State of Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services – Division of Consumer Services, Federal Trade Commission
cc: Better Business Bureau, Lake Mary, FL (claim and supporting documents previously submitted)
Per attached, please find an unpleasant experience with an online merchant (advertised on Facebook) which the merchandise received was NOT as the merchant described and was damaged. As described in the attachment, deceptive advertising (misleading at best but closer to false advertising) for the purchase of a 32 foot Christmas tree (a seasonal purchase).
The best that we can ascertain, the company “Duvely” (aka “OnDuvely”, “BeDuvely”) is an importer. The State of Florida shows the company registered under Michael Li (6135 Powers Ave., Jacksonville, FL 32217...which shows a strip mall without any signage). The registration also shows the LLC with a DBA “DLTSELLS”. We assume he moved to 761 Creekwater Terrace Apt. 203, Lake Mary, FL 32746-6721 where he works out of his residence.
Due to the systematic bad business practices with Duvely customer service barriers for resolution (37 emails in all…there is no customer service telephone hot line at this company possibly by design), we request a refund of $64.99 for the “Christmas Tree Lightshow” software feature which was DEFECTIVE.
There are MANY other consumer complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau - Lake Mary, FL (I’ll attach a couple). Don’t think the State of Florida would like to have a merchant operating in their state conducting unscrupulous business practices. It could be time for an audit (just saying…).
Per your December 7, 2022 letter (attached), the response you received from the Merchant (DUVELY) is INCORRECT. It appears that this Merchant has a history of deceptive advertising, false claims and has demonstrated a systematic customer service system that denies product defect accountability (see below).
Product – Seasonal Christmas Tree depicted as 32 foot in their illustration with a house in the background (misleading at best but closer to false advertising). In addition, an upgrade “Christmas Tree Lightshow” software option for $64.99 was purchased as a separate charge.
The product that was delivered (a FOUR foot Christmas Tree) with a response from the Merchant that the description of the product is actually the total length of the string lights. Attached, please find similar complaints from the Better Business Bureau with customers referring SAME as a scam.
On November 7, 2022, we notified the Merchant that there may be a problem with the shipment. A SMALL box arrived with a star, remote, wire and 4 or 5 curved white plastic unknown pieces. No manual or instructions were included. Merchant responded with URL links on how to build the Christmas tree (a little unusual on ANY “garden variety” purchase). Next up, the “Christmas Tree Lightshow” software option we purchased. The remote control (or the integration) which administers the software display was DEFECTIVE. Barriers were set up for the customer to prove the product defective. Streamable videos were sent (and received) by the Merchant as part of their process. Throughout the course of the back and forth (38 emails in total) to the Merchant, the Merchant NEVER (until later in the process) admitted that there may be a problem with the product. MULTIPLE attempts were requested to talk to DUVELY Management but the customer service person “Kimberly”, never directly addressed our requests (FYI: there is NO customer service telephone number hot line for this company, ONLY email correspondence). In addition, MULTIPLE attempts to the Merchant were requested to provide metrics on similar customer problems associated with this product (in our case, we suspected the product was returned as defective since the instructions/manual were not contained in the shipment). Again, the requests were ignored and never addressed. Based on the fragmented and redundant responses of the emails, we surmise that there are MULTIPLE “Kimberly’s , that have prepared scripts for customer issues. In our case, it appears they did not take the time to review the previous emails (and there are many) before they prepared their scripted responses (very calculated).
In summary, please reject the $64.99 charge for the “Christmas Tree Lightshow” software option which was DEFECTIVE. We are in the process of contacting the Better Business Bureau, the FTC since the purchase crossed state lines and the Florida Department of Consumer Services.
--geo from Detroit
p.s.
Please confirm receipt of this email.
p.s.s.
The scan shows the chronology of attempts to make this right (no charge for the entertainment factor) but this now becomes a matter of principle (and for future DUVELY customers).
On Duvely Reviews
State of Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services – Division of Consumer Services, Federal Trade Commission
cc: Better Business Bureau, Lake Mary, FL (claim and supporting documents previously submitted)
Per attached, please find an unpleasant experience with an online merchant (advertised on Facebook) which the merchandise received was NOT as the merchant described and was damaged. As described in the attachment, deceptive advertising (misleading at best but closer to false advertising) for the purchase of a 32 foot Christmas tree (a seasonal purchase).
The best that we can ascertain, the company “Duvely” (aka “OnDuvely”, “BeDuvely”) is an importer. The State of Florida shows the company registered under Michael Li (6135 Powers Ave., Jacksonville, FL 32217...which shows a strip mall without any signage). The registration also shows the LLC with a DBA “DLTSELLS”. We assume he moved to 761 Creekwater Terrace Apt. 203, Lake Mary, FL 32746-6721 where he works out of his residence.
Due to the systematic bad business practices with Duvely customer service barriers for resolution (37 emails in all…there is no customer service telephone hot line at this company possibly by design), we request a refund of $64.99 for the “Christmas Tree Lightshow” software feature which was DEFECTIVE.
There are MANY other consumer complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau - Lake Mary, FL (I’ll attach a couple). Don’t think the State of Florida would like to have a merchant operating in their state conducting unscrupulous business practices. It could be time for an audit (just saying…).
--geo from Detroit
****************************************************************************************************
...to my credit card company:
Capital One Transaction Support Center,
RE: Case Number: 221113121459688
Per your December 7, 2022 letter (attached), the response you received from the Merchant (DUVELY) is INCORRECT. It appears that this Merchant has a history of deceptive advertising, false claims and has demonstrated a systematic customer service system that denies product defect accountability (see below).
Product – Seasonal Christmas Tree depicted as 32 foot in their illustration with a house in the background (misleading at best but closer to false advertising). In addition, an upgrade “Christmas Tree Lightshow” software option for $64.99 was purchased as a separate charge.
The product that was delivered (a FOUR foot Christmas Tree) with a response from the Merchant that the description of the product is actually the total length of the string lights. Attached, please find similar complaints from the Better Business Bureau with customers referring SAME as a scam.
On November 7, 2022, we notified the Merchant that there may be a problem with the shipment. A SMALL box arrived with a star, remote, wire and 4 or 5 curved white plastic unknown pieces. No manual or instructions were included. Merchant responded with URL links on how to build the Christmas tree (a little unusual on ANY “garden variety” purchase). Next up, the “Christmas Tree Lightshow” software option we purchased. The remote control (or the integration) which administers the software display was DEFECTIVE. Barriers were set up for the customer to prove the product defective. Streamable videos were sent (and received) by the Merchant as part of their process. Throughout the course of the back and forth (38 emails in total) to the Merchant, the Merchant NEVER (until later in the process) admitted that there may be a problem with the product. MULTIPLE attempts were requested to talk to DUVELY Management but the customer service person “Kimberly”, never directly addressed our requests (FYI: there is NO customer service telephone number hot line for this company, ONLY email correspondence). In addition, MULTIPLE attempts to the Merchant were requested to provide metrics on similar customer problems associated with this product (in our case, we suspected the product was returned as defective since the instructions/manual were not contained in the shipment). Again, the requests were ignored and never addressed. Based on the fragmented and redundant responses of the emails, we surmise that there are MULTIPLE “Kimberly’s , that have prepared scripts for customer issues. In our case, it appears they did not take the time to review the previous emails (and there are many) before they prepared their scripted responses (very calculated).
In summary, please reject the $64.99 charge for the “Christmas Tree Lightshow” software option which was DEFECTIVE. We are in the process of contacting the Better Business Bureau, the FTC since the purchase crossed state lines and the Florida Department of Consumer Services.
--geo from Detroit
p.s.
Please confirm receipt of this email.
p.s.s.
The scan shows the chronology of attempts to make this right (no charge for the entertainment factor) but this now becomes a matter of principle (and for future DUVELY customers).