Beware of the product-of-the-month clubs from Anshu Pathak!

So, I ordered a case of mangosteens for my dear aunt in Chantilly, VA, for Christmas from this online purveyor that seemed to have every foodstuff imaginable. It almost seemed to good to be true. And unfortunately it was.

It was from a company owned by Anshu Pathak, who's currently being sued by Harry & David for using domain names that they associate with their company. He has a plethora of "(insert name of food here) of the month" clubs ranging from exotic, international, & organic fruits to chocolate, Kobe beef, cheese, nuts, & wine. Here's what happened.

I ordered the mangosteens more than a week before Christmas and received the order confirmation via e-mail. Then I received a delivery confirmation on Christmas stating that they'd been delivered to my aunt's place that day. But when I went to her house a couple days later, there was no sign of them. I knew that, despite how much fruit she eats, she couldn't have eaten them all that quickly and even if she'd given some away (as she always does because she's such a sweetheart), she probably would've saved a little for me, not that I was expecting her to, only that she's that generous. I asked her when I saw her if the fruit had arrived, and she said no. She ended up calling up Anshu and asking him to cancel the order since she insists I save my money (because I make a very meager living) and she had plenty of mangosteens when she lived in Thailand years ago. His excuse was that they tried to deliver them but had the wrong ZIP code. Well then why did they send me an e-mail confirming receipt of the gift?

So a week or two goes by and I get an impersonal e-mail from Anshu informing me that mangosteens will be arriving from Thailand on January 11. I e-mail him back expressing my frustration because my aunt had already asked him to refund my money. He just shot back a terse response that the order had already been canceled. Well, I checked my credit card statement yesterday, and wouldn't you know it, there was no credit on my account. I had to call my credit card company to dispute the charge. So the moral of the story is, ANSHU PATHAK IS A THIEF! Don't buy from him regardless of how tempting anything on his website sounds. I saw a similar complaint online yesterday after I found out that I'd been swindled, only the victim hadn't been treated nearly as cordially as my aunt said she had been. Hopefully more people will document their experiences with this man and he will be put out of business for his deception.