I ordered an EZPass 3 from modchipman.com on August 18th. I’ll get into what an EZPass is for in a later entry; for now it’s just important to know that I ordered something from a Web site that had a fairly good reputation.
The ordering process was smooth. I received my package yesterday (a day early), only to discover they’d sent me an original EZPass, a device that won’t work for my version of the Nintendo DS. Furthermore, the EZPass is about half as much as the EZPass 3 I ordered. I sent a trouble ticket to the support group at modchipman.com, expecting an apology for a simple misunderstanding and then an RMA with paid postage.
Instead, the customer service person argued with me in a series of responses. Their main argument was that the original EZPass product wasn’t for sale by them any more (it was, the Web site still lists them as being in stock and available for order) and asked why I opened the package if I knew it was the wrong product.
The product that supposedly has not been stocked since July, still on sale.
I’ve pasted the entire conversation below and contacted my credit card company to issue a chargeback. To top it all off, they wanted me to pay the postage on the item they sent to me by mistake! What a bunch of crooks, I hope this guy gets fired. Most likely, though, he’s probably the owner.
The trouble ticket correspondence
I ordered an EZ Pass 3 card from you on 8/16. I received an original EZ Pass today.
Please send me the EZ Pass 3 ASAP and give me instructions on how to return the EZ Pass.
Regards,
DrFaulken
Rick
23-8-2006-1:30
As far as I know we were out of stock on the original EZPASS/EZPASS2..you received the one that needs to be programmed?
For a quicker response make sure to respond on this ticket, NOT via E-Mail.
Modchipman Technical Support
Rick
———–
No File Attached
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DrFaulken
23-8-2006-1:40
As far as your site shows, I think it’s the EZPass. Furthermore, the label fell off when I took the EZPass out of the package.
I uploaded two pictures of it so you can better help me.
http://gallery.drfaulken.com/d/366-1/IMG_3630.JPG
http://gallery.drfaulken.com/d/368-1/IMG_3629.JPG
Regards,
DrFaulken
23-8-2006-1:42
Im looking at your order and according to this its still waiting on a check/money order…
For a quicker response make sure to respond on this ticket, NOT via E-Mail.
Modchipman Technical Support
Rick
———–
No File Attached
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DrFaulken
23-8-2006-1:47
MCM Hardware Service
——————————————————
Order Number: 41940
Detailed Invoice: http://www.modchipman.com/account_history_info.php?order_id=41940
Date Ordered: Friday 18 August, 2006
The comments for your order are
Thank you for ordering from Modchipman.com. Your order shipped on 08/21/2006. If you have any comments/suggestions, please feel free to post them either on our reviews section or by going to the following links
http://reviews.modchipman.com
AND
http://ratings.modchipman.com
www.fedex.com
tracking number: 248153863123589
Your order has been updated to the following status.
New status: Shipped
Please reply to this email if you have any questions.
23-8-2006-2:37
Oh you gave me an old order number up top originally..ok..
For a quicker response make sure to respond on this ticket, NOT via E-Mail.
Modchipman Technical Support
Rick
———–
No File Attached
Rate This Response
23-8-2006-2:51
I just spoke to shipping, we haven’t had those devices in stock in some time..and why did you open it if you knew it was the wrong product?
For a quicker response make sure to respond on this ticket, NOT via E-Mail.
Modchipman Technical Support
Rick
———–
No File Attached
Rate This Response
DrFaulken
23-8-2006-5:00
Rick,
Sorry about the other order number. :\
I did not know what was in the package when I opened it, there was not an item list on the outside of the package. I opened the older EZPass box because I thought you may have put my actual item inside in an old box. Who knows? I’ve never ordered from your company before.
I expect this issue to get resolved ASAP. I ordered an EZPass 3 and received an original EZPass. As far as your Web site is concerned, you still are selling the original EZPass, so I don’t understand what the issue is.
I’d like to avoid having my credit card company do a chargeback on my purchase.
Regards,
DrFaulken
24-8-2006-09:47
I spoke to shipping though and they said we haven’t had the EZPASS/EZPASS2 in stock since July..
For a quicker response make sure to respond on this ticket, NOT via E-Mail.
Modchipman Technical Support
Rick
———–
No File Attached
Rate This Response
DrFaulken
24-8-2006-11:03
Rick,
The EZPass/EZPass2 is still available for order on your Web site.
Are you going to send me the item I ordered or not? If not, my next correspondence will be with my credit card company.
Who is your supervisor/manager?
DrFaulken
24-8-2006-11:46
RMA #XXXXX-XXXXXX
Please ship your defective parts to the following address IN GOOD PACKAGING!!! We’ll do an exchange
EBS, Inc.
RMA DEPARTMENT
350 South Main Place Suite A
Carol Stream, IL 60188
Please include invoice #, RMA # and reason for return/exchange (problem with chip, broken, replacement, etc). Make sure to include a note with the above information or it might delay your return/replacement. RMAs can take up to 5 business days to fully process and you will be notified when it has been completed. If your item is not post-dated within 5 days of todays date we will not accept a return.
FAILURE TO INCLUDE A NOTE WITH REASON FOR RETURN WILL CAUSE DELAYS IN PROCESSING. PLEASE MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR INVOICE AND A SHORT NOTE WITH WHAT WE ARE DOING (RETURN/EXCHANGE)AND IF THE MERCHANDISE RETURNED IS NOT DEFECTIVE YOU WILL BE CHARGED A 15% FEE AND IT WILL BE RETURNED.
For a quicker response make sure to respond on this ticket, NOT via E-Mail.
Modchipman Technical Support
Rick
———–
No File Attached
Rate This Response
DrFaulken
24-8-2006-10:01
I’ve surrendered this matter to my credit card company for a chargeback. I am awaiting their direction before I proceed further.
I didn’t expect to get the wrong item when I received my order.
I didn’t expect to be questioned and treated rudely when I asked for an exchange.
I didn’t expect to be asked to pay for shipping on an item mistakenly sent to me.
I regret this matter wasn’t handled more professionally to begin with, perhaps the bank will succeed where you did not.
Share
Their latest response:
Rick
25-8-2006-10:57
Hey well this is our return procedure. We were willing to bend with you here..We have 1 in stock of what you allegedly received, our system only shows 1. I still offered an exchange even if I was unsure. We’ll see what the bank says I guess.
For a quicker response make sure to respond on this ticket, NOT via E-Mail.
Modchipman Technical Support
Rick
++++++++++++++++++++++++
So, all of the sudden they went from being out of stock in July to having “one” today? Which is it, “Rick?” Zero or one? One or twenty? It doesn’t matter, it’s all a bunch of bullshit anyway. They sent me the wrong product, and are doing all they can to cover up for it.
Infuriating. “Rick” does seem to have implied you lied. That whole process went wrong in so many ways. ” Hey well this is our return procedure.” — unacceptable. Does their return procedure include insulting the customer?
BTW: 3000+ posts on Ars by you, wow!
They are in canada. They have different rules there.
Hey there, I’d like to say that we’re sorry for the mixup, but we were NEVER able to really validate how you received that ez pass, because our stock was accurate on what we had even after you received it.
Im sorry for any inconvenice, but we’ve already offered the RMA, why not actually go through with it?
You’ve actually received a product from us, and a chargeback doesn’t do anything for you or for us, just delays an actual complete transaction. You’ll call your bank, they’ll put the charge on hold, ask us if we shipped, we’ll provide tracking, you’ll provide a pic of what you received vs what you bought, they’ll tell you to send to us, we’ll have to send you another’.. but this takes time through the banks.
I’d seriously say lets just do the RMA that was originally issued… make this much faster process and get you your product in your hands without any probs.
Plus, that last response from rick.. (something drfaulken didnt actually mention) was AFTER we offered the RMA.. and drfaulken stated that he was going to call his bank .
we offered an RMA, and he refused.. and stated he was going to call his bank..
so that is why you see rick saying we’ll let the bank decide.. but sometimes people leave out some parts of conversations to prove their point, i guess
Admin from modchipman.com, thank you for coming and providing your company’s side of the story. I changed your posting name to “Modchipman admin,” as to not confuse you with being an admin for Gibberish.
I haven’t left anything out or edited any part of the conversation. Had I just wanted to “prove my point,” I would not have enabled your comments here.
Perhaps if we had the chance to deal directly with each other this would have been resolved differently. My request to communicate with a manager or supervisor was ignored.
I felt that getting my bank involved would result in a satisfactory resolution and would eliminate any further questions from Rick. I received an incorrect item, I didn’t want to have to ask modchipman.com to supply return postage — it was hard enough getting your company to admit there was a problem in the first place.
This issue could have been easily resolved by acknowledging there was a mix-up and offering to do something about it earlier in the process. Instead, a simple mistake on your part has turned into an ongoing customer service complaint issue on several forums and has been indexed by Google and other search engines.
As for going through with the charge back, at least the transaction will be on record with your credit card merchant. Perhaps the charge back record and my tale of poor customer service will assist you in reshaping how you deal with future customers.
huh . . . and i almost placed an order with them today.
Not anymore!!
(rhetorical) Why does modchipman (admin) imply it’s your fault that they were “NEVER able to really validate how you received that ez pass”, and that THAT’s (rather than their suck inventory system / technical support communication skills) why they didn’t just send you the correct item once you pointed out their error? Is it related to his/her attempting to imply you were trying to spin the story (selective storytelling to “prove a point”), even though the flow was obvious from the timestamps alone?
Gbadev.org / dsdev.org have a retailer feedback sub forum (under the hardware forum) at http://forum.gbadev.org/viewforum.php?f=13 I thought you might just want to add your experience.
bummer to hear about this. i purchased from jandaman.com and have had good results.
[...] – http://journal.drfaulken.com/?p=336 (similar complaints about modchipman.com) [...]
Modchipman.com is a “rip off”. They have had my xbox 360 system in their shop for repair for 109 days, now. My husband and I asked them to return it, since they weren’t fixing it and they won’t return it. We will have to take them to small claims court for the price of the system. My attorney says that we can file in Michigan and since they are an online company, then they will have to come to our court system. That is the only good news. They having to travel.
Buyer beware of this company.
I am in the same boat as the above poster. They’ve had my Xbox 360 since March 12th. I’ve also threatened litigation against them and they just say they’re “doing the best they can” I’ve given them to June 30th to get my system repaired or I plan to take them to court as well. What infuriates me so much is that even though there are people like us who have waited 90-120 days they brought back the page advertising the same repair (they had shut it down temporarily probably because they were so far behind) well you’d think they would be actually fixing the systems if they’re going to advertise again for it but as far as I know no one has gotten their systems. They just want more money. I feel sorry for those who are just sending them their system because who knows how long they’ll have to wait. Arlene if you want to talk to me more about it you can email me justincredible_2k3@Hotmail.com. I found your post by searching for “modchipman.com ripped me off” because they have done the same to me.
I’m sorry to hear that you’re having problems too, Justin. I hope things resolve to your satisfaction and that you get your 360 back. I don’t know if you’ve posted your experience elsewhere, but if you want to help spread the word, link this post to wherever else you discuss your problem. The more sites that link to this article (and the more sites this article links to) the higher all the complaints will rank on search engines like Google.
I have to agree with the above posters about the terrible service of modchipman.com. Modchipman.com currently has my brand new slimline PS2 and a matrix infinity that they were supposed to install and return to me. They received my stuff on the 18th of May (2:44 PM exactly actually) and I have yet to hear back from them. They won’t return my calls or e-mails. Are they flaming out and ripping people off? Was supposed to be a 7-12 days turnarounf, with a 2-3 weeks max. Now it’s going on 5 weeks and not even an e-mail!
Ok, ModChipMan is sucks, and avoid purchase with them.This article saved me from the hell.
I just turned into gamersection.ca
I was browsing the internet, curious about recent reviews of modchipman.com and came across this website again. I’m terribly disappointed that some of you had bad experiences with modchipman.com and I do want to offer my apologies for your situations. I would like to hear more about your problems if any of you still peruse this website and would like to contact us, please do.
I’d also like to offer DR FAULKEN an opportunity to use us again, for any new products on the market that may tickle your fancy. I’d like to point out that since your complaint, we’ve repaired our tech support service, RMA routines and overall stock/inventory system.
I’d like to say thanks for the complaint because overall I think it did us some great service and I hope that you find it in your heart to accept my apologies on behalf of modchipman.com
I was googling modchipman.com review and found this website. I must say that modchipman seemed very reasonable to me. He offered to RMA the package. Here is what I am reading:
Incorrect product shipped, you tell them about it, they can’t find any “missing” item and question it. They didn’t refuse to correct the situation, you escalated it by threatening them to do a chargeback, they politely inform you that doing so is a dumb idea, you escalate it, they offer to RMA it.
I’m siding with them, my friend. I see nothing wrong that they did. They left it open offering to RMA it and you refused. I think you are being a little high strung about this. They never told you to piss off or anything.
I’ll likely order from them.
I have recently used Modchipman to perform repairs on my son’s PSP. Overall, I’m very happy with their service. I do not know anyone who works for Modchipman, nor am I related to anyone associated with Modchipman. I realize you had a bad experience, and it looks to me that whomever you wwere dealing with has poor communication skills.
I dealt with a person at Modchipman by the name of Anthony, and he was very professional. I mailed the PSP on 1/20/08, they signed for it on 1/22/08. I sent them a work ticket request on 1/26 through their website asking for a status and estimated time of repair, and included my cell phone number. Anthony called me that afternoon to answer my questions and ask about other work I requested a quote for. Anthony also told me what the total charges would be, and I authorized him to go ahead and perform the extra work. Today he called to say that the repairs were complete and that the unit will ship the 29th or 30th, and that I should have it early the week of the 2/2/09.
Based on my experience, I would recommend Modchipman to anyone.
I have hard several more bad things about modchipman as of recently. Keep bumping this so that people can see the trash they’re dealing with.
The previous 2 comments are obviously people who either work for or know people at modchipman, otherwise they wouldn’t try so hard to make a point.
i ordered from modchipman before and although the prices were very expensive, i needed the parts right away and they were the only ones who had them available for my arcade stick, which were sanwa buttons. well, i bought another stick and decided to replace everything with sanwa so i created a ticket and emailed them that i would order around $70 worth of sanwa parts and would appreciate if they would just throw in a couple sanwa button plugs which probably cost them a nickel each. the button plugs are selling for $1.25 each which i thought was ridiculous to begin with. their answer was an angry “NO! WE CAN’T DO THAT!”. i’m glad they refused so strongly with a bad attitude because i will NEVER shop with these greedy evil people again. they lost a would be loyal and good spending customer. by the way, i would’ve purchased the parts from them anyways if they would’ve been nice about it.
It’s very very saddening that you’re going to give my website a bad review because we didn’t throw in free stuff for you.
I do remember you asking us through a ticket if we could throw in some free button plugs, because I processed your order…
2 reasons for us not “throwing in” free parts for you..
1) we had only enough of these at the time for customers who actually paid for them
2) We can’t just throw in things for free when we are on limited stock…
I know its a small piece of plastic, but when people are paying for it, and we are short in stock .. we have to actually send the parts to customers who paid for it..
You asked for us to just throw in parts DURING an order. Why not just pay the $1 and order the parts?
In the 7 years we’ve done business with our customers.. we’ve thrown in $10,000′s of goodies into bags.. ordered 1 psp faceplate? you might get 4.. ordered a 360 faceplate, you might get 3… ordered one screen protector, we’ll throw in 2..
why? because we take care of our customers..
Why don’t you log the ‘from the time of my order to the time it got processed to the time it shipped’ aspect of the order? I almost guarantee you that from when you purchased these products to when you got them was a very very short period of time, unlike anywhere else at that time.
The products we offer, our prices are very fair, especially at a time when it’s hard to get them from Sanwa/Seimitsu.
I just find it kind of sad that you’re emphasizing us not being able to give you free stuff as your sole reason to no longer shop at our place, as opposed to the fact that you purchased products and you received them in a very quick fashion without any hitches.. which is what should be emphasized..
I hope you realize that I’m just wanting you to realize the reasoning behind us not being able to send you a few free things.. it wasn’t that we can’t afford to or we’re mean.. it was that we were on short stock of them and unfortunately, we had to cater to customers who were paying for the product..
Sorry, I hope your order, besides this, went well :)
On a side note..
Why is every good review of a company “someone who works there or is affiliated” and everyone who writes a bad review “completely in the right”.
If you really want to make an effort to keep your comments/reviews legit, toss in an order # when you complain/comment.. that way we can all verify the orders
Take care guys, this thread is good for everyone to realize that.. 1).. sometimes you do get problems.. and 2) we’re actually reading it.. and responding.. isn’t that more than most places will give you?
Also, I just looked up some extra details on that last negative comment.. and.. here’s the ticket
(CUSTOMER) as u mentioned, the parts will be available tomorrow? i feel kinda embarassed to ask but if i order totalling $52.88 including shipping, would it be possible if u can throw in 2 button plugs sanwa 30mm? i would be very grateful to u and your website.
(US) Sorry we can not do that.
I don’t see any caps saying, NO WE CANT DO THAT.. or anything rude.. also…
after this order, customer has ordered 2times.. So I guess we are still on their good side?
Just wanted to at least speak our side of this.. sometimes people get a little carried away on the internet and say things that aren’t true.. and at least we have documentation of order history and ticket logs.. so we can at least be honest of what we said/did..
If ANYONE has any questions or wants to talk to us directly, feel free to call us…we’re more than helpful and love to take care of our customers..
1-888-543-2447
I’ve never had a problem with MCM, prices were always on par with everyone else, and shipping was done in a timely fashion.
I may have done 8 orders over the past 5 years. every one was the same.
Three months ago I would have been shocked to find out all these negative comments about Modchipman. Today? Definitely not. I have spoken to the owner on one occasion. When my response to his offer was less than what I suppose he was hoping for, he became completely unresponsive and just left me in the dust.
This owner is a very vindictive person, look at the responses he has written above, trying to attack those who comment? Quoting ticket conversations? Is it even legal to share those on a public forum?
I have dealt with other stores for my arcade parts which are MUCH friendlier. If you live in Europe, I recommend Arcadeshop.de, if you live in USA- the best store is Gamingnow.net
Both of these stores owners are very well received and also they ship items faster than Modchipman as well as have lower prices.
This is ROFLMAO. Almost bought stuff from them.
It just take a few bad reputation to have an epic failure.
My comment is after >>>>>
——————————-
“Rick
23-8-2006-2:51
I just spoke to shipping, we haven’t had those devices in stock in some time..and why did you open it if you knew it was the wrong product?”
OK. Your shipping department should know what they shipped. If they didn’t shipped it, your customer wouldn’t received it. You claimed that you have none in stock.
>>>> Yet you have 1 in inventory…..Say what?
——————————-
“Rick
25-8-2006-10:57
Hey well this is our return procedure. We were willing to bend with you here..We have 1 in stock of what you allegedly received, our system only shows 1. I still offered an exchange even if I was unsure. We’ll see what the bank says I guess.”
—
” Modchipman admin says:
August 27th, 2006 at 6:52 pm |
Hey there, I’d like to say that we’re sorry for the mixup, but we were NEVER able to really validate how you received that ez pass, because our stock was accurate on what we had even after you received it. ”
>>>> First your shipping never ship it nor carry it, then you said you have 1 in stock, then you are unsure, then you said your stock was accurate? How can you be sure of what you are saying? Are you unsure of that there’s only 1 in stock? You probably are….YOUR Boss should be unsure of your job’s stability, and his boss would be unsure of the business stability.
——————————-
This is even worse…
“Please ship your defective parts to the following address IN GOOD PACKAGING!!! We’ll do an exchange
EBS, Inc.
RMA DEPARTMENT
350 South Main Place Suite A
Carol Stream, IL 60188
Please include invoice #, RMA # and reason for return/exchange (problem with chip, broken, replacement, etc). Make sure to include a note with the above information or it might delay your return/replacement. RMAs can take up to 5 business days to fully process and you will be notified when it has been completed. If your item is not post-dated within 5 days of todays date we will not accept a return.
FAILURE TO INCLUDE A NOTE WITH REASON FOR RETURN WILL CAUSE DELAYS IN PROCESSING. PLEASE MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR INVOICE AND A SHORT NOTE WITH WHAT WE ARE DOING (RETURN/EXCHANGE)AND IF THE MERCHANDISE RETURNED IS NOT DEFECTIVE YOU WILL BE CHARGED A 15% FEE AND IT WILL BE RETURNED.
>>>> You will be charge a 15% fee…since it’s not defected a “defective part” HAHAHA. “A NOTE WITH WHAT WE ARE DOING…” Oh…we didn’t find a note for the reason of return or a note of what we are suppose to do. I wish someone would stated in the note “Go jump off a bridge” and get it recorded to ensure action has been taken and see if they do it. HAHAHA.
“YOU ALSO BETTER HAVE IT RETURN IN GOOD PACKAGING” = WHAT? WHAT IS GOOD PACKAGING? IS THERE A DEFINE RULE? Bubble wrap? Paper Wrap? Water Proof? Absorbent?
WHAT KIND OF COMPANY WOULD RESPONSE WITH THE INSTRUCTION AND THEN “RE-CAPS IT AGAIN IN CAP LOCK”? AND YOU ARE EXPECTED TO RETURN THE ITEM WITH A NOTE.
If you expect your customer to return an item for refund/exchange. Do them the favor of sending them at least the tracking slip with the reason of their return referencing the RMA #.
———————-MY 2 CENTS ———————
Even if anyone is siding with the seller based on the two stories. Looking at the way people responded even when they think they have a good experience with MCM should make you think twice. READ CAREFULLY, AND PAY ATTENTION TO THE TIME AND DATE (2ND REVIEW BELOW) ALSO:
(1)———–
“john b says:
October 27th, 2008 at 7:27 pm |
I was googling modchipman.com review and found this website. I must say that modchipman seemed very reasonable to me. He offered to RMA the package.”
>>>>>> OK, Why is your item being RMA to them? They send you bad product? I can’t trust their quality control. If no quality, how can you trust the way they work (Ref. back to “Rick” for inventory count)?
(2)————
“FishHunter says:
January 28th, 2009 at 7:05 pm |
I have recently used Modchipman to perform repairs on my son’s PSP. Overall, I’m very happy with their service. I do not know anyone who works for Modchipman, nor am I related to anyone associated with Modchipman. I realize you had a bad experience, and it looks to me that whomever you wwere dealing with has poor communication skills.
I dealt with a person at Modchipman by the name of Anthony, and he was very professional. I mailed the PSP on 1/20/08, they signed for it on 1/22/08. I sent them a work ticket request on 1/26 through their website asking for a status and estimated time of repair, and included my cell phone number. Anthony called me that afternoon to answer my questions and ask about other work I requested a quote for. Anthony also told me what the total charges would be, and I authorized him to go ahead and perform the extra work. Today he called to say that the repairs were complete and that the unit will ship the 29th or 30th, and that I should have it early the week of the 2/2/09.
>>>>>>>>>>> OK Fishhunter,
Note your message tracking date is “January 28th 2009″.
You said:
“I mailed the PSP on 1/20/08, they signed for it on 1/22/08. blah blah blah….
>>> (Note: “Today” is 1/28/2009 as the message tracking date above.)
…Today he called to say that the repairs were complete and that the unit will ship the 29th or 30th, and that I should have it early the week of the 2/2/09.”
>>>> Call me crazy, but it AIN’T a typo. Typo happen once, the 2008 date is repeated 2x (I am not even include the 1/26 which have no year to it) and 2009 is repeated 3x (from the respond message date stamp, “today”, week of 2/2/09″.
OK Everyone…. EXPECT LONG DELAY..VERY !!! LONG!!! DELAY!!!. (1+ Year.)
Package is send on 1/22/2008….received 2/2/09..
HAPPY HUNTING.
Looks like i wont be ordering any parts from these guys any time soon. I was just about too and i thought i had better check up on the rep of this dealer.
i noticed i a lot of the same inaccuracy jackofun
thanks to this site I went to another seller. whew….