BBB Consumer Alert:
F Rated Company Sends Defective Products or No Products at All
Fast Facts:
- Customers report receiving a defective product or no product at all
- Customers are unable to reach the company via phone or email
- Pro1 Powersports has 35 consumer complaints and an F rating with the BBB
March 7, 2011, Memphis, TN – The Better Business Bureau of the Mid-South is urging consumers to use caution when dealing with Pro1 Powersports, located at 244 Gordon Street, Jackson, TN. The company has the lowest BBB rating of F. The BBB has received 35 consumer complaints against the business in the last 3 years, most of those within the last 12 months. 25 of those complaints remain unanswered.
Pro1 Powersports sells power sport equipment and accessories for motorcycles on the internet through its website www.pro1powersports.com . A company with the same owner - www.alltvlamps.com - offers lamps and bulbs for projection TVs. Both companies are under fire from frustrated consumers from several states who say they paid for products they never received.
At the time of this release, www.pro1powersports.com was not active.
Randy Hutchinson, BBB President, said Pro1 Powersports has failed to address a series of consumer complaints, most of which have been reported to the BBB in the last 12 months.
“People have every right to expect to get what they order and to get it in a timely manner,” Hutchinson said. “Too often, though, these customers are receiving defective products or no products at all and they can’t reach anyone at the company to help resolve the problems.”
In fact, the FTC’s Mail or Telephone Order Merchandise Shipping Rule requires that when a company advertises merchandise, they must have a reasonable basis for stating or implying that they can ship within a certain time. If they make no shipment statement, they must have a reasonable basis for believing that they can ship within 30 days. Direct marketers sometimes call this the "30-day Rule."
In several cases, consumer complaints to the BBB alleged that the companies charged their credit cards but they never received the products they ordered. In others, complainants received a defective product. One common theme in the Better Business Bureau complaints is the inability to reach the company.
“I have been emailing and calling them every couple of days, but I have never received credit or a response,” said a woman from Wheeling, VA.
An Alpharetta, GA woman said that www.alltvlamps.com sent her a lamp that didn’t work. “They never planned on replacing it for me and/or helping me to receive replacement. They never responded to my emails, phone calls, and their website has been down for days,” she told the BBB.
A man from Oklahoma City said he made an online purchase from Pro1 Powersports but never received his item and now cannot get in touch with the company. “I spent $107.00 and have never heard a peep out of the company. I have faxed, phoned and emailed several times and have nothing in return,” he told the BBB.
The BBB offers the following tips for persons ordering items online:
· Before ordering anything online, make sure you can contact a live person via email or phone. If you have trouble reaching someone before you buy, you likely will have trouble reaching someone later if you have a concern with your order.
· Make sure you can confirm a physical business address. Buyers should be very cautious of any business unwilling to provide an address on its site.
· Pay by credit card whenever possible. That way, if you do not receive your order, you have a better chance of getting your money refunded.
· Check out any company’s record with the BBB before you do business with them. BBB Business Reviews can be accessed online at bbb.org or by calling the BBB at 901-759-1300 or 800-222-8754.