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Author Topic: https://radioarena.co.uk/  (Read 123 times)

G4IKZ

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https://radioarena.co.uk/
« on: October 27, 2022, 09:24:50 AM »

https://radioarena.co.uk/

As of today (27 October 2022) a search for ‘radioarena’ in the eham forums shows seven member posts between 2009 and 2013 referring to the business at this website. And as of today there is still an amateur radio business using that URL. But things might not be what they seem.

The URL suffix ‘.co.uk’  would seem to imply that it belongs to an incorporated business operating from the UK. Prospective customers might therefore assume it’s formally registered as a company in the UK. If it were then it would be registered at UK Companies House, whose government-run (and searchable) website makes some details freely available to the public. You can see those at:

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/search?q=radioarena

As of today two companies are listed there under that name. These are Radioarena Limited and Radioarena UK Ltd. The first of these had its registered office in Scotland. It was incorporated on 18 October 2006 and dissolved on 15 January 2010. The second had its registered office in England. That was incorporated on 27 January 2016 and dissolved on 4 April 2017. So the businesses were not registered for concurrent periods. And the subtle difference in name means they were separate legal entities.

The same person is named as being a director of both businesses. But there’s nothing suspicious about that. He could have started out in Scotland, shut up shop, done something else for a few years, and then started again in England only to close down again. But whatever he did it seems there’s no longer an incorporated UK business using the ‘radioarena’ name. So that prompts the question as to who is now using that URL. It might be the same guy again, albeit this time trading without a registered company (and thus no listing at Companies House). He might be quite entitled to do that. But it seems unlikely that what appears to be a substantial business would be operating without the benefit of limited liability.

The website gives no clear information about where the business is based. In spite of having a UK URL its prices default to USD and the ‘About Us’ page says that ‘Depending on the availability of inventory, our goods are sent from one of our warehouses located in the United States, the United Kingdom, or China.’ And that may mean China only.

If (as implied by the URL) this is a UK business then it’s a curious one because at the time of writing the website makes no mention of its business address at all. Nor does it give an e-mail address. Both omissions are expressly outside the UK practice described at:

https://smallbusinesswebsites.co.uk/legal-requirements-website/

It seems the only way customers can write to the business is via a ‘Contact Us’ form, which will send their message to an undisclosed address. Neither that or anything else here means that the business is not genuine. But as any replies could come from a spoofed address then folk could have a tough time resolving problems if things go wrong. Caveat Emptor!

If anybody has recently done business via this URL it would be interesting to know where the goods came from and what business address appeared on the invoice or other correspondence.

- Nick.
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KC6RWI

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Re: https://radioarena.co.uk/
« Reply #1 on: October 27, 2022, 10:41:14 AM »

I don't have experience with the sites you mentioned, but I really dislike it when there is no physical  address. Possibly it is Chinese based and the owners are trying to distance themselves from being another Chinese co.
Just as side note, I remember a company based in Scotland that had limited number of higher end products, like a 7300, or a digital camera, and some other items all unrelated and the prices were too low. The reviews were very bad as well. In fact from memory I'll say if was scam site, a front.
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G4IKZ

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Re: https://radioarena.co.uk/
« Reply #2 on: October 27, 2022, 11:05:09 PM »

There’s a similar (but slightly different) website at https://radioarena.biz/  That site has an ‘About Us’ page which clearly states an e-mail address and a Hong Kong business address. That site does not wax lyrical about its ‘warehouses in the United States, the United Kingdom, or China.’ By contrast the site at https://radioarena.co.uk/ does not give an e-mail or business address. And that site does imply that they ship from those ‘warehouses.’

The most obvious possibilities are (a) that the two businesses are actually the same outfit, and that the UK website was set up to try to increase sales outside Hong Kong, or (b) the UK site is a fake site unrelated to the Hong Kong business and set up for phishing purposes. Perhaps an internet detective can tell us something from the web addresses?

Either way I’ve seen nothing to suggest that either of these current websites is related to the (now-defunct) Glasgow business that used the UK URL several years ago, or that either of the previous UK businesses ever did anything improper or misleading.

Curiously radioarena’s GBP asking prices (at least for new Yaesu gear) are substantially more than the prices from all of the well-known UK dealers. So I’m not sure why anyone in the UK would buy it from radioarena anyway.

- Nick.
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