PARTS ONE & TWO: INFINITY IS ANOTHER WORD FOR HELL
Written: Oct 31 '03 (Updated Nov 19 '03)
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To begin with, here's what I posted originally:
PART 1 --
If there is a hell, it can be no more terrible than this. I did my due diligence -- I sent Emails first, asking in writing if the Sony PFM-42B2 plasma TV was in stock available for immediate shipping. They wrote back YES. I asked if it they were an authorized Sony distributor and if the product came with full warranty. They said YES. So I placed my order on their website. Shipping was listed as an exorbitant $159, because I'd checked with UPS (I have an account with them), and knew shipping should have been under $100 with full insurance.
AFTER I placed the order online, they sent an Email telling me to call them to "confirm shipping." On the phone, the NY-accented salesman suddenly jacked shipping up to $259 because it was "going by TRUCKING SERVICE instead of UPS" ...yes, I ordered a wall bracket for $200 which sounds like standard prioce on other sites, too...BUT THEN they added a "4% SURCHARGE for handling" the entire order, which shot the price way, way, WAY beyond the price they listed online. The very rude salesman insisted, "It's still a better price than you'll get anywhere else online." I got him to confirm it was in stock, that it could ship immediately, and I'd taken the time to note that their website says orders take 24 to 72 hours to ship. I was left with a very bad taste in my mouth after dealing with these people...
I ordered on a Monday; giving them the benefit of the doubt, worst case scenario would've been Thursday shipping, according to their own information. But seven days later, still no TV, and still not even an order number OR a confirmation it had shipped! (The problem: I'm remodelling my living room RIGHT NOW and need the TV in my hands by this Monday if I'm going to put all the wiring in the walls.) After sending Emails they ignored, finally someone wrote me with a tracking number that their DHL shipping service DID NOT RECOGNIZE. Soon I discover that's because the shipping didn't even have it in their hands yet.
Today, Infinity finally admitted it didn't leave their warehouse till last night. I asked them to explain HOW "24 to 72 hours" translates into seven days. "Maybe it was on backorder." "How can it be on backorder if TWICE you people confirmed it was in stock? I should get a partial shipping refund for the delays." The guy says he'll look into it...then I never heard from him again.
I finally reached the sales rep this afternoon who sold the TV to me, and he was even MORE rude than when I placed the order; he made excuses why 72 hours isn't really 72 hours, but claimed I would "very likely" get it before the end of the day. Didn't happen.
A few minutes ago, the DHL shipping company told me they have my TV, but it's still in New York, that Infinity paid for slow strap-it-to-a-camel 5 days shipping, and I'd receive it only AFTER I'd COMPLETED all the work on my remodelling. Curious, I asked how much shipping actually cost, and they said, "Infinity gets a special discount rate, we can't give out that information." So I knew they greatly overcharged on shipping they get discounted on.
So...as of right now, I still don't have the TV. If I do ever receive it, I still don't know if it will be what I ordered, or whether it will work once I get it, or if it is real as they claim or gray market as I fear. I will post further information later.
Here is my update:
PART 2 --
In our last exciting episode, after being put through hell ordering, being lied to, being overcharged, and wonder what I would get, I finally received my answer: A week and a half late, I received a Sony Plasma TV. Immediately I noticed the box: They shipped the WRONG SONY PLASMA TV!
That's right, they bait-and-switched, delivering the lower-priced, lower-resolution Plasma TV that I knew I did not want. And the truck driver couldn't take it back without authorization paperwork.
(I also notice the shipping invoice: The shipping by truck freight was only $128, which MORE than was covered by the original $159 that their website charged for shipping and handling -- their was no reason to bilk a customer out of $259 for shipping PLUS pile on their 4% "surcharge for handling" other than avarice.)
Anyway: I called Infinity -- again! -- and talked to the same fellow who'd promised to call me back but didn't, days earlier. "Glad you called me," he said, "I was meaning to call you to offer you a discount because of the late shipment." Then I told him I'd discovered Infinity (well, it said something like J&K Cameras on the shipping manifest) shipped the wrong TV. He asked me if I would ACCEPT the wrong TV for a "bigger discount." "NO!!" I told him.
After more grief, he revealed to me they didn't have the correct Plasma TV in stock. I tell him, "How if that even possible? TWICE your people confirmed it. Then you sent me the wrong TV, which means the right one is still sitting in your warehouse!" He finally admitted THEY NEVER HAD the right TV in stock. He blamed it on the incompetence of both the sales rep AND the shippers!
After a WEEK of this nonsense, and me calling them more times, they finally agreed to take it back and arranged for it to be picked up. They wouldn't give me any kind of returnn or verification number. The moment the TV left my hands, I called him again and demanded full credit on my credit card. "I don't know if I can do that today. Maybe on Monday," he told me.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday came and went. Still no credit to my credit card! Still no phone call or Email from Infinity to say WHEN I'd be credited. Nothing. I guess I'll have to call my credit card company and fight it....
MEANTIME: I decided to order the same Sony Plasma PFM-42B2/S 42" TV from somewhere else. I paid a little more but ordered it from thenerds.net. WOW, what a difference! I placed the order at thenerds.net on a Wednesday. The VERY helpful, not-rude-at-all sales rep confirmed the TV in inventory. Shipping was only $109. He said it would ship the next day, and I would get it in a week or less. It did! They confirmed shipment in an Email, said it went out on Thursday as scheduled...and I received it the following Monday, only TWO business days later! No problems, and it was precisely what I ordered, exactly when they said it would arrive, and it works perfectly! Now THAT'S a professional business.
Recommended:
No
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Sony PFM-42B2
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davecampit
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