Hey guys, I just placed an order for the kenwood DNX7100 off of www.onlinecarstereo.com on Monday May 7th, and paid for overnight shipping. Well, they email me saying that they need a copy of my drivers license and credit car.

So I fax it to them and call customer service and they say they got it and it will be shipped. The following day I get ANOTHER email that says I need to fax them a copy of my bank statement or cellphone bill or utility bill. So I faxed that to them.

Today I called and asked if thats all they needed and they said yes it will be shipped. They claim that there is a lot of fraud going on so they require these paperwork for verification. I asked, Why couldn't they have told me what they all needed in one email instead of taking two days to tell me, thus, holding up my shipment. Customer service responded with an "I don't know."

I'm really frustrated b/c it seems the service reps aren't fully informed and are really short on the phone. I hope I don't get an email tonight saying that I need to fax more paperwork. Should I be worried? Is Online Car Stereo is reputable company?



First email I got from them
IN ORDER FOR US TO PROCESS YOUR ORDER WE REQUIRE YOU FAX OR EMAIL THE
FOLLOWING ITEMS;
DRIVER LICENSE *billing or shipping address must match according to the
order you place*
CREDIT CARD BOTH FRONT AND BACK *you can block out the majority of
account # and only allow us to see either the first 6 or last 6 digits*

AS SOON AS WE RECEIVED THESE ITEMS WE WILL PROCESS YOUR ORDER.

*PLEASE NOTE MANY TIMES WHEN A DOCUMENT IS FAX IT LOOSES CLARITY IN
ORDER TO PREVENT PLEASE ENLARGE AND LIGHTEN THE COPY PRIOR TO FAXING IT OR
FOR BETTER RESULTS PLEASE JUST EMAIL THIS INFORMATION TO US*

FAX: 213-380-2270
Thanks again for shopping at OnlineCarStereo.com!
We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
----------------------------------------
www.OnlineCarStereo.Com
Wholesale Deals at Bargain Prices!
http://www.OnlineCarStereo.Com
CustomerService@OnlineCarStereo.Com


SECOND Email from them the following day
IN ORDER FOR US TO PROCESS YOUR ORDER WE REQUIRE YOU FAX OR EMAIL THE
YOU MUST ALSO INCLUDE A COPY OF EITHER UTILITY BILL, CELL PHONE, OR
BANK STATEMENT WITH YOUR NAME AND THE ADDRESS AS IT APPEARS ON THE ORDER.
AS SOON AS WE RECEIVED THESE ITEMS WE WILL PROCESS YOUR ORDER.

*PLEASE NOTE MANY TIMES WHEN A DOCUMENT IS FAX IT LOOSES CLARITY IN
ORDER TO PREVENT PLEASE ENLARGE AND LIGHTEN THE COPY PRIOR TO FAXING IT OR
FOR BETTER RESULTS PLEASE JUST EMAIL THIS INFORMATION TO US*

FAX: 213-380-2270
Thanks again for shopping at OnlineCarStereo.com!
We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

 

I'd call and ask for a manager, and ask him/her WTF is the problem.

 

i have found that

www.sonicelectronix.com

www.audioallies.com

www.crutchfield.com


all safe choices

crutch being the most expensive

 

Sigh. what can I do? They said that they already sent the product. Also I just found out that the serial number on the product is scratched off. I called my credit car company to have them cancel the transaction, but its pending so they can't do anything yet.

I think they are sending me a ****ty product.

 

you can get a supervisor on the phone
ask for a tracking number or you are canceliing order and disputing it out with your credit card company


if you proceed on your deal with them it should be shipped at no freight charge free freight
and charge for product only


sorry man

 

guys...let me sum it up for you guys.

we in the industry side have been fighting sites like onlinecarstereo, or indoaudio on ebay for years, they hurt our buisenss big time buy selling, often BELOW dealer cost.

what we hav ealso found is that to prvent us from tracking the product, their serial numbers have been scratched off, replaced, or otherwise. this is evne true with amps where some serial numbers are on the INSIDE of the amps. what this means is that there is no way of knowing where the product came from. if its new or not, or even if its real or not. and thus preventing us from tracking the source of hte product. I do know a few of these sites have sold fake DLS stuff from asia, with AMERICAN serial numbers pasted on....

so...my suggesoitn is, buy at your own risk...if you must buy online. crutchfield is the place to go, all fully authporized, great service, and at normal costs...

b

 

I would be thankful if they asked me for all those additional documents....better then getting screwed with fraud and having to deal with that....

I use Crutchfield for info, but their prices are always higher then the rest... most of the time even higher then the local circuit city's and best buys...

serial number being scratched off... I would call the manufacturer and tell them what they are doing... they can sue for that and put them out of business if they are claiming the product is new.

 

My experience from onlinecarstereo was horrible. I paid for overnight shipping for 2 Alpine subs. First,,,there was one thing after another. They finally shipped and I received them about 8 days later. I ask to be refunded my overnight charge,,,"no can do" and they sent the wrong subs..."Said, that is what was in stock and what I ordered". I checked the invoice and sure enough,,,they sent me the wrong subs. I was so t'eed off,,,, The customer service rep was very short,,,non-informed and non-caring of how I felt and challenged me on my order,,then got pissed when I proved her wrong. I did the same thing and had my creditcard dispute the charge.. Although, I did eat the charge for shipping the items back,,,,It was worth it just to get rid of them. Onlinecarstereo,,,,stay away,,,,they are bad news and do not give a s**t about potential customers,,,,all they want is an easy dollar...F**k them.

If I need to order online, I now use Crutchfield. I know their prices are basiclly retail,,,but they are awesome,,,,very informed,,,will help you anyway possible. After explaining my onlinecarstereo situation to Crutchfield,, they gave me a instant discount to earn my business, threw in 2nd day shipping and called when the order arrived to see if I was happy and everything was in order.

This is just my one and only experience with onlinecarstereo. I guess it depends on how lucky you are....LOL

 

So your credit card got your money back? Did you have to pay the restocking fee?

 

Ok guys here's an update. I called Kenwood and they said that there is no reason that a serial number should be taken off a product.

I called customer service of Onlinecarstereo and told them this. The customer rep puts me on hold for 5 min. She comes back and tells me that she was mistaken and that only some of their alpine products do not have a seriel number and that my Kenwood will have one.

Thoughts on this?

 

ive never heard of an online company asking for copies of your drivers licence, bank statement, utility bill, or any other bill. lol

Thats what the security # on the back of the cc is for........ so they can confirm you have the card in your possesion, isnt it?

I guess too late now but you should of hit up Nazar on this forum. Good guy to deal with

 

might as well give them your social security, and life and get it over with. Sounds like they could basically steal your identity with all this info they're asking for. i would have canceled the minute they asked for a bank printout.

 

I blacked out everything but my name and address. all they needed to see was my name, address and bank logo.

 

Call and ask for Rami. He is the main man there.

 

Never give that much info to an online vendor... Assuming you ordered with a CC, they now have your CC number, the back of your CC which has the 3 digit security, your home address, the bank you use, and your DL.

At this point you are totally exposed. Let's assume that they are in fact legit. Then someone besides you has all of this info, and has very little incentive to protect it. It could be stored on a unsecured server, it can easily be hacked, or even worse a malicous vendor could sell it for profit overseas.

IMHO never give out that much personal data to someone without incentive to protect it. You may argue that others get it, but they are often BIG instiutions that would suffer serious public image issues if they lost your data, whereas a small shop like this would close up and re-open under a new name overnight.

If it were me I would have the CC company stop payment and neglect to receive the goods. Let them do business with someone else. Besides, good deals can be had with B&M stores, or other on-line vendors, most will negoitate...

 

The ONLY online companies I would buy from would be Crutchfield if I absolutely need it and don't mind paying full cost minus tax and shipping or cardomain.com and woofersetc.com, which during the years I have been online purchasing and in forums, almost no one has had issues with any of these three. Some people have had good luck with hookedontronics, sonicelectronix, etc... , but even one or two that have not is enough for me to steer clear of them.

 

i will say it agian:

the reason why they scratch off serial numbers is to prevent the industry guys like Me with DLS from tracking down who is supplying them with the product, usually its a few shady dealers, or from overseats or what not...

this way, we cant track down who is doing it and there for cant shut down their source...

b

 

Rami is the main guy at Onlinecarstereo.com?