This was the worst experience I have ever encountered with internet purchasing. In summary, I ordered a product for a trip that I would be leaving for a month later. The web site presents the product as it is in stock, but it isn't. Three weeks later I found that the item hadn't even been shipped. I canceled the order and asked for a refund. They responded by lying to me that the order had been shipped the day before so that they couldn't cancel it. In reality, the order was shipped 3 days later and arrived while I was on my trip. The post office sent it back to them and ever since I got back from my vacation, it has been a battle to get a refund. Below I have listed the word-for-word correspondence for anyone interested in reading them. My advice; stay away from this company if you think you may cancel your order or ask for a refund, or would like to receive the item in a reasonable time frame.

These are the following correspondence as written.

-This battery pack was ordered and charged 4/27 and I still haven't received it. No one bothered to tell me that you were currently out of this item. I am really not pleased and I expected to have it before I leave for Europe. I would like a refund immediately. If someone would have emailed or phoned me about the problem I would see the situation much differently. I doubt I will buy anything from your store ever again.
regretfully, ...customer

-Sorry for the delay.
kindly tell you that your item 31967 in this order has just been shipped yesterday, on 5/17/2010.
We are sorry for the delayed shipment, because the item you ordered has been of stock for some time and just was available many days later. So we really appreciate your understanding.
So please don't worry and kindly wait for some days. Alright?
Thank you very much for your patience.
Should you have any problem, please feel free to contact us.
Have a nice day.
Yours sincerely,
Alvin

-In my last email I asked that this order be canceled since the order was placed 4/27 and I still haven't received the item. It took a few days for customer service to respond and they said the item was going to be shipped that day 5/17. I still wanted the refund but decided to see in the battery pack would come before I went out of town. According to the tracking # info the package didn't even leave til' 5/21 and from Hong Cong of all places. Its been a month since I ordered this product which I supposed would be plenty of time to receive it before my trip. I wasn't even offered a discount of any sort. Im sick of being lied to and put off and I want the refund I originally asked for.

-Dear customer,

Sorry for the trouble and inconvenience we have created for you.
We tracked your package from HK post:
Destination - United States of America
The item (RB317904405HK) left Hong Kong for its destination on 21-May-2010
Would you please wait a few more days?
Best wishes!
Anna

-Response from (Customer) 6/20/2010 6:47:03 AM HKT (UTC+8)

The battery pack was intended for the trip I left for on 5/26. The item arrived sometime in my absence. After being gone for 3 weeks the post office gave up on a signature and "returned to sender". Therefore I still do not have the item I ordered in April and I still would like a refund for my purchase.
-customer

Request (Responded) from anna Customer Service Staff 6/21/2010 4:50:08 PM HKT (UTC+8)

Dear customer,

Sorry, we will record your order and tracking number, then ask HK Post to track your package, when they confirm that your package has lost, we will arrange the replacement for you ASAP.
Best wishes!
Anna

Response from (Customer) 6/21/2010 9:56:34 PM HKT (UTC+8)

I don't want a replacement. Again this was for a trip that has already finished. I would like the refund for my purchase.

-Request (Responded) from anna Customer Service Staff 6/22/2010 4:19:16 PM HKT (UTC+8)

Dear customer,

OK, when HK post confirm that your package has lost, we will fully refund you ASAP.
Best wishes!
Anna

Response from (Customer) 7/19/2010 7:20:51 AM HKT (UTC+8)

The item was returned from the post office 6/14 and now over a month later I still haven't received the refund of $54.79. When can I expect to see this credited to my c.c. account?
-customer

Request (Responded) from anna Customer Service Staff 8/2/2010 2:57:25 PM HKT (UTC+8)

Dear customer,

Sorry for the late reply because I was absent about 15 days.
We confirmed that your package was returned to us.But since the payment was made more than 90 days ago PayPal does not allow a direct refund on the payment. Instead, in order to issue the refund to you, we have to contact paypal separately for this refund and usually there is no guarantee that the refund could be processed by paypal in a timely manner.

Would you like to take a store credit of the original amount? You may use the credit immediately to get something else. Or, you can leave the credit and use it later at a time you like.

Please let us know which way works the best for you.

Thank you for your understanding.

Have a nice day

Anna

Response from (Customer) 8/5/2010 1:15:33 AM HKT (UTC+8)

My patience is really wearing thin. I have been asking for this refund over a period of several months; even before the product arrived. Deal Extreme can issue a direct credit to my american express card immediately and deal with paypal separately. Why must I be punished for this company's incompetence? I have never experienced such problems from online purchasing as I have with Deal Extreme. That being said, I definitely do not want store credit. I would like to see the balance credited to my c.c. before this situation becomes any worse.

Request (Responded) from anna Customer Service Staff 8/6/2010 5:25:26 PM HKT (UTC+8)

Dear customer,

Do you have any other orders, which the payment was made less than 90 days ago?

Best wishes
Anna

Response from (Customer) 8/6/2010 8:48:03 PM HKT (UTC+8)

-None

Request (Responded) from anna Customer Service Staff 8/9/2010 3:31:46 PM HKT (UTC+8)

Dear customer,

Would you like us to arrange the replacement for you?
Best wishes!
Anna

Response from (Customer) 8/9/2010 9:22:26 PM HKT (UTC+8)

I would like my money refunded ASAP.

Request (Responded) from anna Customer Service Staff 8/10/2010 5:51:19 PM HKT (UTC+8)

Dear customer,

But since the payment was made more than 90 days ago PayPal does not allow a direct refund on the payment. Instead, in order to issue the refund to you, we have to contact paypal separately for this refund and usually there is no guarantee that the refund could be processed by paypal in a timely manner.

Would you like to take a store credit of the original amount? You may use the credit immediately to get something else. Or, you can leave the credit and use it later at a time you like.

Please let us know which way works the best for you.

Thank you for your understanding.

Have a nice day

Anna


Response from (Customer) 8/10/2010 8:44:41 PM HKT (UTC+8)

I am sick and tired of all the games. I have been asking for the refund ever since May.
I have learned about many similar complaints about this company and its fraudulent practices. I will now file complaints against this company, file a claim with paypal, and follow with legal action if necessary. I don't even care about the money as much as I care about your dishonesty and lack of integrity. If I don't see the amount credited back to my credit card this week I will began seeking legal counsel.

-After contacting American Express, they graciously filed a dispute claim for me even though it was after their 60 day dispute deadline. Now that is customer service! A few days after calling the credit card company, Deal Extreme sent a response.

-Well, we will contract Paypal to refund you separately, but we can only refund you $50 because we have to deduct the postage that we paid for the shipping, please understand.

The refunds will be issued to you within 2-3 weeks. You will receive a confirmation e-mail directly from PayPal when it has arrived at your account.
Should you have any other problems, please feel free to contact us again.
We look forward to serving you in the near future.
Best regards,
Anna

-So they still want to get anything they can even if it is a few dollars. This is nothing more than subtle theft. I canceled the order before it was shipped, they shipped it in disregard of my request, and now want to charge me for it. Obviously not everyone has a terrible experience like this or else the company would be bankrupt. Buy from this crooked company at your own risk. You've read the correspondence exactly as they were written - now you decide.

YES, I'M YELLING! THIS COMPANY IS A RIP-OFF AND I HAVE TRIED SEVERAL TIMES TO CONTACT THEM ON THEIR WEBSITE AND IT DOESN'T RECOGNIZE MY ORDER NUMBER THEN I WENT THRU PAYPAL AND TRIED TO CONTACT THIS BUYER AND HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY RESPONSE AT ALL. ITS OVER 30 DAYS AND I WANT TO ESCALATE THIS MATTER THRU PAYPAL EVEN THOUGH MY CASE IS CLOSED THRU PAYPAL. I WANT MY FREAKING MONEY BACK. ANOTHER THING, I WANT TO ADD THIS ASSHOLE OF A COMPANY BASED IN HONG KONG, CHINA AND I DIDN'T KNOW THAT UNTIL I WAS CHARGED $1.00 FOR INTERNATIONAL TRANSACTION FEE.

I GIVE THIS COMPANY A FREAKING ZERO! I DON'T RECOMMEND FOR ANYONE TO PURCHASE ANY THING FOR THIS WEBSITE.

YOU SCREWED ME ONCE AND THAT' ENOUGH FOR ME!

I purchased an HDMI to HDMI/optical audio switcher from Deal Extreme. They sent me the wrong item. In order to return items to them, you have to take a picture of it and the envelope it is sent in and upload it to an e-mail, which I did. Even though they had a picture of the item that stated what the item was, they sent an e-mail back and asked me to describe the item, which I did.

After much e-mailing back and forth (I have copies of all the e-mails), Monica stated that they don't have the item in stock and they would refund my money if I found a way to ship it back to them. She promised to reimburse my shipping costs as well. UPS showed they received it on 1/5. I sent them copies of my receipts from UPS showing the date and cost of shipping. I e-mailed them 3 times from 1/9 and 1/31; they did not respond to any of these e-mails. I later found out by going to their website that they were gone from 1/24 -1/31 for the Chinese New Year, but there was no auto reply to my messages.

After waiting for a month, I finally contacted my credit card company and explained the situation. They were very helpful and stated that I would not be responsible for the purchase price. Only then did I receive an auto reply from Deal Extreme stating that they received a request to cancel the order. When I replied telling them what has been occurring, they replied that the item was shipped on 12/6 and do I have proof that I returned the item. They still have not refunded my money, although I am having the CC company deal with them on that. They also have not refunded the return shipping costs.

Deal Extreme is either staffed by totally incompetent personnel or they are a disreputable company. Either way, like Robert, my advice is don't do business with them. I wish I would have googled this company before doing business with them, there appear to be other complaints there as well.