In September of 2006, I purchased a Radar Detector from dougtheaterman on ebay. He had good ratings and a "Lifetime Warranty". Well, on July 5th (2007) - The radar detector started doing crazy things, so I emailed dougtheaterman:
Sorry to hear about the problem as this is an extreme rarity. Try resetting it according to the manual. If that does not correct the issue, you have to return it. Ship it back in the original box with everything that it came with. It will be repaired or replaced.
Ship back to me NO SIGNATURE REQUIRED as I go to my PO Box at night.
Just ship it Priority Mail.
Douglas Johnson
PO Box 221486
Denver, CO 80222-1013
Include a money order for $30. This is the charge for handling the replacement of your radar detector.
Thanks
Ok... so I have to pay to ship it back and pay an additional $30 to have it fixed under the "Lifetime Warranty". I tried the 'reset' as stated in the manual, but the problem still occured. So, now I have a 'brick' OR I pay about $40 (shipping + $30) to get dougtheaterman to fix it. So I pack it all up, and send it to Douglas Johnson - I send a check so I have proof that he received it if he cashes the check.
Dougtheaterman (AKA Douglas Johnson) did in fact receive it, cashed my check and sent my broken radar detector back to me! WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING! - I plugged it in and after 5 minutes it starts doing the 'self cal' then SERVICE REQUIRED bit. This guy duped me into buying a radar detector that he claimed to have a 'lifetime warranty' - and then to add insult to injury, stole $30 when I tried to send it in to him to have fixed or replaced under that warranty.
So, I email him back:
Douglas,
The radar detector that I paid to ship to you, and gave you a $30 check to "fix or replace" is still broken. After 5 minutes of use the same "Self Cal" popped up...
Can you please tell me how you are going to rectify this problem?
Please get back to me soon,
Chad
Sorry, but we tested it for 24 hours prior to shipping back and worked fine. It might be some interferance in your car, but just guessing. We've done all we can for you and suggest you contact Beltronics for help.
Haha, blame it on my car. I have a 2007 Lexus IS350, and the wife has a 2006 Acura TSX (doesn't work in it either) - maybe Lexus & Acura should know that their cars kill radar detectors. Yeah right.
Just to make sure I didn't misunderstand him, I wanted to make sure that he indeed was still planning on stealing my $30 and not honoring his warranty that he used to entice me into buying his radar detector on ebay:
Douglas,
At this point you have committed theft and fraud if this is all you can do for me. I highly suggest that we find a more appropriate solution. You stated that you had a "Lifetime Warranty" - and then asked for an additional $30 and for me to ship you the radar detector. You shipped it back after doing nothing. In Denver - that is theft. It may also be mail fraud.
So what can we do to to resolve this problem?
Chad
He never replied. So I feel it is my duty to let potential customers of 'dougtheaterman' (from ebay) know what he has done to me. Since I am an expert at Search Engine Optimization, I figured I could use my craft to make the world aware of how he handled business with me.
The image to the left is a screenshot of dougtheaterman's ebay page. Notice dougtheaterman now offers a 3 year FREE warranty. Not sure what prompted him to change, but I would still be within his new 'shorter' warranty. Someone might say "he has good feedback on ebay" - well, I gave him good feedback too. Now that I need to use the warranty on the defective radar detector, and he doesn't honor his promises, and he steals my money - my good feedback is still up there for the world to see and I can't do a thing about it. How many others have this same problem?
If you have had a problem with dougtheaterman, please shoot me an email (I may post it too!): click to email me. This is an address I use for spam, so be sure to put: DOUGTHEATERMAN in the subject line.
UPDATE: Just got this link from another unhappy customer of dougtheaterman: Unauthorized Reseller List. Notice dougtheaterman is noted Unauthorized Reseller. I suppose whenever the manufacturer gets enough complaints, they put people on this list.
From Escort's "Unauthorized Reseller Risks" page linked to from the page above:
I can’t believe I just found your website! He did the same thing to me, except under the name BestPriceGadgets on eBay. I can forward you the multiple (at least 20) emails that I have sent him. He ripped me off for $30 money order too and sent me back a broken radar detector. I just received this email from him :
I adjusted the settings and it worked when I shipped it back.
Sorry, but I am out of the radar business and suggest you contact the factory for further assistance.
The box that he just sent me (that contained the broken radar detector) came from:
Douglas Johnson
PO Box 221486
Denver CO 80222
Just saw your experience with this guy. I have also bought a rx65 detector from him. I was offered a year warranty on mine. It started doing the Self Cal and I asked for him to replace it. He did the whole 30 dollar thing to send it to him. When I recieved it, I had a feeling it was the same detector. After reading your posts I can confirm this. It has started acting up on me again. I'm pretty sure we both know how the rest of the story is going to turn out. How can this guy still be in business!?
Exact same thing happened to me that you described.
The emails even had the same wording.
eBay gave me a phone # for him that is a fax message line in Seattle WA.
Do you have the correct contact info?
My auction closed 9/14/07, I have been dealing with this for just over a month.
I though I'd let you know that he's still screwing people, eBay need to shut him down!
Good job with the search engine......
More coming soon...I have more emails with similar stories, some have requested not to be posted yet.