Internet shopping and mail order

A few weeks ago, we investigated a company called Two Left Feet. Watchdog first looked at the company two years ago. Since then things hadn't improved. Over the last few months the programme has received complaints almost every day, all telling similar stories about late or non-existent deliveries, a lack of customer service and difficulty in getting money back when orders were cancelled.

Watchdog sent Richard Farleigh, a former Dragon from Dragon's Den, to talk to the company to see what had happened and what could be done. During the meeting, Two Left Feet's managing director Richard Bone apologised and claimed the company had reached a cross roads and would improve in the future.

Stopped trading
Sadly, it seems that it was too little, too late as Two Left Feet have stopped trading. The company's website now states that Two Left Feet have been forced into administration by the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The company also tries to blame Watchdog for its troubles, although the programme can hardly be blamed for the hundreds of people that were left waiting for their goods or refunds. Richard Bone, the managing director, does appear to acknowledge his own failings and apologises for any distress caused.

Statement from KPMG Restructuring
Two Right Feet Limited t/a Two Left Feet (the Company) is in administration.

Ian Corfield and Jane Moriarty of KPMG Restructuring were yesterday appointed joint administrators of Two Right Feet Limited. The company has recently encountered severe financial difficulties after experiencing significant delays in satisfying customer orders.

Ian Corfield said: "Despite the efforts of the company's directors, they were unable to secure additional funding for the company and have had no option but to place the company into administration. We understand that the company has not been processing any new orders for over a week.

"We are aware that there are a number of existing orders which have not yet been fulfilled.

However, we believe that there is little or no stock available in this regard and unless you are contacted within the next week regrettably we will not be able to satisfy this demand."

The joint administrators have arranged for a call centre to be available for a short time to customers requiring further information 0844 770 1305. Thereafter, the company's website will be updated with any pertinent information as and when available.

A dedicated call centre has been set up which will be open between 9am and 6pm, from Wednesday 1 April 2009 to Tuesday 7 April 2009. Ring 0844 770 1305.

• Notice of appointment
• KPMG letter to customers
• Questions and answers

All enquiries should be directed to the website www.twoleftfeet.co.uk for further information.

Read the original report posted on Monday 2 March.

Two Left Feet, a division of Two Right Feet Ltd, claims to be one the UK's top suppliers for everything to do with babies. But when Watchdog investigated the company back in 2006, we found that those claims weren't justified.

At the time the company blamed its problems on its computer software. More than two years on you might think that it had sorted out its difficulties but instead, it looks like things have actually got worse.

Watchdog received 500 complaints
In the past six months Watchdog has received over 500 complaints about Two Left Feet, an unprecedented number for a company like this. Almost every day people have been getting in touch, often to say that months after ordering they still haven't received their goods and can't seem to get their money back.

Donna Brewer is one such customer. She ordered nearly £1,000 worth of goods from its website in July 2008. However, instead of receiving the goods she'd ordered, Donna found herself dealing with a lot of unnecessary grief. After not receiving the complete order for two months and being reduced to tears on the phone by Two Left Feet's customer service, Donna finally cancelled her order. She then spent another three months trying, unsuccessfully, to get a refund from the company.

One customer stressed at her treatment
Donna has now finally received the money, but only from her credit card company, not Two Left Feet. The whole experience has left Donna angry at her treatment.
She says: "It caused me a great amount of stress at a time which I just didn't need it. I was 34 weeks pregnant and like a lot of mums-to-be out there, the stress levels were just unbelievable."

Clearly Two Left Feet still has serious problems. Watchdog decided to get some expert advice on exactly what the company could do to turn things around. We turned to Richard Farleigh, ex-dragon from the BBC Two series Dragon Den. He began by meeting some of the customers let down by Two Left Feet. Their stories were all remarkably similar; orders not arriving, no customer service and a painful battle for refunds on cancellation.

Initially, Two Left Feet had been reticent to get involved with our investigation. Mid-way through, the company changed its mind and invited Richard Farleigh to meet with managing director Richard Bone at its Bedford showroom.

Two key areas to address
Richard Farleigh identified two key areas that the company had to address urgently: stock management and customer service. He says: "You are not really focusing on your customer's side which is your long-term reputation."

In a frank discussion, Richard Bone once again pointed to the company's computer software as the source of at least some of the problems, claiming it wasn't suitable for the amount of orders they were receiving. However, he said that it had brought in new software that will only take orders if stock is available, hopefully limiting the problems of equipment simply not being despatched. Richard Farleigh felt that the problems weren't all down to the software system and challenged him over the company's poor record with refunds. Richard Bone insisted that it would be possible to refund people, as long as they could establish the status of customers' orders. Richard Farleigh said that the company should already be able to do this, regardless of how bad their systems were.

Company keen to improve customer service
After talking for a further hour, Richard Bone did state that the company would make it easier to resolve complaints on the phone, and seemed genuinely keen to improve customer service. He was confident that in the future, it could make real improvement. "We've reached the cross roads. We're turning now."

For Two Left Feet to alienate as many customers as it has is some achievement. Yet even now it may not be too late for the company. This could be Two Left Feet's first steps towards recovery. Watchdog will certainly be keeping a close eye on what happens next.

Two Left Feet statement
Richard Bone, managing director of Two Left Feet also sent Watchdog the following statement:
"I would like to offer and extend my sincere apologies to the customers of Two Left Feet covered in this story for the difficulties and inconveniences that they have encountered. Their experiences fall considerably short of the level of customer service that I and my teams strive to provide to all of our customers. I would like to give my assurance to BBC Watchdog and all customers of Two Left Feet that all of our efforts are being directed towards overcoming the issues that have given rise to these complaints which will include a full review and overhaul of our customer service processes.

"I am able to confirm that all of the cases presented on tonight's Watchdog programme have been fully resolved. I do believe that the publication of the email address watchdog@twoleftfeet.co.uk so that consumers may address any ongoing issues that they have will go a huge way to resolving the problems shown tonight.

"The opportunity to meet with Richard Farleigh and to take on board the advice offered by him will, without doubt, help considerably towards the improvements that need to be made within our business. I would like to thank BBC Watchdog and Richard Farleigh for this opportunity.

"In conclusion, I would like to reiterate the apologies offered earlier and confirm that I have been in contact with these customers individually to offer my apologies."

They've become one of our favourite places to shop. With over 17 million items for sale on their website, forget about the high street, you can get whatever you want on eBay.

However, not everything we've found on eBay over the years has been what you'd expect from the biggest name in online trading. This time we're not talking about fake handbags or dodgy designer goods. Now we've found dangerous weapons, designed to harm, openly for sale.

Counterfeit designer goods for sale
Two years ago, Watchdog investigated counterfeit designer goods for sale on eBay. The company later told us it had sharpened up its act and when two months ago we bought dangerous goods from one of its rivals, eBay told us that it prevents any prohibited items from appearing on its site. On the evidence we've gathered, it looks like it was wrong.

Further searches uncovered more dangerous knives when Watchdog browsed eBay's 13,000 categories. Under antiques, we found rugs, maps and clocks. In 'collectibles' we saw, teapots and autographs. But we also came across a less savoury item; a knife disguised as a pen. Further searches on the site uncovered more dangerous looking knives, including a dagger made of plastic that is as strong as steel and a flick knife, advertised under the category 'outdoor sports'.

All these knives were for sale on eBay's UK site, even though the sellers were in America. Many of the knives we found clearly looked illegal. So how easy would it be for us to get our hands on them?

One knife was confiscated
Our researchers ordered six through eBay, including flick knives, the plastic dagger and the knife hidden inside a pen. They cost between just £3 and £9. One - a flick knife - was intercepted by Customs. The note they sent detailing why the knife had been confiscated stated that they thought it was an offensive weapon. If we disagreed, we could argue the case in court.

The remaining five knives did get through and soon arrived in the post. What caught our eye was how the sellers had described the goods on the Customs declaration on the packaging. One was labelled as a 'gift', the other a 'tool' and one even a 'prop'. It seemed they were quite happy to tell the truth about what they were selling on eBay, but they didn't want to take any risks at all when it came to Customs.

When we received the knives we arranged a meeting with the Metropolitan Police to confirm their legal status. So that we didn't get charged with carrying an offensive weapon the police recommended that we put the knives in a securely locked case and carried with us a letter explaining that we were taking them to the local police station.

The police were horrified
When we arrived, our knives were examined by Sergeant Ian Lewis, who was horrified. He didn't like the flick knives or the special pen known as a 'disguised knife', but it was the plastic dagger- classed as a 'stealth knife' - that really shocked him as it would pass unnoticed by metal detectors. Sergeant Lewis made it clear that we'd be committing an offence if we left with these knives, so we were happy to surrender them to be destroyed. In his expert opinion they we all offensive weapons, illegal to sell or import into the UK.

Police response to knife crime
Leading the national police response to knife crime is deputy assistant commissioner Alf Hitchcock, of the Association of Chief Police Officers. He told us in this case, eBay is undermining police efforts. "I find it quite shocking that a retailer and a responsible retailer at that would be selling offensive weapons. Any company selling knives such as these should clean up their act, get a grip and need to stamp it out immediately. It's immoral to allow such weapons to get onto the streets of Britain and they do have a responsibility."

Whatever the law says, we had no trouble getting these knives on eBay's UK site. And it isn't as if we did it under the counter; the whole process seemed completely above board. So, why didn't eBay try to stop us getting them? It seems the security it boasted about last year has let the company down. Its software is supposed to filter out dangerous or prohibited items by recognising key words in its online listings. But somehow it missed words such as 'flick knife', 'plastic dagger', and 'pen with knife'.

eBay should stop this happening
Dr Tom Ilube, a specialist in internet security, thinks it's within eBay's power to prevent this sort of thing happening. "If they really wanted to do something about it then they could. I think they have to get more sophisticated with the way they search for key words. If you only have a limited set of key words, and you look for exact matches it's not going to be very effective if people are being smart about the words they use."

Tom was clear that the fact the sellers were based in the US and not the UK is not an excuse. "It's not a complete get out clause. It makes it a bit more difficult but eBay already deals with the situation of filtering things out in certain countries, and it could do that in this case as well. When you're as big as eBay, you have the resources that eBay has and you have the power in the market place that it has, so it is your problem whether you like it or not. You set up the market, you run the market, it is your problem."

In fact, eBay agrees. It told us this shouldn't have been able to happen and admitted some of the knives we bought are illegal in America too. We know from the eBay website that we are not the first people in the UK to have bought from these sellers. But we hope we're the last to have bought an offensive weapon. And eBay needs to make sure that we are.

Following Watchdog's report, Mark Lewis, Country Manager for eBay (UK) came on to the programme to announce that eBay intends to ban trade in all knives, with the exception of cutlery knives, on both its UK and Ireland websites.

In a statement eBay said the following:
"Trust is the engine of our business and it is our duty to provide a safe and secure marketplace for our members. The security measures we already have in place are designed to make sure that only legal knives have been offered for sale by UK and Irish sellers on our UK and Ireland sites and we are satisfied with how these measures have been working in both the UK and Ireland.

"We have a good track record of leading the online industry in going above and beyond what the law requires in a number of areas such as fighting counterfeits or banning the sale of ivory worldwide. Similarly, our policies on weapons and knives go above and beyond the legal requirements set out by the Home Office. However, the laws surrounding the sales of knives are extremely complex and so we have decided that the best way to protect our members and achieve the safety guarantees they have come to expect from us is to remove and ban all knives, with the exception of cutlery knives, from our UK and Ireland sites.

"eBay's marketplace structure means that it will take time to work with our sellers to remove the knives currently for sale and prevent new listings from being posted. However, we are committed to achieving this as quickly as possible."

Illegal knives
The exact legal definitions detailing which types of knives are classed as offensive weapons are complex and hence open to interpretation. However, the police experts that we consulted considered that all five of the knives we obtained would qualify as offensive weapons, falling under the definition of stealth knives, disguised knives, flick knives or gravity knives. Offensive weapons are illegal to sell or import in the UK.

In addition, the vast majority of knives are illegal to carry on the street, except under exceptional circumstances, regardless of whether they fall under the strict definition of an offensive weapon. However, that does not mean that it is illegal for someone over the age of 18 to buy, sell or possess such a knife, as many knives have a perfectly legitimate purpose, for example a dive knife for diving or a knife used in some outdoor activities.

eBay told Watchdog that all knives would be removed from sale on the UK and Ireland sites in a matter of weeks.

In just ten years, Amazon has become one of the most trusted names in shopping. It has a reputation for being cheap, convenient and, usually, reliable. But the company has branched out, and unless it's careful, it could lose its hard-won reputation. Watchdog reveals the biggest - and perhaps most respected - name in online shopping is selling goods that are counterfeit, dangerous, and even banned in the UK.

Watchdog researchers used the Amazon website to purchase CS gas and pepper spray - both of which are illegal to buy, sell or carry in the UK. But on Amazon, they can be bought for as little as £1.70.

The team also found that some of the items advertised on the site's 'Marketplace' section - which accounts for a third of its sales, according to Amazon - were non-existent, and advertised fraudulently by third-party sellers to obtain cash.

Amazon's Marketplace allows anyone from around the globe to advertise goods for sale alongside Amazon's own stock. Clicking on 'Used and New' takes you to the Marketplace section of the company's website. Goods advertised here are for sale by third parties, but still appear under the Amazon banner. Indeed, Amazon takes a cut from every purchase.

Trading Standards officer Paul Miloseski-Reid was shocked that the CS gas and pepper spray - sent from a seller in Germany - were so easily available on Amazon.

"We're talking about something that's officially classed as an offensive weapon. It's not a grey area, it's black and white. The law says you cannot possess these items in the UK. Certainly for things that are clearly illegal there should be systems in place to stop them even getting on the site."

Amazon even sent Watchdog its usual email saying that the CS gas and pepper spray had been dispatched.

We began our investigation into Amazon Marketplace after hearing from viewers who had been ripped off while shopping there.

Rupert Joel replied to an ad for a 40-inch Sony Bravia flatscreen TV. It was advertised for sale by a third party seller and was priced around half what it would cost from Amazon's own stock.

Rupert says: "I emailed the seller and said, why is this so cheap? He replied straight away and said it was ex-demo, boxed with a 30-day guarantee, and a 12-month guarantee as well. I had no reason to doubt it because it was all on the Amazon website."

Rupert got an email that appeared to be from Amazon instructing him how to pay by MoneyGram.

Rupert contacted the seller to question why he couldn't pay through the site and was told that Amazon's payment system was not working. Rupert agreed to use MoneyGram and paid the money, but it turned out the email was a fake, and he'd been scammed out of £300. When he complained to Amazon, it said it was nothing to do with them - even though the scam was done through its site.

Eloise Burke told Watchdog she bought some hair straighteners from a seller on Amazon Marketplace. Six months later they broke, so she returned them to the manufacturer. She was horrified when they told her that her straighteners were counterfeit. And when she took it up with Amazon, it told her as she was now outside the Marketplace's 90-day return policy, there was nothing they could do.

She says: "They haven't vetted their sellers properly, and they haven't realised that their marketplace is selling fake items to people who trust the Amazon name".

Two years ago, Watchdog revealed that fake goods were being sold on another major shopping site, eBay. But an online security expert told us that Amazon has less protection.

Max Vetter, from the Counterfeiting Intelligence Bureau, says: "The systems that Amazon has in place at the moment to stop counterfeit goods on their site are woefully inadequate. Compared with eBay, Amazon doesn't seem to have any system in place that could quickly remove counterfeit goods from its sites".

A recent survey claimed that Amazon - who last week launched a new music download service - is likely to be used by around 70 per cent of shoppers this Christmas.

In the past, Amazon has compared the Marketplace to a shopping mall - it provides the framework for other people and businesses to sell its goods, but it is not responsible in any way for the individual sellers, or what they sell.

Fake, dangerous, and illegal goods have no place in UK stores, on the high street, or online. Marketplace has the Amazon name on it, which makes it Amazon's responsibility. It's about to have one of its busiest Christmases ever, it's just a shame it seems to have no idea what it's actually selling.

Brian McBride, managing director at Amazon.co.uk, came into the Watchdog studio to speak with about selling counterfeit and dangerous goods on the internet. You can watch Nicky Campbell interview him in the video clip at the top of this page.

Watchdog update Monday 22 December 2008

Earlier in December we exposed a serious problem with Amazon.co.uk. Some of the sellers on its Marketplace were advertising fake and even dangerous goods. We bought CS gas and pepper spray.

It's a problem Amazon has now addressed. Since then we've seen no adverts for any of the products we'd been able to buy.