OverstockDealz.com Thinks A $8 Cable Is A 30gb Zune
Reader Eric wants a Zune. He found a great deal on a refurbished one at overstockdealz.com, placed his order, and a few days later received his package. It contained an $8 Zune cable. Here's his letter:
Last Monday I placed an order at OverstockDealz.com for a 30gb Zune as a gift for my wife. She is an EMT and is looking for an entertainment source to relax to in between emergency calls.Eric, I know you want the nice price, but I'm afraid it's chargeback time. Any company that's going to act like shipping you a cable instead of a media device is your problem is just not worth your time. You've contacted the company, you've tried to work it it, and they're blowing you off. Unless you want to get stuck with a hundred dollar adapter for a device you don't own, call your credit card company today.The package showed up a few days later and instead of the Zune, all I received was a sync cable for the Zune, which OverstockDealz.com lists as a $7.99 item.
I then proceeded to call them, but I just reached voicemail. I contacted them via their joke of an online form. (You have room to type in maybe three sentences if you are lucky.) I have also since called back several time and left several more messages. I have actually spoken to somebody there twice now. The first one said he was in sales and the proceeded to transfer me to customer service, which led straight to another voicemail box. Another time I reached a gentlemen who I believe was named Curt, and he apologized and said there was nothing that they could do and that I should understand how busy their customer service is (apparently they are very busy ignoring other people as well.) I have even found their corporate number, but calling that leads to a small menu of choices that lead only to more voicemail boxes. I left a lovely message on one of those boxes that I needed to speak to someone by the end of the day yesterday or I would be contacting the BBB and alerting The Consumerist.
I do realize I can do a chargeback, but as OverstockDealz.com has it at by far the lowest price, (I believe this is for a refurbished model.) I would much rather receive the item I paid for.
I am about to contact the BBB, but I also decided to write you guys so that you can warn people about OverstockDealz.com.
Eric
Faithful Consumerist Reader
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Comments:
@FilthyHarry: ugh... I bet you are an Apple "Oooh, I paid 500 gazillions for my Ipoo'd, I'm better than you" Fanboy, aren't you?
To the OP, just wait until the next Woot-off, they are sure to have them for $100 or less.
I used to make the mistake of choosing a reseller based soley on price, then I found ResellerRatings.com. OverstockDealz.com's reseller rating score ( [www.resellerratings.com] ) is a pretty good 8.14, but if you expand the "Category Ratings", you'll see that their 'customer service' and 'return or replacement' scores are 6.1 and 3.5, respectively. That might be enough to make me want to avoid them.
Hopefully they'll respond and help you out but, if those scores are any indication, it's not going to happen.
@serreca: Not only that, but the shameless attempt to steal business by incorporating the name of a legit business (Overstock) into their name also screams "I'm a scammer!" I sure hope the OP kept a screen shot of the website showing it was a Zune and not the cable. I wonder what the invoice/receipt shows he purchased? I can think of several different ways they could try to claim that the item he received is what they sold him, and if he doesn't have proof, then what?
Boy this one is a little harder to nail down, but unfortunately overstockdealz.com is a rip-off, if not a scam. If you search on overstockdealz.com, very little negative info comes up - possibly because they are working the review sites to pump as much positive feedback as possible into Google's search results page 1 (where most people look.)
But dig a bit deeper, and it gets murkier. A little whois magic reveals that overstockdealz.com is actually Auction Logistics AKA Consumer Depot. Google those two company names and you see a lot of negative - Google search results page 1 turns up the words fraud, complaint, ripoff, misrepresent items, sells junk on ebay hides behind, ... these are just a few I picked up from Page 1 of a Google search on the alter egos.
Sadly, you won't get that price on a Zune. Start the chargeback process now while you still can, and wait for a deal on a Zune from a reputable dealer.
@Angryrider: for a reliable mp3 player that does not die in 2 weeks? and does that price include shipping?
@humphrmi: I mean "Sadly, you won't get that price on a Zune from overstockdealz.com". You may very well find that price elsewhere.
@FightOnTrojans: Close but no cigar idiot. I'm the owner of an 80gb Zune. First top shelf mp3 player I've owned. Got it SPECIFICALLY I'm not an apple fanboy. I made the mistake of assuming that MS would take advantage of getting into the mp3 player game late to deliver a kickass device. I was wrong. Just like you are now.
@FightOnTrojans: Boy, have you drunk the Kool-aid. "Overstock" is a word, not someone's proprietary made-up name. It means the amount of inventory you have over and above the amount you want to have. Buy a spine and stand up for the right to use real words in the name of a website, eh? At least OverstockDealz, shady as they may be, tried to use something a little customized.
@speedwell: Are you even aware that there is a company called Overstock.com? FightOnTrojans was refer to OverstockDealz stealing business them.
Definitely charge it back, and look for a 5G or 5.5G iPod off of Ebay. They'll be cheaper than the Zune, and work just as well as the 6G iPod classics.
I've poked at an old First gen Zune. I didn't like it, since it didn't do podcasts. The upgraded ones now do, but by the time they got out, I got a Mac Mini and a 5.5G iPod. I now have an iPod touch that joins them.
@FilthyHarry: If we still had a report button I'd use it for reporting your ridiculous attitude. People you aren't agreeing with are not idiots.
Any company that advertises should deliver, hands down.
Having said that, sometimes price shopping just isn't beneficial, and downright shady business at times. Some people stare at all the dough they'll be saving, instead of the bigger pictures of a company who will stand behind you to keep you as a customer...
I feel for the guy, but hope he learns cheaper is not always better. (though I wish it was!!!)
@Buran: If you read carefully, he didn't disagree with me, he made an assumption as to who I was, and he was wrong.
@FightOnTrojans:
All the proof he needs is in the amount he paid. No one is going to side with a store that charges 100 dollars for a 9 dollar cable. Plus considering they are an ebay store do they accept paypal? This smells of a scam since paypal sides with the seller as long as the seller proves they shipped anything to the buyer.
@speedwell: Not exactly. Although "overstock" is just a word, they pretty clearly appear to be banking on the "overstock.com" name and may be hoping to confuse people.
If I changed my screen name to "speedwell!", I bet it might take a few comments before some people realized I was not you. I mean, its just a type of flower.
Near me (in Boston) a donut shop opened up in a subway station. The space most recently was occupied by a Dunkin Donuts. The new place? Donut N' Donuts (using the same font on the signs). Not only is the name sickeningly redundant, but it's also a fairly obvious attempt to confuse people. I think the same is true of OverstockDealz.
@nequam: I've done this before, but this movie never gets old for me, so here goes.
Look, me and the McDonald's people got this little misunderstanding. See, they're McDonald's, I'm McDowell's. They got the Golden Arches, mine is the Golden Arcs. They got the Big Mac, I got the Big Mick. We both got two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions, but their buns have sesame seeds. My buns have no seeds.
@humphrmi : me and you were thinking the same, i also found the page that the 30GB zunes were on and both black and brown are now listed as OOS . your not going to get a zune , chargeback !!!
This company has probably more complaints than any ebay seller ever , they also sold under Bargaindepot04, Retundealz04, SWdiscounts, Surplusdealz05 and combinations of those with / without #'s .
@BadBadKitty: Man, I don't buy from an eBay seller without at least a 98% rating (I know, it's arbitrary, but it's a high enough number). Likewise, I go to Resellerratings.com and make sure the reviews are like 99% positive. And even then, I read the negative and neutral reviews to see the nature of the complaints, and how the seller responds.
The thing is, there just aren't that many great deals for unused popular products out there. If you think you can sucker people into giving you crazy deals, then chances are, you're the one getting suckered.
@Buran: While they're both behaving like children, FightOnTrojans did drop the F-bomb (fanboy, that is) on FilthyHarry, so they're both into name-calling.
@Buran: Did you learn anything from grade school? Let's let FightOnTrojans worry about FightOnTrojans.
@nequam: OK, I see your point. Fair enough. However, if you did change your screen name to speedwell!, my first thought would not be that you were stealing my reputation... just that someone else in the big huge Internet decided they liked it. I mean, how many people share nicks?
Homer: [gasps] Look at these low, low prices on famous brand-name
electronics!
Bart: Don't be a sap, Dad. These are just crappy knock-offs.
Homer: Pfft. I know a genuine Panaphonics when I see it. And look,
there's Magnetbox and Sorny.
Oh dont even get started on knock-offs , being thrifty ( ok im freekin cheap) i bought my daughter an mp3 player that looked just like a nano, ( from an amazon seller) came in a Apple nano box , has the apple logo when it boots , came with a itunes disk ,and died after 1 day !
Worst 20 bucks i ever spent !
[quote]All the proof he needs is in the amount he paid. No one is going to side with a store that charges 100 dollars for a 9 dollar cable[/quote]
Well...besides a store that sells Monster Cables!
The first experience I had with Overstockdealz/Consumer depot was annoying, since I ordered a photo printer and it didn't come with all the accessories. After reading all the crappy reviews, I was afraid I was SOL, but they did end up giving me a full refund.
I've been able to get quite a few Zunes from them for $85-$95 by using the "Make Offer" option. Usually "bidding" $10 below the asking price works. I've had great luck with the Zunes from them...a few were advertised as blemished but arrived factory sealed. I was actually amazed at how many bad reviews there are out there for them.
If you want shady, buy from one of those Camera/Electronics stores from NY that call you to confirm your order and are suddenly "out of stock" if you decline the overpriced accessories!
@LUV2CattleCall: I was wondering if the website in question was the internet presence of one of those NY camera shops. In defense of those shops though, I got an awesome deal on 2 Sony HDR-FX1's about 2 years ago. Of course, shortly thereafter I also got a call from BoA about spending $5000 on an offshore gambling site on my company card...
























other than the 4gb newer models i dont even see the 100$ zune listed anymore