Ripoff Merchant!

[bony]

Don't get burned by this this mob - DiscountMarineSupplies.com Their discounted prices suck you in but they fleeced me out of $AU100 because I didn't do my homework first, I should have searched the web for reviews before I placed an order.

Check out this link -

Ripoff Report | discountmarinesupplies.com discount marine supplies Search of Complaints & Reviews

blony

[bobconnie]

I can't figure this one out?? You did not do your homework, and orderd something that wasen't what ya wanted and they are rip offs ?? Seems just a little off to me LOL Just sayin "buyer beware" Thats what my ole daddy taught me !!

[Coops]

I have actually had customers come back to the chandlery and ask "Why didn't you tell me that I could get it cheaper elsewhere?" Used to tell them that "I did not know that you could and if I did know it is not my job to tell you that."

Unless they quote you a price and then went back on it, then you cannot really claim that you were ripped off so to speak.

Coops.

[Wotname]

Err... what actually happened? How did they fleece out of $100?

The link you posted only shows 5 complaints between 2008 & 2010. Nothing in the last 3 years. Presumably if they are still trading they must be keeping a significant number of customers happy.

I had a bad dealing with a stateside discount marine supplier several years back - maybe the same outfit, I can't recall their name.

For awhile I was a couple of hundred dollars out of pocket and the stuff ordered never turned up. They wouldn't respond to emails or provide shipping details etc.

In the end, I filed a request for the return of the funds with Visa, I sent them all the details and especially all my email traffic and Visa credited my account after perhaps 3 days pending further investigation. About a month later, Visa told me the matter had been finalised and the money was mine to keep.

[onestepcsy37]

but apparently this one particular vendor, 'discount marine supplies' has several complaints from customers on the 'ripoff report' website. which leads me to believe their are many more problems that don't get reported there....

[Richard5]

In defense of the OP I have had some similar experiences although not with this particular vendor. One example was I ordered a whole bunch of stuff. For reasons I forget I agreed to their suggestion that the order be split into 2. Both orders were placed at the same time. When the 2nd order arrived I found the discounted prices were not applied to the items in the 2nd order. I inquired about that and was told a 2nd order cannot be 'piggybacked' on the 1st order. I felt ripped off because the advertised discount was what had caused me to place an order with that vendor then they charged full price for half my order after they split the original order.

Oh well, live and learn. It's only money. The universe has a way of things working out.

[bony]

Here are the facts in my case.

I placed an order for parts from that company on 3rd Nov. The total cost of the order was $US295 and it consisted of a total of 14 items for my boat including 10 S/Steel bow rail fittings. I paid by credit card when I placed the order and the payment was approved and accepted.

Next day I received an email telling me the order is being processed and I can log in to their website to view my order status. I did log in and the order status said "Authorised".

A few days later I logged in again and found the order was at the same status level -"Authorised", so I sent a friendly email to the company to ask how my order was progressing but did not get a reply until the 8th Nov. which said there had been a hold up with the rail fittings and this had been resolved and I will get a tracking email in the next 24 hours. I did not receive the tracking email until the 14th Nov. and this showed me the order was shipped on that day via USPS. On 25th Nov. I received the order at my address in Australia. It was a large cardboard carton completely filled with styrene foam and containing only the four small items I had ordered. The 10 bow rail fittings were not sent, and there was no invoice included in the package. The packing slip on the carton shows the shipping cost to be $US25 whereas I was charged $49 for shipping.

I have sent several emails to the company since the 25th and have received no reply and no explanation of where the missing parts might be. In my last email to them I asked for a refund of the price of the rail fittings if they are not going to send them but still received no reply. My bank is unable to do anything about it, not sure why. Somewhat disheartened I then started googling for information on this company and was surprised by what I found. The website I linked you to is only one of several that show this company is getting a bad reputation, some complaints are pretty much similar to my own experience.

The company's address was written on the packing slip and showed it to be in Wyomissing, PA, United States. On Googlemaps the address is a house in a suburban street and for some reason the street view image of the house is blurred out! This company does not answer emails and cannot be otherwise contacted because it does not have a telephone number, so I'm stuffed and out of pocket by $100 and still need outlay more cash to purchase the 10 bow rail fittings for my boat.

I hope you can understand my frustration.

redx.

[Coops]

With all the facts now stated, yes, I do understand your frustration, anger even. Where you go from here though I cannot help you with. Perhaps some member who lives near to the place could give more information, or others who have dealt with them. Whatever, good luck.

Coops.

[MarkSF]

I was shopping around for some fittings last week, and this website came up with an excellent price.

However, one thing I always do before ordering on the Internet, is to click on "Contact Us" and see if they give you a trading address, and telephone number. This site just gives you an enquiry form to fill out. Instant fail, buy elsewhere.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by bony

Here are the facts in my case.

I placed an order for parts from that company on 3rd Nov. The total cost of the order was $US295 and it consisted of a total of 14 items for my boat including 10 S/Steel bow rail fittings. I paid by credit card when I placed the order and the payment was approved and accepted.

Next day I received an email telling me the order is being processed and I can log in to their website to view my order status. I did log in and the order status said "Authorised".

A few days later I logged in again and found the order was at the same status level -"Authorised", so I sent a friendly email to the company to ask how my order was progressing but did not get a reply until the 8th Nov. which said there had been a hold up with the rail fittings and this had been resolved and I will get a tracking email in the next 24 hours. I did not receive the tracking email until the 14th Nov. and this showed me the order was shipped on that day via USPS. On 25th Nov. I received the order at my address in Australia. It was a large cardboard carton completely filled with styrene foam and containing only the four small items I had ordered. The 10 bow rail fittings were not sent, and there was no invoice included in the package. The packing slip on the carton shows the shipping cost to be $US25 whereas I was charged $49 for shipping.

I have sent several emails to the company since the 25th and have received no reply and no explanation of where the missing parts might be. In my last email to them I asked for a refund of the price of the rail fittings if they are not going to send them but still received no reply. My bank is unable to do anything about it, not sure why. Somewhat disheartened I then started googling for information on this company and was surprised by what I found. The website I linked you to is only one of several that show this company is getting a bad reputation, some complaints are pretty much similar to my own experience.

The company's address was written on the packing slip and showed it to be in Wyomissing, PA, United States. On Googlemaps the address is a house in a suburban street and for some reason the street view image of the house is blurred out! This company does not answer emails and cannot be otherwise contacted because it does not have a telephone number, so I'm stuffed and out of pocket by $100 and still need outlay more cash to purchase the 10 bow rail fittings for my boat.

I hope you can understand my frustration.

redx.

I gotta agree, that does sound like the classic ripoff. They say the items were sent, USPS can show proof of delivery of package but there is no paperwork that can prove the items were in the package.

I would push your CC company a bit harder, lodge a formal complaint in writing (email) etc. Scan and email all the documentation (or fax or even regular mail). Show that the items weren't itemised on the paperwork. Tell them you a scam victim and so on and if this keeps up, you might as well not use your CC anymore.

It they ignore the formal compliant or don't resolve it with a suitable explanation; take it a step further and lodge a compliant with the Australian Banking Ombudsman.

You might be surprised at what they can make happen. 12 years back I had a wee banking problem that I could not resolved after 6 weeks of phone calls, faxes and emails. I finally faxed a compliant to the Omsbudman. I received a phone call from him 2 hours later and 3 hours after that, it was all resolved. I had a visit from the local bank PR person apologising for taking so long to fix the issue and letters from several banking departments over the next few days.


But I am like that, I hate injustice; you might not want to bother and just get on with your life.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by MarkSF

I was shopping around for some fittings last week, and this website came up with an excellent price.

However, one thing I always do before ordering on the Internet, is to click on "Contact Us" and see if they give you a trading address, and telephone number. This site just gives you an enquiry form to fill out. Instant fail, buy elsewhere.

Yes, good point!

[bony]

Originally Posted by Wotname

I gotta agree, that does sound like the classic ripoff. They say the items were sent, USPS can show proof of delivery of package but there is no paperwork that can prove the items were in the package.

I would push your CC company a bit harder, lodge a formal complaint in writing (email) etc. Scan and email all the documentation (or fax or even regular mail). Show that the items weren't itemised on the paperwork. Tell them you a scam victim and so on and if this keeps up, you might as well not use your CC anymore.

It they ignore the formal compliant or don't resolve it with a suitable explanation; take it a step further and lodge a compliant with the Australian Banking Ombudsman.

You might be surprised at what they can make happen. 12 years back I had a wee banking problem that I could not resolved after 6 weeks of phone calls, faxes and emails. I finally faxed a compliant to the Omsbudman. I received a phone call from him 2 hours later and 3 hours after that, it was all resolved. I had a visit from the local bank PR person apologising for taking so long to fix the issue and letters from several banking departments over the next few days.


But I am like that, I hate injustice; you might not want to bother and just get on with your life.

Hi Wotname,

Thanks for sharing your experience. I'll get on to the cc company and see what they say about the problem. It's not really about the money I've lost even though it's getting harder to come by these days, it's more about the principal of the thing, I just hate the dishonesty,

Cheers.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by bony

Hi Wotname,

Thanks for sharing your experience. I'll get on to the cc company and see what they say about the problem. It's not really about the money I've lost even though it's getting harder to come by these days, it's more about the principal of the thing, I just hate the dishonesty,

Cheers.

I hear you.

Even if the CC company say they do can't much, lodge a formal complaint anyway. They have whole teams of staff just dealing with CC fraud and this is simply that - fraud. It is only by good people complaining that bad people get shut down.

Another recent experience shows what can happen. I made an on-line purchase (again a USA outlet but non-marine) and the but order bounced at the payment point. A few hours later I get an email form the CC mob saying that payment could not processed. I assumed there was a problem with my card so I phoned their 24 access line. After waiting a few minutes, they very politely told me that my card was fine but they were no longer processing payments to that particular site. They had had too many unresolved complaints about the site in question and the cost of the investigations was too high. They simply stopped all their business with the site.

So I take from that experience, we must complain loudly (yet properly) when this stuff happens. The very last thing the banking world wants is for everyday citizens to lose trust in the CC industry as the CC people are making shiploads from CC use.

Good luck and keep on their tail

[rgscpat]

Something very odd seems to be going on with this company; it is quite elusive.

Presumably this is who you ordered from?

Description
Founded in 2005, Discount Marine Supplies provides boaters, fishermen and many others quality boating products at affordable pricing.
1061 Fairview Ave
Wyomissing, Pennsylvania 19610
Phone (717) 489-1458
Email orders@discountmarinesupplies.com
Website Discount Marine Supplies offers quality boating supplies & marine supplies for boaters and sailboat owners.

---------------------------------------

Wyomissing is a borough of Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania, about 40 miles west of the city of Philadelphia and a 100 miles north of Washington, DC. The local government entities for Reading and Berks might be able to provide more information about whether a company was registered in their areas.

--------------------------------------------------

Whitepages.com says the Discount Marine Phone no. is a VoIP, voice over internet protocol phone, by Level 3 Communications

--------------------------------------------------

Yahoo gives a different address for the Discount Marine Phone:
(717) 489-1458. 180 E Hershey Park Dr, Derry, PA 17033
This appears to be a fake, because it is in the driveway of the Hershey Theme Park, 50 miles west of reading.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Manta.com comes up with a slightly different address, 1.5 miles away from the Fairview address; this is also a large residence in what appears to be an up-scale neighborhood:

830 Farr Place
Reading, PA 19611 - View Map
Phone:
Own this Business?
Discount Marine Supplies
A privately held company in Reading, PA. Is this your company? Claim This Profile
More Details for Discount Marine Supplies
Categorized under Manufacturers Agents and Representatives, our records show it was established in 2009 and incorporated in Pennsylvania, current estimates show this company has an annual revenue of $59,000 and employs a staff of approximately 1.


-------------------------------------------------

Better Business Bureau
BBB... Discount Marine Supplies Review - Marine Equipment & Supplies in Wyomsising, PA - BBB Business Review - BBB serving Metro Washington, DC and Eastern Pennsylvania
This business is not BBB accredited.
BBB® F Rating
On a scale of A+ to F
Reason for Rating
BBB Ratings System Overview
Businesses are under no obligation to seek BBB accreditation, and some businesses are not accredited because they have not sought BBB accreditation.

Factors that lowered the rating for Discount Marine Supplies include:

Length of time business has been operating
10 complaints filed against business
Failure to respond to 7 complaints filed against business
BBB does not have sufficient background information on this business

----------------------------------------------------------------
Address appears to have been recently sold?

Realtor.com:
1061 Fairview Ave, Wyomissing, PA 19610 - Home For Sale and Real Estate Listing - realtor.com®
1061 Fairview Ave
Wyomissing, PA 19610
$495,000
Status Under Contract
Beds 6 Bed
Baths 3 Full, 1 Half Bath
House Size 5,577 Sq Ft
Lot Size 0.48 Acres
Year Built 1905

Listing Agent, Hybrid Home Brokers
Bill Williams
Call me about the serious business of saving your equity.
Phone: (855) 242-0060

--------------------------------------------------------------------

YouTube for the home:

1061 Fairview Ave., Wyomissing, PA 19610 - YouTube

Looks residential and mostly empty.

---------------------------------------------------------------------


Discount Marine Supplies Reviews - discountmarinesupplies.com Ratings at ResellerRatings
Rating 0.50/10 5 reviews
0.50 / 100

All Customer Reviews (5)
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captainT
Rating 2/10 1/5 modified review posted May-01-2013
"HORRIBLE!
Shipped wrong item and will not return emails, accept phone calls, etc. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY"

modified review This review was modified by captainT on May 01 2013 11:47:26 AM
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oefimov
Rating 2/10 1/5 modified review posted May-30-2012
"I've purchased motor bracket from this store. The item description was wrong. Sales person has refused to pay for return shipment and refused to give me RMA. I returned the item, but never get refund (even after 3 months!). No phone number. They stop answering to e-mails when I asked about refund. Finaly I never got my money back and end up filing the claim with Amex against this company.
Please avoid using this company even they offer 90% off
They are fraudulent business. Stay away.
Thanks!"

modified review This review was modified by oefimov on May 30 2012 09:26:08 AM
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jay1100
Rating 2/10 1/5 modified review posted Aug-01-2010
"!!!!!!Stay away from this company!!!!!
Tried to contact Discount Marine Supplies about a problem with my order. To this date I have not been able to get a response from the company. The only contact method is by email, no phone number. I can not say they have bad customer service because they don't have any."

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katohn
Rating 2/10 1/5 modified review posted Jan-25-2009
"Ordered on Jan 13th. My card was charged on the same day. The order did not ship until 3 days based on the tracking info. Tracking info was for some other order not mine. To date (Jan 23rd) the order has not arrived. They did not respond to my email request for status until I threated to call me credit card company. I'm still waiting for a status! My credit card company will get a call Monday to reverse the charge. DO NOT ORDER FROM DISCOUNTMARINESUPPLIES.COM. YOU WILL NOT GET A RESPONSE BY PHONE OE BY EMAIL. PATHETIC SERVICE!"

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TFD2001
Rating 4/10 2/5 modified review posted Jan-15-2009
"Ordered items on the Monday before new years (new years was on Thursday).. Immediately asked a question via email (they do not allow phone contact).. Other than the automated order response emails I received immiediatly, I received no response to numerous emails until Jan. 6th.. Still have yet to receive one item, and upon asking about that item, was told Jan 7 that it was a special item and was leaving that day.. Item did not actually leave until Jan 13th, due for delivery Jan 16th.. Items were priced good, and I realize I placed the order during a holiday period, the lack of communication, and lousy/long time for delivery will make me reluctant to purchase there again..."

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[rgscpat]

On the company's web site, they say they do not answer the phone (in order to keep costs low), so the address (which is of a residence that appears to have been sold) and the on-line contact form are the only methods of contact.

PS, It appears that the old/previous owner of the Fairview Avenue address moved to North Carolina about three years ago (and has a professional position there), so might have nothing whatsoever to do with Discount Marine Supplies. Maybe all of the addresses so far found are fakes?