Avoiding Disreputable Vendors

The vast majority of people who sell belly dance supplies are honest and do their best to offer high-quality goods. When dealing with mail-order customers, reputable vendors either ship promptly or, if currently sold out of an item, tell you when to expect it and offer you a refund if you're unwilling to wait.

However, as with any profession, belly dancing does attract a small number of unscrupulous characters. Here is advice on how to avoid them, and what to do if you encounter one.

Don't assume that the vendor you're dealing with will automatically accept returns on everything you feel like returning. In my experience, nearly all belly dance vendors will accept returns on merchandise that is clearly defective, as long as you haven't actually used it. But in order to qualify for a return, you'll need to have the receipt that proves when you bought it and how much you paid, and you'll need to clearly demonstrate the defect. You'll also need to return it in unused condition, and most vendors are alert enough to tell whether it truly is unused. No, you don't get to wear it once and then return it.

Assuming the product is free of defects, don't expect a refund if you change your mind and decide to return it, because most belly dance vendors probably won't give you one. As a buyer, you have a responsibility to do your own homework and make sure a product is what you really want before placing an order. When buying clothing, take current measurements of yourself so the vendor can send you the right size. Don't tell them what size you think you are, or tell them what size you were 12 months ago. If you're not sure whether a given color will work for you, ask whether a fabric swatch is available before you finalize the order. If you're thinking about buying a video, ask other dancers what they think of its lighting, sound quality, content, and value. If your friends have never watched it, use the various mail groups and forums on the Internet to research it.

You might be used to dealing with huge mainstream mail-order firms like Lands End who guarantee satisfaction or your money back. But don't expect belly dancing vendors, which are often small businesses run entirely by the owner, to be able to do the same.

When you return an item, you cause a lot of cost and hassle for the vendor. They have to examine your receipt and verify that you indeed purchased the product from them, so that they don't send you a "refund" for a product you bought elsewhere. They have to examine the returned item to make sure it's still in unused condition. They have to adjust their accounting records to show that the item was returned so that they don't have to cover the cost of income tax or sales tax on the transaction. They lose money on the cost of the postage and shipping materials they used to send you the original article. If they sell one-of-a-kind antique items, they may have to add them back into the catalog on their web site, which they may have to pay a webmaster to do for them. If you paid by check, they have to verify that your check did clear through the bank, just in case you wrote them a bad check for the original purchase. If you paid by credit card, they'll lose money because the credit card company charges for every transaction, including your original payment and then your refund. You get the idea.

All of this is very time-consuming and expensive for the vendor. The small businesses who sell to us can't afford to pay the price for your indecisiveness or your laziness. So please try to be fair to them - you too have a responsibility to be ethical and courteous.

Again, the vast majority of belly dance vendors are honest, ethical people who try very hard to deliver what they promised. Some may be difficult to deal with because they're disorganized, going through temporary family problems, or swamped with work from their day jobs. These aren't bad people, just frustrating for you as a customer.

But still, there are a small number of vendors out there who are not as ethical as you would wish. Just because someone gives you a receipt and a business card doesn't mean they are trustworthy. Those things are worthless if you don't get your merchandise. Winning a case in small claims court and collecting a judgment is not an easy thing to do. So it's best to control the risks at the time you make the purchase.

• Before putting down any money, ask the vendor his/her policy on returned merchandise. One frequent source of conflict arises when a customer wants to return merchandise and the vendor has a no-returns policy. Make sure you know and accept the vendor's return policy before you place the order. If you don't like the policy, then don't buy from that vendor.
• Be very careful to give the vendor all appropriate detail regarding size, color, etc. to ensure they have all the information they need to ship you the correct product. If you guess or give them the wrong information, don't expect them to pay for your mistake. Accept responsibility for your own mistakes, and try to sell the item to one of your classmates.
• Buy only from reputable vendors who have been in business long enough to be credible and whose reputation you can verify and trust. If you don't know anything firsthand about a given vendor, ask your dance friends whether they do, or post a question about that vendor on one of the Internet mail groups or forums.
• Check out the vendor's ratings with the Better Business Bureau before you buy from them.
• Check out the vendor's credit rating with an organization such as Dun and Bradstreet. If they have a poor credit rating, that means they don't pay their suppliers. If they don't pay their suppliers, how can you be certain they will treat you, as a customer, honestly?
• Ask about their merchandise and their business credentials. If they offer you a deal that seems too good to be true, it probably is.
• Never ever give anyone money if they tell you "I can get this for you wholesale from Egypt, Morocco, etc. in a few weeks but you have to pay up front in cash first..." unless you know other people who have had good experiences in dealing with them in the past.
• Never ever give an unfamiliar vendor cash as a deposit for special order items, and be very
  careful if you give them a check for a deposit. Put the deposit on a credit card because then, if you don't receive your merchandise as promised, you can recover your money from the credit card company. Insist on a receipt for your deposit.
• If you are putting down a deposit on a costume item that will be custom-made for you, be certain the vendor has every detail in writing regarding what you want. Don't guess at your size--use a tape measure. Don't guess at what color you want - give the vendor a color swatch that shows precisely what you want. One common source of vendor/client conflict arises when a reputable vendor goes to the effort of making something special to your specifications, and then you reject it for some reason. Avoid this conflict by ensuring up-front that everything is correctly, clearly specified on the instructions the vendor writes down for what you want. Also, make sure you are comfortable with the vendor's return policy before you hand over the deposit--some vendors do not accept returns on custom-made costume items because it's hard for them to sell things they made for you to someone else.

Before you accept a receipt from a vendor, look it over to make sure it accurately reflects your purchase. Keep all receipts until you are certain the merchandise is what you expected it to be. If you have to return the item or demand your deposit back when the merchandise doesn't show up, your receipt is your legal proof that you indeed paid money to this vendor. Keep all cancelled checks related to a transaction that you are contesting--you'll need those and the receipt if you seek legal recourse.

Again, remember that the vast majority of belly dance vendors are ethical, and deserve to be treated with courtesy and respect. They do have a responsibility to tell you promptly if your merchandise will be delayed, or if they can't find the color you want, but try to be reasonable in the demands you make. Remember, these are small businesses run by individuals. Many don't have any employees at all. For example, if you learn through the grapevine that the vendor's mother died the day after you placed your order, please try to be kind and understanding if your order is delayed a couple of extra weeks while she deals with it.

Despite your cautions, you may still find yourself in a situation where you believe the vendor has genuinely cheated you. You may have ordered merchandise that never came, received defective merchandise, or received merchandise that is quite different from what you ordered. The first thing you need to do is make reasonable attempts to contact the vendor and tell them about the problem. Give them a chance to fix it. If they shipped you what you asked for and you've simply decided you don't like it, you might not have reasonable legal grounds to pursue recourse because contract law does allow vendors to set terms & conditions, and buyers need to make their own decision of whether they can live with that vendor's conditions.

But let's say you've done that, you haven't received your merchandise (or you were shipped merchandise that was different from what you ordered), and the vendor isn't even bothering to return your phone calls. What to do next?

• If the U.S. Postal Service was involved in conducting the transaction (that is, if you received a catalog from the vendor in the mail, or you sent your payment through the mail), then you may be able to enlist their assistance under the mail fraud laws. Contact your local post office for information.
• File a claim with small claims court to get your money back.
• If you paid for your purchase with a credit card, contest the charge on your credit card bill. Write to your credit card issuer, detailing precisely how you were cheated, and tell them you refuse to pay for that charge. The credit card company will follow up on your behalf with the vendor.
• Send a letter to the Attorney General of your state, and also to the state in which the vendor does business (if different from yours), detailing exactly how you were cheated. If you know anyone else who was cheated by the same vendor, urge them to do the same. If they get enough complaints about someone, they will investigate.
• If you responded to an advertisement in a magazine, write a letter to that magazine with a carbon copy to the offending vendor in which you describe exactly how you were cheated and request their assistance in pressuring the vendor to make good on your transaction. Tell the magazine how disappointed you were that someone you believed to be reputable (the magazine) promoted a vendor who cheats their subscribers. Urge them to terminate their advertising contract with that vendor at once. If you know anyone else who was cheated by the same vendor, urge them to do the same.
• If you encountered this vendor at a belly dancing event, write a letter to the event organizer with a carbon copy to the offending vendor. Describe exactly how you were cheated and request the event organizer's assistance in pressuring the vendor to make good on your transaction. Describe how disappointed you were that an event you believed to be reputable provided space to a vendor who cheats their attendees. Urge them to bar that vendor from all future appearances at their events. If you know anyone else who was cheated by the same vendor, urge them to do the same. The event organizer is not legally obligated to help you get satisfaction, but may be willing to do so in order to keep your goodwill with respect to her event.
• Send a letter of complaint to the Better Business Bureau about the vendor who cheated you. If you know anyone else who was cheated by the same vendor, urge them to do the same.
• Tell everyone you know that you have been cheated by this vendor. Word of mouth can be powerful.
• Send letters to all sponsors of belly dance events that you regularly attend alerting them to how this vendor has cheated you and urging them to decline any applications this vendor may make to appear at their future events. Tell that that you're certain they wouldn't want attendees at their future events to be cheated by this vendor the way you were.

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