Information and Alerts

Investigations

BBB serving Central and South Alabama has conducted an investigation into an online retailer, ausenook.com. The investigation was sparked by a spike in consumer complaints and customer reviews about the business, starting March 5th, 2021. As of March 29th, 2021, BBB had received complaints from consumers in 5 states.

Ausenook.com is an online retailer that advertises the sale of "luxury vegan handbags and accessories" via its online store. The business's website claims an address in Birmingham, AL. That address does not exist, and BBB has confirmed this through property records. The phone number the business claims has a Minnesota area code and is now disconnected. BBB has researched the website's domain registration and found that the website was just registered on December 7th, 2020 and the registration was done in a manner to conceal the identity of the operator of the site.

Consumers who have submitted complaints and Scam Tracker reports placed orders and payed to purchase everything from model railroad equipment to printers to play sets to office furniture to automotive accessories. Interestingly, none of these items are directly listed or advertised on the businesses website, yet were being advertised for sale on search engine shopping platforms. Consumers report that the only payment method offered is via PayPal, and that once the payment is processed, it does not show as being processed to ausenook.com, but to what consumers say is an individual whose name shows in a variety of languages. PayPal being the only payment method has caused some issues for some of the complainants when it comes to submitting fraud claims with PayPal in an attempt to have their payments returned. Some of the complainants have reported that the vendor supplied PayPal with bogus tracking information showing that packages were delivered, which resulted in PayPal denying the consumer's claims. One complainant stated that the tracking number provided to PayPal was for a package, once received, only contained two small pieces of fabric, rather than the six pound item that was expected.
Paying customers report that the business is unresponsive to communication attempts, and not a single complainant has confirmed receipt of the product they ordered. BBB's attempts to communicate with the business have gone unanswered to date.

Fraudulent online retailers continue to be the most common scam facing American consumers, and have been for multiple years running. BBB advises consumers to be very cautious when dealing with unknown online retailers.