Abe's of Maine

They fraudulently charged my CC for item not in stock: So the lesson of this story is if it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, congratulations you are dealing with Abe's of Maine. My story starts Monday, April 2nd when I gave Abe's of Main the benefit of the doubt and purchased a 60" Samsung LED from them because they had great pricing, free shipping (delivery within 5-6 bus.days) and no tax. It's possible people just had a bad experience. What company could possibly be so bad?

Tuesday, April 3rd, I get a call from Mike ** to confirm my order. He proceeds to try to upsell me on the shipping telling me that the free freight will almost guarantee a broken TV and that would result in dealing with the freight company to get a refund which could take several weeks. I declined and also politely declined the extended warranty. Mike tells me it will now take 7-10 days for my TV to ship and another number of days before I receive the TV. He ends the call by wishing me luck in a sarcastic tone. Not once, not twice, but three times because I didn't accept his upsell of "white glove" delivery.

FYI, my credit card has been charged over $2,600! Wednesday, April 4th, I slept on the experience and decided, "You know what, the Duck's of Maine does not deserve my business." I called to cancel my order and spoke with Ray ** from customer service. When I told him that I want to cancel, the order he says it's already ready to ship, contradicting what Mike ** said. After I point out that discrepancy, he says he is very sorry, that he will inform the management team of the issue and that it was not acceptable. He then offers me upgraded shipping and a $100 restaurant gift card and tells me that I will receive the TV by Friday or Saturday. I declined the $100 gift card and say I just want the TV. I thanked him for his professionalism and think, "You know what, those guys aren't that bad." I am given a number for a freight company but told not to call and that my tracking number will be coming by end of the day.

Friday, April 6th, no tracking number and guess what, Ray ** is off for Easter! I was lucky enough to land Frank ** in customer service. And guess what? There is no record of my conversation with Ray. The item did not ship and is in fact coming from the Samsung warehouse. Once again, I get the sorry for the inconvenience story, quack, quack, quack, quack. And once again, I give them the benefit of the doubt when Frank tells me that he won't know until Monday on the tracking number. I tell him okay and that I will check in.

I followed my call with Frank with a nice email to David **, VP of Duck's of Maine with my story and he responds Sunday telling me and I quote: "I do apologize that you have had an unpleasant transaction and I will definitely listen to the recording between you and Mike **. If he indeed had been rude and said that the television would have problems if you did not upgrade the shipping, he will be handled in a manner that he has not seen. That is 100 percent false and we do not practice things like that. Regarding Ray in customer service, to be honest he is already on his last leg working at Abe's and I will have a nice chat with him. I will check on the stays for you on Monday and do hope Frank did take care of the issue for you. If you need please see below my contact information just give me a call anytime Monday-Thursday 9:00 7:00 pm."

Aww...that was sweet. Monday, April 9th, what a surprise. No updates from Frank. Let's try to call customer service's main number. It must be my lucky day. It's Frank! Hi, Frank! What's that? The TV is in stock but you guys are trying to figure out whether or not R&J Trucking or another firm will be making the delivery. Great and I will get the tracking number by close of business. Thank you!

Tuesday, April 10th, seriously, I mean seriously. A previous poster mentioned this but didn't believe until it happened to me. I called at 5pm on the phone that I used for the previous calls. They close at 6pm. I get automatically kicked to a recording that business hours end at 6pm and to call again. Hmmm....what happens when I call from a new line. Ring, ring, ring. I get through! They blocked my number! I spoke with Jason from customer service whose last name I didn't care to get. What? The TV is not in stock because it was really popular and Samsung didn't make enough. I told him to cancel my order. "But sir, how about we give you the 3-year warranty for free." "No, cancel my order." I am put on hold and he comes back and tells me that he is aware that I reached out to VP of Duck's of Maine and tells me that I will get the first one that comes in. "Cancel my order, Jason!" He finally cancels my order and says I will be credited back on my credit card for a TV that was never in stock and that never shipped. Last time I checked that's called fraud in the U.S.

I have often heard Judge Judy discourage the purchase of large priced items over the internet but I took the risk anyway because it was $600 cheaper than Sears, Sam's Club and Costco. In addition, there was no requirement to pay taxes or shipping. What a deal I thought.

On 26 Dec 11, I went on the website of Abe's of Maine and ordered a Samsung UN55D7000 for $1,749. Completely surprised at the much lower cost before ordering, my brother (a district manager for Aaron's Electronics) suggested I call and ask them if the TV was refurbished or used. I did and the customer service representative said it was brand new. He then told me to ask about the return policy. The representative said 30 days. So I'm thinking even if they lied and it is refurbished, I can return it.

The TV was to take 7 days to arrive. When it didn't, I became concerned about the 30 day return policy. I called and asked if the 30 days began on the date of order or the date the TV is delivered. The representative from Abe's of Maine said upon receipt. I received the TV on 13 January 12. I opened the box, inspected the TV. It looked perfect just like a brand new TV. Knowing the Superbowl was approaching on 21st of January 2012. I plugged the TV into the wall and into the cable box. There were lines on the screen but only when it was turned on. I didn't understand. In addition, there was a document in the box with paper work that states, "Stop. Do not return to store, call Samsung."

Between the 21st and the 28th of Jan, I called Samsung for assistance. They said they would send out a rep. A rep arrived said the damage occurred during packaging. He then asked for the number to the merchant. After he spoke with Abe's of Maine, he said they said I was told I had 7 days to contact the shipper if there were issues. In addition, the representative from Abe's of Maine stated that this was a problem Samsung should fix. A rep was sent. He sent in his report to Samsung and Samsung said it was a shipper issue. I am thoroughly confused so I go online to review Abe's of Main purchase policy.

I ordered a Bosch microwave from Abe's of Maine on 10/20. Abe's was closed for a religious holiday, and is also closed on the weekends, which delayed the delivery many days more. After several calls to Abe's and to the shipping company, I was told by Abe's that it was delivered and to call the shipping company. Shipper said they hadn't received it yet, which was the truth. Abe's basically told me it was on its way when it wasn't, and put the job of calling shipper, several times, when they knew it wasn't there. I had to wait over 2 weeks. Finally, I received it 15 days later, the evening of 11/4/11. There was no hardware to install the wall bracket, no manual with the microwave. The two bolts that did come with it were stripped and the edges were marred as if installed or removed with channel locks or pliers. My husband spent hours to install and buy the hardware, just to find out that it wasn't working at all. Abe's is not open on weekends, so we had to wait some more.

It was supposed to be a demo model, not a return. There is no reason that a demo model should not work. Quite obviously it should have been sent to me working. I called Abe's and they basically said there was nothing he could do except I could return it to Abe's after waiting all this time. He gave me Bosch's contact if I wanted to get it fixed and told me that he would send a $100 restaurant gift certificate, which I never received.

Bosch put me to a few choices on servicers, and my husband took off a day of work to meet with one. They stated the problem is with the circuit board, which they would have to order. After waiting over 30 days (part was on backorder with Bosch) my husband took another day off of work to meet with the servicer again on 12/9. They brought with them the replacement circuit board and now it is yet another part that is broken, which will have to be ordered and lose yet another day from work.

So, after waiting almost 2 months (and 3 lost days of work) since order, I have yet to have a working microwave. I do believe Abe's sold an item that they knew was not working, and/or should have checked it before sending it out to the customer. I believe it was a returned product that Abe's tried to pass off. What demo doesn't work? What demo would not have included the installation hardware or manual? Of course Abe's has taken my money at the onset. I am disgusted at how Abe's operated in this manner--uncaring and unethical.

I had ordered nice camera 3-4 weeks ago and I am still waiting for them to deliver the camera. It seems they have absconded with my money. Nobody picks up the phone. Nobody answers emails. They all seems to be scammer, just take money and go away. They gave me some **** tracking number which shows same status since three weeks, also overcharging in shipping. Total scam site. Please don't get into their trap of lower prices because they never deliver.

I ordered Samsung LED Series 6 6500 42" TV via phone on May 13th, 2010 in the amount of $1618.18. I paid $88.32 for "4-6" day shipping. I was pressured into buying a "4 year maintenance contract". The total amount came to $1885 with a hundred dollar coupon for a restaurant website. We wanted the TV to see NBA east & west playoff games.

I tried over a dozen times to call 1-800-992-2237 within their stated business hours to get the shipping charges removed, as the playoffs were almost over and we hadn't received the TV. Each time, I heard a recorded message, fifteen minutes of music, and then was disconnected. Finally on May 24th, the shipping company called and said they would deliver the TV on May 25th. To me, this is standard 7-10 day shipping, which is free at Abe's of Maine.

On the morning of May 25th, I called Abe's of Maine again, only this time using a borrowed cell phone. All my previous calls had been from my home phone, the same phone used for the original order. On the borrowed cell phone, I immediately got a real person. When I explained what I wanted, he said you need to talk to customer support, then a recorded message, fifteen minutes of music, call disconnected.

By now I realize Abe's of Maine automatically blocked my home phone so that I would always hear messages & music but never be able to talk to a real person. At one point, the day after my order, the messages said Abe's of Maine would be closed for three days - enough time to prevent me from changing or cancelling my order before shipping. On the morning of May 25th, I googled "Abe's of Maine Scams". There were many, many hits. Likewise, for "Abe's of Maine complaints".

Furious, I called my credit card company, Discover Card. When I was routed to the billing services department, a nice lady listened to my tale of woe. She mentioned Discover was aware of many complaints listed for Abe's of Maine. She offered to call Abe's of Maine and conference me in. "Great," I said. After quite a few minutes, "Dave" said he could rebate the shipping and, per my request, cancel maintenance contract fees. He then quoted a price for the TV that was $30 more than the $1618.18 I had paid. I objected because I had the TV in my shopping cart on the Abe's of Maine website as of May 13th for $1618.18. "Dave" relented. At this point, the nice lady from Discover Card had to go.

As soon as she did, "Dave" passed me on to "Jason". Jason tried to explain why 4-6 day shipping would really occur May 13th-25th. I lost it and started yelling. Dave told Jason to rebate shipping and maintenance contract fees. Jason took awhile, no doubt calling the shipper to verify where the TV was, while I listened to more recordings and music. Finally, Jason came back and promised to make a rebate of $281.82 to my credit card within three days. I'm not sure where that amount came from but, I thought it best to accept what was on the table. I told Jason I would be calling Discover Card to give them the amount of the promised rebate. I did call Discover Card.

Another nice lady in the billing services department told me Discover Card would institute fraud processing if the promised $281.82 credit did not occur within fifteen days. I mailed the $100 restaurant website card back to Abe's of Maine. The TV was delivered an hour later by a little man from India, driving a very dirty, fifteen year old station wagon with no back window. Abe's of Maine used to be a good company. There should be some way to prevent what they're doing now.

They pulled a bait and switch. I ordered a Pioneer plasma T.V. on their site. They then call me up, Salesman named Larry, who says they are checking to make sure I am who I say I am. Of course this is not why they are calling. They are calling because they want to sell me more stuff. Larry tells me he can get me a $200 pioneer T.V. stand for $50, I being the idiot than I am fall for it.

Of course I recieved the stand, but it is not made by pioneer and it is a cheap light weight sheetmetal version of the one I was supposed to recieve. So I send several e-mail leave several voice mails with no response until I finally am able to get a hold of Larry, and it was like I am talking to a sleezy used car salesman. He tells me that they have no control over the stand as it comes bundled ('wrapped in plastic together with the t.v.', larrys words) straight from the Pioneer's factory. Of course this makes absolutely no sense since they initially offered it without a stand and shipped it seperately.

I tell him this makes no sense and he tells me that they will have to charge me for the original shipping cost to me, since they did not initially, which again makes no sense whatsoever. I then told them if I did not get a full refund on the stand that I would refuse the T.V. shipment, but Larry just said he 'entered it into his notes' and that was the end of the phone consversaion and have not hear back from them.

I still have not accepted the T.V. shipment and am shipping back the stand. I plan to talk to my credit card company and will ask for a charge back, but I also wanted to report these bastards who clearly know exaclty what they are doing. check out these other reviews I found randomly on google:

These guys need to be prosecuted. Any advice on nailing these guys to the wall? They are very clever too. After their initial phone call to me, they issued me a new reciept with the additional charge for the stand, but the reciept does not indicatet he model number nor the actual cost of the stand, just a final price. Very Convenient, and the stand they were advertising to me is no longer advertised on their site, this in funnier. Please help me get these guys.