Abes of Maine run away as fast as..... - Page 8

wes35 · 01-11-2009, 08:38 AM

OK guys, so here is my story...
At the end of November I preordered the new "hot" Canon 5D mark II camera from Abes of Maine as well as from three other places. None of them was able to get the camera before the holidays and I ended up canceling my preorders and purchasing from small relatively unknown online retailer from VA which had the camera in stock. After while I received my credit card bill showing that Abes actually charged my card $2700 at the time of the preorder, not only that but they failed to reverse/void the charge afterwords. At the time I didn't think much about it, but it turned out I had to call them like five times! to get it back. The first person said no problem just canceling the charge, couple of days later second call same story, waiting four days, third call, the rep also saying canceling the charge, during the fourth call the rep told me it was canceled already by the previous rep and promise to send details via email (that never came) during my fifth call asking for the email with the details I decided to wait for the email while on the phone, the guy put me on hold and tried to contact the billing people to get the details again ten minutes later he ask me if it is OK if he calls me later, I said NO i need the info, ten minutes again "hello are you sure you want to wait? YES I have the time and I called couple of times before. Finally like 30min in to the call he gets the details and sends it via email, funny thing all the dates are current from the very day, there is nothing showing that they tried to return the money before!!!
after having so much trouble getting my money back and $2700 charge on my card for the whole billing cycle I will never shop there again.

ALSO
If you call them and go thru the phone menu you get the regular choices but if go with the " want to purchase something" option than some one will answer in less than 30sec but if you choose the "purchased already need to speak to costumer service" than good luck waiting... If you try to outsmart them by going with the first option than as soon they hear that you are not ordering anything they will put you on hold to transfer your call to the correct department... good luck again

PhattyMcGee · 01-18-2009, 09:14 PM

I just placed an order for a Digital Camcorder on Saturday (Jan 17th) Morning, got a confirmation e-mail today to call them, which yes, I found odd and annoying. My wife and I order stuff online a lot, this is the first time either of us have ever had to do this.

The guy (Howard) was very pushy about trying to sell me a new battery and battery charger for the camera, I, of course didnt want any of that. He said it comes with a 30 minute battery, which it shouldnt, any review of the Camera has said its not a long-lasting battery, but certainly not a 30 minute battery.

I really wish I would have seen this before I ordered with them, it was $25 cheaper than Amazon, I did 2-3 day shipping, so with MLK Jr. Day, It should be here by Thursday, Friday at the latest, hopefully it comes and I'll certainly update everyone on the condition of the Camcorder.

I paid with a Visa Check-card, which I'm pretty sure is covered from companies like this.

PhattyMcGee · 01-22-2009, 02:01 PM

Got my camera yesterday, everything included, 100% brand new camera, not tampered with.

I dont have much bad to say about the company, I saved about $25 on the lowest price, compared to NewEgg and $225 had I gone to Best Buy to buy the camera. Canon Vixia HG20. I thought it was weird that I had to call them after I had made the purchase...I did call and wait on hold Monday afternoon looking for a UPS Tracking number, of which was given that night via e-mail. I was on hold with Customer Service for about 20 minutes, which wasn't a huge deal, just put the phone on speaker.

SHUTTERUP · 02-03-2009, 06:03 PM

I must say I was somewhat leery about shopping at ABE's after some very unfavorable reviews and charges of employee of this company was leaving bogus reviews to make the company looks good. In any case I decided to go ahead and place the order. Yes I did receive that dreaded message from one Morris to call him back to confirm some info on my order.

I did call back, and while he did ask me to confirm my info, he quickly try to push me to buy other items. I respectfully declined he tried on numerous occasions he finally gave up.

I did receive my order promptly via UPS even tho Morris claim it would take a week, after I refuse is up sell tactic. The items was in brand new package. Everything seems to be OK and in good condition. Overall I can't say my shopping experience was bad because it was good. In addition I did save quit a bit on my purchase.

Was I lucky, I don't know, One thing I hope for is that if it was luck it does not runs out, Because I will be shopping there again.

Load281 · 02-23-2009, 05:32 PM

Customer service is King! I was going to buy from these guys until I came upon this forum. Not now, my money goes to people that not only have good products and prices but stand by their product. Thanks all for the good word.

sadierocket · 02-27-2009, 03:53 PM

These guys have never even been to Maine, and they are no relation to honest Abe! These sharpies that suck you in with cheap prices and find a way to screw you! I just lost $1000 as they wouldn't accept a return on a defective lacie monitor ( also a bunch of idiots). DO NOT BUY FROM ABE'S find an outfit that wants a relationship not a quick sale!

random_guy · 03-02-2009, 10:44 PM

I wished I had googled Abes of Maine before my purchase yesterday. I bought an Canon Powershot SD1100 with a combined SD1100 accessory kit. The kit comes with a 4 gig memory card. Today, I get a call from them telling me they needed to confirm my address.

After that, the sells rep named Robby told me that the kit's memory card does not work with the camera. It made no sense to me why they would actually sell a memory card that doesn't work for the camera in the camera's combo pack.

I had just woke up and was still confused, so I "agreed" to upgrade for an extra $13. However, I then googled the memory card and found out it was compatible with the memory card, and I also found this thread. After reading about them, I realized I needed to cancel my order since I did not want to support that kind of underhanded tactics.

However, they do everything possible to prevent you from canceling your order. After waiting 30 minutes on hold, I finally reached customer service, only to have them hang up on me once I explained the problem. This happened twice. They actually said the problem was due to a snow storm in the north east.

After 2 hours, I get an email from them that the order has been shipped (no tracking number) and that was I was charged $30 over the original price. After another hour, I finally got a hold of someone and they apologized. They even tried to buy my silence by reducing the cost of everything back to $10 above the original cost, justifying it by saying they upgraded my memory card.

I decided that I would much rather give my money to a company that treated their customers with respect and got my order canceled. Reading what others have posted, it looks like I'm not done since I still need to contact my credit card company to get the charges reversed.

Long story short, do not shop at Abes, even with low prices. The worst part of this entire story is it's very difficult to know about Abes practices because they have a decent rating.

TomasM · 03-14-2009, 09:50 PM

My dad turned me onto Abes of Maine after he got some underwater camera equipment. They are always quite busy when I call, but the wait is worth the savings. I buy my Nikon equipment here at Abe's and at B&H/ Adorama/ Adrays.
The B&H and Adray's guys are the most knowledgeable IMHO, which is sometimes worth the higher premium if I am not sure what I want (I don't talk and then buy somewhere else unless they are insanely off mark).

Abe's always offers a special discount (i.e. more stuff) like filters/ batteries which when I talk with Rick I decline and have not been pressured/ pushed as others have noted. Although, I just explain that I already own the said item (which I usually do).

I miss Circuit City as they would at least come closer on prices, Best Buy won't even try. Recent video buy has Abe's with a good price, Sam's Club $65 more and Best Buy $200 more ... go figure.

BGMSPD · 03-19-2009, 10:21 PM

I've breezed through most of the posts here and was wondering has anyone ever bought directly from the showroom in NJ? I live in NJ and was going to take the hour drive to go purchase a new Sharp LCD TV. I can't beat the price or even find anyone close and have the ability to have the TV same day. Any help would be appreciated.

rdeditor · 05-05-2009, 07:36 PM

Over the years I've bought a video camera, 1 slr, 3 dslr's, several point and shoots, and probably 15 or 20 camera lenses. I've never had the slightest problem with Abe's in any way.
With regards to complaints with the Better Business Bureau, that few in now three years is miniscule. I'm sure they do more sales in an hour than the total amount of claims they've had in 3 years, not bad as far as I'm concerned.
When I want to buy something now I don't even shop anywhere else, if they don't have the absolute best price the security of ordering from them is far worth a few extra cents.