Problems with HiFiSoundConnection - What to do?

[nomaxim]

Originally Posted by sxmdaniel

however they should notify you immediately in my opinion that they are out of stock or that a backorder has been placed with a description of delay

They do, see the part under,Substitutions, above.
Also see, as it may apply,

Using a Fulfillment House or Drop-Shipper

Q: Who is liable for Rule violations caused by a fulfillment house or drop shipper?

A: The seller is. This is because the person soliciting the order, not the agent fulfilling it, is the seller under the Rule. The person soliciting the order can control -- among other things -- the shipment representations made in soliciting the sale and the choice of fulfillment houses. The seller can adjust the shipment representations to include the time needed to transmit orders to a fulfillment house and for the fulfillment house to respond.

[AnnoyedByHFSC]

To NoMaxim:

Well mine is over and done with. Lisa basically refused to allow me to deal with anyone else. I put the item into storage and there it will stay. I also filed a complaint with the local police department but they said they probably wouldnt be able to do anything about it. Just the fact that it was reported is enough for me to feel better. I felt as though they were trying to scare me into paying and didnt feel I should be pressured that way. The police officer told me that since it was sent after being canceled it was unordered merchandise and if they requested it to be shipped back at their cost to do it but otherwise just stick it aside incase they change their mind. I ordered another amp, the same exact brand and model from another company at $100 dollars less and it arrived in 3 days, brand new in box. Its a shame I had to go through all this when they could have taken care of it with a simple shipping call tag. To be honest if they were not quite as rude I probably would have found someone in the area to buy the amp or purchased it for stock for a customer.

I frequently send customers online to buy their own items due to the fact that I mainly do installs and dont have the time or desire to order items for them all day since most people check prices online and its too hard to compete plus you have to deal with "this isnt what i wanted" where I eat the cost on my own just to make them happy, only for special customer request do I order for them. I have made it a point to post "DO NOT BUY" papers on my shop walls and around the office and make it a point to mention not to buy from this company. Hopefully noone else in the area has to go through this crap again.

It really is a shame that they do this to people, in this industry word of mouth is everything. Especially for an online business. My shop does NO advertising and yet I stay pretty busy year round. I hope they figure out soon that they cant be doing this to customers.

[nomaxim]

Good to hear AnnoyedByHFSC.
Normally I'd suggest going through the BBB with matters like this. But, in the last month they have got 10 more complaints, 4 of which are listed as 'Unresolved' or 'No Response.' So it looks like they either don't use BBB meditation or ignore the complaint around 40% of the time.

BBB report.
Current 127 complaints in 36 months;
27 Unresolved- Company failed to resolve the complaint issues through the BBB voluntary and self-regulatory process.
12 No Response- Company failed to respond to the BBB to resolve or address the complaint issues.

[sxmdaniel]

Originally Posted by nomaxim

They do, see the part under,Substitutions, above.
Also see, as it may apply,

Nomaxim , unless i missed it they did not advise me , twice this has happened that the order is recieived and shows as processed by them under the accounts history section of their site where the order shows as processed with a processing date and under tracking it shows as N/A , and it remains this way untill it is shipped , however you never receive an e mail explaining the back order or item / items back ordered on a perticular shipment , and after requesting the status of an order you receive a generic e mail from Darren offering you to wait for the item to be restocked ( approx 2 weeks , in my case for the second time more than 20 days and still no news ) , or option # 2 a store credit is offered for future use , never are you offered the option of a refund .
Also if you don't ask for an order status , and receive a shipment , again this has happened more than once to me that an item or items were missing from such order and there was no notification by e mail or by way of notice in the package that the items in question are back ordered , it' s only upon sending them an e mail will you get a response stating the item has been back ordered and will be shipped in the future when re stocked , why do you need to e mail to find this out ????, don't u think it is their responsibility to notify you by e mail or with a notation in the package ?????
Today makes it 21 days since i placed my order , and i've sent numerous e mails requesting an estimated shipping date ( i too have answers to give ) and the answer i recieved twice is the same old generic mail from Darren stating item is back orderd and will take approx two weeks for re stocking , the first e mail of this kind was received on Sept 21 st after me sending an e mail asking of course .
so , it's been more that 2 weeks , no ????, and i received the same e mail again in response to a time frame request e mail i sent again in the beginning of this week saying the exact thing again , approx 2 weeks , Soooooo ???? 2 weeks and again 2 weeks equals four weeks now , No ????

Conclusion , for now i still have absolutely no idea when this order will be back in stock or shipped , so who knows by the time i receive it when this will be , i'll let u know when it is finally received .

[nomaxim]

sxmdaniel, YGPM.

[scoobydodo]

http://www.ic3.gov/

[nomaxim]

Originally Posted by sxmdaniel

so , it's been more that 2 weeks , no ????, and i received the same e mail again in response to a time frame request e mail i sent again in the beginning of this week saying the exact thing again , approx 2 weeks , Soooooo ???? 2 weeks and again 2 weeks equals four weeks now , No ????

I have no idea what you are trying to say there, Sorry.

Have you read through the FTC.gov link I provided? Most of the questions you are asking are covered there. The FTC can answer all your questions in this matter much better then I can. You can contact them at;

For more information about the Mail or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule, call the Federal Trade Commission toll-free: 1-877-FTC-HELP; write: Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Response Center, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580; or visit: www.ftc.gov

The FTC Mail Order Rule is more of a regulation then a law. If the FTC receives a lot of complaints then they will check into it. The most they will due is basically sue the company for violating the rule. See,

Why You Should Comply with the Rule

Merchants who violate the Rule can be sued by the FTC for injunctive relief, monetary civil penalties of up to $11,000 per violation (any time during the five years preceding the filing of the complaint), and consumer redress (any time during the three years preceding the filing of the complaint). When the mails are involved, the Postal Service also has authority to take action for problems such as non-delivery. State law enforcement agencies can take action for violating state consumer protection laws.

Apart from this, your failure to ship on time, or your failure to notify your customers promptly about delays and to obtain their consent to the delays, or your failure to make full and prompt refunds when your customers do not consent to delayed shipment, can adversely affect your business by discouraging repeat purchases. Accordingly, most businesses regard compliance with the Rule as simply good business practice.

It also wouldn't hurt if you go ahead and file a complaint with the BBB at https://odr.bbb.org/odrweb/public/GetStarted.aspx. Even though this company seems to pretty much answer the BBB at random. The BBB report still carries a lot of weight with the credit cards companies, if you feel you need to do a charge-back, or even ultimately the courts. It would also help to warn other potential customers of possible problems. Leaving a review here at RR does the same thing.

You can always do like AnnoyedByHFSC and cancel your order and then go somewhere else. Or you can just wait and see, or any combination of the two. If you feel this company has not kept you updated as they should, then file a complaint. That choice is up to you. All I can do is provide your with the information to help you make that decision, I can not make it for you.

Originally Posted by scoobydodo

http://www.ic3.gov/

You could even file a criminal complaint at this link if you feel the matter warrants it. But, I have seen no evidence that this company has broken any criminal laws. Being slow to ship and not keeping you customers updated is not a criminal offense AFAIK. It's just poor customer service.

IMO, HIFI Sound Connection is just understaffed and needs to hire some help. Perhaps facing potential fines from the FTC will help them realize that would be cheaper in the end. Then again maybe not.

[sxmdaniel]

Apparently i did not express myself clearly in my previuos post so here is a shorter version hopefully more understandable to all , please have me excused for being so unclear .


In any case , let me see if i can clear this up .

1 ) What i am trying to express is the fact that i placed my order on Sept 20 th and on the 21 st of sept i e mailed hifisound asking if this item will ship out soon or is it backordered like my previous order of August 29 th , i received a response the same day stating it too is on backorder and that backorders usually take approx 2 weeks .

2 ) Two weeks have gone by and still no idea on the status of the order , so i e mail them again and received the same notification stating item is back ordered and will take approx 2 weeks before being restocked .
So , nomaxim my point is i received my first backorder notification over 2 weeks ago and my second notification a few days ago , so total backorder time 4 weeks is it not .

Hoping that this is more clear and understandable to all .

Dan

[Kevinj152]

I purchased the 5 1/4 inch infinity reference 5022i speakers from Hifisoundconnection on Oct 28 was told 3 days or so later it was backordered but they would send me the power and audio wire I ordered all cool. I received the wiring and was thinking alright this will work a little extra wait no big. I sent an email about 2 weeks ago (Today is the 29 of Nov) Asking about the speakers no response 2 days later I send another email, no response I have sent an email almost everyday asking for some kind of information or maybe ill just upgrade to the 6022i something, still no response finally i Called over a two day period got the answering machine left my number like told. No response. Really at this point I just want to be able to talk to somebody my invoice is 3146169. I really just want to know whats going on please email me at Kevinj152@aol.com thank you

[sxmdaniel]

GOOD LUCK


I still do not know when i will be getting my backorder ( paid for already of course ) placed on September 29 th 2007 , wrote to the better business bureau that handles HiFIsound connection district .
http://www.southwestmissouri.bbb.org...3-c9c9fcfc03de
didn't help much the BBB got the same answer , do not worry item is backordered , you will get it as soon as it's back in stock , when will that be ???, who knows 2 months , six months, a year ???? , what if item is discontinued???, i guess we'll just have to sit on it .
I too have sent about 3 e mails since saying i do not want the item any more , i had to replace it with a substitute ( purchased from another company of course ) and that i just want to put this behind us and that i would like a refund ) , guess what , three times sent , and still no answer .
Hifisound has a horrible sense of customer service , they really should consider improving or they will eventually regret it .
All i can say is send your report to the BBB use the above link i provided , even if it doesn't get you your product i will be one more complaint on record .

Daniel