An ecost representative have contacted me...

This review was modified by its author, ALILTOMUCH, on 11/4/09 3:30 PM.

Ordered a "Refurbished/Recertified" HP server. The item arrived and the system still had the prior owners password on it, so the hard drives were clearly NOT erased. Within 12 hours, the network connection from the server failed completely. Clearly, the unit was just a reboxed return and was in no way tested or prepared for a new customer. Contacted eCost four times demanding a refund and they refused the first two three times stating that my only recourse was through HP. Each time I contacted them, I was told that my request for a refund would take up to three business days because they need to check with management. I requested to speak with a manager, and was told that was impossible. The last two times I contacted them, they never responded at all, much less within three business days.  
 
In no place in the ordering process was their "no return" policy disclosed. Nor was the fact that "Refurbished/Recertified" in no way referred to the actual product, but only the packing. It is patently unreasonable for me to have to have a "BRAND NEW" [a quote from an email I received from a customer service representative] repaired using my time and energy. How could one possibly trust that any replacement unit from them would not fail equally quickly?  
 
Their customer service is clearly trained to get rid of people as fast as possible in the hopes that they will give up. I encourage anyone else that has had similar issues to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Maybe enough complaints will get them to improve their customer service.  
 
Addendum: After contacting Linda Potter directly, she was able to resolve my situation to my satisfaction.

This review was modified by its author, jlarish, on 11/4/09 12:30 PM.

I ordered a Westinghouse LCD from Ecost. I have ordered from Ecost before but never had had to return an item. This item was refurbished and upon receipt the lcd made a loud humming noise and would turn off after several seconds. I called Ecost and they put me on a 3-way conference call with Westinghouse who diagnosed the unit as defective and instructed my to return it. Ecost sent me an RMA and label to ship the unit back. Ecost scammed me as I was credited back 117.18 dollars for my 141.98 order. I called Ecost and they stated "their" return department said the item was fine. This is not the case, as Westinghouse diagnosed the problem and I actually ordered an exact same replacement from Ecost and it is not having the issue. The Ecost representative said they would "look into the matter and if Westinghouse did say it was defective they would credit." I still have not received the credit for the item. Horrible customer service for a return customer. I plan to dispute this transaction with my CC company if this issue is not resolved.  
 
UPDATE: Mrs. Potter promptly returned my call after I left her a voicemail. Overall she provided outstanding customer service and represents the company well. If you have any issues I recommend you contact Mrs. Potter directly and she will do everything in her power to take care of you.

This review was modified by its author, alschmid, on 11/3/09 1:13 PM.

I've used ecost.com previously and had problems on my previous order. Even after calling them 3 times regarding an issue they finally refunded me the money (because my item came broken) but they did not ever care to refund me the warranty I purchased through their website. In any case half of their customer service staff seems friendly and the other half have pent up anger ready to burst.  
 
So today I called within 5 minutes of placing my order and was told to call back because I had called too soon and the order was not showing up completely. Well I did call back a few hours later and they told me now I was too late because the order had been processed.  
 
The problem with my order was that I had been looking at different ways to save money because of the Platinum Premium Membership offering free shipping. In any case I decided I would not want to do that and so proceeded to check out with my cart that showed the items I wanted. After logging in and entering my billing info, I get a confirmation screen that my order was placed for the Platinum Premium (which was NOT in my cart).  
 
So I called up customer service and explained it to the gentlemen and he told me that since the order was processed I was too late. I asked to speak to a supervisor and so he put me on hold for about 7 minutes and came back saying that since the order is processed and a tracking number is being referenced to it I couldn't stop the order. And with the Platinum Premium I agreed to the terms and agreement to a 1 year membership. (What makes no sense to me though is where did I agree to this terms and agreement? The item was not in the cart I was trying to process nor did I click anywhere stating I would agree to anything.)  
 
In any case I asked again to speak to a supervisor and his response was that I would get the same answer. He told me speaking to a supervisor wouldn't change anything. So again I explained that I realize there is a chain of command and I need to move up the ladder to hopefully get where I wanted. He finally got the supervisor after a 5 minute wait.  
 
From here I thought it would be easier, but aparently the supervisor I got had all the pent up anger from a long day. She was very rude and had a sharp tone to her voice in how she was talking to me. She actually gave me a similar but different answer to the previous person. She stated that the order was processed so she would attempt to stop the order but could not give me any guarantees.  
 
I understand if the waffle machine is shipped today then it's shipped today. Fine. I lose $10. But the platinum membership...that's just something on a computer screen. That's not an object I can hold and keep in my hand, nor does it cost any money to ship. Why can't they guarantee me a refund of that?  
 
In any case she offered to e-mail me exactly what we discussed today and then aparently put me hold without letting me know. I waited about 5 minutes and I hung up.  
 
I would like to use ecost again in the future, but it's very frustrating and you waste a whole day on the phone if you have any troubles. They need to hire better customer service staff that are friendly and helpful, especially at the supervisory level.  
 
Edit: As expected an e-mail that I requested has not been sent. I assume they will not work towards canceling the order either.

This review was modified by its author, Tagxak, on 10/31/09 12:31 AM.

I bought a Sennheiser Pxc250 Noise-Canceling Headphone from eCost for a really low price ($60 including shipping), and it is at my door in 4 days, pretty satisfying experience.

This review deals with eCost's eBay operation. I took a chance and purchased a refurbished USB wireless adapter for a promotional price. I wasn't expecting much for the money--if it worked great, if not, I was only out a few dollars. The purchase process was simple, and the item was shipped within one business day. I take issue with them using UPS "Mail Innovations" as it's an absolutely horrific shipping service (take the worst of UPS and the Post Office and put them together), but it was free and the item arrived within the specified time frame. The card works great, and I'm satisfied with the transaction. While I won't actively use eCost for regular purchases, I'll certainly give them a look if they're running promotions similar to the one described here.

Excellent Product!! Immediate shipping!!! Outrageous price!!! And I am not a platinum member!!!  
 
Thank you eCost!!!! for selling a $400 piece for $100!!!  
 
Very Very Very Happy!!!  
 
Actually I freaked out when I saw the reviews after I ordered the product. 1.95/10!!!  
 
But since I ordered with Paypal, I was sure that these guys are legit, or else Paypal will refund the money.  
 
But later I read the bad reviews and saw a pattern that they are from customers who had shipping issues or some minor return issues, or customer service issues, but not a major fraud issue.  
 
I realized that many people who do receive great service from eCost, don't spend the time to write a review for them, thus their rating is so bad.  
 
I decided to start a trend. I think that eCost should send an email to all their customers after delivering a product successfully and ask them to write a review here and similar sites. That might help them from being misrepresented.  
 
Thank you eCost again!!  
 
Love,  
Satish

Not a good company. After reading so many negative reviews, I think maybe it's a good thing they canceled my order before they shipped it. They advertised a great price, sent me confirmation then canceled stating it's not available from the manufacturer. That same day I went to their website and was stunned to see they doubled the price for the same item and listed it "in stock." I sent email inquiring about that and am waiting for a response.

Bought an HP certified Netbook, bad out of the box. Ecost says they are not responsible and if i'd have checked under their ihelp menu on their home page and clicked on one of the 70 odd entries there I would have seen this! No link to this info on the product page! Buy from them and pray you don't have any problems.

Worst company ever. If you want a hassle free order try buy.com. On the other hand if you want broken products and terrible customer service, then by all means order from ecost. I ordered a 24-inch LCD monitor. The stand for the monitor arrived broken. After being put on hold for over twenty minutes I was told to call a service center. The service center told me they did not service the monitor and was told to contact ecost. When I contacted ecost again I was told that my complaint would be escalated. Even if this is resolved it is not worth the hassle.

ecost.com is one of our primary vendors. We enjoy working with Reggie Arevalo our account manager. Prices in most cases are very reasonable. The services provided to us by Reggie is outstanding.  
 
ICSI

I have been using Ecost for a few years now and have been more then happy with their products. The service left a little to be desired until I got an account exec. Jeraldine Unida is the most helpful representative from any company that I have worked with. She makes the experience of buying from Ecost a pleasure. Thanks for great customer service!

Judging from ecost's rating, which I should have read in advance, I don't think anyone needs another reason not to shop here. However, just in case, here you go:  
 
I just placed an order for the wrong product at 4:08 today. I called to cancel this order at 4:20 today. I was told there was no guarantee this order could be canceled because it's currently in process but they'll "do their best".  
 
Gee, I wonder what they're trying to do here? And why *do* they have that no return policy?? lol.  
 
 
 
REPLY: Thank you for canceling my order, but I don't think anyone reading this will think blazing shipping speed was the problem, will they?

This review was modified by its author, natenobility, on 10/20/09 10:06 AM.

This is the worst customer service I've ever experienced. I've given them the chance to redeem themselves time and time again.  
 
Here is my story:  
May - Bought a Dell refurb monitor, it came still defective with the factory defective tag on it naming the actual problem. So it was never fixed.  
I ask for a return or replacement. They can't help at all.  
June - I continue trying for a return/replacement. Nothing  
July - I continue trying for a return/replacement. Nothing  
August - I continue trying for a return/replacement. Nothing  
 
See a trend here?  
 
I call every other day or so bugging the hell out of them. If I would have purchased through my credit card I would have done a charge back by now but I payed through Paypal. My paypal claim was denied since I actually received something, defective or not.  
 
September - RMA approved, OH MY GOD. I get a shipping return label via UPS, I ship it out. The tracking number is never valid, not sure what happened there.  
 
October - They finally receive my return and start the refund process. I get an email from liz claiborne... Not sure if it is a parent company or what, but sure strange.  
 
They've had it for weeks and every time I contact them NOTHING happens.  
 
It was only $150 or so but DAMN, this company was the worst company ever. They wanted me to buy another monitor through them and they would refund me but I wouldn't trust them with $1.  
 
I'm very active in the computer community and vocal about which retailers I prefer. I am now actively costing ecost as much business as I can. I hope some management can read this and really know their job is in danger. I am bitter, but I have every right to be. They've done nothing but jerk me around.  
 
Ecost = worst retailer ever. Don't buy from here please. There are so many other good companies to buy from to even think about ecost.  
 
PLEASE READ IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM. Post on resellerratings if you want Ecost to do anything about it. As soon as I posted they finally got around to refunding me. However they charged me for not sending the power cable and dvi cable that was never sent to me in the first place. If it's not one thing it's another with these guys.

This review was modified by its author, BlueAqua, on 10/22/09 4:54 PM.

The service I get from this store is fantastic and the prices are always great. I have a special Account rep Jeraldine Unida she is a fantastic person - she always tries her best to get me the best price availabe and always makes sure that my orders are processed as quickly as possible. She is a real asset to the company and should be highly commended.  
 
One day I was ordering from the company and she was not available - the service that I got from the rep (that was supposedly like her) was not of the same quality and it was very noticable that his customer service followup was no way near the service that I always get from Ms. Unida.  
 
I tell all my friends about ecost and encourage them to go here and get good deals.  
 
Keep up the good work - it is really apprecieated.  
 
thanks