Recently I went looking for a new computer. I started looking at Macbooks, but the price made me decide to move outward, and I discovered a website called " Gainsaver " that showed macs and my other favorite computer: the IBM thinkpad.

The full experience of what I went through with Gainsaver is documented here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F613je6aQqA .

This is a six minute video I posted on Youtube about Gainsaver's business tactics. In short, after sending me the incorrect computer and slamming a phone in my ear when I had the audacity to be offended by their complete disinterest in fixing a problem they caused with their own negligence, I had to endure Steve Harper, the Gainsaver sales manager/owner (Although he denies this) calling me a "pain in the ass" and a "charlie horse" and telling me "I'm going to leave you on hold until you decide to email me for customer service." He also hung up on me more than a dozen times. At one point I sarcastically said, "We seem to keep getting cut off, " and he said, "No, I'm hanging up on you, _sshole." Of course, that was punctuated with a click and a dial tone.

Going beyond even THAT customer abuse, Harper searched me out on the internet (my web site is in my email signature) and discovered I am a football coach and teacher. In a burst of RANK INSANITY this man then searched further and found the contact information for my school. He then called my employer about a private transaction that had nothing to do with them in any way. (Harper was reported to the Durham police for harassment for that stunt.)

Looking further, Gainsaver claims an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, but they have 294 complaints over the last three years-- that's a complaint every four days, by the way. The Better Business Bureau informs me that Gainsaver is currently under investigation for the number of complaints they are racking up. The reason the score is so high is because Harper knows how to work the system: only UNANSWERED complaints lower the score. Any time a customer complains, Harper can respond with "Gainsaver is looking into this" and the automated system registers this as a zero out for the complaint; the rating stays at an undeserved "A+".

When Harper sees this post, he or one of his employees will respond claiming I called him and harassed him (I think a customer spending $560 has a legitimate right to call a business on the phone.) and that he has reported me for harassment to the Long Beach Police. (They have no record of the call or a complaint.) The insanity is that I kept calling because Harper and his people kept hanging up on me-- had they acted in any way to competently fix the problem I certainly wouldn't be here now writing this.

He will claim my account is in collections (Gainsaver threatens collections immediately after a chargeback is received from a credit card company. And by the way, California law prevents sending a customer to collections until their account is more than 90 days in arrears). Harper uses this scare tactic more or less any time an aggravated customer disputes a credit card charge.

Harper will claim I "called all the sales people at Gainsaver telling them to f__k off." (That's seriously what he wrote on the answer to complaint form he sent to the Attorney General's Office.) What actually happened is that after his employee hung up on me the second time, I called in a third time and said, "F you if you won't help me. You're getting the entire computer back." Dropping one f-bomb after you've been hung up on by a customer service 'professional' because you asked for an RMA number is hardly the profanity-laced diatribe Harper wants you to THINK I accosted him with. (Harper's claims don't explain where calling a customer a "pain in the ass" and a "charlie horse" fall on the profanity chart.)

Harper will ALSO claim "recordings are on file." This is true. After he called my principal, I called him back to tell him if he called my place of business again I would file a harassment complaint. He replied, "Oh I want to record this! Say that again!" So I did. In other words, the ONLY recording this maniac has of me is an admonishment not to ever harass me at work over a private transaction again.

Currently, Gainsaver does not appear to be licensed by Apple to sell or refurbish Apple products. I'm still waiting for a call back from Apple on that subject.

Here's the bottom line: protect yourselves, folks. You don't have to take my word for what happened with Gainsaver. (I tell my students, "Don't trust NOBODY! Not even me.") Please make your own opinions after doing some necessary research.

Please take the time to view my video about my experience with Gainsaver: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F613je6aQqA . I would be very appreciative if you would comment, and link to it/like it on Facebook and Myspace as well, if you have accounts with those services. (As an educator, I do not.)

Even if you don't bother with my video, and you don't have the time to read the reviews of Gainsaver here at the LA county BBB website http://www.trustlink.org/Reviews/Gain-Saver-205952320, (the reviews paint a MUCH different story than the rating score), please protect yourself by deeply investigating every company you do business with on the web. I should have looked beyond the rating myself, and now I'm busily documenting Gainsaver to my credit card company instead of enjoying the computer I purchased through another vendor.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at coach_wadeAThotmailDOTcom . Anyone who has been ripped off by Gainsaver and needs help building a case to get your money back from your credit card company or to bring to the Attorney General, please contact me as well. I have 54 pages of documentation about this company and their fraudulent tactics I can supply to you to support your case.

I needed a second power supply for my Macbook, but didn't want to pay the full retail price or purchase a cheap knockoff.

I finally found one on Gainsaver; it was about $10 more than the generic replacement parts, but claimed to be a genuine Apple product:
*The product photo showed an Apple power supply
*The model number listed matched the one on the Apple store
*The product description matched both of the above

What do I receive? A cheap knockoff!

They said I could return it for store credit, I said no thanks, I want my money back. After no response, I decided to just suck it up and use the generic product.

The second time I unplugged it from the wall, the entire thing literally fell apart in my hand.

Filed another customer support request and received no further response.

BE WARNED!

I bought name brand hard drive. They delivered generic. They refused to pay shipping back. They substituted without my authorization. I stopped credit card pmt. They threateded collection. Two months later they just rebilled credit card. I gave up and tried to use generic drive and found it defective. They told me apple warranted the drive. Apple never heard of the brand,

This company is nothing bad news as all the others have reported.

This company is a scam.

First of all, don't believe the 10% Apple Products off SALE ENDS TONIGHT HURRY. It never leaves the screen.

I received a computer that worked for 45 minutes and then was charged to ship it back. The manager then sent me a inferior model with the wrong postage instructions even thought he said it was a better model. Clearly, he doesn't know how to read their company invoice.

They usually only offer credit. I guess I made such a stink and called so many times they agreed to a refund, except it was less 225.00 and ittook me two months time to get my money back. According to them, they keep the warrantly (even though I didn't have a computer and this IS NOT in their terms), the diagnostic fee (even if the computer arrived broken) and the shipping (although I had to pay an extra shipping to return the broken computer). I have reported them to consumer affairs and the better business bureau. In total I lost 250.00 for two plus months of aggravation, terrible customer service, and at least one dozen phone calls. By the way, each time I called the manager he acted like he had no idea who I was. Either stupid or sinister, I'm not sure.

In retrospect, I should have gotten the refurbished computer from the dealer, it would have been the same price.

My case is similar to many of the customers' cases described here: I received a non-functional device and the merchant refuses to refund shipping fees ($45 total). Looks like this is their business model: they ship a number of non-functional devices to the customers, customers return them, but GainSaver doesn't refund shipping and so on, so they make money on shipping.

Plus, they charge extra for alledgedly installing additional parts which turn out to be built-in by the factory such as Airport Extreme wireless card (they charge $29.00 for "installing" it on Mac mini, however according to Apple it's already built-in).