ekebodesign blog

I just got a confirmation email from Pixmania. I called them, because they gave a phone number as an alternative to sending the bank account information by email. I regard sending sensitive information by email very dangerous.

Oh well, they sent that exact information TO ME by email! Thus they put my company at risk. I will never, ever deal with them again!

I just called them and gave them my bank details. This is what I experienced:

1. An English answering machine (illegal for Finnish customers) telling to dial # 1 or # 2

2. A Finnish ad telling how they’ve been in the photo business for 30 years

3. wait 3 minutes listening to music

4. a ring to a foreign telephone (by the sound of it)

5 back to the Finnish ad

6 a ring again, this time an English speaking customer advisor (illegal for Finnish customers)

I state illegal, because in Finland you can only be served in Finnish or Swedish. The web shop is in Finnish, and nowhere did I see any mentioning about all rules being French, nor that the customer should be fluent enough in English to be able to discuss return policies. The guy said there’s only one Finnish speaker at work now, and this person was on the phone. (This is exactly the situation Swedish speakers experience when they meet officials in Finland; they are entitled by law to service in Swedish language, but in practice they don’t get it)

The guy promised a full refund, not just the return postage.

I then went to google for pixmania and kuluttaja (consumer in Finnish) and read from different discussions that Pixmania is considered illegal by the Finnish consumer authorities and the EU consumer authorities! How is it then possible for them to just go on selling to the public??? One example in Finnish:

http://keskustelu.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/343206

Another in English:

http://www.ciao.co.uk/pixmania_co_uk__Review_5749094