I just ordered a Neat Receipts scanner from a Yahoo store. This is the second time I’ve bought something from a Yahoo store and there was something a bit off with the transaction.
In today’s mishap, they overcharged me for sales tax. I think these people (ipaperlessoffice.com, let’s just go ahead and name names) are double dipping for sales tax. You know, it’s only a few dollars, but if they overcharge thousands of customers $5 each, it really adds up! I sent an email to their sales email addy, but it will not surprise me if it bounces. I got a notification from them that the order was placed, but nothing from the complaint email yet. I’m not going to call them unless the email goes unanswered for 24 hours. THEN we’ll get into it.
UPDATE: They did, indeed, get back to me and they fixed the problem. They gave some excuse about their order personnel having to do blah blah blah by hand because of Yahoo, etc., etc., and “someone missed it”. Yep, and how much ya wanna bet that it gets missed more often than fixed? If Yahoo is that bad, dude, then WHY do you stay there, hmm? eBay is right over here. They would still have my money had I not checked the math myself. They can blame Yahoo all day, but they ultimately benefit, which is why they are still there. THAT is easy to figure out.
The other Yahoo store I had a run in with was EliteXtreme.com. They are total wankers and I had to practically threaten a lawsuit to get a refund for a couple of phone cases that they took my money for, then “forgot” to mention that they never have these items because they are “backordered”. Riiiight. After several calls to their bitch ass people in Florida, I finally got a full refund. But, again, if you gyp thousands of people out of $10 each, it really adds up.
Yahoo Stores has absolutely no rules. Ripped off consumers have no way to complain to the provider, Yahoo, about these sketchy stores. Yahoo offers no customer service, no email address, nothing. Only sketchy companies use Yahoo for their “ecommerce” sites because they can get away with screwing people over and there’s no recourse.
I’d forgotten all this when I placed the order with ipaperlessoffice.com today, but afterward when I was checking the numbers, I remembered Elite Xtreme and realised that the common thread was Yahoo Stores. Great. :-(
Do not buy from a Yahoo Store. EVER. Stick to eBay. At least if anything goes wrong on eBay, you have some sort of feedback and support system to back you up. There is a reason certain companies choose Yahoo storefronts. It’s because they are rip off artists who give internet shopping a bad name.
I just hope I actually receive the scanner and don’t end up completely ripped off. ::fingers crossed:: :-[ UPDATE: see above!
In the past (haven’t in a while) I’ve never had any problems with shooping via a Yahoo store.
Sorry about your problems :(
[This is from some dude who apparently feels the need to defend Yahoo… Interesting since his company is an “online marketing” company who is a Yahoo Partner. Nice try, Scott, but you will not get a link. His comments can stand, though I will NOT endorse shopping at Yahoo. It’s caveat emptor over there. If Scott would like to add proper contact info for Yahoo Merchant complaints, I’ll happily post it.]
I’m sorry you had such a headache with those particular stores, but I know and work with hundreds of honest, hard working merchants who have Yahoo Stores. Many of whom have customer satisfaction ratings between 98% and 100%. I would hate to see them get lumped in with the few you’ve had a bad experience with.