Couple order ‘bargain’ garden arch… but it was too good to be true

A couple have been left ’embarrassed’ and ‘disappointed’ after ordering a ‘garden arch’ from Temu which turned out to be a mere picture of one.

Lucy Walker, 38, and husband William Walker, 41, thought they had bagged a bargain when they ordered the £11.19 arch from the online market place earlier this month.

The pair wanted the garden arch to grow some flowers around but grew suspicious because of the small size of the parcel when it arrived on April 13.

They opened the package and quickly realised what they had expected to be a metal arch was in fact a 2D printed piece of fabric.

William, a kitchen makeover business owner, had already purchased flowers to put around the arch and has vowed to double check the listing when he next orders online.

Lucy, from County Antrim, Northern Ireland, said: ‘I shop online quite a bit and usually my husband will ask me to order things but he’d decided this time to just bite the bullet and order a few things himself.

‘He was looking for an arch for the garden to grow some flowers around and saw the picture, didn’t read the advert properly and thought he had found a bargain.

‘When the parcel came, we couldn’t figure out what the last item was but then when he held it up, he realised what had happened.’ 

William laughed when he became aware of his mistake, but Lucy revealed he was also ’embarrassed’ and ‘disappointed’.

She said: ‘I think he was kind of embarrassed for himself that he’d been caught out because we would make fun of our mums for getting caught out when they’re ordering something online.

‘He didn’t realise at first what it was, that’s why I started recording him because when he was holding it up he realised it was a picture and not the actual arch.

‘He was disappointed – he had plans this weekend to get it put up in the garden.

‘He’s quite into his gardening and he had a lot of flowers ready to start growing round it.’

Lucy admitted the error happened because William read the item listing incorrectly.

She said: ‘I don’t think he read the description properly. If you’re not used to ordering on one of those sites then you can get caught out pretty easily.

‘I would warn [other people to] read the description properly – it’s one of those sometimes where if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is.

‘I think they [Temu] do have a responsibility to make their item listing and descriptions clearer but people need to take a bit of responsibility themselves and if you’re ordering online read what it is, instead of just clicking too fast.’

Lucy says William will be looking for a replacement arch this weekend – and the online shopping will be left to her in future.

She said: ‘William will probably be looking for another one this weekend – it will probably be me looking so that I can double check the listing and read it properly.

‘In future I think the online buying will probably be left to me.’

A spokesperson for Temu said: ‘We understand how frustrating it can be when a purchase doesn’t meet expectations.

‘Temu requires sellers to provide detailed descriptions, images and specifications for every listing, and we encourage shoppers to review these carefully before buying. Where a product arrives damaged or not as described, customers can request a full refund within 90 days and our support team is available around the clock to help.’