Holiday Scam Still Running On Facebook, Shoppers Still Furious

Back in December, Benzinga reported about a retailer and Facebook Inc FB advertiser called Hobbies Discount that was ripping off customers during the holiday shopping season.

Customers were so angry with their Hobbies Discount purchases that they created a scam awareness page on Facebook. Dozens of customers complained of not receiving orders or communication from the company, being charged multiple times for orders, receiving orders weeks later than scheduled, and receiving orders that were not as advertised.

Benzinga has attempted to contact Hobbies Discount and Facebook on multiple occasions, but has never received a reply.

Several Hobbies Discount customers reached out following the original story to explain their personal frustrations.

2 Months Late

Charleston, South Carolina resident Nancy Aust Strickland placed an order for Air Swimmers after she saw a Hobbies Discount advertisement on Facebook back in November. Her original order was placed on November 28, and she was told she would receiver her order in 14-21 days, just in time for Christmas. Hobbies Discount provides no phone number or email address for contact on its order receipts, so when Nancy hadn't received her order by December 28, she messaged the company on Facebook and did not receive a reply. Nancy finally received her product on January 17.

“Aside from receiving the order 51 days after placing the order, there has been no communication from hobbiesdiscount.net, no explanation and no apology,” Strickland tells Benzinga. “Needless to say, I will never order from them again.”

False Advertising

Strickland’s experience is far from isolated. Vietnam veteran Gary McDermott claims it took 15 weeks to receive his order for night vision binoculars from Hobbies Discount. When they finally arrived, the binoculars were a huge disappointment.

“They do not meet up to my expectations and in no way are they night vision binoculars,” McDermott tells Benzinga. “I call this false advertising.”

Hobbies Discount customer Misty Spinks was equally disappointed in the waterproof night vision binoculars she ordered. “I did receive two pair of binoculars in the mail about two weeks ago, but they were just regular binoculars,” Spinks tells Benzinga. “They were not the waterproof night vision ones I had ordered. Not even remotely similar.”

Just this week, Eddie Johnson, all-time NBA leading scorer off the bench and host of “NBA Today” on SiriusXM, took to Twitter and Instagram to warn his followers about Hobbies Discount.

“Don’t buy into their fancy pictures and marketing. They flat out lied,” he wrote on Instagram. Johnson said he originally ordered the same binoculars from an ad he saw on Instagram.

"I made it seem like they were night vision," Johnson tells Benzinga."I get them seven weeks later, and they have some silly excuse about they are not exactly night vision but they pick up light to make it easier to see."

The post below includes the image and claims Hobbies Discount includes in its binoculars ads.

A number of Hobbies Discount customers reported their experiences on Ripoff Reports.

Will Facebook Do Anything?

This isn't the only holiday scammer on the social media platform.

Unfortunately, is seems as if Facebook is turning a blind eye to the problem.

According to Facebook’s advertising policies, ads must not contain “deceptive, false or misleading content, including deceptive claims, offers or business practices.”

However, as of February 1, the Hobbies Discount Facebook page is still up and running. The Hobbies Discount scam awareness page has been removed.

Benzinga found this complaint by a customer asking Facebook how to report a scam advertisement so other Facebook users will not be ripped off. A Facebook representative replied to the post.

“The best way to report content or people that don’t follow the Facebook Community Standards is by using the “Report” link that appears near the content itself,” the representative advised.

Users replied that there is no “Report” option on ads, only “Hide ad,” “Why am I seeing it?” and “This ad is useful.”

Another Facebook user replied to the complaint because she wants Facebook to take action against Hobbies Discount.

“I want to do more than just block them, I want them to be held accountable!” the user wrote. “And if they aren’t, then Facebook should be held accountable! Why are they letting scam artists advertise?”

A Facebook representative never replied to the follow-up messages.