fashion-shoe-mall bait and switch Internet, Internet

About a month ago I was looking for a pair of Naot brand shoes that have been discontinued. I did an internet search for the shoes, and saw that a website called fashion-shoe-mall.com was selling them for around $35. These shoes normally sell for around $180, but I figured it was a close-out price since they were discontinued. The website looked somewhat shady, but it said they were paypal verified and had free shipping, so for some reason I thought it was legit. Also, the website said they were located in Indiana. I purchased the shoes on 3/27/12.

Yesterday, 4/14/12, I received a small package in the mail from China. Inside was a package of two garbage bag clips. I had no idea why I had been sent this and started thinking about purchases I had recently made. I initially thought it was related to something I had purchased on eBay and still hadn't received, but I soon remembered the to good to be true deal on Naot shoes and figured it had something to do with them. I did an internet search and found that this was a common occurrence with Fashion Shoe Mall.

Apparently Fashion Shoe Mall expects you to file a paypal claim that you didn't receive the item, to which they will respond that they did in fact send you something and they have the tracking number to prove it! Or if you file a claim saying you received the wrong item they will respond and say okay, just send it back and we will refund your money. Apparently it costs about $20 to send this worthless crap back to China, and even then who knows if they will "receive" it, so most people don't bother.

I preemptively called paypal and alerted them to what has happened. They said this was a common scam, and notated my account so when the scammers respond and tell me to send back the crap for a refund, I am to call paypal and have my money refunded.

However, I feel like an idiot for falling for this scam in the first place. I should have known better. Now you know better - don't shop at www.fashion-shoe-mall.com