I bought from www.homegrown-hydroponics.com and "Howard" was just awful. He sent cheap merchandise that was broken and flat out refused to refund my money. He wants me to pay more shipping charges for him to ship the merchandise I already paid to return because it was broken. The CFL light bulbs were shattered. He claims it's not his fault. He will find excuses to delay shipment, take your money, and not offer anything in return.

There are so many places out there selling similar products. Please take my advice and shop around because this guy will RIP YOU OFF!

Marquette

Overland Park, Kansas

U.S.A.

Click Here to read other Ripoff Reports on Homegrown-hydroponics

5 Updates & Rebuttals

Brad

Haverford,
Pennsylvania,
U.S.A.

Howard Birnbaum is a Scam Artist

#2Consumer Suggestion

Mon, October 26, 2009

Howard Birnbaum is a scam artist.

First of all there is no return policy on his site. A little shady? yes.

He cites his "B+" BBB rating, however this does noty change the fact that it used to be an F.

Do you really trust this man?

http://i38.tinypic.com/2yxm73b.jpg

Homegrown-hydroponics.com

na,
Florida,
U.S.A.

Our BBB B+ Rating

#3REBUTTAL Owner of company

Sat, October 24, 2009

"Sham of a company"? That is what you posted. We have a BBB rating of a B+. Out of 3000 grow boxes we have sold in the last 3 years we have had only 5 complaints. Of those 5 complaints the BBB sided with us on 4 of the 5 giving us a stellar history and record with them. Go research it for yourself and see we are telling it like it is... We would appreciate it if you stopped spreading lies about our company and hiding behind an anonymous post with no proof you even ordered from us!!

Homegrown-hydroponics.com

na,
Florida,
U.S.A.

Homegrown Hydroponics Responce to your Responce

#4REBUTTAL Owner of company

Sat, October 24, 2009

Marquette: We told you we do not ship broken merchandise. This makes no sense. If we receive something broken we return it to our distributor for a replacement. We do not ship out broken parts to customers! I am shocked you believe this! You say we are making excuses? UPS breaks things every day. We can't be responcible for how a 3rd party company handles your package once we ship it. UPS breaks a lot of people's merchandice in the course of being deleiveed. It happens when you are shipping globally and is just the reality of life. You are talking about a glass light bulb that is fragile to begin with. Things break. It sucks but it happens. The point is the part was not broken when it was shipped out! You mention the light was cheap somehow? In what way? A more expensive glass light bulb may have not broken? Is that the point you are trying to make? However, since you insist on debating this on a public forum rather than just shipping the lamp back for a replacement give me your order number and we will ship 3 replacement lamps to you for free just in case something goes wrong and one breaks. So whats your order number? We'll get it right out... Call us m-f at 888-503-3861 and we'll take care of you..... We will of course be posting the tracking number here for the new lamp as well as the replacement that would have been shipped to you if you in-fact did ship back the broken part....

Marquette

Overland Park,
Kansas,
U.S.A.

Howard Birnbaum and homegrown-hydroponics.com STEAL FROM CUSTOMERS

#5Author of original report

Fri, February 20, 2009

In Howard's rebuttal to the original complaint, he claimed he doesn't ship broken parts and blames UPS. Whatever man, blame everybody else. He promises to refund and ship new unbroken parts out, well he never did. Howard's company, www.homegrown-hydroponics.com sells cheap stuff, has horrible customer service, and refuses to refund money. Please, please, please, SHOP AROUND before you ever consider giving this guy and his sham company any money. HE WILL RIP YOU OFF

Homegrown-hydroponics.com

Na,
Florida,
U.S.A.

We don't ship broken parts

#6REBUTTAL Owner of company

Tue, July 01, 2008

Marquette. We are sorry your bulb was broken when it arrived. Obviously we don't ship out broken lamps to our customers. UPS is very rough on their packages, and sometimes bulbs get broken in transit. I am not sure what you mean by this being a cheap bulb, and breaking. I can assure you that expensive bulbs break as well. We are more than happy to replace broken parts in the rare case that parts need to be replaced, but the original must be shipped back so we can get credit and ship a replacement. Afterall, we didn't break your bulb, but we will replace it free of charge. Send back the broken bulb, and we will send you a replacement free of charge and re-emburse you for your shipping expense.

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