On Sunday 9/28/08 I called this company to order a Sony television (KDL-XBR5) I saw advertised on their website. I spoke with a person named "Steve" at extension 217. I asked whether this item was new in the box and had a warranty and was told YES, but that he had a great deal on a newer, better model (Sony KDL-W4100PK) for only $100.00 more.
I asked if this unit was a gray-market item and was told NO. I went ahead and purchased this item on my credit card based on what I was told by the salesperson. He made it sound great.
Later, I went online to check out the specifications of the unit that had been recommended only to find that Sony did not list this model on their website. I Googled this model # and all the pages that came up pointed to this company or one of its sister websites. The only other sites that listed a "PK" model were all in Korea, Russia etc.
I tried to call back but no one answered nor was there a voice mail option. I called the next morning prior to their stated business hours and eventually reached "Steve". I told him that I decided to go with my first choice. He said "sure, no problem" at which time I was told that this unit had NO warranty. I asked why and was told that it was because this was a discontinued model (Sony still lists this model on their site).
I said I could go to any local store and buy a discontinued model and still get a warranty. I was then told that it only has a warranty if sold at an authorized Sony dealer. I replied "wait a minute, are you telling me that you are not an authorized Sony dealer" to which he replied that they WERE authorized and tried VERY hard to convince me to stay with the unit he had switched me to.
At this point I told him that I could not find this "PK" model listed on the Sony website and he said that it had a "PRO KIT" installed which upgraded the TV to a higher spec. And that it was better than the unit I had originally called about. I went back and searched for "Pro Kit" and did not come up with any relevant results on Sony's site or Google. And by the way, it is interesting that the specs given on Projector Export's website are exactly the same as the the specs on Sony's website for the non-"PK" KDL-W4100.
When I told him I preferred to have him unwind the deal and credit my charge card, he kept trying to convince me that this was a better model. When I brought up the fact that nobody else was selling this model he tried to convince me that this was a legit US model with full warranty.
I said I did not have a good feeling about this company and again tried to undo the deal. He then tells me that the unit had already been shipped (on a Sunday night?). Who ships on a Sunday night and who picks up shipments on Sunday night?
I said I will refuse the shipment and was told that I would have to pay the $150.00 shipping charge none-the-less. Why is it that he had no problem in switching me to another model UNTIL I said that I wanted to undo the transaction?
He gave me the extension # of his manager "Tony", who never answered his phone and there was no voice mail available. I called "Steve" back at his extension and he supposedly transferred me to "Tony". I then spent the next 4 hours getting bounced around over and over. Calling "Steve" directly would then start this process all over again. I tried talking with other representives only to, once again, start the process. This is a consumers hell!
I called my credit card company who told me that this transaction had been logged on 9/28 but had not been posted as yet and so I had to wait until it was posted before they could do anything.
I called Projector Export back and spoke with someone in billing (the only person who SEEMED to genuinely take an interest). She told me that she could not find the transaction and that I would have to wait several days and call her back. How the heck do you ship something and not have a computer record of it? Their inventory must be in horrible disarray if they do not have records of shipments logged in real time.
Having worked as an inventory control specialist, this just proves to me that I was lied to by the sales person (s) about it having already been shipped.
These people need to be put out of business A.S.A.P. And I will do whatever I can to achieve that end. I have started by posting here and other sites as well as sending a complaint form to NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office.
Buy from these people at your own peril. CAVEAT EMPTOR (buyer beware)!
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