BBB: Vancouver, Wash. online store dupes outdoor enthusiasts

Better Business Bureau Northwest + Pacific said this week it has identified an online-based outdoor gear store based in Vancouver, Wash., scamming consumers. The company goes by the name Alpine Outdoor Store and currently has an F rating.

For the last few months, the company was offering a free backpack on their social media ads and website along with other free offers. Consumers ordered from the website in hopes of getting the backpack, paid the shipping and never received their orders.

The owner on file responded to one BBB complaint, but we have not been able to get in touch with him since. As of Wednesday, the website seems to be down.

In Oregon, BBB has identified two consumers who made recent complaints about Alpine Outdoor Store and one Scam Tracker Report about the company. The victim who filed the Scam Tracker Report in February said she wanted to take advantage of the free item offer so she paid shipping and even got an order confirmation claiming it was being processed. However, she never received any additional information.

“I never received my item, and when I finally found the email and checked the website nothing had changed,” she wrote. “I sent several emails to their support email. No response. There is no other way to contact them.”

In 2018, online scams were ranked the top reported scam in Oregon with 205 victims filing a BBB Scam Tracker Report. BBB’s 2018 Risk Report showed that online scams were up 124% from 2017.

What’s more alarming is that Oregon was ranked number one in the country for online shopping fraud, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center . Victims of Alpine Outdoor Store or just a few of many consumers in the state who are duped over by phony websites and fraudulent ads.

As such, BBB is an advocate for safe shopping online and offers these tips to consumers: https://www.bbb.org/article/tips/14040-bbb-tip-smart-shopping-online