BWCA Don't make my same buying mistake. Boundary Waters Gear Forum
Chat Rooms (0 Chatting)  |  Search  |   Login/Join
* For the benefit of the community, commercial posting is not allowed.
Boundary Waters Quetico Forum
   Gear Forum
      Don't make my same buying mistake.     
 Forum Sponsor

Author

Text

mdogdaddy
member (5)member
  
03/20/2017 08:44AM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
First of all, thanks for all the good info on this forum.
I’ve been making a few new purchases getting ready for an upcoming trip. Some great recommendations from this site. Including the Kelty tarp deal.

I’ve made a lot of buys off of Amazon and have been pleased with the service including a quick, no-cost return on a sleeping bag. I totally blew it recently by falling for a too good to be true Big Agnes tent. I’m the one that tells other people to watch for scams and then I go right out and do it myself. I guess I thought that because of the easy return on the sleeping bag, I had nothing to lose. Within 15 minutes I came to my less greedy senses and cancelled the order which of course didn’t work. Within the hour it was marked as "shipped"

So just a friendly word of caution, there are more and more fraudulent 3rd party sellers on Amazon. Little or no ratings, “Just Launched” prices slashed. They say the item has shipped but it never arrives. By the time you file your claim, they get the money and after a short time they disappear. I reported my suspicion to Amazon. The next day, that seller along with their “24,000 items in their storefront” disappeared.
Amazon has a claim process but it takes a while. My credit card company has already assured me that they will credit my account.

As of today, my seller is gone but 3 more scam sellers took their place and are selling the same tent for a ridiculously low price.
 
      Print Top Bottom Previous Next
03/20/2017 10:24AM  
A while back my wife ordered a small item and we had the same experience - shipped, but never received. They had a low price, but not much history. We got a credit after going through the process, but will be more careful of sellers with a great price, but no real history of customer service and satisfaction.
 
Northwoodsman
distinguished member(2059)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
03/20/2017 10:39AM  
I only purchase things that are shipped and sold by Amazon and are available for Amazon Prime shipping. I purchase things from Amazon at least weekly and have never had an issue. I also try to pick items with a guaranteed return policy. Thanks for the heads up. This confirmed my suspicions.
 
03/20/2017 10:46AM  
Good tip. Thanks.
 
03/21/2017 08:21AM  
I do a good bit on Amazon and will watch for this. With the exception of 2 low dollar purchases items that shipped very slowly - about 2 months for delivery - I've had good luck.
 
mdogdaddy
member (5)member
  
03/21/2017 09:14AM  
Just an update. I talked with Amazon customer service right after my initial post. They started a claim and within an hour I had my card credited. I'll be sticking with the direct ship from Amazon products or at the very minimum a highly rated 3rd party seller.

It's really amazing how many sellers there are offering pricey items at 10 - 20% of their value.

With all the scammers that are still on there, the real losers are the legitimate 3rd party companies that are Newly Launched sellers with no ratings.
 
BuckFlicks
distinguished member(628)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
03/21/2017 12:06PM  
I'm with Northwoodsman. I order stuff from Amazon 3-4 times a month and I will generally only order from Amazon directly or 3rd party Prime-eligible shipers, or barring that, the actual manufacturer of the product. I have occasionally bought something from a 3rd party seller that wasn't the manufacturer and wasn't Prime-eligible but haven't had any problems thus far.

Amazon has great customer service - every time I've had to file a claim they've handled it promptly and without any hassle. The last one was with a product that completely fell apart after the 30 day Amazon return policy, but the company has absolutely zero customer service presence - no phone number and their "contact us" info goes to one of those outsourced customer service websites, but instead of going to their company, it links to the "hey, sign up here if you want to provide the best customer service to your clients" page. So I called Amazon as my last resort, and once I explained my issue, the CSR looked at their website, then looked at all the reviews on the product page complaining of the same thing, and authorized my return, even though they didn't have to.

So... yes, I'm wary of the 3rd party sellers on Amazon, but I'm confident that Amazon will make things right if the seller is a scammer.
 
carmike
distinguished member(1721)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
03/22/2017 12:16AM  
Thanks for the info, everyone. As a frequent user of Amazon, I certainly appreciate it.
 
ozarkpaddler
distinguished member(5163)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberpower member
  
03/22/2017 08:49AM  
quote carmike: "Thanks for the info, everyone. As a frequent user of Amazon, I certainly appreciate it. "


Yeah, me too! I had that happen once with an item that was supposed to arrive within a week and showed it was shipped. It ended up taking a month and Amazon gave me back the shipping cost. I thought that was an isolated incident but will be more careful.
 
Thwarted
distinguished member(1403)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
03/22/2017 09:45AM  
Wow, I had no idea. Thank you for the heads-up on this. I have an order pending and checked it out. Looks OK but i the future I will check in advance.
 
mdogdaddy
member (5)member
  
03/22/2017 10:03AM  
For reference only....
Big Agnes Copper Spur UL 4 person. This is a $450.00 + tent elsewhere.
Here is the current listing: Amazon Link

*Remember do not buy from these sellers.
 
03/22/2017 10:43AM  
So help me understand. At the time of this post, there were four sellers on the above link. Three stated they were just launched and one had a 3.5 star rating (2 total ratings) but the item being sold, in this case a tent, has a rating of 4.5 stars and 73 reviews. Am I under the correct assumption that there are two different things being reviewed here??? One is the tent and then each seller has a review process their buyers go through?
 
03/22/2017 10:58AM  
"If it sounds too good to be true-----"
Best buying advice I have heard.
Also need to watch the shipping and handling. My eager buyer mistake cane on Ebay. Won a Pelican 1450 case for less than $30, never looked at shipping. I was shipped from Israel for $40 total cost to me $70, ooopppss!

butthead
 
mdogdaddy
member (5)member
  
03/22/2017 11:08AM  
quote hwdhusky: "So help me understand. At the time of this post, there were four sellers on the above link. Three stated they were just launched and one had a 3.5 star rating (2 total ratings) but the item being sold, in this case a tent, has a rating of 4.5 stars and 73 reviews. Am I under the correct assumption that there are two different things being reviewed here??? One is the tent and then each seller has a review process their buyers go through? "


You're Correct. The item reviews are legit reviews from other actual buyers. The seller's reviews are separate. I was reading on another forum that the shady sellers purposely display items that have good reviews.
 
03/22/2017 11:49AM  
quote Northwoodsman: "I only purchase things that are shipped and sold by Amazon and are available for Amazon Prime shipping. "

+1
 
missmolly
distinguished member(7681)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberpower member
  
03/22/2017 12:24PM  
I use Amazon a lot, so I really appreciate the heads-up.
 
ZaraSp00k
distinguished member(1470)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
03/22/2017 05:33PM  
just an FWIW on things that take a long time to arrive

if you find something at a significantly lower price take a look at where it is being shipped from, if from China, that's the reason you are getting it so cheap, the downside is it will take 4-5 weeks to get to you because the order is being filled and shipped from China, ever heard of the saying "a slow boat from china"? that's what's going on, your order is being shipped on a boat from China

if you can live with that, you can save some money, if not, order from somebody else and you will pay more

you don't get something for nothing
 
hobbydog
distinguished member(1973)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
03/22/2017 05:50PM  
quote ZaraSp00k: "just an FWIW on things that take a long time to arrive


if you find something at a significantly lower price take a look at where it is being shipped from, if from China, that's the reason you are getting it so cheap, the downside is it will take 4-5 weeks to get to you because the order is being filled and shipped from China, ever heard of the saying "a slow boat from china"? that's what's going on, your order is being shipped on a boat from China


if you can live with that, you can save some money, if not, order from somebody else and you will pay more


you don't get something for nothing"


And if you do get the tent it is probably an knockoff of the real thing.
 
ZaraSp00k
distinguished member(1470)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
03/22/2017 06:12PM  
quote hobbydog: "


And if you do get the tent it is probably an knockoff of the real thing. "


that could be true

but keep in mind, there are many products from companies we think of as American, and many that claim to be American made that aren't
there are many levels of deception going on, and there are con artists working among the companies most of think of as being legitimate, lawyers aren't the only people paid to lie and spin yarns of deception
 
missmolly
distinguished member(7681)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberpower member
  
03/23/2017 10:15AM  
quote mdogdaddy: "For reference only....
Big Agnes Copper Spur UL 4 person. This is a $450.00 + tent elsewhere.
Here is the current listing: Amazon Link


*Remember do not buy from these sellers."


sarabythebeach? Hah! Here's a better moniker: crookwhobelongsinacage
 
      Print Top Bottom Previous Next
Gear Sponsor:
Portage North