Information and Alerts

Investigations

BBB serving Central and South Alabama has conducted an investigation into an online retailer, usfitwear.com. The investigation was sparked by a spike in consumer complaints and BBB Scam Tracker reports about the business starting April 28th. Since late April, BBB has received over 100 complaints and over a dozen Scam Tracker reports about usfitwear.com. As of Wednesday, May 6, BBB had received consumers complaints from 18 states.

Usfitwear.com is an online retailer that sells exercies apparel and work-out gear via its online store. The business's website claims an address in Trussville, AL. That address is a residence, and BBB has confirmed through communication with the homeowner that the business is not related at that address in any way, shape, or form. The phone number the business claims has a New York area code, and continually rings busy. BBB has researched the website's domain registration and found that the website was just registered on February 20th, 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 gaming chairs, above ground pools, trampolines, bicycles and adult tricycles, to blenders, motorcycle components, exercise bikes, swing sets, and play sets. Interestingly, none of these items are directly listed or advertised on the businesses website, yet were being located for sale on Google ads by the consumers attempting to purchase. 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 usfitwear.com, but to what consumers say is an individual whose name shows as letters of the Chinese alphabet. 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 an Amazon package.
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.