Warning: Astro-Art Finland holding refund since March 2024

Equipment Buying Advice
AstRobertAudrius
•32 replies•2.4k views
AstRobert avatar
AstRobert avatar
Hi everyone, 

I would like to report that I have experienced an unpleasant situation with the store Astro-Art out of Finland. I ordered a product in January, with an estimated delivery time of 16 days. After several delays I decided to cancel my order in March. Despite the confirmation of the cancelation, the refund has not been processed yet after several months. I find this behavior to be unacceptable and I reported the business to the European Consumer Center (ECC). 

I found that several other people already had similar issues with this company. 

If you have experienced something similar, I encourage you to file a complaint too.

Together we are strong!

Cheers,
Robert
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Jan Erik Vallestad avatar
Jan Erik Vallestad avatar
I hope you get it sorted, sadly a known issue.. I don't know if you've read this thread, but several people have had issues here as well: https://www.astrobin.com/forum/c/off-topic/anything-goes/astroart-store-experience/?page=2
Oskari Nikkinen avatar
Oskari Nikkinen avatar
Unfortunately this is not the first such experience people have had with the company. The Finnish astronomy forum also has a few pages worth of wondering if they are still in business at all.

This is a company one should stay away from, if you value your money and time.

They do have good prices for many items, but once again we should follow the mantra: if its too good to be true it probably isnt true.

Hope you get the money back one day.
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AstRobert avatar
AstRobert avatar
Can you give me a link to the finish astronomy forum? It is surprisingly hard to find country-specifi forums if your arent in the country
Oskari Nikkinen avatar
Oskari Nikkinen avatar
Finnish is notoriously difficult to translate to any other language, so not sure how much luck you will have with google auto translation. Even if it does come out readable, im afraid you wont find many answers there as the thread is mostly umming and ahhing back and forth with positive and negative feedback from users.

But here is the link: https://www.avaruus.fi/foorumi/index.php?topic=19035.105
AstRobert avatar
AstRobert avatar
Astroart is still keeping my money. My bank tried to contact them over this and was ignored.
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Carastro avatar
Carastro avatar
That is terrible.  I have been using Astroart since 2013 and it works well for me, but I will certainly think twice should I ever need to purchase it again, and will also pass this message on to other users who maybe haven't read this.
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Salvatore Iovene avatar
Salvatore Iovene avatar
A very appalling thing, in my humble opinion, is that they are not bothering to comment here.
Arun H avatar
Arun H avatar
AstRobert:
I would like to report that I have experienced an unpleasant situation with the store Astro-Art out of Finland. I ordered a product in January, with an estimated delivery time of 16 days. After several delays I decided to cancel my order in March. Despite the confirmation of the cancelation, the refund has not been processed yet after several months.


This is exactly the reason why I do not use bank transfer but rather a credit card  with vendors. Especially when you have good documentation (in this case confirmation of a refund), you can use the chargeback process to get your money back. I did this recently with a non astro vendor for an item they sent me that was defective. They took it back, claimed to process a refund, but kept delaying when it would show up on my car statement, claiming absurdly long timelines. In the end, I took it up with the credit card company and they issued me a refund. The upside here is that the company needs to also pay the credit card provider a processing fee for handling the dispute. Whereas if you use your bank directly, you have basically no protection other than complaining to some government agency which may not really have time to look into your case.
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AstRobert avatar
AstRobert avatar
Arun H:
AstRobert:
I would like to report that I have experienced an unpleasant situation with the store Astro-Art out of Finland. I ordered a product in January, with an estimated delivery time of 16 days. After several delays I decided to cancel my order in March. Despite the confirmation of the cancelation, the refund has not been processed yet after several months.


This is exactly the reason why I do not use bank transfer but rather a credit card  with vendors. Especially when you have good documentation (in this case confirmation of a refund), you can use the chargeback process to get your money back. I did this recently with a non astro vendor for an item they sent me that was defective. They took it back, claimed to process a refund, but kept delaying when it would show up on my car statement, claiming absurdly long timelines. In the end, I took it up with the credit card company and they issued me a refund. The upside here is that the company needs to also pay the credit card provider a processing fee for handling the dispute. Whereas if you use your bank directly, you have basically no protection other than complaining to some government agency which may not really have time to look into your case.



yes... i know... i learned that the the hard way now. ;-)
at the time, my card limit wouldnt have allowed the charge and i did not think that an established vendor would do something like that ;-)
my bank even tried to get it back but since it was ignored they now charge me the fee. That just fuels my fury and it will just add up to the charges i am demanding... it may take time but in the end they... will... pay... (back the money (just to be safe))
Darrell Johansen avatar
Darrell Johansen avatar
Can you just call your credit card company and have that refunded?

edit,  never mind, I’m an idiot and didn’t read further in the thread. Sorry.
Backyard Universe avatar
Backyard Universe avatar
Same here, I wait for my money since may24 after I cancelled my order from Dec23 because they didn’t delivered anything…..these are fraudsters!!!
AstRobert avatar
AstRobert avatar
Backyard Universe:
Same here, I wait for my money since may24 after I cancelled my order from Dec23 because they didn’t delivered anything…..these are fraudsters!!!

*** if you are located in the EU file a case via your countries consumer center, by now my case actually reached astroart from their countries consumer center and if cases start piling up they will have a hell of a bad time...
***
Bill McLaughlin avatar
Bill McLaughlin avatar
Arun H:
This is exactly the reason why I do not use bank transfer but rather a credit card  with vendors.

Very True. I have also had great luck with PayPal getting my money back. Nothing  with astro equipment (not needed so far) but from Home Depot that sent me dead plants and from a 3D printing company that never shipped the product.
Till avatar
Till avatar
I had a similar experience with Astro-Art. To get my money back via Paypal, I needed to file a fraud case at the local police.
I have my money back so the case is closed for me. But I am very interested in what will happen with the fraud case on the legal side….
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Salvatore Iovene avatar
Salvatore Iovene avatar
How can a company have fraud cases open with the police and continue to operate and “sell” things! 🤯
Till avatar
Till avatar
I don't live in Finland, so it may take some time for the authorities to transfer the case or however the process of filing a case against someone in a foreign country is working… 

But at least from what I understand what the police told me, I did it right. After sending 2 e-mails and asking when the refund (on which we agreed on) will come, I set a grace period of 14 days for the transfer of the money back to me. In the same e-mail, I stated that I will take legal action against them If no payment should arrive.
Which I did… kind of. Since paypal asked for a police case number. Suing them directly with a lawyer would have been too costly compared to the amount of money in question.
AstRobert avatar
AstRobert avatar
Salvatore Iovene:
How can a company have fraud cases open with the police and continue to operate and “sell” things! 🤯

*** Simply because they are not actually acting against any law. As long as they pay the money back in the end there will not be any consequence and cases will always be dropped over and over again. They just wait shortly before things get really messy, pay, and continue doing it. As long as you cant proof any actual damage this behaviour causes, you cant even claim compensations. 
***
Nooa Jutila avatar
Nooa Jutila avatar
AstRobert:
Salvatore Iovene:
How can a company have fraud cases open with the police and continue to operate and “sell” things! 🤯

*** Simply because they are not actually acting against any law. As long as they pay the money back in the end there will not be any consequence and cases will always be dropped over and over again. They just wait shortly before things get really messy, pay, and continue doing it. As long as you cant proof any actual damage this behaviour causes, you cant even claim compensations. 
***

I threatened them with imminent legal action and they paid me back in full about a month ago.
I will never shop with them again, though if someone wants to take that gamble, I have a free personal discount code they gave me.
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Backyard Universe avatar
Backyard Universe avatar
Short update…

I received my refund today! After a couple of months. I don't know why they're sending me the refund now, maybe because I've sent a few more emails in the last few days as a reminder (after dozens before)? Who knows…
I have my money now! 

Hope you guys will also get your money asap!
Observatório Astrográfico do Boqueirão avatar
Observatório Astrográfico do Boqueirão avatar
Backyard Universe:
Short update…

I received my refund today! After a couple of months. I don't know why they're sending me the refund now, maybe because I've sent a few more emails in the last few days as a reminder (after dozens before)? Who knows...
I have my money now! 

Hope you guys will also get your money asap!

I'll be honest with you. I've bought with them in the past without any problems.. Really I didn't. Sometimes here in the forum for situations like yours I tried to understand both sides, because as far as I know they are or were a small business with all that comes with that, but after a lot of talk and writting. I'm done with it. I'm not doing that anymore and if anyone in the future, friend or not ask for information, I'll say to stay away and that will solve, I hope a bunch of problems.

Very happy for you. Honest!

Regards

Cesar
AstRobert avatar
AstRobert avatar
Original poster here…
I cant believe it but it has finally been resolved. Astroart paied the money incl. interest and other fees that I demanded.

Still not happy with the overall experience. I'd still recommend everyone in Europe that has similar issues to report them to the ECC (European Consumer Center) as every case files there will be reported further on and will have consequences without any liabilities for the consumer.

​​​​​​
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Nooa Jutila avatar
Nooa Jutila avatar
AstRobert:
Original poster here...
I cant believe it but it has finally been resolved. Astroart paied the money incl. interest and other fees that I demanded.

Still not happy with the overall experience. I'd still recommend everyone in Europe that has similar issues to report them to the ECC (European Consumer Center) as every case files there will be reported further on and will have consequences without any liabilities for the consumer.

​​​​​​

Hell yeah.
Audrius avatar
Audrius avatar
i have similar situation with them. Paid money 2 months ago, havent received anything - nor item, nor refund. Problem that i paid via bank transfer, not by card. Filled a case in Police, EU consumer rights agency. Will see how it will go, but they seem to be scammers.
Ardje avatar
Ardje avatar
Similar situation. Ordered back in Jan 2024 and got many 'it is nearly there' messages and other empty promises. Talked to the Norwegian/Swedish guy several times and he seems like a really nice guy. But his hands seem to be tied and the Finnish establishment is not moving. Lately I heard that the Finnish guy was hospitalized, which is of course awful. But it does not explain all the months of waiting and all the promising before. 

So after yet another set of empty promises I cancelled the order. Messaged them via e-mail, the form on their website, Messenger, Instagram. Finally got a message back via Messenger saying that my cancelation would be processed within one week. According to their conditions they are obliged to pay within 2 weeks. You guessed it: no reimbursement yet.

I am now filing a complaint at the ECC and I will bring legal support (covered by my assurance) into place to force them to return the money. 
Man, I wish this could have gone any other way but this way. I was patient (maybe too patient) and tried to just get my items in a normal and friendly way. But not I am out of patience and just want my money back.
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