Homecenter.com Scam Alert! (Plumbing & Lighting Products)

[HomecenterFool]

11/18/2010


The Homecenter.com owner B.O. is today celebrating his 200th complaint filed with the New York BBB. All employees were given a bonus and told "keep up the good work".

HomeCenter.com Review - HOME CENTERS in New York, NY - BBB Reliability Report - BBB serving Metropolitan New York, Long Island, and the Mid-Hudson Region

[HomecenterFool]

Over 225 complaints have now been filed with the New York BBB but the Homecenter.com scam continues unabated.

The New York BBB no longer brands Homecenter with an F rating. Now the BBB rates Homecenter NR (no rating), apparently due to Homecenter's CEO B.O. responding to some of the complaints. No doubt that he is explaining to the BBB that some of the stolen money has been returned to customers via credit card disputes.

[daniellhooper]

Anyways,complaints against Homecenter.com sounds worthless as their is no reply yet from them.

[HomecenterFool]

After an extensive review, the New York BBB has re-branded Homecenter.com with an F rating (HomeCenter.com Review - HOME CENTERS in New York, NY - BBB Reliability Report - BBB serving Metropolitan New York, Long Island, and the Mid-Hudson Region).

Just as all Homecenter.com customer complaints fall on the deaf ears of its owner B.O., his arguments to the BBB for a better rating apparently fell on deaf ears. New complaints (now at 240) keep arriving faster than the old complaints can be dismissed. The fact that some of his stolen loot is returned to its rightful owner via credit card disputes does not warrant a higher rating. After all, that money is not returned willingly by owner B.O. He fights tooth and nail to keep it.

[HomecenterFool]

After repeatedly being branded with an F rating by the New York BBB, Homecenter is once again responding to the BBB complaints (owner B.O. usually ignores the complaints). The F rating is temporarily changed to an NR rating while Homecenter is in the process of responding. This is a good sign that the F rating has been reducing the number of victims Homecenter is able to attract to its scam. Otherwise owner B.O. would have no reason to respond. Hopefully the BBB will reinstate the F rating once Homecenter is finished responding. Let's hope so for the sake of future victims.

[greenartman]

The rating is an A+ with the BBB actually.

[HomecenterFool]

It's amazing that a company can for years be branded with an F rating by the BBB, then suddenly be awarded an A+ rating. The same drop ship scam is still being operated by the same owners. The only thing that changed is that the owner finally responded to the BBB complaints that had been ignored for years. No doubt that most of the past complaints have long been resolved through credit card disputes. However Homecenter.com was not a willing participant. That resolution was forced on them. It makes you wonder whether you should ever trust a good BBB rating. I know that I won't.

[HomecenterFool]

Homecenter was for years rated F by the BBB. Lately Homecenter has started responding to the complaints which had exceeded 240 before dropping to the current 166. Suddenly the BBB rated Homecenter A+, an astonishing reversal. As complaints kept rolling in, the BBB very quickly downgraded Homecenter to a C rating. Once again Homecenter responded and the BBB raised the rating to A. So I recently emailed the BBB with my previous "I Smell a Fish" post and received this response:

"Thank you for contacting us regarding your concerns. I understand that homecenter.com did recently answer all of their complaints and that is why the rating has improved. However, we urge consumers to look at the information we provide in whole, such as the number of complaints filed against the company (166). The rating system and the reason for the ratings are available on the website so consumers can understand what factors are considered. BBB grades are not a guarantee of a business’ reliability or performance and we always recommend consumers consider additional information about the business before deciding to do business with them."

Following is what I wrote back to the BBB:

"I appreciate that you actually responded. However, your response just confirms what I already surmised. The BBB rating for a company is meaningless. Presenting a yoyo rating that fluctuates back and forth from F to A is worthless at best, and very misleading at worst. Why do you even bother to assign a letter grade? Why not just post the number of complaints and leave it at that. At least that way, the consumer would not be misled into dealing with an unscrupulous business simply because the BBB assigned a passing grade to that business. All you're doing is making it easier for the dishonest businesses to rip off the unsuspecting consumers."

[HomecenterFool]

The BBB is again rating Homecenter NR (no rating) while the Homecenter CEO responds to the latest complaints. The rating was just recently D- before being changed to NR. In the past several months, the rating has gone from a long standing F to A+, back down to C, up to A, then down to D-.

All Homecenter.com customer complaints are resolved via credit card disputes. The Homecenter CEO delays responding to a complaint until the credit card company forces a resolution by deducting Homecenter's account and crediting the customer's account. Since this can take a long time, the BBB starts lowering the rating for Homecenter due to the lack of response. Homecenter then batches up all the complaints that have been resolved and reports that to the BBB. The BBB then raises the rating for Homecenter. That's why the rating bounces between F and A+. If you check the BBB rating at the wrong time, you will be duped into thinking that Homecenter.com is a reliable business.

It is unfortunate that most people reading this have already been victimized by the Homecenter.com scam. In the future, always do some research before ordering from any company that you are not sure about. Always do a search using the company name followed by the word "complaints". If you see lots of complaints, don't order from that company. Never let a good BBB rating fool you into ordering from a dishonest business.