Complaint Review: Comsis Computer LLC "bestpricebestservice" On Ebay - Chandler Arizona

On February 28th, 2009, I bought and paid for an item on Ebay, through its Buy it Now option. The item number was 200257965404 and it was for wireless computer/television headphones. The username of the seller is ironically bestpricebestservice, and is the Ebay account for Comsis Computer, LLC, which operates at 1616 W Germann Road, #1075,Chandler, AZ 85248. There are few things of importance that were listed in the sellers description that later proved to be untrue:

1) It states: We realize electronic items are very sensitive and required extra attention to make sure buyer receives the merchandise safely. Thus we pay extra attention to our packing's. The merchandise already comes with its original protective box and packing. The item was received without any protective box or packaging. It was simply put in a flimsy piece of molded plastic that offered zero protection and mailed to me in bubble envelope mailer.

2) It states: 30 ft distance wireless high sensivity reception beyond obstacle of wall or windows,, interference resistance, Hi-Fi wireless headphone provides superior audio performance with full, defined bass for your wireless freedom enjoyment. The wireless function did function properly and the superior audio performance was a joke. More on this later.

After payment was made, the seller left me positive feedback which stated Awesome to deal with, please visit BESTPRICEBESTSERVICE again, thank you!!! I received an email from them on March 2nd with an invoice that also said my item had shipped and provided me with a tracking number (USPS: 9102805213907714547575). The item arrived on March 6th. When I got home from work I put batteries in the headphones and the transmitter and hooked it up according to the directions. I was quite appalled with the result.

The headphones are supposed to have many functions; unfortunately the only one that worked well was the radio tuner. The sole reason I bought the product was to listen to my computer wirelessly. The wireless function did not work at all. At times if I manipulated the plug on the cord and had the headphones at full volume I could barely pick up a faint sound equal to perhaps a light whisper from 5 feet away (though even this was full of static and far from clear). This only worked if I had all my audio settings on my computer set to maximum. I have perfect hearing and seeing as how the radio tuner was reasonably loud (though far from full, well defined bass, or anything else that would justify a claim of superior audio performance,) the headphones were quite capable of producing sound just not for the wireless function. For the heck of it, I also hooked it up to my television and encountered the same result.

I immediately emailed the company to describe my problem, and this is where the headache began. I was quite clear on what was happening and if any attention had been paid to my words, they would have realized right away that the product was defective. Instead the first email I got from them inquired as to whether or not I had installed the batteries in the transmitter. There were quite a few foolish emails like this sent from the seller and finally a more detailed instruction manual than what had been included in the package was sent to me.

I got quite annoyed and even sent them pictures showing that the headphones and the transmitter both got power and finally spelt it out that I am far from technologically challenged and asked that instead of them continuing to insult my intelligence that they start talking about a refund or exchange. They said they'd be happy to take the product back for a refund, exchange, upgrade, or credit. I wrote back asking if a return authorization number was required and inquired as to whether or not they'd refund the shipping since the product was defective. They wrote back that no number was required, however the conveniently forgot to mention anything about the return shipping cost. It was at this point I realized this was going nowhere and I opened a dispute on Paypal against the seller on March 7th.

The seller sent at least one more fruitless email directly to me after the dispute was opened and due to its lack of any useful content, I asked him to reply to me only through Paypal, which he said he would. When I opened the dispute, Paypal gave me an option to request a partial refund. I figured even though I had bought the product solely for its wireless function, it did in fact work when plugged directly into the headphone jack of my computer (bypassing the transmitter altogether), and I could therefore find some extremely limited use for it.

So I restated my position and requested a refund of $15 (the total cost including shipping was $19.44), I felt not only that this was fair and made the most sense for both parties, but that it would have been the easiest thing for everyone involved. I even would have been open to lowering my number a bit if asked just to bring the matter to a speedy resolution. Unfortunately the seller declined my request on March 9th and instead requested I return the product for testing and exchange. I of course asked for them to provide a prepaid shipping label for me to be able to do so and reminded them that this product simply put is defective and does not work in the manner of which is was described to when I bought it.

I felt that them asking me to ship back their defective product at my own expense was insulting. Even though it's in their fine print on the auction page, it's a standard we're liable for nothing clause, but clause or no clause, that doesn't give anyone the right to mess with other peoples hard earned money and not live up to their responsibilities. What they were asking is akin to them selling me a car sight unseen and when it arrives the Porsche I ordered in fact turned out to be a Kia and them saying Oops, our mistake, kindly ship it back at your expense and we'll send you what you ordered in the first place. I thought about it later and it occurred to me that if they were out of stock of headphones they could simply send out somebody else's return as a functioning item and go back and forth at other customers' expense!

Two days later they still had not responded, so I left another message reminding them that if they didn't start offering something (anything) useful, I would leave them negative feedback on Ebay, report them to the BBB of Greater Arizona, file a report with ripoffreport.com, and escalate the matter on Paypal from a dispute to a claim. I figured this would be enough to motivate them into replying. They did not. On the 16th, I left another message informing them that their silence was forcing my hand. Still nothing, so on the 17th, I finally left them negative feedback on Ebay. Amazingly, less than three hours later they responded on Paypal and said:

Thanks for your message. I apologize about late response. We have a new trainee and some messages were missed. we will issue a full refund including return shipping cost for the item if you return the item and revise your negative feedback. Thanks.

I found it quite amusing that they asked me to revise my negative feedback, nonetheless given the position I was in, I decided not to make an issue about it and responded with the following:

First, I would like the name of the individual at your organization who is making this guarantee. Second, you should know that the draft complaints for ripoffreport.com as well as to the Better Business Bureau of Arizona have been completed and are ready to be submitted to both entities -- the "name dropping" was not an idle threat, the truth of the matter is I could care less about the money, its the principle behind this that has incensed me to no end. Finally, I will mail the item back to you tomorrow, but will keep this open until the refund is in the works. Should you keep your word and do what you should have done in the first place, I will gladly rescind my negative feedback (if ebay allows it), but only after the refund has been processed. You keep your word, I will keep mine.

The seller wrote back the following day:

Thanks for your response. The offer was authorized by Yusuf Yildiz Company President. We will issue the refund as soon as your return arrives. Thanks for your consideration.

The following day I shipped the item back to the seller and left them the following message in the Paypal dispute:

Package is on its way. Delivery Confirmation #: 0480 5401 4370 2906 8836. The total cost for postage came out to $9.35, therefore $9.35 + $19.44 = $28.79. Thank you.

I don't know why (at that point I don't think any of their antics should have surprised me), but I was absolutely floored when I ready their reply:

Thanks for your message. We will post a message when we receive and test the package. Next step you will reverse your feedback and then we will issue the refund of $28.79.

I was shocked that now that I've put the product back in the mail they are completely reversing their position. I made it abundantly clear on the 17th that I would not do anything until the refund had been processed (to which they agreed!) and now they expected me to reverse my feedback, then first test the item, and meanwhile I'm just supposed to rely on their good word to issue me a refund? I replied in kind:

As was posted in my message on 3-17, I will not reverse my feedback until the refund has been processed. And in your reply on 3-18 you clearly state "We will issue the refund as soon as your return arrives." I expect you to keep your word.

As an afterthought I added this:

And to be fair, if I were you, I'd be far more concerned with the other steps I am prepared to take if this nonsense continues than with your feedback on ebay.

Later that day, the seller wrote this:

I will receive your package and i will issue your refund. I expect you to keep your word too and reverse the feedback just after the refund. thanks.

I thought that this would be the end of it, but almost unsurprisingly, I was wrong. The package was delivered on Saturday, March 21st, so on Monday, I wrote that USPS was showing the package as being delivered. A refund for the PURCHASE PRICE of $19.44 was issued (this automatically canceled out my Paypal dispute). Shortly thereafter, I received an email at one of my personal addresses that said:

paypal didn't let me issue the refund for the return shipping. I am not able to send money, my boss will be here in an hour, he will send you money for return shipping ($9.35) thanks

While I am not intimately familiar with Paypal from the merchant side, I found it quite curious that somebody would be able to issue a refund, but not able to issue a payment or at the very least a refund over the paid amount. In any event, I decided to play along. Several hours later I hadn't heard anything yet, so I sent them an email inquiring as to whether or not Mr. Yildiz had arrived. And I got the most interesting reply:

I just talked to him, we looked at the return processing form, the test result is item is working, i can send you to return processing paper too. My boss is really sad about this issue. For a working product we already issued a refund and he said he is not going to issue refund for return shipping. I don't know what you want to do.

This tactic was very cute. It is my belief that they never intended to issue me a refund for my shipping costs, they simply wanted to close out the dispute on Paypal, thought I'd be stupid enough to revise their feedback before I got a refund, and then claim to have tested the product and magically found it to be in perfect working order and then decide they've done more than enough already and stick me with the cost of shipping. A few more emails went back and forth after this and this was the end result:

We are not going to honor your return postage fee. You have returned a working product and want us to pay for everything for your own mistake and that is not going to happen. If every customer is like you, there won't be any business on Ebay. It is up to you to remove the negative or not, but if you don't, since your money is refunded, we will give you a non payer dispute and your Ebay account will be suspended.

Best price? Best service? Like Judy Sheindlin's book, Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining. What a joke and talk about a way to add fuel to the fire! Ebay's process for non paying bidders is a useful tool for those that for whatever reason have not paid for their purchases, but it is fundamentally flawed when sellers choose to abuse it, because it allows them to review the buyers reply and decide whether or not to issue them a strike, all without Ebay's direct oversight. I responded with factual information and the seller of course wrote back the company line that I claimed their product was defective, but returned a working product, and I still want them to refund my shipping costs. Then they issued me a strike.

So not only was the seller lying, he was blatantly abusing one of the resources Ebay offered him in an effort to harass me. Even if what he said was true, and of course it wasn't, the point of the matter is that I paid, he knew I had paid him, and he was claiming I hadn't simply because he had refunded the money so that it appeared a balance was due when in fact the transaction had been rendered null and void at that point. I'm sure the seller will be happy to know that strike was removed on March 26th by Ebay after reviewing the documentation I sent them on appeal (and since I have a flawless record with Ebay didn't even cause an account interruption in the first place).

Here's the point: I bought an item and paid for it the very same day. What I got was cheaply manufactured junk that did not work the way it was supposed to according to the seller's description. Do I think they knowingly sent me a defective product? Most likely not, but after seeing how they treated me, I suppose it's certainly possible. The way they have acted and attempted to deceive me was not only piss poor customer service, it was downright disgusting. Look, this has never for a second been about the money. What do I care about $9.35? This has solely been about the principle of the matter.

You don't send somebody something that's broken (or breaks along the way because of the way you packed/shipped it) and then make them pay to send it back to you. And you certainly don't string them along, make them jump through hoops, get them to send it back, and then pretend your word meant nothing. I seriously wonder if I'm dealing with middle school children who said they'd pay my return shipping costs, but said it with their fingers crossed behind their back that certainly seems to be the mentality of these people.

They claim the product I sent back was in perfect working order. That's absolute nonsense. I wouldn't have bought the product if I didn't want it and if I got it and decided I didn't need it or it wasn't what I wanted in the first place, sending it back at my expense would hardly have been unreasonable. But that is not the case. I have no problem at all supplying a sworn written statement that attests to my experience with their product and its condition upon being received and sent back. The wireless function did not work properly and that's that. I would hate to see the quality of some of their higher priced items. They are fighting with me over nine dollars; I wonder what they'd do to somebody who bought an item worth several hundred?

As was already stated I really don't care about the money, this is about the principle. If they want to apologize and issue me a refund for the shipping like they agreed to, then fine, that'd be a nice gesture, and I'd be happy to update this complaint in kind; but honestly, the purpose of this complaint is to warn others of the absolute horror that I've experienced dealing with Comsis Computer, LLC, aka bestpricebestservice on Ebay. If this helps just one person avoid the same experiences I've gone through with them then its served its purpose.

Michael

Jupiter, Florida

U.S.A.

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