A VINTED customer and his family were threatened with a gun by a crazed seller.
First-time user Amir was left fearing for his life after he was bombarded with violent messages from a person who sold him a rucksack.
Ellie Flynn spoke with a man who was threatened with a gun on Vinted[/caption]
The altercation broke out after Vinted cancelled the sale due to suspicious activity – after the seller had already sent the package.
Amir offered to send the bag back but was met with a barrage of aggressive messages.
Despite Vinted cancelling the sale, the app’s customer service said they could no longer help.
Sharing his shocking story on Channel 4’s Vinted’s Dirty Laundry: Dispatches, he said: “It was quite continuous the messages and they got progressively worse.
“‘I know where you live’, ‘ I am going to come to your house’, ‘ I know all your information and I’ll come over with a gun to find you’.
“And the next day it was ‘I will come to your house’, and the last screenshot was just them sending my address.
“The main issue is this person has my address, I live at home with a wife and two children, two young daughters. It was quite shocking.”
Trustpilot scored Vinted 2.5/5 and there are videos online moaning about how difficult it can be to be assisted by a human member of staff.
Vinted has gathered a whopping 65 million users across 21 countries and revolutionised second-hand shopping.
It started in Lithuania in 2008 and has since gained popularity across Europe.
It has twice the users of its closest competitor Depop and is valued at over £4billion.
Presented by journalist Ellie Flynn, the documentary delves into the hidden dangers of the second-hand app.
The Dispatches team uncovered more than 100 products that are on the government’s recall list.
There were also a number of items found that were in breach of Vinted’s rules.
The items included unsafe baby products, used cosmetics, fire-hazard electricals and prescribed medicated products.
Katrina Phillips from the Child Accident Prevention Trust was horrified by a ‘self-feeding baby pillow’.
She said: “The bottle is held in place. And let’s say they [a baby] can’t push it away. These are really dangerous. They should not be sold. It really, really horrifies me.”
Dr Jane Leonard, a GP and cosmetic doctor, examined some of the lab results from tested products.
Yeast, mould and other bacteria were found in some of the tested items.
She explained that the findings suggested the products had been open “for a while” and could cause skin infections.
Vinted provided a statement to Channel 4: “We are taking the allegations seriously and will act as swiftly as we can against anything that violates our terms and conditions [including] measures that may result in the definitive blocking of sellers who repeatedly ignore our policy.
“We understand that members are not always aware that the item they sell or buy might be recalled.
“Our teams are … constantly working on improving and developing new tools and technologies to improve our systems…
“We’re very sorry to hear of these experiences and commit to take the necessary action against members who violate our community standards.
“We have a number of measures in place to uphold safety on the platform and are constantly updating these processes and improving our level of personal member support.“
The Sun has also contacted Vinted for a response.
Vinted’s Dirty Laundry: Dispatches airs Friday 18 October at 7.30pm on Channel 4.
