Dissapointing experience with online vendor

**accentsound** · 11-10-2005, 12:33 PM

Here is an Idea,

Call em up and get them all worked up about the big dollar Home theater install. Go right up to the point where all you have left is the CC info. Then find some reason to speak to the manager. Get them all worked up on the sale. At which point you say, Hmmmmm aren't you the guys that gave me problems with shipping? Make them track down the details about your last purchase, right then and there. Once they have that info and your potential new order right in front of them. Say that you would rather give your business to a company that can deliver as promised.

**scott_fx** · 11-10-2005, 12:35 PM

lol... that would be pretty fun. IF anyone else is a member of other forums please inform them of this experience. It may save others the hassle.

if you do please post the link here so i can send this company a list of our word of mouth advertising.

**tj!2k4** · 11-10-2005, 02:08 PM

thanks for your motivation. Western Digital buyers beware!

**scott_fx** · 11-11-2005, 01:44 PM

this is amusing, a fellow corvetteforum member sent them an email telling them that they are losing business because of the 'customer service' they had demonstrated towards me and this was his email to me:

Hello Scott;

Your post about IdealAV p**** me off as well, so I sent them an e-mail to demonstrate that word of mouth about bad service does get around. They mistakenly think I was the disgruntled customer...

To: <xxxxxxxxxxxx> Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 16:51:00 -0800
Subject: Re: Customer Service Status: 3
CC: From: "CustomerServiceTeam@IdealAV.com" <customerservice@idealav.com>
Reply-to: "CustomerServiceTeam@IdealAV.com" <customerservice@idealav.com>

Dear Valued Customer:

We are sorry that you feel that way and strongly suggest that you read the
company's policies prior to placing an order. We did not do anything wrong
and your frustration is that you did not get a free refund that was not due.
You paid for the item to be shipped via 3 day select and it was. All items
are not shipped on the same day but within a few business days. Had the
order gone ground then a refund for the difference would have been due and
credited. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please note that the business
works how it does and not how you think it should. If you do not like the
policies or procedures you should not place an order so that you can
complain later. There is nothing wrong with your order. The only time one
can guarantee a delivery date is by purchasing the item locally in a store.
Thank you.

Customer Service Team
(888)-447-0011

I'm not even sure they read the complaints!

**scott_fx** · 11-11-2005, 07:11 PM

it looks like the sight was hacked! ha, that serves them right! someone replaced the html code from www.timba.com

**pikers** · 01-15-2006, 01:47 AM

Originally Posted by scott_fx

I just had to vent to someone..

Everyone probably knows how I got an avic d1 for my g/f for her birthday. So I ended up ordering it; a little late, a week before i needed it and opted to get the 3-day shipping so it would arrive in time. I had it all planned out, I had arranged for her to take out my car for the day (

) and i was going to intall the d1 while she was away. I had a rep call me minutes after the order was processed wanting to sell me an extended warranty I had agreed and then talked to him about the shipping and said how i needed it before the end of the week. In which he replied that It would be there on time. I checked on tuesday to get the tracking no from the site to which it said "shipped to warehouse" or something along those lines. So; nervous, I called up and asked what that meant. The rep assured me that it would be here by thursday or friday. Well... the product didn't show up and after pestering and calling (on sunday) i got a tracking no. which said it was on time and would be here by the 9th. So my g/f was dissapointed but understanding about the whole ordeal and to top it all off I contacted the site and told them how i was displeased and would like to compromise and get the shipping fee credited to my accout. Not unreasonable, and you guys probably can figure based on how i help people on here, that I'm not out to screw anyone. The reply i got from them was:

I thought this was very rude and I will never deal with them again, funny because we are currently installing a home theater at the house (picked up a 60 flatscreen and mounted it flush in the wall....stage and recliners...really cool) and we are going to be replacing all of our old equipment with higher end gear. They are going to loose out on a few grand worth of gear.

anyways, I just wanted to alert you to this situation and I'll let you guys know how they handle my last request.

for those that are thinking about purchasing equipment online, please think of what i said before you purchase from these guys:

http://www.idealav.com

This is a case study in why you should actually pay attention to who is and isn't AUTHORIZED to carry products. Better companies do not choose their dealer network randomly; the benefits are tangible by avoiding these schmucks. You do not "pay more" at an authorized dealer - You pay the correct price. Unauthorized garage sale vendors like Ideal sell stuff lower than average because they buy one-offs and B-stock refurbs, somtimes at pennies on the dollar. That explains your wait - They probably had to find someone to sell it to them first.

BTW - Who are you doing this HT install for? If you're a custom shop, why buy from joeblow.com?

EDIT: Went to their website again. These guys list watches, video games, and anything else that fell off the back of a truck!

Check that the return address for your shipment wasn't from a correctional facility.

**ODYSSEY** · 01-15-2006, 02:57 AM

Noticed somebody bumped this. What ever happened? Do you dispute the charge with your CC company? If it would have been me, I would have refused the package and had my CC reverse the charges and block them. I also liked the idea accentsound posted.

**scott_fx** · 01-15-2006, 03:29 PM

Originally Posted by pikers

This is a case study in why you should actually pay attention to who is and isn't AUTHORIZED to carry products. Better companies do not choose their dealer network randomly; the benefits are tangible by avoiding these schmucks. You do not "pay more" at an authorized dealer - You pay the correct price. Unauthorized garage sale vendors like Ideal sell stuff lower than average because they buy one-offs and B-stock refurbs, somtimes at pennies on the dollar. That explains your wait - They probably had to find someone to sell it to them first.

yes mom

I know now after this ordeal to only go through authorized shops. lesson learned?

[/QUOTE]
BTW - Who are you doing this HT install for? If you're a custom shop, why buy from joeblow.com?

[/QUOTE]

not a custom shop, just helping my roommate with his HT package since i'm pretty handy customizing stuff.

[/QUOTE]
EDIT: Went to their website again. These guys list watches, video games, and anything else that fell off the back of a truck! [/QUOTE]
yeah...i wouldn't recommend buying that stuff from them either. How did you find this thread? it happened so long ago now i even forgot about it.

As far as what happened I my credit card company wasn't going to do anything because i paid with a visa check card and banks dont do squat to try to help you. I do believe that i cost them a few customers at the corvette forum. My post could have easily been praising them and sending them business, but instead I made sure that no one purchased stuff from them (from that forum). That and all the money they must have lost when there site was hacked (i didn't do it nor ask for anyone to do it but i'm hoping that i was the inspiration behind it

) and down for two days...i think justice was served. again, for me it wasn't the money it was the principle.

Check that the return address for your shipment wasn't from a correctional facility.[/QUOTE]