Abes of Maine run away as fast as.....

[Topcat100]

Thanks for the advice jmtpham. I am going to call them back in a little while and speak with the guy who asked that I call him back on Friday. He has been telling me all week that a "shipment" is due in this week to them with my tv, but I'm think thats a standard line they read off of a piece of paper along with the 100 other standard excuses. If I don't get confirmation today I probably will cancel the order. It's really sad that a company that has supposedly been in business as long as them would resort to such lies and deception. One would think after so many phone calls to customer service, that a boss there with some balls would step in and take care of their customers. As I said in my earlier posts, I will NEVER buy from them again. I plan on signing up on as many of these forums as I can find to spread the word.
A friend of mine just this week was thinking of buying a tv from them but do to my ordeal he will buy elsewhere also. HELP SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THIS POORLY RAN COMPANY "Abes of Maine !!!!

[GAchris]

I have to agree that shopping with Abes has been a horrible experience. I ordered a 50 inch plasma on Monday, November 24. Was told it would ship out the next day. On Wednesday, November 26 I called to verify my order as it was not showing up under the "track my order" section of their site. I was told that the package had been dropped and damaged and a new tv would need to be shipped out...and...unfortunately, they didn't have any more in stock. It would be Friday, November 28 or Monday, December 1 before any were expected in. On Sunday, November 30, I called to see if by chance the tvs did come in on that Friday, November 28. Was told that they had and my order had been packaged and would be sent out Monday, December 1 and should receive it by Thursday, December 4. On Wednesday, December 3, I called back to verify my order as I still could not locate my order on their "Track my Order" option. On Wednesday, December 3, I was told that my order had not been processed because they were out of "those tvs"! After a little discussion they offered a larger tv at a reduced price that they had in stock and could send out the next day. On Wednesday, December 10, I finally received my order...Unfortunately, the order did not have everything in it and the tv had been damaged!! I called and the lady told me to refuse the order. I insisted that I would not refuse the order but would keep their tv until a new tv was delivered which would be shipped immediately! We had another discussion as I explained to her that the tv had been purchased with a debit card not a credit card and that my money was already taken from my checking account! I would be keeping their damaged tv until they delivered my new undamaged tv on the fastest delivery they had. She finally agreed and sent me a written agreement to send a new tv and that I could keep the damaged one until it arrived ~ 5 days. It is now December 12 and I have a damaged tv and no sign that my "new" order with the missing pieces of my first order have been shipped. HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE THAT WON'T END. I just hope this will be over soon and then I'll be done with them for good. Never again will I use this company nor do I recommend. One bit of advice...rather than waiting on hold for customer no service, always act like you are wanting to buy a new plasma tv. You will be speaking to a live person almost instantly! Then voice your problem in a not so nice tone and explain you want a live person immediately. It seemed to work pretty well!

[Topcat100]

UPDATE TO MY LAST POST: Spoke with the sales guy William this morning. He told me that my order shipped yesterday Dec. 11. I asked for the tracking number and he said he would "personally" get it and email me back in a couple of hours. Well, I've been lied to so much by these a$$holes that I waited about an hour and called and tried to get William but had to leave a message. Never heard back from him. I dialed another ext.# and got Sari (pronounced SORRY appropiately). She also told me that my order shipped yesterday but couldn't, or wouldn't get me a tracking number. By this time I was mad and her story changed a few times. She gave me to someone named Mindy who told me my order was in their shipping dept. at that moment and that SHE would personally see to it that it shipped today AND get me the tracking number. I said a few choice words to her and she just kept reassuring me that it would ship today. What a bunch of bullsh!t. Each person I talked with, I told them I was sick and tired of the lies and empty promises and each assured me they would "personally" take care of my order. Well, guess what?? No one did. My order did not ship, I didn't get a tracking number or email or phone call. Also, they did not credit half the freight as promised, but they still have my money. What do I need to do now, hire a lawyer?? Buyers Beware of these lying incompetent people known as Abes Of Maine.

[jmtpham]

Sorry to hear of of your stories.
I don't understand where in the world do people at Abe's of Maine think they are doing business at. This is not Asia or Africa or South America where they can fool people around. I am sorry for them that they just could not move one step higher in doing business with honesty and sincerety. Why do B&H Video Photo, OneCall, BuyDig, ABT still can sell alot of products and sell them with higher price than what Abe's of Maine lists? Simply because the consumers trust them and willing to pay a bit extra for what they get. With the service and attitude at Abe's of Maine, I am NOT willing to pay for anything even if their price is half compared to other places.

People at Abe's of Maine need to be educated with marketing course of how to run business and make revenue. Surely you can cheat people and make some money, but for a long run you will end up terrible!

People at Abe's of Maine can make up all foolish excuses and reasons:
- Your order has been shipped
- Then give me the tracking number
- It will be sent automatically

Few days later
- Your order has been shipped
-Where is the tracking number
- Oh, sorry, we will send it soon

Few days later
- Here is your tracking number
but when you check it with the shipping company, they probably have nothing but just a virtual number of shipment added created by Abe's of Maine in the system

They will never answer your call for the order status. I was waiting for a long time, as soon as they heard I said "I want to know about my order's status" they put me on hold again. Just simply call and say, "Cancel my order or I will have to call my credit card bank to place a stop!" And please call your credit card bank for help before Abe's of Maine rips you off!

DO NOT ORDER ANYTHING FROM ABE'S OF MAINE
ALWAYS PLACE YOUR ORDER WITH CREDIT CARD SO YOU CAN DISPUTE
PAY A LITTLE MORE AND HAVE A PEACE OF MIND BY ORDERING ELSEWHERE

[Topcat100]

Thanks jmtpham, unfortunately I paid with a debit card. Not sure if I can dispute it now. I am going to my bank in a little while to see what my options are. I also just finished filing a complaint with the BBB. All I can do now is wait and see what happens. It is ashamed that a so-called reputible business would resort to such tactics. You would think that when you spend a large amount of money with a company, they would appreciate it a little more. Not these idiots!!! I guess they figure that if they get your money and hold it for several weeks and then you cancel the order, they have drawn intrest on your money. Hell, imagine how much that would add up to each month if they do this to a few hundred customers. I might start me a business and have no inventory, just empty promises, (sound familar?), then get peoples money, hold it for a month, collect the intrest, and refund their money. Not a bad gig!

[nomaxim]

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[Doug Shopper 01]

Abes of Maine Experience:

First Purchase: About one year ago I ordered a GPS unit from Abes of Maine:
1. They sent an email telling me I needed to call in to complete order, Which I find very annoying, this is the only store I have never had to do this with out of about 70 online stores.
2. When I called in they told me that the unit was on backorder and I would not receive it for a couple weeks. However, the unit arrived the next day. Three days before it was originally supposed to arrive.
3. Saved $200 over Best Buy price & at least $100 over cheapest online

Second Purchase:
1. I purchased a rather expensive DSLR & Lens. As I had a relatively positive experience earlier I decided to save a about $635 over Best Buy & $340 over online and try them again. Though I was a little apprehensive as this was a lot of money and they have a lot of bad reviews. Not to mention so many nock offs and gray market cameras online.
2. Again, I received an email telling me that I needed to call in to verify my order. When I called in, the salesman tried to sell me what literally sounded like a list of things he was reading in front of him. I figure I will put up with this since I do not mind saying no. The salesman was pushy with the extended warranty and with the battery. The battery made me extremely mad as he obviously lied to me. He told me that my camera would come with a “demo” battery that would only last 30 minutes. Telling me I needed a $150 battery, which is not the extended battery that Nikon recommends, that I might purchase in the future. Note: the battery that came with the camera lasts over 3 hours. This made me a little apprehensive as I was not sure if I was buying a “real” factory USA Nikon, as the “real” Nikon comes with a fine battery. At this point I was ready to cancel my order and call Amex to stop payment. But the salesman told me that the order would arrive within 7 days. So I decided to go forward.
3. I called 2 days later to get a tracking number so I could be at home when the shipment arrived. The salesman told me that there was a problem with the order and I would need to call another number. I did, got a voicemail and left a message that was never returned.
4. I called again the next day at which point another salesman told me that the shipment was going out but they could not give me a tracking number until 8pm, but he would email it. I assumed I would get no email and I was getting very agitated at this point with the horrible customer service. But the email came with the tracking number.
5. The camera arrived 6 days after purchase, 1 day early. The camera and lens had all materials and I had no problem registering them with Nikon, I even called to make sure the serial numbers were fine. Which they were.

Conclusion:
• Abes of Maine has arguably the best prices you can find.
• Abes also has the worst customer service and sales people I have ever dealt with.

I will put up with the bad service to save money, if it were $10 I wouldn’t but I am a student so when you are talking about saving hundreds I can’t refuse.

I will continue to use Abes until I have a problem with a product I order.

I recommend friends to look at Abes, but I also caution them and tell them to read reviews.

[hcdang]

I paid $5042.18 for a brand new 65” Panasonic Plasma TV from Abe’s of Maine. However, they obviously shipped me either a previously opened or refurbished (?) TV. When I called Customer Services to complain, at first they insisted the TV is a brand new TV from the manufacture. After I sent them the following photos that I took of the box right after I received they could no longer deny that the TV is NOT a brand new one from the manufacture. They then gave me a new story that their company always open all new TVs and repack them before they ship them to customers to prevent damages during shipping (they must think their customers are very stupid). After I asked them what about the “Special Instructions” on the box that someone forgot to remove that instructed someone to “REMOVE ALL OLD LABELS SO THAT THE NEW CUSTOMER DOES NOT SEE THE OLD INFORMATION…. PUT A NEW LABEL ON THE TV WITH THE CUSTOMER H---- DONG… THANKS”, (link to photo evidence: Photos of new TV I bought from Abes of Maine), they then now told me that the TV was sent to the wrong person/address and was rerouted to me (the TV should have been in a brand new, unopened box if it were only rerouted). Anyway, I paid for a brand new TV, no one has the right to open it without asking me for my permission.

After talking to 6 persons (the first lady hung up on me before I could get her name, then Drien, then Louis, then Ranya, then Tony, then Kove, and finally I reached David (I’m told by Kove he is the owner). All that I wanted from them was that they ship me a new TV and take back this previously opened or refurbished TV. They refused. I’ll contact Consumer Protection Agencies and US Better Business Bureau to report this scam, selling a previously opened TV as new. I’ll probably have to hire an attorney to handle this for me since my time is precious.

Learn from my story. Stay away from ABES OF MAINE if you want to buy a brand new TV in a brand new box and to avoid any headache later. Here is the link to the photos that I took of the TV right after I received: Photos of new TV I bought from Abes of Maine.

[GBS]

I placed an order and received a shipping notice. Instead of UPS (as per the order and invoice) they shipped it USPS. Tracking on International shipments through USPS leaves a great deal to be desired.

The customs department returned the product to the United States (probably bad or incomplete documentation) and it has gone missing. I sent an email to Abes of Maine requesting that they track it down, refund my money and/or ship me another unit and specifically requested that they send me a reply upon receipt. Nothing - I had to phone again and asked what is going on. They placed a claim and didn't bother to tell me and now I have been asked to wait another couple of days while they wait for USPS to get their act together.

So far the US Postal Service has been paid, Abes of Maine has been paid and I have nothing except - please wait a couple of more days!

This company really needs to get their act together with the customer service. When you specifically request UPS and they change carriers, one would expect they would at least ask permission. At least UPS has a better tracking system - I paid for UPS and I expected UPS. Instead of 4 to 5 days delivery service I have been waiting for over 3 weeks and I have been asked to wait a couple more days. This is not good service by Abes or USPS!

Well - Abes of Maine listens, they fixed all the above problems and tell me that they have addressed all the internal problems. Next time I am purchasing electronics I will give them another chance.

[Topcat100]

I finally recieved my TV from Abes of Maine. It did arrive with no damage to tv, but ALL of the styrofoam around the tv was broken into pieces. I don't see how that can happen when the box wasn't torn up. It took about three weeks, lots of calls to them, no returned emails, and no returned phone calls from them to get my tv. Abes of Maine is THE worst company I have ever dealt with. I wouldn't be so upset with them had they just told me the truth in the beginning and if just one person there would have followed up with what they said they would do. Instead, I had to keep calling them due to no returned calls or emails. I know I probably sound like a broken record, but I hope to get this message out there. DO NOT BUY FROM ABES OF MAINE (unless you like very poor customer service and being lied to !! ) I don't care how cheap their prices are, they aren't worth the hassle, I'd rather pay more somewhere else.