FTA-Direct, beware..

[Technojunky]

I placed an order with FTA-direct for a Pansat 2700a on the 3rd of this month. When I heard nothing from them after a few days, I called them and they told me that they had to verify my address and asked for my banks phone number. I left it at that until this morning when I am still wondering why I don't have the receiver, or a tracking number. Their phone is continuously busy, and searching for tracking information on their web site, gives me everything except a tracking number, or any sign that they even have a product to send me. Further, their purchase agreement says that if you cancel the order, even before it ships, you have to pay a fee. Now I know why they would put such a thing in the purchase agreement. They take a very long time to ship because they don't actually have the products they are selling. They go out and buy them as they get orders for them. That is a great way to keep the overhead down, they charged my credit card way back on the 3rd, and by the time they get product to me, it will be weeks later, after my credit card statement comes. I am going to file a case with the credit card just so I don't have to pay until they deliver. If you pay off a credit card purchase, you loose all leverage on the purchase, the credit card company won't do anything to help you once you pay it off. How many of you knew this? The excuse they gave me on the phone was that they have way too many orders from the weekend, over 500 they say. Selling what you don't have is frowned on by most of the public, this includes me.


My opinion is to stay away from FTA-Direct, I got way better treatment from Sadoun. although I was a little skeptical of them at first.. I am going to document my entire experience with dealing with sponsors of this web site, and share them with you.

Joe

 

[Mr Tony]

Thanks for the info, Joe
I moved this to the FTA area, since that is what FTADirect deals with.

When I got receivers from them, I received my tracking number within a day or so and the unit within a week. I'm not saying what you have above is the truth, but I know when I got my units a month or so ago, it was pretty quick.

 

[Technojunky]

Iceberg, you can try to call their 800 number at 888-994-9916 and let me know when you get a ring. I have been calling it for over 45 minutes now. The tracking information on their web site, is not tracking information, it is just order information, but nothing about when it will ship. I think that 10 days is long enough to get a tracking number if they ship a product. I also think that should have the right to not be billed if they do not ship in a reasonable amount of time. Thanks Joe

 

[Shawn95GT]

I'm in no way defending FTA Direct as I haven't had any dealing with them, but right now the hackers have thrown the supply down and the demand WAY up on many of the newer recievers.

I bought a 3500s off of a guy on ebay. He's getting a ton of negative feedback right now for the same reason. He's selling receivers that he doesn't have. I paid for my reciever on 9/2 and if I'm lucky it'll ship out from him this friday, 9/16. That's two full weeks he had cash in hand and he never had the product. On the plus side when I called and talked to him he was straight forward about it and offered a refund if I didn't want to wait.

His response to the negative feedback is kind of funny though:

"give us a negative feedback we will send your info to dish network. UNDERSTAND"

I blame myself for this one - I had the EXACT same problem when I bought my CoolSat on ebay. I should have learned!

I wish Sadoun was a PanSat dealer!

 

[Mr Tony]

JOe
I understand the frustration...I have no association with ftadirect, so I can't comment.

But Shawn has valid points....this stupid N2 crap has totally screwed up getting new receivers.

And I wish Sadoun would be a Pansat dealer

 

[beeb]

I want to chime in with the other posters defending FTA direct. I ordered my Pansat 3500s before this hack thing and received it promptly. The receiver was defective, but obviously new and unused. I sent it back and they sent a new one which I received recently, and it works great. I was impressed with their customer service.

 

[bigOleB]

Careful

This C/P from FTA-Direct website:
------------------------------------------------
Why should you buy from us?


- All of the products you see listed on our website that are orderable are typically in stock and ready to ship. If for some reason the item you ordered is out of stock, we would notify you immediately. Orders usually ship within one business day (unless they are a presell item which are clearly marked).

- Some competitors take days to ship (to our amazement, one even takes weeks) the products you ordered. We, on the other hand, ship your order the same day or the next business day. After your order is shipped, your tracking number will be available by clicking the ORDER TRACKING link on the website.

- We do not drop ship items like some competitors do. When you order product, it is shipped out from our warehouse here in California. We stock all of the items that we list for sale on our website.

- Our toll free number is located at the bottom of the site, and you may call if you have any questions. At some of our competitors, you will be lucky if you can find a phone number. Our staff is on hand to answer questions 7 days a week 9am-9pm EST. If you call during regular business hours and get our voicemail, leave a message and you will have your call returned promptly.

- We do not use answering services or outside parties to answer our phones. When you call to ask about your order, or have questions regarding our products, a representative from our company will be answering your questions.

- All of our products are new. We do not sell used, returned, refurbished, or damaged merchandise. All of our products are factory sealed and are shipped with the original box, packaging, accessories, and manual.

- We keep all of your personal information private. We do not sell, rent, or give any of your information to any third party. All of your information is kept confidential.

----------------------------------------------------------

Sounds like they aren't standing behind there published policies. I would be very careful these days buying FTA equipment. Some dealers are using this opportunity to capitalize on equipment being used for other purposes. I ran into the same thing with FTA Direct about two weeks ago. They had a price published and would not honor it. I called them out on this and found out later that the reason for the price hike was a satellite provider had been compromised and the receivers being used were sold on their site.

This led me to believe FTA Direct was not really in the market for people wanting to use FTA legally. Just my two cents.

I hope you are able to resolve this issue with them. Good Luck.

 

[bigOleB]

And I wish Sadoun would be a Pansat dealer

Me too!

 

[timmy1376]

I guess I don't see how they can list Blackbirds, sliverbullets, ect. on their site, when those are known as theft boxes.....

 

[Neutron]

Whenever we get a house and I can get into the FTA hobby I will be asking the experts here for equipment dealer suggestions.

I'm all for supporting the site sponsors, but I want the absolute best service and price.

 

[TuxCoder]

I got to meet Mr. Sadoun this weekend when I went there to pick up a Twinhan 102G card. Nice guy, good service. The other fellow that was there, Robert, gave some good insight into using the card in Linux. Great shop too, man I was in heaven standing in that room full of dishes and receivers and switches and cables and ....

Fortunately I'm only slightly over an hour away from there. Since the wish for Pansats at Sadoun was 2nd'ed, I'll 3rd that notion. And I might add a wish for the Coolsat because of its component video output (or some other receiver with component out). But I have also been hearing good things about the Fortec Star Lifetime Ultra which they do carry.

 

[bigOleB]

Tux, i couldn't agree with you more. I have made two purchaes with Sadoun and the service and shipping was excellent. I will go out on a limb and say these guys are here to serve the REAL FTA community.

 

[drhydro]

I have no direct experience with FTA direct, but i must question the wisdom of buying products from a vendor that refers all technical / setup questions about said products to this (free) satellite forum. Just my $.02

 

[bigOleB]

FTA Direct is also claiming to have the "new" model of Coolsat 4000 Pro?

Now in stock. Be first to own the new model just released on September 1st, 2005. Get one today as demand is huge.

There is no new model listed on the CoolSat website nor is there any new picture or description on the FTA Direct website.

Can anyone verify there is a new model of the CoolSat 4000 Pro?

 

[Shawn95GT]

It's still a 400 Pro - it's probably just coming with the card reader factory-installed now.

 

[Mr Tony]

yep. Has the card reader installed for that "Free X Channel" or whatever it is. Its a pay channel

 

[bigOleB]

I thought they may be talking about the new firmware released on the Coolsat site. But that has been out for a while now.

 

[Technojunky]

The phone now answers with a voice mail system called Tellus. I wouldn't deny anyone form making a buck, but when you give a good price because you don't own the product yet, and have nothing to lose if you don't sell it, and you don't let your potential customers know how you gave them such a great price, that is downright crooked.
The guy who sells receivers on ebay, and sells way more than he has , or can get, deserves all the bad feedback he gets. Ebay is to sell product that you have, not to take orders. if they make it clear in the auction, that they are selling stuff that they have yet to buy, and the wait will be so many weeks to get this great price, that is all fine. Operating on deceit is not.
How would you like to be Mr. Sadoun, a good business owner who makes a decent living giving his customers great products and great customer support, and then, here comes FTA-reject, selling everything under the sun and for low prices. He is scooping business away from other respectable businesses and he may just be a guy selling stuff out of his garage, and have no money of his own. Now he has my credit card money, and 500 others to back him up. Now he is in business for real, only he has a bunch of angry customers. This didn't make him any less wealthy, and once he gets the money he can get respectable and continue to take business away from the people who have served us well for a long time.

I ordered a Pansat because it is a model that is recognized by my Tivo. If I wanted a model that could be hacked, I could buy a Fortec Ultra Lifetime for a lot less than that Pansat 2700a. I'm going to look at my Tivo again and see what other models it supports, I may tell FTA-Direct to take a hike. They can try to bill me a handling charge, but I will contest it as they have nothing to handle. They charged my credit card 10 days ago.

 

[Technojunky]

The voice mail now says, " We are sorry, your call did not go through, would you please hang up and try your call again. This is a recording."

Now it's time to get the credit card bank involved.

 

[bigOleB]

You shouldn't have any problems getting money back if they have not shipped but credit card has been charged.

I hope you are able to get out of this with nothing lost but time.