BUY.COM SUCKS!

[crave]

After reading about a deal posted almost a week ago right here on GotApex.com, I went to buy.com to purchase an HP 9900ci DVD-CD-RW with a "secret" $100 rebate.

Buy.com's site claimed the item was in stock on Sunday August 5th, when I purchased the item. TODAY (Thurs Aug 9th) after bitching to buy.com I got a response that the item is NOT in stock and will take 2-3 weeks to get.

That's OK with me, EXCEPT for the fact that the $100 rebate expires TOMORROW Aug 10th.

Think I should report the deceptive advertising/listing tactics of buy.com? Anyone else having this problem?

I've attached copies of email sent to/received from their customer support. Enjoy.

----------------------
Dear Buy.Com,

I placed this order with you on Sunday 8/5 and still my order shows a status of "Sent to Warehouse." I have been checking everyday, and even to see if the item is still in stock -- your site listed the item in stock up until today. I am extremely dissatisfied with this ordering process. I have been a customer of yours for over two years and this is the worst experience to date.

I was hoping to have this item before
my week-long trip, but it looks like the item may be on back order, but I just can't tell. Your 1-888 number no longer works, and I am reduced to hoping I'll get a response in 12 hours via email. I am NOT interested in canceling my order unless you will no longer be carrying
this item, or it will take longer than two weeks to get. I would appreciate that if this item as not been shipped out yet and has a possibility of being shipped within the next 7 days, that you PLEASE upgrade my shipping to 2-day or overnight for FREE

You are welcome to contact me by phone to discuss this further at 704-XXX-XXXX. Thank you for your anticipated response.

----------------

-----Original Message-----
From: buy.com Customer Support [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2001 4:25 PM
To: Chris Craver
Subject: Re: customerservice (KMM2701301V88028L0KM)


Hello Chris,

Thank you for contacting us at buy.com, the internet superstore.

We are responding to your email regarding order #XXXXXXXX.

We're sorry that the delivery of your order is taking longer than expected. Due to a setback from the manufacturer, item #XXXXXXXX is on backorder. We have, however, received an estimated time of arrival from them and expect your product to ship in 2-3 weeks. Please note that this date is only an estimate and is subject to change. You will receive an email once the product ships, and your credit card won't be
billed until that time.

We understand if you decide not to wait for this product, in which case you can request a cancellation through your buy.com My Account at: http://www.us.buy.com/corp/support/login.asp?what=cancel.
If you paid by check or money order and decide to cancel, buy.com will automatically issue a refund check to you.

We regret that the availability of item #XXXXXXXX was a typo. We work hard to ensure that our site is accurate, but typos unfortunately slip through on occasion. We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience this error may have caused you.

You can read our official buy.com policy regarding typographical errors at http://www.us.buy.com/corp/legal.asp

The buy.com Customer Support Department is available via telephone Monday through Friday, 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM MT and Saturday from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM MT. Our toll-free phone number is 1-877-780-2464.

We regret we cannot honor your request for upgraded shipping. We are unable to modify orders once they have been placed.

Please write again if you have any other questions or concerns.

We look forward to serving you in the near future!

Team buy.com
http://www.buy.com

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Can you PLEASE charge my account for this item? I have a (different than advertised on your site) $100 rebate that requires a purchase date of no later than AUGUST 10, 2001. I have included the link below for your reference.

http://www.hp-at-home.com/topsecret/coupons/cdwritersCoupon.html

I would be willing to wait for this product to be shipped to me, so long as I can get proof of purchase prior to August 10.

I am still quite annoyed that your aparent "typo" lasted for 4 days, in which time I could have been purchasing this item at another vendor who has these in-stock so I can take advantage of the rebate.

Please note that when I originally ordered this item it was August 5th, it showed it was in-stock and I was well within the terms of the HP rebate. Because of your extended system "typo" my savings of $100 on this product may be lost.

I do not think my request is unreasonable.

Please feel free to contact me at 704-XXX-XXXX to discuss this further, if necessary.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

Regards,

Chris Craver

---------------------

(I'll post their response when I get it)

[cat]

I ordered 2 separate "in stock" items in 2 different orders in the past 3 weeks. However, I have not received one of them! Like you said, it said "sent to warehouse" for a hell of a long time. Now it says "on order" for both. I am totally pissed. I sent them an email, but they only sent back a generic email saying that they couldn't determine how long it would take. I'm gonna go write them another one..

[Grimm]

I stopped shopping there a long time ago. They suck.

[ribitch]

i quit using them when their prices started coming close to that of retail. That was like 4 years ago i think. At one point, i was ordering DVD's for like 10.00 each shipped. Now they are comparable to bestbuy, so bestbuy gets my business do to convenience.

[penguin_hash]

I'm having the same problems with them and am basically screwed as well since I needed this item for an upcoming trip.

I've shopped from buy.com before and have not had any problems. However, if you do run into any issues whatsoever, you will not be able to contact a live person under any circumstance. Their "12-hour" email replies have been 24 hours or more for me, in a generic form letter format. I can't begin to explain how frustrating this whole process has been. The phone number is a continuous recording.

Due to this experience, I am never shopping with them again. The next time I'm down in LA, I'll go over to their office (if it really exists) and give them a piece of my mind.

[DoPeY5007]

your rebate should still be vailed as long as you placed the order BEFORE the exp. date

[hang10wannabe]

man... i was planning on making a new computer in the near future from scratch and was planning on buy the components online... is this what i have to look forward to?!:bawl: :confused:

[DoPeY5007]

I trust buy.com



I have spent alot of cash there with no problem ;)