calCellular.com Watch out, possibly very bad Avalon Gadgets

humble here.

I was looking for some batteries for my camera and found some that were 1/4 the price of those sold on Amazon. They were on CalCellular.

No physical address and cheap cheap prices ran up red flags. Avalon Gadgets bit me years ago and this looks like the same folks in a different skin.

Please hang in here with me on this because it might save you getting skinned.

I Googled reviews and found page after page of beautiful 5 star reviews about how great CalCellular was. BUT --- if you hang in there long enough, you'll run into some that say they are terrible. They are the real comments from customers. The 5 star reviews are written by the scammers.

So. These web-based rip-you-off companies have refined their marketing. Back when I got scammed with Avalon Gadgets years ago you would see 3 or so five star wonderful reviews, they they had obviously written themselves, mixed in with the legit ones that said they ripped you off, had no physical address, didn't answer email or made promises that they did not intend to keep.

Several people contacted me about Avalon Gadgets because I posted something on line about them.

http://www.thehumblefarmer.com/Avalon.html

I wondered why the Attorney General in any state didn't shut them down. I requested an application from the Attorney General in New York State and in Maine. And I can tell you that the application to shut down or even file a complaint against one of these scammers is more difficult than applying for disability if you have Lou Gehrig's Disease.

So they will be in business for a long time to come. The only thing that will stop them is for people to read Blogs like this one and the one I found and pasted below.

Good luck. Look for bargains. But better pay the legit price and get what you pay for.

+++

I found this on line. Look around for any company and learn about this for yourself. Beware of a list of 5 star perfect reviews and no physical location when the price is 1/4 or $100 less than what is quoted on Amazon or other legit sites.

Good luck. Neighbor humble

207-226-7442


CalCellular.com - Assery ensues


So, I was in need of some emergency backup lighting for my business. Just some minor lighting was needed for a few areas in case of a power outage. Nothing fancy, nothing hard wired into our AC, just some sort of plug in device that (ideally) used LEDs (I'm all green that way).So I Googled around (because I am so savvy that way) and found these cool little battery backed lights at CalCellular.com (http://www.calcellular.com/litesaver-ls1000.html). The price was good so I ordered 6 of them along with a few of these tiny LED flashlights (http://www.calcellular.com/led-flash-9.html). Before I forget, the flashlights are junk...but they are cheap and only meant for emergency use. One of them actually had an LED burnout (if you know anything about LEDs you know they don't burn out after a few hours of use) and another flickers. But hey, they were made in China and had a cheap price so I wasn't expecting a Mag Lite.Back to the assery...the emergency lights arrived pretty quick, so I give them credit there. I installed them all which really just means I plugged them in. A day later I tested them by simulating a power outage. That process is pretty technical...actually it just involves unplugging them from the wall. Yup. They all worked.A few days later one had a red light glowing on it so I emailed CalCellular to ask what it meant. It may have been covered in the direction but I tossed those...I mean, it's a light you plug in so are directions really needed? If you answered yes please turn off your computer now and never tought it again because you may very well be part of the problem.Three days later and no reply from CalCellular on the red light. Is responding to email that big of a deal for a web based company? I mean, you are doing business on the web so why can't you reply the same day? If I called you on the phone you would answer right, so why does email have this insane delay at 99% of all companies? So I emailed again and they replied that day with...
Just unplug the light, let the battery runs out, and replug the light.Red light means charging. There will reset the light.Okay, sounds simple enough though I told them that none of the other units did that and I had hoped the unit wasn't defective, to which they replied...
Don't worry, 5 years warranty.Oh yea, why worry about a purchase you made on the Internet? So, as you might have guessed by now their suggestion didn't work (tried it twice) and the light just didn't hold a charge so clearly something was wrong. So now we go back and forth over email while they check to make sure I am not a total idiot by asking things like "Is the switch turned on". Only after being threatened with a charge back did they say...
Please send it back, we will resend you a new one.Sorry for the inconvinence.Now, I had already told them I would send it back if they provided a pre-paid postage label. Why is that concept so hard to understand for these companies? If the product arrives DOA or dies within a few days of receiving it then I am not paying a penny to get it resolved. In fact, shouldn't I be billing them for the time it took me on my end to email and get it resolved? I paid for a working product so why would I pay more to get that?Finally, they responded with...
Don't worry, I will send you a new one. Keep that light.Thanks for letting me keep the broken light, that was nice, maybe I will make some yard at out of it. So why on earth would they waste all this time arguing over a light that costs only a few dollars and why would they only agree to send a new one when I threatened a charge back. I had intended to buy 6 more of these but now I just won't do business with them ever again. They did send me a new light though it was shipped quite slowly and it does work at least. I shouldn't have to make threats to get decent customer service.So, to all my friends at CalCellular.com: You've just been fecal'd.