Edited 1/31/08 for conciseness.
I purchased a Belkin USB to serial adapter I’m very dissatisfied as they sold me a store return or a used item under false pretense of “brand new in blister package”.
The item was not in blister package and it did not come with all the accessories. The RS-232C connector on the item showed clear signs of previous use. I called them immediately to report this.
I have purchased two of these from them and one was in like new conditions with all the accessories in a blister pack, however the blister pack did have a tag that read “CompUSA”, which is a clear indication the product was a store return rather than “brand new”.
Customer service was not cooperative and the manager, who’s name I believe was RAF was rude and had a combative attitude. He stated “sometimes they come in a package, sometimes they don’t”. I read back the description of the merchandise right off the page, however he insisted the item is new, but don’t always come in the “blister pack”.
With some persistence, he agreed to exchange the item for one in a blister pack. I demanded to be provided a postage label as it was clearly their fault that item was not described.
He refused to provide a return label citing “we don’t do return labels for a $12 item, it’s something we consider for a much more expensive item”. I made it clear I should not have to pay return postage. He acknowledged I do not have to pay postage, then instructed me to “seal the package back up, mark ‘refused’ and throw it in a mailbox’ “.
From my knowledge that constitutes postal fraud, so I contacted the Postal Service and they stated it is not legal to return an item in that manner.
I called back the manager, informed him that it is unlawful to do so as told by US Postal Service. He became angry with me for asking the Postal Service, stated his authority and claimed “I’m the manager, I know what I’m doing, just seal it, don’t take it to the Post Office, throw it in a blue mail box, it will work”.
I refused to do this, so I had to eat the postage. I returned the used product that was sold to me as “new” along with cable and partial accessories it did come with.
I then, got a replacement unit, but was missing a cable. When I called regarding this, the manager stated he thought I was just going to return the main unit, then agreed to send me a cable.
He did not send me the original Belkin® brand that goes with the unit, instead a generic, less valuable substitute.
In conclusion, I bought an item advertised as brand new, but was sold a used/returned item and I was asked by the manager to return the item to them through fraudulent use of the USPS “refuse mail” service to save them from having to send me a postage label at their expense.
If you’re asked to do the same, please keep in mind this is a postal fraud. I suggest you get a chargeback through your credit card, or just pay the postage and report them to US Postal Inspector for plotting a mail fraud at http://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/forms/MailFraudComplaint.aspx
This review was modified by its author, lamb, on
2/1/08 12:56 AM.
