Re: [NTLK] Variety Shop problems

From: Grant C. Brunson (grant_at_burneffect.com)
Date: Tue Apr 09 2002 - 18:17:36 EDT


I too had a little trouble with Phillydiscounters / Variety shop. I won a
2100 on eBay from them. They charged me $15.00 for shipping, spent $5.00 on
the postage and didnąt bother to insure the package. I found this out
during a brief scare when my post office was unable to locate my package.
Needless to say, a couple of days after the post office lost the package,
the e-mails I sent requesting the information they had about the shipping so
I could file my claim, were ignored. $15.00 for shipping and no insurance?
Give me a break...

On a related note... The Newt is in okay shape. Minor scratch on the
screen, the rechargeable battery is DOA, and the little apple badge is
missing... Bummer. Would anyone be willing to sell a guy a 2100 Apple
badge off a dead Newt? I know itąs really superficial, but Iąd love to
spiff this up a bit.

    This is a request for info/help and rant. I recently won an auction with
Variety Shop in Philadelphia for an upgraded 2000. The auction stated it
was in excellent condition with no scratches. They responded quick enough
during the initial auction transaction, but when I received the Newt, not
only were there scratches on the case (which I could have lived with), but
there was deep pitting on the corners and one of the plastic clips on the
back that hold the flip cover when open was missing (which I couldn©–t live
with). I sent them an email asking very politely whether I could send it
back and get a different unit that more closely matched the description of
the auction. I was days before I got a response, and that©–s only because I
sent an email to Philly Discounters (which on Bay uses the same template for
their auctions so I thought they may know each other) that I couldn©–t
contact Variety Shop. All they said was that they hadn©–t gotten any emails.
So I sent my request again and sent 2 more emails over the next day or 2
until they replied saying if I wasn©–t happy I could sent it back to a
particular address. I again sent a message saying I don©–t want to just
return it, I want to replace it like I stated in all my previous emails! I
was also getting upset about the 2-3 day lag time between every email, it
was like pulling teeth! I had also asked for them to either call me or give
me a number I could reach them because I would be more than willing to put
the phone charges on my bill so that we could quickly work this out as
opposed to this slow email waiting game. They said they worked 40 miles
from civilization with no phones. Why do I find it ridiculous that a
company earning money off of eBay wouldn©–t be checking their email more
frequently and have access to a phone? Anyway, they finally agreed that
they would replace it, so I shipped my Newton last Tuesday Overnight. I
sent them an email saying I had shipped it overnight and that I expected
them to ship the replacement back overnight. I even checked the tracking
number online and saw that it was delivered on Wednesday. It©–s now Monday,
I don©–t have a Newton and I still haven©–t received a reply from them as to
what©–s going on! So I guess I©–m asking if anyone on the list has dealt
with
these people before and if anyone knows how to contact them other than
email. I©–m about ready to contact the BBB or a lawyer or something about
this. Please help!

Jeff Langston
Jeff_langston_at_mac.com

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