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'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.

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.

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.

Spent $45.97 for guaranteed next day shipping on 2 label printers only to find out later when they id not show up that it only applies to when they ship from the warehouse which can be 2 - 3 days later. What a SCAM. Buyer beware. Geoffrey Kardon

We ordered a Sharp 46" Aquos TV from Ecost on October 7th. Recieved an email back, thanking us for the order. I noticed that it was on backorder and called to ask about it. I was assured that the TV would be arriving in 2 weeks, and that my order would be fulfilled & shipped.  
Last night I got an email saying they had encountered a problem, and they were cancelling my order. I looked on their website for the same item, and it was there for $80.00 more than when I purchased it 7 days ago.  
I called and spoke to one of their reps, who I am guessing gives the same song and dance to everyone that calls and complains. I asked to speak to a supervisor, I was put on hold, same woman comes back, and tells me that the supervisor cannot change the price, but I am welcome to order it again, for the price it is now!  
So the encountered problem on their part is, the price went up, and they didn't want to honor the order that I had already placed. It amazes me, that a retail store would rather let $1000 walk out the door than to lose $80.00!! I can see why their ratings are so poor. Poor customer service, poor communications, and poor customer satifaction! The economic downturn must not have effected Ecost like so many other retailers. Why else would they let a $1000.00 sale walk away over $80.00? I will now be taking my $1000 to another store to purchase the TV.

eCost has deceptive selling practices. They listed an item I was interested in (LAD16GAENA600) well below the price on Amazon and other merchants. Item Condition showed as "New" and the availability showed as "In Stock" so I ordered. The next day I got email saying "We have encountered a problem in processing your order #E874xxxx. This issue has made it necessary to CANCEL the item(s) listed below. " No other reason was given. How lame is that? I had to call customer service to find out that the order was canceled because the item is not in stock! 4 days later I check the site and the page still shows as "In stock". Since this is my first and last order with eCost I cannot generalize but it appears this merchant is either (1) unreliable and it doesn't have its act together - or (2) they purposefully engage in false advertising. Either way, stay away from eCost and shop with more reputable merchants.  
 
To Linda P.: RE the "pricing error" you mention in your replay bellow. Is that a joke? I just visited the product page on your site and it hasn't changed at all. The availability still says "In Stock" and the price is still the same. (I reloaded the page to be sure). How can you tell me it was an honest mistake and yet not correct it? Today is 11 days after my order, and as many days since your department has been aware of the problem. Last time your people told me that the item was out of stock, now you tell me it was pricing error, yet eCost site has still not been updated to reflect either of those assertions. How can you expect me or anybody to think your company has any credibility?  

This review was modified by its author, Daniel_NY, on 10/20/09 10:29 AM.

Placed an order on the phone, with Alex, and wanted to confirm that the product was in stock. After confiming that the product was in stock at a second party warehouse (Uh-Oh), I went ahead and placed the order. Got the confirmation e-mail the next morning, (Tuesday the 6th), and since then, no one at ecost can tell me what the status is, other than it's "processing". 3 emails and 3 phone calls all have either gotten an automated repsonse, or "we've escalated this to a supervisor". When speaking to the "supervisor" they are "waiting to hear back from the warehouse." If I don't hear back within 24 hours, I am going to the FTC, Texas AG, BBB, and my credit card company, not to mention as many social and business websites as I can think of and post this expirence about ecost.com.  
 
15 Oct - UPDATE - Finally got the order. I shudder to think what would have happened if I hadn't stayed on top of this. Got a call from Linda Potter, but since it was on the home phone while I was at work, I couldn't talk to her. I also got a call from the 2nd supervisor, that the order had shipped, but it was also on the home number, instead of my cell phone, which I did give him the number for. In my final thoughts, I'd like to say BUYER BEWARE. I will NEVER use eCost again for anything. I understand human errors, shipping and warehouse problems, but NOTHING excuses poor customer service. If this expirience is typical, and from reading the reviews it looks like it is, I can only hope that eCost would start training their people to treat every customer like they would like to be treated.  
 
The response below from Beverely didn't help as I couldn't ever get to her voice mail to leave a message, but somehow, 2 different "managers" managed to find my home number, even though I used my cell number as the preferred contact number.

This review was modified by its author, monmix, on 10/15/09 6:54 AM.

I placed an order for a wireless dongle for TV. It was in stock when ordered - now it's backordered. This is a recurring theme for eCost - they list it one way, then it shows up in your account another way.  
 
This is definitely a negative business practice. If I do not hear from eCost within 1 day, I will be putting a stop payment on the credit card and contacting the Better Business Bureau and any other online rating site I can find.  
 
I emailed eCost and received an automated "we will contact you within 48 business hours". That time is essentially up. I better hear from them soon.

Bought a 32 inch HDTV for my parents. With an extended warranty. Needless to say the TV went bad after 5 months. Later found out the TV is a 5 year old TV...ECOST did not care to hear their customer REP. TOLD ME THIS BY THE SeRIAL NUMBER !!!!. When I was told it was a NEW refurbished I believed(along with many others) it was from 08 or 09 !!.....I had bought a 47 inch for myself along with an Ipod and many other things but believe I will never buy from them again. I am also one of those dummies that joined their platinum membership which is worthless. I am sad to hear them tell me OH WELL it's a 5 year old TV and they last only 5 years. I have this phone conversation TAPED..Hard to believe. They lost me as a customer and I will tell everyone else what they did.MY parents were better off with their WORKING big clunker. SHAME ON YOU !!!!!!!!

This review was modified by its author, bellavi, on 10/5/09 4:59 PM.

EVERYONE: File your complaints with The FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. Your complaints can help the FTC detect patterns of wrongdoing, and lead to INVESTIGATIONS and PROSECUTIONS. These are not legal business practices. Obvious bait and switch scams; selling defective merchandise, misrepresented as refurbished, then referring you to the manufacturer if you want it fixed; attempts to remove serial numbers, a fair indication that the merchandise was probably stolen Help put these DIRTBAGS out of business and put them in prison where they belong.