Is honeyjars.net a scam?

[Foxhound]

Anybody ever had any contact with the people from honeyjars.net? It looks like a scam, but has but online for a while now.

http://honeyjars.net/product/38mm-flip-top-cap-invert/

[D Coates]

Why would you think scam?  Not saying it isn't, but it appears legit at first glance.  The pricing is about 1/2 of what I pay vs. Betterbee bulk but freight isn't included with honeyjars.net.  I'll be at least hitting them to get a freight quote.

[BeeMaster2]

Wow, 850 jars for $129. I can only see it on my I-phone, the site is blocked by the fire wall here at work.
The site is not designed for an I-phone so I will have to check it out later.
Jim

[HillBilly2]

Think that's 850 lids.

[chux]

I tried to start an order, just to get an idea of shipping cost. Very poorly designed site. Took the order then told me to send a check. Didn't ask me if I wanted delivery. Just said to send them a check. Sounds sketchy to me.

[Foxhound]

Yea, it just has a weird feel to it.

Don't think i'll be giving them any info.

[BeeMaster2]

Yes very weird.
Did anyone see a count and price for the jars.
I got a lot of "this page could not be found"
Jim

[NeilTheCop]

OK, here's what I found. Amazing the things I remembered from my years as a white collar crime detective

The web site says call them anytime, but doesn't give a phone number, so my suspicions were aroused. Checked the web site hosting and found that the domain name is registered to Mr. Halit K Suer of New York
Gave the holding company as Westchild Inc. If you Google that company you will get multiple businesses and multiple addresses, but the primary one is 383 Jefferson Ave Rahway, NJ 07065. Westchild Inc is actually registered with the State of New York as 115 West 30th St, Suite 203, New York, New York, 10001.
Westchild Inc was also registered to Mr. Suer in Florida, but the registration lapsed.

So draw your own conclusions from this info.
There is no contact phone number
There are two main addresses for the umbrella company, Westchild Inc.
383 Jefferson Ave Rahway, NJ 07065
https://www.google.com/maps/place/383+Jefferson+Ave+Rahway,+NJ+07065/@40.5991024,-74.2931018,3a,90y,114.91h,91.89t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1srJt-lAr_gQmaFtCj0-oKvQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x7161bc4c1806fc23!6m1!1e1
Nice house

And 115 West 30th St, Suite 203, New York, New York, 10001
https://www.google.com/maps/place/115+WEST+30TH+STREET,+NEW+YORK,+NEW+YORK,+10001/@40.7476543,-73.9905388,3a,75y,59.97h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m4!1sE3p4Qb1Ix6HRivmEJkk1HQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x3fb4c97fe0f35be9!6m1!1e1
Not so nice, and suite 203 is the home of a make-up and photography business
http://kenbarboza.com/contact.html
But neither look anything like the nice clean factory shown on the honeyjars.net website because the company who designed the website, Woocommerce used a stock image library. Does this look familiar from the web site?
http://www.canstockphoto.com/images-photos/beekeeper.html#file_view.php?id=17035041
How about this one?
http://www.canstockphoto.com/images-photos/warehouse-shipping.html#file_view.php?id=6696032



To quote Monty Python.
Run away!!!!

[Maggiesdad]

Rock on, Neil!

[Foxhound]

Wow Neil. Spot on with all that. Nice job.

Hopefully beekeepers aren't  giving them any information.

[NeilTheCop]

Wow Neil. Spot on with all that. Nice job.

Hopefully beekeepers aren't  giving them any information.

Thanks. Sometimes I miss being a detective, but not often 

[deknow]

Errr....sometimes the client likes the answer even of it is wrong.

There is a number lister under 'contact' (908) 986-2010. I did give it a ring and got (after several rings) a message from honeyjars.net with their business hours.

I don't know anything about them, or if they are legitm...but if you are going to go through all that trouble to track addresses and such, it seems a big miss to miss their phone number.

[Anybrew2]

Neil, I often miss walking the thin Blue Line myself,I enjoyed helping people and putting crooks in Gaol but thing I miss most is the Men and Woman I worked with. Unfortunately I have found once you retire its like you were never really there.

[NeilTheCop]

I scrolled to the very bottom of the page and hit the contact us button, which just gave the option to e-mail them. I did then check the other contacts box. Incidentally at the bottom of the page the customer service section is blank, another warning sign
They don't actually give an address for their warehouse, but give their 'hors' of operation (I can feel the hairs on the neck waking up again)
I ran a reverse lookup for  (908) 986-2010 but found nothing. Odd for a major warehouse.
But thank you for getting the old brain cells firing.
It took some digging but here's what I found.
(908) 986-2010 is a land line to a residential address, not a company. I found the phone number for Mr. Halit K Suer and it was different. So I ran his home phone number and found it linked to the fax at:
http://naturello.org/contact.html
The actual phone number on the naturello website returns to a Johnathan Landers who manages apartment buildings in New York City.
I then checked East 'Cost' Warehouse, 1300 Lower Road Linden, New Jersey 07036 (He really needs a spellchecker or proof reader)
http://www.eastcoastwarehouse.com/OurCompany.aspx

OK. So he's running a couple of businesses out of his house, renting space in a dockside warehouse and claiming it's his warehouse. His home phone has a fax machine installed and he uses the phone number of the manager of New York apartments.

Run away very fast

[deknow]

I'm not sure what you think business are supposed to look like.  It looks to me like probably a small part (for the cost of a website) someone's import business.

I'm not sure what a 'major warehouse' is supposed to be (maybe you can see it from space?)....but a home office shipping empty jars out of rented warehouse space doesn't raise any flags for me more than usual...any more than any company I've never heard of.

[BeeMaster2]

So Deknow, are you going to be the first to order some of their jars? If you do let us know how it works out.
Jim

[deknow]

No...they only carry one size glass jar, the price isnt dramatically less than we are currently paying.  I might call for a sample amd pricing...just like I might with any company I haven't heard of.

Anyone can miss seeing a phone number 9n a website...not everyone would boast about their detective skills while doing so.

[chux]

Woah, deknow. Let's not insult one another. Fact is, the website doesn't pass the "sniff test." It is very poorly designed and clunky. I'm not an expert, and couldn't build my own site, but I've been on plenty of sites. This one doesn't "feel" right. And the prices I saw are simply too good to be true. 1/3 the price you can pay for bulk rate at one of the big suppliers. not gonna happen in reality. Not for a quality product. Let's give the benefit of the doubt for a moment, and say that it is a legit business. If they have such a poor quality on-line presence, do you really want to give them access to your bank account? Not I.

[NeilTheCop]

Don't worry Chux I've been insulted by professionals, so deknow's little dig is water off a ducks back
Yes deknow I missed a phone number, which after checking is unlisted. Very strange that a legitimate company who wants to sell their products would have an unlisted number.
But lets imagine that you put caution to the wind and make a large order and it doesn't show. Now you want to track the company down and get a refund.
Would you go to:

383 Jefferson Ave, Rahway, New Jersey
A private address
or
315 Ovington Av Suite 5G, Brooklyn,New York
Actually Suite is misleading as it's not a business but an apartment block, the correct address is apartment 5G
or
115 W 30th St #203, New York, NY 10001
You may need to ask the photographers studio staff where the company is.
or
230 73Rd St Suite 6C, Brooklyn, New York
Again it should be apartment, not Suite.
or
230 73Rd St Apt 1H, Brooklyn, New York
or
17096 Collins Ave. Sunny Isles Beach, FL.
or
East Coast Warehousing, 1300 Lower Road Linden, New Jersey
1.7 million square feet of warehouse space and 268 loading docks. Yes, I would consider this a major warehouse, and you can see it from orbit
https://www.google.com/maps/place/1300+Lower+Rd,+Linden,+NJ+07036/@40.610807,-74.2426932,562m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x89c3b36aec607299:0x6aaf5d24412871a3


Because these are all the addresses used by Mr. Suer for mailing, business registrations and trademark registrations

For me this thread has now become circular and I don't want to play anymore. Deknow, if you want to risk your money with this company, please feel free, but let the forum knows how it turns out for you. Me, I wouldn't touch it with a very long pole.

[BeeMaster2]

Neil,
Thanks for taking the time to investigate this.
Jim