A review by
wally66 written on Dec 22, 2008
Full review
I cannot stress enough the total disregard this "merchant" has for it's customers. I didn't see all of the negative reviews prior to placing an order but I sure wish I had.
I ordered a Garmin Nuvi from them. Upon receiving the order confirmation email, I noticed that a Garmin Street Pilot C330 was listed instead. And that is what showed up a couple days later. After many emails to the company, I finally contacted Paypal to see if they could help me get the unit I ordered and paid for. At that point, I got the following email from foto-tronix.
"Greetings,
The order was received from YOU for a Garmin C330 model. This is a fact! You received exactly what you ordered. Now, the reason why you ordered a different GPS than you wanted is not a question for us.
We are unable to assist you with your line of questions, since the order was placed by YOU and only you should know why you clicked the "BUY" button for this model and why you went through the whole checkout process for the model that you now claim that you do not want.
As a consumer you have the right to file a dispute! We, as the merchant, have the right to list the disputed transaction with the collection agencies and report you as a delinquent to all major credit bureaus. We hope it does not come to that, but we would respond harshly! Thank you!"
There were many more emails but that one made their intentions pretty clear. The funny thing is, they sent me a C340... not a 330. Additionally, a picture of the Nuvi is on the outside of the box the unit came in. Lastly, the unit had a dead pixel upon powering up. I contacted them again, but got an email stating that they wouldn't even honor their "full exchange policy".
Realizing that I wasn't going to get anywhere with this "merchant", I contacted Garmin directly. I was instructed to send a copy of the receipt and they would try to help me replace the defective unit.
The company appears to be located in Delaware, as that's the location on the shipping label, but the domain is registered to an address in Hawaii. I am filing complaints with the Better Business Bureau and Attorney General's office in both states.
This "merchant" also does business as Avalon Tronix, Avalon Gadgets and Foto Electronics. All website list the same products and prices. A check with the Better Business Bureau reveals complaints against the company and the fact that cases were closed due to no response from the "merchant".
Again, DO NOT buy anything from this "merchant"!