fivefingersireland.com

Bombbastic22

So I went and googled Vibram five fingers on sale Ireland.

Then I found this site: fivefingersireland.com

I thought great! Ordered myself a nice cheap pair. Then, I realized that they are not that cheap anywhere else. Then I realized that the site isn't even located in Ireland but the Netherlands and the owner lives in the states.

Maybe I'll get them yet but I can't help but feel I may have been scammed.

The misleading domain name plus the fact that the contact email is support@example.com, not to mention the dodgy English and rating system, makes me think I've just thrown my money in the toilet.

Ah shizzle!!! I'm so dumb.

Hanley

How did you pay?

Chargeback via credit card, or dispute with paypal?

Bombbastic22

Hanley wrote: »

How did you pay?

Chargeback via credit card, or dispute with paypal?

I used a Visa Debit card.

What's chargeback? Is it possible to get your money back d'ya think?

Cheers.

Bombbastic22

Hanley wrote: »

How did you pay?

Chargeback via credit card, or dispute with paypal?

Nice one mate - just looked into the chargeback thing.

Rang the bank - it appears these people are in China.

At least that explains the dodgy English.

Sneaky.

Hanley

Bombbastic22 wrote: »

Nice one mate - just looked into the chargeback thing.

Rang the bank - it appears these people are in China.

At least that explains the dodgy English.

Sneaky.

Don't know if it works with Visa Debit. May only be Visa Credit but hopefully your bank sorts you out. Let us know how it goes

Bombbastic22

Hanley wrote: »

Don't know if it works with Visa Debit. May only be Visa Credit but hopefully your bank sorts you out. Let us know how it goes

Will do! The currency was taken in Chinese Yen.

Damn - late night internet shopping is dodgy!

thehamo

Rule of thumb, if its far cheaper than any other supplier avoid like the plague. That said I bought a chinese carbon bike frame before and it was A1. SO....... kinda makes my point mute. Hopefully works out for you

Nervous Wreck

Your bank will be able to do a chargeback but only after a 'reasonable time' has passed and you have still not received the goods. I wouldn't be worried though; in the long run, you can get it back. The joys of Visa Debit over Laser!

Inspector Coptoor

barefoot.ie is the website to use for vibrams

Kristopherus

Nervous Wreck wrote: »

Your bank will be able to do a chargeback but only after a 'reasonable time' has passed and you have still not received the goods. I wouldn't be worried though; in the long run, you can get it back. The joys of Visa Debit over Laser!

If the parcel is coming from China, allow 4-6 weeks as reasonable time. Will the Banks do that?

Bombbastic22

Kristopherus wrote: »

If the parcel is coming from China, allow 4-6 weeks as reasonable time. Will the Banks do that?

I really have no idea where it's coming from - if it's coming at all.

I did some googling and from that it seems like the site is in the Netherlands, the owner is in the states and yet the currency they took was Chinese Yen.

So god knows where they are.

Bombbastic22

thehamo wrote: »

Rule of thumb, if its far cheaper than any other supplier avoid like the plague. That said I bought a chinese carbon bike frame before and it was A1. SO....... kinda makes my point mute. Hopefully works out for you

Well it wasn't 'far cheaper', it just looked like they were on sale.

Also, I have seen VFFs on sale at a similar price on barefoot.ie.

On closer inspection though - it looked like they were all 'on sale'.

There again, who knows? Maybe it's some factory in China that makes them exactly the same as the originals.

There's too many weird things going on with that site though. I seriously doubt it's legit.

rubadub

Most non .ie sites like this with ireland or dublin etc in the name are fakes.

There are other signs though. A big one is that the contact page has no physical postal address.

Here is a guide on spotting fakes
http://www.ebay.com/gds/Vibram-FiveFingers-How-to-Spot-the-Fakes/10000000017561003/g.html

Bombbastic22

Well guys - I submitted the chargeback form. Thing is - the product just arrived from China and after comparing them to a pair of fivefingers I bought from barefoot.ie - I can not tell the difference!

The box looks the same, the tags look the same and the shoes look the same.

Cancelled the chargeback.

I feel bad now!

RidleyRider

It came all the way from China in 3 days?

Bombbastic22

RidleyRider wrote: »

It came all the way from China in 3 days?

7 days (including weekends) from dispatch date and 9 days from when I placed the order.

I've been wearing them all day and I have to say I'm pretty impressed with them at the price I paid.

hooplah

photo?

Bombbastic22

hooplah wrote: »

photo?

Sure - let me know if you want any other angles!

Dave 101

Bombbastic22 wrote: »

Sure - let me know if you want any other angles!

don't look fake to me...........:pac:

Bombbastic22

Dave 101 wrote: »

don't look fake to me...........:pac:

Well, even if they are - the difference isn't discernible to me - and I compared them pretty closely to my "originals".

Not too bad for 49.99.

At the end of the day they're all made in China anyway. In fact the stitching is slightly better than the "originals".

rubadub

If you are still interested you could email the official site and ask if they know of them. There was a site http://www.converse.ie/ which looked dodgy (looks a bit better now) and I emailed 2 converse sites, the US site said they never heard of them the other UK one said they were legit and deal with them.

Bombbastic22

rubadub wrote: »

If you are still interested you could email the official site and ask if they know of them. There was a site http://www.converse.ie/ which looked dodgy (looks a bit better now) and I emailed 2 converse sites, the US site said they never heard of them the other UK one said they were legit and deal with them.

I actually emailed one their official international dept several days ago - and they didn't bother to reply as yet.

I half still suspect they may not be legit but I guess only time will tell.

I'll post back if they wear out faster than the other ones I bought last year - or if I hear anything from Vibram themselves.

Cabaal

Bombbastic22 wrote: »

Well, even if they are - the difference isn't discernible to me - and I compared them pretty closely to my "originals".

err, isn't it normal for atleast one of the pair to have the Vibram logo on it though?

I know mine do anyway.

rubadub

Cabaal wrote: »

err, isn't it normal for atleast one of the pair to have the Vibram logo on it though?

The page on fakes I posted says it should be 1 or 2 with exceptions

http://www.ebay.com/gds/Vibram-FiveFingers-How-to-Spot-the-Fakes/10000000017561003/g.html

Aspect 3. Embroidered Logo - For some reason, this is another area where the counterfeiters have problems. On the Classic, KSO (not KSO Trek), and some Sprint models "Vibram" will be embroidered in gold thread over the top of the left big toe. Initially, Vibram only embroidered the logo over the left big toe, though after a couple of years, Vibram began to put the logo on both toes with the KSO model. Therefore, older designs (Classic, Sprint, KSO) may come with both, or left only (but never right only), depending on the model year. Newer designs (TrekSport, Bikila, Komodo, Jaya and their variants) were introduced after the dual marking change, so they come with both toes labeled, not just the left one and the positioning may vary from model to model. If the logo is a different color than gold, it's a fake, if it's missing from both toes it is a fake with the following exceptions: the Moc, Performa, KSO Trek, Flow and Surge do not have the embroidered logo due to different materials, Bikilas have a silkscreened logo, Sprints may have no logo. The "squished octagon" logo on the sole will always be gold, too. Size is also important. In a few cases, they get all the aspects correct, except for the size of the logo. If you were to draw imaginary line straight back from the valley between the big and first toe (visualize pulling a piece of string back between your toes), the logo should not cross this line. Often, the logo on the fakes is bigger than the real things and ends up halfway over the top of the first toe. This can be hard to spot, but it's something that I recently noticed. The pictures below show the logo missing, the logo in the wrong color, and the logo being too large.

Bombbastic22

Cabaal wrote: »

err, isn't it normal for atleast one of the pair to have the Vibram logo on it though?

I know mine do anyway.

Well, I got these ones from barefoot.ie.

Ah - just saw the flows don't have that logo - nor do the 'sprints' - which is what I bought.

Bombbastic22

Cabaal wrote: »

err, isn't it normal for atleast one of the pair to have the Vibram logo on it though?

I know mine do anyway.



Looking good by the way! Glad to see I'm not the only 'weirdo' in Ireland wearing em!

That's what people keep saying to me when I'm sporting em!

Cabaal

Bombbastic22 wrote: »

Looking good by the way! Glad to see I'm not the only 'weirdo' in Ireland wearing em!

That's what people keep saying to me when I'm sporting em!

Well none of those photos are of me, but I do wear them none the less.
You get some strange looks from people. :pac:

rubadub

Cabaal wrote: »

You get some strange looks from people. :pac:

I'd say yer man in the photo with the 2 right feet gets odd looks, esp. one leg being black & one white.

this site has a huge list of fake sites.

www.fivefingersireland.com is on the list of dodgy ones, www.barefoot.ie is mentioned as legit.
http://birthdayshoes.com/these-are-not-vibram-five-fingers-spotting-fakes-counterfeits-knock-offs-and-other-pirated-black-market-five-toed-shoes

Bombbastic22

rubadub wrote: »

I'd say yer man in the photo with the 2 right feet gets odd looks, esp. one leg being black & one white.

this site has a huge list of fake sites.

www.fivefingersireland.com is on the list of dodgy ones, www.barefoot.ie is mentioned as legit.
http://birthdayshoes.com/these-are-not-vibram-five-fingers-spotting-fakes-counterfeits-knock-offs-and-other-pirated-black-market-five-toed-shoes

Hmmm.....just noticed there is a rubbery smell off the soles that I don't get off my other two pairs.

Bombbastic22

Well, the rubber is coming away from the fabric....fakes!

My other vibrams are still in great nick after 12 months of abuse!