Complaint Review: Low Cost 4 All Lowcost4all L C Way GreatDealsFinder

Last June 2007 I was looking to buy a new computer. I had saved a long time in my PayPal account and had about $1,400. I was looking on Ebay (seller goes by lowcost4all on Ebay) since I could not find a computer with much guts to it for that kind of money.

I was purposely avoiding any used or refurbished computers, as I only wanted a new one. I found one I liked but it would be over $1,800 to buy it, but was watching that particular auction. I really like the computer, a Sony Vaio, and was very happy to hear by email that the seller was an Authorized Sony Dealer.

I emailed the seller and he said he would charge me less if I bought from him directly instead of the auction, since he would not have to pay the Ebay listing fees. Over the course of a few days of me emailing him, I decided to buy this computer system from him directly. I paid through PayPal, the total being $1,798.00. $492.85 of that was from a credit card and the rest from what PayPal money I had. This man claims to be an Authorized Sony Dealer, when in fact he is NOT according to the Sony repair in San Diego. He said my computer was new, in a factory sealed box, had a full 1 year warranty, and lifetime support, none of which is true. My computer was in its original box, but not factory sealed, arrived damaged (not in shipping) and I have NO warranty at all because he tampered with the computer and took things out and added non Sony components, and his support is only when he happens to be online and isn't busy.

The computer was bought June 6th. It was sold to me with everything except the monitor as a brand new computer bundle. It is a Sony Vaio RC Series desktop pc bundle with the tower, speakers, wireless mouse, wireless keyboard, network card, modem, Sony remote, and a wireless receiver.

It took nearly 2 weeks to get it by mail. It arrived by UPS, well boxed with its original box, styrofoam etc. There was no damage at all to the box or packing material. As soon as we opened the box I saw that he did not send me a Sony remote, but a cheap knock-off, and that the mouse and keyboard were not wireless as they were suppose to be. I immediately emailed him and told him this. He said he would send me what I was supposed to get but only once he received the wrong equipment first. Despite the fact that I couldn't wait to use my computer I immediately package up the remote, keyboard and mouse and mailed them off. We never completely set up the computer because I needed the mouse etc. to run it.

Over the course of the next month this guy and I exchanged many emails, mostly because my items were not arriving and he was lying to me as to when they were sent. I would get an email from him with a tracking number and when I looked it up you could see the item had not been sent. It took him a month to get me those things back. Once we got them back we proceeded to set up the computer only to discover the wireless receiver was to a different type of Sony computer and not mine, so we could not get the new wireless mouse and keyboard to work. Once again I mailed them off right away, and still could not use the computer. Again I had another month of emails I sent before I finally got it. Despite the fact that I bought the computer June 6th I could not use it until late Aug.

We set up the computer and got it online, but had problems with it starting. We would have to restart it a number of times before it would come on. The front top doors covering the CD/DVD writer and DVD player and the multimedia card reader were all not aligned right and had been hit and damaged in some way. It arrived to me this way and I am positive it had nothing to do with shipping. Soon we discovered the CD/DVD writer did not work at all.

I sent him yet another email and told him all the problems I was having and that I wanted to return the computer to have it replaced/fixed. He refused to do anything more to help me and said, it is under warranty, let Sony fix it.

In the meantime since I did not have this computer in so long all my Ebay info was on my older laptop, so I was mostly using it. My laptop hard drive crashed in Oct. While I was waiting to get it repaired I began working on my other computer more. Right away I could see it was worse about starting for me. In a matter of a few weeks it got to where it would not start at all and had pretty much crashed. I email this gentleman again, and again he said have Sony fix it, it is under warranty, and he would not do anything.

I contacted Sony and explained everything. I sent and faxed them copies of everything and they told me it was under warranty and they would send me a box with packing to mail it to them, which I did. They had the computer a week or so and I got an email from them stating I needed to contact them to approve the $700 cost to repair it. I figured they just made a mistake and emailed them back and said it should all be paid for as it was under warranty.

Dec. 17th I had a message left on my phone to call Sony to get repairs estimates approved since my warranty was void. I called and when they disassembled my computer it was very obvious this computer was NOT new and had been tampered with previously. It was not refurbished as that would have to be done by an authorized Sony dealer and this was not.

It had parts removed and put in that were not from Sony, it had screws missing, it had a stick of RAM removed and the other one with no cover on it. I was also told by Sony that my computer was manufactured in June of 2006, and I bought it exactly a YEAR later in June 2007. This dealer has sent me numerous emails adamantly stating my computer was and is new, but it is not, that is a lie. I just received an email from Sony this morning, Dec. 18th. In that email they stated that the cost of repairing the CD/DVD writer is not included in the $700 repair quote because it is not working to where they can test it, (so this will likely become closer to a $1000 repair on a 6 mo. old computer that has been used maybe 2-3 mos. of that 6 mos). Also, I asked them to please check and see how much RAM the computer had. This is what they told me:

"In answer to your inquiry the unit has 1.5 GB of RAM. Hard drive has 300 and there is an additional Non-Sony (Maxtor) hard drive found installed. The CD writer can not be tested at this time because the unit is not working."

This computer was sold to me stating this computer had 2GB RAM (it has 1 1/2 GB) and 700 GB Hard drive RAM (it has less than half that at 300 GB) I am now sitting here with a damaged, used computer that even if I paid the $1000 to get it repaired (and I do not have that kind of money now), still has no warranty and will likely have more problems in the future. Right now Sony said it needs a new motherboard, and a new hard drive (plus it will need a new CD/DVD writer). That is major major work and major problems with a computer that is "suppose" to be only 6 mos. old and new and from an "Authorized Sony Dealer".

This individual, who live in Flushing NY goes by Eugene Kranakkov, sometimes by the first name of Viktor. His real name is Yevgeniy Karanaukhov. He goes by Ebay and business names : Low Cost 4 All, lowcost4all, L C Way, GreatDealsFinder, and Deals Computer Center. He sells many many computers on Ebay and likely off of Ebay. Despite the fact that he has a good rating on Ebay, what I believe he does is try to get people like myself to buy from him off of Ebay, and then rips us off. We then cannot leave him bad feedback, so his feedback and standing is good still with Ebay. His auctions on Ebay provide him a means of getting people to buy off of Ebay and yet still selling on Ebay.

This is a matter of out and out fraud. He is committing fraud by claiming to be an Authorized Sony Dealer (doesn't say it on his Ebay auctions for fear of being found out). Sony backs up their authorized dealers and backs up their work so when you buy from an honest authorized dealer that is a huge plus, but in this case it was a lie. He is selling Sony computers (as well as other brands) to people all over the world that are likely not new, likely tampered with, that have non Sony parts, and that do not work properly. Even if my computer happens to be the only one he has sold like that, and that is unlikely, he still scammed me and sold me a computer that was not new, not factory sealed, not under warranty, not in good working condition, was not a Sony dealer, and has non-Sony parts in it, and does not have the RAM etc. he told me it has. He is still a fraudulent seller and needs to be stopped. Many of these people will never know they have been scammed and lied to until their computers need repair and Sony finds someone (him) has put non-Sony parts in or just that is has been worked on by someone other than Sony and their warrant is now void. This man clearly stated to me numerous times he was and did sell me a new computer, but Sony can clearly prove that is not true. Not only was this computer not new, but was manufactured a year before I bought it, was damaged externally as well as internally and by him opening it up and removing and installing non-Sony parts he ruined the chance of me ever having a warranty on it, plus he has lied and said he is a Authorized Sony Dealer when he is not. He sold me a computer that could never be under warranty because it was not new and was tampered with internally and he knew it. So here I sit, a mom of 4 with a useless computer that needs around $1000 worth of work, money I do not have, and no warranty.

Jt
Clark Fork, Idaho
U.S.A.