A S.

DO NOT SHOP FROM THIS WEBSITE. IT IS FAKE.

I almost fell for this scam. When a certain brand is extremely popular, scammers will set up a fake website to appeal to shoppers from a certain country - in this case, Canada. They probably know that Canadians_loathe_ shopping from outside Canada, due to our country's draconian import taxes (ugh!). So they set up a very legitimate-looking 'Canadian' website, to draw us in as marks. "Oh, look! Kipling has a Canadian website, so we won't have to pay import duties - yay!" NOPE.

Here's how I found out: I Googled "Kipling bags" looking for their official website, and KiplingCanada.com came up at the very top. But when I tried to go to to the site, my antivirus software (Bitdefender free version, I love you) gave me a_huge_ warning page notifying me that this is a 'phishing site' that will try to steal my financial information!

I got worried, so I went to the the official American website, Kipling-USA.com and went on the live chat. I was able to speak to a live agent, and I asked them about this Canadian website. They told me that KiplingCanada.com is_not_ one of their legitimate websites. They assured me that they will report the fake website to their superiors.

The live chat agent also gave me the official link that shows all current legitimate Kipling websites around the world. So be sure to go via this web portal, rather than just Googling for a Kipling site.

https://www.kipling-usa.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-kip-Site/default/Stores-Landing

In the meantime I'm worried that other people might get duped (as I so nearly was), so I am leaving warning reviews to let other Canadians know_not_ to shop at KiplingCanada.com! Be careful, everybody, and stay safe.

I was surprised that there are no reviews yet for Canada Strong Masks. They appear to be a very reputable company. I ordered a 10 pk of Layfield 95PFE-L3 masks and five 10 pks of Vitacore CAN95e masks (both of these are listed as approved by the Government of Canada for use to protect against COVID). I bought this many because orders over $100 CAD get free shipping. I ordered on Feb 23rd, and they arrived on Feb 27th. I am in Mississauga so they arrived fairly quickly - if you live farther away, it may take longer.

The Layfield 10 pk comes in a cardboard box with a small sticker seal, and the masks inside are packaged in an air-sealed transparent plastic bag. It also comes with a folded paper with instructions, and also a 10 pk of black plastic ear-savers inside a transparent plastic baggie. The Vitacore 10 pk comes in a cardboard box that is completely shrinkwrapped in plastic on the outside. The masks themselves are not wrapped in anything, they are just placed inside the box (there is nothing else inside).

The masks from the two brands are practically identical to one another in fit and shape and appearance. I ordered these particular ones based on the helpful graph shown on the website, which compares different brands' mask sizings (these two are shown as good for adult small-to-medium size faces). I like how the shape of these stick out a bit from the mouth area, so it does not get sucked in when I breathe! Due to nasal allergy issues, I often have to breathe through my mouth, which makes most other kinds of masks - surgical masks, origami 'fish' style masks, and cloth masks - very hard to wear. I have not used these new masks outside the house yet (I just tried them on my face indoors). But I believe they will be perfectly adequate for normal activities such as shopping and running errands.

I am pleased with my purchase. I won't be needing any more masks for a few months, as I purchased so many. But I would be happy to order from this site again, and would recommend it to others.

It makes me very angry to see all these people who are continuing to get hurt by the grifters behind ShopToySale.ca and ShopToySale.com! I do have some updates to add to my story. First, I was very lucky, as after I reported the fraud to my credit card company, I was eventually able to get back my money, which I'm very grateful for! I'm not sure other people were that lucky. The other day, I looked up both websites to see if they were still active. Unfortunately, both fake webstores are still fully active a year later, and continuing to scam unsuspecting consumers! I was so furious, I finally made an official report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. (I encourage others to do as well, if you have the time and energy to do so. Beware that the website tends to log you out if you're working too slowly, so I recommend typing up all the transaction information and your personal experience report ahead of time in a text editor before you go on their website, so you can copy/paste as you go.)

Here's some GOOD NEWS: Pat Foran at CTV's Consumer Alert has indicated that he is very interested in covering this story, but he is *specifically* looking for people who got scammed and have been unable to get their money back so far. So if that is you, please email Pat Foran: Alert (a t) c t v (d o t) c a
If Mr. Foran doesn't reply, email me and I'll get you connected. My email: FAC51Ltd (a t) g m a i l (d o t) c o m
LET'S FIGHT BACK!