[Roger Bailey]

Has anyone bought a laptop / notebook from a company called Ultraboooks.com ? If you are thinking of doing so you should read this.

I believed at first that Ultraboooks.com was a genuine UK based company, they have a very nice looking website which comes up when using Google Shopping UK and they state that they are in the UK, There is a online assistant window which pops up and a helpful person helps you make your choice. I took advice from them that the best notebook for video editing is a Samsung Pro and to be fair it does get very good reviews. So I went ahead and bought one from them.

Then afterwards I noticed the spelling of the name: Ultarboooks with 3 x letter o not Ultrabooks 2 x letter o. So I did some checking, stupidly after I had sent them £1600.00 by bank transfer.

I found out that their address in Paul Street, London is just a mail redirect service as is there UK phone number. So I am worried at this point, further checking on google and via some scamchecking sites shows the website is not trustworthy and it’s based in America but sometimes Australia. Now my emails to the previously helpful person Jamie White (made up name?) Are being ignored at this stage and I am wondering if I’ve been scammed.

I checked with Samsung who say that they do not sell notebooks in Europe and haven’t done so since 2014. A Samsung warranty therefore may be difficult to uphold in the UK. If the laptop arrives and turns out to be a grey import, sending a faulty item back will be difficult, in fact impossible because there is no known address for Ultraboooks.

But then, surprise! 5 days later my Samsung Pro notebook arrived! Shipped from Jersey City USA by a V Alexis, with the package description stating the contents is a case with a value for import duty of just $20.00. The seal on the box had been cut and a UK mains adapter had been plugged onto the mains USA plug.

The notebook is clearly brand new in its original packaging and still had that static thing going on with the screen and alloy etc. I was concerned about it having a virus or trojan or something because understandably I have no trust in Ultraboooks.com, however I plugged it in, switched it on and set up windows 10. The notebook is absolutely fine as far as I can tell. Great 4k screen and it’s a quality bit of kit. I have since sent Ultraboooks emails asking for a VAT receipt and information on the warranty but I am ignored.

So it’s a bit of a rip off on price, I cant claim any VAT back and I’ve effectively got no warranty but it could easily have been a total loss situation. Is it safe to keep using this notebook? I’m guessing so.