Brandon regrets having done business with DeadlyDeal.com earlier this year. He figured he “couldn’t go wrong” with his mystery box purchase—”after all, my dealings with Woot.com had all been more than satisfactory so far.” But DeadlyDeal is no Woot, friends. Well, except maybe in the creative writing department, because there’s no way those DeadlyDeal customer testimonies (“Thanks for my free iPhone!”) are legit.

Brandon writes:

Mid May of this year, I fell into a trap. DeadlyDeal.com offered a mystery box guaranteed to satisfy. I thought I couldn’t go wrong with a $46 dollar purchase (with supposed free shipping), after all, my dealings with Woot.com had all been more than satisfactory so far. After a long wait, I received my mystery box with only the invoice inside identifying it from deadlydeal in June (2nd to be exact), which contained an already opened Mr. Clean AutoDry Car Wash starter kit (retail $30 from Amazon at the time). I’m perfectly happy to wash my car with a hose, bucket and sponge, and so attempted to arrange an RMA for the product I was not happy with. I received no reply from their RMA team, nor their listed support email that I tried several times to reach through June. Finally in July I got a response when I tried posting on their message board. They issued me an RMA number and instructions to return the product.

Recently, against my better judgment I went back to DeadlyDeal.com when I noticed an item for sale I had been watching for (a credit card lock pick set). I felt a bit more comfortable in knowing exactly what it was I was ordering, even given their long shipping time in the past. However, it seems they don’t want my business. Not only have I still not received the refund for the RMA I returned 2 months ago, (order # 8561), but I also have not received my latest order (# 10520) which supposedly shipped 8/27/09. All but one of my contacts to the company have been ignored, and have yet to actually resolve anything.

I used paypal for my first transaction. Since it was more than 40 days past the original purchase, they refuse to take any action. Do I need to issue a chargeback on my second order before I get stuck in the same situation?

Yes. Get the hell away from DeadlyDeal and stop doing business with them, Brandon! You can buy cheap, probably foreign-made crap at a dozen other websites any day of the week. DeadlyDeal does not need—or apparently want—your business. If they did, would they have sent you a previously opened, $30 car wash kit in your $46 mystery box in the first place?

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.