SPARKS

Vrresto · Newbie Joined: 28 Jun 2006 Posts: 3

I'm wondering if I am alone on this one...

I ordered a bunch of stuff from SparksMart in April, total price close to $100. About a day after I placed the order, I received an email from SparksMart asking if the items had already been delivered! I replied that I had only just placed the order and that nothing could have arrived so quickly, and the SparksMart response was that they had been experiencing some problems with their shipping dept., and to let them know when my package arrived. I waited a few weeks, and sent them an email saying that nothing had arrived, and their response was that the package must have been lost, and that another would be sent in its place asap... a few weeks on from that, and I again let them know that neither packages #1 or #2 had ever hit my doorstep. SparksMart at that point claimed that neither of the two previous packages had ever actually been sent to me, and that their shipping dept. had been lying about order status... I was then told that my package had been personally put-together, along with a complimentary token of appreciation for the hassle, by the SparksMart rep I had been corresponding with, and that it was being sent along with proof-of-delivery signature required upon receipt of package, etc., etc.,

Is it obvious by now that the next part of this story is that I still have not received ANYTHING from SparksMart? NOTHING.

Unfortuneately, I am only allowed to file a Buyers Dispute via PayPal (the service I used to pay them), for 45 days after the date of transaction, which was some weeks ago. SparksMart are no longer responding to my email, I have received nothing from them and am out $94. I really don't understand what has gone wrong here...

Anybody else in the same boat (I would have to guess that there are)? Any suggestions on what I am supposed to do here? I fell in love with "Hello Young Lovers" when it came out (I had never heard much of their stuff previously), and haven't had the easiest time finding their CD's in the stores around here... I ordered the reissues of their first two albums from Aquariusrecords.org, and they are really great. From SparksMart I ordered some things that I was really excited to see and hear, 2 cd's and 2 dvd's (I even joined the fanclub, for no reason in particular other than to kick some extra support their way in appreciation)... and I have a feeling that none of it is ever going to come, which wouldn't be so terrible by itself (I'm sure I could buy the same things elsewhere eventually), but I'm also pretty sure that I am not going to see my $94 again, which really leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth for all things Sparksy... it was just so smarmy the way they kept stringing me along for weeks and weeks, going so far in their last email to me as to say that if I had received nothing by last Friday (signature required, they stressed that I should make sure to be home that day, etc.), that I had permission "to shoot them." And nothing comes. And no response to my email now. Truly, truly strange.

rwolf'68 · Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2006 8:28 pm Post subject:

I suggest you go to the "contact" button on the homepage drop down menu and I'm sure you'll get a speedy resolution to your dilemma !!

Vrresto · Newbie Joined: 28 Jun 2006 Posts: 3

I took your advice and forwarded the info via the contact page... I guess I'll have to wait and see what happens from here... thanks.

In years and years of buying tons of cd's and the like off of the internet, this has been by far the worst experience.

rwolf'68 · Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 12:24 am Post subject:

When you finally get your stuff, you'll be so happy!! :)

Alex Robertson · Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 1:42 am Post subject:

I have ordered from the Sparksmart(several times)...and had no problems whatsoever.Not that it is of any consolation to yourself!!

Jimbo · Newbie Joined: 24 Jun 2006 Posts: 2

I too have ordered off the SparksMart, and haven't had a problem, but maybe Sparks could warn people on their news page that there is a problem?

CALI · Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 2:28 am Post subject:

Yep, me too and have had no such problems.
_________________
Carol wears Cacheral.....

Vrresto · Newbie Joined: 28 Jun 2006 Posts: 3

I've now been told by SparksMart that they are just as upset as I am, as they claim to have lost a great deal of money with each un-received package. What they fail to recognize now is that by their own admission, package #'s 1 & 2 were never actually sent (so I can not see how they lost anything at all on either of these), and package #3 was claimed to have been sent via recorded-delivery, which includes insurance as part of its service (so again, they have the ability to be reimbursed for the merchandise). I do not believe in the slightest that the recorded-delivery package #3 was actually sent to me, not after being told almost as much twice previous to that, only to be later told that they had been lied to and hence I had been lied to as well.

On top of this, they are also being difficult about refunding my money. For whatever odd reason, they will not simply re-direct the funds that they received via PayPal back to my own payPal account, which would take them a total of about 3 minutes. I'm being told that they have passed my invoice info on to their bank, who will initiate some sort of credit to me (they referred to it as a BACS, I have no idea what that is). Again, I do not believe this in the slightest, and am quite sure that the $94 is to be considered stolen.

What a waste.