Abe's of Maine or dbuys.com?

[powerknowledge]

Well, I'm finally taking the HDTV plunge: the Sony 60A2020!

My question -- and it's kind of urgent, as I'm itching to get the ball rolling -- is if anyone's purchased through either Abe's of Maine or dbuys. Their prices are good; they SEEM to be authorized sellers (rather than resellers, which often voids mfr warranties; they SEEM to be well-regarded; their shipping SEEMS safe enough for the product (and without requiring extra insurance to be purchased, as some of these places do). In short, everything SEEMS great...and I should just go for it...

Yet (and perhaps becuase I'm about to drop $2k on my first new TV in a decade) I'm nervous as hell about this. Any experiences with these or similar e-tailers -- good, bad, or ugly? Any you'd particularly recommend, or not?

Better, anyone want to float me an extra $300-400 so I can just buy the thing at a local B&M?

In lieu of that, any thoughts, advice, encouragement, or warnings are gladly welcome. Thanks all!

[chlngr1970]

You should be able to check on the manufactures web site and see if they are an aurthorzed dealer. I have reservations about buing big ticket items on line. DVD players, receivers...maybe...but a TV...

I dunno man...

I have thought of it, but I always seem to come back to the safety net that is a local store.

j

[EM3]

Check on reseller ratings website they might give you an idea. If I tell you my story you wouldn't buy from Abe's of Maine. But I am sure that there are people out there that have had better luck with them.

[powerknowledge]

I've checked both pricegrabber and reseller ratings on AoM; they seem a wildly mixed (and unhelpfully bipolar) bag: either "5 stars love em!" or "no stars run away!". Hrm. The problem I'm facing is that there's a huge shortage of both objectivity and detail in these posts, making it difficult to make a truly informed decision.

Interestingly, on both RR (where folks seem to like them less) and PG (where they seem to like them more), they have a higher retailer rating than either BB or CC, my B&M options: says more, likely, about the vagaries of the rating process than anything else, and further complicates things.

I also know, for example, that the truck shipping co. AoM uses for TVs is one of the best in the biz, and this (in addition to price, of course) is what is still making me lean in their direction.

At any rate, please do be explicit in your stories -- good or bad -- and keep them coming; I really appreciate it!

[EM3]

Well I was trying to buy some camera equipment from Abe's of Maine and they had a really good advertised price on it. Well it was too good to be true. It was a grey market item and no warranty. When I caught on to what they wanted to do I could either buy the grey market item with their warranty or the "American" version with a Canon warranty. The cost in savings was going to be minimal so I decided it wasn't worth the hassel. So I tried to tell them do not process the order and I was told that I could not cancel it. Well i had to go through a couple of supervisors that were not helpful at all but they finally cancelled the order. To be on the safe side I called the credit card company to tell them that there should of been no charges from Abe's of Maine.

As far as a tv goes I am like chlngr1970. I feel more comfortable with a purchase from a B & M store but hey that's just me.

Oh yeah I have never even called Abe's of Maine again.

[powerknowledge]

The more I dig, the more I hear of this kind of thing. Thanks.

So no go to Abe's or any such place; the extra $$$ will be well-spent if I go to a B&M

And with that, NEW QUESTION:
Would/have any of you purchased floor models? And if so -- perhaps especially for an RPTV -- would you drop the extra $ for an extended warranty plan?

I ask because on my way to work, I stopped at BB, CC, and Ultimate Electronics (all within a 3-block area) to check out the KDS60A2000. UE was closing it out to make wasy for the 2020 line (the exact same set, with an all-black cabinet), and had only floor models left; for $2060, that's awful tempting. But given a floor model's "always on", every day during business hours (albeit here, they properly adjust brightness etc. in the darkened display room), might it be worthwhile to spend $400 on a 4-year warranty that includes bulb replacement?

Jesus, I'm an insecure shopper. Can you tell my last major purchase was a good half decade ago? And that I need validation for something I probably have my mind set on anyway?

Thanks!

[powerknowledge]

Sorry, folks -- I'm going to post the "new question" as a new thread (seems appropriate).

Admins, hope I'm not doing anything out of line here, and apologies if I am.

Otherwise, consider the matter of this thread over, out, done, served, and brought'en.

[EM3]

Originally Posted by powerknowledge

The more I dig, the more I hear of this kind of thing. Thanks.

So no go to Abe's or any such place; the extra $$$ will be well-spent if I go to a B&M

And with that, NEW QUESTION:
Would/have any of you purchased floor models? And if so -- perhaps especially for an RPTV -- would you drop the extra $ for an extended warranty plan?

I ask because on my way to work, I stopped at BB, CC, and Ultimate Electronics (all within a 3-block area) to check out the KDS60A2000. UE was closing it out to make wasy for the 2020 line (the exact same set, with an all-black cabinet), and had only floor models left; for $2060, that's awful tempting. But given a floor model's "always on", every day during business hours (albeit here, they properly adjust brightness etc. in the darkened display room), might it be worthwhile to spend $400 on a 4-year warranty that includes bulb replacement?

Jesus, I'm an insecure shopper. Can you tell my last major purchase was a good half decade ago? And that I need validation for something I probably have my mind set on anyway?

Thanks!

It's better to be safe than sorry. So I consider research a must. Well I never have bought a floor model so I have no experience with that area. I'll let someone else answer that one. The extended warranties question all I can say is if you can read it do it. Some are worth it and some not. I just bought a 46 inch Samsung back in November and after about 1 and 1/2months it developed a problem well after a couple of calls and some waiting they replaced the tv with a new one. Now you may ask why I am telling you this. I didn't buy the extended warranty because it has been my experience that electronics either go bad out of the box or last until you ditch them.

If I bought the floor model I would get the extended warranty if it is worth it though. That would be to cover my butt.

[umainebearman]

Although this won't help you decide which place to buy your tv a friends recent buying escapade led me to the realization I will never buy a tv over the internet, well at least a plasma.

He recently bought a Hitachi 42 inch plasma and had to take it back and exchange it 3 different times. 2 times for dead pixels and one time for a piece of dirt/dust/Styrofoam stuck to the inside of the glass that made it look like a dead pixel initially.

No imagine if you had to return a tv 3 times to an e-tailer. Nope in a couple months when its time to buy my hdtv I'm going local.

[umainebearman]

Sorry small update. Just talked to my friend who lives in Maine (I'm also from there). He said Abes is "HORRIBLE!". Several people including him have had very unsatisfactory shopping experiences. I don't trust many people but when he says stay away I stay away. Although......he did really like Batman and Robin.

[powerknowledge]

Thanks folks. Between these replies and a LOT of research since I posted this, I'm staying far, far, far, far away from all e-tail resellers, and particularly those based in NY and NJ (where abe's of "maine" in fact is located). And given what I've learned, I'd encourage everyone to do the same. Go to www.resellerratings.com and see what I mean: shady practices abound. Just to test the complaints (and with no intention of actually ording anything), I called AoM to make a product inquiry: everything people complained about is true in spades (product advertised not in stock, attempt to upsell to higher-priced model, attempt to rope into every accessory and warranty and shipping insurance under the sun, etc. -- and all with a level of aggressive salesmanship that I thought I was dealing with the Sopranos crew; hope they don't have caller ID to send someone to whack me!).

So when it comes to online electronics buying, for me it's still an authorized dealer with a stellar record like OneCall or nothing. And even then, I'm iffy on a physically and monetarily large purchase.

So again, thanks all for pointing me in the right direction. I'll be keeping an eye out for future threads regarding this kind of thing to "pay it forward" (and please forgive me for referencing THAT godawful POS "movie", which in its own way is far, far worse than "Batman & Robin").