Caution when buying from Surveillance-Video.com

[SpyGuy10 0]

Caution when buying from Surveillance-Video.com (AKA: Canal Alarm Devices) in New York City.

 

In short, they charged my credit card for an item never shipped (a dome camera costing $243) and then refused to refund my money.

 

Details

I am installing a CCTV security system for a private airport. On 13-May-2010, I called Surveillance-Video.com and placed a telephone order with Mr. Jeffrey Tauber for two surveillance dome cameras (CNB VCM-24VF and CNB V2167NVF) and a wall mount bracket. I specifically asked Mr. Tauber to check if all the items were in stock. He assured me that he had all items available and they would ship immediately. I authorized Mr. Tauber to charge my credit card for the order, and he charged the entire invoice amount of $411.92. He sent me, by email, a Sales Order detailing my purchase.

 

My order was shipped by UPS Ground on 14-May-2010. The package was delivered to me on 21-May-2010, undamaged and unopened. Upon opening the shipping box, I discovered that it contained only one camera (VCM-24VF) and the wall mount bracket; the second camera (V2167NVF, costing $243.00) was not in the package. A printed copy of the Sales Order was included in the package as a Packing List, and it showed check marks penned in blue ink next to line items #1 and #3, and an “X” penned in blue ink next to line item #2 (the missing camera).

 

I immediately called Mr. Tauber (21-May-2010) and he informed me that his company had backordered the V2167NVF camera on my order. At no time prior to my receiving the order, did Mr. Tauber (or anyone else from Surveillance-Video.com) contact me to inform me they had backordered that item. I was angry that Mr. Tauber had previously assured me that all ordered item were in-stock and available to ship. I was further angered that no one had contacted me to inform me of the backorder. I had already scheduled time to install the cameras upon receipt, and now my work schedule would have to be changed. Mr. Tauber assured me that he would ship the backordered camera immediately and would contact me back with tracking information.

 

By early the following week, I still had not heard from Mr. Tauber so I called him again. He put me on hold to check the status of the order. When he returned on the line, he informed me that the backordered camera had been discontinued by the manufacturer and that he would research what the correct replacement model was to fulfill my order. He said he would call me the following day.

 

Not trusting Mr. Tauber to get the correct information about the replacement model, I personally contacted the camera manufacturer, CNB Technology Inc., and learned that

the correct replacement model was VCB-34VF.

 

By late the following day, I had still not heard from Mr. Tauber, so I called him. He told me the replacement camera model was VBB-34VF. I informed him the correct model, according to the manufacturer, was VCB-34VF. Mr. Tauber began to argue with me and told me his part number was correct. After much discussion, he finally gave me the contact information for his CNB representative. When I called his CNB representative and discussed the situation, the CNB representative informed me that he had told Mr. Tauber the replacement was VBB-34VF because Mr. Tauber had given him incorrect information about the model of camera I had originally ordered. Once the CNB representative knew that I had originally ordered the V2167NVF, he confirmed that the correct replacement camera for my application was VCB-34VF.

 

I called Mr. Tauber and he had already been contacted by his CNB representative. So Mr. Tauber was now aware that the correct replacement camera model was the VCB-34VF. He told me that he would ship that replacement camera immediately and call me back with tracking information. This was on or about 27-May-2010.

 

On 31-May-2010, I still had not heard from Mr. Tauber. I called him to cancel the order. He assured me that the item would ship that day. I told him that if he did not have a package tracking number for me by the following day, I would cancel the order.

 

On 01 Jun-2010, I still had no contact from Mr. Tauber. So I called him and told him I was cancelling the order. I demanded that he immediately process a REFUND to my credit card for $243.00 (the cost of the camera that was never shipped). I told him that if I did not receive a refund on my account within 24 hours, that I would be disputing the charge with my credit card company. Mr. Tauber said he would issue me a refund. He also warned me not to dispute the charge with my credit card company because, he claimed, it would “have a negative impact my credit rating”. I knew this was a bald-faced lie on his part to try to discourage me from getting my credit card company involved on my behalf.

 

Mr. Tauber did NOT issue a refund to my credit card account for the $243.00. Instead, on 02-Jun-2010, he sent me, by email, a “Credit Memo” which is nothing more than a paper “I.O.U.” showing that his company owes me $243.00. At that point, I contacted my credit card company to dispute the charge.

 

At this point, I have lost at least 3 hours on the phone discussing this case in detail with various customer service and dispute agents at my credit card company. Additionally, I’ve lost over an hour drafting a dispute letter and preparing the all the documentation to support my case. And that’s not counting all the time I wasted on phone calls to Mr. Tauber at Surveillance-Video.com to try to get him to ship the camera I paid for, and then to try to get a refund for the never-shipped merchandise. I’ve already lost more money in wasted time than what one of these security cameras is worth.

 

I am disgusted by the dishonest business practices of Surveillance-Video.com and the outright lies told to me by Mr. Jeffery Tauber. Originally, I simply wanted a refund for the $243.00 item that was never shipped to me. But now, after reflecting upon the dishonesty of Mr. Tauber, and in light of all the time and money I’ve lost dealing with this dispute, I do not want Surveillance-Video.com to profit in any way from my business. I will give my business—and my hard-earned money—to an honest merchant. Therefore, I am now in the process of cancelling the entire order. Surveillance-Video.com can pick up the shipped merchandise at their expense.

[SpyGuy10 0]

Note: I did clear this with a forum moderator before posting. I hope it saves others from the loss of money and time that I have suffered.

[SpyGuy10 0]

UPDATE:

I just received in the mail a letter from my credit card company. It included the chargeback response from Surveillance-Video.com. They are now claiming the order for the second camera was canceled on 14-May-2010 (the day after I placed my original order), and they even generated a false Sales Invoice (dated 14-May-2010), to try to back up their story. Surveillance-Video.com NEVER sent me a copy of this bogus invoice showing the cancellation of the second camera, nor did Mr. Tauber ever mention it during any of my numerous conversations with him after I received the package and discovered the second camera was not shipped. On the contrary, he kept assuring me that they would ship the backordered camera, and then the replacement for the backordered camera. Why would he be promising to ship me a camera if they had already canceled it from my order? Clearly, they created this fraudulent document after I filed the billing dispute in an attempt to cover their behinds.

 

They did admit in their correspondence with my credit card company that they owe me $243.00, yet to this day, they have still not issued me any refund for any amount.

 

The bottom line: this is a VERY UNSCRUPULOUS company. Not only do they lie to their customers, but they are willing to create false documents and lie to the credit companies (both to their credit card processing company that administers their merchant account and to my credit card company). Btw, falsifying documents is a CRIMINAL ACT.

[Soundy 1]

This kind of thing is why I prefer dealing in emails rather than on the phone... you can't beat a paper trail.

[CCTV_Suppliers 0]

UPDATE:

 

They did admit in their correspondence with my credit card company that they owe me $243.00, yet to this day, they have still not issued me any refund for any amount.

 

If they did admit owing you this money, you do not have to wait for them to issue a refund. Force your credit card issuer to reverse the charge (called chargeback) and put that amount back to your credit card.

 

The part I do not understand is why your credit card issuer is playing hard ball with you! After all, who are they suppose to serve, you or them? Take this matter with your credit card issuer and do not take no for an answer.

 

Good luck!

[jxk716 0]

I ordered a Panasonic SD III, surface mount, from them in April. It came fast but was a flush mount. I called them and the woman on the line asked me several times what I was talking about. It raised an eyebrow. She said she would call me back; knowing I'd never hear from them I went and dug the hole in the wall for the flush mount. It was messy but came out okay. Sure enough, they never did call me back. Camera works fine. I'd say be careful.

[SEANHAWG 1]

I ordered some mounts and transformers from 123securityproducts.com a few times and was shipped from Canal Alarm. On more than one occasion they substituted a different product than what I ordered. I didnt mind too much though because they actually sent me a better mount but I did email them to let them know and they never emailed me back.

 

Are all of these companies somehow linked?

[Soundy 1]

I ordered a Panasonic SD III, surface mount, from them in April. It came fast but was a flush mount.

What model did you order, exactly? I know the one we normally use - WV-CW484 - is a flush-mount design but *includes* a back-box for surface mounting, so you always have the option.

[jxk716 0]

I ordered a Panasonic SD III, surface mount, from them in April. It came fast but was a flush mount.

What model did you order, exactly? I know the one we normally use - WV-CW484 - is a flush-mount design but *includes* a back-box for surface mounting, so you always have the option.

 

 

Here is the link (now discontinued). All indications were surface mount: #######

 

The back box never came with it. I ordered 2 of these cameras at separate times. The first order included the back box.

[Soundy 1]

Yeah, AFAIK, all CW484 models ship from the factory with a back-box. If you didn't get one, I would suspect that they're giving you a used camera that was originally flush-mounted and the back-box discarded after install.

 

Either that, or they're REALLY REALLY cheap and kept the back-boxes to go for metal recycling for a couple of bucks.

[appyman 0]

UPDATE:

I just received in the mail a letter from my credit card company. It included the chargeback response from Surveillance-Video.com. They are now claiming the order for the second camera was canceled on 14-May-2010 (the day after I placed my original order), and they even generated a false Sales Invoice (dated 14-May-2010), to try to back up their story. Surveillance-Video.com NEVER sent me a copy of this bogus invoice showing the cancellation of the second camera, nor did Mr. Tauber ever mention it during any of my numerous conversations with him after I received the package and discovered the second camera was not shipped. On the contrary, he kept assuring me that they would ship the backordered camera, and then the replacement for the backordered camera. Why would he be promising to ship me a camera if they had already canceled it from my order? Clearly, they created this fraudulent document after I filed the billing dispute in an attempt to cover their behinds.

 

They did admit in their correspondence with my credit card company that they owe me $243.00, yet to this day, they have still not issued me any refund for any amount.

 

The bottom line: this is a VERY UNSCRUPULOUS company. Not only do they lie to their customers, but they are willing to create false documents and lie to the credit companies (both to their credit card processing company that administers their merchant account and to my credit card company). Btw, falsifying documents is a CRIMINAL ACT.

Thanks SPYguy, thanks for sharing this, but survielance-video.com is a good suppliers, I don,t know, how they made this kind of blunder

[SpyGuy10 0]

Thanks SPYguy, thanks for sharing this, but survielance-video.com is a good suppliers, I don,t know, how they made this kind of blunder

 

This was NOT a "blunder". This was intentional FRAUD. The "Chargeback Response" letter they sent to my credit card company on 25-June-2010 stated that, if my credit card company would credit back the entire amount in dispute, then they (Surveillance-Video.com) would issue me a credit for the $243.00 they owed me.

 

My credit card company reversed the suspension of payment to Surveillance-Video.com on 07-July-2010. It's been two weeks now since then and, to this date, Surveillance-Video.com has still not credited ANY funds back to my credit card.

 

If you want to continue to give them your business, that's your prerogative. But don't try to tell me that this was just a "blunder". They knew EXACTLY what they were doing when they made the false promises to ship me the camera. They knew EXACTLY what they were doing when they issued me a worthless I.O.U. "credit memo" instead of refunding the $243.00 back to my credit card. And they know EXACTLY what they were doing now by still not refunding my money!

 

Note: And the problem was NOT a lack of availability for the replacement camera. After I got fed up and cancelled the "back-order", I ordered the missing VCB-34VF from David at "The Security Depot" in Texas. David had it drop-shipped from CNB the same day I placed the order and it arrived 3 days later via UPS Ground.

[Soundy 1]

Thanks SPYguy, thanks for sharing this, but survielance-video.com is a good suppliers, I don,t know, how they made this kind of blunder

And in jxk716's case... the CW484 comes from the factory with a back-box in the same packaging with the camera. So how do they ship it WITHOUT the back-box, unless they either remove it, or are selling used equipment as new?

[sleepywheel 0]

I was going to call them on monday and order 4 cameras but now I'm not so sure.

 

There's a list of businesses on the left hand side of the webpage under "partners". Wouldn't it be more beneficial to this forum and the "partner" to order from them? I'm thinking of ordering from A1 Security Camera Systems, any feedback about them?

[clearsignal 0]

I've just completed my 3rd order with them. They blundered on the first order and substituted for a different model. They redeemed themselves totally offering to take the cameras back and giving me a significant discount on the rest. I am totally happy with them.

 

However I do make it a point now when placing orders to do it direct...and to specifiy that I can not accept any substitutions...and if they can't satisfy that requirement to contact me.

 

Sorry you had a bad experience.

[lxhzspy 0]

a company should hold good reputation and satisfying service,rather than only keep good quality ~~after all, customers are the god~

maybe the company you said earn more in a short time,while,for a long time,they fail...

 

Lucy

[jefinny 0]

That is a bad thing. Hope you everything is done now

[SpyGuy10 0]

UPDATE:

SureveillanceVideo.com finally issued a refund of $243.00 to my credit card account; it posted on 26-Aug-2010. That's 3-1/2 months after I had placed the original order, almost 3 months after I had canceled the order, and exactly 2 months after Mr. Tauber admitted in writing to my credit card company that he owed me the money and promised to refund it as soon as my credit card company lifted the $411.92 chargeback (which my credit card company did on 07-July).

 

During the past two months, my credit card company contacted Mr. Tauber several times and he played the same game with them that he played with me: making false claims and promising to call back, but never doing so. At one point (at the end of July or beginning of August, I've forgotten the exact date), Mr. Tauber actually told my credit card company's billing dispute department that he had issued the refund to my MasterCard, but "there must have been a problem with the transaction at his bank and he would have to call his bank and find out what happened." Do any of you believe that nonsense? Of course he never called my credit card company back, nor did he ever provide any documentation to substantiate his outrageous lie.

 

But when they ACTUALLY issued a refund, SureveillanceVideo.com did send me an email. on 24-Aug-2010, I finally received the following:

 

============

Dear Mr. Liu,

 

The credit memo 18460 in the amount of $243.00 has been refunded, please allow 2-3 business [sic] for refund to show on your credit card statement.

 

Thank you,

Jennifer Lehnert

Office Manager

212-343-4354

============

 

According to my credit card company, the MasterCard rules are such that SureveillanceVideo.com had until the beginning of September to refund my account or my credit card company would seize the funds from SureveillanceVideo.com's merchant account and enter a negative score on their credit record. So Mr. Tauber waited until the last possible moment to refund my money. In the meantime, I was deprived from the use of my $243 for 3-1/2 months.

 

Is this a company you want to do business with?

[Sawbones 0]

I thought that name sounded familiar. I also had a problem with them.

 

http://www.cctvforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15694

 

I had ordered a DVR card (Nuuo), but they didn't have the item in stock (contrary to what their website claimed).

 

They had to order it from Taiwain, and the shipping was going to be $72, so they simply canceled the order... but didn't tell me.

 

After two weeks, the card hadn't arrived... so I started calling. I found out about the canceled order, but they hadn't refunded my money. It was only after I called to find out where my card was that they actually sent me a refund.

 

They did make it right, but communication was poor, and I had to chase THEM for THEIR mistake. I've avoided them ever since... and that same company operates off of a number of different websites:

 

http://www.canalalarm.com

http://www.123securityproducts.com

http://www.surveillance-video.com

[rory 0]

and that same company operates off of a number of different websites:

 

didnt know they were the same, 123 is in farmingdale and they are in Manhattan, also prices can be much different between some products. But I see for 123's RMA it is the same address .. strange.

Never had a major problem with 123 yet and I send some clients there.

 

Here is the canal street location:

 

Here is the farmingdale location:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=123+Security+Products&sll=40.836043,-73.065291&sspn=0.000539,0.001313&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=1055+Portion+Rd,+Farmingville,+Suffolk,+New+York+11738&t=h&cid=2942946733413895175&ll=40.835986,-73.065291&spn=0.000539,0.001313&z=20&iwloc=A

 

There is a little shopping mall in the demo videos on Surveillance-Video.com, and it is the same exact one as in the google maps street view for 123's farmingdale location

 

Once again, I havent had any major issues using 123 yet, no more than I had using distributors in the past.

[Sawbones 0]

and that same company operates off of a number of different websites:

 

didnt know they were the same, 123 is in farmingdale and they are in Manhattan, also prices can be much different between some products. But I see for 123's RMA it is the same address .. strange.

Never had a major problem with 123 yet and I send some clients there.

 

Here is the canal street location:

 

Here is the farmingdale location:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=123+Security+Products&sll=40.836043,-73.065291&sspn=0.000539,0.001313&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=1055+Portion+Rd,+Farmingville,+Suffolk,+New+York+11738&t=h&cid=2942946733413895175&ll=40.835986,-73.065291&spn=0.000539,0.001313&z=20&iwloc=A

 

There is a little shopping mall in the demo videos on Surveillance-Video.com, and it is the same exact one as in the google maps street view for 123's farmingdale location

 

Once again, I havent had any major issues using 123 yet, no more than I had using distributors in the past.

 

Hmmm... seems like they're the same company... but maybe they're not. It's interesting that you'd have problems with one and not the other. Maybe they have more competent staff at a particular location.

[rory 0]

Hmmm... seems like they're the same company... but maybe they're not. It's interesting that you'd have problems with one and not the other. Maybe they have more competent staff at a particular location.

 

They must be, the plaza where 123 is located is the same one in the SV's demo videos.

Probably just 2 different locations but the same owner/s, different management etc.?

 

Yeah no problems like I said any different than distributors ive used in the past.

Such as a backordered item was not told it was backordered or had to be special ordered until we contacted them when it was taking time, but had that only once and had that before with other places.

I did get 2 versions of the same CNB camera, one probably from older stock, but nothing to hurt my head over as the newer version was not even the one in the user manual on the CNB's site.

Ive had several clients order from them recently and all were fine.

One thing i noticed but this can be found on many of the stores online as they advertise so much stock, some of the products have incorrect information or pricing, but thats why I generally would email them first for a quote and to verify the part numbers and types.

[bantham1 0]

I ordered my CNB's from them(SV). They had a good price. I recently had a camera go gray and sent it back for repair. Been there for a while. Called to check on it and they said they are sending me a new camera.

Edited September 15, 2010 by Guest

[Twilo123 0]

i've been in the Canal Street shop pictured below and they seem reputable although very busy. It can be a madhouse in there at certain times of day. The guys behind the counter are busy and tired if anything from what i have seen. constantly on the phone while dealing with customers at the same time. the front area is stacked with boxes so you can barely make your way to the counter. these guys definitely move a good amount of product.

[boandgo 0]

ordered 3 cnb's from them and they we're shipped properly, on time with 3 power adapters and 6 cable converters. Would order from them again....

 

probably depends on who you get that day. I was lucky that day.

 

Thanks.