It wasn't "business" and it wasn't "ethical":
Full details and photographs at blog:
Http://bbb-portafixe-ripoff-team. Blogspot.com
Summary:
On 4 April I agreed to pay $140 for a brand new hard drive for my laptop, to the company where I had purchased my laptop in November which is PORTAFIXE, who have a web site online and are guaranteed by the BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU. The $140 was to include a complete transfer of the data from my existing hard drive to the new hard drive, no hidden fees.
PORTAFIXE subcontracted the handling of the sale and preparation of the new hard drive to their man on their premises, JIN QUAN KONG, who has a registered business of his own called I-TECH, but which has no web site. The name I-TECH appears on the store window at the street address for PORTAFIXE which I had found at the PORTAFIXE web site, and which was how I first visited that location in November on 2201 Bleury Street on the south-east the corner of Sherbrooke Street in Montreal, Quebec.
KONG took directions from PORTAFIXE owner, Marc-Andre Caron, on what was available in inventory, what price to charge for it, what equipment on the premises to use to prep the hard drive.
After more than an hour of trying, KONG was unable to transfer the data from my old hard drive to my new $140 drive. To make a long story short (all details are in my BLOG, above, along with photos) KONG told ME to sit in his store and transfer it myself, one file at a time (18 GIGS of files!). When KONG got bored, he simply pulled the plug on my laptop and declared he was closing! My data was divided between the new drive and the old drive. I was then obliged to purchase a container and a line-in to carry my old hard drive home!
A further several hours later, it proved impossible to transfer my old files to the new hard drive, which appeared to be defective. The following morning, during another attempt to transfer my files, the new drive crashed with a smell of burning.
I returned the defective "new" drive to PORTAFIXE the next day, 5 April along with the tin-can and line-in. PORTAFIXE owner, Marc-Andre Caron refused to deal with me, demanding that I catch up with KONG at some unspecified time later.
I had intended to spend a total of $100 on 4 April for a new hard drive.
I then agreed to spend $140 for the drive, because PORTAFIXE claimed it had no other available.
I ultimately ended up spending $216.51 CASH to wallk out with my data split between the old drive and the new drive, which appeared to be defective. The drive and the other items I was forced by the incompetence of KONG to purchase to protect my data were all return the next day, 5 April.
Due to the very brusque and bizarre behavior of CARON and his fellow employee, I felt that I needed to invoke the guarantee of the BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU at the Portafixe web site.
I therefore wrote a complaint online in the PORTAFIXE page at the Better Business Bureau web site. TO THIS DAY, over 2 and a half years later, I have NEVER SEEN A CENT of my money back.
BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU and PORTAFIXE have taken me out for a spin. The BBB sent me TWO unsigned letters, one in April and the other in July pretending in each case to "initiate" a complaint against Portafixe. Following the second BBB letter, I went down personally to PORTAFIXE and was denied a reimbursement of my money by KONG and then by the NEW OWNERS of PORTAFIXE, who have purchased the company, the web site, and the goodwill including the membership in the Better Business Bureau.
I then went directly and in person to the BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU offices on Notre-Dame Street in Montreal (see the photos at my blog) where I was given a further runaround by two people who seemed quite amused that I had taken the trouble to come to their offices: MARINA VILLARROEL and her boss, Mr. ROY, both of the Better Business Bureau. After a one-hour meeting in the board room of their office, they promised to oblige PORTAFIXE to remedy the situation or be removed as a member. However, after this, the BBB ignored all my emails, and did NOTHING to recover my money. Moreover, PORTAFIXE continues to be a member of the BBB, and features the BBB logo prominently at their web site.
I have been tantamount to being ROBBED outright of $216.51 CASH with no products or services in return, and a huge runaround between both PORTAFIXE and BBB acting as a tag-team to deter me from recovering my money.
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