Electrozone: Don't Buy Switched-After-Baited Products

I called Electrozone about a 58" Samsung plasma television I ordered (PN58B860, for those who want to follow at home) with delivery 7-14 days from over a week ago, to find out when they were going to let me know when to expect delivery. The thing isn't small and it isn't light and someone needs to be able answer the door when they plan delivering it. Being there is important.

The guy who answers says I ordered shipping without tracking information. Yes, I say, but has it shipped yet? Oh – today. Today, he says. By the way, have I ordered from Electrozone before? No? Let me tell you how the company works, he says. We buy overstock from closing companies and so forth to get deals, and when Samsung opens the boxes to verify the products they are shipped out new and unused but we have to invoice them as "Class A Refurbished."

So, it's not new, I repeat, trying to make sure I have it right, and despite your site saying nothing about the product being used or secondhand or the like ... you plan selling me a refurbished product? One that will get me into trouble with the manufacturer when I need warranty service? One that won't be eligible for American Express' warranty-extending program?

He says the manufacturer will offer a year of warranty, but that the manufacturer "opened" the box "for verification" that the product was okay.

The product description on the site and in online price-comparison aggregators give no indication Electrozone plans fulfilling orders with refubs, of course. And the guy at Electrozone can't explain why, if they are buying unopened new stock from a closing competitor, they think it's necessary to ship those new and unopened products to Samsung "for verification" instead of selling the closed new boxes as new, while expecting Samsung to honor its new-product warranties for the new products. The guy sounds like he really expects me to believe that sending unopened new boxed electronics to the manufacturer to be relabeled "refurbished" is the most natural business practice in the known universe.

Liar.

I canceled. Don't bother ordering from Electrozone. They can't be trusted.