1/5

posted Apr-19-2004

I WOULDN'T TRUST THEM WITH MY MONEY.

I called around 5pm on a Friday to ask about a Toshiba at a great price. I was told that it was a refurb and did I really want a refurb? For $100 I could get a new one. That sounded good to me so I went with that. I then hesitated and said I was going to wait until Saturday to make the order. Then Jimmy Barnet said they won't be open on Monday and I would miss the deal. I said, "is the computer on sale or something?" and he said yes and the deal was over at the end of the day. So I did it. (I'm pretty sure there was no sale, I think he was afraid he would loose the sale). Then the salesman started realign off charges. It was that easy.
I then realized I had not done a check on this company I had only seen that they had 3 stars. As I read negative post after negative post I got really afraid. One person said that they called about one computer and were talked out of it and talked into a more expensive one. That happened to me. Another said they charged a mysterious fee and a shipping and both were high. I did my math and realized the same thing happened to me. Another person called and said that the salesman said the computer was new but it was really a class A refurb. The computer they sold me was in fact a refurbished one and not new as represented. It was at this point I realized I made a serious mistake. Not only did I fall for every trick, I was really concerned that they would take forever to ship my computer if it really was in stock (as many stated on the web). I called back and no one answered, not even an answering machine.
I then called American Express and stated the above and asked what I could do. The computer had not shipped and I doubted that they had run the card. The Amex person said that they had my back and to simply email PCVideoOnline and request the order be canceled and to keep a record of the email. I wrote a very direct and polite letter and simply asked that my order be canceled ASAP.
THIS IS WHERE IT GETS CRAZY

I called and talked to Jimmy Barnet on 4/19/04 (although I think I was really talking to Steve).
I said I would like to cancel my order. He asked why. I said I simply wanted to cancel my order. This is when he raised his voice and immediately went on the defensive. He then began to up sell me. He would get a better computer at the same price. I stated I wanted to cancel my order. He then stated there would be a charge to do that. I told him Amex said if he charged to cancel the order I was to turn the situation over to Amex. I told him this. Then he said he would take the $106 dollars off my price if I still ordered from them. Trust me, it was tempting but I knew it would be bad if I did. I held tight. He demanded to know why I was canceling. I gave him answers below:
When I told him that they said the computer was "new" but neglected to mention it was a rufurb he had nothing to say in response.

When I said I didn't know what the percentage charge was for in the original quote he ignored the question.

He then said if I was buying from someone else then I was buying from were a bunch of monkeys in a basement in the Bronx.

He then became upset that I was calling him a liar even though he had not lied to me yet (even though they did lie about the computer being new and couldn't explain the percentage charge).

THE CRAZY PART
I said, "look, I have read thread after thread how you took money and didn't have the part in stock, or it didn't ship for a week or that you treated customers badly. I don't feel comfortable using your company, I just want to cancel my order".
He said, "WELL YOU WILL BE PLAYING WITH YOUR CREDIT FOR A LONG TIME AFTER THIS.....AND HUNG UP ON ME!

Everything I had concerns about with this company were proven in a single conversation with Jimmy Barnet .

I called Amex immediately and told this story. They said they had my back and not to worry about the credit threat. They said they would take from here. I felt better about my phone call at that point but I hate to think anyone would use this company.

I am the marketing person for a large online company. We take orders everyday just like PCVideoOnline.com. I know what it takes to process an order. My request to cancel an order before it was shipped should not have been a big deal. It should not cost $106 to cancel an order. I should not have my credit threatened by the "manager" of PCVideoOnline.com. My next letter is to the Better Business Bureau.

comment on review | report?

Is this review?… Helpful Cool Share