Problems with HiFiSoundConnection - What to do?

[nomaxim]

Whitepages.com listing no longer appears valid.

[sxmdaniel]

As much as i have been batteling hihfisoundconnection for a resolution on my order of Sept 21 st 2007 which to this day still remains undelivered , it is slowly making it's way to a resolution , i finally told them to forget my refund request and give me a store credit , they accepted and generated me a credit coupon , when using the coupon in the designated area at the end of the order it came back as " a problem has opccured " , so i e mailed them again explaining the coupon is being denied and I got an answer from their rep Tony saying " Hummmm that's strange there must be a problem with our coupon system " and he asked me to e mail him my order , i did just that and asked him to reply with a confirmation that he received my order and that everything is in stock , so that i wouldn't have to go threw the same battle again , this was done on thursday , i re sent this e mail twice since i have not recived confirmation to this date , i' ll keep you informed on how it progresses .

Dan

[Jholland]

In 2004 I bought a great deal of audio equipment from various places. I purchased two items through ebay from hifisoundconnection. I received an email saying they would be shipped immediately. Then, nothing. No tracking number. So I emailed them and was told the items had been shipped. Nothing. Then they told me they were on back order (apparently not shipped). Then, all communication stopped.

I waited weeks, called over a dozen times, eventually sent 37 emails and never received my purchase, nor any further communication. My only recourse at that point was to fille a complaint with paypal and post negative feedback on ebay. Here's what I wrote:
"sent37 emails,still no product, won't answer phone /email, paypalcomplaint filed"

That of course, illiceted a response. And what was the response of this company with such "excellent" customer service? They gave ME negative feedback and wrote this:
Horriable customer answer emails help them etc just leave negs for no reason BAD

They don't send me what I payed for, they don't communicate AT ALL, and I'm a horrible customer.

To this day, the two items I purchased and NEVER received from hifisoundconnection is the only negative feedback I have on ebay. What a joke.

Mr Rush, what do you say about this? Will you fix the feedback you left for me???

[nomaxim]

This CNN article seems to be related to this, EBay's tweaks to feedback system have sellers worried.

Come February 20, a full spectrum of feedback is welcome from buyers about sellers, while sellers can no longer give buyers negative star ratings.
.......
But sometimes sellers retaliate for poor ratings by giving a buyer a bad rating. Retaliatory ratings by sellers have risen fourfold in the past several years, Lieberman said.

And that's turned off buyers, he said. Those who stop using the site complain more often about retaliatory ratings than other factors, such as not receiving items they've paid for.
......

[rbv4531]

Besides the FTC 30-day rule, you might also be interested in the text from the Mastercard Merchant Rules, (probably other types of credit cards have similar rules):

The merchant must present records of valid transactions to its acquirer no later
than three bank business days after the date of the transaction, except
• the record must not be presented until after the goods are shipped or the
services are performed unless, at the time of the transaction, the cardholder
agrees to a properly disclosed delayed delivery of the goods or services,

In other words, a company must not charge a Mastercard until the items are shipped unless they got your approval for a delay. My understanding of this is that if it takes longer to ship than the time stated in their Terms and Conditions when you order, they have to refund your card. Failure to do so would be reason to request a chargeback. For other credit card types, you'd have to check the relevant rules.

[bigtex44]

WOW! I was just about to checkout for a $600 purchase and I decided to Google for a coupon code. Thank god I did that. It brought me straight to this message board. Thanks everyone for saving me the future headache.

[pro17]

Well, I wish I had checked here before buying from them. It seems as if these sales people have no management whatsoever. Apparently they get to do whatever they please, even if the satisfaction of the customer is the least of their concerns.
Who is Mr. Rush? Is he the owner? It sounds like he may not have much knowledge in operating a business in America. I could be wrong.
If my packages are not delivered soon, I will be taking him to court. If else here has been robbed, let me know and I can build a case against this fraudulent company.

[jbrought]

i wished i had check them out also. I ordered some speakers and dynamat back in mid January. They shipped the dynamat but the speakers were backordered yet they charged me for them. Never answer a phone call. They are still saying they will ship soon yet they show on ebay they have 95 sets of those speakers. Is there any recourse left after so long?

[pro17]

Originally Posted by jbrought

i wished i had check them out also. I ordered some speakers and dynamat back in mid January. They shipped the dynamat but the speakers were backordered yet they charged me for them. Never answer a phone call. They are still saying they will ship soon yet they show on ebay they have 95 sets of those speakers. Is there any recourse left after so long?

jbrought, I would send them an email explaining that you were charged 2 months ago for something that has yet to be delivered. Also, declare that you are formally requesting the speakers be at your door step no more than 7 days from today, and if they are not, you will contact your credit card company and have the charges reversed (as well as inform the BBB of this matter). You must specify a date. "Soon" does not qualify as a date (especially since everyone's definition of "soon" is different). Hifisound has a group of people that work their ebay setup and answer emails. It's human nature to procrastinate, and if people receive a "soon" in an email, that email will be ignored until the last minute (with this company, though, the last minute is never).

I know from experience that businesses do not their name on ANY credit card company's list of bad merchants. The more charge reversals that HiFIsound has against them, the less likely banks are willing to do business with them.
I know having to wait another 7 days is not fun (5-7 days is about average for a company to locate in inventory, package, ship, and deliver an item via ground), but at least you will now have an actual expected date of delivery (and not just "soon").

[bhamdata]

Do Not ORDER from HIFIsoundconnection. It has been over 90days and I have yet to receive all of my order. If you have ordered from them SAVE all e-mails from them. It has been one lie after another from them. Spread the word all over the internet about them put them out of business.