5/5

posted Oct-19-2011

Although I got scared by the ratings this store has here, I took the risk and ordered an expensive discontinued SACD player from them, as it was one of only two Web stores that seemed to still have them in stock. The fact that Sony's site lists them as an authorized dealer gave me hope that things will be fine.

The item arrived in eight business days, in factory-sealed condition. No double boxing, but no shipping/handling issues. Overall, I am happy I gave them my business.

My only small complain is that I already got three spam emails from these folks trying to sell me extended warranties (which would make no sense anyway because Sony provides a 5-year warranty for this item).

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3/5

posted Sep-16-2011

To be fair, I placed quite a few orders with them (more than $5k) and most orders arrived fine. There were a couple instances in which they shipped items that weren't factory-fresh or in the wrong finish, but they solved those issues promptly. Overall, a so-so experience.

Anyway, I would have given them zero stars for what they did with one of the orders, placed on July 27 and supposed to ship within one week. As usual, they charged my credit card immediately, then informed me that the item will only ship in about a month. At the end of August, they sent another email saying the new shipping date is September 14. Today, September 16, they sent me another email with the shipping estimate October 14!!! To make things worse, their site shows they have the item in stock in the finish I ordered it.

Update: one of their CSRs found a similar item from a different manufacturer and shipped it to me with a 2-day service.

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5/5

posted Jan-05-2010

I was a little hesitant ordering from this store based on what I read here, but since Plumber Surplus was one of only three stores that were still carrying some discontinued items I needed and they had the best overall price, I ended up giving them my business. I made two purchases in the last month and all items ordered arrived timely and in factory-fresh condition. The only thing that could have been better was communication, as I have not received tracking numbers for the packages, but that is a minor thing.

This review was modified by astros on January 19 2010 09:53:08 PM

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1/5

posted Dec-05-2007

Terrible experience! These guys have changed a lot since my last purchase there (about 3 years ago).

I ordered an in-stock $54 CPU cooler from them. I used a credit card Paypal payment to get the advertised free shipping. Five days later, they still had not shipped it, despite the fact that my credit card was charged the day after I placed the order. I sent them an e-mail to ask what is happening because I could not put together the new computer without the cooler (all the other components ordered from Newegg and ChiefValue at the same time arrived in 3 or 4 days). They replied at the end of their work day that I have to call a long-distance number to confirm my address, which seemed like a made up reason, since my shipping address, billing address, and Paypal verified address are all the same. I called about 30 minutes after they sent the message to find out nobody was there anymore. I also called twice next morning and left messages on their answering machine. They did not care to return my calls, so I ended up canceling the order online.

That would have been plenty to qualify for a terrible experience, since most computer components come with very short DOA warranties and have to be tested immediately – which I could not do because of the missing part. But it did not stop there. It’s been five days since I cancelled the order and they still have not refunded my money or replied to my Paypal charge dispute, which means they can keep my money for another 10 days before Paypal takes any action. It’s not a big amount, so on one hand, it will not matter that much to me; on the other hand, it shows how creepy this place has become if they depend on borrowing 50 bucks from people for two-to-three-week periods.

This review was modified by astros on December 05 2007 07:35:26 PM

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5/5

posted Mar-28-2006

I bought from Vanns a Mirage subwoofer and a pair of Mirage Omisats for surround and everything went without any problems: items as described and fast (free) shipping.

The fact that they have a clearance section where they sell returns as open-box items should give buyers confidence that the items they get are factory fresh.

A great place to buy A/V stuff.

This review was modified by astros on April 01 2006 09:49:03 AM

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1/5

posted Mar-28-2006

A terrible experience! I ordered a pair of speakers and they sent me a box that was opened before (one could clearly see the original tape cut and a second piece of tape applied on top of that). I called and asked for a replacement. They said they'll have to charge my card again until they receive back the original package and I agreed. This evening, Fedex delivered another box in the same state as the first one. I see no reason why Energy would cut the tape after they seal the boxes and then reseal them, so I have to assume these are open-box products sold as new. When I placed the order for the replacement, I also ordered a $1000 amplifier. Huge mistake! The box came in the same state, with two layers of tape, of which the first one was cut, despite the fact that I begged the person on the phone to make sure the item is factory fresh (this is an 80lbs item and it's certainly not a pleasure to ship it back). The amplifier's box also had a huge whole on one side (about 15 inches), but that's probably the Fedex's fault.

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