Add another vendor to the Black List

[mairving]

Onvia.com.

I have ordered quite a bit of stuff from these guys when they had free shipping. I never had a problem until I had a defective hard drive. Here is the big runaround:

• Ordered HD from Onvia on Jan 3th.
  
• Hard drive arrives on Jan 8th.
  
• Hard drive fails after loading software, Jan 9th.
  
• Send an online request for RMA to Onvia, Jan 9th.
  
• They say that they can't find my order and the need a serial number, Jan 9th.
  
• I send them a serial number and a order number again, Jan 9th.
  
• Several days go by. Finally on Jan 12th, they send me an email telling me that an RMA will be issued to me in 10 days. I send a reply back asking how hard a process is it to issue an RMA. They never respond back.
  
• Finally on Jan 24th, I receive an email from them with an RMA no.
  
• I UPS the box back to them on Jan 29.
  
• The box arrives at Onvia on Feb 8th.
  
• I keep looking for a credit on my account it never arrives.
  
• I send a email to Onvia on Feb 26th wanting to know about my credit.
  
• I receive an email back from Onvia saying that the credit has been issued on Feb 27th. It will take several days to process.
  
• Today I still don't see a credit on my account. I email them back. I receive a reply that a credit has been issued today to my account. The wording is exactly the same as before "I have just issued a refund to your credit card".
  

I guess now I wait another few days to see if the credit has indeed been issued. You have been warned. Do not order from these thugs.

[LawyerRon]

Thanks for the warning. I won't.

[mx-6*]

Hook em up at http://www.resellerratings.com

Don't forget!!

[mairving]

Oh yeah. Their rating was 6.0 out of 7.0. Not any more. I think that it is down to 5.3 now.

[madthumbs]

Honestly that doesn't sound like bad service. You should get better results by phone anyway. I have had much worse experiences with UPS, but I can't justify paying $10 more in some cases for FedEx. Same with Onvia, they have good prices, and at least they are remedying the situation with you. Some companies don't even answer their emails! Not just that but you're asking us to evaluate them based on your claims. You haven't provided us with a copy of the email you sent to them (many people don't know how to properly address issues with a company, and thus blame the company for a lack of response).

On a last note, I would make sure that you are displeased with this company before resorting to resellerratings especially in light of their good track record. I ordered an Athlon from a company once, it was a K7 700 with 900core guaranteed. They made a mistake due to a problem ordering on thier website, and me having to call them. They charged my debit card twice for the same product. It took about a week to straigten out the $250 mistake that disabled my account. Both charges were removed. It also wasn't a 900 core, it was a 700! They sent me a replacement upon my own confirmation and paid for my shipping the old one back after recieving it's replacement. This was back when 1GHz Athlons were over $900! Today it runs at 1010MHz very stable, and I never paid for it! I could have complained, but in the end they did me right! Incidently they have very similar ratings to Onvia, but I wouldn't expect this good of compensation every time.

[mairving]

Madthumbs, I am quite aware of how to deal with people via email. I used to manage the customer service center for an e-commerce company. I generally try to keep a cool head but also give them enough grief to motivate them into action. I also looked at the customer comments at Resellerratings.com and there are several comments that tell about how slow they are on processing returns. I would probably still be a fan of theirs if I didn't ever have to send anything back. That is the big test.


[Edited by mairving on 03-17-2001 at 11:03 AM]

[mairving]

Well here is an update.

• March 5 - they email me back and tell me that the expiration date of my card has expired.
  
• March 5 - I email them with the correct expiration date.
  
• March 5 - they email me back and tell me that it still doesn't match. In order to receive my credit, I need to call them.
  
• March 7 - Call Onvia and request credit. The rep I talk to doesn't understand why it hasn't been issued. She issues credit and says that I should receive credit in 3 days.
  
• March 16 - Still no credit has been received on my credit card.
  
• March 16 - Email Onvia and threaten to contest the charge with my credit card.
  
• March 16 - I receive this email back from Onvia
  

  ---

  
  Hello,
  
  Thank you for taking the time to drop us a note.
  
  We have just reissued a refund to your credit card for $159.99. This
  credit should take 2-3 business days to register in your account.
  
  Please feel free to contact me directly with any further questions or
  comments.
  

  ---

  
  Which sounds quite a bit like these emails:
  

  ---

  
  Hello,
  
  Thank you for taking the time to drop us a note.
  
  Your are correct.
  
  I have just issued a refund to your credit card for $159.99. This
  credit should take 2-3 business days to register in your account.
  
  Please feel free to contact me directly with any further questions or comments.
  

  ---

  
  Hello,
  
  Thank you for taking the time to drop us a note.
  
  Your return has been received. I have just issued a refund to your
  credit card for $159.99. This credit should take 2-3 business days to register in your account.
  
  Please feel free to contact me directly with any further questions or
  comments.
  

---

It is almost getting funny but not yet. So I guess that I have no choice but to dispute the charge.

[mairving]

Of course, this may have something to do with their decline:


Onvia.com, Inc.
After Hours: Last 0.84 Change unch Volume 3,100
Last 0.84 Open 0.84
Change -0.03 Previous Close 0.88
% Change -3.57% Bid 0.84
Volume 151,100 Ask 0.97
Day's High 0.91 52 Week High 78.00
Day's Low 0.81 52 Week Low 0.50

Fundamental Data Financial data in U.S. dollars

P/E NE Market Cap. 73.12 Mil
Earnings/Share -1.74 # Shares Out. 86.67 Mil
Dividend/Share NA Exchange NASDAQ
Current Div. Yield NA Intraday Chart | Message Board

Sales 148 Mil
Income -117 Mil
Net Profit Margin -79%
Return on Equity NE
Debt/Equity Ratio 0.02

Revenue
1st Qtr 21.5
2nd Qtr 29.3
3rd Qtr 45.3
4th Qtr 52.0
Total 148.1

Earnings per share
1st Qtr $-0.70
2nd Qtr $-0.48
3rd Qtr $-0.39
4th Qtr $-0.31
Total $-1.88






[Edited by mairving on 03-17-2001 at 10:58 AM]

[archie]

An ordeal that originally began 3 and 1/2 months ago and has yet to be resolved ... you have every right to be annoyed. Onvia ought to be ashamed.

[troysvihl]

hey mairving, have you tried to do a charge back onto your cradit card? I remember last year, Ron had put a pretty detailed post up about doing that. I forget the details of how to get that done, so maybe that wouldn't fit in this scenario. If you did, I was just wondering how successful you were.

[mairving]

Yeah, that is the next step.

[mairving]

Well I guess the threat worked. I noticed that the credit is now on my account. Hey that gives me $159 more bucks for an upgrade.

[archie]

and now decisions Mairving ... will it be another go for a HD, an ATI All-in-Wonder card , a pair of speakers, new chip, ... hmm

[mairving]

Actually, Archie, it looks like it is probably going to go towards fixing up a nursery. My wife is expecting and due in July.