Complaint Review: vacuumcleaners.net

I was interested in buying a 12 volt Hoover "Road Rat" wet/dry hand vac for our RV and thought I had found one at vacuumcleaners.net where it was offered as a product for sale on this site. I placed the order, which was accepted and my credit card was charged.

A few days later we received a phone call saying vacuumcleaners.net did not have that specific vac but they had the "upgraded" version we could have for the same price. We said that as long as it was the same thing we would be happy with the upgrade.

A short time later we received a conventional Hoover wet/dry vac that was not a 12 volt and could not be used in our RV. It was not an "upgrade", it was a completely different item. The product was delivered with no protective packaging, no invoice and the return address had been deliberatley cut out of the shipping label. I have photos.

When I emailed the vendor to send a return label  so I could send the unordered and unwanted product back, the vendor did not provide a name and refused to send a return label. Here is the actual series of email:

10-20-2011
To Whom It May Concern:
 
Today I received the Hoover Wet/Dry Vac which is NOT what I ordered at all. I ordered the "Road Rat" 12 Volt Hoover Wet/Dry vac. We did receive a phone call and were told the "Road Rat" had been "upgraded" and we would be sent the upgrade which was fine if it was the SAME VAC.... which it assuredly is not. We cannot use a plug in vac in the motor home; we have to have the 12 Volt Wet/Dry with a cord that fits our lighter outlet; i.e. the Hoover Road Rat for motor homes and boats. I was also unhappy the product was delivered without protective packaging or an invoice. Therefore I am asking you to send me a paid return label and invoice. I will package the Vac, make a copy of the invoice and you can credit my return when you receive it.
 
If you have any questions you can use return email or call me at XXX-XXX-XXXX.   Many thanks

I received no response.....

10-23-2011                         * SECOND NOTICE *

To Whom It May Concern:
 
On October 13, 2011 I ordered a "Hoover Road Rat" 12 volt hand held vacuum cleaner for our RV. VCN accepted the purchase, promised the product and TOOK my money. After the order was placed we were called and told the "Hoover Road Rat" had been "updated" and we would be sent the new version which we were assured was essentially the same. We subsequently received a standard Hoover "dustbuster" that cannot be used as a 12 volt vacuum in an RV. We cannot use this product and it was NOT the product we PAID for nor the one we were promised by Vacuumcleaners.net. We were also surprised the product was sent without protective packaging or an invoice.
 
Vacuumcleaners.net must now send a paid return label and invoice to: XXX XXX XXX XXX PROMPTLY please. I have already packaged the coventional dustbuster VCN sent and am ready to make the return and receive my CREDIT for it. 
 
Reference/Order # 100000063  Your immediate attention to this matter will be most appreciated.

10-23-2011 vacuumcleaners.net sent this response:

We never said that it was 12 Volt, I am sorry you are not happy in fact we told you that hoover no longer makes the 12V.  We will gladly refund your money but yyou would be responsible for the shipping back.

NOTE: Notice there was no return address was included in this email. No name was given. Also the intent is very obvious, we ordered and only needed a 12volt for our RV; i.e. no one from vacuumcleaners.net said or implied the vac they were sending was NOT a 12 volt because we simply would not have bought it; we would never have agreed to it. What would we need it for? Why would we agree to buy a conventional dustbuster when we couldn't use it which is why we ordered the 12 volt in the first place? This is clearly a completely dishonest response to a genuine inquiry. I wrote again and I admit I was getting angry...

10-24-2011
 This is addressed to the nameless individual who wrote the response from vacuumcleanersmail:
 
The statements made are completely untrue and obviously so.....When we were contacted, my husband was told it was the SAME basic vacuum but "UPGRADED". If you do not send the return voucher and then provide proof of our refund you are robbing us and believe me, I WILL report it to the BBB, online complaints and especially Hoover. We absolutely wanted ONLY a 12 volt and the agent who spoke with us only said your company "didn't have that [specific product] right now but we have the upgraded version and we can send it to you for the same price......". It is so obvious you or whomever spoke to us is not telling the truth. We ordered a "12 VOLT ROAD RAT"...Why would we accept a conventional dustbuster when we ONLY need the vacuum for our motor home/van? This was clearly expressed to the agent; CLEARLY. I strongly suggest you take this opportunity to behave ethically and send the return voucher, invoice ASAP and then proof of refund when the return is received. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves.  
Please advise.... 

10-24-2011  vacuumcleaners.net responded:

If you want a 12v one we have it but it is not made by hoover we can gladly exchange it for that
 
NOTE: In other words, we have paid for the full order including the shipping and now the agent wants us to pay shipping at least once if not twice more for the return of the unordered item and the new shipping on the exchange for an inferior product.

10-24-2011   I responded:
 
No thanks.... most 12 volts don't work at all... that's why we were looking for the "Road Rat" which gets great reviews. Please send the return label......

I received no further response. On October 28th, 2011 I finally called the number provided on the website, which was apparently the number of a private home, with the intention of paying the return in order to get the refund. A woman answered and when I asked for the address of the company I was put on hold. Then a man answered and when I asked his name he identified himself as "Mike". When I again asked for the address of the company, he rudely inquired, "What d'ya want that for?". When I told him I needed to return a product sent to us that we did not order he said there were no return labels, refused to give me an address, contradicted the facts, essentially called me a liar and then said, "I don't have time for this" as he hung up on me.

So, in my opinion, I've been mugged. It is not a great deal of money but that seems to be a theme today.....little thefts, small swindles done to hundreds or thousands of people can really add up for the scammer or unethical agent like the one representing vacuumcleaners.net.

I have contacted Hoover to inform them of their vendor's behavior and have made this RIPOFF Report.

If you go to the website [http://www.vacuumcleaners.net/return_policy] and read the return policy...  where again there is no return address listed .... you realize there is virtually nothing vacuumcleaners.net is going to accept responsibility for.

On the contact/inquiry page [http://www.vacuumcleaners.net/contacts] is a message I find positively creepy saying "Next time you call us with a question, you can see what we look like," [next time??? why not this time? or any time?] and "we have received some great emails thanking us for showing ourselves". I have never seen such a weird notice on any site I have ever used to purchase a product.

I hope if you need to buy a vacuum you consider going directly to a store. On the other hand, if the product is good quality and functional and you don't need to make a return, you may not have any problem with vacuumcleaners.net. However, if you DO have a problem and need to make a return or secure a refund, good luck with any attempt to resolve these issues with "Mike" because as far as I can tell he clearly has no intention of providing customer satisfaction nor a return of any purchase made once he has gotten his hands on your money.