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Directron going downhill
Just an FYI for anyone looking, since one can't post a rating unless a transaction took place, (read on to see why that didn't happen!)
So we needed a particular model mbd ASAP and Directron was the only vendor that had one in stock. Ordered the unit, selected 2-day shipping, wondered a bit at the $23 charge, (we order/ship stuff all the time, $23 is a bit high for two-day ship of a mbd), but went ahead with it.
First warning sign:
- our bank calls to verify the transaction. This means that Directron submitted a badly formatted transaction and something, phone/address/whatever, didn't match. But hey, every programming team has its bad days, maybe they're working on the site or something. We of course authorized the transaction.
Second warning sign:
- the advertised immediate email with tracking number when shipping by Fedex never materialized.
Third warning sign:
- Directron rep calls and says the site has incorrect shipping info and it's really $10 more, ($33!). This is a ridiculously high price for the shipping selected but $10 barely gets a cup of coffee these days and time is money so we said go ahead.
Fourth warning sign:
- Now the rep wants the CVV number from the card! On the one hand it does mean the site isn't storing it, so I guess that's a positive. But on the other hand it means that their programmers really don't understand how credit card transactions work; the transaction should still be "open" in the system, no CVV needed. Even worse, since all the other info apparently was stored that means we have no way of knowing whether the phone call is really from them or from some skript-kiddie who's broken into the site and is now social engineering for the missing piece. This is WHY the CC companies prohibit sites from storing the CVV! So we cancelled the order.
Fifth warning sign:
A couple days later we get an email saying they're willing to ship at the originally quoted cost and won't need the CVV after all. WTF?!? (MWave had it back in stock the day after we cancelled Directron, for a lower price and only $11.00 2-day shipping. Much better!)
In summary, even if these guys are still "legit", their system is sufficiently broken in so many different ways there's no way in heck I would try another order. (And I'll be watching my statements like a hawk!)
(And why the heck does Reseller Ratings not allow a rating if the transaction wasn't completed?!? No wonder the rating for Directron is still semi-decent! All the poor SOBs like us can't give them the negatives they so richly deserve!)
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