A & W Surplus reviews and complaints

This company is something else. They hold auctions on Proxibid, show a photo of the item you are suppose to be bidding on, but that isn’t the item they send you. Instead, you get a broken version, incomplete version, smelly, dirty, dead insects, missing parts, broken parts, and not the items they showed in the auction photographs. Then, when they bill you, they do it in 2 separate billings; one thru Proxibid and the other thru PayPal. They do this so that if you decide to dispute the charge thru PayPal, they escalate it to a claim and since the dispute is regarding the quality or since you did receive something from them, PayPal automatically rules in their favor since it was not an Ebay auction. It’s a way to circumvent the system to their advantage. I have published a blog that shows the emails sent from them to me and vice versa as well as photos showing what I was suppose to be bidding on and what I received instead. Also, as far as they are concerned, the matter is closed. As far as I’m concerned, this is just the beginning. I am posting this to each and every place I can find and reporting it to each and every agency I can find. A scam is a scam.

UPDATE: I have been speaking with a representative with Proxibid. She said that her company was very sorry about this incident and wanted to make amends. They have offered to refund all of my expenses in this transaction and an sincere apology. They understood my frustration and dissatisfaction. This came from Proxibid, not A & W Surplus. A & W Surplus has yet to do anything about this and I strongly suspect they won't. Crooked is as crooked does. I will continue to do business with Proxibid, but I would advise anyone and everyone not to do business with A & W Surplus and Auctions.

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I am doing a blog on this with photo of the items and you can contact me for the address. The person that responded to me was rude and smug in their response. As a customer, I have the right to be upset when what I received was garbage. And, if A & W responds again, I will update this complaint accordingly. There has also been a complaint filed with Proxibid and PayPal regarding this as well as the Attorney General, BBB and any other agencies and entities I see fit that can assist with this. No one deserves to be scammed and in this day with a bad economy, and I know to some $170.00 may not be much money, but it is my money and we don't have money to waste on bull. Also, there have been several complaints against this company with the BBB regarding their practices. I didn't know this prior, but I figured I would pass this along to you all for future reference.

COMPLAINT AGAINST

A & W Surplus

Complaint Letter: Yes

Share with Media: Yes

Company Name: A & W Surplus

Company Address Line: 3330 N. Duke Avenue

Company State: CA

Company Zip: 93727

Company Area Code: 559

Company Phone Number: 3489428

Comment Or Question Message: To the Owner (Wayne) and Whom it may Concern:

I did try to contact you first! I called and left a

voicemail message; I sent you an email as well. You

must understand, I received this crap after 7pm cst

in the middle of dinner last night. I opened the

items later (maybe 45 minutes) after dinner. I didn’t

open them all up at the same time since the first

thing I saw in the box was the broken Bose dock

with the side open and broken and not shown in

your photo and the fact that instead of speakers

being in the dock, there are pieces of foam; no

speakers, no remote, no inserts, no connection for

the ipod, just a black piece of plastic; not the item

you showed pictured. I tried to call you at that

point, then I took photos of it. Then, something

told me to check out the other box with the other

dock in it, it was crap too so I took photos of it.

Then I thought, surely the mosquito magnet would

be fine, especially for what I paid for it, but that

nagging feeling said for me to look in that box too.

When I did, I was horrified with the nastiness of it!

Dead insects, weathered material that looked like it

just came out of someone’s yard, the smelliness

and all the other stuff that was missing from it. I

then took photos of all of it. I was and am still very

upset from looking at all of this crap. I wanted to

speak with someone right then, as most customers

would who would have gotten this crap.

I read your terms and conditions. As stated prior,

I’ve bided with you all before and won some items

and was very please with the items I received.

Maybe this was just a fluke and an oversight; I don’t

know but all 3 items I received are garbage,

unusable crap. And, your photo was not the items

that were shipped to me. Also, the items in the

box were not what was in the boxes you sent. Yes,

I would like to speak with your owner Wayne. And

yes, I did speak with PayPal regarding this today

and how the billing is a split payment to insure that

you don’t lose any money in shipping and the fact

that YOU escalated the dispute to a claim in order

to win based on PayPal’s rules and this was noticed

by the PayPal agent I spoke directly with a few

minutes ago, which she is now sending to their

frauds department. Most all the other legitimate

auctions on Proxibid and elsewhere bill all in one

invoice and show more than one photo…they show

the box and the actual items you are getting…front,

back, the accessories, if the item is in working

condition or not, etc. You need to be more clear IN

THE ITEM DESCRIPTION ITSELF, not just trying to

cover your butt by saying “read the terms and

conditions.” As they say, a picture says a thousand

words and most people take what is in the photo,

especially if the item is in a box and they trust the

company they are dealing with not to lie about

what’s in the box.

As stated previously, it’s not that I am not willing to

work with you. You must understand as a

customer, I feel very, very, very cheated. I have

paid for a heap of crap that no one could use and

you all are being very smug in that regard. I got to

look at this heap all evening as well as today and

felt more and more upset. And what did you all do

to make it better; you escalated a dispute to a

claim, then try to say that it’s my fault. Great

customer service and great way to make a customer

feel that they would want to do business with you

in the future.

William and Rosalyn Newman

From: A & W surplus

To: Rosalyn Newman

Sent: Sat, January 30, 2010 1:38:34 PM

Subject: RE: Proxibid Auction

You did not wait until we were open to return your
call before you did a complaint with Paypal and
Proxibid. We sell new, returned and salvaged items.
You apparently did not read the terms and
conditions prior to bidding as you were told it was
clearly stated. Also clearly stated in lot 0. You
clearly clicked yes that you read those items and
knew what you were bidding on. Any further
questions, you can call during normal business
hours and speak to Wayne at number below. Before
you do however, you need to read the terms and
conditions and lot 0 that you were supposed to
read prior to bidding.
Thank you
A & W Surplus and Auctions
3330 N. Duke Ave
Fresno, CA 93727
Ph-[protected]
Fax-[protected]
www.proxibid.com/awsurplus
PICKUP BY APPOINTMENT ONLY!
NEXT AUCTION
WEDNESDAY FEB 3RD
ATTENTION EBAY SELLERS
JUST ARRIVED TODAY BRAND NEW BRAND NAME
CLOTHING, LICENSED THROW
BLANKETS(NFL/DISNEY/ETC), WATCHES,
ELECTRONICS SELLING ON EBAY NOW! We will be
uploading the balance of new electronics and
watches by Saturday.
We never know what we will be auctioning until all
items are uploaded. Truckloads arriving daily! So
far WE CURRENTLY HAVE A LOT OF BRAND NEW
ITEMS AND NAME BRAND CLOTHING, BEDDING AND
APPLIANCES FROM NAME BRAND STORE. SHOES,
JEWELRY, SPEAKERS, VIDEO GAMES, CAR STEREOS,
LCD TVS, FOOD, DOG FOOD AND ACCESSORIES,
TOOLS, JEWELRY, KNIVES, SWORDS, ELECTRONICS,
TOYS, MISC GEN MERCH
WWW.PROXIBID.COM/AWSURPLUS
To ensure that your bid is accepted please place
prebids and you will be guaranteed your bid.

THANK YOU

From: Rosalyn Newman [mailto:[protected]@att.net]

Sent: Saturday, January 30, 2010 10:59 AM

To: A & W surplus

Subject: Re: Proxibid Auction

This crap was delivered AFTER you closed last

night, so I could not have contacted you sooner. In

fact, it was delivered WHILE we were eating dinner.

I was so excited, then extremely disappointed when

nothing was as it was suppose to be. I tried to

contact you first, but it’s not my fault you were

closed. I called you long distance first, then I sent

an email. I also sent an email to Proxibid as well as

spoke to them personally (they were still open for

business).

I bidded in another one of your auctions before

Christmas and was very pleased with the items I

won. That is why I did not hesitate to bid this past

time with you all. You all offer a variety of items

and I think that’s what auctions should be. But,

when things are not as they should be (dirty,

broken, missing parts, and just plain crap) this

should be told to the prospective bidder. And,

there should be more than one photo of the item,

not just a photo of the box so that the bidder has

to guess what’s inside; take a picture of the actual

item. The Bose dock that I received isn’t even the

one you show in the photo. You all really ought to

be ashamed of yourselves for even packing up this

crap and mailing it. It all needs to go to the dump.

William and Rosalyn Newman

From: A & W surplus

To: Rosalyn Newman

Sent: Sat, January 30, 2010 11:16:26 AM

Subject: RE: Proxibid Auction

As you have already done a dispute withpaypal we

cannot communicate further

with you. We will communicate thru Paypal. You

should have tried contacting

us first instead of leaving a message last night

when we were already closed

and not giving anyone a chance to call you back.

Thank you
A & W Surplus and Auctions
3330 N. Duke Ave
Fresno, CA 93727
Ph-[protected]
Fax-[protected]
www.proxibid.com/awsurplus
PICKUP BY APPOINTMENT ONLY!
NEXT AUCTION
WEDNESDAY FEB 3RD

ATTENTION EBAY SELLERS
JUST ARRIVED TODAY BRAND NEW BRAND NAME
CLOTHING, LICENSED THROW
BLANKETS(NFL/DISNEY/ETC), WATCHES,
ELECTRONICS SELLING ON EBAY NOW! We will
be uploading the balance of new electronics and
watches by Saturday.
We never know what we will be auctioning until all
items are uploaded.
Truckloads arriving daily! So far WE CURRENTLY
HAVE A LOT OF BRAND NEW
ITEMS AND NAME BRAND CLOTHING, BEDDING AND
APPLIANCES FROM NAME BRAND STORE.
SHOES, JEWELRY, SPEAKERS, VIDEO GAMES, CAR
STEREOS, LCD TVS, FOOD, DOG FOOD
AND ACCESSORIES, TOOLS, JEWELRY, KNIVES,
SWORDS, ELECTRONICS, TOYS, MISC GEN
MERCH
WWW.PROXIBID.COM/AWSURPLUS
To ensure that your bid is accepted please place
prebids and you will be
guaranteed your bid.

THANK YOU

——-Original Message——-

From: Rosalyn Newman [mailto:[protected]@att.net]

Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 7:16 PM

To: [protected]@awsurplus.com

Subject: Proxibid Auction

I received my items today! I’m NOT happy at all!

All three items were

total junk! The Bose radio isn’t even the one in

the photo-you can see

the speakers in the grill in their photo as well as

the connection for the

ipod-mine doesn’t even have the speakers and it is

completely broken; I have

pictures to prove what I was sent! The other radio

wasn’t new as they

showed in the box, it’s missing the cords and the

inserts for the various

ipods as well as no power cord; The mesquito

magnet is a joke-it’s missing

the stand, hose and so much more other items and

it was just plain nasty!

You billed me an extra $40.00 to ship this junk so I

am out of almost

$200.00 for stuff that can’t be used. You all really

need to express when

there are items missing, used, dirty, not functional

etc., not just try to

make a buck…well in my case, quite a few bucks. I

don’t have money to

waste! I am so mad at the moment I could really

hurt someone….This is

enough for me not to ever, ever use your site again! I want my
money back for

all of this as well as

send a label for me to send this crap back at your

expense….this crap is

more than crap. I wouldn’t let my dog or my worst

enemy have this ###. It

needs to go to the dump! I expect a response

promptly.

Thank you.

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Affirm Information Accurate: Yes
Send This Complaint: Yes
Request Copy: Yes
Email: [protected]@att.net
Confirm Email: [protected]@att.net