Database Users

Warning about Amazon rebates

I'd like to warn everyone to avoid buying any wireless product on Amazon.com if you expect to receive your rebate. Although I followed the procedures carefully, the third-party rebate outfit (RebateHQ.com) has repeatedly (three times to date) sent emails telling me the rebate was invalid because "Product is wireless invalid," and each time retracted it, until the last one received Saturday night. It shows as invalid at this time, despite the fact that Amazon has "intervened" twice on my behalf, or so they state.
This rebate outfit will not return emails as they promise to do within 24-48 hours, but I did get through to Amazon customer service by phone and received polite lip service. After one month and promises from Amazon the problem would be resolved, the rebate still shows up as "wireless invalid." Amazon cannot explain what this means, and its meaning totally escapes me.
It has been 16 weeks since submitting the on-line rebate and the rebate agreement states that it will be paid within 12-15 weeks. The last canned email from Amazon states that they are working on it and to expect an answer in eight weeks--not the rebate check, but a reassessment of my rebate status. There is no provision for replies to their emails, further demonstrating their lack of willingness to rectify the problem.
In another thread, others have also expressed problems with Amazon, one person stating that it took 10 months and lots of effort to get his Amazon rebate on another type of cell phone. If anyone else is having trouble I'd like to hear from you. I'm not sure if there's any legal recourse, as if a small-claim lawsuit is started they could just pay it immediately and avoid the legal wrangling. Any lawyers lurking that would offer advise?
The bottom line is that I'd advise against buying anything from Amazon.com that involves a rebate, unless of course you have no interest in receiving the rebate. FWIW, the Amazon customer-service phone number is not listed on their site, but it is 800-201-7575. If you have an outstanding rebate with them or plan on having one in the future, the likelihood of needing this number is high.

If you paid with a credit card contact them they can intervine on your behalf. You can also dispute the charges as the other party has failed to honor their end of the agreement.

kyphur is right, if you know yourself you've follow all guidelines, you can take it to court.
Rebates from radio shack are sh*t also. 5 times, I've never recieved my rebates, supposibly a check arrived in the mail box.

Kyphur, thanks for the idea, and I just got off the phone with my card company. They stated that rebates were independent offerings by the seller and not related to the credit-card purchase. Had they not delivered the phone or it was defective, they said they could intervene.

TyTN for only $255, too good to be true???

http://search.ebay.com/search/searc...=compare&copagenum=1&coentrypage=search&fgtp=
Scroll down and all the auctions at the bottom are wicked cheap!!!
I looked at the sellers feedback though and he only has feedback from the 16th all selling .01 items and now he is selling $700 phones for only $250?

Are you prepared to lose your $255 to find out?

Yes it is. I placed a bid and then received this advice from eBay:
The following is a notice from eBay Trust & Safety regarding:
Item Number - ************
Item Title - NEW i-mate JASJAM Pocket PC Camera Phone 3G WiFi QWERTY
Our records show that you placed a bid on this item. We removed this item from the Site and cancelled your bid because it appears that the seller's account has been compromised and used by an unauthorized third party. The seller's privileges to trade on eBay may be temporarily suspended while we investigate this matter further. Due to privacy concerns we will not be able to share further details related to this seller.
If the seller asks you to complete this transaction outside of eBay, we strongly recommend that you do not proceed with the transaction and do not respond to the seller. Transactions for items listed on eBay but then completed off of the eBay platform are not covered by buyer protection programs offered by eBay and can be highly indicative of fraud. For more information on Offers to Buy or Sell Outside of eBay, copy and past the following Help Page link into your browser: http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/rfe-spam-non-ebay-sale.html.
If you have already paid for this item but have not received it, you should take all possible steps to receive reimbursement.
1. Stop payment with your bank if you paid by check.
2. Contact the Security Department of your credit card company to file a chargeback if you paid via credit card.
3. If you paid via Western Union or MoneyGram, contact the company directly (Western Union 800-325-6000 or MoneyGram 800-926-9400).
4. If you paid with PayPal, you may be eligible for up to $1,000 USD coverage at no cost. To file a claim with PayPal, login to your PayPal account and copy and paste the following link into your web browser: http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/protections-buyer-outside. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the File a Claim link. PayPal claims must be filed within 45 days of the close of the listing. It may take at least 30 days to complete the investigation and resolve the dispute.
5. If you did not pay with PayPal and would like to file a claim with eBay, please initiate the Item Not Received Process online directly from the Security and Resolution Center at the bottom of the eBay.com page.
6. eBay claims must be filed within 60 days of the end of the listing.
Our goal is to ensure that your eBay experience is safe so that you can buy confidently. It is rare that something goes wrong with a transaction on eBay. However, in the event it does, we would like to provide as much assistance as possible to help resolve the issue.
Please do not respond to this email, as your reply will not be received.
Regards,
Customer Support (Trust and Safety Department)
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So the old adage still applies, - if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
cheers
2sheds

Thanks for the info!

Overseas Transaction Fee

Kinda annoying but I bought an app for $0.99 which is a cheap app when converted to GBP but I checked my bank and I was charged a overseas fees of £1.00 which kind of makes the app expensive now. Just wondering why google checkout doesn't do what the itunes marketplace does and do specific currency conversion for each region so that these fees don't happen. It's just so annoying because this was the first paid app I've bought and now I don't think I'm gonna be buying anymore until google do specific region currency conversions on google checkout!
ahh rant over.....
Anyone else had this problem?

TheMaverick said:
Kinda annoying but I bought an app for $0.99 which is a cheap app when converted to GBP but I checked my bank and I was charged a overseas fees of £1.00 which kind of makes the app expensive now. Just wondering why google checkout doesn't do what the itunes marketplace does and do specific currency conversion for each region so that these fees don't happen. It's just so annoying because this was the first paid app I've bought and now I don't think I'm gonna be buying anymore until google do specific region currency conversions on google checkout!
ahh rant over.....
Anyone else had this problem?
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Credit cards usually charge a fraction of this, like 2-4% of the conversion, many do so without any minimum fee. If you have a CC link it to Google checkout, if you have a bunch call CS and find their rates or go online (I know it's work, but it'll allow you to get more apps that'll enhance your experience.)
I can't suggest anything else, maybe someone more knowledgeable can chime in, or try Googling.

This is one reason why we need to see a dedicated app or in browser android marketplace with prices converted before hand to stop stuff like this happening.

My brother was telling me the other day how his bank is charging him $1+2% on every foreign transaction, then I told him my bank only charged me 2.5% flat. Maybe changing banks is a quick solution. =p
I do agree Google should do something about this as is just discourages people from using the market.

but that fee is not charged by google market.
it is a fee your back charges you for the money conversion service, just like when i use PayPal
there is no way and it's also not google's market place job to show you those fees, as each bank has their own fee, and those fees changes frecuently, it'll be insane to keep track of the fees of all the bank for all the servers, for all over the world.
TheMaverick said:
Kinda annoying but I bought an app for $0.99 which is a cheap app when converted to GBP but I checked my bank and I was charged a overseas fees of £1.00 which kind of makes the app expensive now. Just wondering why google checkout doesn't do what the itunes marketplace does and do specific currency conversion for each region so that these fees don't happen. It's just so annoying because this was the first paid app I've bought and now I don't think I'm gonna be buying anymore until google do specific region currency conversions on google checkout!
ahh rant over.....
Anyone else had this problem?
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No it's not Google's place to display credit card fee's, but it would be a minor change to display prices in your local currency and charge you that rather than paying in Yen, USD, etc and being charged for it.

It's ridiculous I was charged £1.25 for an appl that cost £3.23... Google are big enough to be able to turn checkout into something similar to Paypal. I'll not be buying anything else from the market if this means my bank are going to charge me for doing so. Bottom line is there are no options on Google checkout it sucks..

This is rather annoying for me too, I wish I could buy bulk vouchers of some sort, or pre-load money so I could buy several apps in one transaction.
bushrat said:
My brother was telling me the other day how his bank is charging him $1+2% on every foreign transaction, then I told him my bank only charged me 2.5% flat. Maybe changing banks is a quick solution. =p
I do agree Google should do something about this as is just discourages people from using the market.
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Normally I would say "Which bank?" but it's obviously not Commonwealth Bank.
Care to share?

Tachikoma_kun said:
No it's not Google's place to display credit card fee's, but it would be a minor change to display prices in your local currency and charge you that rather than paying in Yen, USD, etc and being charged for it.
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Plug, shameless (but I'm not their shill): use AppBrain to browse apps to buy, change the currency selection at bottom of page from "Original currency" to your local currency (but note below). While you're at it, you may wish to install the AppBrain App Market and Fast Web Installer apps from the Market to easily sync your desktop selection with your phone.
About Google doing currency conversions right in the market app: That would be easy (simple API call to their own or any other reputable currency converter) but the price will only be an indication.
It is NOT possible to show you the grand total (the bottom line on your bill) in your currency, as that would need to include any extra charges your bank will add for international transfers etc., which Google doesn't (want to) know, as previous posters pointed out.
If you have a CC linked to Google Checkout, you will receive an email immediately after validation of a purchase which shows the total amount your CC will be charged.

Just FYI, simply converting the currency does not take away the overseas charge.
Becoming a customer of real proper bank (or credit card provider) is the only solution to make it go away.

Yep.. this may be helpful, if you're in the UK:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/overseas-card-charges
Debit cards from Abbey, Halifax, Intelligent Finance, Lloyds TSB, NatWest and RBS all charge a per-transaction fee for foreign currency transactions. Credit cards all charge no more than 3% transaction fee, so are a better bet if you have one.

There are rumors of Google adding PayPal support to android:
bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-13/paypal-said-to-be-in-talks-with-google-about-handling-android-payments.html
Hope this is for real, it would be a really good solution to overseas charge problem.

rogo-1 said:
There are rumors of Google adding PayPal support to android:
bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-13/paypal-said-to-be-in-talks-with-google-about-handling-android-payments.html
Hope this is for real, it would be a really good solution to overseas charge problem.
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PayPal charges even more Transaction fee
is like jumping from one fire to another fire
LOL
you can't get away from Transaction fees, that is how they make money.
just get on with it.

AllGamer said:
PayPal charges even more Transaction fee
is like jumping from one fire to another fire
LOL
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There are no fees for online purchases. I've been paying with PayPal on Ebay and other sites for ages - buying stuff from China, Europe and USA. Never paid a cent of fees.
It doesn't mean they make Android Market purchases free of charge as well, but one can hope

i use paypal every day, and every time there is money conversion involved, they charge a transaction fee

What do you use it for? Selling or buying?

rogo-1 said:
What do you use it for? Selling or buying?
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both
i just got charge $17.70 US for a conversion & service fee

You probably should check what you are being charged for.
Login to you PayPal account, and click the "fees" link on the bottom. You will get fee rates relevant to your account. This is what mine says:

I wasn't aware that PayPal charges a per-transaction fee, I thought it was just a percentage? I could be wrong though, but it's a big difference for small transactions.

If they let you use paypal, you could easily trade some USD/EUROS for your local currency and deposit them in paypal.
However Credit/Debit Card -> INTERNATIONAL TRANSACTION FEE -> PayPal -> PAYPAL FEE -> CURRENCY EXCHANGE -> EXCHANGE FEE -> Google Checkout.
It adds about 250% to the price even once converted.

Google Play Returns?

Do Nexus devices get any kind of return policy for buying direct from Google?
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app

https://play.google.com/about/device-terms.html

It only took me 2 minutes to look it up...
http://support.google.com/googleplay/bin/answer.py?hl=en&topic=2453057&ctx=topic&answer=2411741#US
Google Play aims to deliver you cutting edge Android- and Chrome-powered devices and accessories that you'll love. However, in the event that issues arise and you aren't satisfied with your purchase, please review the information below to find out how to get the item you want or a refund for your purchase.
Returns
If for any reason you do not wish to keep your device, you have up to 15 days from the date the device is delivered to you to cancel your purchase and intiate a refund. Please contact our support team by email to return your device. Once you fill out the form, the following will occur:
We send a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) and a pre-paid UPS shipping label to your email address. These will be sent in two separate emails.
Print the RMA (attached in the email) and place the form inside of the shipping box you're returning.
Print the pre-paid UPS shipping label and attach the label to the outside of the shipping box.
For additional tips, please see information on preparing your device for return.
You can initiate a return within 15 days of delivery. Upon receipt of your returned device, we'll issue a refund to the original Google Wallet account minus a 15% restocking fee (if applicable). We may waive the fee for an unopened box in perfect condition. For damaged units, customers may be charged additional restocking fees based on the state of your returned device.
Refunds for returned devices will be issued to the credit card used when making the original purchase with your Google Wallet account. You may not be refunded for the shipping cost of the original purchase.
Replacements
Within 15 days of delivery, if you happen to receive a defective device that you'd like to exchange for a functioning device, please email our support team. We'll work with you on next steps or connect you directly to our partners for replacement options.
If you have configured your phone as a virtual wallet, using Google Wallet as a form of payment, prepare to switch devices.
As a precondition of replacement, Google may remotely disable the damaged device which is to be returned to Google, with the consent of the purchaser.
Regular warranty service and out of warranty repairs
After 15 days from delivery or for an out of warranty repair, please review warranty information for your device.
Shipment lost or stolen
If your device fails to arrive or you suspect it was stolen before you received the package, please email us so we can remotely disable the device and issue a replacement. Google pursues loss claims directly with UPS.

Sorry for wasting your time. I have tried to look it up in the past, but only found information on on refunds for apps in the Play store. I guess you guys are a lot more efficient than I am.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app

Pixel XL order cancelled by Google after 20 days

I placed an order October 14 (23 day ago) to get a Pixel XL phone from Google. Today I received an e-mail telling me that my order was canceled. I called customer service and Mark explained it was cancelled because there's something wrong with my credit line (Google Credit – Synchrony Bank).
I contact them (Synchrony Bank) via chat, and they said (Naomi North) everything is OK with the account. My credit line still on $3,000 and no activity was observed except the Pending charge for the Pixel XL order.
I called you back Google and Quanidria explained the bank (Synchrony Bank) remove the AUTH for this transaction, so they have to cancel the order.
I called Synchrony Bank again and Yashira from customer service says, they can keep the authorization for a limited time, BY LAW (about 20 days). If Google did not charge the item during that time, the authorization automatically is removed.
I already waited 23 days ago. The Pixel Phone XL is not available (additional unknown waiting time). Now, I need to place the order again when the phone become available and I'll be at the end of the line (4-6 weeks waiting time). THIS SUCKS!
If Google accept the Synchrony Bank as a method of payment, they should know they have a limited time to charge the Pixel XL to the credit line they offer. If delivery time are higher than authorization from Synchrony Bank, they should know this will happen.
Google should send an e-mail explaining the situation, before cancel the order so we can fix it and start all over again. No notification on this matter was provided.
I already bought a $30 case & $10 Tempered Glass for my Pixel I’ll not receive. I need to place a new order when the item becomes available. If I choose Synchrony Bank as a method of payment, and they don’t ship this item in a promptly way, the cycle will start over again…
Google service is a nightmare. They can't restore a cancelled order. They can't modify any order placed. They don't even know what the heck was going on with the order. Probably they don't realize yet that all the customer that order the phone via Synchrony Bank, will get the authorization cancelled, giving that waiting delivery time is 4-6 weeks (more than the 20 days authorization remain active).
I'm wondering if this happen to anybody and how Google address the situation. Please comment.

Did you check your synchrony bank account after you purchased regularly? did the charge sit there pending for that period of time? It sounds like most people got shipping notifications today for their XL - 128GB order, many of which discussed using the synchrony bank for the financing, so you may have just been unlucky and had something glitchy happen, there has been a few reports of that. I guess my account just showed a pending charge today, so I'm wondering did you never see that for 20 days, or did yours pop up and then immediately get cancelled?

I'm in the same boat as you ace, they're dragging their feet on everything to do with my order too. Most unhelpful bunch I have ever dealt with in my life. My order was from the eighth, of october.

I got lucky, I got my 32 gig at best buy. The guy selling it to me was pissed because his was still a month out, he ordered thru google
Sent from my Pixel XL using XDA-Developers mobile app

I never seen the charge during 20 days. Suddenly two transactions appears on Temporary Transactions, one for the "hold" and the other as a credit funding back my account.

ElYukiPR said:
I placed an order October 14 (23 day ago) to get a Pixel XL phone from Google. Today I received an e-mail telling me that my order was canceled. I called customer service and Mark explained it was cancelled because there's something wrong with my credit line (Google Credit – Synchrony Bank).
I contact them (Synchrony Bank) via chat, and they said (Naomi North) everything is OK with the account. My credit line still on $3,000 and no activity was observed except the Pending charge for the Pixel XL order.
I called you back Google and Quanidria explained the bank (Synchrony Bank) remove the AUTH for this transaction, so they have to cancel the order.
I called Synchrony Bank again and Yashira from customer service says, they can keep the authorization for a limited time, BY LAW (about 20 days). If Google did not charge the item during that time, the authorization automatically is removed.
I already waited 23 days ago. The Pixel Phone XL is not available (additional unknown waiting time). Now, I need to place the order again when the phone become available and I'll be at the end of the line (4-6 weeks waiting time). THIS SUCKS!
If Google accept the Synchrony Bank as a method of payment, they should know they have a limited time to charge the Pixel XL to the credit line they offer. If delivery time are higher than authorization from Synchrony Bank, they should know this will happen.
Google should send an e-mail explaining the situation, before cancel the order so we can fix it and start all over again. No notification on this matter was provided.
I already bought a $30 case & $10 Tempered Glass for my Pixel I’ll not receive. I need to place a new order when the item becomes available. If I choose Synchrony Bank as a method of payment, and they don’t ship this item in a promptly way, the cycle will start over again…
Google service is a nightmare. They can't restore a cancelled order. They can't modify any order placed. They don't even know what the heck was going on with the order. Probably they don't realize yet that all the customer that order the phone via Synchrony Bank, will get the authorization cancelled, giving that waiting delivery time is 4-6 weeks (more than the 20 days authorization remain active).
I'm wondering if this happen to anybody and how Google address the situation. Please comment.
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Let me ask you... Did you initiate correspondence with google either via chat, phone or email. The reason I ask is that I placed (my reorder from their screw up Oct. 4th) on Oct. 28th. A week later I noticed what appeared to be a duplicate charge on synchrony account and when I called synchrony to inquire, they said it was a reversal and the order had been cancelled. called google and one person verified that it had. I was pissed. Called google again and they said no, everything was fine. In reading other peoples posts I determined myself that part of the process is the pending will drop off after a period of time like you mentioned. Through some more calls to google I kept getting reassurance that my order was fine and a week ago it went from preordered to pending and then last night it went from preordered to processing and the charge has reappeared on synchrony as well as payments.google.com. So what I'm saying is that the people we are talking to don't have a clue and that in fact your order may be fine. As I received a email from google AFTER calling to inquire about the order that it had been cancelled and that was in fact not true. Hopefully your order is still intact and you are getting info from google reps that I feel are temps they've brought on to field the massive influx of calls due to their mismanagement of this launch and they don't understand what they are looking at with the tools given them. I don't think they are able to look at anything more than what we can see on our order pages. Sorry for the long post but just wanted to offer you a scenario that maybe your order is okay. I can't guarantee you that it is but this has been my experience. And I've had way too much experience in dealing with them since Oct. 20th when my first order was supposed to be here. Probably spent 20 hours on phone, chat and email in the last 3-1/2 weeks. Good luck.

dwkick said:
Let me ask you... Did you initiate correspondence with google either via chat, phone or email. The reason I ask is that I placed (my reorder from their screw up Oct. 4th) on Oct. 28th. A week later I noticed what appeared to be a duplicate charge on synchrony account and when I called synchrony to inquire, they said it was a reversal and the order had been cancelled. called google and one person verified that it had. I was pissed. Called google again and they said no, everything was fine. In reading other peoples posts I determined myself that part of the process is the pending will drop off after a period of time like you mentioned. Through some more calls to google I kept getting reassurance that my order was fine and a week ago it went from preordered to pending and then last night it went from preordered to processing and the charge has reappeared on synchrony as well as payments.google.com. So what I'm saying is that the people we are talking to don't have a clue and that in fact your order may be fine. As I received a email from google AFTER calling to inquire about the order that it had been cancelled and that was in fact not true. Hopefully your order is still intact and you are getting info from google reps that I feel are temps they've brought on to field the massive influx of calls due to their mismanagement of this launch and they don't understand what they are looking at with the tools given them. I don't think they are able to look at anything more than what we can see on our order pages. Sorry for the long post but just wanted to offer you a scenario that maybe your order is okay. I can't guarantee you that it is but this has been my experience. And I've had way too much experience in dealing with them since Oct. 20th when my first order was supposed to be here. Probably spent 20 hours on phone, chat and email in the last 3-1/2 weeks. Good luck.
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When what he is saying happened happens, you get an email stating that your order has been put on hold from the google store and then an email right after stating that it has been canceled so nope mine was indeed canceled.
In fact I then had to place another order myself because they are not able to place another order for you.

dwkick said:
Let me ask you... Did you initiate correspondence with google either via chat, phone or email. The reason I ask is that I placed (my reorder from their screw up Oct. 4th) on Oct. 28th. A week later I noticed what appeared to be a duplicate charge on synchrony account and when I called synchrony to inquire, they said it was a reversal and the order had been cancelled. called google and one person verified that it had. I was pissed. Called google again and they said no, everything was fine. In reading other peoples posts I determined myself that part of the process is the pending will drop off after a period of time like you mentioned. Through some more calls to google I kept getting reassurance that my order was fine and a week ago it went from preordered to pending and then last night it went from preordered to processing and the charge has reappeared on synchrony as well as payments.google.com. So what I'm saying is that the people we are talking to don't have a clue and that in fact your order may be fine. As I received a email from google AFTER calling to inquire about the order that it had been cancelled and that was in fact not true. Hopefully your order is still intact and you are getting info from google reps that I feel are temps they've brought on to field the massive influx of calls due to their mismanagement of this launch and they don't understand what they are looking at with the tools given them. I don't think they are able to look at anything more than what we can see on our order pages. Sorry for the long post but just wanted to offer you a scenario that maybe your order is okay. I can't guarantee you that it is but this has been my experience. And I've had way too much experience in dealing with them since Oct. 20th when my first order was supposed to be here. Probably spent 20 hours on phone, chat and email in the last 3-1/2 weeks. Good luck.
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Thanks for your time... I received an e-mail and immediately I check the status on my account. It says CANCELLED (see attachment). Did your order appears CANCELLED too, or never been at that point? My delivery estimate date was November 23-25. If this happened to you, maybe my order is okay. I HOPE!!! Google have the worst customer service I ever had.

ElYukiPR said:
Thanks for your time... I received an e-mail and immediately I check the status on my account. It says CANCELLED (see attachment). Did your order appears CANCELLED too, or never been at that point? My delivery estimate date was November 23-25. If this happened to you, maybe my order is okay. I HOPE!!! Google have the worst customer service I ever had.
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No, I'm sorry. Mine never said cancel on the order page like that. In two different phone calls Google told me it was cancelled and one of them sent me an email stating it was cancelled but was obviously incorrect seeing as how my phone shipped yesterday and will be here tomorrow. I was just hoping you had the same situation that i did and that it was okay. I'd like to hope it isn't cancelled but I'd say that from the looks of that yours is cancelled. Sorry about that

dwkick said:
No, I'm sorry. Mine never said cancel on the order page like that. In two different phone calls Google told me it was cancelled and one of them sent me an email stating it was cancelled but was obviously incorrect seeing as how my phone shipped yesterday and will be here tomorrow. I was just hoping you had the same situation that i did and that it was okay. I'd like to hope it isn't cancelled but I'd say that from the looks of that yours is cancelled. Sorry about that
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* sigh *

ElYukiPR said:
* sigh *
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I know. ????. Google really screwed a lot of us. Good luck in getting a new phone.