I Won’t Buy Anything From Orbitsat.com Ever Again

Comments

34 responses to “I Won’t Buy Anything From Orbitsat.com Ever Again”

1. 

   mike

   June 30, 2002

   Which other stores do you recommend other than Orbitsat? Names please.

   Reply
2. 

   Will

   June 30, 2002

   Unfortunately, I’m not familiar with any other on-line stores that specialize in satellite equipment. I’ve had good luck with some local stores, but the Tivo boxes weren’t available in local stores anymore.

   Normally, I’m a buy everything on-line type of person. I almost always prefer that to going to a local store, and I’ve purchased several big-ticket items on-line. I’m not sure I’d buy another satellite box on-line though.

   My tivo box ended up choking on me. I think from looking at the forums it’s a hard drive problem that some (?) percentage of the boxes have/had. Orbitsat doesn’t support the box after the sale. While that isn’t the problem I originally had with Orbitsat, it’s still sort of a drag. I had to call long distance to Hughes tech support, and I had to pay shipping to return the box for service/replacement.

   So, a bad initial purchase experience. Bad support after the sale. All in all, not a great purchase experience.

   Reply
3. 

   Will

   June 30, 2002

   Also – If you aren’t specifically looking for Tivo boxes (which are tough to find right now), Amazon carries some boxes, and I’ve had great luck with them. Buy.com is another store that has done well by me. If you’re looking for the best price, you might try a search on mysimon.com.

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4. 

   Name Removed

   July 29, 2002

   …Comment removed at author’s request…

   Reply
5. 

   jim smith

   November 21, 2002

   I contacted Orbitsat about purchasing a system which they advertised on Yahoo! (Tivo for $79 with year commitment). First they claimed they had never heard of the ad, then when I emailed it to them, it was, of course, Yahoo!’s fault, and they were having a lot of responses to this ad, but according to them it was not a “bait and switch”. They just wanted to sell the system they adverstised for $79 for $149 instead! I disagreed, they got nasty, I bought elsewhere, and, in agreement with this thread, will never do business with them. JWS

   Reply
6. 

   theCosmic

   November 25, 2002

   couple things.
   first off, i must admit that having once been employed by a similar internet satellite retailer, i understand quite thoroughly the legalities of the contracts. in order for these companies to provide such low prices on the items (usually 100s off the MSRP) the retailers rely on dealer incentive programs to earn their profits. this means quite literally that these companies take a substansial loss on providing you with the equipment, with the understanding that after your contractual obligations are met, they will be paid a commission. your credit card info is a security blanket, that is used in the unlikely event that you decide to default on your agreements. why should these companies be left hanging because someone decided to put their sig on a document they didn’t bother to read? the social security info is a further means to pursue payment in the case of abad or declined credit card. Just because you are an honest person, doesn’t mean that a company should take the hit on the 2% of people that aren’t. to make this simple…lets say that in one month, 1000 people bought a satellite receiver for 200USD. chances are that the company actually paid 400 dollars for this. if 2% of the purchasers turn bad, this means that the company pays (out of pocket) $8000for this single month…in a year, this is $96,000!

   as far as directv requiring these things from orbit…i don’t doubt that for a second.
   directv knows that by requiring such extensive obligations, they are going to make money off of someone.

   directv…for the record, are not quite angels themselves.
   have you ever had to call directv to resolve anything? were you successful?
   i suspect that even if you were…it was plenty more headache than you ever imagined it should be.they’ve got more smoke n mirrors than a chain of theme parks.

   as far as the “bait and switch” comment…i honestly find no fault with orbit on this. did you notice that since you posted, the link has been taken down? maybe they were nasty because the person you were speaking to didn’t appreciate being falsely and ignorantly accused of dishonesty.(did it even dawn on you that they might be telling the truth?)
   are we to assume that yahoo is perfect as well as directv?
   further more, upon inspection of the orbitsat website, it seems fairly obvious that they have absolutely no need of the “bait and switch” because they have hands down, the cheapest prices of any legit satellite retailer i’ve seen(that includes physical stores like CC and BB).
   use your brain…$79 for a $450satellite receiver PLUS a dish PLUS installation? didn’t they bend over far enough to offer you the 149 price? these companies make $10-$20 on these boxes TOPS!

   theres a trade-off to be made in internet shopping. E-commerce will NEVER be able to match the convenience and customer service levels of the physical stores. And you know what? that makes me happy…people NEED to hear “no” once in a while…the old addage “the customer is always right” too often goes too far.
   i’ve had too many jobs where i wasn’t treated like a human, because somebody was feeling more important or litigious than the person standing in front or behind them in line. TOO MANY Customers these days expect TOO MUCH for free (hi, yea…i bought a dish from you two years ago, did i mention that my uncle’s brother’s cousin is a lawyer, and it broke…whaddaya mean you won’t replace the dish, wash my car, and buy my dog breakfast? this is ridiculous! Im reporting you to the BBB!) If you wanted to be able to just swap a defective box out for a new one on the spot, maybe you should have gone to a circuit city or best buy…understand though, that internet business takes more money to get things done…they don’t have hoardes of tivo boxes sitting in a back room waiting to be used…theres shipping costs involved, labor costs,warehouse costs, maintenance costs, stocking and restocking costs…i could go on.

   i dunno…i guess im done…or out of steam..whatever…take what you want from this, print it out and piss on it if you wish…but know that there is alot of truth in what i’ve typed.

   above all…i dunno about you…but i was always raised to read everything before i signed it. You have no idea how many problems i’ve dealt with in the past that could’ve been circumvented if the people just read the damn things before they signed them

   im open for comments.

   take care,

   theCosmic

   Reply
7. 

   Brian Guild

   December 17, 2002

   Will

   I’ve had a terrible experience with OrbitSat. I ordered the equipment in July of 2002 and when I received it, it was broken and would not get a signal. We double checked this by hiring a professional installer and had him test the signal strength with his equipment. He got a great signal but my DirectTivo device would not, regardless of what we tried.

   I ended up having to ship this equipment back to their Orourke depot, and they tried to charge me a restocking fee. Now, keep in mind I spent my own $$$ to ship it back, and this wasn’t cheap either. So, I wrote to them and told them I refuse to pay the restocking fee. No response.

   I had my bank dispute the original charge because no one from OrbitSat was talking.

   I never heard from them until they charged me back $650 recently for not activating the DirectTV. I was so pissed at this point! They had no right to do this given the fact that I had returned the equipment.

   Recently, my bank has charged back the $650 via a provisional credit, so we will see where it goes from here.

   I am disgusted with this vendor and I plan on following up with a negative better business bureau report.

   Thanks,

   Brian

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8. 

   duh

   December 31, 2002

   would best buy pay your gas money if you had to return something to their store? why should they pay for your shipping?

   Reply
9. 

   Will

   December 31, 2002

   Well duh – When my big screen TV had problems, Brent TV and Video paid to send two drivers out to get it. They also paid the gas money that powered the truck, and they paid two drivers to bring it back out to me. They did this because the TV was still under warranty, and they clearly care about customer service. I bought additional items from them and recommended them to my friends. If you live in the Torrance, CA area I’d still recommend you shop them if you’re looking for electronics.

   Would I get the same level of service from Best Buy? I’m not sure, but assuming I could manage to get the item to their store, they’d probably intercede on my behalf with the manufacture and I don’t think they’d pass any required shipping costs on to me. I could be wrong there, but I don’t think that I am.

   Reply
10. 

    John

    January 6, 2003

    Yes. I agree–read before you sign. Interesting that you can’t even SEE Orbitsat’s terms until you have gone through the whole shopping cart raz-ma-taz. You then must scroll down–past the “buy now” button, and then you see their draconian terms.

    Of course no one expects to get the same level of customer service on-line as in a bricks and mortar retailer. But is it unreasonable to expect honesty from them? Is it unreasonable to expect them to make even a feeble attempt to accommodate a customer who may have made an honest mistake?

    These people care absolutely nothing about the customer once they have your money. And they will nail you to the wall smiling if you give them half a chance.

    Reply
11. 

    Jeff

    January 9, 2003

    >

    I would say that the policies suck more than the people. I’ve had some great customer service from them that didn’t, in the end, get me what I wanted.

    Reply
12. 

    Steve

    February 25, 2003

    I too had a problem with Orbit Sat. They raised their prices from this weekend by $50 dollars. I tried placing an order on Saturday and they (800 number) couldn’t do that, furthermore I was unable to access their website, something about a broke T1. They would not honor the lower price and they said, “We can charge you whatever the h#ll we like, our website says so! If you don’t like it buddy, go somewhere else!” I informed them that I will be turning them into the BBB, I suggest others do the same. Bad business is bad business, and with them being listed in the BBB, they need to know what kind of ranking they deserve.

    Reply
13. 

    OrbitSat is a DISASTER

    February 25, 2003

    Please take a look at this webpage, where I consolidate some of the information about OrbitSat. Mr. Jay R. Echouafni, I believe, recently threatened to sue the moderator at http://www.tivocommunity.com and about 7 PAGES of negative information was deleted!

    Reply
14. 

    OrbitSat is a DISASTER

    February 25, 2003

    Please take a look at this webpage, where I consolidate some of the information about OrbitSat. Mr. Jay R. Echouafni, I believe, recently threatened to sue the moderator at http://www.tivocommunity.com and about 7 PAGES of negative information was deleted!

    http://www.gizba.com/x/orbitsucks/

    Reply
15. 

    Manny

    July 30, 2003

    Orbitsat is the worst in customer service. My Sony TIVO broke about four months after I purchased it. Tough cookies, said OrbitSat, we don’t support our product more than 30 days after sale. Deal with Sony or forget about it. Thanks for nothing OrbitSat! Word to the wise: Even if you have to pay a few dollars more, buy from BestBuy, Circuit City, or Good Guys and save yourself the hassle of what amounts to a no-return policy. I learned my lesson.

    Reply
16. 

    Beth

    September 25, 2003

    I recently purchased some cable from Orbisat. It was the incorrect wire so in trying to get it returned and get a refund, minus the hellacious restocking fee, they say they require my drivers license number or social security number to process the RMA contract. At this point and time I will be contacting the BBB and perhaps contacting the Secretary of State or someone in consumer affairs dept in their state of operation to file a complaint.

    Reply
17. 

    Billiam Coronel

    October 14, 2003

    I bought a Phillips “Series 2” DirecTV Tivo from them. Got the unit only to find that Phillips doesn’t MAKE a Series 2 unit. Their web advertising was wrong. So I return the unit (after 3 weeks to get an RMA) and they send me ANOTHER UNIT! I get another RMA and return it. Now they claim they can’t find it even though the UPS tracking number shows it was delivered to their warehouse! It’s been over 2 months so the credit card company can’t do anything now. Plus they wanted to charge me a 20% restocking fee – for a unit ADVERTISED as something it clearly wasn’t. (Only “series 2” units work with Tivo’s Home Media Option.) They don’t return phone calls. They ignore emails. They’re nothing but criminals.

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18. 

    BJ

    November 3, 2003

    Just so you guys know. I had a very similar experience with these people. I also believe that many of them use multiple titles, like Legal dept, CEO, and sales manager. I found on the Better Business Bureau website that there are only 50 employees so I would not doubt that this is a very small reseller. After trying to charge me over $900 just for returning it because they could not install it, I went through 3 months of unreturned emails and phone calls only to be directed to John Hogan who told me I had 5 days to pay or I would be sued and it would cost me over $2000. After I informed him that my claim was being handled by the Better Business Bureau as well as several local Consumer reporters, I received a phone call saying that there would be no more charges and my original purchase price would be refunded. Don’t let these people and their faulty contracts scare you. Also I contacted Direct Tv and they said they would keep all complaints on a company. If they get enough they will not allow them to resell.

    Reply
19. 

    Your Mom

    December 16, 2003

    “Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau due to an unanswered complaint and a pattern of complaints. However, the business has resolved most complaints presented by the Bureau.”

    http://www.bosbbb.org/reports/reliability_report.asp?FirmId=0000084001

    Reply
20. 

    Andrew

    December 16, 2003

    FYI,
    Orbitsat is a fake!
    It is one of those companies that just want to steal your money no matter what.

    They say to be in business for more than 15 years, which is false too, they have not been for more than 4, and I know this because I live in the area!

    I decided to purchase from them, however I was charged twice and THEY DONT WANT TO REFUND MY CARD!!!

    ORBITSAT SUX!
    AVOID IT AT ALL COSTS!

    Reply
21. 

    Andrew

    December 16, 2003

    Oh and I forgot.
    BJ is right, this is a very , very small reseller and they don’t even have 50 employees.

    Also FYI John H happens to be John Echouafni which is also the CEO, one of the sellers and the legal department.

    F*king Moron, Go Sue me and I’ll sue your Ass!
    I want my money back!

    Reply
22. 

    Anonymous

    March 6, 2004

    HEy hey I found away to Stop the sevrice contract by “Orbitsat” orbitsat is a sub-Contractor to “D.T.V” make no more “complaints to Orbitsat!! make them to your sever which subs to orbitsat!Please do this in a very nice way they are there to help and they do understand the problem.the contract between the sever and orbit must follow guild line set forth in other words…If enough of us complaint to the sever the sever will have to conduct an Investigation.If they should find that they have been defrauding the public the sever will file a complaint towards them! See to keep them from being taken to court!.therefore the sever will consider a breach to there contract.and they will stop doing busniess with “Orbitsat” which can break the company and then the domino effect..Remember keep all documents..(2 any and all records of any promise’s.9# and most of all do take out your anger or frustion on the sever chances are they don’t know what is going on have them file a complaint this is a MUST and if possible try to get the transcripion of any all all conversions;;;thats all for r4ight now Bagheera out

    Reply
23. 

    Jay Echouafni

    April 30, 2004

    Damn! I wish I had read this post long time ago.
    Orbitsat has been a nightmare to me, I’ve even spoken to Mr Echouafni and he’s disgusting.
    My advise, lets start to file complains at the Federal Trade Comission.

    This company has to be stopped!

    Reply
24. 

    Anonymous

    May 22, 2004

    Thank you for providing this information. All I had to do was read Orbit´s letter of May 4, from their legal depart, to stay away from this company. It really says it all. No legit organization would even suggest this to a customer.

    Thanks again, pete

    Reply
25. 

    Moy

    August 26, 2004

    Jay R. Echouafni, chief executive officer of Orbit Communications Corp. in Massachusetts, was indicted this week along with five others on charges that he hired computer hackers to attack his firm’s online competitors. Prosecutors say the attack cost the competitors $2 million and temporarily disrupted Web sites for the Homeland Security Department and Amazon.com.

    http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/0826computer-crime26-ON.html

    Reply
26. 

    Anonymous

    August 26, 2004

    FYI

    http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3400491

    Reply
27. 

    Peter Weyland

    August 27, 2004

    Well here’s one for you! This is from todays NY Times!

    In one unusual case, the chief executive of a company that resold satellite television systems was indicted on charges of hiring hackers to set up online attacks that interfered with its rivals’ Web sites. The executive, Jay R. Echouafni of the Orbit Communication Corporation, has left the country and is being pursued in what the department called “an international manhunt led by the F.B. I.

    Reply
28. 

    DT

    August 27, 2004

    What a scumbag… seemed creepy from the beginning. Any letter from a “Legal Dept” containing misspellings would have caused me to cringe and raise hell.

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29. 

    FBI

    September 13, 2004

    Jay Echoaufni, I hope you burn in hell
    I hope to see you soon behind bars while your wife and kids cry for your stupidity

    Reply
30. 

    Found this too late

    September 17, 2004

    Orbitsat seems to be out of business… the site is down, and all phone numbers are disconnected.. big shock

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31. 

    D.G

    October 20, 2004

    Jay R. Echouafni, chief executive officer of Orbit Communications Corp. in Massachusetts, was indicted this week along with five others on charges that he hired computer hackers to attack his firm’s online competitors. Prosecutors say the attack cost the competitors $2 million and temporarily disrupted Web sites for the Homeland Security Department and Amazon.com.

    Reply
32. 

    Anonymous

    October 20, 2004

    It will be over soon for Jay R Echouafni…

    Jay R Echouafni is hiding from the FBI in Casablanca, Morocco. I hope they will catch him
    Who goes around comes around

    Reply
33. 

    Anonymous

    October 29, 2004

    Jay echouafni also has several other business in the US, I don’t understand why they don’t go there :
    – http://www.zineth.com
    – http://www.aircharter.net
    – http://www.designgalaxy.com
    – http://www.marcodata.com
    – http://www.salesrep.com

    Right now he’s in Belvedere, Casablanca, in Morocco!

    Reply
34. 

    Squizo!

    October 29, 2004

    Designgalaxy????
    I wonder if they were behind the attacks to templates sites like Templatemonster and similar ones

    Reply