Gazelle

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I sent in my phone to Gazelle to sell it to them and they received my phone on 2/12. I was told the process would take about a week. My boyfriend sent in his phone (exact same model/company) and they received his phone a few days later. He has already received payment. I haven't heard anything from them so I contacted them by email and got no response. Then I chatted with them live and they said they did not know why it took so long for the ESN to get checked and they would put a ticket in. They said I should see movement within 24 to 48 hours. They finally checked in my item and it is still waiting to be inspected. That was last Thursday 2/21. I checked back today because I was told to check back in 3 business days. They said nothing had been done yet. They are still delaying. I asked for a supervisor last Thursday and was told that I was unable to get that information.

Desired Settlement: I would really like a receive the money for my item that Gazelle has received but not checked in. I also feel that I would like additional compensation for all the frustration and difficulty that I have experienced. I feel that I have had to contact Gazelle to check the status of my item over and over again and instead of helping me they are putting up resistance and not being very helpful.

Business Response: To Whom It May Concern:
Gazelle received the ******* ****** * *** ******** (*************) on February 12th to our processing center.  The inspection of the device could not occur until the electronic serial number (ESN) was confirmed as clear by the service provider.  Once this information was verified, the inspection was completed on February 27th.  During the inspection, we found that the device was in the same condition that was originally indicated online.  We have sent a Paypal payment for the full trade in value of $217.00.  This payment was sent to the customer’s paypal address on March 1st.  It is our intention to pay customers fairly and quickly. We sincerely apologize for the delayed transaction and payment.

Cordially,
******* **********
Customer Care
Gazelle

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I recently sent them a cell phone I wanted to sell to them. The shipment I sent to them included a phone case and charger. After a disagreement with the company I requested the return of the phone. I recieved the phone back yesterday without the case or the charger. Consequently, I am now unable to sell the phone to anyone else because they stole the charger.

Desired Settlement: I demand the immediate return of my property that theyre attempting to steal(the case and the charger).Either that or I want an immediate check in the amount of 45 dollars and another box to send them the phone. The 45 dollars is the price for the phone, charger, and case.They already, fraudulently I add, have my case and charger in their possession.I will send them the phone back when I receive the box and check.I have outlined 2 options for th

Business Response: To Whom It May Concern:
The customer created a transaction on January 6th to sell a ******** ***** * ***** (*************) in Good condition for 39.00 USD.  Upon receiving the device, we found that the ESN was active.  On January 22nd, we returned the device to the customer’s shipping address.

As stated online, all cases that are sent with devices are recycled.  However, we do send the chargers back with the devices.  It appears as though the charger was not properly sent back with the device.  For the inconvenience, we will happily send a check of 45 USD to the customer for the case and charger.

Cordially,
******* **********
Customer Care
Gazelle
 

Consumer Response: the charger was sent properly and never returned. If I dont get my property back or that check i will be contacting my attorney and suing this company for theft.

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint.

Business Response: To Whom It May Concern:
For the inconvenience, we have sent a check of 45 USD to the customer for the case and charger.  The check payment was sent on February 13th and has been sent to the payment address as listed in the customer’s account.  The agreed amount of 45 USD is being paid as a customer care gesture to this client. 

Please note that all cases that are sent with devices are recycled.  Typically, we do send the chargers back with the device; however it appears as though the charger was not properly sent back with the device.

Cordially,
******* **********
Customer Care
Gazelle

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I wanted to sell my phone to Gazelle (an LG Spectrum 920) like the commercials on television say. I was not expecting a high price or anything, just something to help get me through a tough time. I log on to their webpage and click on my phone model and go through the process in a swift and professional manner, then after a TWELVE day wait, they tell me that the offer for my phone is invalid orgional quote: $136, and that I lied about the model of phone and said it was an LG Spectrum 930, so I quickly checked my paperwork and found out that I did not, infact the E-Mails THEY sent me even say I said it was an LG Spectrum 920. They said I told them it was a different model and "adjusted" my quote to just $46. This is for a phone that is worth $244 by the way. I tried to contact customer service only to get told (after I proved that I was telling the truth) that I rejected the offer and refused to try and work womething out with me. They are now sending it back to me. This has so far been a total waste of two weeks, and I think other people need to be made aware of this "scam".

Desired Settlement: I would like to see their company fix the dishonesty on their web page, and I desire an apolgy. I feel strongly this is FALSE ADVERTISEMENT and that this is just the WRONG way to run a buisness, it is wrong to take advantage of people in need. I saw this as a buisness that would help you out in times of need by giving you a slighly unfair price for your old phone quickly and effectivly, but I see that is where I was WRONG.

Business Response: The customer created a transaction on February 1st to sell Gazelle a LG Spectrum 2 VS930 in perfect condition for $136.00.  Upon receiving the device on February 6th, we found that it was in fact a LG Spectrum VS920 which is an older and less valuable model. 

Gazelle sent an email notification on February 6th titled “Status Update - We've Opened Your Box” which did show the new phone model of LG Spectrum VS920 with an estimated value of $136.00.  However, this estimated value is in regards to the original offer for the other phone model.  We sincerely apologize for this miscommunication.

After the inspection occurred, another email notification was sent on February 12th with the revised offer of $46.00.  The customer was provided with options to accept or decline the revised amount.  As the customer declined the revised amount, the device has been returned to the shipping address listed in the account.  Per the FedEx Tracking Number **********************, our records show that the device was delivered on February 16th.

Once again, we apologize for the miscommunication caused by our email sent on February 6th. Unfortunately as the device was a different model than what was originally indicated online,  the offer was adjusted to reflect Gazelle’s pricing for the LG Spectrum VS920.

Cordially,
******* **********
Customer Care
Gazelle

Consumer Response: I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues "enough" and I no longer wish to debate the issue because I find it distasteful that corporations and buisnesses are allowed to get away with scamming the general public.

I said what I had to say which was the full truth. I just WILL NOT contuct buisness with this company any longer and I WILL tell everyone I possibally can (which is many, many people) about  this company, and how pointless it is to even tell the BBB any more, thank you for your time.  complaint #.

BBB's Final Determination: Consumer accepted resolution offered by the business.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: Gazelle says that their quotes are valid for 30 days, but in fact this is not true. They have you set up an account and go through the motions...if you choose to wait on the price. When you come back even a week it is no longer available and the quote you another price which is way below the initial value that they offered you. I contacted Gazelle they basically gave me the run around before they chose to ignore me. This is false advertisement and you cannot say an offer is good for 30 days and then all of a sudden its not and they "lose" all information associated with your account even though the contact you through email asking if you still want to sell something to them. If you don't have an email associated with my item in your system then how in the world are you emailing me about the same exact item. This is ridiculous and again it is false advertisement!

Desired Settlement: You need to be able to guarantee that all offers you make are valid for 30 days and send people a confirmation of the offer as soon as you make it. If you cannot do this you need to stop lying about a 30 day guarantee when it doesn't exist.

Business Response: To Whom it May Concern:

Gazelle built and owns the patent pending technology to dynamically price every item in our catalog. In order to calculate a competitive offer for the item, we have invested in tools that use data like market demand, business costs and available inventory to determine a competitive market value.  Due to our pricing structure, the current price for an item may vary on a daily basis. However, if an offer is fully locked in by completing the transaction or "check out" process online, the original offer will be valid for 30 days, pending that the item and it's condition match what was originally indicated online.

Unfortunately, there is no account associated with this customer's name or email address as they have provided.  After a careful review of the email communications and online chat conversation with our Customer Care Department, we are able to clarify the confusion.  The customer did visit our site in regards to trading in a ******* *** computer.  The customer did commence the online transaction by selecting the model, condition, and accepting the offer they were provided.  Unfortunately, as the customer confirms in the chat conversation on 12/15, the customer's browser timed out and they were not able to complete the transaction.

As a standard practice for transaction which are not fully completed yet have reached the point of entering in an email address, Gazelle sends an email communication. The email was sent asking the customer if they would still like to sell their MacBook Pro computer.  The email is part of an effort to ask site visitors to complete the transaction.  Yet, as the offer was not fully locked in by completing the transaction, the offer was represented by the current pricing when this customer visited our site once again. A transaction of this nature is viewed by our system as not fully completed and therefore in our customer management portal, there is no account associated with the name or email address.  The original offer as seen originally on our site cannot be honored.

******* **********
Customer Care
Gazelle

Consumer Response:

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ******

[Their allegations are not completely true, I got to the end of the transaction and everything was fine after I had "locked in" the transaction that's when I decided to wait a week. The asked be if got bumped out initially and I did but I went back and "locked in" the transaction. If the company did not try to cover up their actions continuously and begin to ignore me without forming a solution. Instead of trying to find a solution for me they got defensive and decided to end contact with them. The fact of the matter is that they would not honor the original pricing that they quoted me.]

Regards, 

**** *****

 

 

Business Response: To Whom it May Concern:

Unfortunately, we do not have any record that an offer was locked in based on the email and contact information the complainant has provided.  Furthermore, if an offer was locked in, the complainant would have been sent a specific email notification regarding the offer and the 30 day validity of the amount, pending that the model and the condition at the time of receiving the device matches what was originally indicated online.  We have thoroughly reviewed all of our records and there are no accounts or transactions that match the credentials that have been supplied by the complainant.

Unfortunately, the offer as seen originally on our site cannot be honored.

Cordially,

******* **********
Customer Care Gazelle

Consumer Response:

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # *******.

[That is quite unfortunate that you cannot honor offers that you have given. Maybe you should change your policies and how you conduct business. It is inaccurate for you to say that you honor offers for 30 days; when you really don't honor all offers. I entered my email and my other information and I was under impression that my offer was locked in (apparently it wasn't). This is a problem with your system and you should make every effort to improve it. There's been many complaints online about this and unfortunately it is hurting your company's reputation. I suggest that you re-evaluate your methods. Maybe when someone gets a quote you should have a button saying lock in your offer now for 30 days. (just a suggestion) But, all in all if I ever try to do business with your company I will think twice and I will tell all my friends to do so also. I will also be sure to warn anyone that follows my blog.  ]

Regards,

**** *****  

 

BBB's Final Determination: After reviewing the position of all parties, BBB determined that the business made a reasonable effort to address the complaint. However the consumer remains dissatisfied.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I accepted a quote to sell my like-new ***** iPhone to Gazelle. I shipped the phone in company provided packing following their directions with the phone set to factory settings, charged, with the cable and charger block in the box. The phone was received (USPS tracking # proved it was received) on 11/24 by the facility in Irving, Texas. I received an e-mail from Gazelle on 11/26/12 stating that Gazelle had received the box with the iPhone, but then I also received at least 2 additional e-mails after that stating that they had not yet received the box with the iPhone and that they were also awaiting another Gazelle box (with a different Gazelle ID than the one on the box that was sent and which I never requested). I e-mailed Gazelle with my concerns and they confirmed that the iPhone had been received but not processed and I would received an email when it was processed. On 12/5/12 and 12/12/12, I received e-mails that said the box had not had not been received. On 12/20/12, I live chatted with a customer service rep, ***** ******, who was very nice and got the serial number of my device. The phone was not in their system, and he said that either they would find it in the next 5 days or they would pay the full amount for the phone ($515.00). He put in a ticket (#*************), but no one ever followed up or contacted me. Today (12/29/12), I contacted the company again through Live Chat and corresponded with ****** who stated that there was an "issue with the package upon arrival and a manager will be reaching out to you about it shortly". She did not know what the "issue" was. I asked for a supervisor - but apparently they have to put in a ticket for that also. ****** stated that she would put in a ticket also to have the manager contact me but she had no idea when that would be. Gazelle is the most confused and disorganized company I have dealt with. It has now been over a month since the phone was received, they have never "processed" the phone, no one that I have chatted with has any idea what the problem is, Gazelle has never followed up with any of my contacts, and they have not paid the amount that they quoted. And this happened with an iPhone in excellent condition in which we did everything to make sure that it would be processed smoothly.

Desired Settlement: I want Gazelle to pay the full amount that they quoted which is $515.00.

Business Response: To whom it may concern:
We sincerely apologize for the delay in response to this complaint.  Our records indicate that the ***** iPhone 5 64GB (*************), which was assigned USPS tracking number **********************************, was delivered to our facility in Irving, TX on November 26, 2012.  Upon delivery to our facility, we found that the shipment had been tampered with and only included the accessories.  After a thorough research of this case, we are happy to issue the payment of $515.00 to you via Paypal.

Once again, we apologize for the delay in communication regarding your shipment.  You will receive the funds to the Paypal account as listed in your Gazelle account shortly.

Cordially,
******* **********
Customer Care
Gazelle

Consumer Response: I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint.

BBB's Final Determination: Consumer accepted resolution offered by the business.

BBB Comments: The consumer indicated to BBB that the complaint was resolved.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: Gazelle told me I would recieve 180.00 for one phone and 80.00 for the other. They sent me a check for 30.00

Desired Settlement: I want 230.00 they OWE ME

Business Response: To Whom It May Concern:

The customer created two transactions to sell an Apple iPhone 4S 16GB and an Apple iPhone 4 8GB on October 12th.  The customer indicated that both phones were in “Good” condition and therefore was provided offers of 190 USD and 86 USD, respectively.

Both items were received in our facility in Irving, Texas on October 30th.  Upon receiving the items, we found that they were in fact differ models than what was originally locked in.  We found that the Apple iPhone 4S 16GB was in fact an Apple iPhone 3G S 16GB.  Based on this model change, the offer was lowered from 190 USD to 30 USD.  In addition, we found that the Apple iPhone 4 8GB was in fact an Apple iPhone 2G 8GB.  This lowered the offer from 86 USD to 0 USD as this is an item we do not accept.

Whenever an offer is lowered, Gazelle will notify the customer via email several times.  We sent three email notifications to this customer regarding each transaction.  The customer was provided 5 days to accept or decline the new amount.  As no action was taken, the new offers were automatically accepted.  

A check payment of 30 USD was issued to the customer on November 10th for the sale of the Apple iPhone 3G S 16GB.  As the Apple iPhone 2G 8GB is a model we do not accept, the item has been recycled.

If the customer disputes these model changes, please supply us with the serial number of the phones that were sent to us.

Cordially,
******* **********
Customer Care
Gazelle

Consumer Response:

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # *******.

Regards,

****** ****************

 

 

BBB's Final Determination: After reviewing the position of all parties, BBB determined that the business made a reasonable effort to address the complaint. However the consumer remains dissatisfied.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I sent my cell phone to the bussiness for an agreed price of $56.00 and was sent conformation of receit on 09/11/2012. To date I have not received my payment. I have asked them to return the phone of send the check still no response.

Desired Settlement: As stated above return my phone or send the $56.00 agreed apon. The ref.# assigned from the company is *************

Business Response: To whom it may concern:

The original offer that was locked in by ****** ***** was in regards to a *** *** ** ******  The customer indicated that the cell phone was in “Perfect” condition and therefore did not display signs of wear from normal use.  Based on the retail value of the *** *** ** ***** in the secondary market as well as the condition that the phone was indicated to be in, we provided an offer of $56.00.

The customer created a transaction for this amount and was provided 30 days to send the item to us.  However, upon receipt of the cell phone, we found that the item was in fact a *** **** *****.  This specific cell phone model is not an item that we are currently accepting.  As we are not purchasing this phone nor is it listed in our catalog, we could not offer the customer any funds.

Furthermore, the *** **** ***** is an older cell phone model with a lower value in the secondary market.  The *** **** ***** was introduced into the market in Summer 2009, whereas the *** *** ** ***** was introduced into the market in Spring 2011. The *** *** ** ***** has a newer and more advanced operating system, memory size, network capabilities as well as enhanced battery life and display features.

Per our Terms of Service, we sent the customer email notifications regarding the revised offer to the email address listed in the account.  The notifications supplied the customer with an option to accept or decline the new amount.

As no action was taken without our stated timeframe of 5 days, the offer of $0.00 was automatically accepted and the item has been recycled.
We have reviewed our records and were unable to locate any communication from the customer prior to the revised offer’s acceptance.
As the item in question differed from the product associated with the original offer, we would not be able to pay the customer for the full amount.  

Cordially,
****** **********
Senior Team Lead, Customer Care
Gazelle

Consumer Response:

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # *******.

Gazelle is stating they sent me an email with a counter offer. I am stating I never received it. I have requested Gazelle to send me a copy of the e-mail stated in thier claim. If there was a mix up in the type of phone sent i do not understand why they did not just send the phone back. Could they send the name of the company the phone was sent to for recycle. This is a very unusual way on doing any type of business. My goal now is to get the word out to the public not to deal with this company. Also I will look into what my options are as it pertains to mail fraud. 

Regards,

****** *****

 

 

Business Response: To Whom It May Concern:

Per our Terms of Service, we sent the customer email notifications regarding the revised offer to the email address listed in the account.  The notifications supplied the customer with an option to accept or decline the new amount.  We sent four email notifications regarding the revised offer.  

The first email notification was titled with the subject “Your Attention Needed – Your Offer Has Been Adjusted”.  The email was sent to chynsdad@hotmail.com on Monday September 17th at 2:46 PM.  This email stated the following:  “We discovered that the Cell Phone you sent in is actually a different model. Because different models have distinct values, this affects the offer we can make.  You identified your gadget as a *** *** ** *****, but it is actually a HTC Hero A6277 (Sprint).  We're very sorry, but we can't offer you any value for your HTC Hero A6277 (Sprint). Even though we cannot offer any value for it, we will gladly recycle this item responsibly free of charge.”  At the bottom of this email, we provided the customer with options of accepting the offer, declining the offer or using the supplied link to ask our Customer Care Department a question regarding the revision.

As no action was taken by the customer, we sent reminder emails on Wednesday September 19th and Friday September 21st.  These emails provided the same information regarding the offer revision and provided the same options for the customer to take.

On Wednesday September 26th, Gazelle sent an email titled “Update on your HTC HERO A6277”.  In this email, we notified the customer that the item in question had been recycled responsibly.

For the customer’s reference, I have attached a PDF document with these email communications.

We have reviewed our records and were unable to locate any communication from the customer prior to the revised offer’s acceptance.  Furthermore, we were unable to locate any request for these email communications prior to this request.

As the item in question differed from the product associated with the original offer, we are not able to pay the customer for the full amount.  

Cordially,
Carolyn Chassaigne
Senior Team Lead, Customer Care
Gazelle

Consumer Response:

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # *******.

None of this is acceptable. I do not understand why the phone was not sent bact to me. With the response being sent with out the Gazzle name on it in my junk mail box i might not have seen it. I will not accept this transaction if you can not get a response you can just keep my property. Also the business make it sound as though they did me a favor to not charge me for thier action. This is unacceptable.

Regards,

****** *****

 

 

BBB's Final Determination: After reviewing the position of all parties, BBB determined that the business made a reasonable effort to address the complaint. However the consumer remains dissatisfied.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: Gentlemen:
I received an offer to purchase my * ** * Phone from Gazelle for $ 42.00 dollars. So you understand,my friend **** ****** waqs using the phone because he has AT&T service also. All he did was change the SIM Card. I charged the phone and then sent it to Gazelle. They then sent me a conter offer of $12.00 dollars. I was shocked a ** ** * ** * phone that was working and the price was dropped substantially!!!! I did not agree to this price and like they advertised nthey would send you back your phone in the condition I sent it to them. I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT---THE PHONE WAS PRIED OPEN AND RIPPED APART AT THE UPPER LEFT HAND CORNER. THIS WAS NOT HOW I SENT THE PHONE TO THEM!!!! IT WAS WORKING AND BEING USEDE BY MY FRIEND. IS THIS HOW THEY OPERATE---IF YOU DONT AGREE TO THEIR COUNTER OFFER, THEY SMASH YOUR PHONE APART. I KNOW THIS WAS NOT A MISTAKE, BECAUSE THERE WAS AMARK ON THE PHONE SO I COULD DISTINGUISH IT FROM ANOTHER I PHONE. I DONT KNOW IF OTHER PEOPLE HAVE HAD TJE SAME PROBLEM---BUT I SHOULD BE PAID THE PRICE THAT THEY ORIGINALLY OFFERED AS I SENT TO THEM THEY WAY THAT I RATED IT. MY FRIEND WHO USED IT WILL SIGN AN AFFIDAVIT. YOU HAVE TO SEE THE WAY THEY SENT BACK THE PHONE. IT IS NIGHT AND DAY OF ITS CONDITION. THERE IS NO WAY I COULD RATE THIS PHONE TRHE WAY I RECEIVED IT. I WILL BLOG EVERY DAY TO MY FRIENDS ON EVERY SOCIAL MEDIA ABOUT THE WAY GAZELLE HANDLED THIS. THIS IS DAVID AGAINST THE GIANT. I AM JUST A SMALL FISH IN A BIG POND---BUT THIS IS NOT RIGHT. EITHER PAY FOR THE PHONE TO BE FIXED OR COMPENSATE ME THE $ 42.00.

Desired Settlement: SOME ONE AT GAZELLE BUSTED OPEN MY PHONE SO THAT IT IS INOPERABLE. THE OUTCOME----FIX THE PHONE SO I CAN USE IT OR SELL IT TO SOMEONE ELSE OR PAY ME THE $ 42.00 OFFER. I AM NOT ASKING FOR MUCH. $ 42.00 ISNT GOING TO MAKE ME RICH----BUT THIS IS PRINCIPLE---IF THEY WILL DO THIS TO ME, THEY WILL DO IT TO SOMEONE ELSE. I AM NOT POOR OR LOOKING FOR A HANDOUT---I AM JUST LOOKING FOR FAIRNESS---THAT IS ALL!!!!

Business Response: To whom it may concern:

The customer created a transaction on September 21 for an ***** ****** ** * ****.  Based on the specific model of the cell phone and that the customer indicated it was in “Good” condition, we provided the customer with a $42.00 offer.  However, during the inspection of the item, we found that the ***** ****** ** * **** was in “Poor” condition and showed signs of physical damage and was not operational.

Due to this, we revised the offer from $42.00 to $15.00. We sent email notification to the customer and provided them with 5 days to accept or decline the new amount.  As the customer declined the new amount, we returned the phone to the shipping address on file.

As items may be damaged during shipping, we inspect and record any signs of tampering or damage upon receipt.  There is no indication in our records that the customer’s item suffered any damage during transit.

As a customer care gesture, we can offer this customer $25.00 to be sent via check.  If the customer would like to accept this offer, please let us know.

Cordially,
******* **********
Senior Team Lead, Customer Care
Gazelle

Consumer Response:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint.

Business Response: To whom it may concern:

The customer created a transaction on September 21 for an ***** ****** ** * ****.  Based on the specific model of the cell phone and that the customer indicated it was in “Good” condition, we provided the customer with a $42.00 offer.  However, during the inspection of the item, we found that the ***** ****** ** * **** was in “Poor” condition and showed signs of physical damage and was not operational.

Due to this, we revised the offer from $42.00 to $15.00. We sent email notification to the customer and provided them with 5 days to accept or decline the new amount.  As the customer declined the new amount, we returned the phone to the shipping address on file.

Once more, as a customer care gesture, we can offer this customer $25.00 to be sent via check.  If the customer would like to accept this offer, please let us know.

Cordially,
******* **********
Senior Team Lead, Customer Care
Gazelle

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I sold this company my phone on or around September 22nd. It is now November 2, and I have still not received my payment that was agreed on. They received my device and supposedly issued me payment but I have not received anything from them.

Desired Settlement: I want to receive my payment either by ****** or check immediately for the amount of $162.00

Business Response: To whom it may concern:
Upon receipt of shipments, Gazelle will inspect each item to ensure that it matches the condition originally indicated online.  The inspection process can take up to three days after an item is delivered based on the current volume.  We received the customer’s ***** iPhone * 16GB on October 3rd and it was inspected within 24 hours.  During the inspection, we found that the item matched the “Good” condition as originally indicated online.  In light of this, we confirmed the original offer of $162.00 and sent notification to the customer.

As stated in our communications to customers, payments are sent out within 3 to 5 business days after the value of an item has been confirmed during the inspection.  The payment of $162.00 was sent via check on October 7th to the payment address listed in the account.

The customer contacted us on October 24th regarding his missing check payment.  The original check was canceled on October 27th and the customer was notified via email that the new payment will be issued within the next 5 business days.

The order has been submitted for payment via ******.  The payment will likely be sent in the next available payment batch which is scheduled to occur this evening between 8 PM EST and 11 PM EST.

Cordially,
******* **********
Senior Team Lead, Customer Care
Gazelle

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: They are not honoring their agreement.

Desired Settlement: Issue the check/payment as promised

Business Response: To whom it may concern:

The customer created a transaction on October 4th to sell Gazelle a ********** *** ***** **** and a ********** *** ***** ****.  Per our email communications, we cannot offer any funds for ********** *** ***** **** cell phone models as we are not currently accepting these items.  The customer will be sent $74.55 for the sale of ********** *** ***** **** in 3 to 5 days.  The payment will be sent as an ****** Gift Code via email to ***********@comcast.net.  The email notification will include a claim code for the customer to access the payment at ******.com.

Gazelle sends payments in batch and the standard time frame for payment is 3 to 5 days after the item’s value has been confirmed.

Cordially,
******* **********
Senior Team Lead, Customer Care
Gazelle

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I sent Gazelle my laptop because I had received a decent price, but upon inspection the offer went down significantly, so I declined the offer and had them send back my laptop. I had sent it in the original box with the original booklet + CD as well as the complete charger/adapter. When I received it in the mail, all I received was the laptop in the box, the booklet/cd and charger were missing. After much trouble in trying to reach a human instead of voice mail, I spoke to someone who claimed that they recycle all accessories!?!? and that my items had been recycled. Now I really need to sell my computer and found a person interested in buying but then discovered the missing charger, etc., which made the value go down a lot. I really need the money but cannot sell my computer until I have all of the accessories that are my property!!!

Desired Settlement: I would like Gazelle to return my charger and the original booklet + install CD and/or send me new ones. I think they should also give me a monetary compensation for delaying the process and for the hassle of getting in touch and for the delay in my ability to sell my laptop.

Business Response: To whom it may concern:

The customer spoke with the manager of our Customer Care Department on October 25th regarding the accessories originally included in the shipment of the ***** ******* ***.  As the accessories were recycled upon receipt of the item, we did not ship the items with the laptop upon return to the customer.  However, we have located a replacement *** ** * ***** **** ******* disc and a *** ******* Power Adapter, AC wall plug, and power cord.

Per the conversation on October 25th with our department, we assured the customer that these items were to be returned via *****.  We have notified the customer via email of the tracking number for the shipment.  The estimated delivery date for the missing accessories is October 30th.

Cordially,
******* **********
Senior Team Lead, Customer Care
Gazelle

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: Received a quote of 56.00 for my phone. Snet the phone in and they proceed to tell me its not the phone i told them it was and the offer is now 0.00. But they would be happy to keep the phone and recycle it for me. When looking on there website now they are no longer excepting the phone model i have. I feel i was one of the last people to send this model in before they discontinued taking this phone, and there way of getting out pf paying me is to lie and say i sent the wrong phone in.

Desired Settlement: to receive the $56.00 usd I was quoted to by the company in good faith.

Business Response: The original offer that was locked in by Mr. ******* was in regards to a Blackberry RIM Curve 9370.  The customer indicated that the cell phone was in “Good” condition and may display signs of wear from normal use.  Based on the retail value of the Blackberry RIM Curve 9370 in the secondary market as well as the condition that the phone was indicated to be in, we provided an offer of $56.00. The customer created a transaction for this amount and was provided 30 days to send the item to us.  Upon receipt of the cell phone, we found that the item was in fact a Blackberry RIM Curve 3G 9330.  As this is not a model that ******* currently purchases, we revised the offer to $0.00 and notified Mr. *******. The customer declined the new offer and the item was requested to be returned.  The shipment was sent from our facility and has been delivered to the customer’s shipping address as of October 18th. As the item in question differed from the product associated with the original offer, we would not be able to pay the customer for the full amount.  The item has been returned to the customer as requested.

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I received a quote from Gazelle for my iPhone * **** for $180.00. After receiving the boxes I sent the phone in to Gazelle. Once they received the phone and reviewed it they determined that it was not worth the original quoted price due to a crack on the back of the phone. I received an email from them stating that the phone was not worth the original quoted price of $180.00 but would now be worth $55.00. I did a live chat with a Gazelle representative to find out what they meant by crack in the phone because when I had sent the phone in there were no visible cracks. They told me they did not have any further information than what was noted on the account and I could appeal the decision to a manager and have it reviewed but more often than not the review would return the same results. After some consideration I decided to decline the offer and have the phone returned to me. ***** delivered my phone on 10/11/12 when I opened the package, removed my phone, and went to put the sim card back in the whole sim card tray was missing from my phone. When I had initially sent the phone into Gazelle the tray was in the phone but when they returned it to me it was no longer there. I immediately contacted Gazelle via the live chat option. I explained what happened, expecting them to send me my tray or a tray back. When I spoke with ****** at Gazelle he informed me that I could go to ***** and they would provide me with a replacement tray. While I was still live chatting with ****** I made a call to the ***** store to inquire about this. The sales clerk at ***** informed me that they did have the tray but it would cost me $8.00 to purchase it. I then informed ****** of this and he told me that this has never occurred before and they had no protocol for dealing with it. I explained that not only would it cost me $8.00 for a part that I already had when I sent it in to them but additionally the closest ***** store to me was over 1 hour away which would cost me gas and time. He informed me that he could see if there were extra trays in Gazelle's stock that they could send me and I would have to wait for someone to contact me then if they did happen to have an extra tray I would then have to wait for it to be shipped. I asked him how long it would take for someone to contact me and he had no timeline. So I would have to wait some indefinite amount of time for someone to contact me via email to let me know if they had the part that they stole from me, then if by some chance they did I would then have to wait 7-10 business days for said part to be shipped to me. All the while I would be without a phone. Neither option is acceptable to me at this point which I informed ****** of but he said that was all he could do at this time.

Desired Settlement: I would like Gazelle to refund me the $8.00 I am going to have to spend to purchase the part that they took.

Business Response: To whom it may concern:

We have been in contact with Mr. ******** regarding the replacement SIM tray.  As we were unable to locate a replacement SIM tray, we have agreed to reimburse the customer for $8.00.  We have asked our Finance Department to issue the funds to Mr. ********’s ****** account.  We will notify the customer via email once the funds are accessible.  We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

Sincerely,
******* **********
Senior Team Lead
Customer Care
Gazelle

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I got a quote from Gazelle to purchase my iphone ** for $226.00. I accepted and they sent me a box so I could send in the phone. I followed all the instructions and sent the phone as directed. On 9/14/12 I received an email saying that they had received the phone. A copy of the email is pasted below: Your box has reached Gazelle Inbox Gazelle.com donotreply@gazelle.com Sep 14 (11 days ago) to me Track My Transactions > Hi **** We wanted to let you know that your box has arrived at Gazelle. We'll open the box up shortly and check your items into the system to get you through our process fast. If you have any questions at all, don't hesitate to reach out to our Customer Care team any time. Thanks! The Gazelle Team This email was sent to **************@gmail.com by Gazelle in accordance with our Privacy Policy. ****** Seven days later I received a second email saying that there is still time to get the phone to them so I can received my $226.00 indicating that they did not receive the phone. After receiving the second email I attempted to contact them and was only able to 'chat' as they do not accept phone calls. During the first chat session, I was told that the phone was not received but after some checking, they changed that and said that it was but they were backed up in processing. I received a call and since I was doing the chat on my cell phone, the session was cut off. I then got on a second chat and again was told they had not received my phone. I asked to have a supervisor call me and was told that would happen but after 3 business days it still has not. I contacted them again yesterday and was told yet again that my phone was not received and that a supervisor would contact me which still has not happened. According to their web site, you a suppose to receive a check 10 business days after they receive the phone and it has been 11 calendar days and they still do not acknowledge receiving the phone and they are not making any effort to advise me of the status of our agreement. I am sure they have some fine print that gives them extra time but they have not met any of the milestone tasks they identify in their website.

Desired Settlement: I want the phone back.

Business Response: To whom it may concern:

Upon completing the transaction to sell Gazelle an ***** iphone ** **** (*************), we provided the customer with a prepaid USPS shipping label.  The tracking information associated with the shipment shows that the shipment was delivered to our Inspection Facility in Irving, Texas on September 14, 2012.  Typically, shipments are opened and items are logged into our system within one to two days.  Unfortunately, the item in question was not reviewed and processed within our normal time frame.  

I have spoken with Mr. ********* via telephone to apologize for the delay and any confusion and/or frustration brought forth during his correspondence with our Customer Care Department.

We have assured the customer that as the tracking information shows that the shipment was successfully delivered to our facility, we will honor the original trade-in value for his device.  A check payment of $226.00 will be mailed to the payment address associated with the customer’s account by Monday October 1st.  The customer will receive an email notification from Gazelle once the check has been mailed.

Cordially,
******* **********
Senior Team Lead, Customer Care
Gazelle

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I sent a computer in good working condition with it's original packaging and accessories to Gazelle after they quoted me $278.00. Upon receipt they immediately emailed me and said they lowered the price to $0 because the computer would "not turn on". I was shocked by this and became suspicious as I knew it was untrue. They offered to recycle or send it back to me, and I asked them to return it so I could inspect it. I also looked up reviews about Gazelle online (including BBB) and discovered many consumers have also had similar issues with this company - sending in good working products and being told they were defective upon receipt and being returned FURTHER damaged items or even items that were not theirs. Concerned by this, I emailed Gazelle to see if I would get the computer in its original packaging I sent with it, and they said yes, anything I sent originally would be returned. This is not the end of the story though. When I received the returned computer I opened it immediately and found the following issues: 1. I was told by customer care (in an email that I have) I would get my computer sent back in it's original box and packing. It was NOT. 2. The keyboard and mouse I included with the computer was NOT returned. 3. The power cord was also NOT returned. 4. The memory/RAM was removed/taken from the computer. 5. The internal hard drive was disconnected internally and shoved into a section it was not supposed to be in. 6. The outside casing is scratched, bent and broken. The computer is now severely damaged/broken and is not in that condition when I shipped it to Gazelle. It is my belief that this computer is beyond repair at this point due to the damage caused by this transaction. I am disgusted by what happened and wish I never came across Gazelle - as I sent a computer in perfect condition and it was returned completely broken and stripped. I feel like a victim of fraud.

Desired Settlement: Unless Gazelle is able to send me back the same ram, mouse, keyboard, box, power cord, packaging, fix the casing of the computer they broke, and get it back to the original good and in working condition that it was in when I sent it to them, I would like a settlement for the amount they originally quoted me the computer was worth. Because if I had never sent it to Gazelle, I could've sold it on **** or ********** for the same amount or more. The only reason I went with Gazelle was for the convenience and it turned out to be the worst decision I could've made.

Business Response: To whom it may concern,

We have been in communication via e-mail with ***** ******* and have reached a
mutual agreement by having the item in question returned to our inspection
facility. As soon as the tracking information for the return is activated the
quoted offer will be honored.

For further questions and/or concerns, Ms. ***** ******* is encouraged to
contact us via e-mail at ************************ or via telephone at
***************


Cordially,

******* **********
Senior Team Lead
Customer Care
Gazelle | ** ******* ***** | ******* ** *****
********************** | ************ | fax ************

Consumer Response: Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #*******.

Regards,

***** *******

BBB's Final Determination: Consumer accepted resolution offered by the business.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: This Company has a very seductive commercial promising fast and easy processing of their money for your used electronics. Nothing could be further from the truth. I submitted my honest initial appraisal of my iPhone, which earned an initial offer of $97 for the unit. The phone was in excellent working condition with nothing broken when properly packaged up and sent to Gazelle. Soon I receive an email saying that my phone was received and some damage was found (a broken power button) and now they will offer only $37. Being an unsuspecting and honest person, this really made me mad. A search of the internet revealed a whole bunch of claims just like mine where after receipt of electronics, a new, fictional "damage" is found resulting in a drastic reassessment. Boy I wish I had thought to do some checking on this company before sending anything to them -what a headache! I suppose to just offer the money for electronics without this apparent trickery is just not making enough money.

Desired Settlement: I'd like this company to honor their initial offer of $97 and apologize for this huge inconvenience -the whole reason I engaged this company was the "quick and easy" nature of their advertisements.

Business Response: Dear Mr. ********,

I appreciate the time taken to bring this matter to our attention.

The item in question is:
*************
************* * ***** iPhone *** ****
IMEI: ***************

The original offer was revised from $97.00 to $37.00 because the power button is not present. It must have become loose due to normal tear and wear and subsequently fallen off while in transit. We did not find the button inside the retail box that enclosed it however the possibility exists.  Our interest is not in the deliberate offer revision since there is not better relationship than that of a “repeat” customer.

Our course of action will be as follows:

01. The item had been shipped back to you via FedEx Tracking No.: *************** with an estimated delivery of Aug 17, 2012.
02. I have personally contacted FedEx and requested that the shipment be re-routed to our headquarters in Boston, MA. The reference number is **********.
03. Upon delivery the item will be carefully reexamined. Unfortunately, we do not refurbished nor repair electronics but if necessary, I will have the missing button replaced somewhere else.
04. Subsequently, we will honor the quoted offer ($97.00).
05. I will keep you informed each step of the way. My direct contact number is: (***) ********.

Last but not least, please accept my sincerest apologies for any inconvenience this matter may have caused you.

Cordially,
**** ********
Gazelle, Inc.
Customer Care Manager

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I sold my phone to the Gazelle company online and they asked me for my email and my mailing address so they could send me the box to ship the phone in. While online, I was asked for my paypal account email as well and I provided that and my mailing address to Gazelle. A few days later I had received a box in the mail from Gazelle for me to ship my phone. I packaged the phone and sent Gazelle my iPhone * **** from *******. I was waiting to receive my payment in my paypal but it was never sent by Gazelle. I then went back onto the website and intended on tracking my order, but when I provided them with an email address that I gave to receive the paypal payment and the shipping package, it would not register my email. So I contacted the Help Center and talked to ******* in which she told me she would check to see if a shipping label had been sent to my address. She told me that her company had no records of my email address or my mailing address and that maybe I had the wrong company. I explained to her that that could not be true because of the fact that I have had that iPhone for about a year before seeing thier ad on tv and deciding to do it through them because I felt that it would be alot easier and less stressful to do it with an actual business. I explained further that no one else could have possibly sent me a package the same time I was supposed to receive the package from Gazelle because Gazelle was the only used sell phone site that I have ever used or seen before. I understand that people can make those type of mistakes, but not me. I've been using computers for years and im sufficient with both Mac's and PC's so I know ALOT about computers. Also I explained that it could not have been an email issue because I was asked to enter the email once and then two more times to verify the email address through PayPal. Me and ******* discussed this for about two-three days before she asked me for my iPhone serial number (************) and the MEID #(**************). I provided ******* with both of those numbers and she sent me an email about two days later stating that she was unable to find any phone with that serial number.

Desired Settlement: I jus want Gazelle to pay me the $166 they owe me for the ******* iPhone * **** that I shipped them. I'm starting to feel like it was a scam to receive my phone, and act as if they never had any knowledge of my shipment, which is why they do not provide you with a tracking number or email. I had the money being sent to my PayPal which was under the email address ************@yahoo.com. This has been a more stressful situation than I
could have imagined and I just want the money I am entitled to for my phone or I would like to have my phone shipped back to me. That is all. Thank you!

Business Response: To whom it may concern:

Apple iPhone * **** ***** (*******)
MEID: **************
Apple Serial Number: ************

Mr. ***** has stated that a transaction to trade an ***** iPhone * in exchange for $166.00 was placed during the beginning portion of the month of June 2012.  We have no records of a transaction associated to the name, maligning address and serial number furnished. Moreover, Mr. ***** has not been able to provide a transaction id for the transaction in question.

On 6.16.2012, Mr. ***** contacted us stating that: "For some reason I cant track my iPhone that i sent in last week. My name is ****** *****. I have not received any emails and when i try to track the package and I enter my email address, it makes it seem as if my email address was never saved. So now I have sent u my iPhone in the mail, and im worried that I will not receive my payment through PayPal. Is there a way I can have an email sent to me verifying that I have set up an order and that it will be processed when it is received? I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!".

On 6.16.2012, he indicated that the phone had been sent the previous week "sent in last week".

On 6.19.2012, he states that: "I used the shipping box that was sent. I dropped the box off on a saturday so im guessin it was shipped monday june 18th. It was a black iphone * that was not damaged and had the battery included".  If the box was dropped off on Saturday that would have been June 14, 2012.

Going back to statement on June 16, 2012: "For some reason I cant track my iPhone that i sent in last week". It appears as if a tracking number had been provided yet Mr. ***** has not been able to provide one.

We have researched this matter thoroughly and believe that Mr. ***** must have sent the mentioned item to a different company with the same or similar business model as ours.  We encourage Mr. ****** to contact ******* and *****, Inc. and report the device as lost or stolen. This will prevent the device from being activated under a NEW owner's name.  We also advise Mr. ***** to conduct a careful review of sites he may have visited when he became interested in selling his device. We have no records of the mentioned transaction or of a box being sent to him as part of the trade-in process.

Cordially,
**** ********
Gazelle
Customer Care Manager

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I sent my phone in for evaluation and the company is now stating my phone is worth nothing (they were going to give me a whopping $6.00 for it-now they are saying it's worth nothing) and they can't understand how and why I even sent my phone in to them. (I am wondering the same thing). They have stated to me in a rude e-mail that I somehow bypassed their form to get an evaluation done and they don't know how this "magically" happened. They are claiming my phone isn't even on their list of phones they purchase and I feel this is just their way of keeping my phone, charger and manual and will probably re-sell my phone which is in perfect working condition. Customer Service never picks up the phone, always a voice mail and I was disconnected from their "live chat". I seriously doubt this company will remain in business for much longer!

Desired Settlement: I just wanted to alert other consumers about this company and feel they are extremely unprofessional and are operating under false terms.

Business Response: To whom it may concern:

We apologize for the confusion and/or misinformation.

The device is in fact a device that we currently do not support as it is a device that has been long discontinued by the manufacturer with no demand in the market for used electronics.

Since it appears that we were still listing it at the time when the transaction was created the message conveyed should have been that the $6.00 offer had been revised due to actual cosmetic condition of the device. It had been rated by end user as "perfect" or "flawless" which entails that it looks like as if it has never been used. The device does exhibit significant signs of wear and tear.

Given the miscommunication we will honor the quoted offer despite the item's cosmetic condition. A check payment in the amount of $6.00 will be processed in the 3 to 5 business days and subsequently mailed to end user's address on file.

Cordially,

**** ********
Gazelle
Customer Care Manager

Consumer Response:
Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #*******.

Regards,

****** *******

BBB's Final Determination: Consumer accepted resolution offered by the business.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I heard about Gazelle on a commercial to sell back my old iphone. I called them up and started the process. I packaged up my phone which was in excellent condition. There were absolutely no issues with it it was just an older version (3s) and had 2 little scratches on the back. I sent it to Gazelle and days later I received an email stating that there was damage and the phone no longer worked and that it would only be worth $15. The phone to be sold on ebay is worth nearly $400 and when I filled things out with Gazelle the form said it was worth $77.00. I feel like I have been taken advantage of and deceived and I am very unsatisfied with the quality of service.

Desired Settlement: My desired outcome would be to receive the $77.00 I was quoted originally as there was absolutely nothing wrong with the phone. I feel this business is taking advantage of people and in future I would urge fellow sellers not to mail phones as there is no guarantee that they will fulfill their obligation. Their integrity is in question here.

Business Response: PS*********90
SR*********86 - Apple iPhone 3G 8GB
IMEI: *********851818

To whom it may concern,

We apologize for the delay in having this matter addressed.

The device in question is an Apple iPhone which had been described by Mr. ********** as it being a 3GS (8GB) model. The IMEI and Apple Serial Number indicated that the correct model was an older model "3G (8GB)".

The original offer was based on functionality and cosmetic condition the primary drive is by the "specific model" selected. There is a substantial difference between and an Apple iPhone 3G and 3GS. For example: A 3G cannot be upgraded to the latest OS version supported by Apple which is iOS 5.1.1 but an Apple 3GS supports it along with many other features not supported by its predecessor.

We wish that Mr. **********, would have contacted us before accepting the revised offer for clarification on the matter as there are no records of an attempt until the filed BBB complaint.

If the correct model would have been chosen the presented offer would have been approximately $45.00 and not $77.00. Our offer had been revised to $15.00 due to cosmetic defects and not the functionality of the device as a large piece of the housing was missing near the phone's power button.

As a customer service gesture and based on "actual pricing" for "actual model" we can honor $45.00 - $15.00 = $30.00. In other words, in addition to the already paid amount of $15.00 we can offer Mr. ********** an additional $30.00 for a total of $45.00.

Upon acceptance, a check payment will be processed and mailed to Mr. ********** to the mailing address on file.

Cordially,

**** ********
Gazelle
Customer Care Manager
To whom it may concern,

We apologize for the delay in having this matter addressed.

The device in question is an Apple iPhone which had been described by Mr. ********** as it being a 3GS (8GB) model. The IMEI and Apple Serial Number indicated that the correct model was an older model "3G (8GB)".

The original offer was based on functionality and cosmetic condition the primary drive is by the "specific model" selected. There is a substantial difference between and an Apple iPhone 3G and 3GS. For example: A 3G cannot be upgraded to the latest OS version supported by Apple which is iOS 5.1.1 but an Apple 3GS supports it along with many other features not supported by its predecessor.

Mr. **********, could have contacted us before accepting the revised offer for clarification on the matter.

If the correct model would have been chosen the presented offer would have been approximately $45.00 and not $77.00. Our offer had been revised to $15.00 due to cosmetic defects and not the functionality of the device as a large piece of the housing was missing near the phone's power button.

As a customer service gesture and based on "actual pricing" for "actual model" we can honor $45.00 - $15.00 = $30.00. In other words, in addition to the already paid amount of $15.00 we can offer Mr. ********** an additional $30.00 for a total of $45.00.

Upon acceptance, a check payment will be processed and mailed to Mr. ********** to the mailing address on file.

Cordially,

**** ********
Gazelle
Customer Care Manager

Consumer Response:   Thank you for your response and I accept the final offer of $30. *** **********
Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #9060334.

Regards,

*** **********

Consumer Response:   Thank you for your response and I accept the final offer of $30. *** **********
Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #********

Regards,

*** **********

BBB's Final Determination: Consumer accepted resolution offered by the business.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I saw an Advertisement for Gazelle.com stating how easy it would be to sell my old cell phone to them. I went to the website and got an offer for $99 for my Samsung Galaxy S 4G SGH-T959V. I was sent a box to ship it in, which I then shipped to the address provided (**** ***** **** **** ***** **** ******* ** *****). After a few days, I received an e-mail from Gazelle stating that the item had a CRACKED screen and they were offering now only $4 for my $100 item! I declined and immediately asked for my phone back. My complaint is about their business practices. I am absolutely positive the phone was in 100% working condition prior to shipping and that the packaging was exceptional (I put the phone in its original box, put it in the provided box and then stuffed the box with shredded paper, which acts as a shock reducer.

Desired Settlement: I need my phone back ASAP. It better be the same exact hardware I sent them (I have the serial number and EIN of my old phone).

Business Response: To whom it may concern,

In order to ensure the accuracy of our findings, we'd like to ask Mr. Hector Henry for the Serial Number / ESN he has for the device in question. As soon as we receive the information we'll be more than happy to look into the matter further.

Cordially,

**** ********
Manager
Gazelle Customer Care

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

BBB Comments: The consumer indicated to BBB that the complaint was resolved.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I bought an item advertised on eBay as an iPod Touch 3rd Generation 8GB. About 50 days after buying it, I tried to download a particular app. The app wouldn't download, telling me that my device was too old. It turns out that Apple never sold an 8GB 3rd gen iPod Touch and what I was sold was a 2nd generation device. I contacted the Gazelle. They blamed Apple and ME. They said Apple confused them. Then, they said I should have figured it out sooner and let them know. eBay won't help since it's more than 45 days past the date of purchase. Gazelle said they won't help since they don't hold themselves responsible and instead blame Apple and ME. Below is their response to me: "We apologize for any confusion. When Apple released the 3rd generation of iPod Touches, they only upgraded the 32gb+ models, and re-released the 2nd generation 8gb and 16gb models alongside them branded as 3rd gen. Within the past year, when it's been found that the 2nd gens can't update to the latest firmware, Apple denied they ever made 3rd gen 8gb and 16gb models. The only way to differentiate is the lettering on the back: two lines of words indicated a release with the 3rd gen, and 4 lines signifies 2nd gen. I'm very sorry for any inconvenience this issue has caused you. Due to the fragile nature of used electronics, we provide a 30 day guarantee backed by our return policy to offer our customers a month to inspect and test out the item before they decide whether they would like to keep the item or not. Unfortunately, because your request is beyond 30 days from when you received the item, we will be unable to issue a return. During the checkout period, and in our thank you email, we highly suggest and recommend purchasing a separate aftermarket warranty through SquareTrade.com in order to ensure that your item will be covered by Squaretrade's warranty after our 30 day guarantee has expired. I apologize that we could not be of further assistance at this juncture. Please let us know if there is anything else we can do to assist you. We're here to help."

Desired Settlement: Replacement with what was advertised: a 3rd gen iPod Touch in Good Condition.

Business Response: To whom it may concern:

We apologize for this inconvenience.

Our response to Mr. ******* ******* ***** was based on our Return Policy but given the nature of this particular incident and as a Customer Service gesture we are making an exception.

A Return Merchandise Authorization (**************) has been sent to the e-mail associated with the transaction. That is: **************************. Mr ***** is required to check the inbox (spam and junk mail folders as well) corresponding to the e-mail account noted. The instructions on how to proceed with the return of the device in question are detailed.

We appreciate his patient with this matter and if further assistance is required he contact us at *****************
Cordially,

**** ********
Manager
Gazelle Customer Care

Gazelle | 25 Thomson Place | Boston, MA 02210

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I contacted gazelle.com in order to sell a cell phone that was no longer in use after seeing an advertisement on the television. Following all the proper steps as outlines by gazelle.com I sent in my product and then proceeded to wait for verification of condition and then payment to be received. After my payment was missing for a time (exact time outlined by gazelle.com) I again contacted the business and informed them of the issue. Originaly they supposedly checked into the situation and responded to me that a new payment would be en route and I would be informed when it was sent so as to know when to expect it. When a longer period passed and still no word as to the payment even being sent I sent in an e-mail stating that because of payment complications I would simply like my belongings returned so I could take my business elsewhere. This was not responded to at all nor have I received either payment or my belongings back. Further communication from me stated that I fealt they (gazelle.com) were in effect stealing from me and I was under the impression they had no intention of either paying or returning. I have received nothing in regards to communication, payment or return of merchandise.

Desired Settlement: At this point I simply would like my item returned to me as I have no interest in business with this company (gazelle.com)

Business Response: To whom it may concern:

Payment for the item under discussion (** ***** ***** *****) was processed on February 14, 2012. Subsequently, a payment authorization was submitted to ******* to have a ******* Prepaid Visa Card in the amount of $11.00 mailed to:

***** ********
*** ******** *** ****
*********** ** *****

We normally wait 14 days from the day that payment is processed before a replacement is issued. Unfortunately, we are unable to return the device at this point since the transaction has been fully completed in our system.  We are sorry that Mr. ******** has not received his payment. In order to expedite the matter, we are issuing a NEW payment in the form of a check in the amount of $20.00. The check will be mailed via Priority Mail with tracking on Monday, April 9, 2012.  As soon as tracking information is furnished by our Check Processing Center we will be providing it to Mr. ********.

Cordially,
**** ********
Manager
Customer Care
Gazelle | 25 Thomson Place | Boston, MA 02210

Consumer Response: I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint.

BBB's Final Determination: Consumer accepted resolution offered by the business.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I send Gazelle my Sprint Samsung Epic phone for a quoted offer of 70.00. I mistakenly put in information for a Samsung Galaxy S instead and take full responsibility for that. However, I don’t agree with their adjusted offer of 40.00. I contacted customer service and chatted with ****** I informed him that I would like my phone back as I don’t accept that offer. He informed that two emails were sent, one on 02/22/12 and 02/24/2012 regarding the offer and I missed the declined deadline which was on 02/27/2012. I informed ******(customer service representative) that I did not receive the emails and wanted to speak to someone regarding this. He checked with IT and they indicated to him that they had no server errors that day and I must have received it. I informed ******that I didn't accept their offer and that I wanted my phone back. They never gave me the opportunity to decline the offer because I did not receive any emails after 02/21/2012. ******referred me to the legal page and told me that there was no recourse at this time. I’m confused as to why I would not decline if I received the emails as the offer is 30 dollars less than the original quote.

Desired Settlement: Return my phone at their cost.

Business Response: To whom it may concern,

The device in question was sent in as a "Samsung Galaxy S 4G SGH-T959V" with a quoted offer of $70.00. Upon receiving the device our inspectors noticed that the model selected was incorrect. The correct model was "Samsung Epic 4G SPH-D700" which of lesser trade-in value. If the correct model would have selected the presented offer would have been $40.00.

The end-user received three notifications and a final reminder about the matter via e-mail. If plaintiff did not receive any of our notifications, they may have been blocked by a spam filter.

The item has been accepted and payment in the amount of $40.00 has been processed and sent to plaintiff's PayPal account. The trade-in has been fully completed and we are unable to revert the outcome.

In good faith and as a Customer Service gesture, we are going to process a supplementary payment in the amount of $30.00 to compensate the anticipated amount that end-user had expected per the unintentional model selection during the online assessment.

End-user will need to allow 3 to 5 business for processing of additional payment. Upon completion, the funds ($30.00) will be sent to the PayPal account on file. That is: kdahlia1@hotmail.com.

Cordially,

**** ********
Manager
Gazelle Customer Care

Consumer Response: [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #8936257.

Regards,

Keisha Dahlia

BBB's Final Determination: Consumer accepted resolution offered by the business.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I turned down the offer they gave me on my iphone 3Gs and recieved the phone back in the mail. THAT is not the condition I shipped that phone to them in good faith. I had expected the company to handle the phone very carefully while they checked it out. I can tell it was taken apart and haphazardly thrown back together. It is buckled in the middle and the front of the screen will not go down on one end.They said it would not power on and stay on in their explanation for downgrading their offer to me. When I sent the phone, it was in perfectly good working condition. It powered on and stayed on and charged up fine!! I am writing to let you know that they were not honest and forthright with me when I sent in a perfectly good iphone 3G. They said it was not in good working condition (which it was when I sent it off to them). I was using it everyday right up until I got my 4G. When the phone was returned to me, it was totally messed up and rendered useless. It almost appears that the person inspecting the phone took out some screws and then lost one behind the motherboard and couldn't get it out so they just forced the top and back together, bending and breaking the motherboard and other parts inside. The phone is now not even worth the laughable price of $30 they offered me. They say they can't help me because there was no proof of tampering. I can assure you that it was destroyed by someone before it was returned to me and I highly doubt it was the post office that took it apart!! I don't feel they deserve an A+ rating by the BBB. I sincerely hope you will review this company again as I noticed there have been several complaints against them. Thank-you for helping all consumers to not get taken by dishonest companies.

Desired Settlement: I want the phone replaced and/or a fair price given.

Business Response: To whom it may concern,

I am very sorry about the reported issue that surrounded the trade-in/transaction under discussion. I have thoroughly reviewed all the pertaining logs we kept during the receiving and inspection process and moreover I have been in contact with the personnel that had handled the device.

Before proceeding, I'd like to confirm that under no circumstances devices are taken apart by members of staff as we are not licensed to do so. We do not offer repairs and/or refurbishment. Our offers are strictly generated on the basis of an item's functionality and cosmetic condition.  The practice of deliberately hindering a device in order to pursue an "offer revision" is not ethical and definitely not in the best interest of our company. We care a lot about our reputation and you can rest assured that the device was returned in the exact functional and cosmetic condition in which it had originally arrived.

We had asked ***** ***** to provide the IMEI number associated with the device that was sent in and it matched the number recorded during the receiving process which had been retrieved from the device's SIM tray upon arrival therefore removing the possibility that it may had been inadvertently switched with someone else's device.  Again, I am very sorry if the outcome of this transaction did not meet the plaintiff's expectations but as an accredited organization in good standing, we rely on the legitimacy and integrity of our operational practices.

Respectfully,
**** ********
Manager
Gazelle Customer Care

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I sent my working iPhone to Gazelle.com who offered $55 dollars for it. My phone was working before I sent it and now they say it does not work and that they will give me $15. I declined the offer and asked what happened to my phone. They stated that maybe something happen during shipping. I packed the box carefully and even placed the phone inside a ziplock bag. I think this is a scam and that they do this in order to keep the phones.

Desired Settlement: I just want them to either stop doing business or incluide insurance in their mail packeges so that they can't claim this happened again.

Business Response: To whom it may concern,

We are very sorry for the confusion. It appears that there has been some sort of miscommunication.

The original offered amount for the device in question was $55.00. During the inspection process we discovered that the "Silent Mute Switch Button" was not present. The actual functionality has never been disputed. The phone is fully functional with the exception of the missing button which could have easily been overlooked by end-user. Unfortunately, the non-presence of the "Silent Mute Switch Button" puts the device in poor to fair Cosmetic Condition which subsequently affects the original offer.

Our receiving personnel is highly trained and boxes are carefully checked before disposal for any physical damage and based on our findings this appears to be a normal tear wear matter which has affected the original offer $55.00 to $15.00.

End-user can rest assured that the device is being returned in the same exact functional and cosmetic condition in which it was received.


Cordially,

**** ********
Customer Care Manager
Gazelle, Inc.

Consumer Response:

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # *******.

I have attached a copy of the conversation as well as a screen shot stating that the Phone did not make a succesful call. The first time the mute button is mentioned is on the last e-mail. All the time I was concerned about the functionality of the Phone not the missing button. I knew the button was missing and I was able to mute the phone any time I wanted. The issue I have is with the statement that it did not make a call. If it is functional I am glad and I which this would have been mentioned in my conversation. All Megan had to say is the Phone is functional it was just missing the mute button and this would have never happen. I will wait unil my phone is returned to make sure it does work. All i wanted was my phone back in the same condition it was before they got it. If it is in the same condition then there is nothing to complaint.
Regards,

******* ******

 

 

Business Response: To whom it may concern:

Our deepest apologies for this confusion. The noted text is inaccurate and inconsistent. The only problem with the device is the missing silent switch and this puts the device "poor" overall condition. By the standards of its category the system considers it as non-fucntional.

We will add the proper text in our system to avoid future confusion. The device is being shipped back to you at no cost in the next 1 to 2 business days. Tracking information will be furnished via e-mail upon departure. Thank you for bringing the matter to our attention.

Cordially,

**** ********
Manager
Customer Care

Gazelle | 25 Thomson Place | Boston, MA 02210
jfiguereo@gazelle.com | 909-587-4520| fax 909-587-4501

Consumer Response: [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #*******.

Please remember that I have not recieved my phone so I will let you know if it is in the same condition it was when I sent it.

Regards,

******* ******

BBB's Final Determination: Consumer accepted resolution offered by the business.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: On November 21, 2011 I contacted gazelle.com in regards to selling a cell phone to the company. I received a quote of $205 for a still new ************ ********. This phone was in excellent condition--no scratched or marks. No damage of any kind andonly 3 months old. I asked for a shipping kit to be sent to me, but never received one so using the mailing label emailed to me, I sent the phone, with an extended battery and cover I had purchased, and the original box, to the company. Having successfully sold 3 phones to the company previously I waited to hear from gazelle that the package had been received. I heard nothing. I kept checking their web site to see if they had received it and neglected to send me the email. Nothing. I emailed customer service and was told to answer severl questions--when was it sent, how was it sent, did i use their box, what was the ESN on the phone (like i would know this since i no longer had the phone). I answered what questions I could and have heard nothing since.

Desired Settlement: At this point all i want is my original phone, with extended battery, returned to me--in the same shape it was sent--above exxcellent condition. Or the $205 promised to me for the phone. I visited the sellers web site they direct you to for purchases and my phone appears to be on their site. Please either return my phone--in excellent condition with the extended battery and cover or pay the money promised to me for the phone $205. I still have the original emails with the promised price. It must be either one or the other--nothing else.

Business Response: To whom it may concern:

We have carefully reviewed this matter.

Our records indicate that ***** ********* had placed a transaction on 11/21/2011 to trade a ******* ************ ******** for $205.00 per pending inspection.
4207503891
A prepaid shipping label was generated and a unique USPS Track and Confirm Number was assigned to it. The Track and Confirm number is: ********************. The tracking information has not been activated nor has any package arrived at our inspection facility located in ******* *****.

If the tracking information is not enabled by the courier we are unable to determine the whereabouts of the shipment.

For example, the previous transaction that ***** ********* created in October of this year had a track and confirm number ****************************** that was successfully enabled by the courier.

All this information can be verified through the Track and Confirm feature on the United States Postal Service website at:

******************************************************
Janis K
In order to investigate the matter further, we ask that ***** ********* send us an e-mail at customercare@gazelle.com with the following information:

01. Complete address of the US Postal Office where package was dropped off?
02. Approximate date and time when package was dropped off and had been handed to a Postal employee?
03. What type of box was used? Please include box color, dimensions, any logos or unique markings.
04. Serial number or IMEI number for the device in question, if you do not know you can recall this by looking up a old phone bill or contact the phone's service provider to obtain it.

Cordially,

**** ********
Gazelle – Customer Care

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I recently used Gazelle.com to sell my old cell phone, I was expecting as advertised on tv to have a quick payment for my phone. I sent this phone to them on Oct.16th on the 20th I recieved and email stating payment was submitted to paypal. Today is the 25th after many attempts of contacting Gazelle concerning my payment they sent me an email saying it was in the hands of Paypal and gave me a Paypal transaction ID # telling me to call Paypal. I called and spoke with ***** at Paypal and she told me the transaction ID they gave me is not a valid ID and I needed to contact Gazelle again. I did and have not heard back from them at this point. I need someone to look into this matter please. Thank You ****** *******

Desired Settlement: Would like my phone back or the $101.00 they promised me for my phone.

Business Response: To whom it may concern:

On October 20, 2011, we processed a payment for a Samsung Vibrant ******** ****************

Below are the details for the payment in question.

PayPal Unique Transaction ID # *****************
Sent to: ****** ******* (The recipient of this payment is Verified)
Email: ***********************
Amount sent: $101.00 USD
Date: Oct 20, 2011
Status: Completed
Funding Type: PayPal Balance

When a payment is successfully sent to a PayPal account it is assigned the status of "Completed". The funds will remain in the end-user's PayPal account balance until the the end-user logs into the account and instructs PayPal to transfer the funds to a Bank Account, etc. Also, if the end-user made purchases/payments while the funds sat in the PayPal account balance then PayPal will use as first option the funds in the account balance until they are exhausted prior to withdrawing from any bank account or Credit Card tied to the PayPal account.

Action Steps:

****** ******* *s encouraged to contact PayPal's Customer Support for further details on the matter.

PayPal Customer Service
**************

4:00 AM PST to 10:00 PM Pacific Time Monday through Friday
6:00 AM PST to 8:00 PM Pacific Time Saturday and Sunday

If after speaking with PayPal further assistance is required from us (Gazelle) you can contact us at **************

Cordially,


Gazelle Customer Care

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I mailed my used cell phone and ipod to Gazelle.com on November 1, 2011, with the expectation of receiving consideration (payment) for these items. I tracked the progress of my order on their web site and once they completed the valuation of my items, the items were accepted. I waited for payment (which was to be issued in the form of an Amazon.com gift card in the amount of $71.40), but I never received payment. I have contacted Gazelle's customer service representatives more than once to check the status of my missing payment. Customer service tells me that 2 separate payments were issued (1 payment for the ipod and 1 payment for the cell phone). The first payment was allegedly issued on 11/7 and the second payment was allegedly issued on 11/10. Today is 11/18 and I have not received the electronic gift certificate(s) via email (which would have arrived within moments, if actually sent by Gazelle.com). A customer service representative informed me that Gazelle.com is unable to provide a tracking or claim number for the payments. Customer service also tells me that they will forward my concern to their finance department, who will reply to me witin 48 hours. To date, I have not been contacted by the finance department, nor have I received payment. In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation. Defrauding people or entities of money or valuables is a common purpose of fraud. Based on this definition, Gazelle.com's actions constitute a fraud, and a breach of contract - as the bargained-for exchange has not been honored by non-performance. I had planned to sell these items on Ebay, and I would have done so, if I would have known that Gazelle.com was not going to compensate me as agreed.

Desired Settlement: I would like for Gazelle.com to finish the transaction and issue an Amazon.com gift card to me in the amount offered, which is $71.40.

Business Response: To whom it may concern:

We are very sorry to hear that your Amazon Gift Card Claim Codes have not arrived. I can assure you that they were sent but most likely ended up in your Spam or Junk mail folder.

As noted in previous communications with customer, two payments were issued.

A.
Motorola Droid A855
Gift Card Claim Code: ****************
Value: $39.90
Date sent: 11/10/2011

B.
Apple iPod Classic 5th Generation 30GB
Gift Card Claim Code: N/A
Value: $31.50
Date sent: 11/07/2011

For payment (B) we have submitted a request to our engineering department to retrieve a copy of the original e-mail containing the Amazon Gift Card Claim Code for the $31.50. We will have it sent to ****** ******** on Monday, December 5, 2011.

We apologize for any inconvenience.


Cordially,

Gazelle

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: i sent them three phones to sell to them tey took one and saud they never got the phone

Desired Settlement: i want the money thatg is owed to me

Business Response: To whom it may concern:

The addressed matter has been carefully reviewed.

Mr. ****** ****** has transacted with us three times. The transactions are listed below in chronological order.

PS17*********
SR*********34 - HTC Wildfire S
Payout: $129.00
Date: 10/22/2011

PS91392744260
SR5*********2 - LG G2x P999
Payout: $154.00
Date: 10/24/2011

PS*********46
SR*********87 - LG G2x P999
Payout: $112.00
Date: 11/25/2011

It should be noted that when each and every transaction above were placed the opted payment method requested was ******. The associated e-mail address with the ****** account is: *********************

The contacted name, address and e-mail listed in the ******* account is as follows:

****** ****** ** ********* ** ******* ** *****

E-mail: *********************

Mr. ****** states that the payment associated with the following transaction was not received.
*************
SR5*********2 - LG G2x P999
Payout: $154.00
Date: 10/24/2011
Sent via ****** to: *********************
****** Unique Transaction ID: 4KD886*********1V
*** ******, the account holder for the e-mail address listed is Edward ******.
Status: Transmission completed successfully.

The payments sent on 10/22/2011 and 11/25/2011 were also sent to the same exact ****** account and were completed successfully.

The status "completed" on ******'s end indicate that the funds were successfully applied to the account and/or have already been claimed by the account holder or someone authorized by the account holder.

We have also been contacted by ***** ***** who has and account with us and shares the same extract street address as Mr. ******. That is:

***** ***** ** ********* ** ******* ** *****

In addition she has had payments going to the same exact ****** account as Mr. ******. That is: *********************

It appears that these transactions have been the result of a joined venture between between the mentioned parties. Ms. ***** refers to Mr. ****** as her ex-boyfriend and claims that funds that we have have sent to the ********************* account belong to her.

Mr. ****** has been advised to contact ******'s Customer Service for further assistance as the funds have been successfully sent and claimed. If there has been any type of unauthorized access to his ****** account the matter must be reported to ******.


Cordially,
**** ******** ******** **** ******* ******** ****

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I contacted Gazelle.com to sell to them some of my old xbox games. I was given to understand if I sent my games in good condition with the original packaging and they all worked perfectly that I was to get a certain amount of money for them. They even offered to pay for the shipping. I packaged up my games which was 27 games total and was told I would receive just over $30 dollars for them. I just received notice saying that they only received 12 of the 27 games I sent even though all of the games were in one box. I contacted them twice about it through email trying to inquire on how this is possible? I still have yet to receive an answer. I believe that they took all of my games and are not going to pay me anything when I was told they would. I believe this is a scam to get them to send you items and then misrepresent that they even received them so that they can take your things and never give you anything.

Desired Settlement: I would either like my items back in the condition I sent them or my full refund of $30.29 like they said they would give me once they reviewed the items I sent.

Business Response: To whom it may concern:

The shipment in question arrived at our on:

Delivered, December 01, 2011, 10:38 am, ******* ** *****

Items are not inspected simultaneously. 27 items are listed for the transaction in question, of which 15 remain to be processed. They are:

************* - Xbox Star Wars Battlefront II
************* - Xbox Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
************* * Xbox The Sims Bustin Out
************* - Xbox XB Destroy All Humans
************* - Xbox Ty The Tasmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue
************* - Xbox SWAT: Global Strike Team
************* - Xbox Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2
************* - Xbox Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance
************* - Xbox Thrillville
************* - Xbox The Sims
************* - Xbox Voodoo Vince
************* - Xbox Cabela's Outdoor Adventure 2006
************* - Xbox Project Gotham Racing
************* - Xbox Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon
************* - Xbox Soul Calibur II

01. Packing Slip lists 27 items of which 12 have been accepted but 15 remain to be processed.
02. Total offer is $30.29 of which 12 inspected items $7.87 have been accepted.
03. The remaining 15 items have a total of $22.42 and will be processed on Monday, December 5, 2011.

Cordially,

Gazelle

Consumer Response: [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #*******.

Regards,

********* *****

BBB's Final Determination: Consumer accepted resolution offered by the business.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I sent them a 3Gs iPhone and they constantly state that I sent a 2G iPhone. When I sent the serial number that clearly confirms it's a 3Gs I no longer heard from them after the live chat.

Desired Settlement: I want them to send ( in my pay pal account) the money for a 3Gs rather than the $20 for what they claim was a 2G iPhone. That or I want them to return my 3Gs iPhone

Business Response: To whom it may concern:

We have carefully investigated this matter and agree that there was a confusion with regards to the model of the device in question. As of 11/11/2011, a payment in the amount of $20.00 was processed but we will be issuing an additional payment in the amount of $80.00 during the next 24 hours to honor the original offer.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience the mentioned confusion must have caused.

Sincerely,

**** ******** *******
Customer Care Manager

Consumer Response: [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #*******. I am sorry that it was necessary to escalate to this point.  If ******* had been responsive from my first email, this would not have happened.  I'm glad the matter is finally settled.

Regards,

**** ******

BBB's Final Determination: Consumer accepted resolution offered by the business.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I just saw a commercial on TV that advertises "trading" in your own cell phone fpr a "new" iphone. However, when I went to the advertised website, there was nothing like what was advertised in the commercial. Instead only to sell your cell phone for a MODEST price to said company. GAZELLE.COM How outrageous that such false adsvertisement/statements could be with out reproach. I urge you as the consumers' advocacy group to assist consumers in ceasing this kind of entity to exist or at least not commit such false advertising statements. Thanking you in advance for your cooperation.

Desired Settlement: I would appreciate being able to believe in companies' integrity as my intergrity is expected when I do business as a consumer to pay and honor products purchases.

Business Response: I am very sorry that this customer misunderstood our commercial.  In the advertisement we state "You want the new iphone?  We want the one in your pocket.  We're Gazelle.com and we will pay you more than you may think.  We'll pay you fast, we even pay for the shipping. Like I said, simple, you want the new iphone, We'll pay you for the one in your pocket. What's your phone worth?"     We do not state that you can trade in your old phone and receive a new iphone. We are specific that we we are looking to buy the phone that you currently have in your pocket.  We are very sorry if this viewer was confused by the message.  We will pass the information along to our marketing team so that they can review the advertisement further.  Here is a link directly to a copy of the commercial that is posted on you tube.  (******************************************************************) If you view it, you will see that we do not make and offer to trade one phone for another, but that we state that we are looking to buy the phone currently in your pocket.

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I purchased a Dell Axim X51 from Gazelle via eBay. The device was falsely advertised as having Wifi and a as including a USB cable. Neither claim was true. While some Dell Axim x51 models do have Wifi, this one doesn't. Also, Gazelle included 1/2 of the docking station accessory, not the USB cable accessory which are two different things. As a result the item is useless. Gazelle feels that they should be able to keep my money for about 3 weeks even though they falsely advertised the item. Gazelle refuses to provide contact information other than an eBay form and did not respond to requests to have someone with authority to resolve the issue in a timely manner contact me.

Desired Settlement: Refund of 10 times the purchase price and a personally signed letter of apology from CEO ****** ***** apologizing for lying in an advertisement as a means to obtain what is essentially a short-term interest free loan from me and refusing to provide real customer service.

Business Response: "This customer ordered a Dell Axim x51 from us on 8/11 that was delivered on 8/16.  Certain models of the X51 have wifi, and this one featured wifi as part of its equipment.  Our internal inspection notes that this item does contain Wifi, we let the customer know that we do offer a full money back guarantee on the item, and we have offered to have him return the item for a full refund.  He should have also received a USB cable with the dock, and we offered to provide a prepaid shipping label for full refund.  He has  opened a case with eBay.com Buyer Protection and has agreed to return it for full refund on receipt."  We are currently waiting for the customer to return the item to us so that we can confirm the serial number matches the item that we show as shipping to him.  Once this is received we will be happy to provide an immediate refund.

Consumer Response:

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********

Unacceptable response.  There is a dock accessory and a USB cable accessory for these.  They include the dock accessory, not the USB accessory.  I don't care what their records show, that's not what they sent. 

Also, they have indicated to me in another email that they have in fact determined I am correct.   I've attached a screen shot of this email.  The company is just delaying a refund they know they owe me for a purchase they know I would never have made.

Business Response: We have offered this customer a refund upon return of the item.  Once this is received we will be happy to issue a refund.  Unfortunately a refund can not be issued with our receipt of the product. We have issued a prepaid mailing label to return the product.  Once this is received and the serial number, and condition are verified as the same as what we shipped to the customer then the refund will be processed.  Unfortunately it is a common fraud tactic to attempt to force a refund with out receiving the item back, as a result we can not issue a refund until we verify that the proper item has been received back.  We are more than happy to rush the processing of the item once it is received back, however we do require that the customer return the item.  This is also a requirement from eBay.

Consumer Response:

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********

It is also a requirement of eBay to accurately describe the item.  You didn't do that. 

Don't you DARE accuse me of attempting to defraud you because you screwed up.  You know you screwed up.  Give me my refund.

Regards,

******* ******

 

BBB's Final Determination: After reviewing the position of all parties, BBB determined that the business made a reasonable effort to address the complaint. However the consumer remains dissatisfied.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I recently attempted to sell my iPhone 3G to this company. The company guarantees that the sale is "no risk" and that if you do not agree with the price they offer you after inspecting your phone, they will return it to you free of charge. In this case, I did not agree with their offer and they returned the phone to me free of charge. The problem is that the condition that the phone was returned to me was not the condition that I mailed the phone in. When I mailed the phone, there were no deep scratches on the phone at all. When I received the phone back from them today, I found that there was a 2 inch scratch on the rear of the phone. Needless to say, I was extremely upset and am now filing a complaint as a result. I took great care to ship the product, wrapping it in a bubble wrap envelope which was then folded over several times to offer additional protection and ensure its safe arrival to the company. From the look of this phone, you would think they used a box cutter to open the package and cut deeply into the rear of the phone. Now I am forced to attempt to sell a defective phone instead of the phone that I mailed them, which was in good condition. Another interesting thing to point out is that at no time did the company make any reference to the scratch on the back of the phone when they quoted me a lower price. They simply said that the phone would not power on reliably. I find this odd since I noted that the phone was in very good condition prior to mailing it to them and with nothing but superficial scratches on the rear of the phone. I have pictures of the phone both before and after receiving the phone back from Gazelle.

Desired Settlement: I do not know what can be done about this, but all I would like at this point is my phone in the same condition as it was delivered to Gazelle. The scratch that I am now seeing on the rear of the phone is going to severely hurt my chances of receiving a fair price for the phone. This is maybe the first or second complaint that I have ever registered with the BBB, but I feel very strongly about this problem and would like to see a resolution. Thank you.

Business Response: We are sorry to hear about this customers dissatisfaction over the possible purchase of his phone.  In his initial description of the phone the customer stated that this item was in "good" condition for a used item, which would mean that there were some scratches on the item.  When items are received in our warehouse, we individually house the items so that they are kept in the same condition that they arrive in.  Also items are wrapped in bubble wrap and returned inside of a box to prevent any chance of damage on the return shipment.  Since this phone was tested, and it would not power up correctly, we do not list out every scratch on the item since it automatically falls into a poor conditioning non-functioning item.  Since the customer is not contesting that the item does not power up correctly it seems that he agrees that there are issues with the phone and it was not accurately described to us for the initial quote.  At this time, it appears that the item was returned in the same condition that the item was received.  If the scratch happened in transit to us, it appears that this would have been caused by inadequate packing prior to mailing in the item.  Since this customer never contacted our customer service department at any time during the transaction, it appears that we have met the terms of the program and we returned the phone in the condition that it was received.

Consumer Response:

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********

I left out the fact that the phone powers on just fine in my statement, because I did not feel that it was relevant to the discussion.  We obviously disagree as to whether or not the phone powers on as I am sitting here right now looking at it and the phone is powered on and in perfect working order.

The business did nothing to address the fact that the phone was returned to me with a 2 inch scratch on the rear running through the Apple insignia that was not there before I sent it.  As I mentioned, when I mailed the phone it was packed quite thoroughly with several layers of bubble wrap within several layers of newspaper to ensure safe delivery to their facility.  I can only guess that what happened was the packaging was opened with a box cutter of some sort and this left a DEEP scratch on the rear surface of the phone.  I've tried to avoid speculating at this point, but it may have been the case that they realize they had damaged the phone when they opened the package and proceeded to offer me a lower amount to cover for their mistake.  I did not bother to contact the company after reading several comments from various websites from people who have had similarly negative experiences to mine.  Since I knew the business would receive communication and that they were already members of the BBB, I came here first.

I am attaching before and after photos of the phone with both the condition that it was mailed in and the condition that it was returned to me in.  I am still incredibly disappointed with this company and would like to see a legitimate resolution.

Respectfully,

**** ********

Regards,

**** ********

 

 

Business Response: Unfortunately as this customer admitted, he did not come to us prior to asking for the phone to be returned.  As a result we have no way to prove the timeline when this scratch occurred.  We individually package every item in our warehouse and we do not use large blades to open boxes so that issues such as this do not occur.  If the item was packaged the way the customer stated then this item would have had to already have the scratch on the phone at the time he shipped it to us. 

Consumer Response:

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********

I am certain that the Better Business Bureau deals with their fair share of scam artists.  However, I am not one of them.

It appears that I am now being accused by this business of lying about the amount of care I put in packaging the item which I sent to them and I do not appreciate this.  There is simply no possible way that this item could have been damaged in the way it was damaged in transit and prior to the box being opened.  No, the only way in which this damage could have occured is if the box had been opened and several layers of bubble wrap had been either cut through or the tape that it was sealed in was peeled off layer by layer (this would have taken some time) and then the cut was made in the rear of the phone.

To the business, I would ask two simple questions.  Why would you tell me that the phone doesn't power on reliably, when in fact, it does?  Perhaps more importantly, if the phone really did arrive to you with a large, deep scratch on the back of it (which I'm confident it did not), why then would you not make mention of this in your communication to me regarding the condition of the phone?  I clearly stated there were no scratches of this sort on the rear of the phone prior to shipping and have even provided pictures to show the condition of the phone both before sending and after receiving the phone back from you.

Yes, I admit to not contacting the company first, however my only regret is dealing with them in the first place.  Since now I'm being accused of lying, it only reaffirms my decision to engage a mediator (BBB) to assist with resolving this matter.  To date, I have received nothing from the company that would indicate to me that they are doing business in good faith or have any interest in resolving disputes with the unlucky customers they do business with.

Regards,

**** ********

 

 

BBB's Final Determination: After reviewing the position of all parties, BBB determined that the business made a reasonable effort to address the complaint. However the consumer remains dissatisfied.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: Gazelle.com offers to buy used electronics at a fair price that is offered before the merchandice is received. On 2 occasions I shipped merchandise in excahnge for the price offered. Both occasions Gazelle found problems with the merchandise & offered to recycle them at no cost to myself. When the merchandise was returned to me I had them checked out by facory authorised service centers that determined in both cases that the items were in perfect working condition.

Desired Settlement: I would like Gazell.com's unscrewpulous buisnes practices be put to an end one way or another. There are many good people these day's that are selling needed electronics & other merchandice just to feed there families & keep a roof over there head. They send these products to Gazelle because of the promice of cash. I believe & have documented in my case that Gazelle convinces these nieve & desperate people to send them there merchandise & then tells them that it's worth nothing but we'll gladly recycle it at no cost to you. Then resell the item at 100% profit. Yes, I'd like to see them fined and /or put out of buisness!

Business Response: This customer did send up 3 different items in the last 10 month to evaluate to see if we were interested in purchasing the items.  The first item was sent in October2010, he described the item as a perfect condition HTC Driod Eris cell phone.  The phone we received displayed heavy wear that included serious scratches and scuffs, and cracks in the casing.  Also our inspector notes that the liquid contact indicatior that is installed on every cell phone by the manufacture was activated which indicated that there was potential for moisture damage to the internal circuits.  We did note that the phone was in functional condition, however we could not purchase and resell this as a "perfect" condition phone since there were signs of cosmetic damage, and potential water damage.  As we originally agreed we sent the customer our final offer and gave him the opportunity to either accept what we felt the item was work, or we would be happy to return the item to the customer.  This customer elected to have the phone returned, and we returned it to him.   The second item we received was in July and this was a Dell LCD Monitor, the customer stated that this was in functional condition and was in perfect cosmetic condition.  We received the item and we agreed with the customer so we purchased the item from him.  The last item that we received was an Samsung LCD Monitor.  The customer again told us that this monitors was fully functioning.  Also he stated that the cosmetic condition was perfect.  When we received the item, our inspector found that the Menu button did not work correctly, and that it would not function with out a source plugged into it.  As a result the item was not found to be fully functioning.  These defects would need to be disclosed during the resale process, therefore they affect what the item can be sold for.  As we originally agreed, we informed the customer of what we found during the inspection process, and gave the customer the option to either accept our offer, or we would be happy to return the item to him.  The customer requested that the item be returned, and we did return the Monitor.  As you can see, we did purchase an item from the customer, and we had two other items that were not as the customer described.  If we were trying to be dishonest, we would not pay to have the item shipped to us, and we would not pay to ship the item back to the customer.  We actually lost money on this customer based on how his three transactions went.  This is not a matter of dishonest business practices, but a matter of a difference of opinion on what the value was for the items he wanted us to purchase.

Consumer Response:

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # 8692156.

I purchased the phone from Verizon brand new & owned it for less than 2 months. It was never at any time exposed to rain, water or any type of moisture. I wasn't happy with the phones battery life so I purchased another phone from Verizon. I repackaged the phone in the original box & packing & stored it in a cool dry place for several more months. I heard about Gazelle.com in a news report & thought it a good idea to get some cash for it. I mailed it into Gazelle & of course received an e-mail that the phone had water damage & had no value. There was no mention of any physical damage at the time because there was none! You sent this phone back to me & I had an HTC certified service center check the phone at my own expense. They found the phone to be in perfect condition with no sign of water damage or any other defect. I then sent the phone to Verizon Wireless who gave me $160 for it. I believe that's $20 more than Gazelle offered.

Let me reiterate that a factory trained HTC technician & a Verizon technician found no water damage or any other defect on this phone. I paid out of my own pocket to have HTC inspect this phone.
 

As for the Dell monitor, it was brand new in a factory sealed box, never opened. I was going to give it as a gift but found that someone had already purchased one & I never got around to returning it to Dell. As I recall I paid $149 for it. I'd say you made some money on it considering you gave me $53 for it. Your claim that you lost money dealing with me is as untrue as your story about the phone!

As for the Samsung monitor, I haven't received it back as of now so I cannot give an acurate account of it's condition after your personnel handled it. However, I thoroghly checked every function on it before shipment since it was still hooked to my old computer. It was in perfect working order when it was shipped & didn't have one scratch on it!. I packed it better than factory so I very much doubt it was damaged in shipping.

It's unfortunate that businesses such as yours are allowed to continue taking advantage of people. There are people that are in financial trouble these days who sell their belongings to company's such as yours. They sell them out of need for cash to feed & clothe their families, pay rent, or just to have a few bucks extra in case of emergency. Fortunately, this is not the situation I'm faced with but I know many people who are.

In closing there is nothing else I require from your company regarding this matter. I have chosen not to do any future business with you as I find your business practices unethical & perhaps even illegal. I'll leave this matter to The Better Business Bureau so they can have it on record along with the hundreds of complaints Gazelle undoubtably has against it already.

Regards,

Anthony Schiavone

 

 

Business Response: I am very sorry that you feel this way.  I would be happy to look at the report from the technician, and to compare this with our inspection.  At this time we have not been presented with any proof, only your assertion that this was the case.  We have hundreds of thousands of satisfied customers.  I am sorry that this customer is not satisfied.  We do the best we can however unfortunately some customers feel that their used items should receive the same value of new items.  If this customer would share the technicians report showing that the liquid indicator was not active, I will be happy to take that information to our inspection manager and to make sure that the technician that completed these inspections receive additional training.  We set up our system to give customers the control over their transaction to show that we are honest in our dealings with them.  If we were not we would act as others that attempt to work in this space and once your item is received we would not give you the option to request that the item be returned, and you would only receive the value that we deem fit for the item.   A disagreement in condition or value does not mean that the company is dishonest.

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: Gazelle's website quoted a much higher value for my iPhone 3GS but when they received it they claimed it had water damage and offered a fraction of the original quote. I asked them to return it since the phone had never been damaged by water. they promised to return it on 5/31/11 but it's 8/2/11 and I'm still waiting to get it back, even after repeated chat and email requests asking for an update. The return address was incorrect, so after trying to fix it three times, it was finally fixed. I contacted Gazelle three more times, every time I was told the phone would be shipped the next day, but that has not been the case. The customer service experience has been very poor. No one there seems to know what's going on and they keep blaming the "warehouse" for not shipping the item back. The order number is: *************

Desired Settlement: Gazelle needs to return my phone since they won't honor their original offer.

Business Response: This customer did send us an iphone to evaluate for purchase, it appears that when he set up the original transaction he did not fill out the name and address section correctly so his name showed as part of a street address, and his address showed only an apartment number.  When the customer indicated that he wanted the item returned, this was processed through our automated system, and the error on the address was not noticed, as a result the phone was sent back with an invalid name and address. The phone was returned on 5/25/11.  In June we received the phone back from Fedex and we reached out to the customer asking for the proper address.  We received an update from the customer on 6/21 and we notified our shipping department to ship the item back to the customer.  We received a confirmation that this was going back.  It appears at this same time, we were moving items from our warehouse in Boston, where this phone was, to our new warehouse in Texas.  It appears that in this process, this item was misplaced.  We worked with the customer and he received payment for the original quote for the item.  We are very sorry that this ineffective communication and for the fact that your item was misplaced. 

Consumer Response: However, while I accept their response as final and I'm satisfied with the result, I would like to clarify that I initiated contact with the business after a couple of weeks had gone by and I had not received my phone back. At this time I learned of the incorrect address and I attemted to fix it three times before it was finally fixed on their system. I waited again but did not receive the item. I contacted the business twice more before taking action with the BBB since I looked like I was getting nowhere with their regular customer service dept.

Once I escalated the problem to a supervisor and contacted the BBB, the problem resolution seemed to work much better.

 

 

 

 

BBB's Final Determination: Consumer accepted resolution offered by the business.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: On their website, they were selling a Kindle DX Graphite. This is Kindle's third generation e-book reader. The way Amazon showed the difference between their second generation Kindle DX and the third, was to change the color. "Graphite" symbolized "third gereration". I have a screen shot of this, and even in email form and also in my account at ebay.com. Even in the receipt they gave me, it said third gen. Well, when I got the Kindle DX, it was white. I contacted them immediately and complained. They admitted that they sent the wrong item, but refused to send me the right item. All they said was that they would refund me my money. I told them that I did not want this, and that I wanted the item I paid for. They said this would not happen. This is a true false advertisement. I went to their website, via my ebay account, and saw many complaints about the same thing, but in different items. I tried to reason with them about this, but they have stopped calling me back. I am thinking about hiring a lawyer to pursue this and would like your help. If I can avoid the court room, I will. Please help.

Desired Settlement: I want the item I ordered...which was the kindle DX Graphite.

Business Response: This customer is correct he did attempt to purchase a recent generation Kindle DX, the representative in our warehouse pulled an incorrect model and shipped the incorrect item to the customer.  We worked with the customer and provided him the option to return the item.  The item was returned to us, and we provided a full refund for the incorrect item.  Since then the customer has contacted us and wanted the correct item, he was given the opportunity to purchase the correct item again as he had already received a full refund for the first purchase, this option was not acceptable to the customer, he would like us to send him the item with out him paying for it.  We are sorry that he received the incorrect item the first time.  We have provided him a full refund and given him the opportunity to purchase the correct item again.  If you would like to purchase the correct item we are still happy to help you purchase the item.  I am sorry that your refund was processed back to you.

Consumer Response:

Better Business Bureau:
They are outright lying to you. They never offered me the correct Kindle at all. They never told me that if I sent in the money again, they would send me the item. Tell them to show you proof what they are saying. I have all the emails going back and forth, and nowhere do they say about sending the correct item again. They are trying to cover their butts because I gave them a bad review, and I submitted a complaint. I am an honest man, and would have LOVED the chance to get what I paid for. I would never have a problem with paying for the correct one. Again, they NEVER in any way, shape, or form, tried to resend the correct item if I was to re-pay for it. They are lying. I bet you they will tell you that they only verbally told me this. My response will be to have them get that recorded conversation. It never happened.

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********

Regards,

***** *****

 

Business Response: The offer to have the customer purchase the correct model Kindle was offered in a phone conversation that this customer had with our customer care representative.  We also emailed him again yesterday and offered to set aside an item and we also offered him a 10% discount if he wanted to purchase the correct item.  I have attached copies of the email history with this customer.  Yes, we should have done a better job at letting the customer know that he could purchase the correct item once he had his refund.   Yesterday, we did clarify this with him and offered this option.  The customer had accepted this option and the Sales supervisor is currently working with him to complete the purchase.

Consumer Response:

Better Business Bureau:

I am finally in talks with a rep named ***. He is working with me to get me the graphite DX as soon as one comes in. I only ask if you could please keep this ticket open until I do get what they are promising again. *** seems like a great guy and rep, I'd rather be safe, so that I can keep informing you if this ends well or not. At this moment, they almost sent me the same version as last time, and in my email I asked to please verify if it was the graphite before they sent it. *** emailed back and apologized that it wasn't. He promised to send the very next one that they get in. I have accepted this, and I will patiently wait. I would like to end this with a positive vibe, and right now, *** is making this happen. Way to go ***. 

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint *********

Regards,

***** *****

 

BBB's Final Determination: Consumer accepted resolution offered by the business.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I sent gazelle.com a pristine ****** 4. They went through the process and approved me for my payment. And the payment never went through. They had me send them an item worth hundreds of dollars on false pretenses. Insisting that I would get paid. I have contacted them a few times and have not heard back from them. I am afraid I am out the 409 dollars as promised for my device.

Desired Settlement: I simply want my 409 dollars they told me they would pay me for my ****** 4 in perfect condition. As agreed when originally setting up the transaction.

Business Response: To whom it may concern, We have spoken with Mr. ***** ********* and were able to pin-point what happened with the missing payment. It had been sent to Mr. ********* via ****** but the funds were not claimed and were recently refunded to us by ******. Per our conversation with Mr. ********* the payment will be re-sent to his ****** account in the next 3 to 5 business days. Cordially, Gazelle Customer Care

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: ******* offered me $250 for my phone. Phone had no technical flaws and one small Scratch on the screen. I picked condition that said "normal wear and tear" and the picked the sub section called "Moderate wear and tear such as deep scratches or nicks". This is a fair and accurate description. This is a bait and switch scam. ******* has had my phone since Friday and held it until Tuesday evening to bait and switch me. Values drop daily. If full $250 is not paid I will pursue the processing of this claim as well as post reviews online.

Desired Settlement: Pay the $250 based on my fair evaluation.

Business Response: Hi,

We received an ***** ****** * **** from Mr. **** ***** which unfortunately upon arrival was found to have a crack on the lower left glass panel which had an impact on the item's cosmetic condition. This a touchscreen device and a crack on the display allows moisture and dust to affect the proper functionality of the device over time.

We have explained the matter to Mr. ***** and have come to an amicable resolution.

Sincerely,


*******

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: On May 24, 2011 I bought a HTC T-Mobile myTouch 4G Red cellular phone from this business through Ebay. My purchase was scheduled for delivery to my house on May 27, 2011. Today is June 7, 2011 and I still haven't received the phone. When I asked *******, the company that was supposed to send it to me what happened to this shipment, they informed me that they have a problem with ******* ******* and in order to receive a refund for my purchase I would need to wait 2 more weeks until they complete their investigation. I do not understand why I have to wait. I paid my money and I want to see the product I purchased. The fact that someone lost something and someone else did not find that thing is not a problem of mine

Desired Settlement: I want to receive a full refund for my purchase or same quality cell phone (Very Good quality) and I want to receive it immediately.

Business Response: This customer did purchase a phone from our ebay store.  The phone was purchased on 5/24/11 and we shipped the item to the customer on 5/25/11 by *****.  It appears that ***** had an issue with the delivery of the item (see attached copy of the delivery tracking information) and the customer contacted us on 6/2 to say that the tracking shows that the item has not moved in a few days.  We contacted ***** on this day and let the customer know that we would ask that ***** complete a trace on the package for the customer.  Unfortunately since the item was in transit we do need to allow ***** the time to research the item.  ***** reports that they will take up to 14 days to complete this process.  Our internal claim process states that if the item doesn't move for more than 7 days then we will proceed with a claim as a lost item.  We allowed ***** the 7 days and when this was not completed we classified this shipment as a lost item, and issued a refund to the customer.  I am sorry that you were not satisfied with the fact that we do need to allow the shipping carrier to have some time to research the problem, unfortunately we are still a small business and we are unable to immediately issue a refund on an item that is already in transit to you.  Please let us know if you need any further assistance, or have an issued retrieving the record of your refund to your original payment method.

BBB's Final Determination: Consumer accepted resolution offered by the business.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I am forwarding a copy of our letter to Gazelle Company advising them that we have exhausted our patience in dealing with their company. in early April we inquired with them as to the current value of our Blackberry Storm 2 phone and accessories. We received an estimated value from them, pending their inspection and testing of $106 and agreed to the sale. in a week or so we received a box to send in our phone and followed their instructions. Shortly after that we received an email from Gazelle, advising that their staff had tested the phone and it was found to be in perfect working order and appearance and further that they accepted their value offer of $106 see attach. From this we expected payment of $106 but nothing came. Several weeks passed while we waited for our check and eventually we decided to contact Gazelle. We send in 5 emails requesting they contact us as well as 4 phone calls to their customer service department without response. we eventually sent them a letter which sponsored communication but Gazelle now tells us that “more than 30 days have passed since their initial offer was made to us and that the phone would need to undergo a new value estimate. This new value estimate was now $84 to which we declined.

Desired Settlement: On May 4, 2011 we sent them a letter requesting our phone and accessories be returned to us in Florida. Perhaps this letter will assist others from a similar experience

Business Response: This customer has had numerous communication back and forth from our company.  There was a delay in response in April due to the extremely high inbound volume across the company.  Attached you will find copies of both the inbound and outbound communications.  The customer created confusion on this transaction by sending in his item and then canceling the order.  When the item arrived our receiving team no longer had a transation to match the phone with, nor a way to process the item.  We did work with the customer to resolve this issue and have the item inspected. After the item was inspected the customer had emailed and accepted the $88.00 offer.  A supervisor in our customer care team noticed that the price on the phone changed, however since this was on it's way to us before the end of the 30 day period it should have received the original offer of $106.00.  We emailed the customer a follow up and let him know that we caught the pricing error and that we will actually be sending a check for $106.00   He was informed on 5/3/11 that the payment would be sent.  It takes 3-5 days for a payment to be processed.  We sent out the payment to the customer on 5/6/11.  The customer has requested that we send payment in the form of a check which was printed and mailed on 5/6/11 from our check processing facility in Washington State.  Since this customer lives in ******* it could take 3-8 days for the post office to deliver the check.  So overall there was a delay on responding to this customers question at the beginning of the trade, however after this it appears that our Customer Care supervisor monitored his trade on a daily basis to make sure that he had a positive experience.  We are sorry that he felt that receiving the value that he originally contracted with us for this item is not acceptable, however he had been inconsistent in how he wanted to proceed.  Unfortunately if he has decided to change his mind again and wants the phone returned, we are unable to do so as we have already purchased the phone and it is no longer in our possession. 

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I sent 2 cameras to ***********, they offered 18,894.00 for both Leica S2 cameras. I printed out their FedEx tracking # *************** insured label and shipped it. The package was delivered 3-29-11 signed by an admitted employee named ******. After being ignored by Phone, Email & chat for several days, I finally was able to speak by chat and it was at that time I was told they were behind in the warehouse and answering emails. After waiting additional days I was told the box was lost, a few more days I was told Fedex denied the box weight and contents and that they could not help me any further. Question: If you can't find the box how do you know the weight or contents? I'm going to try to work with them to resolve this but a Lawyer, Ripoffreport , Complaints board and other consumer services are going to be an option. Thanks for your help. Gazelle Box ID: ************* chat transcript.... 10:51:24 AM [********** *******] are you there? 10:51:59 AM [*****] Hello, Welcome to the Gazelle trade in program my name is *****, 10:52:07 AM [*****] Hi, thanks for reaching out to us. 10:52:41 AM [********** *******] PLEASE RESPOND! Box ID: ************* This is my second email in 5 days. I have been unable to reach you by phone. Hi, my records show this was delivered on 3-29 signed by ******. tracking number ***************. How long does the process usually take? Thanks 10:53:14 AM [*****] Hi! I'm sorry. One second while I pull up your account. 10:53:21 AM [********** *******] thanks 10:54:07 AM [*****] Typically items are logged in as received within 24-48 hours after they are delivered. 10:54:36 AM [********** *******] What happened with my shipment? 10:54:38 AM [*****] However, since we've experienced an increase in volume as of late, we fell behind. 10:54:44 AM [*****] One second. 10:55:42 AM [*****] Okay, I'm going to have to create a ticket to have our receiving manager investigate. 10:55:49 AM [********** *******] is there a phone number i can call? 10:57:06 AM [*****] We're not set up for phone support. We are better equipped for assisting our customers via email and chat. 10:57:38 AM [*****] If you prefer, I can give you a call. 10:58:03 AM [********** *******] I emailed 5 days ago with this same inquiry, What happened to that email request? It's very disturbing to send expensive equipment and then be ignored by email. I don't need a call just an email update. 10:58:34 AM [********** *******] I need my emails to be answered, not ignored. 11:00:11 AM [*****] Okay, I fully understand your concerns. 11:01:28 AM [********** *******] Please email me with information about my request for status update. If i'm ignored again at least I can say I contacted customer service. 11:01:32 AM [*****] As a result of the increase in volume we also experienced a significant increase in email correspondence. Currently, I am opening email dated the 11th. 11:01:51 AM [*****] What is the phone number you would like me to contact you at? 11:02:01 AM [*****] Also, I will certinally follow up with an email. 11:03:55 AM [********** *******] ok, so the email response is very slow. I will just wait for an email regarding this conversation. 11:04:00 AM [********** *******] thanks 11:04:02 AM [*****] I am sorry. Below is the chat script:

Desired Settlement: 18,894.00 as promised

Business Response: I am very familiar with this customer.  This was the first item that this customer had submitted to us under the name or email address that they used.  The customer completed a trade request for 2 cameras quoted at $9,492.00 each.  This alone is a red flag as we never receive camera requests for items in this dollar range.  As we researched this customers shipment.  We worked with our Fedex representative and the Fedex fraud department.  IN our investigation the name on the account showed as "******** *******" out of San Diego.  We were not able to verify that this was a valid company, also when we asked the customer for a phone number we were provided with a number that could not be verified as well.  The address on the account was for a postal facility and not a valid street address for either a home or an office address for this company.  In the investigation with Fedex the weight of the package when it was picked up from the postal facility showed that these two cameras, the accessories and manuals weighed in at 0.1lbs total.  We researched the weight of these camera's and the manufacturer reports that the weight of each camera alone is 40.56 oz each. This does not take into account any manuals and additional packing materials that were included.  If there were two camera's in this package then the box would have weighted in at 5+ lbs.   In the investigation with Fedex it was determined that this was an attempt to defraud the company and no payment would be made under the insurance.  This customer has not shown any additional proof that the items were in the box, we asked if she had someone else pack the item at the postal facility, She provided no receipts showing that the items were in the box.   Under these determinations and circumstances we are unable to make a payment on these items.

Consumer Response:

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # *******.

[I agree that this is fraud but It was perpetrated by Gazelle and or Fedex. They cretaed the fedex label. I have no control over the delivery after I ship it. Gazelle signed for it and ignored my request for information for weeks. After finally speaking with someone they admit losing the box , now they say it's a fraud. I'm not accepting this.  ]

Regards,

********** *******

 

Business Response: I am sorry that the customer does not "accept" this.  Unfortunately the facts show that these items could not have been in the box.  This is a very common fraud tactic that unfortunately we see this type of fraud on a daily basis where customers will send back an empty box, or a box full of garbage.  We investigated the matter and have determined that this was fraud and we will be happy to discuss this in a court of law. If the customer would like we would be happy to report this to the Prosecutors office in San Diego and request an immediate fraud investigation from them as well.

Consumer Response:

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # *******.

[Threatening me won't make it go away. If You Don't have the box, how can you be sure it's empty? I'll be in touch with you. My complaint still stands and you will be added to ripoffreport, complaintsboard.com, etc. Thanks ]

Regards,

********** *******

BBB's Final Determination: After reviewing the position of all parties, BBB determined that the business made a reasonable effort to address the complaint. However the consumer remains dissatisfied.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: Almost two months ago, I bought a new laptop along with some other products from *******, Gazell that is part of that company offered me to trade in my previous laptop, I did, but the offer the gave me eventually was ridiculous, so I told them to send it back. They sent me back a broken lpatop---someone had dropped it and broken the battery holder and it's side. I reported this to them and they were nasty, so I decided to contact the BBB. Afterwards, they reached out to me in a friendly way that they were going to investigate it and I waited more than four weeks for this, eventually, their decision was that they owe me nothing. I have e-mails from them acknowledging that they got my laptop intact. I need this company to either fix my laptop or get me a working one, because the one they returned to me is totally unuseable, the battery now falls off---they broke the thing. If there is anyway I can sent the emails to BBB, I'll love to.

Desired Settlement: I need Gazell to give me another working laptop, with no viruses or defects, just like my original one or pay me to buy myself another one.

Business Response: This customer did send in a laptop to us to potentially purchase.  In her initial quote she stated that the laptop was in "perfect" condition and did not show any signs of previous use.  (no waremarks, scratches, or cracks.) When we received and inspected the laptop we actually found that the laptop showed signs of the display being scratched at bottom left corner. light wear on keyboard and trackpad. discoloration at left palm rest.  As a result we sent a final offer of value to the customer.  She declined the offer and requested that the laptop be returned to her.  We packed the laptop and used expandable foam inserts to completely encase the laptop in the box and sent it back to her by ***** on March 1st, 2011.  ***** made multiple attempts to delivery the item to the customer on 3/8, 3/9, and 3/10 and the customer was unable to take delivery of the laptop. The customer picked up the package from the ***** office on 3/15/11, and did not note any visible damage to the box at the time that she picked up the package.   The customer contacted us on 3/15 stating that the battery did not stay on the laptop anymore.  We responded the the customer and requested pictures of the laptop including how it was packaged in the box.  I have attached pictures to this complaint showing that the laptop was adequately packaged and that the box only shows one small dent in the side of the box, but you can also see that there were several inches of foam in-between the laptop and the sides of the box.   As you can see from the attached pictures there is not a scratch on the laptop, nor is there any damage to the foam around the laptop.  We did file a claim with ***** for the customer, and ***** declined the claim because the pictures showed that the laptop was properly packaged and there was no visible damage to either the box nor the protective packing materials.  If this laptop had been dropped and broken as the customer claimed, then we would see damage to the laptop and battery showing that it had been dropped, per the pictures that the customer sent, this is not showing any physical damage from a fall.  IF there is new damage to this laptop it appears to have been caused after delivery to the customer.

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I sent in a laptop to sell to them about two weeks ago, they received it on 4-15-11 and I have not heard anything back from them further about my laptop. It has been over a week now, I have tried to email them twice and still have heard no response from them. I want them to pay me what they said they would pay me for my item, or return my item back to me and I will do business somewhere else. I have done business with them in the past and have not had a problem until now. I am completely unsatisfied and I will not longer be doing business with them after this has been resolved.

Desired Settlement: I want either my laptop back or for them to pay me for it. This is rediculous to wait this long when they promise to have everything comepleted within a week and it has been over two weeks since they received my package. I have tried emailing them twice and they will not respond. I was this resolved immediately.

Business Response: I am sorry to hear that there was a delay in processing one of your laptops.  These items arrived and were handled by two different inspection locations in an effort to help reduce the demand on our main inspection facility.  Unfortunately these items arrived at a time where we were experiencing record breaking inbound volumes.  I do see that all three items have been inspected. Two of the items received new values since they were found to be in a different condition than was described online.  I see that you declined the offer today on one of the laptops and we are currently processing this item to be returned to you.  Our standard turn around time is about a week from the time the items are received, unfortunately due to the inbound demand on our service one item did take 9 days to complete.  We are sorry about the increased time it took to receive a response back from us. 

Consumer Response: Better Business Bureau: I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #*******.  

BBB's Final Determination: Consumer accepted resolution offered by the business.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I was offered $172 dollars for my laptop. I was honest in my assessment, noting that it was fully functional but had moderate wear and tear such as deep scratches or nicks. After sending them the laptop they noted the 2 nicks on the edge of the laptop housing and downgraded my condition offering me $42 dollars. Replacement plastic parts are selling for $10 everywhere on the internet. This is a total bait and switch and is a further example of how they take possession of your goods and then reduce their offer and then it is a hassle to get it back.

Desired Settlement: I would like my $172 offered to me and I will close complaint, I will even take off $20 for purchasing of the new plastic at $10 and then the 10 minutes it will take a tech to install the new plastic part. Plastic does not cost $130 dollars.

Business Response: This customer did send in a computer for a trade.  In his initial assessment he stated that the computer was in fair condition and did have heavy scratching and scuffs.  The computer that we received was inspected and we found that this computer actually had a cracked housing along front edge, and was missing pieces of housing.  As a result we determined that the true condition of the computer was "poor"  As per our original agreement we advised the customer what the final offer we could make for this item was, and we emailed him with the offer.  In our communication we asked if he would like to either accept the true value of this computer, or if he would like for us to follow our original agreement and we would be happy to return it to him.  It appears that the customer immediately accepted our final offer, and we are currently in the process of completing the payment process for this item.  At this time we do not have repair facilities for computers and we only purchase and resell items based on the current conditions.  So the current market value for this computer in it's current condition is $42.00.  We will be happy to return the computer if the customer would like us to do so, but we would need to hear from him immediately as he has already accepted our offer, ad the computer has already been processed.

Consumer Response:

Standard bait and switch, they should update the adjectives based on Fair condition as my product matched this condition, heavy scratches and nicks are what was present.  I will procede with this complaint and ensure it is also noted on many forums.

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # *******.

Regards,

**** *****

 

 

BBB's Final Determination: After reviewing the position of all parties, BBB determined that the business made a reasonable effort to address the complaint. However the consumer remains dissatisfied.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I bought a new laptop from *********** a few weeks ago, I was offered if I have some electronics to recycle, I decided to recycle my previous laptop, the offer I was given was a little over $100, hoping to buy a printer with the recycling money but when I sent it in, they said it was re-accessed by their people and it is only worth a few dollars over $60, I decided not to go ahead with it and told them to return it (I bought that alptop for more than $1,300 fve years ago), so I made up my mind to give it to a cousin who despirately need one for his school work. When my laptop was returned yesterday, I realised that someone has dropped it and the battery compartment holder and part of the left side is broken, it was badly broken that the battrey is now falling off, making the laptop useless to anyone. I sent e-mails immediately but no one responded, when I eventually found someone to chat with on the site, I was told that my laptop has been that way when the first got it. It is very painful when a company tells such a lie against anyone, I do have a copy of their accessment of that laptop when they first got it, there was no damage on it except for everyday wear. Besides, I sent in the software that came originally with that laptop and they did not return that back to me.

Desired Settlement: I want this company to fix the battery holder that they broke as well as the side. I need the battery to be able to stay in place just as I gave it to them.

Business Response: We are sorry to hear that your computer arrived back damaged.  As we discussed it appears that there may have been damage to the item during transit.  We have started a shipping claim on this for you, and we will continue to work with you until the issue is resolved with *****.

Consumer Response: Better Business Bureau: I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #*******.  

BBB's Final Determination: Consumer accepted resolution offered by the business.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I submitted three items box id *************. Your company claims only two items were submitted and customer service refuses to address the issue immediately. Saying it could take 48 hours to get someone to check it out. It has now been 2 weeks since I visited your website to trade in my electronics and I still have not received payment for items which you have in your possession. You advertising practices are deceptive and your customer service is deplorable. You are trying to steal from me. This is fraud.

Desired Settlement: Well, it would be nice if you would pay me what you said you would, apologize from trying to steal from me and fire your customer service department.

Business Response: This customer did send us 3 items in researching his transaction it  appears that his items were help up by the post office and were delivered to our offices with 1900 other packages on Monday 2/28/11.  As a result of the backlog of packages from the post office we moved some personnel from all other departments in the company to assist the receiving team in opening boxes and marking items as received.  This was done so that we could try to quickly notify all the customers who were affected by the backlogged items by the post office.  At 11:56 am this customer came into chat and spoke with one of our customer care representatives and was upset because one of the 3 items was not showing as received.  The representative notified this customer that we would send a request to the receiving manager and ask that the item be located and updated.   The customer demanded that we respond back within 1 hour or he would file a claim as being a fraudulent business.  The representative informed the customer that he could not guarantee that the manager would be able to respond within the 1 hour limit.  As a result the customer stated that he would not allow us the time to research this item and to resolve the issue.  Since the conversation 2 hours ago, the manger has researched the item, and the customers account was updated to show that the item was received.  It appears that the employee who opened is box accidently sent the calculator to the inspection department without properly marking it as received.  It appears that this was an error made by an employee that was helping out from another department in an attempt to make sure that we quickly communicated with our customers and to let him know that his items have arrived. We are very sorry that this customer had this issue, we are working with our representatives at the post office to find out why they held 1900 packages rather than delivering them to us as they arrived. 

Consumer Response: Better Business Bureau: I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # *******. This business refused to acknowledge any mistake before I filed a claim and their practices may be fraudulent.  Regards, ******* ********  

Business Response: We are very sorry that this customer is unhappy that it took us 2 hours to resolve this issue rather than the 1 hour that he demanded it be resolved in.  When he came to us, we immediately responded to his issue, and we initiated an investigation into his missing item.  Unfortunately since we received 5x's the volume from the post office on the same day that his item arrived, it is taking us slightly longer than usual to locate and resolve this issue.  We took his issue seriously, we immediately started researching the issue, and we responded within a time frame which was much less than the initial 24 hour response time that we informed him it would take.  We are working as quickly as possible to process all 1900 customers items that were stuck in the postal system, and we are very sorry that we could not meet this customer needs for a 1 hour turn around time.

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: Transaction ID: * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Item was returned to me, it was not returned in the condition it was submitted to ******* in.

Desired Settlement: *********** employs some more stringent quality assurance procedures to ensure all returns to valued customers are submitted properly in their entirety. If ******* cannot return to me the missing battery cover for this phone to me within 24 hours via ***** ******** *********, I would like a check payment for the full value of the phone as the phone is now useless to me. In addition I would like a full apology for the customer service issues I have experienced.

Business Response: We have worked with this customer and located a back that will fit his model phone.  This is currently in transit to him.  We are sorry that this issue happened, and we have taken actions against the employees who caused the issue to happen.

Consumer Response:

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********

[Response unsatisfactory due to delays in shipping the missing item.]

Regards,

*******  *********  

 

BBB's Final Determination: After reviewing the position of all parties, BBB determined that the business made a reasonable offer to resolve the complaint. However the consumer did not accept the offer.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I mailed by Cannon Power Shot G2 to Gazelle. The camera was perfectly good. I tested out before I box it. I also sent all the accessories that come with the camera inlcuding the original CD. I never heard from Gazelle since I mailed it on 10/26/2010. Per FedEx tracking record, the camera was delivered on 11/2/2010. I finnally contacted the company on 12/3/2010 via live chat (only communication form available besides email). The customer service told me per inspection record, my LCS is not working and the company sent me emails repeately. Both clamis were absolutely false. I boxed my camera extra careful, and there is no way the LCD will be damaged during the shipping process. I have been checking my email everyday, and never once saw the email from Gazelle. I demanded to have my camera back, but was told it was recycled. Gazelle couldn't even tell me where it was recycled to.

Desired Settlement: I want to recieve either $25 check or my orginal camera back.

Business Response: I have researched this transaction and this customer did enter into an agreement with us to potentially purchase his Canon PowerShot G2 Camera on 10/24/10.  The customer went to our website and completed a quote for this item.  In the quote he stated that his item was in fully functioning condition and the overall cosmetic condition of the item was described as "Perfect"  Per the definitions on our website a camera in perfect condition is one that the item is a new and unused Product, in perfect condition with no scratches, scuffs, or signs of use. (see service terms item # 4)  During the quote process on our website the customer also agreed to our terms of service which state that the quote is contingent on the item passing an inhouse inspection of the functionality and condition of the item.  If we found that the item was in a different condition we would notify the customer by email what we determined the value to be, and they would have 5 days to either accept or decline the final offer. (see attached document Service Terms item #5)  This customers item arrived in our warehouse on 11/2/10, we inspected the item on 11/3/10 and sent an email to the customer notifying him that the value has changed since we found that the item non-functioning LCD screen.  We sent a reminder email on 11/5/10, and a final reminder on 11/7/10.  Since we did not hear back from the customer within 5 days from the revision to the original offer, the item was automatically accepted. This happened on 11/9/10.  These steps follow our terms of service that the customer agreed to. (see attached service terms #5) The customer was able to receive the original shipping instructions and pre-paid mailing label that we sent him on 10/24/10, so it appears that our emails were not being caught by his spam filter.  Also the customer had the opportunity to sign into his account on our website and see updated information on his item as it progressed.  Unfortunately the customer did not contact us until 12/3/10 and at that time the camera had already been recycled so were were not able to retrieve it for the customer.  I have attached copies of all emails showing that we did follow the program as outlined, and I have also attached a copy of our service terms that the customer agreed to when he completed his quote.



Since it appears that we followed the proper procedures and did follow the program as the customer agreed there is no adjustment due.

Consumer Response:

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********

[If you are rejecting the business's response please enter your rejection comments here.]

From: ****** **** ********************

Date: Sun, Dec 19, 2010 at 7:57 PM



Subject: Re: Complaint #*******









The issue was not resolved.  I did not receive your previous email.

Regards,

****** *******

 

BBB's Final Determination: After reviewing the position of all parties, BBB determined that the business made a reasonable offer to resolve the complaint. However the consumer did not accept the offer.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I traded electronics to gazelle.com through the ******* trade in program. They received these items on November 4. I still have yet to receive the 103 dollar ******* card. I contacted them about the situation multiple times since Nov they said they would send a replacement card because I never received the first card. Today Dec 10, I still have not received the replacement so I spoke to a representative and he told me a replacement was never sent because the first card was used in full but I never received the card. They sent the card first class mail so there is no way to track it to find out where it was actually delivered. So they have my electronics and I am out the 103 dollars because they said they will not reissue payment.

Desired Settlement: I just want the money that was promised to me.

Business Response: We did receive a Motorola Devour A555, Xbox 360 Blitz: The League II, Xbox 360 Secret Service: Ultimate Sacrfice  from this customer to purchase for $103.00, and in this transaction he requested that we pay him with a ******* prepaid visa card. After receiving and inspecting the items we notified ******* that the transaction was complete and a prepaid visa card was mailed to the address that the customer requested that the payment be sent to.  This card was sent by *******'s payment partner by First Class mail.  This is the way that ******* decided to send out the payments.  At this time ******* does not require a pin to use the prepaid cards.  The card was mailed on 11/5/10.  After the customer contacted us and the 14 day delivery time passed we submitted an inquiry for the customer stating that the card was not received.  Due to banking regulations we are not provided information on when, where, or how the card was used, just that the balance on the card was used and it was currently at a $0 balance. Since the item was mailed to the address that the customer provided us, it appears that either 1. the card was delivered to his address and someone in his household used the card or 2. The customer had a case of mail theft and he should be reporting this information to the local authorities.  The local authorities can send a subpoena to ******* and request the purchase information on the card so that they can track down who used the card.  We are very sorry that the customer had this issue, however we did issue payment to him, in the manner that he requested and we are not able to retrieve these funds in order to issue payment again.

Consumer Response: Better Business Bureau: I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # *******. I am not happy because you got the products from ME for free, no one in this household used the card I never received the card this is a problem on your end not mine, it is wrong how you are handling this situation. It makes me angry because I chose your company thinking that you were a company that stood by what you said but now I see I was wrong. I don't see why you cant send me another card being I never received the money which is rightfully mine.  

Business Response: While we certainly understand your position. Unfortunately claim like this are a common fraud tactic to try to obtain more funds from the company.  Since we can not verify who used the funds we must insist that you file a police report for the stolen mail and work with your local police department to track down and recover the fund.  We are sorry that we can not issue the payment a second time.  If we can help with the investigation in any way please let us know.

Consumer Response: Better Business Bureau: I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #******* but it seems it really doesn't matter what I do I am not going to get my money so all this is a waste of my time. I will not use this service again Regards, ******* *******  

BBB's Final Determination: Consumer accepted resolution offered by the business.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: Traded in two electronic devices with the understanding that I would receive a prepaid VISA card in the amount of $108.00. If the amount were to be changed that an email would be sent to me. Heard nothing but received the prepaid card in the mail for only $24.00. Tried to contact the company and they said they contacted me but I saw nothing. They said because I waited beyond a certain point that they had the right to change the value on me based on their terms. I asked to speak to a supervisor and they said one wasn't on staff. I asked for a phone number and they said they did not have one but I could email them so more. Why ... it wasn't getting me anywhere. Basically, I got ripped off. I contacted them the day after I received the card in the mail. I asked for the electronics to be sent back to me but they said they no longer had them. I asked for the value that was agreed upon and they said they changed it so I would not get it. I told them I would contact the authorities because this was poor business.

Desired Settlement: I would like the value that was agreed upon when the deal was first set up or the electronic items returned.

Business Response: We did complete a transaction for this customer.  She entered into a contract to sell us two items. Product Name: Sony PSP Playstation Portable Slim  Condition: Fair Offer Amount: $51.00  Product Name: Apple iPod Classic 6th Generation  120GB Condition: Good Offer Amount: $57.00  Our terms of service state that the quote is conditional and that the items will be inspected when they arrive in our warehouse and if we disagree with the customers description of the item we will notify her by email and allow her 5 days to respond to either accept the final offer, or to request that the item be returned to them.  We did find that the condition on both items were not as the customer described.  Both items were found to be in poor condition due to the following reasons: Apple iPod Classic 6th Generation 120GB Evaluated as "Poor" due to: three horizontal lines of dead pixels in the screen; a dent in the lower right corner of the back casing; numerous surface scratches in the screen, click wheel controls, and chrome backing.  Sony PSP Playstation Portable Slim Evaluated as "Poor" due to: right edge of the loading tray is separating from the device body; a hairline crack in the front casing by the lower right corner of the screen; dust under the screen; numerous scratches densely covering the surface of the screen and back casing.  We did have definates of the conditions available on our site for the customer to read to help accurately describe their items.  Here are the condition definitions we have posted:  Perfect: the item is in perfect condition with no scratches, scuffs, or signs of use.Good: the item has evidence of normal use, such as light scratches or scuffs, but is otherwise 100% functional.Fair: item functions perfectly but has major scratches and/or dents.Poor: the item has physical or functional issues such as cracked body, damaged display, missing or broken parts, dents, deep scratches, personalization(s), etc. Also per our terms of service we made multiple attempts to reach the customer by the email address that she provided us, and confirmed would be the best email address to use to communicate with her.  We made the following attempts to reach the customer: 10/21/10 inspection update and description why the final offer is different from original quote. 10/25/10 update reminder sent letting customer know that there are 3 days left for them to contact us and let us know how they would like us to proceed.  10/29/10 final reminder letting customer know there was 24 hours left or we would automatically accept the revised offer.  11/1/10 confirmation email stating items were accepted at revised offer and payment was being processed. 11/3/10 email sent letting customer know that payment was processed and will arrive in the mail.  I have also uploaded a document with copies of all the emails we sent, along with a copy of the terms of service that the customer agreed to.  At this time no adjustment is due.  correct policy was followed.

Consumer Response: Better Business Bureau: I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # *******. I did not receive emails and was told the transaction could take 10 business days.  I waited and heard nothing.  I contacted Gazelle by live chat (11-8-10) and they said it was processed so I checked the mail that day and found the prepaid Visa for the lower amount.  I contacted them again by live chat the following day and that was when I made my complaint with the BBB.   I trusted that I was dealing with an honest company and that customer service would be given but I got ripped off and I should have the right to refuse this. Regards, **** *********  

Business Response: We are sorry that the customer feels this way.  We have provided copies of all the emails that were sent to email address that the customer provided us as the best email to reach her. She did have the opportunity to request that the item be returned, unfortunately there is no way for us to know why she did not read or receive the emails that we sent her.  She did receive the email that we sent with her packing slip and prepaid mailing label so we know that the email address was working and our emails were being delivered to her inbox. We do also provide an account on our website where the customer can see the current status of her item and any messages from us. 

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: This company offers money for your used cell phones. It gives you an offer based on what you think the phones condition is in. When you send it in, they look at the phone. If it does not meet their expectations they can change the offer and then you can accept the offer or get your phone back. The main thing is they did not return the phone the way I sent it. It had an SD card with 16gigabites on it. They said they threw it away. Also, the phone had a clear plastic coat that was specially made for my phone from a different company. They ripped it off for no reason. They said it was to inspect the phone but in no way was it necessary to do it. I believe they did a bait and switch on me and that it is not the phone that I gave to them. They were going to give me $353 for the phone but changed their offer to $76. When I said no, they returned the phone in no way that I gave it to them with parts missing.

Desired Settlement: I would like for them to give me the proposed $353 for my phone since they did not give me my phone back the way it was given to them and also had parts missing which substantially impairs the use and re-sale of the phone.

Business Response: I have researched this transaction and we did receive a ******** ***** from this customer.  It appears that he sent us a phone that had a clear sticker that was used to attempt to prevent scratches on the screen.  Unfortunately in order for us to inspect the phone we do need to remove this sticker from the screen in order to determine the actual condition of the touchscreen.  These covers frequently get scratched from the daily use, and we are unable to determine if the touchscreen is scratched or if the scratch is on the clear plastic cover.  As a result the screen cover can not be affixed back to the phone once it is removed. As for the claim about the memory card our terms and conditions that the customer agreed to says: Removing Data From Your Product. For Products involving devices that store files and/or personal data on hard drives, memory chips or the like, you must back up and store any data you wish to keep from your Product and remove any personal information before you send your Product to us. Gazelle’s standard practice is to remove all such data from your Product, however, Gazelle makes no guarantee that it will do so. By sending Gazelle your Product, you agree to release us from any claim as to the Product, the data stored in such Product, or any information on any media used in conjunction with the Product and which you send to Gazelle, or for such data's security, integrity, confidentiality, disclosure or use. Gazelle is not responsible for: (a) any loss by you due to any data that is not erased from the device and transferred to a third party, or (b) any loss of data after you submitted your Product to us. The media card that the customer stated he left in the phone falls under this provision in our terms of service.  This is not an original part for the phone, and we do not ask the customers to send in these items to us, when they do arrive since they contain data we are required to remove them during the inspection process and to destroy them in order to protect the integrity of the data that they contain. As a result we are unable to return the card. During our inspection process we found that the customer had removed the water damage indicator from the phone prior to sending the phone in to us.  As a result we are unable to resell   this phone as an item with a clear inspection and working condition.  As the missing indicator is an indication of a potential issue that was trying to be covered up.  This is why the final offer needed to be adjusted.  Per this information the customer received back the correct items, and the phone was in the same physical condition as we received it.  No adjustment is due.

Consumer Response: I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint. The reason I am rejecting this response is that the memory chip is standard issue to the phone and did not come extra. It was in the phone when bought from the manufacturer. If I removed this from the phone it is now not in perfect condition because it was not the way it was bought. You cannot buy a ******** ***** without this card pre-installed and so this is standard issue. I understand and read the privacy concern that is why I erased the memory on the phone and card. It never stated that it would be thrown away or not to turn it in. As for the water mark, it comes on all phones and when I got the first email from them and I will attach it, it says that the water mark was a different color. Then they said they never had the water seal after I confirmed to them that I saw the water mark on the phone when I sent it in. They had a hard time finding my phone and was confusion as to why the phone was not inspected. I am not happy with their response and want something done about this.  

Business Response: Our terms and conditions state that we can not guarantee to return any memory chips due to privacy protection.  This is something that the customer agreed to when he accepted our terms of service and sent in his item. I have uploaded a copy of the terms of service to this complaint.

Consumer Response: I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint. I have read the terms of agreement that gazelle attached. In no way does it say that it might throw away or not give back my sd card that was standard issue for the phone. All that it says is that it might erase the memory or wipe out the memory and they are not responsible for that. It never said it will destroy or not give back to the customer. I am now very confident that the attachment that you provided about the agreement will solidify my complaint to the BBB and ask for my full amount promised of 357.22 to be exact. When I sent in the phone it stated to erase all of your data which I did. It never said to take out the standard issue sd card which would make the phone almost useless. I check other sites for curiosity and they said the value would decline by over $100 if I did not provide the sd card because it was part of the phone when it was bought. Please send my payment of $357.22 through ****** because this is now taking way too long and is getting out of hand. Once the BBB looks over the agreement they will seee that in no way it states the sd card would be destroyed or not given back. Just the memory on the card.  

BBB's Final Determination: After reviewing the position of all parties, BBB determined that the business made a reasonable effort to address the complaint. However the consumer remains dissatisfied.

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: This company is called Gazelle on the website. It looks like a great company that purchases electronic devices and/or disposes of electronics that have no value. However, prominently on their website they state that they erase information from products that they obtain. In fact, they state this in more than one place on the website. However, when you read their customer agreement (long and not that easy to read and likely something that many people do not read), they make it clear that they make no promise that they will erase data and they take no responsibility if harm results.

Desired Settlement: I believe that the company should either adjust the website so that they do not make reassurances that they do not intend to keep OR they should actually commit to erasing the personal data of people and stick to that commitment in their agreement. If this does not change, I don't believe that this company merits a high rating from the BBB.

Business Response: Our terms of service state: Removing Data From Your Product. For Products involving devices that store files and/or personal data on hard drives, memory chips or the like, you must back up and store any data you wish to keep from your Product and remove any personal information before you send your Product to us. Gazelle’s standard practice is to remove all such data from your Product, however, Gazelle makes no guarantee that it will do so. By sending Gazelle your Product, you agree to release us from any claim as to the Product, the data stored in such Product, or any information on any media used in conjunction with the Product and which you send to Gazelle, or for such data's security, integrity, confidentiality, disclosure or use. Gazelle is not responsible for: (a) any loss suffered by you due to any data that is not erased from the device and transferred to a third party, or (b) any loss of data after you submitted your Product to us. In our Promise we state: Personal data wiped from all items Whether its personal contacts in your cell phone or photos on your digital camera, we know that your electronics may hold personal information. Here at Gazelle we take your security and privacy very seriously. We've developed a robust inspection and data cleansing process that is a standard part of every inspection. Each item that arrives at Gazelle is hand-inspected by a trained member of our gadget lab team, using DOD approved software to remove data in a controlled and secure environment. While our data destruction process varies from one  product to another, the final result is the same. Every item that arrives at Gazelle is wiped free of any personal or non-personal information. While we do have a very strict guideline and policy to remove data, nothing is 100% guaranteed, with electronic items unless the hard drive is removed and destroyed no one can guarantee with 100% certainty that no one could ever recover the erased data off the hard drive.  This is why the terms of service state that we are not responsible for the data in the products that are sent to us.  I am sorry to hear that this customer felt that we were being dishonest.  We do follow DOD and manufacturer guidelines to reset the products to manufacturers specifications prior to the items being purchased.

Consumer Response: I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint. Their letter demonstrates my point.  I believe that the action with integrity is to change the promises easily seen by all consumers (the "we wipe your data" language) to include their comments in their letter to you stating that while they do their best, in fact, data can still be gotten if someone is determined enough...and, if data is obtained, they do not take responsibility.  I understand that they are limited to state-of-the-art data-erasing...but to non-techie consumers their language is misleading at best and at worst, could truly lead to a problem for a consumer that believed the promises that are present across the website - and modified in small print in a lengthy document that is likely not read. Thanks

Business Response: I am very sorry that our response was not taken in the spirit that it was meant. We will take every possible action to make sure that the data is removed from the item prior to purchasing the item.  We are taking your comments to heart about how we worded these actions on our site, and we are currently reviewing the information for possible revisions.  Thank you for taking the time to let us know how this has affected you, as it is not our intention to mislead anyone.

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I sent in a dell desktop through the ******* trade in program with Gazelle, I was given a quote of 86 dollars, upon Gazelle receiving the item, they gave it a different SR and said it would be recylced. This computer is less than a year old, I do not want it recycled. I noticed 73 complaints to Gazelle in 36 months, have contacted Gazelle and ******* through email and haven't been told as to why I'm not getting the 86 dollars quoted.

Desired Settlement: I would like the 86 dollars along with 10 percent of that for irresponsible people and improper customer service

Business Response: I have researched this item, and I do see where we received a desktop system from this customer, we did provide a quote of $86.00 based on the description from the customer.  It appears that we received this set up in multiple shipments.  I do see where there was a question about the monitor, and I do see that the computer was accepted for the original quote of $86.00

Consumer Response: Better Business Bureau: I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # *******.  

Business Response: The customer has rejected the response, however the transaction shows that he was paid for the full quoted price.  Also he does not way why he is rejecting the response.  It appears that this customer for some reason just wants a negative mark on our company when he received everything that he originally asked for and was told he would receive.  This is clearly just an attempt to blacken our record with the BBB on an item with no merit.

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: i sent in my motorola droid 2's a955 cell phones into this company who site states they do quick turn arounds and give what they offer. well i input my information and it stated i would get 317.00 for each phone as long as they arrived in the condition i stated. i stated they were in perfect condition with no water damage and everything that came with the phones were with them. the phones i sent to this company loses value each day and when i sent them in according to their website they were valued at $317.00 for each phone in the condition i sent them. well i waited well over two weeks for my offer and my money to be paid. i get an email from the company claiming the one phone wasnt in perfect condition due to the fact that it was missing a battery cover, this is not true when i sent the phones they were brand new in the box never touched. no battery cover was missing. they said this would knock off 83 dollars from my offer for a missing battery cover. they know the longer they kept my phone that it depreciated and that i would no longer be able to sell the phones myself for what they were worth when they got them. i have no contact number for their company and cant get in touch with a supervisor. they contacted me today and claimed they had a ticket put on the phone and the battery cover is indeed missing . this is not true. all components were in the boxes when the phones were sent. i believe due to the fact that they are now offering less for my said phones they are trying to lowball me on my promised offer. there is no way the battery cover was missing and there is no way a battery cover costs 83 dollars. i am getting nowhere with this company other them stating they can send the phone back to me well if they send the phone back to me i can no longer sell the phone for what the phone was worth when they got it.

Desired Settlement: i want the money i was promised when i sent them my phones in. they owe me $672.04 and i want that offer honored. thanks.

Business Response: We have been working with this customer, and we have honored the original quote for these items. Since this is a high end phone if something like the battery cover is missing it actually greatly reduces the resale value of the item.  This could not be resold as an item in fully functioning condition.  Since we do not make repairs we can only make an offer based on the actual condition of the item when it arrived.  As a one time courtesy to the customer we did honor the original quote for this item, and we will sell it for cost.  We did check all phones of this model that have arrived since this phone arrived and we did not have any unaccounted for backs of the phone.  It does appears that this item did not have the back included.  I am not sure if the customer removed the backs in order to take the battery out and just forgot to put this one back into the box before shipment or not.  However we have authorized payment for the full quote.

Consumer Response: I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #*******.  

BBB's Final Determination: Complaint was settled through BBB mediation

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: Item in perfect working order. Consumer is aware of very small crack in plastic at bottom right of bezel around screen. This causes consumer to describe item in good condition rather than excellent and is valued at $81 by Gazelle system with the inclusion of power supply and recovery disc. Items shipped and opened by business on Aug. 19, 2010. Business notifies consumer on Aug. 27, 2010 of offer to buy laptop for $7 due to damage in bottom right corner of display. Consumer assumes that business is referring to small crack mentioned above and rufuses offer. Business ships item back to consumer. Consumer receives package on Sep. 8, 2010 and finds significant damage with missing pieces of bezel and broken hinge. Consumer contacts business on Sep. 9, 2010 and interacts with **** and **** from customer care department. Business employees believe that shipping may be to blame, but no FedEx case can be opened as they have disposed of original shipping container. Business seems to have closed case. Consumer contacts business and notfied them of intent to contact BBB. It is of the consumer's opinion that the item was either damaged in shipping or damaged while in the possession of the business.

Desired Settlement: At the very least, the business has the responsibility to contact Fed Ex to determine if an insurance claim can even be launched before telling consumer that there is nothing that can be done. The consumer has contacted Fed Ex and was told that it is the business's responsibility to contact Fed Ex, regardless of when damage occured as the business was the shipping entity. Consumer also suggested to business that it modify internal procedures to notify consumers upon receipt of a damaged item, not simply to make a lower offer than the system estimate -- especially for items designated as good or excellent condition by the consumer. It is recommended that notifications be placed on business website to notify customers to photograph items before sending to business in cases such as these. These actions would notify the consumer of new damage that has taken place after the item has left the consumer's possession and possibly build a timeline to determine fault. Even though I can provide photographs of the item's condidtion, the business did not seem to care to see them. I will now need to spend $15-$40 to replace the broken plastic bezel, hinge, and missing screw in order to sell this item. I chose this business as an alternative to the hassle of placing an ad to sell this item. After some research, this item should sell for $100 and the businesss offered to purchase it for $81. The time saved was clearly worth the $19 variance. At this time, I have spent far too much time to want to deal with the business any further. Unless the insurance of the business or Fed Ex can cover the insured amount of $81, then I want nothing to do with this company. At this point, I have no choice but to spend an estimated $40 in repair and attempt to sell the item at a non-negatiable $100 to earn $60. This would mean that the company has cost me no less than $40 rahter than the initial $19 that I originally determined was acceptable. On principal, I will not attempt the quantify the amount of time spent on this failed transaction in dollars. I will continue to notify any and all potential clients of this business of my story, provide solid photographic and electronic documentation of email threads, and a copy of this post to the BBB to interested parties via tech blogs and online news outlets. I assure the company that this course of action, while 100% truthful and legal, will cost the company more in lost business than it would have spent by following a logical procedure to notify customers of damage and report insurance claims to shipping companies.

Business Response: The customer did enter into an agreement to sell us a Dell Laptop.  In his initial description the customer described his item as being in "good" physical condition.  On our website we offer the following condition definitions:

Perfect: the item is in perfect condition with no scratches, scuffs, or signs of use.
Good: the item has evidence of normal use, such as light scratches or scuffs, but is otherwise 100% functional
Fair: item functions perfectly but has major scratches and/or dents.
Poor: the item has physical or functional issues such as cracked body, damaged display, missing or broken parts, dents, deep scratches, personalization(s), etc.

As you can see by the definitions we issued, this customer should have graded his laptop in poor condition based on his own admission that the case was cracked. 

As for the issue of the condition of the item when it arrived.  We inspect all item when they are received, in his situation we did not locate pieces of the missing casing inside of the box that it was shipped in, as a result it appeared that this was the condition that the laptop was in when it was originally packed for shipment.  We did speak with or Fedex rep about this issue, and since there was no signs of damage to the original shipment, and since the inspection at receiving, did not notice any signs of new damage at the time of delivery, Fedex will not cover a claim on this item. 

It appears that this was the condition that this item was in when it was packed, and the item was returned in the same condition as it was received.

Consumer Response:

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # 8343368. For your reference, the details of the business response appear below.

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]

I'm not really surprised to get this response. In fact, I expected it. I'm not asking for reimbursement or insurance damages. I'm asking for the following:

1. Items be evaluated immediately upon opening and the customer is contacted if the business assessment does not match the customer assessment. This action would have alerted me that there was serious damage to my laptop rather the HAIRLINE CRACK in the bezel surrounding the screen which looked more like a scratch (hardly significant damage that would justify a "poor" rating).

1.1 In this notification email, do not make an offer... specifically state that it is an email regarding agreement of item quality. The only email that I received was an offer of $7 and I assumed that the crack was being significantly exaggerated so I refused the offer. When the laptop was returned I found significant damage.

1.2 When step 1.1 is followed, photograph the damage and include it in the email that is sent to the customer.

2. Recommend to users in FAQ that they photograph all merchandise before sending. I have done this but don't really care any more... I haven't gone looking for the pic on my wife's camera. She probably deleted them now that we've thrown away the laptop. I've wasted far more money (in time spent on this issue) than the $80 value of the laptop. At this point I'm just trying to help you improve your process. I've said as much to your support staff.

3. Place link next to item rating selection that better describes condition levels (this should be a no brainer but I don't recall seeing one and I don't feel like looking for it).

Had these simple (and easily automated) steps been followed, we could have inspected the original box to look for broken pieces. I have the email from your support stating that you did not do that, nor could you because the box had been disposed. Don't make it sound like you looked in your response to the BBB, because you didn't. I also have an email stating that you were not willing to contact Fed Ex because there was no reason to do so. If you did so after I filed the BBB complaint, fine... but you know it wouldn't matter as the item was already shipped back to me in a damaged condition. Fed Ex would be out of business if they even considered paying out insurance on that.

Don't patronize your customers with false claims in the BBB response. If you had even read the BBB complaint, you would know that I didn't want reimbursed for anything and would have simply said you were considering my suggestions and we'd be done with this issue... even if you didn't mean it. I know you don't care what the BBB complaint says because you clearly addressed the wrong issue. Did you even read the field about my suggested resolution? It was something like "Change of Process". Just one more reason why I will not be doing business with you in the future. Nor will anyone that I tell my story to... the company I work for, my students, my facebook friends, my clients, anyone who reads the article that I promise to write about my experience.

Lastly, I would like to reiterate that I sent you a laptop in perfect working order with a very tiny, hairline crack in the bezel that looked much like a scratch. I received a laptop with nearly a 1 inch piece of bezel missing, a screw missing, and a broken/loosened hinge. That doesn't just happen due to some vibrations during shipping. The package was either damaged, the laptop dropped after being opened, or an inspector saw the small crack and damaged it further by prying and removing a screw. I wasn't there... but I am a logical person so what else could have happened? Aside from calling me a liar (ouch... my feelings) and claiming that I shipped it in that condition? Nothing.

I know I'm asking for a lot when I (an outsider) recommend that you change/improve your process. It's one of the hardest things for any company to do... but you know what I'm saying is logical and makes sense. I hope you take my advice and change your process so others can avoid a similar process. Please do not contact me further. I do not intend to return any more messages to your supprot staff nor will I reply to any additional BBB actions. You have spent far too much of my time and money for me to continue this process. Thank you for your time.

Regards,

**** ***********

 

 

Business Response: Hello ****,

I am sorry that you took our response as one where we did not take your suggestions to heart.  We are always evaluating our processes, and I have passed along your suggestions to our operations team.  Hopefully we will be able to implement some of them.

Per your request we will leave our response limited to an acknowledgment that we will consider your operational improvements.

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

X

Additional Notes

Complaint: I sent a good, working, water-free ***** **** cell phone to ******* for a buyback of $121. I checked the water damage indicator before sending in the product and it showed that the product had not suffered water damage. However, I received notice from ******* that the unit had suffered water damage once they received this. I sent in a good, working product and now I am being returned a broken, defective product.

Desired Settlement: I expect ******* to give me the originally quoted $121 buyback or provide me with a water-free ***** **** like the one I sent in.

Business Response: This customer stated that he was sending us a good condition phone that did not have any signs of water damage. Every phone has a sensor under the battery that will let us know if it has been exposed to water. In our terms of service we inform customers that the offer is contingent on the item passing our internal inspection. This item was received in our warehouse and when it was inspected (in a controlled area where no water is allowed) the inspector found that the water indicator had been activated. This indicated that the phone had potential water damage. Per our terms of service we notified the customer and offered the option to have the phone returned. This customer elected to have the phone returned and we are currently processing the return to him. His phone is being returned in the same condition that we received it in.

BBB's Final Determination: After reviewing the position of all parties, BBB determined that the business made a reasonable offer to resolve the complaint. However the consumer did not accept the offer.