“I placed two orders with Horizons Music (HM), 27 & 29 Jan 2024, for a total of three records. The first was for the Alternative Futures EP by Suburban Architecture. The second order was two Source Direct tracks, Stars and Snake Style 2, the former listed as pre-order and the latter as in stock. Alternative Futures was also listed as in stock and HM took money for all 3 records plus postage (totalling nearly 50 quid for both orders). Seeing as Stars was pre-order, I was not expecting to receive both Source Direct records until Stars was released and assumed they would be sent together late March, but what about Alternative Futures which I had not received? I emailed to enquire and they said they were chasing it up with distributors. I thought this was a bit suspect but I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. HM then emailed to say they were unable to get hold of it but, and I quote, ‘we have access to limited copies of’ and offered other releases by Suburban Architecture as replacement. I was annoyed at first and part of me felt I could see a scam here, I.e., list records as in stock, then spin some nonsense that you can’t get it and offer ‘credit notes’ in the hope the customer will settle for something you actually do have in stock (which could end up being any old crap). Again, I thought I would give them the benefit of the doubt and took it on trust that they had the other titles, as stated, in stock and said I would settle for the Solar Winds EP instead. Again, no word so I emailed re: dispatch. No reply so I emailed again and got the same evasive spin of ‘not in stock blah, blah.’ Now I was not only annoyed but HM had lost my confidence as a customer and so I cancelled both orders, as I began to suspect they would wind up not having either Source Direct records either. At first, he was defensive saying ‘when did I ever offer you Solar Winds EP?’ to which I responded with a cut n paste of him quoted verbatim that they had it in stock. In other words, Neil Monteiro was consciously lying to a customer in order to keep their money. I am aware of my rights as a consumer, one of which is the right to cancel an order and get a full refund when no goods have been received. He sent emails confirming cancellation of both orders and that I would be refunded within 14 working days. Again, I corrected him that the law is ‘within 14 days’ not ‘14 working days.’ He confirmed this would be the case. However, upon reading the many negative reviews a week later (and no refund as yet), I am now concerned that Horizons Music is a form of online theft. For certain, it’s clear that Neil is operating outside of the law in terms of consumer rights and I would advise anyone thinking of buying from Horizons Music to avoid. I would advise all the others who, like me, have most likely been scammed to report him to HMRC and Trading Standards in the first instance. The justice system takes a dim view of fraudsters and if enough people submit complaints, then he will have to be investigated and, in all likelihood shut down, possibly even face legal consequences. Some of us may never see our money refunded, but at least we can stop Neil Monteiro from ripping off other people in future. I would also advise anyone ripped off by him to print copies of transactions and talk to your bank to see if you can get a chargeback due to fraud. Neil has until 12 March to credit my account. It remains to be seen whether he will honour this. Regardless, there’s something really off about taking people’s money for items you know you do not have then adopt petulant delay tactics when it comes to refunding them. None of the more reputable stores (Redeye, Intense, Juno etc.) operate in this way. If he doesn’t return my money, then he can rest assured I will be taking further action and I would recommend all other unhappy customers on here (and elsewhere) to do the same. Zero stars for Horizons Music.”
“Appalling company. Neil Monteiro will take your money and then ignore you.
He will also harass you with promotional emails on an hourly basis. And that is NOT an exaggeration.”
“Unfortunately I cannot leave a 0 star review. Do NOT purchase from this company.
After placing an order I received 39 promotional emails in the space of 48 hours.
The company doesn't take phone calls and has a recorded message stating they aren't talking 'phone calls this week'.”
“The worst trader ever! Will not refund even when an order is cancelled and will hold the money forever. Had to file a fraud claim through the bank to get my money back.
BELIEVE THE BAD REVIEWS. Avoid at all costs and buy from a legitimate company”
“The only reason that one (1) star was given is because you HAVE to; I would leave NEGATIVE 5 stars, if that were an option. THIS IS A SCAM. DO NOT ORDER RECORDS FROM THIS WEBSITE.
Neil Monteiro will sometimes respond to your emails, pretending to have the intent to honor your store credit, but then will fail to do so. Neil Monteiro committed fraud by first accepting an online order from me for a number of records, and then, when he claimed some were not in stock, and I got sick of checking and hearing the same thing (many times), I decided to try to just get my store credit so I could move on; Neil related that a new order had to be placed and promised to credit that order with the store credit, but never did so. After I repeatedly requested that Neil Monteiro honor his word and apply the credit, he eventually stopped responding, despite previously assuring me several times he would do so. Thus, at the present time, they still owe me my money.
I afforded Neil Monteiro several opportunities to do the right thing, but he has failed to do so. These are not honorable people. It appears this is the modus operandi of Horizons Music. There are plenty of other honorable, reputable online record stores; I would recommend against bringing your business here.
I had the same exact experience as others: they list records on their website to bait you into ordering them, and then claim they are not in stock. They will string you along for as long as possible and then stop responding to your emails. By the way, the positive reviews all look very FAKE. Horizon is likely creating fake accounts and fake reviews. If they're willing to scam DJs and record collectors out of money by constructing what is essentially a fake record website with records they don't actually have in stock - in order to bait customers into paying them money that they never intend to return or credit - then they obviously would have no compunction about putting up fake reviews in order to drum up more victims. ”
“Do not buy off this company before you read their poor feedback. They advertise items they don’t even have, offer to pay refunds then don’t answer emails. Luckily I paid through Amazon or I wouldn’t be getting my money back. Neil as lots of people have said is a scam artist.”
“After 5 months they eventually delivered part of my order but it was all wrong. Never again. Please save yourself from this experience and don't use them. The owners lie to try and wriggle out of the errors”
“Ordered appropriately 10 red vinyl singles in July 2023 in December part of the order eventually arrived but they were all black vinyl. They have agreed a return but have had the cheek to offer store credit but I will never use them again. I tried to stay loyal but this has become farcical. I should be getting the full refund to the payment method and interest that I could have earned in the 5 months I have been without money or the correct vinyl”
“Looks like I am the next victim.they just took my money,they've obviously got no records to sell. This is the absolute definition of daylight robbery,he should be in prison.”
“AVOID AVOID AVOID!
Neil Monteiro and Horizons Music is a professional scamming operation. Stay well clear of these thieves. Multiple third party sites (Paypal, Discogs etc) have now banned Horizons Music. Surely it’s only a matter of time before the relevant authorities and police get involved?
I was lucky enough to be able to retrieve my money from Paypal as my record never showed up - others have been less fortunate. Horrible company run by rude and nasty thieving bullies.”
“Purchased a drake vinyl to be delivered within 48hrs weeks before Christmas and this is a scam! Totally 100 ! And once this person has your money the only way is to report to fraud !”
“Where is my order?? 🤬
I’m reporting Horizons Music to Trading Standards and Action Fraud/Police.
I can see from other reviews that Horizons Music has already been BANNED by PayPal, Discogs and other third party platforms.
Shut them down!”
“AVOID AT ALL COST
This is 100% a scam, even if they use to ship out items, now the practice is to take your money within seconds of ordering and refuse to pay you a refund.
Neil Monteiro and Carolyn Colaco are the aparent company owners. Avoid these scammers at all cost.
Here's a short summary of my experience.
Website made it look like they had stock in so I ordered a vinyl but after a week of no updates I contacted Neil Monteiro (onwer) and was told to wait 2-3 weeks for new stock to arrive. Contacted again after this time elapsed and was told to wait another week so decided to cancel my order.
Neil agreed to refund my money after asking multiple questions as to why. Was then told I'd have to wait 14 working days for any moeny. Now this time has elapsed Neil has gone quite and has stopped responding to my emails. Clearly stole my money and refuses to repay.
My Bank, Trading standards and the police have been informed of the Fraudulent activity.
Please read other reviews from multiple websites and see the similarities in experiences to avoid the same mistake I've made.
Also see the gov.uk report which shows the company is only with £100, clearly not the large company its portraying itself to be.
Company number: 12419904”
“I cancelled an order because reluctantly, Horizon admitted they took my money without having one of my albums in stock. Now they won’t refund me for the cancelled order. I keep chasing them via email but they’re (Neil Monteiro if that’s a real name) just delaying. Reading other reviews below, it now seems to me like this is a badly disguised scam operation. Will contact trading standards to report these crooks.”
“Neil Monteiro and his thick colleague will (and should) be behind bars soon if they continue like this. Thieving, lying and deceiving crooks.
Avoid like the plague!”
“There is no customer service. They don't intend to send any vinyls out once ordered. Paid for 48 hour delivery. That was 2 weeks ago. They are a scam”
“You’ll have more luck posting a letter to Santa Claus asking for records than receiving anything (apart from massive amounts of junk mail) from professional crooks Horizons Music.
Avoid avoid avoid!!!”
