Warning: Vision of Luxury on eBay

[Gedanken]

Okay, I've posted about my new Ventura automatic, which I'm very happy with. For youse guys who don't like the design, tough.

Now, for the other side of the story - getting the watch was an absolute nightmare. I'll report the facts and let you guys decide for yourselves.

I bought the Ventura on eBay at the Buy It Now price of US$650. The seller, Vision of Luxury, is based in New Jersey and would take only credit card transactions. The explanation was that PayPal insurance didn't cover transactions outside the US. So, fine, I emailed the store's contact, Gary Michaels, and asked him how he wanted the transaction carried out. He emailed me about half a day later and asked me to email him my credit card details. That was 24 May.

According to my bank statement, the credit card transaction was approved on 26 May to "Precision Watch". By 30 May, I hadn't heard back from the guy, even though I emailed him twice asking for confirmation. Since he was in New Jersey, I PMd Craig to give Gary a call. Later that day, after receiving Craig's call, Gary emailed me and said that he had received my information and the transaction was being processed, and once the funds had gone through he would email me with the tracking number. He also said that he had sent me two emails in the meantime. I checked my junk mail folder and my deleted folder, and there were no such emails from him.

Yet another week passed and no word from Gary. I called my bank, and they confirmed that the money went through to his account on 26 May. I emailed him on 6 June asking him to check his bank account to confirm that the money had gone through. I also attached a screen shot of my statement showing the transaction approval.

He wrote back to me, saying that he had information from 25 May that the transaction had been declined because of no address match. I pointed out that my transaction was dated one day later than his, so his information was out of date and he needed to check his bank account again. I also told him that I had gotten my bank to initiate a dispute on the transaction.

Later that day, I got an email from eBay saying that Gary had initiated an "item not paid" dispute against me. Despite that, he emailed me 12 hours later with this message:

We checked with them and you are correct. It was approved.
We are very sorry for the mix up and we will ship your watch out tomorrow. Once shipped, we will email you the tracking information.
Please cancel the dispute as we recieved the funds.

Well and good - even though I was pissed off with his "item not paid" dispute caused by his own ineptitude, it finally looked like we were finally getting somewhere, and I eagerly awaited confirmation that the watch had been shipped. In the meantime, because of all the problems, I decided not to cancel my credit card dispute until the watch was in my hands (or on my wrist ).

Just as well that I did that. Six days and two emails later, I still had no word. I finally had enough and decided to cough up for an international call to New Jersey. I finally got a hold of Gary on the phone, and I told him that i had been waiting for six days for the tracking number. Casual as you please, no apologies whatsoever, the guy just says, "Hang on", flips a few pages and reads me the tracking number. The USPS record shows that gary posted the watch on 11 June, not 8 June as he promised, even though the whole sale was already well behind schedule.

Anyway, thank God USPS were a lot more competent than he was, and I got the watch last Friday.

I thought things through for a couple of days, and I decided that it was my responsibility to give honest feedback on this guy on eBay. I gave it a negative rating, with the comment, "V. poor communication, did not check bank account then accused me of not paying.". I only had 80 characters in which to provide a comment, otherwise I would have embarked on a litany of the guy's sins.

NOW the guy decides that he can communicate quickly. Within a few hours of me putting up my feedback, I get an email from the guy asking me to withdraw my negative comment, and offering discounts on future purchases. Is he out of his frickin' mind?! After that nightmare, why would I ever want to deal with him again?

I decided to leave the negative feedback on eBay, and today my decision was justified. I just received an email from another eBay buyer in Melbourne, asking about what happened with this guy. The buyer gave me his mobile number and I called him. As it turns out, this buyer is going through the same thing as me, with two key differences:

1) Instead of just refusing PayPal, Gary's now also refused credit cards and gone for wire transfers
2) This buyer is out by A$3800 for this transaction - poor sod

Anyway, I told this buyer to lodge a complaint with eBay and I'll provide testimony plus Gary's emails to me, to show that this guy's pulling some seriously low crap.

The irony of this whole story is that if you look up Vision of Luxury's profile on eBay, they state:

Our customers are our number One priority. We encourage all of our customers to ask any questions that they may have so we can be sure they will receive the product which best fits their needs and style. There is always someone by the phone or by the computer to make sure that all of your questions are answered as fast and as accurately as possible.

What a bloody crock.

Now, apart from my invective, the above is factual, and I have emails and bank statements to support my story, plus Craig's experience - he was kind enough to get on this guy's back a number of times for me.

Read the facts and decide for yourself if this guy's worth dealing with. If any of you choose to deal with Gary Michaels at Vision of Luxury, all I can say is that I did my best to warn you.

[Incurable]

You did say New Jersey, right? Relating back to some photographic purchases I made years ago out of New York, I can say I had to learn the hard way... Folks from that area just don't know what customer service means, nor do they care. I experienced the most inept and unapologetic service ever from a couple large, very popular suppliers there. Their responses mirrored some you quoted above including: implausible dates, already shipped (NOT), sure it's in stock (NOT), conflicting information, strong-arm attempts to sell "extras", outright lying, double charges, slow-to-no responses, etc.

I reached the conclusion I would never buy from New York again, at least not those suppliers. Folks in California and other areas just seem to be much more 'in tune' with what customer service should be. That being said, I avoid places that offer large selections of items yet have an address that goes something like, "AnystreetUSA, Suite XX". I envision some guy renting a 500 sq/ft space w/a computer, desk, coffee maker and no inventory. Another warning sign is irregular business hours or on calling all you ever get is the answering machine (your call is important to us, yada, yada).

Sorry your experience was less than smooth and glad you finally got the watch... Welcome to the intergalactic kegger

[jac67]

Well, I'm glad for you everything ended up ok.

BTW, did he leave you positive or negative feedback.


John.

[Gedanken]

Originally Posted by Incurable

Welcome to the intergalactic kegger

Well, it's about time someone hosted one.

Well, he's real apologetic and client-friendly now that it's all over and he's seen the feedback. In answer to your question, John, he hasn't left any feedback although he did put a reply to my feedback claiming, "Customers gave 2 different address & card declined 3 times, nothing in the bank". What a crock - I've got the records to show he's full of it.

He's had 10 negative ratings mutually withdrawn - obviously some people have been taken in by his sob story after all the crap he put them through. Not this little black duck. Within 48 hours I've already had someone contact me and tell me the exact same thing's happening to him, and the picture I'm getting is that this dipstick's gotten away with it for way too long. I told the other buyer to lodge a complaint with eBay and if they wanted to look into it, I'd gladly tell them my story and show them the evidence.

Anyway, I haven't replied to his email yet. After all, he's already shown that he doesn't associate electronic communications with speed.

[President]

I've been in Newark "brick and mortar" shops - the service wasn't bad - it was non-existent.

[mikey]

Gedanken,If I really want a PS2 or whatever Im craving I take my time and read everything. I would rather be confident and happy with the transaction than impulse buy for an incredibly low price. I pull myself back and say "hold on" no paypal? wire transfer? credit card only? or Mail in a cashier check or money order only? Too many read flags whether $75-$750 I will not take a chance. Its Paypal or NO SALE and Confirmed Paypal Address ONLY my 2 cents

[Gedanken]

I hear what you're saying, Mikey, but the guy's initial reason that PayPal didn't cover international transactions was reasonable enough at face value. In any case, if things did go south, I would have had my bank behind me in getting my money back so, whether he used payPal or not wasn't an issue.