Some Raru customers are struggling to get refunds on delayed and cancelled orders

[Neuk_]

Raru is engaging in the practice of overselling products and using other customer's funds to pay refunds. It will eventually collapse.

pıɯɐɹʎd scheme

 

[Madge]

Huge problems at Raru

Reputable and well-established online store Raru has faced a barrage of complaints from customers saying they have struggled to get refunds from the company after unreasonable delivery delays.

The once-beloved company has seen its aggregate review score on Hello Peter plummet, with 486 reviews out of 610 (80%) giving it a 1-star rating. Another 23 reviewers gave it two stars.

They couldn’t source or deliver my items from an order from July 2022 for several months (despite ‘delivery within 3-5 working days’) -even wasted a month with the Ombudsman with no results. They finally refunded me a week ago. If a company doesn’t even bother to respond to the ombudsman you can be assured it’s bad news.

 

[ckboshoff]

They couldn’t source or deliver my items from an order from July 2022 for several months (despite ‘delivery within 3-5 working days’) -even wasted a month with the Ombudsman with no results. They finally refunded me a week ago. If a company doesn’t even bother to respond to the ombudsman you can be assured it’s bad news.

Was ur account also credited for days on end? And when sending sn enquiry email was told your request was with the "finance dept"

 

[wbot]

Even sites like karibaa and manicaa are faster these days (although I've only ordered from them twice). Will never order from raru again.

 

[Petec]

This reminds me of Tactical distributors. I have made a review on Google and Hellopeter but alas, people dont read it:

Just a week ago another victim

View attachment 1404349

Ahhhhhhh. Good 'ol Mr. Schatz and SA Tactical Distributors (Previously GI Combat Supplies).
He is a MASTER at this game, and has literally scammed millions over the years.
Yet, his companies are still going strong

Review Companies Online | Customer Service & Company Ratings | hellopeter.com

www.hellopeter.com

 

[R13...]

Reputable my arse

Used to be reputable. Was good for those imports Amazon won't ship here.

 

[noxibox]

You can't do a charge back after a month, most of the time the product is supposed to arrive after a month.

Both Visa and Mastercard generally allow 120 days, so if your bank is only giving you 30 days they're short-changing you.

 

[j4ck455]

We contacted Neil and Waine Smith regarding the complaints, but they did not wish to comment on the record.

Were they being held hostage by Nigerian drug dealers or is there some other explanation for refusing to answer for the fraud that Raru has clearly become?

And to be clear, taking orders, taking the money, with no intention of fulfilling the orders, and then having the gall to make customers wait indefinitely for a refund, is fraud.

The only way this will come to an end, is if everyone that has been a victim of this fraud, lays charges against Raru and the people in charge in their personal capacities.

 

[Paul C]

I got my refund last week after a month or so of waiting in some "queue". Waited four months before cancelling my order of items that were supposed to be in stock when I ordered.

 

[Corelli]

Were they being held hostage by Nigerian drug dealers or is there some other explanation for refusing to answer for the fraud that Raru has clearly become?

And to be clear, taking orders, taking the money, with no intention of fulfilling the orders, and then having the gall to make customers wait indefinitely for a refund, is fraud.

The only way this will come to an end, is if everyone that has been a victim of this fraud, lays charges against Raru and the people in charge in their personal capacities.

Then you can kiss Amazon, Wish, Alibaba also goodbye.

You forget that SA has to trash tons of citrus, because of port and permit delays in Europe, that was actually approved months before, but then it wasnt.

Good luck trying to ship anything lately, and oh I know many a pilot for major airlines currently running their own restaurant due to the market downturn. Yip pilots from Airlines like Cathay, Qatar, Emirates and Singapore that went into another business to survive.

And with a lot coming via China with whole ports shut down for months, you will simply......wait. and wait some more.

Oh then when it comes here, there is transnet and customs to deal with, and heck we can see how great the post office is performing.

If it wasnt for the food delivery service that many courier company were moving into, you wouldnt have received your package anyway. Half our courier companies went under if luckily not more.

 

[Adhvik]

It's amazing how a reputable brand like Raru has evaporated yet a relatively new brand like Geewiz is doing so well and growing exponentially. I don't understand them blaming global supply chain issues as things are stabilising which smaller guys like Geewiz are also going through and dping well. It just boils down to poor management.

 

[Sapphiron]

This is what happens when a retailer takes orders for stuff, they don't have concrete ETAs for.

The responsible way to do it, is the way Wootware and Takealot does it. They only take orders for things they know are in stock.

You have an API link to your upstream supplier's inventory system. If you can't get that, you don't work with that supplier. If you don't so this, you end up like Raru, with an uncontrollable backorder list.

 

[Lupus]

Then you can kiss Amazon, Wish, Alibaba also goodbye.

You forget that SA has to trash tons of citrus, because of port and permit delays in Europe, that was actually approved months before, but then it wasnt.

Good luck trying to ship anything lately, and oh I know many a pilot for major airlines currently running their own restaurant due to the market downturn. Yip pilots from Airlines like Cathay, Qatar, Emirates and Singapore that went into another business to survive.

And with a lot coming via China with whole ports shut down for months, you will simply......wait. and wait some more.

Oh then when it comes here, there is transnet and customs to deal with, and heck we can see how great the post office is performing.

If it wasnt for the food delivery service that many courier company were moving into, you wouldnt have received your package anyway. Half our courier companies went under if luckily not more.

Excuses, don't advertise products being available that aren't.

 

[OhYeah84]

Ordered 3x from Raru, and specifically around our kids birthdays. They couldn't even supply LEGO that was in stock in the promised timeline for delivery.
One was 3 weeks late, and within 2 days of a birthday. Useless, and will never use them again.

 

[Splinter]

I have met both Wayne and Neil and am quite shocked at how far they have fallen. From galivanting all over the world after they sold Take 2, to now clearly taking money from clients knowing they cannot deliver, in order to roll over the cash for as long as they can.

Sad, sad, sad.

 

[Akasha]

WTF, that's really sad considering they should be big on pre-releases etc.

Worst thing about it is that it's showing it ships in 7-10 working days. It's not even out of stock.

Dragon Shield - Standard Sleeves - Matte Sapphire (100 Sleeves)

Click here to buy Dragon Shield - Standard Sleeves - Matte Sapphire (100 Sleeves) and find more of your favourites boards & dice in Raru's Online Boards & Dice Store.

raru.co.za

Dragon Shield - Standard Sleeves - Matte Magenta (100 Sleeves)

Click here to buy Dragon Shield - Standard Sleeves - Matte Magenta (100 Sleeves) and find more of your favourites boards & dice in Raru's Online Boards & Dice Store.

raru.co.za

 

[j4ck455]

Then you can kiss Amazon, Wish, Alibaba also goodbye.

You forget that SA has to trash tons of citrus, because of port and permit delays in Europe, that was actually approved months before, but then it wasnt.

Good luck trying to ship anything lately, and oh I know many a pilot for major airlines currently running their own restaurant due to the market downturn. Yip pilots from Airlines like Cathay, Qatar, Emirates and Singapore that went into another business to survive.

And with a lot coming via China with whole ports shut down for months, you will simply......wait. and wait some more.

Oh then when it comes here, there is transnet and customs to deal with, and heck we can see how great the post office is performing.

If it wasnt for the food delivery service that many courier company were moving into, you wouldnt have received your package anyway. Half our courier companies went under if luckily not more.

Raru's current business model of accepting payments and not delivering the goods, appears to have started in 2019 and predates the pandemic, predates the global supply chain delays.

Undoubtedly the pandemic, global supply chain delays and local delays will also have had a huge impact on Raru.

Raru has shot its own reputation to shreds, Raru's number is up for shutting down voluntarily or being shut down.

 

[Silver82]

I've been fighting to get a refund for 3 months as a result of an item that was purchased a year ago at the time I requested the refund. (I received a refund for another purchase that they couldn't deliver a few months ago, and that one was processed quite painlessly)

Raru couldn't deliver the item, despite numerous follow up emails, and gave me a credit (which means nothing when they can't deliver anything), which I rejected, and then started the 'we have 30 days to process your refund' email replies, which expired weeks ago, and which is now replaced with 'we'll let you know when we get a date for your refund to be processed.'

If you're happy to donate money, and not receive anything in return, then by all means, do business with Raru

It's sad though, as I supported them for years and always had great service, until the global pandemic hit, and their wheels fell off. Now best to avoid them like the plague.

 

[ckboshoff]

I've been fighting to get a refund for 3 months as a result of an item that was purchased a year ago at the time I requested the refund. (I received a refund for another purchase that they couldn't deliver a few months ago, and that one was processed quite painlessly)

Raru couldn't deliver the item, despite numerous follow up emails, and gave me a credit (which means nothing when they can't deliver anything), which I rejected, and then started the 'we have 30 days to process your refund' email replies, which expired weeks ago, and which is now replaced with 'we'll let you know when we get a date for your refund to be processed.'

If you're happy to donate money, and not receive anything in return, then by all means, do business with Raru

It's sad though, as I supported them for years and always had great service, until the global pandemic hit, and their wheels fell off. Now best to avoid them like the plague.

..Requiem for Raru..same M.O. as with most of their customers...just a different day...f*ers

 

[Silver82]

..Requiem for Raru..same M.O. as with most of their customers...just a different day...f*ers

I found it quite concerning how long MyADSL took to write a story about this. I've been seeing the complaints on social media and ratings websites for weeks.


As for the comparison of 1 star ratings on HelloPeter? What a load of nonsense. Takealot and Loot are both legit businesses that will obviously not impress a small handful of customers who run to give it 1 star ratings. Happy customers seldom take the time to give a thumbs up.

MyADSL's news team really should have been better here, they're the go to site for tech, e-commerce, etc, and their silence on Raru for the past few months has been noticeable with many calling on them to write about their fall from grace and decent into fraud.