Ordered glasses frames online and starting to get worried

I find it almost impossible to find glasses frames that suit me and have recently started to browse the many online shops that supply them. Last week I ordered a 'trial' frame that I really liked from a website in the UK for £4, the idea being that you get to try them on and if they suit you send them back and they fit lenses to your prescription. I only intended to get plain lenses and have my prescription fitted through my local optician. If you fail to return the trial frames within ten days of receiving them they can charge you the full cost of the glasses (about €75).

I had previously emailed the company about the availability of the frames and postage to Ireland and had received a reply (signed 'customer services' which I probably should have been a bit more wary about) stating that they were available and that they charged the same postage to Ireland as the UK. I decided to order the trial frame and replied asking them to make sure that they put international postage on it. I didn't get a reply to that.

Anyhow, its a week later and there's no sign of the frames, although the £4 was taken from my credit card. I realise the post from the UK can be slow at times, but decided to phone the company today to check if the frames had been dispatched. I did so and was told by the person I spoke to that 'they' (in her words) only take order queries using the online enquiry form-which doesn't give any automatic feedback other than tell you that they will get back to you within two working days. I submitted a query using this form this afternoon, no reply yet.

Now I'm starting to feel a bit uneasy about all of this. I realise that I probably shouldn't have ordered the frames in the first place, but I couldn't find similar ones anywhere else, so gave into temptation. Of course I may be just being paranoid and they may arrive tomorrow, but I'm starting to wonder if I will ever see them and if they will charge the full amount to my credit card. Any advice about what I should do (apart from being more cautious in future)?

As far as I know any charges to your credit card can be queried - so if they do charge it you can refuse to pay it probably loose out on the £4. Its something u should discuss with ure Credit Card company if it does happen

What's the name of the UK company and where is it located?

The website was http://www.perfectspecs.co.uk

Their contact details did include a phone number, which has been removed from the website since I last visited it. (I thought I was going mad, but managed to find a cached version of their FAQ page in Internet Explorer which had the phone number, which was also on the email receipt they sent me). If there hadn't been a phone number originally, I'd never have ordered from them. I haven't received a reply to the online query I submitted on Thursday yet either.

Because of this I am now starting to seriously doubt if I will ever see the frames. I am more concerned that I may be charged the full amount for them. My bank cancelled my card, but told me that they could not completely rule out the possibility of them putting a transaction through on the old one.

About an hour ago I received an email reply to the web enquiry I made on Thursday stating that my frames had to be ordered from the manufacturers and would be shipped to me on Monday. I was tempted to wait and see if they turn up, but considering that they originally told me that they were in stock when they weren't and the whole business over the phone number, I've sent them an email cancelling the order.

Try and find frames online that you do like, get the model number, for e.g. (DKNY XXXXXXX), then go into your local friendly optician, and see if they'll order them for you. Ive ordered my last 2 frames this way. Im not sure the big boys (specsavers etc) will do that for you but you could try. conversely, if you see a pair in specsavers that you like, get the model number, and priceand buy them online, then get your local optician to get the lenses.
Note, one thing I found doing this was that what was advertised as this seasons fashion by specsavers, was hard to find online as the frames were "last years". Are we optically behind in fashion in this country?