The eglobalcentral.com websites are online vendors of electronics, photo equipment, etc. They have very low prices, which attract a lot of customers, even if their delivery times are very long: several weeks during which you will receive no information whatsoever on the status of your order, until it shows up on your doorstep.
Moreover, they try to "play local" by having country-specific versions of their website: they have one for Belgium, for example, so that Belgians will think they have a subsidiary established in their country, and they have one in France to induce the same kind of trust in French customers. They also have many other "national" sites, and they probably have one painted to the colors of your own country...
Finally, in order to convince the European customers that they are firmly established in Europe, they ostensibly ship their merchandise from a UK warehouse.
However, that is all window-dressing.
The truth is eglobalcentral lie to their customers.
They are established in China, more specifically in Hong Kong, and when you order something from them, the long delivery delay is because they first have to ship the product from Hong Kong to the UK, then ship it again from that UK warehouse to you.
And that long wait is not the worse aspect of things, far from it.
Imagine that upon receiving it, you realize that the product you have ordered is not suitable, and you want to return it. Of course, you can, can you not? Yes, but... you will be forced to return it TO HONG KONG, not to the UK warehouse that shipped it to you, which means you will have to pay around 50 euros in shipping costs —and more if the package is a bit heavy!
This is sheer extortion. Eglobalcentral know very well that offsetting 50 euros or more for shipping costs will, in many cases, defeat the whole purpose of returning the product, and they are counting on that to minimize the number of returns.
This is an unfair commercial practice, and unacceptable in this day and age. This is customer entrapment, and this is why I will from now on boycott eglobalcentral and never, ever purchase anything from any of their sites again.
I urge you to do the same, because only this sort of customer pressure will make them change the way they do business. LET'S ALL BOYCOTT EGLOBALCENTRAL!
I will of course file a complaint with the competent French authorities, as I am located in France, and with the European Consumer Center (www.europe-consommateurs.eu).
