Monday, September 19, 2005
SurplusComputers.com sucks!
Some times I love Ebay and then, thanks to sellers like Surplus Computers, I hate Ebay.
On September 3rd, I won and paid for an auction for a replacement DVD drive for my XBOX. The seller, Surplus Computers, had a 95%+ positive rating; however, the main complaint they received was for non-responsiveness and failure to deliver.
Based on this feedback, I opted for PayPal's Money Back Guarantee option that added a couple of bucks to the total, hoping I would not have to use it.
Well, thanks to the deadbeats at Surplus Computers, I am having to use it.
To date, I have sent 6 e-mails to them (4 via their "websales@surpluscomputers.com" address which they recommend and 2 through Ebay's private message service). The only messages I have received from them were in response to the 2 Ebay messages. You wanna guess what they said? They said that they wouldn't answer any questions through the Ebay message service and that I should submit all inquiries to "websales@surpluscomputers.com." Brilliant!
Today, after 16 days of waiting for my order, I filed a claim with PayPal to get a refund (which could take 30 days or more) and I called the company to see if I could resolve this over the phone. Here is how the five calls went:
Call 1: Guy answers and forwards me to the Ebay shipping department. Of course, no one answered and their voicemail was full. Nice.
Call 2: A woman, who sounded like one of Marge Simpson's sisters, answered. She said that the person I needed to speak to was with a customer. I told her I would hold. 3 times during the 15-minute wait, she would pop on the line to say they would be right there. They never came. I hung up.
Call 3: Same woman picks up and says only "Hold on" before placing me on hold for another 5 minutes. No one picks up, so I call back again.
Call 4: Phone is picked up. No one answers. The call is transferred to Ebay shipping department (and we know how that ends).
Call 5: Man with heavy accent answers. Agrees to take down my information and have someone call me. 5 hours later, I'm still waiting.
A few minutes ago, I decided to check out the company via the Better Business Bureau. Turns out that they don't have a good record with the BBB (You can read all of the details here). Here is an excerpt:
"Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau. Specifically, our records show a pattern of non-response to consumer complaints brought to its attention by the Bureau. Our records show that the company has a pattern of complaints concerning Service & Delivery Issues."
After reading that, I decided to leave a complaint of my own about my experience with Surplus Computers.
In addition, it looks like they are also misusing the Verisign logo (the graphic says "Click to verify," but there is no link on the graphic). I am also submitting that info to Verisign.
And finally, I am repeating the name "Surplus Computers" and other words that describe my experience with them (like "sucks") in this post as often as I can so that this post will get a high ranking on Google.
UPDATE: Check out the Google Blog Search results for "surplus computers."
Some times I love Ebay and then, thanks to sellers like Surplus Computers, I hate Ebay.
On September 3rd, I won and paid for an auction for a replacement DVD drive for my XBOX. The seller, Surplus Computers, had a 95%+ positive rating; however, the main complaint they received was for non-responsiveness and failure to deliver.
Based on this feedback, I opted for PayPal's Money Back Guarantee option that added a couple of bucks to the total, hoping I would not have to use it.
Well, thanks to the deadbeats at Surplus Computers, I am having to use it.
To date, I have sent 6 e-mails to them (4 via their "websales@surpluscomputers.com" address which they recommend and 2 through Ebay's private message service). The only messages I have received from them were in response to the 2 Ebay messages. You wanna guess what they said? They said that they wouldn't answer any questions through the Ebay message service and that I should submit all inquiries to "websales@surpluscomputers.com." Brilliant!
Today, after 16 days of waiting for my order, I filed a claim with PayPal to get a refund (which could take 30 days or more) and I called the company to see if I could resolve this over the phone. Here is how the five calls went:
Call 1: Guy answers and forwards me to the Ebay shipping department. Of course, no one answered and their voicemail was full. Nice.
Call 2: A woman, who sounded like one of Marge Simpson's sisters, answered. She said that the person I needed to speak to was with a customer. I told her I would hold. 3 times during the 15-minute wait, she would pop on the line to say they would be right there. They never came. I hung up.
Call 3: Same woman picks up and says only "Hold on" before placing me on hold for another 5 minutes. No one picks up, so I call back again.
Call 4: Phone is picked up. No one answers. The call is transferred to Ebay shipping department (and we know how that ends).
Call 5: Man with heavy accent answers. Agrees to take down my information and have someone call me. 5 hours later, I'm still waiting.
A few minutes ago, I decided to check out the company via the Better Business Bureau. Turns out that they don't have a good record with the BBB (You can read all of the details here). Here is an excerpt:
"Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau. Specifically, our records show a pattern of non-response to consumer complaints brought to its attention by the Bureau. Our records show that the company has a pattern of complaints concerning Service & Delivery Issues."
After reading that, I decided to leave a complaint of my own about my experience with Surplus Computers.
In addition, it looks like they are also misusing the Verisign logo (the graphic says "Click to verify," but there is no link on the graphic). I am also submitting that info to Verisign.
And finally, I am repeating the name "Surplus Computers" and other words that describe my experience with them (like "sucks") in this post as often as I can so that this post will get a high ranking on Google.
UPDATE: Check out the Google Blog Search results for "surplus computers."
¶ 4:35 PM 
Comments:
I'm in the process of getting ripped off by them as well. Received a defective item, they kept it for a month then sent the same one back with the bonus prize of part of somebody's lunch included. Needless to say, it's still broke (being same one and all). I've actually gotten a few good deals from them in the past but this is the last time I'll do business with them.
Jeff
Jeff
posted by 
: 2:03 PM
: 2:03 PM In the process of getting ripped off by them now, they have been EXTREMELY hard to get a hold of. Every call goes to voicemail and e-mails love to go unanswered.
Here's a few links to let them know what you think.
http://www.ftc.gov/
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Surplus_Computers
http://www.bbbsilicon.org/commonreport.html?bid=212384compid=212384&hr=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5zbW9ydHk3MS5jb20vMjAwNS8wOS9zdXJwbHVzY29tcHV0ZXJzY29tLXN1Y2tzLmh0bWw=
Here's a few links to let them know what you think.
http://www.ftc.gov/
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Surplus_Computers
http://www.bbbsilicon.org/commonreport.html?bid=212384compid=212384&hr=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5zbW9ydHk3MS5jb20vMjAwNS8wOS9zdXJwbHVzY29tcHV0ZXJzY29tLXN1Y2tzLmh0bWw=
posted by : 7:51 PM
: 7:51 PM I agree as well. I order a product from them. Not one was broken but both. I have sent around 20 emails and I have yet to get a response.
posted by 
Karl : 8:04 PM
Karl : 8:04 PM Ok, it's 2007 and things still haven't changed with this company. I ordered some mice from them 10 days ago as of today and I have left voice messages and their "preferred" method of contact(email) and I hit a brick wall every time. They suck, they suck, they SUCK!!! They can keep their stupid email specials and their cheesy a$$ site. I hope they burn in cyber hell...i'm sure there's plenty of room there for their kind. Ok, ahhhhh...I feel slightly better now, but I want my freaking MICE!!! Have a nice day everyone. :)
posted by : 7:52 AM
: 7:52 AM Same experience, but now they don't even answer their phones and their voicemail is always full. Package took over 3 weeks to arrive and the order was incorrect and incomplete. I tried contacting via email multiple times without any replies. I am stuck with the wrong stuff and missing stuff and no way to return it.
posted by : 2:53 AM
: 2:53 AMblog comments powered by Disqus
About Shawn Morton
Married father of 4, social media strategist at Nationwide, consumer electronics enthusiast, hair metal aficionado.
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Sold me a bad HD.
ADD me to your list of ripped off customers
Thom Wilt
thomw1@bellsouth.net
beware, upon me sending an email,that I was going to dispute the charge, everytime that I hit the CC link, I lost my internet, went in through a backdoor...