I called up and placed my order with Marie for a Sony HDR-SR12 camcorder since the website said they had 14 in stock. She confirmed that they had a few in their Tenessee warehouse and some in their Texas warehouse. I never got an Email confirmation of the order, or a shipping notification. Since I placed my order around 1pm, I assumed something would have happened by the following day. So I called to check on the status, and was told they were not in stock but that they should have them by Friday, and that perhaps they were in stock but my order wasn't "reviewed" before they ran out. Reviewed by who? I placed the order over the phone!! How can 14 units (what she said they had) fly out the door from the 2 minutes it took to give her my info? Late last night, the website said they had 7 units, and today it says special order. So either I am being put into a second class queue (this is my first time ordering) or they simply lied about having them in stock. Since there are a lot of online vendors doing option B (lying about having them in stock), that's most likely the case, even when you talk to them on the phone. Total BS.

18 days from order to expected delivery. I have not received the product yet, but that insane processing time should say it all. Buy from somewhere else if you expect to get the product in a timely manner.

First off, I’d like to say I purchased from Provantage in the past and the price and service was excellent. (Shipping was always on the high side.)  
This time it was not. On 3/29 I ordered the Logitech Z-5500 sound system that was listed for $153.31. Shipping was a whopping $33.50 but with the excellent price for the speaker system it was still a few dollars cheaper than most on-line retailers.  
Two days later I noticed the order status was listed as “under review”.  
I called and asked what the holdup was; I was told that over the weekend there had been a price increase from $153. to $231.  
So instead honoring the original price listed on its own web site I was told they would not sell the speaker system for $153.  
 
Sorry, that’s just not right.  
It’s not like it was a price listing error; this was their regular listed price.  
I can no longer recommend this retailer who doesn’t honor its own listed prices.  

Placed order for LCD wall mount and received wrong item. Called and placed order for the "right" item and received directions for returning and promise for full refund on wrong item shipped. 2nd item received ended up being wrong again! Again received directions for returning the 2nd item. The problem appeared to have been due to a wrong item description in their website. I was promised full refund that included S&H charges. I got the two refunds less S%H charges nearly 3 months later. Will never shop with them again. Suggest watch out for their return policy. You will not get S&H charges credited, even when the problem is their fault.

I ordered 5 renewal licenses for software I already own for my small business. 2 days after ordering CS rep Kari Ferencik asks me for additional information. I gladly email her back within minutes. 3 days go by and I hear noting about my order. I inquire to Kari Ferencik about the order status and apparently she never received my information. I resend the email to her and she replays back that they need a company contact name and address. I tell her that I run the business from my house and the contact name and address are the same as the shipping address (Which I provided in the first request). I receive a reply back that this will not work, I need a separate name and address. I promptly canceled my order. Beware if you have a small business that is run out of your house, Provantage apparently only takes orders from large corporations.

ordered: 3 bulk spools of cat5e cable ($288), labeler ($40), labeler tape ($16), cable tester ($637). all items confirmed in-stock at time of order.  
 
order placed 12/13/07 (day 1).  
 
day 3: cable tester received. however, it was not new. vendor notified immediately to send replacement. also, started getting spammed by vendor. vendor notified to cease spamming immediately.  
 
day 4: spools of cable received, roughed up badly in transit due to poor packaging.  
 
day 5: tracking info for labeler requested.  
 
day 7: tracking info for labeler requested again due to never receiving a response to first request. item suddenly on backorder (despite confirming its stock status at time of order). no response as to why i was told item was in-stock OR why i was never notified of the backorder. order canceled. tracking info also requested for replacement cable tester.  
 
day 9: cable tester returned after receiving shipping label from vendor almost 2 weeks after they were notified.  
 
day 10: more spam from vendor despite being warned to stop earlier.  
 
day 11: since i received no response to my first request, vendor was contacted again for tracking info of replacement scanner only to find out item was on back order. no explanation offered as to why i was not notified. order canceled, immediate refund requested.  
 
day 13: spammed again despite two previous warnings.  
 
day 15: contacted vendor to check on status of refund. none had been issued. was promised that it would be processed THAT day.  
 
day 16: still no refund. again promised that it would be done THAT day. but was advised it could take an additional 14 days. vendor refused to issue a money order/cashiers check for an expedited refund. dispute filed with bank.  
 
day 17: refund finally issued. maybe the bank dispute spurred action on their part...or maybe it was coincidence?  
 
due to this incident, and yet another the last time i used the vendor (early 2006), this will be my last experience with provantage. they used to be great, but can no longer be considered reliable, forthright or responsive, imho. :(  
 
thanks to shopblt.com and newegg.com for bailing me out of the mess provantage left me with.

This review was modified by its author, antiochtech, on 1/11/08 1:49 PM.

Seller had lowest price on internet. I ordered, order was confirmed over phone, and then order cancelled because they "are no longer selling this line of products". This was untrue: there were 8 items in stock when I ordered and when I confirmed the order. They continued to sell the product, but raised the price $100. Unscrupulous people.

WARNING WARNING WARNING THIS IS ABSOLUTELY THE WORST SITE I HAVE EVER DEALT WITH. ORDERED ON TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 18 2007 ON A 2ND DAY DELIVERY. GOT NOTICE FROM THEM ON FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 21 2007, THE LATEST DAY OF DELIVER, THAT ITEM WAS NOT IN STOCK NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH THESE PEOPLE IF YOU WANT AN ITEM.

I placed an order for a D-Link DSL-2320B ADSL2/2+ Ethernet/USB Modem on July 10, 2007. I did not take delivery on this purchase until August 18, 2007. During this time Provantage was evasive and inconsiderate. Waiting 5 weeks and receiving rude and insensitive responses from customer support was not worth the $5 price advantage. I will never buy from Provantage again and I would advise anyone who is considering Provantage to proceed at your own peril. Caveat Emptor.

DO NOT ORDER FROM PROVANTAGE If you need to receive something in a timely manner and do not expect customer service to help you (or even inform you) when there is a problem. I placed this order five days ago with a message I added in the box they provide for notes that this absolutely needed to arrive in seven days and if that was not possible they should contact me right away so that I could make alternate plans. The only email that I received indicated that the order was being processed. When I checked the status and called customer service today, they said it was delayed due to their verification process and that to have it arrive by the date I needed it *I* would have to pay for overnight shipping. No email update was ever sent to let me know about this despite my note in my order to contact me immediately if the shipment could not be made by 9/3. So today I cancelled the order and placed a new one with a more reliable company. Just wish I had done that from the beginning so that I could have received the product by the date I needed it.

Provantage has a terrible return policy! They will NOT return your product if you opened the box! My suggestion: Do Not Buy from Provantage!  
 
I bought a Tripplite UPS from them and the fan was loud and ran constantly, so I asked to return it. They refused even though the unit was brand new and included all original packaging materials. This will cost me $388.00 unless I can sell elsewhere.

This review was modified by its author, Gerald2, on 7/27/07 3:40 PM.

Order never shipped. 7 weeks after order was placed PROVANTAGE tried to sell me the same product for almost triple price! They also made untruthful statements about the order status and credit card charges. Save yourself a time and stay away ...

Their shipping rate is ridiculous and their shipping speed to me in CA for an in stock item was twice as long as their usual expected delivery because they shipped it from the NV to the east coast and back to the west coast. What makes things worst is if I refused the package because it will take half of month to deliver it to me, I will still need to pay the high shipping charges. Don't be tempted by Provantage’s low cost (before high shipping charges). My advice is shop with Amazon.com. They know how to take care of their clients and ship things efficiently.

This review was modified by its author, h_c_i_a, on 6/4/07 11:43 AM.

On Sunday the 18th I purchased a SmartDisk  
80GB FireLite Firewire Portable Hard Drive *for Macintosh*. The price was low but they claimed to have over 1300 said units "IN STOCK".  
Having seen this item at other retailers for near the same amount I purchase one and let many of my fellow I.T. friends know about the deal. Well three days go by and I just got a cancellation notice.  
Tuesday, March 20, 2007  
 
To:  
 
Re: Order Number  
 
 
Dear Provantage Customer,  
 
 
Your above-referenced Provantage order included part number VSTE174. At  
the time you placed your order, our $22.52 price for this item was based  
on a wholesale cost mistake at one of our distributors. Because the  
distributor will not honor the cost, we must cancel your order.  
 
We regret any inconvenience this may have caused you.  
 
 
Sincerely,  
 
 
PROVANTAGE Computer Products  
http://www.provantage.com  
 
330-494-3781 Office  
330-494-8715 International  
 
Well exactly WHO had 1300 in stock? Who is responsible for verifing the price with your distributor? Does this seem to be every retailers new call! We will list something never intending to sell it for the price listed we just want to raise the traffic numbers and take peoples funds. I was immediately charged and have not as of yet had my funds returned. I will be contacting my CC company and filing that dispute shortly. I am so tired of companies such as this claiming that it was everybody else's mistake and knowing full well it was never an error. It was intentional and if in fact it was an error, don't you as a company have a written contract agreeing to this price from your distributor. Take responsibilty for your actions and your postings and stop misleading people!  
 
In your response on the 23rd You claim that it was a price mistake issue with your distributor and that is the sole reason you would not honor the price. Yet YOU also claim it was not a In Stock Issue because YOU had the stock of 1300 of this item ready for sale. Well excuse me if I am wrong but as YOU Stated in your reply "You Had the 1300 in Stock not your distributor and You priced this item on Your Site, So Shouldn't YOU be the responsible party for the pricing and sale of this product? It would seem that you are blaming your distributor for your mistake. I would like to bring up that The geeks.com and other resellers listed this item at or near this price and THEY sold the item and followed through for their customers. It is unfortunate that you would rather claim it is a distribution issue instead of taking responsibility for this matter. Yes I agree mistakes are made everyday. The mistake here is you wish to take no responsibility for this matter and would rather push it off as someone elses mistake. You did have a contract with your distributor for this item correct? Enforce the contract or make them responsible for the differential. Again though as You Stated, You actually had the inventory but you chose to not follow through with the sale based of price and how many hits you were getting on this item not your distributor. I just wish you would be honest in this matter and take responsibility where it counts!

This review was modified by its author, dubs29, on 3/23/07 5:45 PM.

I ordered a Christmas gift on 11/20/06. This item was supposedly in stock, yet it was apparently backordered. I emailed them repeatedly, only got replies after I asked them to cancel my order. They would change the ship date and not inform me. The last date I got from them was 1/4/07. Six weeks after I ordered! This company is terrible. Poor customer service and no communication.