Law of averages hits again...
Written: Sep 10, 2001
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The Bottom Line
They've got the lowest prices around, but there's a reason for that....be careful, stick to ordering smaller items from this site.
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I buy everything over the internet, except clothes, and sometimes even those, too. I rarely get burned on internet transactions, but the law of averages dictates that even the best get burned sometimes.
I was looking around for the lowest price on a Toshiba flatscreen TV, and stumbled upon ABT. Though it wasn't listed on their website, I called and they said they had the TV in stock, for about $80 less than retail. There was no free shipping on this product, so my total savings over buying retail (including tax) was about $45.
I ordered the TV on a Thursday, and by the next Thursday it had arrived in my home. The package had arrived in Philadelphia on Tuesday, but the shipping company (Team Air Express) informed me it could not be delivered to me (4.3 miles from Philly border) until Thursday at the earliest. I was off from work all week, since I just moved, so it wasn't too big of a deal, though still a long wait from Chicago to Philly. There was also no tracking unless you called the shipping company, who could then only 'guess' when the package would be there.
The TV arrived via local courier Thursday at 2:30pm. There was a huge hole in the box, and when I opened it, I found a huge crack down both sides of the TV. Also, it looked like an extremely poor packing job of the TV -- if Toshiba packages their TV's like this, I would be surprised...I suspect it was opened and re-packaged.
I called their customer service department, absolutely furious that I had waited a week for a TV that was broken pretty badly. They informed me I'd have to wait 3-5 business days until an 'inspector' could come out to look at it, verify it was broken, and send it back -- then I would have to wait an additional 3-5 business days for them to process it, at which time they would ship out a new TV. This was completely unacceptable, as I was not waiting a few more weeks for my TV. I demanded a new TV, in my living room, the next day, or else there would be hell to pay. After copping an attitude with me, the customer service person then put me on hold for about 20 minutes, and when she returned I was told "Fine, there will be a new one there tomorrow, goodbye." -- Wonderful outcome, BAD customer service!
The new TV arrived the next day, same delivery guy, who took a look at the old TV (which has to be sent back, i'm still waiting for the 'inspector' to come to my house to look at it) and said "That's what you get for using a piece of crap shipping company". The new TV works fine...for now.
All this for $45....the law of averages rears its ugly head.
Recommended:
No
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About the Author
Location: Suburbia, PA
Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me: If your product sucks, you're gonna hear about it...
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