Comments on: Abe’s of Maine High Pressure Post-Sale Tactics

By: John

John — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:49:12 +0000

Wish I had found this blog before my nightmare with “Abes”! Same Exact Experience. Ordered a Nikon Digital Camera From Abes. Shortly thereafter a high pressure sales guy calls. Same spiel as you outlined. Pushing hard for extended warranties. Then I find out they don’t have the product I ordered….. but they charged my card anyway. More than 2 thousand bucks. This raised the fly by night flag as I have never run into this before. I cancelled the order. The next day, they charged my card anyway. I’ve called twice since and both times am told the order is cancelled but as yet..no email confirmation and most importatly, no credit to my card. I will probably have to file a complaint with my card company. My advice..don’t be fooled by the free shipping offer and if you do buy from these people….don’t use cash!

By: Paul Valentino

Paul Valentino — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 13:00:02 +0000

I’m sorry to say that Abe’s has not changed their tune. I experienced similar high pressure tactics regarding the purchase of a refrigerator from them and I actually relented to a shipping upgrade because they said I could have the fridge brought into my house for an extra $109.00 and that they’d throw in a $100 gift certificate. They said my 3 shipping options were 1) leave in driveway for free 2) have it brought into house for $109, or 3) have it brought in, unpacked and setup for $220 or so. I declined any offer at least 3 times until they threw in the gift certificate and guess what. The fridge was left in my driveway and I have yet to see any sort of gift certificate of any kind.

By: Cade Cunningham

Cade Cunningham — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 21:58:21 +0000

(Update) I called customer service asked them what was going on. Kobe told me that it was out of stock but they were getting my it in tonight and shipping tomorrow. I told him I was worried about not getting it in time and he said he would upgrade my shipping. I said okay that works thank you. So, I checked my email today and to my surprise ups sent me a tracking # for my package and it estimates delivery on 9/28. Fingers-crossed! I will update when I get the package and make sure it is what I ordered.

By: Alexander B

Alexander B — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 19:55:16 +0000

Really hate to do this, but just so you know, my status said “sent to warehouse” FOR 15 DAYS ! Then it finally changed to “picked up”.
After that long (and to this day (26th) it still hasn’t been delivered) you stop caring about the delay and are just glad you might actually get it. That is no way to do business.

By: Cade Cunningham

Cade Cunningham — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 14:49:08 +0000

Ordered a lenovo thinpad e520 on monday or tuesday 9/19 or 9/20 and got a call two days later from Roy Rivers I informed him I am at my limit and cannot spend anymore than what Ihave already paid. He said okay and he would begin processing my order. The charge on my card posted a few minutes later on 9/21 then I started to read all the feedback on this website and others. It’s now monday 9/26 and the shipping status is still “Sent to warehouse” and i have no tracking #. I will place a call tomorrow and try to see what is going on. I just want my laptop in one piece that’s all. I need it for school badly and am worried I’ll be without it when I need it most. (will try to update tomorrow) Thanks for reading.

By: Alexander B

Alexander B — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 03:59:05 +0000

Oh boy !
Like everyone else I got suckered-in because of the low price, how stupid I feel for trying to save $200 on a $1700 TV.
So anyway, I found them through Cnet and thought, well they have to be good !
Ordered the KDL55NX720 Sony Bravia on the 5th. A few days later, I got “the call”, The guy wasn’t pushy per say, but I do understand that some might feel “guilted” into accepting their offers.
Luckily I’m an unemployed student, so I just said: “look man, that was absolutely all my money, I literally have 12 dollars left in my checking account (no lies)” so I flatly refused the $88 “faster shipping” as well as the $150 HDMI cable without which he tried hard to make me think I wouldn’t be able to use the 3D capability of my TV (absolute lies BTW).
Then it began … A week later (13th), the shipping status hadn’t changed, so I call the shipping company (iCat), they tell me they never even got it and that I should call Abe’s.
So I call Abe’s, they say it’s been shipped, I repeat what iCat told me, they say they’ll look into it. 25 “on hold” minutes later (call duration on my iPhone) he finally comes back and admits they don’t actually have the TVs, they get Sony to send it directly to iCat, but that it was getting late and he couldn’t get in touch with a Sony rep. but that he would tomorrow (14th) and call me back with the updated situation.

The call never came, so the day after that (15th) I call back, explain everything and the guy say “he’ll look into it, because it seemed nothing had been noted of the previous call”. I’m put on hold for another eternity (probably only 10 minutes, but still …). He gets back on and says: “Yeah, Sony, blah, blah, inventory issue (or something similar), three other customers in the same boat, blah blah, but will ship for sure Monday (today) and that I should be able to track it. He then adds on free “express shipping” for the trouble.

So today (19th) I frantically spent every hour hitting refresh on the tracking page, only to be disappointed by the same exact status I’ve seen for the past two weeks now. If you thought waiting for a package was hard, try waiting for it while being unemployed and “it” being you main source of entertainment. I’ll call tomorrow and see what’s what, then update.
I don’t know what to think, I’m getting really suspicious as to if the “free fast shipping” wasn’t just some tactic to get my hopes up.

By: Fon

Fon — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:06:59 +0000

Abesofmaine, WOW
This is 2011 and angry customers are still posting. I was just gonna buy a lenovo for $500 but now forget it. I will add even 50 bucks and get it elsehwere than be disappointed. People, I have seen this kind of scam first hand and lost $300. Thanks to God for this website and all ur posts. Sorry for ur frustrations but in the future, posts like these just help us all. I wish we could extend it to include other companies so we consumers are safe from scam and fraud.

By: T.R.

T.R. — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 03:58:24 +0000

My experience with Abe’s dates all the way back to Christmas 1985… when they were “really” located in Maine (Old Orchard Beach to be exact). My father wanted to buy our first VCR and heard from a coworker that great deals could be found in the back pages of Popular Photography. He gave me his credit card and said to start calling. I called Abe’s… they had it in stock at a super low price and ready to ship. I waited on the UPS truck for weeks to deliver… and, of course, never showed. Finally called Abe’s about a month later and was told they tried to call me every evening (a lie) to inform me it was on backorder (another lie). The credit to the card took three months to go through.

Even at 15 years old… I learned a valuable lesson from this experience never to jump at the lowest price and spend a little more to buy from reputable dealers. We ended up paying $100 more and bought the VCR from a local electronics retailer. I still have that VCR and it works like new almost 30 years later.

It just blows my mind that many of these same “back page” retailers are still in business, in one fashion or another, and pulling the same tricks exactly like they did 30 years ago.

By: Pete Johnson

Pete Johnson — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 20:20:39 +0000

These greaseballs are still up to their old game. Got the call from Roy. He tried to sell the warranty and special freight, and wires, and a surge protector. Then as I said no, no, he kept going down and down and down in price. After stewing on it a little more, I called back, spoke to Tony, explained that I didn’t appreciate the high pressure sell. He acted surprised. I explained, “I know this is how Abe’s of Maine operates. This is how you’ve been operating at least 3-4 years.” He offered to give me the special shipping free. I declined, and insisted on canceling.

I should have remembered this place, because I got the same line of BS from them back around….2003 or 2004 with a camera. I also canceled that order too.

By: Rick

Rick — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 01:20:04 +0000

I wish I had read this blog before I ordered. I ordereed Friday and got “THE CALL” on Sunday. I was out and returned the call less then 20 minutes after it was made to my home. Outgoing sales calls worked ! Incoming customer service calls NO! I got the high presssure talk call on monday morning. Guy said he wanted to see if I wanted to have UPS leave a package if I wasn’t home and then tried to upsell me. OK I can see the purpose of the call but I hate sales pressure coming from a online purchase. Now they are closed for the Jewish holidays this WEEK and I cant even find out why Ive been charged but my camera hasnt been shipped. I wished I would of ordered from Amazon. BTW there was no notice of the business being closed for religious holidays on the website. I respect choice to close but as a customer I should have the choice of ordering from someone who will get me my goods faster. I have my sons martial arts competition coming Friday and no fracking camera ! NEVER AGAIN !

By: KY

KY — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 23:20:47 +0000

I ordered a Canon printer on April 17th. After I received confirmation e-mail, I received another e-mail from a Roy Rivers at their customer service. The message was “Please call us as soon as possible at toll free 1-800-992-2237. ext# 208″. I actually called this number and luckily just got his voice mail. I e-mailed back to him and told him to e-mail me again if he has any question regarding my order. He never e-mailed me or called me again. Then they sent me a notice saying that my order has been shipped on the 18th. It should arrive here in Washington State on the 25th. We’ll see if it really arrives.

By: Kim

Kim — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 19:11:55 +0000

I did a reverse look-up on the phone number when they called to “confirm” my order and saw this blog… THANK GOODNESS. I went in prepared to just keep saying “no” to the very fast talking guy on the other end who was INTENT on selling more and more stuff. This is why I shop online… to avoid salesmen like this one! I still went ahead with my order, though I likely won’t use this company again. I’m weary of them and will still read my packing slip VERY carefully when I get my product, to ensure they didn’t add any superfluous charges.

This “calling to confirm” on an internet purchase, only to try and fast-talk someone into spending more money is a TERRIBLE business practice. I saw that someone from Abe’s commented on here a while back. I hope they’re still reading these messages, as they helped me as a consumer and hopefully (if they heed some of this advise) it will help them as a company.

Here’s hoping my order comes and I’m only charge for what I want!

By: Robert E Weston Jr

Robert E Weston Jr — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 23:12:45 +0000

I bought a sony DSLR A200 w/ Repairtech 5 yr Warranty on 9-9-08 and when the card slot failed I learned repairtech was defunct so I called Abe’s and got the bad news. I was told I was SOL since the repairtech serial# did not begin w/ 4. The invoice did not itemize the cost of camera and cost of warrantymerely a package price. The fast-talking rep at Abe’s said the warranty was probally only about $20 — But I know it was a lot more than that. I have a feeling that Repairtech was a scam from the onset and Abe’s was in on it. I have since sent it to United for repair. It was $116 and in all fairnees I think Abe’s should reimburse me for this amount.

By: Tony Moussis

Tony Moussis — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 02:07:09 +0000

BEWARE PLEASE READ IF YOU BOUGHT AN EXTENDED WARRANTY.FROM ABE’S OF MAINE. THE POST BELOW IS WITH THE BBB in NJ. I bought an extended in- house 3 year warranty for a Samsung 52 inch LCD TV. The total invoice with warranty was $3733.30 and it expires May 2011. I have issues with the TV and is in need of repair. when I called for service I was told the account info was old, lost,and they had no record of my purchase. I have my receipts and gave them all the dates and invoice no’s and then they disclosed that the warranty Co has gone bankrupt and tough luck to me. I was never notified of this nor I believe the many of their customers. I believed they have covered this up, with employee participation to keep this matter unknown. I want a full refund for the cost of the warranty $329.95 and a refund sent to all of the other customers who are effected by this. I also think a letter of apology is order.I also feel the AG for NJ should be notified and look into this matter as consumers may be being ripped off. I think in my opinion this is criminal and not a simple warranty or service issue. I will consult with my attorney to determine the best course of action.
I have asked that all the customers who bought an extended warranty, who in reality do not have one be notified with a full refund and a letter of apology.

As far as my TV, well I’m out of luck… It’s my loss , not there’s… heck I’m just a stupid customer…. TO THEM.

T.M.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 04:51:33 +0000

Wow! I was very close to ordering a new home theater system from Abe’s due to the huge price differance from Newegg and Crutchfield, when I ran across these postings. I don’t know if Sarah is a good person stuck in a company of bad apples, or just a good actor. But based on how long these posts date back to, I’d say the bad apples still are employed. Thanks for all the informative comments!

Chris.

By: Amicus Curia

Amicus Curia — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 13:50:16 +0000

I purchased a Pentax K5 from Abes. The sales person successfully bumped the transaction by over $1,000 with a lot of fast talk. I instantly regretted it and called back to cancel the oversell. Like ‘frustrated mom’, I found the customer service line closed and the sales line open for business. I wrote e-mails cancelling the oversell and called back at the crack of dawn the following day. It took a long time to get through to customer service. They agreed to cancel the oversell. Then the sales guy called me back and attempted to lay a ‘guilt’ trip on me. He argued with me. He told me I NEEDED all these extras. I told him even if I did, I wanted to go at MY OWN pace in making that determination and to cancel the entire order if he didn’t want to sell me the K5 camera without ANY add-ons. Ultimately I agreed to accept ONE add-on, a Tamaron 17-50mm f2.8 lens ($465). That bumped the sale to over $2,000. However, although I was promised a receipt (by e-mail), I never got an itemized one (making the manufacturer’s rebate offer impossible to secure) until repeated requests to Abe’s customer service eventually produced one.

Eventually I was credited with the oversell items Abe’s didn’t ship due to my prompt change of heart. I did receive the Pentax K5 and Tamaron 17-50mm f2.8 lens without anything missing in a reasonably timely manner. I was provided a UPS tracking number. While sales was overbearing, customer service (if/when I could reach them) was not. So I did get what I paid for and was (eventually) credited with what Abes did not ship. I remain a bit irritated I was debited for the oversell items when that had NOT shipped even though I was eventually credited with that amount.

Abes did not ‘steal’ from me, and everything was included in the retail box that should have been. But it WAS a giant hassle and their salesman was too aggressive for my taste. I’d have been better off with Amazon or Buy.com. The ‘discount’ Abes offered was only about $10 for the camera and I could have gotten the Tamaron lens for about $40-50 less elsewhere. Abes IS (however) an authorized Tamaron dealer, an important consideration for any rebates from the manufacturer (China). The accessories (oversell) pushed by the salesman are schlock (very low quality) and egregiously overpriced. That must be why Abes is so reluctant to immediately e-mail an itemized invoice. They don’t welcome comparative shopping. By failing to timely provide an itemized sales invoice, Abes makes such comparisons difficult. The bottom line is, do NOT order anything from Abes (especially accessories) until you have researched each item with a cost-benefit analysis BEFORE agreeing to purchase any of them no matter how slick their sales staff is.

Abes operates strictly on the maxim, “Caveat Emptor”!

By: Wagun27

Wagun27 — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 17:25:15 +0000

I just purchased a Lenovo Thinkpad from Abe’s of Maine. I was also disappointed with my service. After spending $550.00 i recieved the same “verification of purchase” call from some joker named Alfred S (that’s probably not even his real name). He tried presuring me into buying more ram for the laptop. He said that it was normally $150.00 plus installation for this upgrade but for me he’ll “throw the cherry on top” and give me free installation – how nice of him. I mean, i wonder if he feels good when he goes home and sees his kids, knowing he is feeding them with stolen money. Anyway after rejecting this “great deal” multiple times he told me to “think it over” becuase he’ll be there for only another 5 minutes. I told him i definitely would and then deleted the number. What a fiend. My Lenovo has not come in yet and now, after seeing everyones posts, i am worried that the crew of knock-offs that i bought this off of will just forget about it. These people are worse than used car salesmen; what a disgrace!

Thanks to everyone else for posting something about these guys. We need to get consumer awareness up and this is the first step: DO NOT BUY FROM ABE’S OF MAINE.

By: David C

David C — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 00:41:00 +0000

I’m beginning to believe, after all the comments that other users have given, that Abes of Maine just uses tricks to get you to commit to a purchase (classic bait and switch). I ordered a Samsung 50″ plasma tv from Abes on November 20th. Their price was a good price, but not the lowest on the internet. I decided on AbesofMaine over lower priced competitors because they were listed as 5 star on cnet.com. I too received a phone call from the high pressure salesman (mine was named Fred) selling me warranties and cables and white glove shipping. That doesnt bother me as much because in sales its the name of the game. My opinion is if you dont want it just say “no”. What did bother me was that my order wasnt processed until November 24th, 4 days later. But on the 24th I received an email from Abes saying that my order was processed and my package (TV, cables, wall-mount) shipped on November 24th. I was given a tracking number that showed that my package would arrive on December 2nd. Days passed and after checking the status of the package on the UPS site I happened to notice that UPS listed the weight of the package as 10lbs (plasmas weigh much more than 10lbs). So I called Abes of Maine on November 30th, a week and a half after placing my order, to verify the status of the TV. Turns out that the notice on their website about them shipping my TV was false. They’ve shipped out the wall-mount and the cables via UPS but the TV hasnt shipped yet. They’ve been busy and couldnt get to my order! But my TV will ship tomorrow! They guy offers me $50 off my purchase and says he’ll make sure the TV is out the door in one to two days. Two days later I get a phone call from Fred who tells me that the TV is on back order and they are not sure how long it will take to come in. Needless to say, i pulled my order, but WHAT A COLLOSAL WASTE OF MY TIME AND PATIENCE. Two weeks of yanking me around! Abes you will never get any more of my business.

By: Abes of Pain

Abes of Pain — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 10:37:15 +0000

#####################################

I guess all the fuss over Abes is just an Exercise in Futility… “They Are What They Are” and always will be…
IF you want to order from a reputable online retailer,
I ALWAYS have great results from the following :

http://www.Amazon.com
http://www.buydig.com
http://www.provantage.com
http://www.electronics-expo.com

Live and learn. I know I did from my LAST/FINAL order with Abes.
“Sarah, If you’re Not part of the solution, then YOU’re part of the problem”

http://tiny.cc/abesofpain
#######################################

By: Joe R

Joe R — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 14:02:19 +0000

Update:

I was able to get in touch wish a Marketing Manager by the name of Sarah. I’m very pleased she was able to make the necessary arrangements. It appears there is hope after all. So i sent the camera back, and I’m awaiting a refund as this particular camera is back ordered. Upon receipt of my refund I will be very happy, and despite having to go through hoops may return to purchase again.

Thanks to Sarah

Joe