Consumer Buyer Warning: Beware Accessories4Less

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Severius!

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Accessories4Less.com often feature great prices, especially on close-out, discontinued items. But, before you buy from them, consider the following.

If there's any problem with the item you've bought - dead on arrival, defective, bruised - whatever - don't expect to get help. If you ask for a refund, they may refund the item price, minus 5%, minus whatever they paid to ship the item to you. So, if you paid $200, they had folded shipping at their corporate rate into that price. For anything of weight, the could be a bit of money.

Here's a real example:
Cost of Item(s) = $159.98

Original Shipping Paid = $8.99

Original Shipping Cost = ($45.38)

Restocking Fee = ($8.00)

Total Refund = $115.59

So, you can see that right off the bat, you'd be out $44.39, just trying to return a defective item to them.
But, there's another awful surprise. YOU have to pay for return shipping. THEY won't send you a return shipping label, or any assistance whatsoever.

In my case, the item weighed 60 lbs. Their address is in Florida. I'm in Chicago. Both UPS and Fedex wanted $212.00 dollars to ship 60 lbs from Chicago to Florida. Holy crap!!!! That's way, way more then the cost of the item itself. My numerous attempts to contact Acccessories4Less to do the right thing and provide me with a corporate rate for shipping were met with either silence, no returned calls, and finally a flat refusal to offer any assistance at all. Pretty much, their attitude is, "you bought - you keep it - sucker!".

As I've said, AC4L is a good source for discounts, but be totally sure about what you decide to get from them, cause you might lose and be stuck with something you don't want or can't use - and that's no bargain.
 
I have bought several items from acc4less. I had a problem with a receiver. It was defective out of the box. I emailed them and was sent an RMA and shipping label the next day. The receiver was returned the same day. One week after receiving the RMA and shipping label I received a replacement. The replacement cost me nothing.

It might have been different if I had asked for a refund. However, all I wanted was a replacement.

As for shipping charges: I mailed my BIL a receiver via UPS. From Philadelphia to Springfield MA the shipping charge for the ~28lb package was ~$15 including insurance. I did carry the package to a UPS owned office. It was not one of those independently owned UPS stores. I've been told they charge outrageous amounts for shipping.

The amount for shipping quoted via an internet query was $45+. I don't know why there was such a difference in the cost.
 
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It was not one of those independently owned UPS stores. I've been told they charge outrageous amounts for shipping.

Not to de-rail the content of this thread, but you have been told correctly. The independent "franchise" UPS Store locations charge whatever the f**k "mark-up" they want. I won't use them, not even enter one unless I have a pre-paid return shipping label. The one closest to me "gouges" about 30% over the on-line rate I can get directly from UPS.
 
A happy A4L client here too. Though, I've only used them once, but everything went smoothly, without issue. I'll use A4L again, as the need arises. :)

Now, I'd love to hear the rest of the story...? :idea:
 
Accessories4Less.com often feature great prices, especially on close-out, discontinued items. But, before you buy from them, consider the following.

If there's any problem with the item you've bought - dead on arrival, defective, bruised - whatever - don't expect to get help. If you ask for a refund, they may refund the item price, minus 5%, minus whatever they paid to ship the item to you. So, if you paid $200, they had folded shipping at their corporate rate into that price. For anything of weight, the could be a bit of money.

Here's a real example:
Cost of Item(s) = $159.98

Original Shipping Paid = $8.99

Original Shipping Cost = ($45.38)

Restocking Fee = ($8.00)

Total Refund = $115.59

So, you can see that right off the bat, you'd be out $44.39, just trying to return a defective item to them.
But, there's another awful surprise. YOU have to pay for return shipping. THEY won't send you a return shipping label, or any assistance whatsoever.

In my case, the item weighed 60 lbs. Their address is in Florida. I'm in Chicago. Both UPS and Fedex wanted $212.00 dollars to ship 60 lbs from Chicago to Florida. Holy crap!!!! That's way, way more then the cost of the item itself. My numerous attempts to contact Acccessories4Less to do the right thing and provide me with a corporate rate for shipping were met with either silence, no returned calls, and finally a flat refusal to offer any assistance at all. Pretty much, their attitude is, "you bought - you keep it - sucker!".

As I've said, AC4L is a good source for discounts, but be totally sure about what you decide to get from them, cause you might lose and be stuck with something you don't want or can't use - and that's no bargain.
There is something missing here. It sounds like this is a total loss for you. But, every item I see on that site has a mfg warranty. Why not explore that before writing this one off.
 
The replacement receiver I received was shipped directly from the manufacturer (Yamaha).
 
Restocking fee and actual shipping cost charge-back sounds like a non-warranty return per A4L terms.
 
There's not any more to the story than what I've told. The items were sold as factory reconditioned. There's a 1 year warranty through the manufacturer, which the seller, accessories4less apparently doesn't service. I asked for a refund, so maybe that's why they didn't send a return label.

But, the fees they charge that I showed in my original post are a direct copy and paste from their email to me. That's not something that I typed up myself. Those are their words and fees in exact copy/paste.

And, here's a copy paste from their reply to me for a return label. I even offered to pay them for shipping return back to them, if they would only supply me with a return label, so as to avoid the outrageous shipping charges I was being quoted. Here's their nice, helpful response:

I’m sorry we are unable to provide return labels or assistance as we can’t insure a return label in case of damage.
Mark Sabbarese
 
Interesting. I too have only bought from them once but it was an easy painless experience (refurb Marantz AVR, now borderline obsolete but still kickin'.)

It sounds like if you want a replacement and not a refund you get treated better? Or maybe things have changed in the last 5 years or so.
 
^^^ this
And I am sure the fine print is there before purchase as mentioned in post #15. Pretty standard restocking fees and return shipping on your dime for returns of refurbed stuff.
 
>>Pretty standard restocking fees and return shipping on your dime for returns of refurbed stuff.<<

I agree. But, I offered to pay them for their shipping label. I'm willing to pay for shipping. And, as many have indicated, they could effortlessly provide that for me. I'll pay. But, they refuse to help.
 
I fail to see the problem here. Accessories4Less has a very clear return policy. Everything I see being complained about here is described in their return policy. There should not be any surprises if that policy was read before ordering.
https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/cms/returns/returns/1.html

If the item is defective and you are returning it within 30 days, there is no restocking fee. But that is dependent upon them determining that it is defective when they test it.If it is not defective and you just want a refund, of course you will pay a restocking fee as described in their policy statement.

They also plainly state that the buyer is responsible for returning the merchandise. Access4Less probably has a contract with the shipper that limits what they can do regarding shipping. It is not surprising that they will not provide a shipping label to you. Their contract likely does not allow for giving out return shipping labels.

Buying things at a super discount from a small company usually means you don't get the extras that you would get along with paying a higher price from a big company like Amazon.
 
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