Bait and Switch on 920 and others

[GAW]

I had gone to a site through Google (ShopCartUSA.com), whose two "featured" sellers were Camera Addict and Broadway Photo. Both advertised "new" US 920's with one year warranty for $264 and $274 respectively.

On trying to order the item, I asked some questions (fortunately). When pressed, they turned out to come ONLY with the bluetooth remote (nothing else), and in the first case, if you needed repairs, you will have to ship it to Europe they said. Also, TomTom's map guarantee would not be honored on these units. I was also told they were "fleet" units, and when asking for more info, was hung up on.

What this was all about was bait-and-switch, since in both cases, you could pay another $50 and get the full retail boxed version include the US 1 year warranty (that had been promised on the other units until questioned).

These are two sites to stay far away from - they even made eBay look good.

 

[dhn]

Do a search on this site and others for those retailers and read about complaints. Also do a google search on store X + complaints.

The old adage comes into play, "If it sounds too good to be true ..."

 

[GAW]

Some additional info - the above and two others (fotoconnection and tvsdepot) were on a list of merchants under the umbrella of ShopCartUSA.com. ALL four have terrible reputations.

There was one more on the list - TigerDirect.com (which has been good - I even got my traffic receiver from them on a pre-release price of $59.98 which they honored). The appearance of one reputable firm gave ShopCartUSA initially some level of credibility, but the others....!!!!! Not surprisingly, the Tiger price was the highest - probably because it was legitimate.

I would not hesitate to go back (directly) to Tiger, but definitely stay away form the other four - plus ShopCartUSA - as they cannot possibly be unaware of the practices of the other four.

 

[Arno]

TigerDirect.com (which has been good - I even got my traffic receiver from them on a pre-release price of $59.98 which they honored).

TigerDirect.ca has a retail store on Woodbine at Hwy 7 in Markham, ON, just north of Toronto.
Take a screen print of their web advert, else they try to play ignorant.
Watch for the ad to say Brand New, as most is refurbished. No problem if accompanied with a manufacturers warranty.
They do sell TomToms. Matter in fact, end of May they had the best price in Canada for the 920T (while I was waiting for the 930).

 

[GAW]

I am surprised you had problems with them - but i had gone through US online store for both a pre-release Traffic receiver and a refurb 720 which came with all new accessories and a one year guarantee 9it is supposed to be 6 months).

Upon hooking it up to Home (2.3), it immediately offered to download new Map (in May - this was version 720).

Maybe the advice is to avoid the stores and stay with the online one.

 

[Arno]

I am surprised you had problems with them - but i had gone through US online store for both a pre-release Traffic receiver and a refurb 720 which came with all new accessories and a one year guarantee 9it is supposed to be 6 months).

Upon hooking it up to Home (2.3), it immediately offered to download new Map (in May - this was version 720).

Maybe the advice is to avoid the stores and stay with the online one.

No, don't avoid the store. Just show them what's on their web page
as they will try to get you to buy something more expensive.
I do not like mail order I rather deal face to face with personnel.

The majority of the guys complain that their mail-in rebates take six to nine months.
Last thing I bought was a new Plextor Convertex. Web page said about six weeks after
they receive the mailed in copies of the invoice and UPC code.
Had my cheque in less than four weeks.