Ascendtech selling OEM products making them appear as retail

[nightmedia]

I placed an order for a WD Raptor, that seemed like a good price. Right after placing the order, I realized that the model I was ordering was not exactly what I wanted (I was looking for the ADFD, and they had the AHFD), so I emailed them back, 5 minutes after placing the order, with a cancellation request.

I did not receive any reply, until today, and understandable, considering the long weekend. After a couple email exchanges, I was informed that I will be charged a 20% processing fee for an order that did not even ship. As a response to that, I considered getting the item, even if it was not what I initially looking for, and I asked for confirmation of the manufacturer warranty.

From their reply, it turns out that the drive they are selling is an OEM drive, with 30 days warranty, and NO manufacturer warranty. This was not advertised on their web page! I would expect them to say that they item is OEM and does NOT have the manufacturer warranty!

I am attaching the printout of the product description from their page. There is no place to see that the item is OEM. In fact the item has the RETAIL product ID for the WD drive in question. Usually OEM drives are clearly marked, having a slightly different item code; also online retailers specify the OEM items as such.

I made an argument over the phone with one of their representatives, and they plain told me that I will be charged the 20% cancellation fee, no matter WHAT I do!

I also called Amex, and they confirmed that this practice warrants a cancellation of the charge as fraud, should they go through with charging me that amount.

I made also a formal complaint to the Better Business Bureau informing them of the details of this event.

All in all, a very frustrating experience, I do NOT recommend them to anybody else. Be wary that low prices as always mean low quality service!

[frostbitetwice]

nightmedia, good to have you hear at RR. There are two companies with this name one being a dot com and in Minnesota and the other a dot us in Ohio. The latter has a 7.17 rating which takes it off my buying list.

Please do a review about this company because no customer should be treated this way.

In fact their conduct is very close or could be viewed as fraudulent. I would also file a complaint with your attorney general's office.

Give them hell, nightmedia !!

[nightmedia]

I am not usually a complainer, but it's become a matter of principle. No matter how small, a customer deserves respect, and before anything else, full disclosure on what they buy.

We work hard for our money - at least I know I do. The time that I already spent on this issue is way, way more expensive than the issue at hand, but gving up would just encourage this sort of fraud to perpetuate.

Reseller Ratings is a very good outlet for people to share their experience, good or bad. I am sorry that my experience is a bad one, and I want to help other people not sharing the experience.

I want to thank Laura at RR for being supportive with my complaint. I will come here more often, hopefully with good experiences for a change

[outletpc]

If you paid with an Amex you're protected. They shouldn't be charging you a restocking fee if the item hasn't shipped yet - especially not the full restocking amount. The worst that happened to them is that they will have to refund your credit card and lose the 2-3% discount fee associated with that.

As to OEM vs. Retail hard drives - I believe Western Digital does a 1 year direct coverage for their OEM products as well. They used to, I don't know if that's changed. In the future be careful in assuming 'Retail' packaging with hard drives online. Most online retailers sell OEM hard drives, which is perfectly OK. The box around the drive is definately not worth the 20-50% markups you'd have to pay for retail. If it doesn't say OEM or Retail in the ad (I haven't checked the ad), assume OEM or ask them before purchasing.

Good luck to you!

[nightmedia]

Originally Posted by outletpc

If you paid with an Amex you're protected. They shouldn't be charging you a restocking fee if the item hasn't shipped yet - especially not the full restocking amount. The worst that happened to them is that they will have to refund your credit card and lose the 2-3% discount fee associated with that.

As to OEM vs. Retail hard drives - I believe Western Digital does a 1 year direct coverage for their OEM products as well. They used to, I don't know if that's changed. In the future be careful in assuming 'Retail' packaging with hard drives online. Most online retailers sell OEM hard drives, which is perfectly OK. The box around the drive is definately not worth the 20-50% markups you'd have to pay for retail. If it doesn't say OEM or Retail in the ad (I haven't checked the ad), assume OEM or ask them before purchasing.

Good luck to you!

Yeah, Amex gives me the money back right away, but that's not the only issue. I am infuriated by this practice of charging the customer for some imaginary process fees. I did cancel my order after merely 5 minutes from ordering. In their ordering system I am sure they have time stamps for when stuff happens, so they do not have any excuse that they incurred any type of overhead.

Even so, if an order was not shipped, there is no legal backing for charging a processing fee. All reputable online shops adhere to this rule: it did not ship = it never happened.

Of course, Ascendtech does not seem to care about reputation, but more about misleading people to buy their white boxes.

I agree, the packaging around the item is not worth the extra money, but here's the thing: manufacturers that offer "OEM" products deliver usually these from B-stock. It is expected that if they don't want to give you the warranty for it, there is a chance the product is not onpar with the retail item from the get-go.

I do not know if WD is one of these, manufacturers but I don't want to take chances - especially since it's about the data that I put on the drive, not about the drive.

More so, it is fraud to offer a product without a clear specification that you do not get the retail product, for at least the motive mentioned above.

[wenmang]

just try to get educated here. Are u saying that OEM product will carry less warranty time period compared to the retail one? I bought a pair of Crucial OEM memory from newegg.com and didn't pay attention to their warranty info.

[flipper812002]

Would it be possiable to post a link to the store so others like me can put it on our no buy list. I just want to make sure i have the right one. Thanks

[nomaxim]

I believe this is them, http://www.resellerratings.com/store/AscendTech_Inc
Ratings between 7.2 and 7.58/10 with 678 reviews since 4AUG2003.

[ascendtech]

There is 2 sides to the story. The customer placed an order for an OEM product without making any inquiries in regards to the type of product he was buying OEM or Retail, nor did he inquire about the warranty period on the drive. Our website terms of sale section CLEARLY, AND LET ME REPEAT, CLEARLY outlined that we sell OEM excess inventory. When the customer checks out he is supposed to review our terms of sale and check of that he had read them and agreed to them. If this buyer would have read the terms he would not have been in this situation. Instead of reading the terms or contacting us with questions in regards to the product condition he went ahead, placed the order and checked of that he had read our terms and agreed to them, when its quite obvious he never did read them. After we processed the order, packed it, he started contacting us with questions on cancellation. We explained to him that as the order was already processed, packed, there would be a cancellation fee. We charge a cancellation fee to cover our employees time of having to charge his order, have another employee from the warehouse pick the order, and have another employee pack the product not to mention the bank fee's. Why should we be held responsible for the fact that this buyer had not read our terms which outlined warranty length on our OEM products, as well as our policies in regards to cancellations? As far as our Resellerratings.com rating, we have an Average store rating, not any less not anymore. If anyone feels we are being unfair perhaps you guys should review our eBay record. Our eBay account: Asendtek - has over 15,000+ customer comments with a 99.4% positive feedback ratio. If we were half as bad as you describe us above, we would not have such a record. The reason we do have that record is because our eBay customer a little bit more informed and ask questions on the products we sell, and read what we write. Obviously this customer did not read our descriptions and now blaming us for the policies we have. Let me also outline another fact, the drive he had purchased retail price is $259, our selling price on this drive was $169 free shipping, that's a savings of around $90. You win in price you lose in warranty. Some people care for the warranty and some don't as they realize that Raptor drives are one of the best in quality. To summarize, our company has been in the computer wholesale business for over 10+ years, we have an extremely large satisfied customer base which includes a lot of resellers. Those that inquire with us on product we sell, and ask questions are always, and again always satisfied because we do answer there questions. We don't try to mislead and we try our best to point as much out as possible. My suggestion that rather then making assumptions, ask questions, read store policies. COMMUNICATE. You took the time to post this negative review about us, yet you did not take 5 minutes of your time to read our policies or contact us with questions. This is going to be my last response on this thread. If any of you have any further questions please feel free to email us direct at sales@asendtek.com - But I think our eBay record of 15,000+ comments 99.4% positive ratio speaks for it self.

[ascendtech]

I wanted to add one more note, NIGHTMEDIA what you say about OEM being from B-stock is ABSOLUTELLY incorrect and once again an assumption. OEM equipment is typically sold in BULK to system builders as well as the big guys HP, Dell, Gateway, Emachines. It is lower in price than retail is because its sold in LARGE qty's. Retail product is sold to Retail Channels, Best Buy, Compusa, etc.. There is absolutely no difference in quality between a retail item and oem. Reason warranty policies on retail is usually longer than on oem is because the price originally paid for the OEM product in qty. is cheaper than retail. The manufacturer simply charges you more money and gives you a longer warranty. I am not sure if you are aware but INSURANCE / WARRANTY MARKET makes a lot of money for companies. You wish to pay for the extra warranty that is your option but you should not insult companies which have terms outlining the type of products they sell, and the warranties they offer. If you are not satisfied with those policies, simply don't shop there.