Terrible Service Costs Caiman.com Another Customer

David Sims : First Coffee
David Sims
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Terrible Service Costs Caiman.com Another Customer

Got an e-mail from yet another erstwhile customer of Caiman.com, the online secondhand and used CD company infamous for their terrible service and rudeness.

No need to identify her, but it's the same old screw-the-customer attitude Caiman.com's famous for:

"Dear David,

"I found an article of yours while trying to find some information on Caiman.com… a company who has jerked me around for the past week.

"If it helps you and your readers, I have obtained some further contact information for them from the Better Business Bureau:

"Local Phone Number: (305) 262-4973 Fax Number: (305) 468-3892 Membership Status: This company is not a member. TOB Classification: Internet Shopping Services.

"It should be noted that, while I eventually got through, they were extremely unhelpful and border-line rude... there was a terribly long wait before I was treated rather shabbily by their ‘Customer Service’ representative."



Feedback for Terrible Service Costs Caiman.com Another Customer

75 Comments

Add another customer. I ordered a book April 25 for a high school class. They shipped it May 27 and I received it June 7, 4 days after school was over. Repeated emails to them are met with "canned" responses. I've complained to Amazon (where I bought the book used) and that at least got a response from them, but still no refund (I returned the book).

Hello First Coffee

I got little comfort from hearing that I'm not the only one who has experienced the terrible service from Caiman - please find below the exchange from Caiman after we have been trying for MONTHS to get hold of one CD for my boss - I think this will speak for itself,...Amazon should have nothing to do with these guys when the customer service is this poor.

Cheers,

Lu.,...

(I removed all contact details from the e-mails for obvious reasons,....)
--------------------------------------
RE: CD to be purchased, Order Date: 31 Mar 2005
--------------------------------------
to:[email protected]
Dear Sir/Madam,

Despite ordering this item a few months back, we are yet to receive the item.
Please could you let me know the status of this order?

Kind regards,

XXXXX

XXXXX Limited


-------------------------------------------
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday 20 may 2005 18:26
To: XXXXX
Subject: In Ref.. order XXXXXXX from Amazon.co.uk


Dear Customer,

We regret to inform you that at this time, the item XXXXX you ordered is in back order. It will take 2 to 3 weeks to ship. If you wish, we can cancel your order or keep it open. Please let me know. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Sincerely,

XXXXXX
Customer Service
----------------------------------------------
Hello XXXXXX,

Please keep our order alive thanks - (would appreciate updates if the items take longer than a couple of weeks yet to ship.)

With thanks,

XXXXX

XXXXX Limited
--------------------------------------

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday 20 may 2005 18:36
To: XXXXX
Subject: Thank you for your patience!


Dear Customer,

Thank you for your patience. We will continue to process your order until further notice.

Sincerely,

XXXXXX
Customer Service


------------------------------------------


Hello XXXXXX,

Well, I think you have had more than 2 to 3 weeks on this now - please
can you tell me the REAL status of my order,

Thank you,

XXXXX

XXXXX Limited
-------------------------------------------
Sent: Wednesday 6 july 2005 18:17
To: XXXXX
Subject: In Ref.. order XXXXXXXX from Amazon.co.uk


Dear Customer,

Per your request, we have canceled your order:
0 XXXXXX
We are processing a refund immediately but it can take up to 72 hours to
have it complete. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Sincerely,

XXXXXX
Customer Service
---------------------------------------------


Dear Caiman,

I never asked for this order to be cancelled - I just wanted the CD - what are you people doing?
Get your act together and tell me if it is possible to get this CD or not - I have been waiting on this order since MARCH, and what's more, I had no idea that you had charged me BEFORE you even knew if you could get the item!

If you don't give me a pertinent and clear explanation of your actions, I will be calling both your boss and Amazon to tell them all about the quality of service that you guys are giving your customers.

Your extremely angry customer,

XXXXX

XXXXX Limited
---------------------------------

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday 8 july 2005 19:30
To: XXXXX
Subject: In Ref.. order XXXXX from Amazon.co.uk


Dear Customer,

Unfortunately, we will not be able to offer any additional insight
or action on these matters.


Sincerely

XXXXXX
Customer Service

I wish I had found this site BEFORE I ordered from Caiman! I ordered a game on May 27th and paid the extra cost for "expedited shipping". On June 15th I sent an e-mail requesting status on my order. My order was shipped (finally) on June 17th.

I requested a refund for the expedited shipping cost, since they did NOT expedite. They are INSISTING that expedited shipping means that I should receive the order 3 to 6 business days AFTER they ship it. HUH? Expedited shipping, to everyone else on the planet, means the order should be SHIPPED faster than a regular order.

I'm planning on pursuing this as far as possible - it's not the money now, it's the principle.

Well, add me to the list of "how do they stay in business" customers. I finally called the number that was listed above, only to find that it has been changed to 305-262-4973. I called because I'm still awaiting shipment on an order that was placed 10 days ago! They were to have shipped it on 7/21, according to Amazon.Com. I've written 4 emails to obtain status and not once was I given viable information. Just the standard "we'll notify you when it ships" crap. So, today this girl tells me, "Oh, it's not in stock." "Well, were you ever going to advise me, the customer, that you don't have the item I paid for?" "Oh well, usually an automatic email goes out stating that we don't have it. Would you like me to find out how long it's going to be before we ship it?" "Well duh, yeah!" Okay, I didn't actually say that, but boy, did I feel it. So, this girl is going to contact the supplier to find out how long it will take and then call me back. Ugh!

I have never felt so completely raped in a transaction.

I just can't figure out how they get so much positive feedback on Amazon. And you can bet that Amazon is going to get an earful from me on this situation. This is simply not acceptable.

Here is the address for Caiman if anyone is interested. Also if you feel you have been scammed you can file a complaint online with the Attorney Generals Office of Flordia

http://www.800helpfla.com/ccform.html

6701 NW 7 ST
Suite 125
Miami, FL 33126

I hope this information is usful to someone. It was for me.

I wish I had seen this page before ordering from Caiman, because I'm in the same boat as all of you. I've been extremely patient in my matter, but I placed the order on 7/22/05, it shipped on 7/27/05, but I have yet to receive anything. After I emailed them over a dozen times they finally just claimed that the order was lost in the mail, and that they would replace it if I waited 21 business days (that's actually an Amazon policy). Well, 21 days later it never arrived, so I emailed them and asked them to replace my order...no response. So I emailed them again...no response. I plan on cancelling my order through Amazon using their customer service policy, hopefully they will stop using Caiman on their marketplace. I'm not sure what one person's review of the company can do, so I urge any of you who haven't reviewed Caiman to do so an Amazon.com. They are not an honest business, they are rude, and I sure as hell am not giving them my damn money.

Another nightmare story to add to the list. I ordered a DVD from Caiman got a DVD fairly quickly from them. Problem is, it was the WRONG DVD!! I went to their site and printed out their return label and sent it back. After numerous emails to them, I'm yet to either receive the DVD I ordered or a refund.

DON'T ANYONE ORDER FROM THIS COMPANY!!! THEY ARE TERRIBLE!!

I've been in dispute with them over 3 months from an ebay auction - didn't think of the FL atty general - I was thinking mail fraud, or FTC -

If you add up the ebay complaints for this month, it's close to 10k.

I will add my words to this issue. My son ordered a book from them on 9/9/05, they sent info saying it shipped on 9/14/05, it is now 10/6/05 and it is (you guessed it) still not here. I cannot e-mail them directly, the messages either bounce or no reply. The web site has a place for specifics on the delayed order, then kicks you out if you put anything in that field. I am at a loss as to how to even contact them. I will be informing Amazon of these issues and will not be ordering from caiman ever again.

I th,ink they have their people put false positive feedback on amazon.com. I have been cheated by them I wish I had tried harder to find a local copy of Xenogears.

As somebody who's ordered from them more than 10 times before, and somebody who also sells on eBay and Amazon Marketplace, I'd like to put a different perspective to it. I have received my items in a timely fashion every time, and their prices are generally pretty good. I can't comment on their customer service because I've not needed to use it.

As somebody from England rather than the USA I can't comment really on shipping policies, though as a seller I can relate to their policies. In England the Royal Mail service refuses to investigate claims of lost packages until 15 working days (21 total days) after the item is sent. The investigation can take a couple of weeks, and after it's taken place the Royal Mail tell the sender whether the item was actually delivered or not. If it was not delivered the sender receives appropriate compensation. If it wasn't received it's up to the sender to report the buyer for mail fraud. Can you guys see that it's not fair for me to immediately believe the customer and hand them a refund or a new item, without any proof that they're being truthful? I think it's unfortunate that people only ever talk about etailers when they've screwed up, or else you guys would have a better opinion on this company.

No, Leo - we would not. I think what you've missed is that the company ADMITS they did not send the item, then fails to issue the refund for months after saying they would do so in 3 days. I am not the only person who needed to get my state's attorney general involved.

I also sell on ebay and have bought on ebay and amazon for seven years. I've never cried fraud before. I would like to report that involving the government did finally result in a refund, those interested.

I had a similar experience to you guys. I ordered from Caiman through Half.com on 08-08-2005 and was subsequently informed that they did not have the product. Later I found out that the DVD set I wanted is not out of print. When were they going to inform me of that? This is probably the worst internet company I have ever dealt with, and I've used alot of them.

Caiman.com is absolutely the worst customer service experience ever!

I ordered a DVD from Caiman from Amazon on 11/05/05. I received an email from them saying it has shipped. On 12/07/05 it is still not here. I emailed "Claire" in customer service. She said the USPS can take up to 21 days to deliver a package. This is total fabrication. I then asked for the tracking number for the package. She replied, "The USPS does not provide us with tracking numbers." Once again, I believe such a statement is a total fabrication. They're the worst. SOMEBODY SHUT THEM DOWN.

I ordered a CD one month ago-never came-impossible to get a response-but I blame half.com, too. they both stink.

Yes, these guys do stink.

How come Amazon hasn't booted them from their site for the b.s. they put people through?

They use dropshippers for the majority of their products. They don't carry much physical inventory. How do I know this? Let's just say I know.

If I buy anything from Amazon Marketplace, I look at the seller's record. If I pay a few bucks more to the seller that's higher than Caiman (who always seems to be the "lowest") so be it. In most cases I am still saving on the Amazon price AND most sellers on Ebay.

I had a similar experience with this dishonest vendor (caiman.com). I bought a CD from them via Amazon.com and it has been 6 months now and I have still not received it! Worse, they are not responding to emails. I get sick thinking about how much $$ they are making by not sending the product that people have ordered.

I am taking this up with Amazon and expect a full refund. They made the business decision to partner with this vendor and they should follow up when the vendor does not.

Yes, Call the number 305-262-4973. I talked to an actual person. I am convinced the company is a scam. The woman on the line said her name was Claire, what? I thought that was a computer. Anyway I should have a refund in 3 days, well see.

I only wish I had run a search on this company before I placed my order through Amazon. I placed an order on January 12. Caiman claims to have shipped my book on January 13. Today is February 6. I never received my book. After reading everything here, I don't think they ever even shipped my order. What's even more funny is that the email I got from them was signed by Claire. WTF? Is she the only person who works there or do they all just use the same name?

I think these guys must live off the interest of the money they collect, since they don't deliver on time, or at all.
I ordered through half.com (another service-challenged company) and Caiman hadn't sent the book within the required 3 days, nor 3 weeks later.
So I emailed them and the infamous Claire told me there was a delay. If I had waited another week, I could have reported them to the FTC, ah well.

From the FTC site:
The Rule requires that when you advertise merchandise, you must have a reasonable basis for stating or implying that you can ship within a certain time. If you make no shipment statement, you must have a reasonable basis for believing that you can ship within 30 days. That is why direct marketers sometimes call this the "30-day Rule."

If, after taking the customer’s order, you learn that you cannot ship within the time you stated or within 30 days, you must seek the customer’s consent to the delayed shipment. If you cannot obtain the customer’s consent to the delay -- either because it is not a situation in which you are permitted to treat the customer’s silence as consent and the customer has not expressly consented to the delay, or because the customer has expressly refused to consent -- you must, without being asked, promptly refund all the money the customer paid you for the unshipped merchandise.

I have been going back and forth with them for the past month! Always the same 4 template email responses from the infamous Claire. Finally I contacted Amazon, who seems to be aware of the trouble with this seller (yet not doing much about it). I had ordered a text book for a psychology course- have still not received it (nor have the other 3 people in the class who also ordered from caimon and are getting the same runaround).
Here is the current # for Caimon - (305) 262-4973. Address is: 6701 NW 7 ST?Suite 125?Miami, FL 33126
and the attrny genrl office of FL is: http://www.800helpfla.com/ccform.html

I finally talked to Claire on the phone (after about 9 calls) and got the runaround from her. Once I mentioned the Attorney General's office she offered me a refund....the email I just received for the refund stated the reason as "lost in the mail" -somehow I doubt it was ever shipped. I contacted the USPS and inquired about the shipping time I was quoted by caimon and was told that for this time of year there is next to no reason why it would take that long!
Bottom line, stay away from them! If it's too late for you, use the above information to get some resolution, and I advise EVERYONE who experiences this with them to file a complaint with both Amazon and the FL Attrny Genl office....maybe we can get something done.

I would have to agree with Leo on this one. As a long time Amazon seller, I know that a company with excessive negative feedbacks is reprimanded. So why is Caiman not kicked out for its feedback? Precisely that! Because of its feedback. It’s very pessimistic to evaluate a company, or anything for that matter, solely looking at its negative aspects. After checking to see Caiman’s feedback history one can see that the negative feedbacks are a minority. In fact they are a less than a diminutive minority, as their page is mostly filled with EXCELLENTs and FIVEs. Meaning that despite some people’s bashings it is a highly competent company. Their prices are practically the cheapest, which is why people purchase from them. If there is an issue with time when receiving orders, then don’t be an imbecile and get off your seat, buy it at the store. Now if all you want is acknowledgement that they did you wrong and that you are right and thirst an apology, then you, my friend, need therapy, to be recognized more often in your home, or are in dire need of attention. Most of the products I’ve seen and purchased at Caiman are rare or out of print items. Obviously, these items are hard to find, and chances are if you couldn’t find them it’ll take longer than regular items. In any case, they are not holding your money hostage, there is always the option to cancel. I am aware that the “angry customers” will not shake out of their bias, because they are, after all, angry, which deprives of one’s rationality and ability to think straight. But the truth is the truth and it is not relative. The facts show that Caiman has more “happy” customers and positive reviews than negative ones. Don’t argue with me, all it takes is a minute to visit their feedback page on Amazon.

Well, they never delivered, and it was definitely NOT a hard to find item that I ordered. Again, this was not just myself, but 3 other classmates as well. The REAL problem is that many people don't bother to give any feedback on the Amazon site...however, when I talked to the customer service people at Amazon I was told they have received numerous complaints and "A-Z Guarantee" claims lately, and are researching if they should stop Caiman.com from being able to do business through them.
And not being angry Kelly, but if you want to talk about the "truth", don't go by what a few people may or may not have said on Amazon's site, contact the Florida state Attourney General's office- I did...there have been a LARGE number of complaints filed, and Caiman is being looked at for possible fraud charges.

Oh one more thing...by the way, the comment that "there is always the option to cancel..." well no, with Caiman there is not. They supposedly ship within 2 days (which has also been shown not to be the case) and once they have "shipped" they can/will no longer cancel an order. Tried that one when they failed to deliver.

Look, I've ordered online extensively for many years. I've never filed fraud complaints before. They jerked my refund about for MONTHS after repeatedly lying to me about a product they never had. It took the intervention of the authorities to shake my money loose.

It was too late for me to leave ebay feedback. They'd stalled me out. I'm not angry, I'm aware. I posted here to provide feedback which can be taken into account for those inclined.

I firmly believe that this comapny makes purchases from themselves to keep the high rating, look throught the history you will see alot of the same names giving the exact same feedback.

If the item was shipped, it obviously can't be cancelled, BECAUSE it shipped. Unless you have magical powers and can stop the mail at your will. But I’m partially human, so I can’t do that. Somehow I highly doubt that the Florida State Attorney General’s office has a “LARGE” number of complaints, because they don’t distribute that much information to anyone, unless you work for them. Even so, if that were true, Caiman would be a dead alligator by now. I also highly doubt that Amazon would be dealing with a “fraudulent” company. People keep claiming that “authorities” had to intervene to obtain things from Caiman, which is kind of funny, as in “ha ha” not odd. Who’s the “authorities”? The cops,? A judge? You? Well, actually it’s odd too. If the “authorities” have intervened as much as people say, then they don’t really find anything wrong with Caiman, because it’s obviously still up and running. But don’t be angry about that, just be “aware.” A few feedbacks to me is like 30, maybe 50. These people have thousands of positive. But if that’s a few, I guess McDonald’s and it’s billions of customers is one of the only companies with more than a “few” customers.

Kelly is correct, it obviuosly can't be cancelled, BECAUSED it shipped. I purchased an item and recieved an email from Claire saying the item was SHIPPED. 3 weeks later I recieved another email saying the order has been cancelled and to expect a refund. HOW DID CAIMAN STOP THE MAIL?? THEY MUST HAVE THOSE MAGICAL POWERS KELLY WAS TALKING ABOUT. It seems Caiman has the power to stop the mail, but not give refunds in a timely matter.

I purchased a book from caiman for my spring semester. Two days later I got an email about the book being shipped. I waited and waited for 3 weeks and I didn't see my book. I sent email to the customer service and I got random response saying that USPS is taking up to 3 weeks to deliver the book. I sent a few other emails to inquire about the book and I got the same response.

For your information Caiman.com is in Miami, FL and I live in Gainesville, FL. That is only a few hundred miles apart. It would have been here in a few days at most. But 3 weeks passed and I got nothing. I had to wait until the expected arrival date to pass and ask Amazon to refund me with their A-Z guarantee. A week later Amazon refund me with my money back. A week later the book came after I had my first exam. What a lousy service. Tell your friends about this seller.

Guess what? I'm keeping the book. After going through "hell" customer service and long waiting.. . they deserve to lose money and a customer.

kol

Crap, I'm going through the same thing where I keep getting the run around...about to cancel my order through ebay where I won it...don't know what to do now.

DON'T USE CAIMAN! Hopefully I've caught you in time. I recently ordered something for my father's birthday (which is 7/22). I placed the order through Abebooks.com on 7/16, which told me my estimated delivery time was 2-6 days. If I got the item in 6 days, that would be just enough time for Dad's b-day. I paid EXTRA for the faster shipping. Abebooks.com connected me to Caiman.com, their supplier for this item. It said the item was located in Florida, and since I'm in Massachusetts, the package shouldn't take that long to arrive. Since I'm pretty impatient, I logged into Caiman's website to make sure my package had been shipped. For three days it said "processing." We all know that "processing" does not mean "shipped," so I tried to contact Caiman. There is NO PHONE NUMBER AT ALL! I wrote them a few e-mails which I was supposed to have answered in 24 hours, but that never happened. I previously asked them a question about the color of he item I ordered and they never got back to me on that, either. Anyway, I figured I'd contact Abebooks.com (another one with no phone number ... I had to call the media department) since they already debited my MC for the money for the item. They told me that if it goes past 48 hours, they themselves can send a message to the supplier asking them to get back to me ASAP. I finally start getting answers from Caiman. The first e-mail I received was something like, "Your order is still processing." It was one of those generic message. WTF, right? Then I got a message regarding my question about the color of my item. It said, "Please read your item description for further details." Whatever. I later checked the Caiman.com site and it said that my item was "in transit" and that the ETA for delivery was 7/24. I NEED THIS BY 7/22!!! I went to Abebooks.com and checked to see what ETA they had and they had a delivery date of 7/25. UNACCEPTABLE! Why did I pay for shipping in 2-6 days if they weren't going to send it? I start freaking. There had to be a phone number for Caiman.com. THANKS TO THIS SITE, I found a contact number. I called them and I finally got a rep. She looked up my item and I asked her why I would receive it on 7/24 and not 7/22 like I expected. She said, "Uh ... your item hasn't even been shipped." I told her what Caiman.com had posted on their site under "track your order" but she told me that they were wrong. I said, "Well, what should I do?" She said it could take anywhere from 2 days to a MONTH to get my order. I asked her to look up a possible tracking number since Abebooks.com also said that my item was shipped (I figured she just didn't know what she was talking about) but then she shocked me. She said, "Do you want to cancel the order?" I said no, but she insisted and said, "Maybe you should just cancel. I would." HELLO? Don't they want business? The Caiman.com rep just told me to cancel. I said, "GLADLY!" She told me that I would be sent a confirmation e-mail and that my refund of over $100 should be processed in 24-72 hours. THAT IS NOT THE WORST PART! I asked for a supervisor and she said that she didn't have one. I asked her if she was the boss of the whole company (not having a boss and all) but she said no. I asked to speak to someone else but she said that there was no one there. She said she was in a room alone and that she was the first one to arrive for work that day. WTF???? I hang up with her and call Abebooks.com. They told me that the supplier (Caiman) has to cancel the order. The best part was when the Abebooks.com rep took my call and looked up my item number, she reads, "You ordered 'The Rise and Fall of the British Empire,' right?" Um ... no. Anyway, she told me that I should wait to hear from Caiman despite the fact that Abebooks.com is the one who debited my MC. Nonetheless, I get an e-mail from Caiman that read "a request for a refund will be processed in 24-72 hours." Oh well, I guess my Dad isn't getting a b-day gift for 24-72 hours. HERE IT IS ... THE BEST PART. My bank called me. Suspicious charges from Amazon.com have shown up on my debit card. The first one was for $1.00 something and the next one was for $143.00. The bank held the charges because they looked suspicious and so they were calling me to find out if I had made those purchases. I told her the only charge I authorized for my debit card was the $100+ order to Abebooks.com. She said that was approved, but she would have to cancel my card because apparently someone had taken the number and was using it to buy stuff on Amazon.com. I NEVER had this problem before ordering from Abebooks/Caiman.com. Seriously, never go through either of them. It's a trap. They take your card and make charges on it. You will never get your stuff. I'm almost positive that I'm going to have to chase these sons-of-b*tches down for my damn refund. I'm so annoyed. DON'T USE THEM! Use Barnes and Noble, eBay, Amazon ... one of the well-known organizations. Caiman sucks.

HERE ARE THE CUSTOMER SERVICE NUMBERS THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO HAVE:

Abebooks: 250-475-6013
Caiman: 305-262-4973

It looks like I have to add my name to the list of screwed Caiman customers. I ordered two expensive, quite rare CDs from them only to see that they have been processing my order for around 9 days :-/ I bought them from eBay, in which the auction stated that they had 65(!) in stock and ship within 1-2 days.
I have repetedly email them only to get canned responses, most of which do not even approach what I would call an answer.
I am in the UK and was assured by them that thay are too. Sadly that does not seem to be the case.

I would never use caiman again, I have learned a sore lesson here.

Your not getting a decent answer from Caiman because CLAIRE is a robot. I had bought a cd from them months ago and they never sent it. It took me a few weeks before I realized Claire was an automated response system. I realized this when I called Claire a rather obsene name in email,Claire had nothing to say except my order was on the way. I mean it says on the Caiman website that Claire can answer your mail in any language.. now how is that possible? Is Claire the worlds best linguist? No Claire is a ROBOT automatic response.

English is my first language but I also speak Swedish and I wrote to them in Swedish to see if they really could reply in any language guess what??? I never got a reply. I guess CLAIRE doesnt speak Swedish. LOL

I got my DVD rather fast but when I tryed to play it I found that it was a region code 2, and will only play in players over seas. When I finlly got a responce to my email they said I could only get a refund if it was unopened. They had nothing about the DVD being region code 2, how was I suposs to know. Who sells imported DVD's in the U.S?

I too am having problems with Caiman. I (presumably) ordered the same item with 65 'in stock' from ebay.

To begin with they couldn't answer any questions about the item. I decided to take the risk as it's quite rare and seeing that i could cancel my order i thought i'd be ok. I actually made 4 separate orders.

The problems began when the status of the order didn't change from pending. After i while i asked if they could actually provide the goods. They cancelled my order.

The good news was that they refunded the money. The bad news was that they only refunded the 1 order that they cancelled of the 4. I have since cancelled the other 3 but am having problems getting the refunds.

They have since been kicked off ebay.

I don't understand how they can actually operate as a business as they seem completely disorganised. For example they don't even have email references. When i asked where my refunds were their reply was "You have still not received your refund for your item (item name)?" Errr...., well, yes!

I paid via paypal so i'm hoping i'm covered but not sure what happens if they aren't using paypal any more.

I just ordered an item through Abe. After I got the confirmation from Abe, I got another e-mail from something called Caiman.
The e-mail said:

"We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your
AbeBooks.com Marketplace order with AbeBooks.com, order #" and then they gave me a completely DIFFERENT order #!

I think Caiman might be a front for some sort of scam. I wrote back a note telling 'em exactly what I thought.

Somebody ought to notify the authorities.

Add me to the list. I ordered a book and it took forever to ship out. By the time I received the book, I had already bought it from another vendor because I needed it for a class. I went to Caiman.com and followed the instructions to return the book. Several weeks later I have tried and tried again to get the status of the return only to have "Claire" the automated email bot tell me they have not received the book. There is no way to speak with a real human being and of cource the email bot customer service rep is useless. I have been screwed out of $70 by Caiman.

Add me to the list. I ordered a book and it took forever to ship out. By the time I received the book, I had already bought it from another vendor because I needed it for a class. I went to Caiman.com and followed the instructions to return the book. Several weeks later I have tried and tried again to get the status of the return only to have "Claire" the automated email bot tell me they have not received the book. There is no way to speak with a real human being and of cource the email bot customer service rep is useless. I have been screwed out of $70 by Caiman.

I wish I had also seen this site before I ordered a DVD for my son from Caiman.com for Christmas. I ordered a DVD on 12/18/06 and payed extra for the expedited service only to just receive it today (12/30/06). We did get it but found out it won't play on any of our DVD players because of the "wrong region" message. I have e-mailed them so we'll see what happens. I don't have a good feeling about it though after reading all these e-mails. I'll keep you all informed.

Wow! I had no idea others were having such problems!!

I just today launched a "boycott" to many of my friends that do a lot of online buying and especially CDs and music purchases!

See below:

"Who to boycott at Amazon.com"

...or at least "use with great caution"!

One of the private sellers when you buy a new/used item named Caiman.com - they are a Florida based on-line company.

Why?

I usually used them quite often with little problems over the last few years. Considering how far they are from California they would ship in a decent turnaround. Up until recently I never had to tangle with problem orders from them. This was the test of how well/not well they can handle customer satisfaction:
On November 30 I placed an order with them for a CD and a book.
The CD came about 8 days later, no problem.
On the 14th, what I THOUGHT was the book arrived but inside the package labeled to me was some DVD order someone else placed through Overstock.com.
The next day I called it to their attention and also looked on their site to see if there was a toll-free number to speak to someone since this was an unusual mix-up. They have no live number.
After describing what had happened in an email, first response was a cold "We are not Overstock.com, and you should contact them".
About six email exchanges later someone finally actually read what I was telling them and it wasn't until the next day someone finally sent me a return label by email.
By the way, I told them OVER AND OVER that I wanted the item and not just a credit.
I did my part and sent the item back. Do you think anyone notified me of this on their end? Of course not! I contacted them on the 21st and was given the following:
The item was returned and you will be credited. You can re-order at any time!
When I got on their case on that (we're now talking on the date of their deadline - Dec 22) they ignored my response until well after the Christmas holiday.
The next week I got a rude response saying "You will be issued a credit when the item is returned" - meaning if the person that actually GOT my order chooses to be honest about it and send it back to them they will acknowledge it.
In the meantime I also filed a couple of complaints about this to Amazon and they set me up on the option last week of A-Z claim. After that last response from Caiman I gave them an ultimatum - credit my account by Dec 29 (since it hadn't been already) or get the item to me by that date.

This morning I was told by the seller all I would be getting was a refund - no apologies for the runaround or anything else!
J o n

Sorry to hear all the horror stories about this vendor. And to think I nearly placed my order with him today. Since one good turn deserves another, here's his phone number and addie:

6701 NW 7th St.
Ste. 125
Doral, Fl 33126
[305]262.4973

I ordered a book from caiman.com
and the book was to be shipped from Miami,
I live in West Palm Beach.
I can literally drive to Miami in an hour.

The book took almost a Month to arrive,
the topper is THEY SHIPPED THE WRONG BOOK!

TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, ROTTEN, I CANNOT FIND ENOUGH BAD THINGS TO SAY ABOUT CAIMON.COM!

Please whatever you do DO NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM CAIMON.COM/

Terrible, Horrible, Awful, are just the nice words that I can think of!

I will not even get into the details as it just gets me stressed and I do not need stress right now.

Suffice it to say DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BUY ANYTHING FROM CAIMAN.COM!

What a terrible company. had the same problem as Tim, was sent a Pal DVD, who buys that in North America ? Didn't know it was PAL until I tried to play it, i was told since I opened it they would not take it back, i was hot and fired off three emails saying "no where on your site does it say it is a PAL only product" . I did hear from "Claire" and was e mailed a mailing slip to return it.This was my first and last time dealing with them and i am pissed at Amazon for directing me to them ( why has their site been down for so long?). I have been reading all the horror stories here, what a terrible company !
George

I read some of the comments about Caiman.com and just want to add that they did the same sales shenanigans on half.com. They would advertise Brand New items and take your money. Then after waiting weeks for the item, you would have to email them only to find out the item was "back ordered". If you complained enough the listed item was removed from being sold. So let's face it, they're using tens of thousands of dollars of customers un-shipped item payments to run their company. They should be closed down or at least regulated.

Hi i did order from importcds.com before Caiman and the stuff i got was damaged on 2 orders so i have never bought stuff off them since. I have bought from UK sellers and Caiman was better yes they can either take a week which is not long to the uk or you can wait a while but i do tend to recive them in good condition. Maybe i am rare in having a good experence with them but i have not sent anything back so i don't know what they wouid be like then.

We get a lot of complaints about Caiman on Amazon. I wish there was something we could do about it, but unfortunately there is nothing a regular CSA will be able to do about Caiman selling on our website. The best thing to do is send them an email from Amazon and wait three days then file an a-z claim. Or just don't buy from them.

I'm one of those customers who purchased a DVD from Caiman. It seems to be formated for some operating system in central Europe. Caiman doesn't reply and neither does Amazon. I'll be very wary of using Amazon as a source in the future. They don't care one way or another if their clients provide service.

I see I'm far from alone in this!

When you complain, they pay off people at Amazon to make it look like you never ordered from them at all!

They refuse to refund my money,were rude, and when I checked with amazon, the order was GONE, it was just MISSING from my order history!!!!!

Thankfully I have a long email trail from them and can prove there was an order.

to whom it may concern , I ordered a dvd from caiman.com through amazon.com it took about 3 weeks to send me advd that could only be played in europe on a machine that cant be purchased in the usa or played by my dvd player . when I e mailed them they wanted the date I purchased it so I sent it to them then they asked fom a purchase number so I sent it then they asked for a time that I ordered I had to go back to the original paper work and sent it back to them its been three months and I still have a german dvd that I cant even play or even read the title because its not in english its all in german however it is the movie that I ordered just not In english

Ordered dvd from Amazon, it was sent to Caiman It turns out dvd is for Region II and won't play in US Contacted Caiman who refuses to refund since it had been opened. How could you know it wouldn't work if you didn't open it?
Should have been warned it wouldn't play
Amazon should get rid of these people.

Well...guess I should have read this instead of trying to save a few bucks. I ordered a used book which was "shipped" on November 25, 2006. I never received the book and after many emails to Caiman, they informed me that it must have gotten lost in the mail and was returned to them (January 12, 2007) and that they would issue a return to my credit card within 72 hours. It is now July 30, 2007 and I am still fighting with them - and every response is the same "We are sorry for the inconvenience". I contacted the BBB,and according to them, they are one of the biggest issues they deal with on a regular basis - and that they do not respond to phone calls and emails from the BBB. BEWARE OF THIS COMPANY!!!

Well add me too.
I waited for 10 days for them to ship one tiny little cd. then i got it and it was damaged so i contacted caimen and let them know they sent me a label and before i could get a refund i had to send them back the cd. that was fine but I sent it a month ago and they claim they haven't received it and each time i email them they give me one liner excuses. I haven't called yet so that is my next step. but the poorest customer service ever i am surprised they are not shut down from all these comments i have read.

I'm almost embarrassed to say that I too may have been taken in....

My experience is very similar to Brett's above. I placed an order via Amazon on 7/30/07. The next day, my card was charged and I received an e-mail that my CD had shipped. The stated delivery time was 4-14 business days. On 8/21/07, having received nothing, I sent an e-mail to "Claire." The response the next day was that "sometimes USPS takes 21 business days. If you don't receive it by Aug. 30, contact me."

After that, I started looking into caiman.com and found this website (and others) all saying the same thing.... DON'T BUY FROM CAIMAN!

I've shopped on-line for 10 years, and this is the first time I've had any kind of trouble with *any* seller. I checked their feedback rating before placing my order. No, it wasn't as high as others (about 93%), but their recent ratings were all positive... and they were a bit cheaper. In hindsight (and after taking a closer look at their "positive" feedback compared to these negative reports), I'm convinced that they must use some type of systematic feedback-filler to cover up negative ratings.

Anyway, I'm going to wait until August 30th, then I'm going to contact my credit card company and dispute the charge (before the 60-day deadline). If, by some miracle, the CD actually does arrive sometime after Aug. 30th (I'm not holding my breath), I'll just send it back.... At this point, I simply want nothing to do with this company.

Part of me thinks this is too much trouble for a $10 CD, but after reading everyone's comments, I believe that's what caiman.com *hopes* their customers will think... that people will just give up and go away. They're not going to profit off me like that, no even for just $10!

Just having been screwed by dvdlegacy and Paypal, I was interested by the comments on this site.

Sorry to have to say this, but I recently ordered from Caiman. The price paid was extremely reasonable, the goods arrived AOK (if a little slow, having come to France from Tortuga via New Zealand!!) BUT I AM VERY SATISFIED. Just goes to show that this world ain't necessarily a bad place.

But listen guys and gals, don't EVER order from dvdlegacy. You think Caiman is bad???
dvdlegacy's got 'em licked into a corner.

Happy shopping;

I ordered an out-of print book May 22, 2007, and paid for it via PayPal immediately. After two weeks I started emailing two-three times a week, always getting the useless robot auto-responder email "Claire". What really burns me is I passed up other more reputable vendors with the same book. Of course, all copies are now gone and four months later I have not gotten anything from Caiman. Checked my account today and lo and behold it shows the order as canceled, which I certainly did not do. No book, no money, no response from this outfit. They are at best one of the worst sellers I have ever encountered, at worst in my opinion they are crooks. I strongly suspect they saw this book go for much bigger dollars on Ebay and conveniently could not find it when I ordered my copy. My advice based on my experience, is under no circumstances would I order from them.

I sure wish I had seen this site before I ordered from this company. I ordered 2 cd's on sept 3, paid $10.95 for expidited shipping. I have yet to recieve one cd and just recieved one today the 26th of sept. their site claims 2-6 days. i want to file a complaint on the amazon but i don't where.

I had problems with customer service. Original items never arrived and customer service give you the run around.

Here's the customer service phone number. You must hit "0" (zero) to get to the correct person. The automated message will not tell you how to get to customer service. The lady answering the phone will give you the run around. I just kept calling back every 3 min till she sent me through to someone who would help me. Be strong people.

Caiman cust service: 1-866-376-3541 (hit zero after automated response).

I hate Caiman already. I made the mistake of ordering a book through them off Amazon Marketplace. I placed the order November 4th. On November 5th I received an email from them stating that my order was received and I made the mistake of assuming that this meant my book had shipped out. WRONG! I just got an email today - November 16 - saying that the order was only now shipped, 11 days after I ordered it. This is ridiculous. I can't believe what other customers have experienced with Caiman. Never again, and I plan on smearing their name whenever I can.

I orered a DVD boxset via Amazon on 12th December, stupidly thinking it would arrive before xmas................

It still hasn't even been shipped and I have received no reply to my email querying its status!

never again....

Did any one know that Caiman now owns TOWER.COM....Just letting you guys know....Tower has great brand appeal however, by everybodies remarks I felt compelled to tell you.

Another disgruntled customer here: I ordered a rare CD as a Christmas gift, like Mark R, on December 12. I had given the order up for lost by mid-January. Imagine my surprise, then, when I received an email from Caiman on January 17 saying that my order "Shipped from Our Distribution Center!" The thing finally showed up at my door on the 23rd, just a bit too late for Christmas morning.

I understand that rare CDs may not always be in stock, and have no idea what sort of business model Caiman has, but it is simply dishonest to market your products as being "in stock" and ready to ship in 48 hours when they are not. A delay of more than 30 days, moreover, DEMANDS that you promptly email your customers and inform them of such. What use is a gift a month after Christmas or someone's birthday? Or a schoolbook which arrives once exams are done? If it's going to take a while, thats's OK: just let people know so they can choose whether or not to go ahead with the purchase. But if you don't ever let them know, or tell them otherwise, you are misleading them and racking up purchases which well-informed customers would never have made. I will leave others to find a word to describe this sort of conduct.

Like another poster above, I have never, once, ever before had a problem like this with any online merchant, whether individual or corporate, that I have dealt with. Caiman's service is so bad, however, that it needs to be publicized for the benefit of others out there.

Hey everyone! I sure do wish these kinds of comments were on the Amazon website so we could see them BEFORE we bought from them!

Seems pointless at this time in the conversation, but here's yet one more.

My husband purchased a DVD from them via Amazon.com. On the description, it said format: DVD. No other details. Well, he use to live in England and Germany so is aware that the DVDs they sell there will not play here in the US. So he looked up where it would ship from: Miami, FL. Ok, so it's gotta be a US product, right?

Wrong!

We get it, pay no attention to the cover except to make sure it's the correct DVD. And it won't play: "Playback prohibited by region code."

Since their site was intentionally deceptive (being an international vendor they should know better), they refuse a return because the DVD was opened!

I've seen the feedback they've gotten on the Amazon site & very few people have had a problem with them, it seems... So post feedback there, too, please!

Seeing what other options we have for satisfaction.

I have experienced the same problems. The voice menu at this number and address:

(305) 262-4973
6701 NW 7 ST
Suite 125
Miami, FL 33126

appears to be completely automated. All voice boxes appear to be full. Try this number:

1.866.376.3541

and be insistent about speaking to a live person. The Customer Service Director's name is Craig and he is at extension 2004. I also spoke with a person there at extension 2002.

I wil never order from this store again.

Hi,
Just found this page - interesting because I actually AIM to get items from Caiman because they have been so good, so fast and so cheap. In the UK I can, through them, obtain many items which Amazon never has itself. And i have always given full positive feedback too (so at least some of it is "real" feedback :D !). I reckon I have used them 70-80 times in 3 years. Once one item took about 4 weeks to come but they stayed in email contcat throughout.
Maybe its a roll of the dice - some terrible stories above.
D

I wish I had read all of these before ordering from Caiman!

I can't even find the words to describe their service! Frankly I am shocked that AMAZON.COM even recommends them as a retailer!

Placed my order on Jan 17, and they emailed me the next day to confirm that they've "shipped" my order and that it'll take 4-10 business days.

I emailed customer service as I hadn't received anything yet, so they told me that "sometimes it takes up to 17 business days".. after another email asking them to track my parcel to find out where it's at, the same Customer Service representative informed me that "it might take up to 21 business days"

I emailed again and asked the third time and asked them to track my parcel and told them I was unhappy and really disappointed as it was a birthday gift, their reponse this morning was

"Dear Customer, Sometimes the USPS may take 21 business days. If you have not received your order by 2/20/2008 please contact me. Sincerely, xxxxx Caiman Customer Service"

If only I had known. I wouldn't have ordered through them! I don't understand how they are still in business?!

NOT HAPPY at all. And I feel for everyone who is going through the same problem.

I ordered a DVD for Christmas Dec. 17, 07. It was shipped from the Wilm. DE "location", abotu 15 mins from my house. When my Mom tried to use the DVD, she found that it was a European disc, and would not play in a US DVD player. After several phone calls and emails, I could not get an answer from them regarding the problem. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO GET A LIVE PERSON. I had used Google Checkout, and asked them for help. They got me a "return authorization" that wanted the disc sent back to FL. The DVD was sent back on 01/09. It is now 02/26, and I still have not received my refund. I don't have a lot of faith that it will be coming.

Just got two boxes in from Tower Records , the 2007 bankruptcy auction aquisition of Caiman.Someone apparently took exception to my complaints about incorrect orders and failure of staff to respond to repeated emails. The CEO will be receiving packets from me at his addresses -both business and home - in BVI an in Quebec. Photos of the obviously kicked around packages, printouts of the entire email exchanges , etc. I go for the throat.

Caiman advertised the DVD I ordered as playable in all regions. What I received however would not play in region 1 (USA) and indicated it was designed for a different region. Caiman ignored my email asking if they actually had a region 1 copy they could ship me instead. Amazingly their response was Unfortunately we do not have access to product details or pricing. Please contact Amazon for further information. Huh? They have no information about what they sell, or it's price? I tried again and got exactly the same answer. Seems that their staff scan customer emails and reply using a standard list of email responses. I contacted Amazon and they were no help. Caiman refunded my money but would never tell me why I got the wrong version, or if they had the right version (nor did they apologize). It was as productive as talking to monkeys. If problems arise, as in my case, Caiman has no customer service at all. Buy from them at your own risk.

Not to say caiman is not good with most people, i've had the opposite experience. I live in New YOrk City, so that could have something to do with the FAST shipping.

Everytime i've ordered from Caiman, i've received my package WELL before the amazon.com expected arrival date. And its always been in the condition specified on Amazon.com.

I've ordered at least 10-20 DVD's from them, and have left positive feedback on all of them.

Just thought i'd add my experience with them.

Up until this year - 2008, I've had excellent results with Caiman.com, BUT, that has changed. Shipping has always been good, but returns and information has become unbearable. Most recently, I ordered a DVD SET -- described as such on Amazon. Right after the purchase, I began to doubt it was really a set due to the cost and the listed runtime. I immediately wrote them and asked to clarify so that i could cancel if necessary. 3days later my response was "your order has shipped". When it arrived, it was not a set, but a single DVD. I wrote for a Return Authorization, explaining the whole situation. My response was short and abrupt and included information that was not part of the original listing -- they had obviously editied it. I went to Amazon and sure enough, the one I had purchased from was gone. All of my invoices and Amazon records showed the 9 DVD Set as the ordered item though, so I wrote one more time. The response (now 7 days after the order was delivered) "thank you. Your order shipped on xx/xx/2008. WTF. Obviously, a ROBOT response. I'll now try the phone numbers listed in this forum. AND I'll never use Caiman again.

I will never order from this company again! I placed my order as a gift for a family member who lives in the midwest. I live on the west coast. After placing my order, I received an email from "Claire" who told me they no longer had the item in stock and didn't know when they would. I responded and requested a cancel and refund. I then called the customer service phone number and spoke to a real person who told me they would have the item in stock that day and it would ship soon. After hanging up the phone, I received another email from "Claire" stating my package was now in stock and had shipped (a mere 30 minutes after she sent me the email saying it was out of stock). Needless to say, the morons sent the package to me (on the west coast) and not the intended family member in the midwest. I am waiting to hear if they will provide me with a refund on my shipping costs, since they managed to send it to the wrong address. And did I mention that the "track your package" link showed the package being shipped to the midwest address? Unbelievable. Will NEVER order from them again.

Just to add my own experience - I've ordered from Caiman a couple dozen times over the last two years, and had almost no problems with them. Usually items ship within a few days and are received a few days after that. Between the generally good service and the excellent prices, I've gone back to them again and again. I have had a couple items that were delayed in shipping longer than expected. They explain this in an FAQ on their site (they obtain some items from suppliers and if the supplier is slow to get it to them, then they are in turn slow to ship it to you). I'd prefer that this wasn't the case, obviously, but I understand that it is and that occasionally I'll have to wait several days longer than usual.

I haven't had to use their customer service, but it wouldn't surprise me greatly if it was impersonal and incompetent. Most high volume sellers are. I've had similar questionable service from Microsoft support, importcds (another big Amazon seller), and many others. A bad support experience might put me off of Caiman, but all that has mattered to me so far is that they fulfill my orders in a timely manner and for the right price.

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