.

    UK residents can contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Advice Line to report problems.
    We work with both of these organisations, so they can notify us of any trend in complaints.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the followup.

      Do you know if there's any sort of reciprocal arrangement with the US?

      Delete
  75. No, unfortunately not. I live in Europe and contacted Monmouthshire Trading Standards directly.

    ReplyDelete
  76. looks like grant sinclair is at it again. http://grantsinclair.com/ selling IRIS eTrike bikes and mini computers. Of course, orders are being accepted for an autumn production. Sound familiar?
    hate to see nothing being done about this scam artist. more people are going to lose their money and there appears to be nothing anyone can do about it. i guess thats what you can do when you uncle ("Sir Clive Sinclair") has been knighted by the idiot british govt. check out the uncle too. the guy , whos supposedly an inventor, now has scammed untold others out of their money as well. what is it with this family?
    https://www.theverge.com/2017/3/12/14888818/the-sinclair-zx-vega-plus-indiegogo-campaign-funding-ship

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for that fascinating update. I think I need to look into this a bit.

      Delete
  77. Thanks for all the helpful information posted in this thread.
    I've been waiting for a year to receive my knife, still nothing.

    I'll be pursuing further action to get my £65 back.

    ReplyDelete