Home Center: Plumbing and lighting products for the kitchen or bathroom, and irrigation supplies.
Homecenter.com Drop Ship Scam!
Homecenter.com is a cleverly disguised drop ship business. Their web site shows a picture of a large warehouse but they don't actually stock anything. They attract as many customers as possible with low prices, then attempt to collect large drop ship fees or order cancellation fees.
The Danze bathroom faucets that I ordered were advertised to be in stock but turned out to be discontinued and no longer available from Danze. After 3 weeks, Homecenter canceled the order with Danze without fee to them, but charged me a 40% cancellation fee (25% for restocking + 15% for return authorization). This was despite the fact that the product was never stocked, never shipped, and never returned by anyone.
I was so disgusted by Homecenter.com that I created my own web page (
From: HomeCenterFool) to document my experience and warn others about this fraudulent drop ship scam.
FILE YOUR COMPLAINT
If you've been victimized by Homecenter.com, do something about it. You can help prevent others from falling victim to this scam, and hopefully get the New York Attorney General to take notice if you file your complaint.
I have noticed a recent increase in the number of complaints being filed against Homecenter.com at the New York Better Business Bureau. Homecenter.com is rated
F (lowest rating) by the New York BBB.
HomeCenter.com Review - HOME CENTERS in New York, NY - BBB Reliability Report - BBB serving Metropolitan New York, Long Island, and the Mid-Hudson Region
You can help by adding your complaint to the list. You can file a complaint at each of the following offices. All of these are easy to fill out online forms, with the exception of the New York Office of the Attorney General. The NYOAG form must be printed and mailed.
New York Better Business Bureau:
Check Out a Business or Charity - New York BBB
type Homecenter.com for the business name, then click File Complaint to file your complaint.
New York Department of Consumer Affairs:
DCA - On-Line Complaint Form.
FBI Internet Crimes Form:
Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) | File a Complaint
New York Office of the Attorney General:
http://www.ag.ny.gov/resource_center..._complaint.pdf
Last year (2009), the New York Attorney General’s office clamped down on seven New York internet businesses that utilized fraudulent business practices to steal money from consumers. Two were shut down and five were forced to pay fines and modify their business practices. Both the New York BBB and NYOAG have formed relationships with resellerratings.com with the purpose of identifying fraudulent businesses:
(
ATTORNEY GENERAL CUOMO SECURES AGREEMENTS WITH SEVEN ELECTRONICS COMPANIES IN NEW YORK FOR USING ILLEGAL ONLINE BUSINESS PRACTICES TO SCAM CONSUMERS NATIONWIDE).
While the Homecenter.com scam differs from the ones previously prosecuted, it is equally fraudulent. Although the individual losses may be small ($120 in my case), the collective loss to customers over the past 10 years must be in the millions. The only way to stop this fraud is to make the authorities aware, and the only way to do that is to file your complaint.
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