I Think This Could Be A Preview Of Hell
Refurb Depot
I do a lot of online shopping and have had my share of poor experiences but I always ended up with a resolution without having to go too far into the legal areas I don't like to go into. However, I have run across a real doozy of website which is so good at being fraudulent that they actually make you believe everything they are telling you as they are stealing your money. It's insane.
That website is Refurb Depot
What The Site Sells
This site sells only refurbished electronics and goods. Refurbished means that someone owned the product and sent it back to the manufacturer for any number of reasons and the manufacturer fixed the problems so that the items are supposedly as good as new. Some refurbs are not even sold at all because they came out of the factory with scratches, dings, or problems which were caught and sent back to be rectified. These companies then sell the refurbished units to Refueb Depot (and other places) where a consumer can pick up a good deal on a product that is supposedly as good as new at a price that is sometimes half of the price of brand new products. This site sells electronics of all kinds from computers to digital cameras to camcorders, iPods, you name it. If it's electronic and refurbished, this site sells it.
Web Particulars
The site is large and confusing with a ton of products and links all over. If you know what you want, a search will tell you if they have the item. Otherwise, you search throug
Once you do find what you want, you click to put it into your cart. Checkout is relatively simple. They offer a "Mack" warranty on most products which is a non manufacturer third party warranty that is supposed to cover almost everything that could go wrong with the product. It's pricey but less than a real warranty. I say real because I bought one and, when I went to register on the Mack site, all I got was broken links and error messages so I am not sure if the warranty I got is good or not. But there is that option before checking out.
h the category links and then hone your search until you find what you are looking for.
You can input your zip code and click on "Update" and you will see the shipping charges for your order. There are three options and you can choose which you want from a drop down box.
Once you do that, you input your personal info - name, address, phone number, email, and credit card details (even your PVC number that safeguards you from theft needs to be given and that, my friends, is suspicious). Once your credit card is processed, you get a confirmation and order number and you're done.
Well, that part is done, For me, it was only the beginning.
You will get a confirmation email and a shipping one when the order ships.
If all goes according to plan, the order will arrive safely and the item will be in good working order and your life will be enriched. If all doesn't go well, you will end up in refurb hell like I did. Join me while I give you the abbreviated version of my amazingly bad experience with these people.
My Experience
I was leery about ordering from this site due to the negative reviews written right here. But my son said his friends all order from Refurb Depot and have not had any problems and, oh so hesitantly, I entered into an agreement with the devil.
I chose an HP CPU with some great looking stats for a good price. I went through all the steps I outlined above and I got a confirmation email. I immediately wrote to this company stating I was very leery about them due to the negative reviews and hoped my experience would be a good one. I was told not to worry, everything would be wonderful. It seemed so sincere.
After several days, I wrote again. I hadn't gotten a shipping notification. The customer service team wrote back saying that my computer was shipped out but they didn't have the tracking number yet. They said they would email it to me the next morning.
They didn't.
I wrote again, this time explaining that I was starting to really worry and I was thinking of canceling when suddenly, a tracking number appeared. Hmm. I tracked my computer and it took over two weeks to arrive. But it did arrive at least. It took 11 days from the day I ordered until the day they shipped the CPU out and then another nearly two weeks to arrive and I am in the same state as they are! I could have driven there, picked up the item, and driven back in under 12 hours.
End of Story? Well, Not Quite.
We opened the box, hooked up the CPU, booted it up and..got a blue screen and an error message. We did all we knew to do to make the computer boot up but it was as if there was no hard drive at all in the computer and the operating system wanted us to boot from a CD. They did not include a copy of Windows XP (or any Windows software) so we couldn't boot from a CD if we wanted to. After talking with some computer savvy friends, I wrote to Refurb Depot explaining the problem and asking what now.
They wrote me back, very friendly, and apologized and reminded me that they don't manufacturer the products and that this was just a fluke problem. I understood but I wanted a computer. I was out $750 and had a bum CPU sitting in my house.
They said they would issue an RMA to me. After several days with no RMA, I called customer service. Very friendly people, they are. I asked where my RMA was and told them that time was ticking and I wanted to get this broken thing back to them and get a working one to me ASAP. I was told that I would have an RMA that afternoon and their "RMA machine had been down". Oh Lord, and I believed it because they were so sincere sounding.
That afternoon came and went and I got a letter saying that, although they promised me an RMA that day, there was a problem and I would get it the next day. Two weeks had passed since I informed them of the problem. I was starting to get angry.
A couple days later - after a few phone calls - I got an RMA number! Yay! I was informed that I would have to pay shipping back to the company but they would pay to ship me the new unit. I was nonplussed. I didn't really want to send a 33 pound CPU back on my dime because they sent me something that didn't work. But it was either that or hold onto the CPU and pay to have someone fix it which I should not have had to do considering it was advertised as good as new.
I paid over $23 to send the computer back. I made sure the RMA number was all over that box so no one could miss it and then I waited. I did write saying I sent the computer back and they wrote saying as soon as they got it and logged it into the system, a new one - well, a new refurbished one - would be on its way with expedited shipping.
I traced my CPU and saw that it had arrived on a Monday afternoon. By the following Monday, I still had no correspondence from Refurb Depot. I called and talked to a very friendly (and chewing on her lunch) girl who said that the warehouse must have lost my package but now that they had a tracking number, they could find it. And it would be a "few weeks' before it is processed and the exchange made. I said I didn't have a few weeks to wait and was told it would be much faster. The sales rep said no, it takes a while to "get into the system" and as long as everything was intact, the new CPU would be sent out.
Now I was mad. This was going on way too long. I wrote a letter to "Susan" who I had been corresponding with, saying I wanted them to "find" my CPU and do what they needed to do and to send my new one within five days. I felt that was reasonable.
The next day, I got a friendly email thanking me for my last email and informing me that they would immediately process a refund on the CPU.
WHAT?
I didn't ask for a refund! I knew there was a restocking fee and I really wanted the computer. I just wanted one that worked.
I wrote back that same thing but, I told them, if that was my only option for whatever reason, fine. I would start a new search.
While I was waiting for this refund to "immediately" be processed, I searched around and found a very similar new model at Comp USA. I bought it, had all the info switched over, hooked it up and had it running and still had no refund.
I called my credit card company and was told nope, no refund was put through from Refurb Depot.
Now, very aware that I was ripped off, I wrote a letter stating that I wanted the refund within three days - no restocking fee, no baloney. I said (and meant) that I would begin disputing the charges after three days and that I would take steps to be sure I got my money and more back.
I tried to call but, at 4 p.m. on a Thursday, I got a recording that they were closed although their hours are until 6 p.m.
I received a terse but still polite email saying that my credit card had been refunded on the day I was to begin disputing charges. They did not say how much they refunded me.
I called my credit card company the next day and guess what? There is no refund from Refurb Depot.
Nope. Nothing.
$750 later, I am disputing the charges, I have paid interest on a computer I never had for well over two and a half months now. And no refund is in sight. But it will be. If I have to get everyone I can involved and go to court, it will be.
Policies
Refurb Depot charges shipping based on weight and destination. Their orders go through UPS. You can choose regular ground, two day, or overnight shipping. I chose regular ground and my order took forever to come to me but that was because they didn't send it out for several days after I paid for some reason.
They offer a 30-day return policy with some stips. There is a 15% restocking fee no matter why you return the item even if it was defective. This is why I wanted an exchange not a refund but they decided for me what they were going to do. You do not get your shipping charges back under any circumstances. You mist obtain an RMA number to return any item. That is not an easy thing to do as I saw. It took quite a long time and many calls and letters to get one. You will be charged if everything is not exactly as they sent it to you.
This line is interesting because it was never brought up to me at all: "If your merchandise arrives malfunctioning or appears to be defective, please contact the manufacturer to obtain warranty service. In many instances, manufacturer representatives can diagnose and resolve product concerns over the phone."
Apparently, if your item comes to you damaged or defective, you should call the manufacturer and have them deal with it. But no one ever once mentioned that I should call HP to help resolve the problem. I probably should have looking back. I may have saved myself a lot of frustration, time, and money.
Contact Info
You an email Refurb Depot (Keep this handy, you'll need it) at customerservice@refurbdepot.com.
You can also call them at 1-800-660-4443 during short business hours on weekdays but they often have a recording on that says they are closed even during the hours they claim they are open. I got the "closed" recording at least four or five times during the day when they claimed to be open for business.
RefurbDepot.com
1449 37th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11218
They accept major credit cards as well as checks and money orders.
Note that they say they may call to verify your order after you place it to "prevent theft" (and upsell, so watch out for that).
My Recommendation
Run, don't walk, RUN from Refurb Depot. You are already on the short end of the stick buying merchandise that was previously broken or used. Then you take your chances as to whether the item will arrive in working condition (and for how long). Their warranties are third party strange ones that I don't even think are valid since the Mack website never would work for me and no one answered their phone when I called.
If you get a damaged or defective item, Refurb Depot is under no obligation to do a thing about it. You will have to go to the manufacturer (although no one told me this in all my dealings with them for some reason). If you do return something, you lose shipping and 15% and whatever else they decide to charge you.
The customer service reps come off as very patient and friendly. You are lulled into a false sense of security with them. They were polite even when they lied about when they sent my computer out, when they lied about their "RMA machine" problems, when they lied about sending me a different unit as soon as my unit arrived, when they suddenly canceled my exchanged and said they refunded me, and when they said again that they refunded my card.
Is there such a thing as nice frauds?
The point is, while many may have good luck with this site, it's not worth the risk to shop there. I found a very similar CPU brand new locally with a real warranty for about the same price. I would definitely rather deal with the devil I know (CompUSA can be crazy but they're local and I can walk in and deal with issues) than the one I don't.
I would recommend staying away from all refurbished electronics but that's not my decision to make for you. As for this particular website, it is really bad. They come off as professional but they're really awful and I am stuck with no computer, $750.00 charged to my credit card racking up interest, and no promised refund. And even if I DO get a refund, it will be 15% less than I paid on top of the shipping to me and the shipping to them that I lose.
Refurb Depot is another in a long line of shady dealers - bears in sheep's clothing - waiting for people like you and I to come along and believe everything they say. Don't be like me. Go elsewhere.
Recommended:
No
