I would avoid these folks. You can do better elsewhere!
Written: Oct 05 '06
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Heartland America sends out a ton of catalogs in the U.S. mail. They've been in business since 1985. They claim a 4-million customer business base. I came in contact with them a long time ago via their mail order catalog. In perusing their printed catalog, I could see that they sold just about anything and everything. It seems that they specialized in a lot of obsolete or last year's models, bankrupt stocks, overages, factory refurbished items, gadgets, etc.
A few months ago, I went to their web site to look for a reasonably-priced wireless headphone for use with my CD player. I found a reputable brand, the Acoustic Research Model #AW721, being offered as, "Factory serviced to meet original quality standards. May have slight cosmetic blemishes." It had a nice write-up about its features and benefits and the price was only $39.99. It stated stated, "compare at $99." I had looked at these in the retail stores, previously. The "list" price is $99, however it is offered by various retailers and on line stores for about $80. So, I went ahead and ordered it.
First of all, they do their best to get you to sign up for their "Buyer's Club." This comes when you try to purchase the item at "check out." I forget what the fee to join is but it allows you a 10% discount on your future orders. It was difficult to decline it. It took more than 2 actions to get avoid the extra charge.
Then, when I got it, I was very disappointed. The instructions enclosed were not the nice, glossy, commercially printed Owner's Manual.. Instead, there was a very amateurish looking attempt at an "instruction sheet." It was two-pages, 8.5" x 11" ordinary paper - photo reproduced and crudely folded to get them into the box. It had crude drawings for locating switches and the battery compartment. Worse than that - the 3-AAA rechargeable batteries used to power the headphones and transmitter were rolling around, loose in the box.
Inside the received cardboard box was the headphone unit, the crude instruction sheets and the three loose batteries. There was another smaller box inside containing the recharging base and cradle. There was some wadded-up paper to keep the box within the box from shifting but the little batteries were rattling around loose!
Upon further inspection, the base was badly scratched - probably from previous users or during the refurbishing process. The headphones were also marked up a bit - probably from unsecured batteries rolling around.in the bigger box.
I was very disappointed in all this but I did try the headphones out and the performance was very poor. So, I boxed everything back up an returned it back to Heartland America per their instructions. They did issue credit to my credit card for the full purchase price of the item but not the shipping charge. And, it cost me about $8 to send it back using insured postage. That whole experience left me about $17 lighter in the pocket book!
Later, I saw the same unit offered as new, not refurbished on Amazon for $43!
So, I won't be dealing with them ever, again!
Jim
Recommended:
No
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? AR #721Cordless Headphones
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Epinions.com ID:
tennis_player
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 in Electronics |
 - Top 500 |
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Member: James Quon
Location: Northern California
Reviews written: 347
Trusted by: 250 members
About Me:
A retired Professional from 40 years in technical Sales & Marketing.
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