"Experience very bad; they don't answer phone calls, they don't reply to voice mail, they don't reply to emails, so you can't cancel an order that's been placed."
"Company was slow to respond to e-mails. Company double-invoiced on split shipping and did not refund. Company shipped wrong item and denied wrong-doing even though it was clearly shown on its web site. Company not interested in customer satisfaction."
"Same story as the rest - ordered costume, credit card charged immediately, no costume by arrival date, absolutely no response either by phone (can't even get through) or by numerous e-mails. Shame on me for not finding these reviews earlier!
I am a frequent internet shopper and have not had a problem before - lesson learned. Fortunately for my 4-year old, after reading these accounts, I purchased the costume elsewhere from a reputable company and we'll have it in time for Halloween.
As for Costume Hut, they can deal with my credit card company as I have already disputed the charges and suggested that the company be blocked from using their service as they are obviously fraudulant."
"I ordered from this company and the date of delivery came and went.I tried to contact their 800 number and was told by recording that their call volume was too high to answer calls and referred to email.I sent a detailed email and got a reply without any answers to my questions,only that my credit card had just been charged and that one costume was out of stock (no word on if items had shipped or when they would).Then they emailed me that with my charge and I was charged for the out-of-stock item also.Since then, no one has returned my latest emails or calls 36 hours later."
"I’m writing to report a fraudulent internet company. I am in the United States Air Force and live in Japan. My kids live with their mother in San Antonio, TX. I periodically send them packages so shopping online is common. Since Halloween was coming up, I wanted to get a jump on the shoppers so I found a site who sold costumes online. The name of the website is Costumehut.com (based in Quebec, Canada). They also have another site called Costumedisguises.com. Their worthless customer service number was the same phone number on both sites.
On 15 Sep 05, I placed the order and received the online bill confirmation that my order was processed. By the way, I paid extra shipping charges to receive the costume by 29 Sep. On 21 Sep, I received a shipping notice although it never said my item was shipped. It did however say my credit card was charged. Although I thought it was a bit quirky, I ignored it as I’ve never had a problem shopping online. Of course I was excited for my 7 year old so I told him about the costume on 16 Sep and to be looking for it on Thursday, 29 Sep. That day came and went. Every day since, my son has been awaiting a package…every…single…day. I’ve dealt with companies that have not met their shipping deadlines due to backorders, etc so I just kept telling my son to be patient.
After a week or so, I started to get nervous because I wanted this costume delivered by Halloween. I called their customer service number, ***-***-****, just to receive a message of “You have reached the voicemail box of Costume Hut. The mailbox is full. Please Hang Up” Something of that effect. I called this number every weekday for 2 weeks. They also have a “toll-free” number on their other site, Costumedisguises.com which is 1-***-***-****. I guess this number is supposed to be used to order costumes. However, I called it just to be able to talk to a human being and complain. Well, that number isn’t in service. It just gives a fast-busy signal. Basically, I’ve been calling both numbers for 2 weeks. In addition, I’ve sent 3 emails to their “support center” email address, ****@**** and ****@****. Both email addresses have not responded.
After thinking about the fact that I’ve been scammed, I started doing research and found some really interesting articles on resellerratings.com. The same thing has happened to several people. One article has even said that this internet site is listed at ripoffreport.com. After checking, sure enough, this info was there. His name was associated with other websites as well. Lightsabershop, Costume Hut, Costume Disguises. This guy’s name is Arthur Scott.
Well, I decided to call my bank, USAA and explain the situation. They immediately credited my account with a provisional credit. They told me they would inform Mastercard, who will contact the merchant. The merchant then has 30 days to respond with either documentation of why my product isn’t delivered or the product itself. If not, then the merchant is charged.
In the grand scheme of things, the only loser here is my seven year old.
"
"Update 10/18/05
Much to my surprise the costume arrived today. Eleven days late. It was addressed to the wrong zipcode, though I'm certain this wasn't the only reason behind the slow service. Regardless, I received no response of any sort to my email (below). I remain entirely dissatisfied with these people. The only redeeming aspect of this entire affair is that hopefully I have learned my lesson, and from now on will do thorough research before ordering from some dodgy company I've never heard of.
Hopefully if everyone who gets ripped off complains to their credit card companies, these costumehut people will go under. Or even better, be prosecuted. Anyone familiar with Canadian fraud law?
--------------------
I just sent this email to ****@****. We'll see how they respond.
------(snip)-------
I wrote to you earlier today requesting information about an overdue order (xxxxxx-xxxxxx). I have since done a little bit of research and have discovered your horrific track record with customer service. It seems that, as one former customer has written, “CostumeHut.com appears to be a company that is satisfied with having just one transaction with their customer; ripping them off; moving on to the next.”
With your voicemail box continuously full (of complaints no doubt), it seems that the only way people are able to get a response from someone is to threaten legal action, and then they typically get some cut-and-paste nonsense. So, here goes…
I demand to know immediately the exact disposition of our order – and I fully expect it to be delivered before this Friday, October 14th (a full week beyond the expected arrival date of the costume). If it is not going to arrive by then I expect the order to be cancelled and a full refund posted straightaway. I have done much research and am fully prepared to complain to the RCMP Commercial Crime Office about your fraudulent behavior. I will also complain to Clic.net and InternetSecure.com, as well as the local authorities. Frankly I have already started communicating with the scores of your unsatisfied customers who have taken the time to report you on rip-off and commerce reporting websites about the possibility of filing a class action lawsuit.
On a more human note, I really don’t know how you can live with yourselves doing this. I mean you sell costumes for little kids! Do you really not care how these children feel when they get all excited about a costume on your webpage, only to have it show up too late for Halloween, or not at all?
I am gearing up for a long and annoying battle over this simple costume. Really there are only two ways I can see things ending well (for you) now. Either the costume shows up at our door sometime before the end of this week, or I receive an email response to this which is clearly written by a human being and which somehow manages to assure me that you do in fact know what you are doing, and that you are taking pains to remedy the situation immediately.
I look forward to hearing back from you.
------(snip)-------
I am incredibly angry with myself for not discovering this site before placing my order. Purchased the costume on 9/22/05, was promptly billed, and told to expect delivery 10/7/05. It is now 10/11/05 and I am gearing up for a long battle with these people.
Like the people who have posted before, my phone calls go straight to a voicemail box that is full, which was my first indication that something sketchy was going on.
To the person below me, I would be interested in pursuing some sort of legal action against this company. I will try to contact you, even registering with resellerratings.com if I have to (a step I must admit I am typically loathe to do).
Damn you Google for returning this site on your first page! (or maybe it was a paid ad, I don't remember, one way or another I don't find it there now.)
-Unhappy in Oakland, CA"
"*IMPORTANT* Costume Hut's other Alias's look for the similarities in mailing address when shopping
[updated]
Well, found another alias and this time a real name to go along with it. Notice the phone number.
Also check out this link, it should be very handy in the future. http://www.ripoffreport.com/search.asp
Guess who's in there.
Lightsabershop
Name: Arthur Scott
Phone: ***-***-****
Fax: ***-***-****
Web site: www.lightsabershop.com
Email: ****@****
Costume Hut, Costume Disguises
Name: Costume Hut
Phone: ***-***-****
Web site: www.costumehut.com
Email: ****@****
CP. 67082
CSP Lemoyne, St Lambert (Quebec)
Canada
J4R 2T8
Costume disguises
party costumes
halloween costume store**
Man I wish I came across this site before becoming yet another unsatisfied customer with Costume Hut. The other reviewers are bang on with their experiences with this so called "company"
I ordered a Plo Koon mask from this site 05/25/05, and my item went into the cart without a hitch. Got my total and shipping costs then mailed out the money order the following day. I know that my shipping date wasn't going to be accurate because of the money order transaction, so I wait 3 business days before I email them to see if they received it or not. First email goes out 05/30/05. No reply. Email again on 05/31/05, again, no reply. Called the phone number, box was full. Tried 17 more times, left a message, no call back.
Emailed 1 more time on 06/02/05 basically having to threaten them with legal action if I do not get some sort of contact within the next 24 hours, email arrives into my inbox..
Now pay close attention to the date and time of these because it's very important...
From: Costume Hut
To: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (me)
Date: Thursday, June 02, 2005 3:40pm
Subject: Order xxxxx
Hello xxxxxx (me),
I am pleased to let you know that we have received your money order payment today. Your order will be processed and shipped out within the next 2 business days.
Thank you,
xxxxxxx (rep)
Next email...
From: Costume Hut
To: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (me)
Date: Friday, June 03, 2005 12:49am
Subject: RE Order xxxxx
I am sorry to let you know that the item you have ordered is still on back order. The items have not been discontinued and are expected to arrive shortly. Please let us know if the short delay is a problem.
No name with email.
It's now 06/09/05, still no contact made.
See a problem here? Something very fishy about this. I replied and gave them to the end of 06/10/05 to have my order here or fraudulent consequences will ensue. I know who their ISP is, money orders are 100% traceable (which means I'll know who, when and where this was cashed by). Now 1 person isn't going to make a difference, so those whom have had similar experiences need to jump on this and I will supply all the contact info you will need to stop crooks like this from ripping people off. I will be making the first initiative, any others are welcome to send me an email (it should be listed).
In short, do not deal with this store, you will get burned."
"Very disappointed with this company. I purchased 3 items and needed them immediately for an event we were holding. I specified my ideal shipping date via the Canada Post section and was excited. I received my payment receipt the next day afte order. Here i am, a week and a half later with no costumes! I've spent almost $150 and am now worried it went down the drain. Seeing these other poor reviews makes me realize i should have looked here first! After several e-mail attempts and ringing to a phone that seems non-existent, i'm assuming i wont' expect my costumes any time soon, if at all?"
"i searched in vain for a costume, but they were back ordered everywhere. finially found it at this company. paid extra shipping to ensure it would be here on friday october 29. today is halloween. no costume. my son is extreamly dissapointed, and we are out $67.31. from all the other complaints i can assume we will probably never get either a costume or a refund."
"I purchased a costume at the beginning of October and i recieved an email giving my my order number, and giving me a recieval date of October 19th. the next day my credit card was charged. it is now October 27, and i have still not recieved a costume. I talked to a sales associate about 2 weeks ago and he informed me that my costume was on back order, but that it would be in on Monday, and that i could call back on Tuesday. Well suprise suprise, when i called nobody answered. i think it is funny how during store hours, a cellular voicemail picks up, which is full anyway, and after hours a regular answering machine picks up. Although it is a waste of time to leave a message or even take time to write an email, because i promise you, these people will not get back to you. I am very disatisfied with this place, if it is even a place, and i will NEVER do business with them again!!"
"Ordered costume for my son, and had a hard time getting a status of my order and shipping date. Finally rcvd email stating it had been sent and then item was rcvd DAMAGED. The mask was cracked in 2 places. The item looked to be packed in a box to small for it which is probably how it got cracked and it had no packing either. I pd $13.33 for shipping and this is what I got? Not to mention $32 for the damaged costume. Over $45!! I have called and left several msgs with no response. Crooked company if you ask me. BEWARE BUYERS, You don't want the hassel, Believe me!! I have always ordered my halloween costumes online with other companies and have always rcvd great service. I will continue but never with this company."
"Great Company. Made my Son so Happy, He loves his new Spider-man Costume. Went above and beyond!"
"Buyer Beware! It is my opinion that this company has a policy of putting off refunds for products they have to back order. I was informed my items were in stock so I placed an order on May 11 2004. My credit card was charged on May 12 and I was given a May 21 delivery date. May 21 came and went so I contacted the company and Sara in customer service replied: "I am sorry to let you know that we have yet to receive your back order. we do not expect it will be too much longer though!" This implies that I knew it was a back order - wrong. Each week I have emailed inquiring as to my order and the same response "...a short delay."
It has now been over three months so I requested a refund, to which they agreed stating they would refund my card in 2-5 business days. Well 15 days passed and no refund so I contacted my credit card company and they credited my card and reversed charges. Strange enough I received an email from my credit card company stating that the charges were reversed and the next day I get email from Costumehut stating they wanted to let me know that my refund was applied (ha!). I don't believe this company to be intentionally fraudulent - if items are in stock they are sent however if on back order they keep the customer waiting until items finally arrive no matter how long - and refunds are not easily given in fact I had to take mine - just be sure to use a credit card!
"
"Return a money order early!!! !!!. !!!.
Return a money order early!!! !!!. !!!.
Return a money order early!!! !!!. !!!.
Return a money order early!!! !!!. !!!.
The selling person of the above-mentioned site was encountered at fraud.
The coat of a matrix was ordered in February.
The reply that it received one month after sending the money order was received by mail.
Although mail of a reminder was sent since it did not arrive even if two months pass, naturally
there was also no satisfactory reply in the state where I do not have you teach however it may
also hear a mail number.
Since there was finally no stock, mail of returning a money order came.
It directed to return a money order.
Although two months have passed since the reply that the money order was sent, naturally the money
order has not reached me.
It is ignored although mailed repeatedly after that.
in case a money order is sent, it sends by the method of pursuing repeatedly -- as -- also telling --
I regard the reply that it sent by ordinary mail etc. as having not sent the money order by any means
If required, facsimile also of all the mails exchanged until now will be carried out.
"
"Wonderful shopping experience with Costumehut.com - Excellent customer service, Went out of their way and beyond to ensure promt deliver. Great selection of Costumes. I Will happily continue to shop with them!"