DealExtreme.com - not such a deal after all.

[cdifoto]

I placed an order on 1/4/2009 for a generic Sto-fen and Yong-Nuo Timer Remote.

I received my generic Sto-fen on or around 1/16/2009, a few days after I had emailed the seller.

As of 1/25/2009 the status of my timer remote was still pending.

I filed a PayPal INR complaint on 1/25/2009. Immediately upon doing so, I receive an automated email from DealExtreme informing me that my order was canceled due to a PayPal claim.

1/29/2009 I receive a PayPal status update informing me that the DealExtreme entered shipping information for the order. The shipping information they entered was for the generic Sto-fen.

1/30/2009 the status of my timer remote on the DealExtreme website states processing paused due to a PayPal complaint.

I still have received no direct communication from DealExtreme to resolve the issue or explain to me why my remote never shipped, despite my proactive attempts before filing a PayPal complaint.

I strongly suggest legitimate vendors who communicate effectively and do not pass off partial order shipments as complete.

[ksva]

They have quite a few customers over on Candle Power Forums (flashlights), many that have done well with them. They have great prices and some good products, so you can get a good deal.

If you have a problem, it'll be a long hard road to get it resolved. Most people just give up. I've had one or two dealings with them and I was fortunate to receive my stuff. Even though it's tempting, I won't gamble with them anymore. Not worth the risk to me.

[Rhys]

Yes... PayPal will be of zero help there. Issue a claim with your card provider. I had this exact problem with Jiakgong on ebay. I ordered a remote from him together with some other stuff. The other stuff arrived. The remote never did despite his claiming it was in the parcel. Paypal just looked at "a parcel arrived" rather than "was the order complete". I now will not deal with Paypal. I'll do gpay but not paypal.

[laydros]

I ordered a battery grip from them 1/30 and only received it today, after paying for express shipping. I actually wrote about it in my short review of the grip in the Sony forum. (http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43239)

Luckily I did get my item, but I'm not very satisfied with it taking 2 weeks for them to get the product from the supplier, when there website says that takes 1-3 days, and not so much as an email to let me know what was going on. I strongly considered cancelling my order, but realized when I saw that it would take them about 3 weeks to send me a "refund slip" that this was probably a process that would never end.

[cdifoto]

I did get my issue resolved via refund eventually but I won't be placing another order for the remote.

I couldn't have gone the chargeback route because I used a debit card.

[Sole Shooter]

I've bought from them and they too shipped a parcial order but they include a PO stating that the 2nd item was backordered. I called them and the CS person said their records indicated the same and to allow about a week or so. Sure enough, the 2nd item showed up about a week and 1/2 later. So no problems here but YMMV.

[Beowulff]

Seems like Deal Extreme are another bunch of off-shore scammers...

ComplaintsBoard.com (http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/fraudulent-company-c164127.html)

Caveat emptor :(

[Anthony]

One thing to be wary of with PayPal is vendors asking you to pay using PayPal through their own payment gateway?
I had a problem with an item and PayPal were not interested as they could not track the transactions details that way. I submitted a complaint which they sent me an email saying it was refused almost before I closed the browser - so nobody had reviewed it it was an automatic responce.
The only way I recived any money back was I contacted PayPal again telling them I was going to carry out a chargeback and before the bank sent me the forms to fill in the money was back in my account.

So moral of my story - pay through the PayPal site directly, do not use the vendors own site as PayPal then have records of the payment, times etc.

[Csae]

Most vendors ive used and paid with paypal have almost had a link to the actual paypall site to finish the payment.

Is that what you mean ?

[Anthony]

From memory ( 10 months ago now ) when I purchased the item on ebay there was a link to pay ( may have been the confirmation of purchase email ) and you visit the sellers website. I select the pay by PayPal link and enter the details, check my PayPal account and the money had been removed.

Looking back I have found some records of my emails and paypal said:


Since you purchased your goods independently of eBay or have not marked
your goods as eBay items while paying through PayPal, we are not able to
investigate your claim. This is because we are unable to compare pre-sales
and post-purchase descriptions of the item.


Sorry I may have got some of the detail a bit wrong in my first post but I did buy from ebay and I did pay using paypal but I didn't go direct from ebay to PayPal. I went through the vendors site as the vendor instructed. I now always go direct to PayPal from ebay even if the vendor says differently.