Cheap rubbish instead of good quality

Keystone / Gaetan Bally

Online providers are pretending to be Swiss companies, luring customers into a trap with false promises.

is receiving a growing number of complaints about dubious online shops. An increasing number of providers are masquerading as Swiss companies offering high-quality products. However, they often deliver cheap, substandard items from Asia – or nothing at all.

Claudia Spörri was searching online for a warm turtleneck jumper for the winter. She came across what appeared to be an attractive offer: a cashmere jumper from a “traditional Zurich company”. The price was surprisingly low, but the website seemed credible – the imprint even listed an office in Glattbrugg.

The unpleasant surprise came weeks later. Claudia received an email informing her that the goods had been dispatched from China. “I thought: Holy shit!” she recalls. Weeks after that, the parcel finally arrived, but the jumper was not cashmere. According to the label, it was made of 95% polyester and 5% elastane.

Dropshipping: the business model behind fake shops

“This is a violation of the law against unfair competition; you cannot advertise a product with properties it does not have,” says Lucien Jucker from the Consumer Protection Foundation. Nevertheless, such deceptive offers are widespread.

How to recognise fake shops

Luring offers: prices that seem too good to be true often indicate fraud.

Website Impressum: missing or incomplete information is a warning sign.

Payment methods: pay via companies that offer buyer
protection, such as PayPal or credit cards.

Domain: incorrect spellings or unprofessional URLs are suspicious.

Reviews: research reviews on independent platforms to avoid deception.

SSL encryption: look out for “https://” and the lock symbol – both are mandatory for secure shops.

Language and design: many fake shops stand out due to poor translations and an unprofessional look.

The business model used by these shops is called dropshipping. They sell goods sourced from Chinese trading platforms such as AliExpress. Orders are placed directly in China, while the so-called Swiss online shop acts only as a middleman, with no warehouse of its own. “Customers end up paying far more for products that are significantly cheaper there,” Jucker explains.

On Kassensturz, viewers regularly share their experiences of being duped by such companies. For instance, Helen Heim Huber has been waiting months for a delivery from chiccasa.ch, while Melanie Gasser received cheap dresses instead of the stylish evening wear she had ordered.

Refunds are difficult

Customer Claudia Spörri attempted to return her jumper and get a refund. However, the retailer, Wilhelm Wald, only offered her a 10% discount on the jumper or a voucher for her next purchase. For Claudia, this was unacceptable: “It’s simply not right!”

Wilhelm Wald’s head office in Zurich has since been abandoned. The company’s owner, Jorge Oesterle, wrote to Kassensturz, stating: “Unfortunately, products were delivered that were not of the same quality. The shop has been closed.” He added that faulty products would be refunded.

Meanwhile, chiccasa.ch and stella-zurich.com have not responded to Kassensturz’s enquiries.

Translated from German using DeepL/amva