report unscrupulous sellers to Trading Standards UK [bubble wrap scam]

[fine-cds]

Many sellers on ebay offering bubble wrap actually sends only 60%-70% of ordered length: 60 meters delivered while 100 meters paid. They prey on unsuspecting customers hoping that nobody will notice. Most doesn't notice. It's a theft.

Easy to check:

1. Weigh the roll.

2. Cut 1 meter, fold it, weigh on jewellers scales, multiply by 100. 

3. Compare.

A video on youtube proves that 10/10 rolls delivered from ebay from various sellers were too short.

When discovevered, please report to Trading Standards UK. Otherwise, the thieves will get away.

Powers of Trading Standards:

1. Investigations: Trading Standards has the power to investigate complaints of unfair trading practices, including misleading descriptions and false claims about the quantity of goods.

2. Fines and Prosecution: If a company is found to be in violation of consumer protection laws (such as the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008), they can face hefty fines or even criminal prosecution. The penalties can range from significant financial penalties to imprisonment for serious offenses.

3. Cease-and-Desist Orders: Trading Standards can order companies to stop engaging in fraudulent or deceptive practices. In cases of severe and continuous deception, they can even recommend the business be shut down.

4. Compensation to Customers: They can require the business to compensate affected customers or issue refunds for the deceptive products.

5. Monitoring and Auditing: Trading Standards has the authority to audit businesses to ensure compliance with regulations. This includes visiting the business premises, reviewing records, and testing products.

In cases where companies are making significant profits while engaging in deceptive practices, Trading Standards can focus on their operations to ensure that consumer rights are upheld. However, they often rely on complaints from consumers or other businesses to initiate these investigations, so reporting such behavior is a key step in the process.

If a company is reported and found guilty of consistently cheating customers, fines could be substantial, and other penalties may follow depending on the severity and scale of the breach.

[eastern-lights]

Interesting point. I've never checked; for interest I will check my next roll (though mine comes on a carboard tube so I will have to weigh that.

But my general advise on this is to buy packaging from the big sellers, those that have their own websites and Ebay is just a small part of their business. And don't just buy on price. Once you've found a few reliable sellers stick with them. In my experience the big sellers are often the fastest to deliver as well.

[wyntersemporium]

I purchased my last roll from Amazon a very large recycled one as I recall

[rigged_out]

Because it's every single seller who does this I thought it was just a difference between the finished product and the starting material. Like they put in a 100 metre of the plastic stuff in to the machine and it adds the bubbles and you get 66m or whatever out the other end. It just seems strange that every single seller on ebay or Amazon sends around 2 thirds of whatever is ordered. It's the only reason I can think of. Not sure if it's legit though.

[theelench]

I don't think they can get away with that, even if that is the explanation.

They're not selling the 100m of plastic they put into the machine, they're selling whatever comes out the other end.  If that's 66m of bubble-wrap, that's what they should advertise it as.

I don't know if they still put a disclaimer on boxes of cereals saying that you still get the full weight even if the contents have settled during handling and looks only part full.  Similarly bubble-wrap might shrink a bit after it's cut into retail sized rolls but if the label says 100m, that's what the buyer should get.

[kempseykate]

I used to get mine from a friend who sold at a small market stall and boot sales. As I don't use so much now when I came to get a new one the market had closed, and the boot sales he does are too far away, so I decided to get one on here.
It was only because I remembered the size of the roll carrying it back to the car (arm through the tube, holding it in front looking like some kind of mutant Dalek) that I was suspicious about the roll I received. I weighed it & 1m and it was considerably short - I think about 40m 😞 I assumed it was a malfunction when it was produced. They refunded a percentage without quibble, now I realise why!

[theelench]

40m short on a 100m roll?  I'm amazed they can short measure by so much and get away with it.

Surely this sort of manufacturing process will be automated?

So someone set the rolling machine to cut 60m lengths and set the labelling machine to stick 100m labels on them?

If so, that's not an error, that's deliberate and designed to cheat the buyers?

When I first started selling I bought one roll of bubble-wrap, it's now about 28cms in dia. and I can't remember what length I bought it as.  I soon realised that packaging would be a major expense so started re-cycling used stuff from where I work, keeping the rest of the roll in case I ever ran out.  Luckily I never have.  I seems I was luckier than I thought if this thread is anything to go by.

[kempseykate]

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@theelench wrote:

40m short on a 100m roll?  I'm amazed they can short measure by so much and get away with it.

---

If I hadn't had the older rolls as comparison, I would have been non the wiser. So if someone always buys from that same seller  ...

[the_book_seekers]

Thank you. Very interesting and I will be checking my next roll.

[laptopsparesrepairs]

I've noticed for some years that something was not quite right with bubble wrap purchases. I would get roles some looking healthy and some looking way small that you just know there were off.

I have just had an order of bubble wrap today that looked off so did the measure, even slight tension to ensure measurement is as good as it can be and for 100M role I get 52M.

This isn't even margin of error, this is just scandalous.

As above, I don't buy the whole 100M of plastic for x length in bubble wrap as everyone sells it as 100M bubble wrap so that's what buyer should get otherwise specify in the description otherwise or sell as 50M roles.

I think this area is that competitive that the only way to sell cheaper than someone else is to sell less than advertised and hope the buyer hasn't the time like some of us to go measuring a 100M role of bubble wrap.

I will keep buying bubble wrap, making a note of seller and role length, obviously complain to the seller and avoid buying from any that are doing this practice in the future.

[*vyolla*]

Making them pay for a not as described return and leaving feedback to warn other potential buyers would seem a good move here.

[keepsakesandkollectables]

I have noticed this as well.

I started to think something was wrong ages & ages ago, when I receieved a roll that looked far smaller than usual, even though it was from the same supplier I had always used.

Not ideal but a good guide was that with a 100m roll I could not possibly wrap my arms around it, but can easily do so with short rolls.

I have also tried many different suppliers all pretty much with the same outcome, ranging from 50m to 70m for an advertised 100m roll.

In fact I can't seem to find a single supplier who does sell genuine 100m rolls.

So in effect I have to bite the bullet, as if I did not & stopped purchasing from them, I would find it very hard to almost impossible to buy rolls in the 1st place.

So what do I do, well it's simple really but not quite fair to buyers.

I rarely charge any packing costs to my buyers,  ( I do charge postage at the true cost, so if Royal mail charge me £5.15 I charge the buyer £5.15 ) so I tend to factor in 50p to £1.00 on each items sale price to cover the cost of packing materials, that includes bubble, tape & some of the fees ebay charge on the postage price I charge.

Now that cost as I say would be far nearer 50p instead of £1.00 if I were getting 100m rolls instead of 50m ones.

But what choices do I have if nearly all the sellers I have purchased rolls from in the past are in effect only giving me as little as 50% of the product I ordered & paid for, as I can't buy it anywhere else for the amount they charge me, as it's still cheap overall.

So as I say I bite the bullet.

[fire-beauty-personal]

If you find one honest seller of bubble wrap on ebay, tell me please.

I tested about 10 sellers and sadly all skimming 40-50 meters per 100m roll which is shocking.

They are obviously aware and once contacted, they offer a small refund of £1 or £2, but I insist on returning at their cost, under not as described, followed by appropriate feedback. They are thieves after all.

Finally, I found a genuine company, but they don't sell on ebay so I can't mention them here (but I will):

Kite Packaging

Small bubble wrap Kite premium easy tear - 500mmx100m - pack of 3 rolls.

I pay £65 including delivery for 6 rolls of 100m and each roll is 101 meters 🙂

What a feeling that after years of being scammed, I can now support a honest vendor 🙂

The bubble wrap itself is as good/bad as any other wrap I tested over years.

It's nothing special but it is 100+ meters!!!

[laptopsparesrepairs]

Ill keep the company you mention in mind.

Just been offered a 40% refund although the role is technically 48% short but for sake of margin of error I accepted it.

[technthread]

I have found that the quality of bubble wrap is less than it was 5 years ago across the board.

I currently buy from globe_packaging and schottpackaging on eBay and they have always sent the length of rolls advertised.

[insidethe93]

Good advice. Also, buy from a selling platform that provides great customer service.

[technthread]

I bought 6 cubic feet of packing peanuts from an eBay seller a few months ago. I won’t mention any names but I fell for paying a couple of £ less rather than use my go to sellers. 

As I’m used to the size of box it should be I noticed instantly it was less than I usually get. I worked it out at around 5.2 cubic feet. The seller’s customer service person tried to claim the peanuts settle in the box, the conversation was pretty amusing and the owner messaged me back late at night apologising and agreed that I can’t have been sent what I paid for. It is a minefield out there. 

[laptopsparesrepairs]

I have used globe_packaging some years ago due to price however if they are sending the amounts advertised then its well worth it all things considered.

This wants to make me rip a roll of tape to measure that as well, with some roles being smaller than a 50M role but advertised as 66M you know that's being abused as well.