Video Only Consumer Reviews

PORTLAND, OREGON -- They could not fix the TV for 3 months. They were obligated to provide me a refund. They said they send a check, which will arrive in 10-14 business days. No check arrived. I contacted the company, they said they are voiding the one that is send and sending me a new one. I asked them questions about when I am going to receive the check, and they never responded. It has been over 3 months, I will take legal action at this point since I already have a written correspondence.

EUGENE, OREGON -- In December of 2008 I ordered a home video theater system from Video Only, which consisted of a Panasonic plasma screen theater, a Panasonic blu ray player, a Yamaha receiver and a set of infinity speakers.

Yesterday (3/30) I finally received the last component of the system after waiting and waiting and waiting. I was able to pick up the plasma TV at the store and the speakers arrived about a month later. The salesmen are incredibly rude, and seem to have gone to the used car salesman school of customer service. The original blu ray player they sold me was discontinued, so they tried to steer me to a demo and when I refused the got pissed, but I did get them to credit my account. The receiver they ordered was also discontinued and they tried to steer me to another model ($100 more, which made me think this was a bait and switch variant) and when I refused that they got pissed again.

Weeks passed and after making multiple calls, a replacement receiver finally arrived (new model). Unfortunately that wouldn't work with a Panasonic blu ray player which was exactly like the one on my original order, so more weeks went by while they "contacted tech support at Yamaha." Finally I gave up and wanted them to credit my account. They wouldn't do it. So I tried another unit they had in stock and it finally worked.

Moral of story: Don't get anything at Video Only unless they have it in the store and be prepared for a confrontation with the salesmen (example: when I brought back the receiver that wouldn't work with my blu ray player a manager told me "You didn't get that here!" Even though he'd told me the week before it would be in by Friday of that week.

SALEM, OREGON -- On Jan 30th 2009, my husband bought a TV. A 42 inch Toshiba flat screen lcd. He was told by the sales woman that it was last years model, and the box had been opened. The warehouse sealed it. Got it home, after 45 minutes, the screen is really messed up, flashing lights, a blackish colored box on the screen. AND the TV is covered in scratches. They sold us a refurbished TV, if we had known that, we would NOT have bought it. Called 1/21/09 to get it fixed, they sent someone out 2/2/09, the DAY AFTER SUPER BOWL, TV's broke, need new parts.

To make a long story short, today's date is 2/20/09, been 3 weeks already, still have a broken TV. Not fixed. Video only won't exchange my TV because they don't want to lose money. I paid $700 cash for the TV, they won't refund me for 30 days. They don't care. I called the manager ** on 2/9/09, 2/11/09, 2/19/09, still have YET to get a response... supposedly parts on are back order till late March. Their customer service end is worthless... they don't return calls, they don't care about the consumer... just care about making money even if they have to lie about their products to sell them.

We USED to buy things from video only, won't ever do it again. If you're expecting to buy something, and have the company you buy from back you up, forget it. It's not going to happen. They don't care. They won't return calls. When I told them I filed a complaint with the BBB and Oregon Dept of justice, the manager told me he didn't need to hear me making any threats... these are NOT threats. I did file complaints. An attorney is next. Hopefully I won't have to spend any more money out of pocket to protect myself, and get what I purchased, but I will if I have to.

Hopefully the Dept of Justice will give Video only a big fat fine for illegal sales practices. The attorney seems to think it's a REAL good case. Buying a TV from Video Only has been a HUGE mistake. I got ripped off. I had to cancel my super bowl party, NASCAR has been ruined, and my 14 year old's Birthday party sucked since we couldn't watch movies like we had planned. Thanks for nothing Video only. You suck. I hate liars, and I hate thieves.

LYNNWOOD, WASHINGTON -- I purchased a 50" Samsung plasma TV on Dec. 14th as a Xmas present. I was told they were out of stock but they promised delivery in 1-2 weeks. No problem, they would have it by New Years. FIVE weeks later, still no TV and their story on why had changed weekly. It went from 'they're coming tomorrow!' to 'should be a couple of days', to 'we don't know when we're going to get them'. They repeatedly blamed Samsung, first saying they gave the TVs promised and paid for by Video Only to Best Buy. Ummmmm, Best Buy doesn't carry this model. Then they said Samsung wouldn't give them any info or dates.

I finally talked to another retailer who said it was a 2009 model and they had been told by Samsung that no more were being manufactured or shipped. I asked Video Only if there was a good possibility that they would never get this model back in and they said 'yes'. Fine, then what DO you have in stock in a 50" plasma TV that I could have delivered?? Remember, this is already 5 weeks after my purchase. Nothing. Nada. They had NO 50" TVs at all in stock. They had one 58" for almost twice the price. I firmly believe after reading other similar reviews of this store that this practice is something they do repeatedly.

Sell things they don't have and sit on the money until people get tired and ask for a refund. I was told they had 30 people waiting for these. That's over $30,000! Then to add insult to injury, their refund process is a joke! I purchased the TV on 12/14 and it hit my VISA account on 12/15. ONE day. If you want a refund, you are told that it has to be processed manually (they literally take an old fashioned imprint of your card - they refuse to run it through electronically) and it has to be sent to their home office for them to handle. Minimum of 2 weeks.

When I became irate and demanded better, he promised to get it done in one week. Well guess what. It's been one week and still no refund on my card. I have reported them to the WA State Attorney General's office and also the Better Business Bureau. In the meantime, I went somewhere else (Magnolia) and had one delivered in days. Do yourself a favor - DON'T give these guys your money. If you must shop here, make sure you walk out the door with the product in hand!!

DUBLIN, CALIFORNIA -- This review applies to all Video Only stores because it is in regards to their corporate refund policy. Actually, it's about their lack of a refund policy and the deceptive wording of their policy. Here is their 30 day return policy word for word (their caps): "If for any reason you are unhappy with the equipment you purchase from VIDEO ONLY, you may return it for a FULL REFUND or exchange. Units must be factory sealed." See that second sentence about the unit must be factory sealed? Well, that means if you open the box, they will refuse to give you a refund. Period. Even the company District Manager told me this is their official company policy.

Now I know, you are thinking, this guy is smart enough to post his complaint with the BBB, my3cents, Yelp, etc, he should have been smart enough to read the admittedly deceptive return policy. Fair enough. But I was returning merchandise for my 73 year old mother, who is fighting cancer and is not as sharp and consumer savvy. They even remembered her buying the product (a $90 set of wireless headphones that has static and constant drop-outs), and they still didn't care. BTW, I found out the Video Only store in Dublin, CA is not accredited by the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and has an F rating!

Why anyone would shop there rather than Sam's club or Costco is beyond me. Those stores have great prices too and will refund your money no questions asked. So please keep this in mind if you do shop at Video Only - you will never get your money back from them if you are dissatisfied with the product - despite what you think the return policy says.

SALEM, OREGON -- I purchased a Samsung Plasma TV (PN50B650) on 12/3/2009 from Video Only - Salem, OR. After two weeks of waiting on the TV, I called once a week to check on it. All they ever told me was that it wasn't in yet. On January 12, 2010, I was fed up with waiting. I went in, and asked for my money back. The sales representative offered me the next level up for 5% more than what I initially paid and stated that they had this in stock. I declined, and he processed the refund. He said that it would take up to 15 business days to process. On February 2, 2010, I called Video Only and told them that the refund had not processed.

The representative said he would look into it and call me back. I called them once again 25 minutes later for a status report. This representative spoke with a manager who instructed him to fill out a form for Video Only Corporate to determine the problem. When I asked him how long that would take, he said 1-2 days. I responded that I don't believe anything that Video Only representatives tell me since they couldn't get me my TV in a timely fashion, and now that they can't process my refund in the time they stated. I'm evaluating my legal options at this moment.

It's been an emotional ride of exhilaration in the hope of getting this new TV to extreme disappointment and anger for the lack of resolution and care that Video Only presents.

WASHINGTON -- WARNING! DON'T do business with this company! This company is totally disreputable! We bought a 52" Sony TV with an extended warranty. Not cheap! We still have two years on the warranty. We have spent the last month getting the runaround on the warranty. Hours on the phone talking to everyone from Seattle to Texas to Portland and back to Seattle, Federal Way, Southcenter and around we go again.

No website for contact or complaint. No information for contact of corporate headquarters. They sell these extended warranties and then tell you it is out of their hands. If you sell something out of your store, it's NOT out of your hands! YOU are ultimately responsible for what you sell, even if it's a sham of a warranty. At this point, we have two full years to dog these crooks. The next step is the filing of a report to the Attorney General of Washington State for fraudulent practices and a report to the Better Business Bureau. We WILL be the dog with the bone.

This may not seem extreme, but with the other reports, I thought this could be informative: I bought a TV for very good price on Saturday. I was told it could be be delivered on Sunday. I was told I would be called Sunday at 11 am and it would be delivered 2-3 hours after that.

So, I was called at 11.30 on Sunday and told they would be there between 3.30 and 5.30, to which I responded I had plans at 5 pm. They said they would be there closer to 3.30 pm and if not, they would call me to re-schedule. So 5 pm came and there was no call, so I called the store and told them the situation. They told me that they would call the delivery guys immediately and get them to call me. 45 min passes and finally they called me to tell me they will be here at 6.15, to which I agree.

By now I have cancelled my plans for the evening (really wanting my TV as my other had broken). 6.15 pm comes and goes. 7.15 comes and goes. They finally show up at 8.15 pm, drop off my TV and leave without so much as a sorry. As I say this is not extreme but it really frustrated me, and I wasted an entire Sunday, and least this way I can vent a bit. I just hope that nothing goes wrong with the TV as from what I read their customer service is just as bad.

FEDERAL WAY -- I purchased a 42" LG TV from Video Only last year. No problems there. About two months ago the panel goes out. After several weeks of trying to get it fixed, I finally get an RA authorization from LG which informs me to return to the retailer and swap my TV out for the same or a similar product. It turns out that Video Only doesn't honor manufacturer return authorizations. If your product breaks down while under warranty, can't be fixed and you purchased it from Video Only, well let's just say you are screwed. Video Only should be avoided like the plague. They are completely disreputable.

SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA -- I too had the experience of purchasing a wide screen TV at Video Only (San Mateo, CA) and waiting and waiting for "the truck" to deliver its shipment of Sony Bravias to the store. Told when we purchased the TV on a Sunday that the shipment would be in store in a couple of days and they'd call us. Well, at the end of the week, I called the store only to be told their Sony shipment was delayed because Sony sold so many TV's during Xmas blah blah blah, and it should be in next week. Another week goes by, no TV, another lame excuse (trucks are being cautious because of bad weather).

After 3 weeks, we went into the store and demanded our money back. They had the nerve to ask us to wait a couple more days, because "the truck should be here Tuesday". We refused, they credited back our credit card (informing us it would take 15 days to appear on our card, which it did). We went down the street to Telecenter and bought the exact Sony TV we wanted and had it delivered the next day.

I would love to know what kind of game Video Only is playing with its customers. I feel like I was played for a fool and I don't understand what was going on. I am not the only person this happened to at this branch either -- the other person also had bought a Sony and the mythical delivery truck never appeared. Something fishy is going on in this store.