A co-worker mentioned about getting a camera from Abe's. I had looked on the internet for feedback and at some sites was questionable. I came here and overall the reviews were positive so thought I'd order, plus they had the best price for what I wanted.
Placed order early in the morning Nov. 3rd, received a phone call from Jack to verify zip code and the offers to upgrade, insurance, etc.. but wasn't pushy at all.
Received e-mail saying package had been shipped, on Nov. 4th package had been delivered. When I need more equipment, Abe's will be on my list of vendors to look at. A very pleasant experiance.
On Oct. 14, 2009 I placed an order with Robby over the phone for a new Marantz 8002 a/v receiver. The price was the lowest out there. He assured me the unit was brand new and no different then the one listed on Amazon. A week later (10/23/09) I call Abe's Of Maine and complain about the left knob not working. It controls the selection for the TV, am/fm tuner, DVD Player, CD Player and ect. They refer me to Marantz tech service. The tech at Marantz tells me Abe's of Maine is not an authorized dealer. No manf. warranty. I'm referred back to Vincent at Abe's who states he will replace this with a new one within 7 to 10 days. This promise is only made after I contact my bank and dispute this charge. Nov. 3, 2009 I call and ask about the status on the replacement receiver? After 10 minutes on hold and 2 very rude customer service agents, I'm told Vincent is unable to talk with me. On top of that I'm told Vincent never said he would replace the Marantz a/v receiver. Some guy named John tells me "the best I can do is repair it and send it back to you in a couple of weeks". The Marantz receiver was picked up a week ago (10/26/09)by UPS and shipped to Florida. They have lied and deceived me from the first moment I talked to them and placed this order. Danger, buyer beware. Abe's Of Maine should be padlocked and put out of business.
Again, Abes takes care of his customers. i found a rebate that I was not aware of when I placed my original order. My salesperson was happy to credit my credit card with an agreed upon amont. Keep up the great customer service.
Thanks,
mark
This review was modified by its author, MG165, on
11/5/09 7:24 AM.
After a lot of research and window shopping I bought a brand new TV(Samsung LN46B650) from Abes of Maine a couple of weeks ago. It came on time and undamaged (physically). I (fondly), hooked it up to power and turned it on. It felt fine with just stars on the screen(as expected) and I turned it off. This would have taken a minute or two. I called the Cable guys and got it installed urgently but only to see that after a couple of minutes the TV shows really annoying flickers. I checked everything and the cable guy also tried everything he knew but to no avail. We called Samsung and the call center lady spilled the beans by saying that there is a fault with the video card on this TV model (may be on few sets and not all) which is known to samsung. When I asked her as to why they are still selling the TV without the fix, she had no proper reply. Not only the TV showed flickers, after a few more minutes the entire screen was white with colors floating around. I called Abes Of Maine and they asked me to contact Samsung as they cannot do anything about it. They have a no return / exchange policy on TVs (I have also sent an email and I am awaiting their reply). It has been almost a month and Samsung has done nothing about it. I have called them more than 10 times and in the subsequent calls they have denied that there was any preexisting issue with the TV. Well, regardless of if was preexisting or not, samsung service is not professional or courteous. They were not even apologetic about my frustration due to their product.
The return policy of AbesOfMaine for TVs is not customer friendly at all. I cannot comment about the product quality yet but I can certainly request potential TV buyers to buy TV from stores who have a good return policy (Costco etc.) and avoid buying TV online.
Latest update: Abes Of Maine representative called and asked me to ship it back (AT MY COST) and then get a replacement (AT MY COST for shipping). I denied that immediately and continued with my efforts of replacement with Samsung. I am thinking of going to the consumer court , BBB and to the TV channels as well.
Abe's of Maine had exactly what I needed for my Nikon D5000 DX-Forma Digital Camera Body/Tamron 18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 VC Lens Bonis Kit.I place the order on Oct.27.2009. Next day UPS tried delivery to my work place, eventhough it's fail for delivey attempting because incorrect street name I gave them on web.So that the package was return to them on Oct.29,2009.They rescheduled delivery a new package to me over the weekend. I got it on Nov.2,2009 by UPS at their cost.The store is trustworthy choice for me ! Price is good and support is great !
Got an opportunity to speak to the companies vice president a few minutes ago responding to my earlier post. He seemed like a good guy I told him what I felt went wrong and he agreed that he would not tolerate any misrepresentation. We talked about shipping methods and he did mention that with larger sets care is very important and that bulk shipping companies such as fed ex and UPS don't take the proper precautions ensuring not to lay the set on its screen or tossing it around.
I must say I felt much better after talking to him he understood my concerns, took the time to listen and after spending $3000 I needed that.
I would recommend buying from Abe's and I will be back within the next few months to buy another LCD TV.
John
Romeoville IL
This review was modified by its author, thebigdoghimself, on
11/3/09 3:59 PM.
Overall my experience with Abe's backs up what alot of people here have already voiced.
Friday, 10/30/09 - Order placed (after business hours)
Sunday, 11/1/09 - I receive "the e-mail" from Morris asking me to give him a call to "confirm some of the information on my order" (obviously an up-sell gimmick). I gave Morris a call as I noticed he had just sent the e-mail. It went to his voicemail. I left a message stating I had received his e-mail and for him to call me back. 30 min. or so later Morris called me back and confirmed my address & tried to upsell me on: a camera case, high speed memory, lens filters, and a warranty (incl. accidental damage protection). I was expecting this to happen, as I had already read the reviews on this site. I declined the accessories that Morris had offered and that was that. Morris told me that my order should ship on Monday (11/2/09).
I really do wish that these "confirmation" phone calls didn't exist as they are a bit of a hassle, especially if it had been during the work week, maybe just some prompts on the website during checkout... This is the only reason they are getting less than 5 star rating from me.
Monday, 11/2/09 - In the evening c. 9pm I received the tracking info stating that my order had been shipped out via UPS ground. To be delivered on Wednesday 11/4/09.
On a side note, there was one other slightly shady aspect of the order, and there may be a very good reason for it. The order # I received when I placed the order was in a format B#######. The order # on the 'shipment invoice' that I received was in the format V#####. That just seems a bit odd to me. Why not the same order # all the way through the sale? Currently both order #'s bring up the same order on their website, so I'm not really concerned about it. It's just odd.
Overall I'd say my experience was ok. I would much rather see the company implement some up-sell prompts during the checkout process on their website than have to take time out of my busy schedule to confirm an online order.
I forgot to mention. Prices were great from Abe's. And delivery was faster than expected.
This review was modified by its author, jmr9425, on
11/3/09 12:50 PM.
I have bought numerous Sandisk compactflash cards & a couple Canon 580EXII Flashes,also great prices,which I always compare. Its always been shipped fast with tracking #
emailed to me.No problems ever.I would most definately recommend purchasing from Abes of Maine.
This is my second order with Abe's of Maine. Their staff is extremely knowledgeable & professional. The service is outstanding. Both orders arrived within 1-2 business days & shipping was free. You can't beat that! I highly recommend Abe's!!
I ordered 2 Samsung LCD TVs (7 series 46 and 52 inch) on 10/12/09. I got the typical email to call them to confirm my address. I spoke with Robby who tried to sell me the upgraded shipping which I declined. He did not pressure me anymore regarding shipping. The 2 TVs had a special promotion of including the wall mount. Robby offered me a $50 credit for the 2 wall mount if I didn't want them for a total of $100 credit.
I called him back to tell him that I wanted some memory cards to use up my credit. Here's where the double talk/bait and switch starts. He then said the $100 credit had to be used on something related to TVs. He DID NOT say this initially. He offered me the "4 year extended warranty" for $199.99. In reality it's a 3 year extended warranty (1 year manufacture+3 year extended). Since the TV prices were pretty good (not the lowest on the web though) I agreed to purchase one extended warranty to use my $100 credit. My order was confirmed. A few hours later, I get an email confirmation charging me for 2 extended warranties, 1 for each TV. I call Robby back immediately. He said the order has already been sent and could not stop it's shipment. He said to call back when I receive my order.
When I received my TVs a week later, there is no paperwork for the warranties. I called A of M and spoke with Vince. He told me that I had to have agreed to purchasing 2 warranties for $199.99 each because they are normally $299.99 each. I told him I would never have agreed to it and only agreed to purchase 1 warranty to use up my credit. He said he would speak with Robby and get back to me. That was the last I have heard from them.
I have left 2 phone messages with Vince to cancel both warranties and refund me $399.98. No response as of 11/2/09. I called my credit card company to have them dispute the charges and am currently awaiting their response. Will update when I hear something.
11/03/09
David called me back within hours of this post and agreed to refund my credit card. Now that's service! Will update again once I receive my credit.
This review was modified by its author, a918v, on
11/3/09 12:56 PM.
I ordered a new panasonic Lumix today (Sunday 11/1). Great price. I chose to pay a little extra for quicker shipping, as I am leaving on vacation very soon.
I received a phone call shortly after, was busy so it went to voice mail. I returned the call, but got voice mail myself in return. Understandable. I also recieved an email.
I did speak with a rep on Monday morning. The rep did try to upsell me some accessories for the camera. I have no problem with this, as plus-selling is a common business practice - and probably helps to keep their prices low. The rep was very polite, no high pressure sales job, just making me aware of the added items.
I also expressed a concern about the condition of the item. My expectation is that it is new, so wanted to verify it was not refurbished or a demo. I was assured that it will be brand new.
As I mentioned, I paid extra for quicker shipping. The company, without my asking, gave me the expedited shipping for free, and made sure that the item was shipped promptly. They also told me that they would throw in a memory card gratis, although I told them that it was not necessary.
I will update my review again when I receive the product. However, I must say that they appear to be going out of their way to make my buying experience a good one. They do seem to value and provide good customer service.
This review was modified by its author, 504PIR, on
11/2/09 5:21 PM.
I ordered a 32” Sharp Aquos HDTV on October 18th from Abe’s of Maine. The TV came with a free wall mount as part of a promotion, and that along with the $10 off coupon made it the best deal of any large retailer. I also noticed that they ship from Edison, NJ, which is less than 5 miles from where I live, so I figured that it would arrive quickly. More on that later.
On the 19th I received the expected confirmation call from a sales rep, who confirmed my shipping method. He then claimed that the free T-REX wall mount (model TRFM3470B) sticks out “6 inches” from the wall and offered me a $100 upgrade to a low-profile mount. I have never seen or heard of a flat mount that extends that far from the wall, and found this hard to believe. Unfortunately, I could not find any information at all about the TRFM3470B other than the product listing on Abe’s website. T-REX’s own website does not list it as one of their products, and the flat mounts that are listed all sit 1-inch from the wall. The product page on Abe’s site says that it is for “34-70 inch TVs” and is over 32 inches wide, which means that it would have been over an inch wider than the TV I just bought. Not cool.
I declined the $100 mount and the offer was promptly reduced to $50. Since this deal was decent and since I didn’t want the 32-inch wide mount, I accepted. He then asked if I wanted to purchase HDMI and audio cables from Abe’s. I explained that I already had these items and that was the end of the upselling. I was told that the TV and mount would ship within the next day and that I would receive an e-mail when they did. That never happened, so I called customer service two days later and found out that it had indeed shipped two days before, but that there was no tracking number because it was sent out using a private trucking company out of Staten Island called “R&J Home Deliver Services.” I was advised to call them to arrange a convenient time for delivery. I left a message on R&J’s voicemail the same day, which was not returned. When I attempted to call again the following week, their voice mailbox was full.
R&J finally called on October 29th and said that they would deliver my items before noon the next day. They were 4 hours late, but the TV and mount did arrive in mint condition. I really can’t complain about the shipping time, seeing as it was advertised as “7-10 business day shipping.” However I would’ve just gone to Abe’s store and bought it there if I had known about how bootleg the free shipping is. The TV is excellent and there are no dead pixels or anything like that. The $50 mount was the right size and I am actually very pleased with it.
Overall, my purchase went very well compared to some of the horror stories on here, and even though I had to pay $50 extra for the mount, I still got a pretty good deal. However, I felt that they should have been more honest about the free mount.
This review was modified by its author, HenryH_, on
10/31/09 1:27 AM.
I am really IMPRESSED with Abes and the way they handle mistakes. My first impression was not to great when I was double billed for an item I had purchased, but the manner in which Abes handled the situation really won me over. I was really suprised to recieve a call from the VP of Abes who was actually concerned about the mistake and any problems it may have caused me. He wanted to make sure that any kind of problems that may have been caused by the accident got cleared cleared up. He even is mailing me an extra memory card for my camera and also is helping me get a backpack! I have seen good customer service but I could not believe how willing he was to make sure I was satisfied. He could have easily just refunded the money to be done with it but he went the extra mile. I could not be happier with this company and the way they handled this kind of situation. You cant beat the prices or the customer service at Abes. They really do want you to be a customer for life and I have experienced this first hand by their actions. Good job Abes, I wish that there were more stores like yours.
This review was modified by its author, tfoust1012, on
11/3/09 12:27 AM.
I was very pleased with the price's and the service of Abe's of Maine. They have a great selection at super prices. Shipping was quick too! I will shop Abe's of Maine again and recommend them to my friends!
