Is abesofmaine.com Safe?

Many years ago, Abe's of Maine was a very reputable photography and electronics online store. However, after they went bankrupt, a company in New Jersey purchased their name and former reputation. The *new* Abe's of Maine is now an unauthorized grey market merchant: https://www.abesofmaine.com/Support_Center.htm#q10a I am in the process of fighting for a refund on my order prior to shipment, and expect to be in for a long, painful process. As recommended by many online review sites (e.g. DPReview, *not* ResellerRatings which has outdated ratings info), it's best to avoid this site for any online purchases.

BAIT AND SWITCH! I suspected the following AD on a Google Search: "LG OLED65B6P $2297 - Father's Day Sale Starts Now‎ Ad www.abesofmaine.com/LG‎ LG OLED65B6P. Free Shipping, No Sales Tax, In Stock!" was too good to be true - it was. I placed the order, got a confirmation email, then another email that said "call us". So I did and I got some guy who was concerned that a non-US TV was going to a Virginia address. I asked him to look at the page for anything to indicate this was non-US (since this was the standard model number). He could not find anything that suggested this. He would not honor the $2297 price that I checked-out with and tried have me buy it a $2799 and give me faster shipping. I told him would not reward a site that did this to save a few $$$ ... so he said he was cancelling the order.

Abe's of Main once had a sterling reputation. That was long before they went bankrupt. This one, has tons of complaints. One experience was with a friend that ordered from them. She was upsold two days later. Read some of the reviews below - this place has become notorious for bait and switch. ***** Yelp ratings tell a similar story: ***** Same with ***** ***** NBC NEWS on Bait and Switch stores - this place was the poster child: ***** TrustPilot https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.abesofmaine.com DPreview - which evaluates digital cameras ***** Reseller ratings has become such a "gamed" site I no longer consider their reviews meaningful. Even the BBB, I have given up on. You have B&H in the city as well as Adorama. Why on Earth would you deal with Abes or Willoughby's for that matter.

HERE'S WHERE TO SHOP SAFELY: I guess all the fuss over Abes is just an Exercise in Futility… “They Are What They Are” and always will be… IF you want to order from a reputable online retailer, I ALWAYS have great results from the following : ***** ***** ***** ***** Live and learn. I know I did from my LAST/FINAL order with Abes. “Sarah, If you’re Not part of the solution, then YOU’re part of the problem” *****

Paid for 2-day air shipping, package arrived a week later. Worst packing job of any purchase I have ever made online. They packed my 40 lb. receiver in a much bigger box and filled the gap with air packets. By the time it got to me all of the air packets had popped and the receiver was just being tossed around inside the bigger box. Buyer beware!

I went through Bill Me Later, a site I trust fully, to order electronics with Abe's of Maine. I ordered on ***** and as of ***** I have not received the item nor have I received an email advising if it has been shipped. I have spoken to Customer Service and await their response. Based on that, I will update this rating and comment accordingly.