UKH

Hi,

Has anyone done 'Cash in Advance' with Exxopozed retailer before?

Details: Recently put an order in for some climbing shoes from Exxpozed.co.uk. It wouldn't allow me to pay by VISA or MASERCARD payment, so chose 'cash in advance' for payment method (only method that worked). Got an email confirming the order which includes IBAN and BIC payment details, however no instructions for how to complete this. I have emailed them for instructions but no response yet (been a few days). As it is a 'DE' (German) IBAN no. i'm not sure whether to pay in £ or euro, my order is in £ but i presume their account works in euro? Overall, seems a bit complicated and don't want to send them money via an international bank transfer and then not get the product, seems a bit dodgey! 

Thanks, George. 

Sounds dodgy as hell. If nothing else paying into a non GB bank account you'll incur banking charges which will probably negate the savings of buying from outside the UK.

Natwest actually take nothing from me, just with this exchange rate (1.00 Pounds Sterling GBP = 1.1308498 EURO EUR)

but with the note that:

"Foreign bank handling fee: Please note that the foreign bank may deduct a handling fee from the amount sent."

Therefore i've got no idea how much will actually get into their acc. so how would they know they've been paid the correct amount? Guess unless i hear back from them via email i just won't pay and the order will expire... 

Why are you so keen to buy from this retailer? Unless the shoes aren't available in the UK it looks like a lot of hassle. 

Yes the retailer will almost certainly be charged to receive currency from abroad (we used to pay £5 even if the payment was made in £). No idea if they will absorb that fee or expect you to overpay to cover it. I would certainly check out what they charge in Euro and pay in that so at least there is no confusion over exchange rate changes, if you pay in £ their bank will decide what exchange rate to use.

Also you need to consider the potential for customs charges when it comes into the UK. If they do the paperwork correctly they should cover this for sales up to £135, over that you will have to pay and also have a handling fee for customs to process the paperwork. https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

​​​​​As I said above, probably best to walk away. Be polite and send an email asking them to cancel the order, but otherwise I'm sure after a given time they will just do so anyway.

Cash in advance (or even getting goods sent and then paying the invoice on receipt) is not uncommon in DE/AT. Never had any issues from DE/AT companies, as long as they are proper retailers.

No idea about the shop you're buying from though, and no idea how it would work from the UK with bank charges (unless you transfer euros). 

I have bought from Exxpozed before and they are a legitimate store. I had to change a shipping address after dispatch (it pulled through an old PayPal address I think, overwriting the correct one) and they dealt with it. The site and process was a bit clunky, but an excellent deal. I'm pretty sure I had to spend a particular amount in order for them to deliver and sort taxes out. 

I have never used Exxopozed but I used to buy Lego from Bricklink stores by transferring to their German IBAN and there were no problems. The fees depend on your UK bank, in my case there were none. As others have said, you should probably check if VAT and customs fees are covered or not.

yeah, i did notice that! And they haven't responded to emails from a customer who is trying to pay them!

thanks for your response, much less than £135, just put the order in as the items not available in the UK and happened to be on sale from that website, only did Pay in Advance and card/paypal didn't work. Probs not worth the hassle but as have started it now thought might as well finish it is possible. 

I bought a tent from them some years back as it was at quite a large discount. I also found it odd sending money over but a good friend of mine who is German assured me it was quite normal. I went through with the transfer and the tent arrived just fine.

It's quite an odd way of trading and I'm surprised they still do this. It does seem customer care has declined somewhat from what the reviews are saying lately.

Appreciate the response, can you remember if you sent in £ or euros? Did you get confirmation from them about what currency you should pay in?

I seem to remember is was in UK pounds. What was odd is that we didn't get any payment confirmation and we were ready for a battle. 10 daqys later the tent landed. This was around 7 years ago.

Wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole. Lost money a few years ago. They just wear you out in the end.

Was this through paying cash in advance and then not receiving the items? 

Yes, it was

thanks Cam for the heads up, i'll leave it unless they respond by email (which i don't think they will). 

I used them for something a few years ago, but paid by credit card to ship to Australia. They're a legit retailer, some good prices, but were slow to ship and slow to respond to emails. I don't think they're dodgy, just incompetent.

Another negative experience ( so far) for Exxpozed….

I was just about to post about it warning others yesterday. 
Paid for rock boots via PayPal 16/6/23…

As of today, no rock boots, no explanation and no response to emails on a weekly or more basis. No response to their ‘ call back ‘ option. 
There’s a form on their website to get your money back but only valid for 14 days..

I would strongly advise anyone to avoid this shop despite the wonderful advertised prices.

It would be great if anyone at UKC could put some pressure/interview the owner to understand their position…?

Are they trying to scam us or just overwhelmed?

Given the responses above I just got a refund from PayPal…

My experience of them is that they're fine unless you need to contact them - which appears to be impossible. Accordingly, I no longer use them.

i guess that's how they keep the prices so low, having no customer services employees must keep costs down. thanks everyone for the responses , been very useful! 

Maybe PayPal, Visa and Mastercard have stopped servicing Expozzed due to the number claims, may be why the .co.uk website is only taking 'cash in advance' as a payment method. 

Hi Neil, Vitoman here. thanks for your message re climbing in West Yorks Yep we might be able to hook up. I am away right now but down in Guiseley from 16th Sept. will drop you a line when I am back. cheers 

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/exxpozed.de

That would be enough to put me off going anywhere near giving them money.

I've bought from them before- at least twice, maybe more. I've yet to experience an issue with them.

Maybe I've just been lucky, who knows.

As have a small proportion of other people, if those reviews are to be trusted.

Many others appear to have had a very different experience.

Absolutely agree, I think I've just been lucky.

And I'd rather not test that theory.

It's legit. I've used it several times, and as stated above, cash in advance is a common payment method in Germany and Austria. 

You realise there is a phenomenon of trust pilot bias right? People mainly go on it to vent about issues. Nobody is bothering to write reviews for a simple, successful online transaction.

Yes, of course. But the comparative scores are still useful, and this one seems particularly low.

If the reviews are worth anything at all (and I agree that that isn't necessarily the case) then those with notably low scores should be treated with great caution, especially if the number of bad reviews is high rather than just the proportion.

When I had a problem with them, I couldn't get any response via email so I called them and they were very helpful. 

A lot of companies in Europe no longer accept Visa/ Mastercard payments from the UK (including Amazon), the EU capped interchange fees at 0.3% for credit card payments and 0.2% for debit cards. Now the UK has left the EU rates (for UK cards) are now 1.5% (Visa) and 1.15% (Mastercard). 

What about PayPal? Do they also charge similar high rates for EU companies from UK customers? 

I've absolutely no idea, my PayPal account is in Euros (and I live in Europe).