1/5

posted Jul-23-2004

"As others have been saying, do NOT order from this company. I, too, fell victim to their price hike nonsense. I ordered the PNY 6800GT from them at the price of $339.67, only to have them hike up the price by $108.53 the following day. However, even though my card was authorized for the $340 they refuse to honor their original price. Customer service was a joke with this matter. They essentially told me there was nothing I could do, and they offered me no compensation for their error. I'll never even consider purchasing from them again."

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1/5

posted Jul-22-2004

"I ordered a PNY Geforce 6800 GT from these guys for $339 + shipping. Then the next day they send me an email that the price has been raised up to $448 due to "due to an
unexpected cost increase from the manufacturer". This is a ridiculous price increase especially considering the price of the card direct from the manufacturer is $399. Never ordering from these guys again."

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2/5

posted Apr-15-2009

"I have some mixed feelings about purchasing from Provantage. Their prices are competitive and I like the online status count of in-stock product.

They have (in my opinion) a rather odd practice with regard to certain products and how they claim it "controls costs". Certain products that are sourced from specific states must be shipped to Provantage's Ohio facility first and then shipped to the customer. In my case that added a delay of several days to the arrival of my order versus had I ordered it from other companies that I normally conduct business.

With my order, it appears it was sourced by Provantage from a large Electronics Distributor (ASI) that was only 40 miles away from my home in Georgia. I discovered this because Provantage simply put ASI's box inside their Provantage box (re-shipped from Ohio) and did not completely remove the UPS tag from ASI's shipment to Provantage's Ohio facility.

So, in essence the products from my order had to be shipped hundreds of miles from Duluth, GA to Canton, Ohio and back to Georgia just to fulfill this taxation/cost control issue that Provantage says is necessary to keep costs low. While I do hear their explanation for why they feel it is necessary, I also find it rather odd. None of the several online electronics resellers (NewEgg, Performance PC's, etc) with whom I regularly do business follows this kind of practice or claims that it is necessary to control costs. If Provantage could have simply done a drop ship from ASI's warehouse, I would have had the products the next day since ASI was so close.

If I order from Provantage again, I will avoid ordering anything that I need within a few days that has to be shipped to their Ohio facility first. Just be very aware of this potential and pay close attention to your screens during checkout where there will be a note about your order having to ship to Ohio first. I read all the stuff about their 22 warehouses and thought my order would not take that long to receive. From what I could tell (via phone call with them), those 22 warehouses are not theirs and they mainly have the one warehouse in Ohio.

So, beware of what route your order will actually have to take and the length of time it may take to receive it from Provantage.

My phone call with Provantage's Customer Service agent was a pleasant experience and that person was quite informative and polite. Provantage's order status emails were a little confusing to me and she helped by providing me with the actual UPS tracking number once the order had left their Ohio facility."

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1/5

posted Jul-17-2006

"Purchased an item for my company on 6/9. Noticed that they offer net-30 day terms and thought I'd set up an account so I wouldn't have to charge the item to my personal credit card.

4 days had passed, and nobody from Provantage had contacted me. And of course, the item hadn't shipped. On 6/13 I e-mail them asking what's holding things up, and they say our company doesn't have an account with them, and that we'd need to set up an account to get net-30 terms. This is normal, but why didn't they contact me to set up an account immediately after I ordered? Even better, I should be directed to an on-line form to start the process when I ask for net-30 terms.

After this delay, I was in a hurry to get the item, so I asked to have it put on my credit card. This took another day (of me waiting for a reply to my e-mail). Despite taking my credit card number over the phone in the morning of 6/14, the sales rep didn't complete the invoice until 6/15 at 7:50PM their time. This delayed the shipment by yet another day.

I order an in-stock item on 6/9, they ship a full one week later on 6/16. And in the afternoon, no less. I had to initiate all communication. Very unprofessional."

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1/5

posted Jul-22-2004

"I placed an order for the PNY Geforce 6800GT on July 16 2004. The item was on pre-order which is fine. I found this deal on forums.anandtech.com in the hot deals section. Monday, there was a hold on my credit card and my order said it had been sent to a regional warehouse for shipping. Wed. that week others on the forum reported a shipping of their cards, people who had ordered AFTER I did. My order status has now changed to Status: We are waiting for additional information so we can process your Internet order. The pirce has now jumped to over 450$, which is a price raise of over 100$ past the original 337$

This company uses bait and switch tactics that should be illegal.



****UPDATE*****

They contacted me about paying the new higher price, and I wrote them back. You see, they told me that the reason they had to raise the price is because the manufacturer raised prices on them. Well, I can get this card direct from the manufacturer for over 50$ LESS than provantage is charging. I asked them why they raised the price 50$ above the MSRP when I know that the price that resellers get this card for is 312$, consumers get if ro 399$ from the manufacturer, and provantage wants over 450$ for it, claiming that the manufacturer raised their prices."

This review was modified by zduckett on July 26 2004 02:07:22 AM

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5/5

posted Jul-15-2007

ResellerRatings.com TOP REVIEWER!

"This is a copy of what we mailed to Provantage and our review was NOT solicited.

Friday, July 13th 2007

Hi,
Unbelievable! We ordered on Tuesday, 10 July and on July 12th Fedex pulled up with the new Imac. This is the best on-line buying experience ever. Price was lower than competition and service was outstanding. Will also rate you at resellerrating.com
"

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1/5

posted Sep-09-2007

"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. "

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1/5

posted Jul-23-2004

"What we all have to do is make sure that we file a complaint with the BBB and the FTC. Also make sure that they haven't charged your card those thieves. If we make a big enough fire, I'm sure Provantage will see the smoke rising..."

This review was modified by Pico1 on July 24 2004 06:13:48 AM

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1/5

posted Jan-07-2008

"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 antiochtech on January 11 2008 11:49:50 AM

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1/5

posted Sep-21-2007

"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. "

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