Thursday, October 05, 2006

Buy.com should be called TakeMyMoney&CancelMyOrder.com

First, let me just say DO NOT USE BUY.COM. In case you missed that, DO NOT USE BUY.COM! Ok, now let me explain what happened.

I've been in the market for a 32" LCD HDTV and found a nice one for a great price at Buy.com. I also needed an articulating wall-mount for it, and I figured I'd also throw in a new DVD player with HDMI capabilities. I was able to find all of that, plus an HDMI cable, for just over $1000 at Buy.com.

Great price for all that gear! I'm sold! And, they also take PayPal, where I keep the money I make from online ventures. This is what happened next:

  • Step 1, add all items to cart. Check.
  • Step 2, checkout using PayPal. Check.
  • Step 3, verify my PayPal payment on PayPal's site. Check.
  • Step 4, wait for products to arrive!

    I thought everything was Kosher and I would receive my merchandise in about a week. Sweet! But three hours later I get this in my email:

    Dear Buy.com Customer,

    This is to notify you that you did not complete your order #xxxxxxxx in which you selected PayPal as your method of payment. To complete your purchase please:
    1. Log into your Buy.com account
    2. Click on the order number for which you want to complete the payment transaction.
    3. Click on the "Change payment method or re-submit to Paypal" link.
    4. Select PayPal from the drop down and click on "Resubmit Information".

    Hmmm. Maybe there was a glitch. Ok, I'll re-submit. Of course, when I re-submit, PayPal gives me an error saying "You have already paid for that item." Ok, at least PayPal is smart about it.

    A few hours later I get an email from Buy.com stating that my order was cancelled.

    So I send Buy.com an email asking why they cancelled the order, and they respond with a form letter stating they never received payment from PayPal. Then, to my surprise, BUY.COM SENT A REFUND TO MY PAYPAL ACCOUNT! Ok, if they never received payment, how can they refund?

    In any case, I still gave them the benefit of the doubt and decided to place a new order, since I had my money back anyway. So I followed the steps once again. And of course, in a few hours, I get the same email as before, stating that I need to complete my order!

    Then a little while later, the order gets cancelled AGAIN, with the same explanation that they never received payment from PayPal. Except this time, I NEVER GOT MY MONEY BACK!

    I have PayPal records stating that Buy.com got paid. And I have records from Buy.com stating that the order was cancelled for non-payment. So where is my $1000?

    At this point, I called Buy.com. I explained the situation and they said that the case has been sent to their main office for investigation, and that I should have my refund shortly. Ok, when I get my money back, I'll just shop somewhere else.

    A day passed with no money. So I call again. I get the same explanation, so I asked to speak to someone in the main office. They said no. THEY SAID NO! They are not authorized to give out any information about their main office, and that I would have to wait 3-5 days for a resolution!

    So here I am, out $1000, waiting for a refund from Buy.com for an order they cancelled on me, and PayPal saying the money was sent. Where is the money? It seems to be stuck somewhere in cyberspace, although I tend to believe Buy.com has it at this point.

    So what did I learn from this fiasco? Don't shop ay Buy.com, especially if you use PayPal. You know what? Forget that. Just DON'T SHOP AT BUY.COM PERIOD.

    Ok, rant mode temporarily off...for now.
  • 6 comments:

    Anonymous said...

    Sucks that you had a bad experience but I have placed many successful orders with Buy.com with out a single issue at all.

    Ed Caggiani said...

    Did you use PayPal as the payment method? I've also placed successful orders in the past, but not with PayPal. The issue seems to be with their implementation of the PayPal payment gateway.

    Anonymous said...

    Did you eventually get your money back? My order was cancelled because my ship to address was different and not verified by paypal. I received an email stating it would be within 24 hours I would receive my refund to my Paypal account but it's been 1.5 days so far. Just curious because I'm currently out $220.00.

    Ed Caggiani said...

    Yes, I got my refund. Took a week, but I got it.

    Anonymous said...

    Buy.com is good store....It provides so many discounted offers & deals related to electronics & computers products.......!

    Anonymous said...

    So looks like it is not rare at all...I´m currently stuck at the same point, Paypal showed as completed payment while the jerks at Buy.com stills saying paypal has not given them the funds....That is bull shit... I will cancel my order and purchase somewhere else but never not before filling a claim at Paypal so this jerks return my money.