CD buyers complain of rip-offs

Internet commentator and jet-engine builder Bruce Simpson is under investigation for allegedly failing to deliver CDs sold on his website.

The Commerce Commission is processing two complaints against Simpson - who made headlines a few years ago by building a cruise missile in his shed - and has forwarded one for investigation to the Auckland police fraud squad.

The complaints are from international customers who say they purchased CDs with Simpson's data on jet engines.

The buyers say they have been waiting months to receive the CDs - sold for US$39 through Simpson's www.aardvark.co.nz website - and attempts to contact him have been fruitless.

"That's what really pisses us all off the most," says Seattle-based Geoff Sweet, who adds that he has been waiting 11 months for his order. Emails to Simpson at multiple addresses go unanswered, he says.

"They pretty much just disappear. They go off into a black hole somewhere."

Sweet says he is in regular contact with "six or seven" other people who say they have ordered and not received the CDs.

Simpson did reply to an email from the Herald, but did not respond to a request for a phone interview.

"There have been some problems with a small number of people receiving the CDs that are being sold through my website," Simpson wrote in his email.

"In order to sort things out, I've organised for the disks to be shipped from the USA now, rather than from NZ ... I'm assured that everything will be sorted within the next week or so and that all outstanding orders have been shipped or reshipped."

That explanation repeats what Simpson wrote in an April 7 posting on one of his website's message boards.

"Having now been give advice on how to ship them so that they all arrive, I'm sending out a fistful of CDs on Monday [April 11] to replace those that have gone astray ... 7-10 day delivery times have been promised."

Alan Needham, in Lincolnshire, England, says he ordered his CD nine months ago and, despite what Simpson says, has "just about given up hope" of receiving it.

Simpson has ignored most of his emails, Needham says, but continues to update his technology commentary website with daily columns. That has infuriated some of his customers.

"The problem for me is the guy has blatantly ripped us off, yet writes these stupid columns daily on his website about government and business corruption," Sweet said. "That's rubbing salt in the wound for me."

A Commerce Commission spokeswoman said the complaint that was forwarded to the fraud squad did not meet the commission's criteria for violating the Fair Trading Act, which states that people should not accept payment for goods if they do not intend to supply them.

She said the complaint could be better dealt with by the fraud squad.

The police would not comment.

The buyers are also frustrated because of their distance from New Zealand and the lack of any clear international laws governing such e-commerce matters.

"Ideally I'd just like to get the CD and it'd be over with," said James Dowcra, in Shropshire, England, who bought his CD last August. "But it's frustrating because it's not like he's down the road from me and I can do something about it."

Experts say there are not a lot of realistic remedies for such situations.

"This isn't just an e-commerce problem either, it's a fairly general problem," said David Harris, councillor with InternetNZ. "It's been an issue in conventional mail order for a number of years - what do you do when small amounts are involved and there's non-delivery of goods?"

One legal expert suggested using the Disputes Tribunal, where claims under $7500 are resolved.

While someone must appear in person to argue the case, the tribunal would probably allow a representative to speak on behalf of international plaintiffs, he said.

Other than that, a lawsuit was always an option, but "you'd only [sue] as a point of principle, and generally speaking, that would be crazy".