– I had seen it everywhere on TikTok, so in the end I ordered it, says student Tor-Trygve Frydstad Pedersen (23).
The product the 23-year-old is aiming for is a projector that can show film and video directly on the wall or ceiling.
POPULAR: This projector was commissioned by Pedersen. Photo: Screenshot/ Techkongen
There is a lot of advertising for the projector on social media, and it was via TikTok that the 23-year-old clicked onto the Norsk Livsstil website.
Major delays
Pedersen placed the order on 28 November last year and paid NOK 599, in the good faith that the projector would arrive before Christmas.
ON THE WAY: On the same day that Pedersen ordered the item, he received confirmation that it was on its way. Photo: Private
– The order itself went very well. I paid with Klarna and it should take about ten working days before I received the item.
He was sent a tracking link and followed the tracking daily. But there was no information.
– I got in touch and then informed the company that there were major delays, so I settled down with it.
– Although nothing
Weeks passed and no update was sent out.
– One day I go back to the website to read about the delivery time, and then a completely different name and logo comes up. Suddenly I’m not on Norsk Livsstil, but on Techkongen.
NEW WEBSITE: This website came up when Pedersen was about to enter Norsk Livsstil. Photo: Screenshot/ Techkongen
– I didn’t understand anything. I immediately thought I had gone to the wrong website.
– Then I see that they have the same e-mail, and then I make contact again and urge the delivery. Then they blamed the postal company. But when I check the tracking number, nothing is registered on the post.
More things that rattle
It has been over two months since the order, and the 23-year-old has not yet received any information about the package.
– Now the company has completely stopped responding to my e-mails.
TV 2 helps you has examined the website and finds several strange and contradictory information. Among other things, the company claims that they are owned and operated locally, and was founded in an attempt “to achieve a better tomorrow for the general market and small businesses in Norway”.
A little further down the page it says that they are based in Sweden. They also provide different contact information, different delivery and return information.
DIFFERENT NAMES: Techking or Norwegian Lifestyle? Photo: Screenshot/ Techkongen
– Threatened with reporting
TV 2 helps you has been in contact with several customers in the same situation.
Bhare Amin Kesmaei (35) from Kongsvinger ordered the same projector, also in November last year.
– I have registered them as fraud, as I have not yet received the package.
– I’m really pissed off, says Kesmaei.
COMMENT: Bhare Amin Kesmaei posted a review when Techkongen was called Norsk Livsstil. Photo: Screenshot/ Facebook
– Every time I get hold of them, they just say that the package has disappeared and that they will send a new one. They have been saying that since November, says the 35-year-old.
– I have also threatened to file a complaint if they do not return the money as they promise on the website, but I get no response, she says with frustration.
You do this
Lawyer Nora Wennberg Gløersen of the Consumer Council has looked into the case of Pedersen and Kesmaei, and gives advice for future online purchases.
– There are many tempting advertisements for cool things on TikTok, but as a consumer you should always think twice before shopping from unknown online stores.
BE AWARE: Nora Wennberg Gløersen asks consumers to carefully examine the contact information provided to be aware of unscrupulous actors. Photo: Consumer Council
– If it is difficult to find an e-mail and telephone number, the website has typographical errors that indicate the use of Google Translate and lower prices than normal, this may indicate that the site is run by fraudsters, emphasizes Gløersen.
– Another tip is to read other consumers’ experiences. If an online store is operating unscrupulously, there are usually warnings. A quick search shows that Techkongen has dissatisfied customers, says the consumer lawyer.
Don’t give up
TV 2 help you have, on several e-mail addresses, via Facebook and telephone, made several attempts to get an answer from the man behind Techkongen without success.
MATTER OF PRINCIPLE: Tor-Trygve Frydstad Pedersen says it is a lot of money to lose, but that this has primarily become a matter of principle. Photo: Private
Tor-Trygve Frydstad Pedersen has nevertheless not given up hope of getting his money back.
– I will do everything I can to ensure that no one else will shop there and experience the same. It is a very unscrupulous company.
– I study innovation and business development in Oslo, so this is actually very ironic, he concludes.
