Survey Info: Shop 4


Shop 4
P.O. Box 4418
Carol Stream
IL 60197-4418
Phone: 888-291-8575
E-Mail: shop4@sigg.com
WWW: http://www.shop4.com/ Customer Comments:
Saturday June 27, 1998

Ordered several items from Shop4, with mixed results:
  1. Uniden 900Mhz phones x3. Received two phones in one week, while the third phone took several calls to "Customer Service" and an additional three weeks.
  2. Pan. A110 DVD player was delivered in about 4 weeks.
  3. Kenwood 2090 receiver was delivered in just over two weeks, but not double-boxed.
  4. NHT SuperOnes x4 (they will only sell them in pairs), delivered within one week, double-boxed. I have since discovered that NHT refuses to honor the warrantee of any mail order dealer, save Crutchfield.
  5. Toshiba CF27H50 27" television. Order cancelled after having to call "Customer Service" several times, only to find out the set might ship some six weeks after the initial order.
  6. Energy ES8 Sub. Order and trial membership cancelled when no shipping date could be provided two weeks after order. I also noted that Energy speakers were no longer listed on their website.
Overall, I found Shop4.com far to frustrating to deal with, and would rather pay higher prices to more reputable online and/or mail order retailers.
Saturday June 27, 1998

I ordered the Panasonic A110U from Shop4com. It was promised to be delivered within two weeks. It was in fact delivered in 11 days (7 work days). It arrived in good condition and was double boxed. There was no receipt enclosed but a phone call produced a receipt within a week. I would have to say that these folks do things a bit differently but the result is extremely low prices. I would definitely buy from them again based on this experience.
Thursday May 28, 1998

Ordered a JBL Harmony clock radio ( akin to Bose Wave ), price was great. It arrived in 5 days double boxed and in good shape. It did not come from shop4 but from Webb Electronic Inc. in Lenexa Ks. lending credence to the evidence that they have no idea about order status.
Tuesday May 12, 1998

I, too, have to admit complete frustration at dealing with this company. Any inquiry I make as to the status of my order of the Panasonic A110 is met with utter lack of knowledge and complete rudeness. Their excuse is that they don't stock the item, it ships from the manufacturer so they have no control. Why don't they communicate with the manufacturer so that customers can be kept informed.

This is the first time I have tried a mail order and if this is an example of the kind of service these companies give today, I'd rather spend the extra few bucks and buy the item from a store where you can actually walk out with it.

I would recommend that people steer clear of this company until they get their act together; or at least hire some employees that give a damn about customer service!!
Monday May 11, 1998

Helped a friend order from Shop4. We had a time deadline that we had to beat,no exceptions. The receiver we ordered was on backorder so we changed models and in about 4 days from the change , received it in good shape. The Energy Take 5 system , we were told was not going to make our deadline. There were no false promises, a manager E-mailed me and gave me plenty of time to make other (albeit) more expensive arrangements,from another company. This was greatly appreciated!! If you have the time I would deal with shop4. It is somewhat confused service, but I beleive they try and be honest and have excellent pricing. They were way above average about keeping me informed about order status.
Thursday May 7 , 1998

Prices are the cheapest available on many items. They offer a free 3 month trial membership and will automatically charge your credit card the $50 membership fee at the end of 3 months. I ordered a Klipsch center channel speaker from them and was told two weeks. Speaker arrived in 10 days. Not double boxed, but the speaker works great and I have had no problems with it. If you want the lowest price on some items (especially speakers) and can wait a while before you receive the item, I would recommend Shop 4.com. I have read about problems with out of stock items, but I my experience was a good one. I'll probably be ordering from them again before my trial runs out.
Saturday May 2 , 1998

Have to join to buy. Told product was in stock and I would receive in no more than 14 days. After 14 days was told I would get it the next day. Called next day and they said it had not shipped, but refused to give me any additional information. Said that I would have to call back the following Monday to find out when it would ship. Called back Monday and was told that they would check and get back to me in 2 days! I cancelled the order and my membership.
Wednesday April 29, 1998

I ordered a subwoofer from Shop 4 off of their web site after signing up for their free trial membership. Not only was their price fantastic, but their shipping charge seemed very reasonable. Under their "rules", they ask that you wait two weeks before contacting them if you haven't yet received a product. About 18 days went by without me hearing anything from them so I gave them a call. The customer service agent, who seemed friendly but incompetent told me that my order had been cancelled since the item was no longer available. She apologized that I had not been notified of this. As this conversation was occurring I checked their web page, which not only still showed the item as available, but showed that their asking price had increased by almost 18% since I ordered the sub. Their agent was unable to explain the price hike, or even why they bothered to update their records on an item that was no longer "available". I cancelled my free membership. I just can't see dealing with a company that pulls tricks like that.
Monday April 27, 1998

I'm currently trying the 3 month trial period membership. It is obvious upon phone conversations that they know very little if anything about audio. This is not surprising with the vast size and diversity of items. I started small with a cordless phone purchase, ( I needed one & wanted to check what the service is like). It arrived in one week with no problems. However, it appears to have been shipped straight from the OEM to my door , leading me to beleive there is no such thing as an "in stock" item. I don't have a problem with them claiming 2 weeks for shipping at their prices, I think they get the majority of items to consumers within this generous ( for them ) time frame. I do have a problem with them claiming things are "in stock" and posting items like the Denon 2700 with a price when that unit will not even start shipping until 3weeks from the time of my call.
Mark
Saturday April 25, 1998

I ordered a Panasonic DVD-A110 from them over two weeks ago and it still hasn't arrived. There is no way to get *any* information from their so-called "customer service" department about an order. After two weeks they will put in a request for status on an order, but that will take several days to receive a response. Avoid these guys like the plague and buy your stuff elsewhere!
Sunday April 19, 1998

I called www.shop4.com to purchase the Panasonic DVD A110 based on a post in a message forum. BEWARE of them!

They said that they had the unit in stock, they charge a much higher price than originally quoted if you don't buy their $50.00 membership, and it will take them OVER two weeks to ship, even though they supposedly have the product in stock. When asked why they can't ship then next day, their answer was "It's not our policy!"

Sounds like they should be selling snake oil.

Sunday April 19, 1998

I ordered Take 5's. It took em 5 weeks to deliver.

Bad service. They could not check shipping information, give order status, no sorry, no apologies.

Sales souded like I bothered 'em, asking why I haven't received it in two weeks.

Brian V. Shifrin shifrbv@yahoo.com
Thursday April 2 , 1998

Just ordered Klipsch Sub. I have called twice to check the delivery status and has been told shipped the next day I ordered by UPS. However, I wait for 1 week and there is no delivery. That's ok, they do mention to me that delivery might take up to 14 days. (I wonder why UPS take so long....). On exactly 14 days, the sub arrived -- by trucking company. The worst part is the trucking company want to collect $175 for the freight!!!! WHAT??? After call back to Shop4 and explain what happened here -- Shop4 do correct this problem the same day. I finally pick up the sub next day (2 trips to the trucking company). Then.... I found the sub is NOT "FACTORY SEALED". You can clearly tell the seal tape has been opened before and re-taped. Also, I can not find any formal receipt. Only the shipping list is attached with package without anything to say how much I paid. After hook-up, the sub works fine (Thank God). This is my 1st purchase, and also the last. I just can't 100% trust them.

Followup:
This ia an additional notes for my previous post regarding the Klipsch subs I ordered from Shop4. After through inspection, the sub looks like new and perform well even though the box has been opened (I'm confused...). The Shop4's service attitude is good and they do take care problems quickly. Their price is very competitive for certain items. The lowest price for the sub I can find still $50 more than I paid at Shop4. Therefore, It is your call for using their service or not. Shop4 might be OK, but the sub company they use (Hi-Fi Buys?)need improvement!
Friday March 20, 1998

Ordered set of Klipsch Synergy 10.5,S5 surrounds, C5 center, and KSW200 sub. Bottom Line: Excellent pricing (at least on the Klipsch), service was top notch, and delivery was a week early (1 week). Highly recommended!

We were a little nervous since this was our first Website order. We shopped Klipsch locally on a Saturday, decided what we liked and noted the list prices. Came home and priced the same speakers on Shop4 for 40-50% off list. The excellent pricing had us worried, due to comments about companies like ABC, but we went ahead due to the fact that at least there were no horror stories on this FAQ about Shop4.

The online ordering was fairly painless, I called the 1-800 number the following Monday to verify they had received our order. They were able to look up my order and confirm quantity, pricing, and approx 2 week delivery.

Speakers arrived the following Monday!! In great condition, in factory original boxes, manuals, etc. We were relieved, to say the least. And we saved approx. $800+! What a great first experience!
Friday January 23, 1998

Ordered a Sony 32" Television and it came the next day. It was in perfect condition. I have never recieved service like this before. Highly recommended!
Wednesday January 21, 1998

I purchased a Denon AVR-3200 Receiver, and Toshiba M782 VCR. Both were over $100 cheaper than NetMarket.

Both Parts came in less than two weeks and I ordered them 3 weeks before christmas.

I highly Recommend Shop 4, but do shop around and read the fine print about membership and service plans.

NetMarket, Shop 4 and other member based mail order sources are not consistently priced better than one or another so my advice is to do as I did and shop around before committing to one or the other.

John Ptasznik
Monday November 3, 1997

Lowest price guarantee? When I called customer service they said the price on the web site is the PRICE, period. I was looking for a subwoofer, celestion model CSW that was $150 more here compared with Netmarket. That's why I cancelled memebership and ordered from Netmarket. Customer is still king!
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