Custom Home Technology Inc

Review: I inquired about information on an advertised item for sale by CHTI, and they responded with a message stating that they had lowered the price of the item to $0.99, because they needed to clean out their warehouse.

I purchased a total of 4 items from them, all of which are used, and manufactured approximately 10+years ago.

The initial shipping charges agreed upon were $23, $10, $10, and $8 for the 4 respective items to be shipped by FedEx/USPS Priority Mail. Should have been $51 total shipping, with either shipping method being automatically insured be the carrier with the chosen mode of shipping. However when they invoiced me, they charged $58.00, and $35.00 for shipping ($93 shipping) and specified on the invoice that the shipment was "uninsured"

A few days later they emailed saying that they were having trouble finding a box, so the shipment would be delayed.

Then they provided me a tracking number for the shipment, but the carrier says than no such shipment was made, so the tracking number is bogus.

Several days later I contacted CHTI regarding my purchase being shipped, and they said they still couldn't find a box, they said that they took it to UPS, and UPS told them that it needed a box. They said that UPS directed them to a pack and ship service, which they claim wanted $164 additional shipping cost. So I made alternate arrangements for pack and ship with a moving company there in San Diego to pack and ship it.

CHTI indicated that they would hold it for pick-up at will-call, and they would refund what they had charged for shipping.

But instead, they only gave me a partial refund of the shipping $58.99, of the $93 paid, and they are now repeatedly invoicing me an additional $45.25

Then CHTI emails me saying that they found another buyer for the item, and they sold it there in San Diego, when I had already purchased it, and it was supposed to be in will-call for pick-up.

I paid for FedEx/Priority mail shipping, they overcharged and ripped me off.Desired Settlement: 1) Correct their Billing, and stop invoicing me $45.25

2) Either ship the order, or allow it to be picked up at will-call as stated, and refund the overcharges for shipping. Or if they truly sold my item to someone else, I will have to search the internet to find a replacement and they should pay the cost.

3) an apology for wasting 20 Hours of my time over the last 30 days, breaching the contract, and other extremely unprofessional, unethical, deceptive, and or fraudulent business practices.

Business

Response:

Dear Sir/Ms, I spoke several times with the person complaining, offering to resolve this issue. However, he is implacable, will not state clearly how we can resolve this issue, continuing to mutter the same complaints over and over again. After reviewing his correspondence with our staff, it is my personal opinion that he is mentally unstable. I am very troubled by one statement and I quote: " If this is not corrected, I will be forced to file a Federal consumer complaint against you. I'd hate to see you deported over something so stupid." [redacted] has a copy of this as coming from '[redacted]' ([redacted]) Just because [redacted]'s last name is [redacted] does not mean she is an illegal alien. This person is clearly racist and I can't blame my staff from refusing to work with him.He was refunded every cent, and we are not invoicing him. Feel free to contact me directly. John Michael

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

[Provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution. Please respond in this space ONLY]

I categorically deny, and reject CHTI's insults, and defamatory statements. [redacted], from CHTI did not propose any resolution, he "didn't see a problem". John apologized for CHTI's unprofessional conduct, stating that "these are just stupid girls, that are paid by the hour" and that "they don't know what they are doing" but that apology is not an acceptable resolution.These "girls" claimed to be acting under the direction of "the owner" and later stated that he was not happy with the sale, and [redacted], informed me that he was "infuriated" that she had listed and sold the items for such a low price.

I'm a reasonable person. Had CHTI contacted me immediately, stating that they had made an error in the pricing, and that they did not want to sell the items for that price, we could have cancelled the sale, and both walked away with no hard feelings.But instead, CHTI overcharged me for shipping, and made excuses about needing to find a box to ship the items. John clarified that the girls at CHTI had lied about selling the item to someone else (a month after selling it to me) and that it was in fact still at will-call for pick-up, and if I wanted to drive 2,600 miles, I could come pick it up. After 60+ days delay before his responding to my complaint, I no longer need the item, so even if he had offered to ship it to me overnight (which he did not) it would not have resolved this complaint. My expenses incurred resulting from CHTI's breach of contract, and deception regarding this transaction is approximately $300. CHTI's claim, that they could not find a box, and failure to timely ship the items as agreed, resulted in my having to invest man-hours in making alternative shipping arrangements, which at first CHTI agreed to, but then backed out of. [redacted] claims that "the girls" weren't comfortable with a man coming in, to box the item, or to pick it up from will-call. After a month of saying that they didn't have a box for the item, and my making alternative packing and or shipping arrangements, it was quite frustrating to hear from "[redacted]" at CHTI, that they actually had a box the whole time, and that wasn't the issue, she stated the issue was that they didn't want to ship the item, they wanted to keep it. [redacted] stated that the owner didn't think it was worth it because they weren't making money off it. After being informed by CHTI that they had no intention of completing the transaction, I asked [redacted] to go on [redacted], and properly request to cancel the sale to remove the outstanding overdue invoice. She ignored my request, which resulted in more than 20 hours on the phone with paypal and [redacted] customer support trying to straighten out the accounts. [redacted] customer support attempted to contact CHTI, to walk them through what they needed to do to straighten out the problem, but CHTI ignored multiple requests. Ignoring the problem does not make it go away. CHTI ignored multiple requests, and only responded after being contacted by Revdex.com. After speaking to her several times prior, the last time I called, [redacted] pretended that "she no speak English" and transferred my call to the manager, at which time "[redacted]" picked up the phone, and informed me that the item had been sold to someone else locally, and they would not be completing the transaction. [redacted] from CHTI calls in regard to the Revdex.com complaint, and has the audacity to say, this is a business, we have a phone, you could have called prior to making a complaint with the Revdex.com. If this is a business, act like one, playing games and wasting people's time is costly, and counter productive. Again, I thank the Revdex.com for their assistance with this matter. This complaint remains unresolved. Regards,

Business

Response:

Will the real [redacted] please step forward? Sir, whoever you are, you are making my point. You appear to be mentally unstable, and as of this moment in time, it is still my first amendment right to express my opinion.I offered to let you to do what you requested, and is well documented in your correspondence, i.e. arrange for a shipper to pick it up on a pallet. It is still ready for you to pick up. That was my offer the last time we spoke, but you refused to give me something to go on. It looks like you have shown your hand now, and it has taken the shape of 3 hundred dollar bills. You have been reimbursed, you have the products you paid for. I am not going to be a hostage to your efforts to cash in on this situation. Your latest rant about our phone conversations, as your previous ones with the staff have been reduced to 'Hearsay'. All you have is what has been preserved in writing as a record of this sorry event. Revdex.com, thank you for your time. We will chose to live with this on our records, and if it comes back to bite us,we will use this persons own recorded words against him in our defense. Good day! [redacted]