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  • Report:  #3983

Complaint Review: Sylmark Inc. - Los Angeles California

Reported By:
-
Submitted:
Updated:

Sylmark Inc.
4929 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 570 Los Angeles, 90010 California, U.S.A.
Phone:
1-800-796-4431
Web:
N/A
Categories:
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good? What's this?
First, I'm very grateful for this web site & everyone who has contributed, wish I had known about it before! My wife ordered an Abslide as a Christmas present a few days ago via the 800 number advertised in TV infomercial. I got bad vibes when she told me the order taker tried to sell her several other products/services, and even needed "permission" from a supervisor to sell only a single Abslide! Anyway, total charges she agreed to were around fifty dollars.

I check our account online regularly, and just a few days later a saw a charge from Abslide over $240.00! I called the 800 number listed on the bill (1.800.259.1679), and actually got to talk to someone, but they said computers were down and they couldn't access any info. Suggested I call back later in the day or tomorrow. I called back several times same day, always got to talk to someone, but always same answer.

After doing some web surfing & finding this site, I called once more (same day), this time to 1.800.796.4431. Again, spoke to a live person, got same "computers are down" answer. Decided I'd better start documenting things, so asked if I could please have the name & business address of person to whom I was speaking. The person (young man) was very polite, but said he'd been instructed to give only first name & phone ext., no address. When I asked why, he said because a lot of people on the phone get quite agitated, and threaten to come down and kill people!

Next step is California Better Business Bureau, there's a report elsewhere on this web site that gives the address. Good luck to all, I think we'll need it!


2 Updates & Rebuttals

yeah.but

United States of America
BBB

#2UPDATE EX-employee responds

Fri, July 01, 2011

There is a whole lot of misconception about the Better Business Bureau and I hope that some of the reasonable people reading this post will also read this and get a good idea of what they are about.
 
The Better Business Bureau is and has been a private organization since it's inception in 1912.  They have never claimed to be affiliated with the government.  People assume that on their own, I think just because the word bureau is in the name.    If you call the BBB and ask any employee, they will tell you, without hesitation, that they are a non-profit organization.

The fact that there are fees for a company to be accredited does not in any way, shape or form, mean that the BBB is not a legitimate and much-needed organization.  They are, as we all know, a non-profit organization but the people that work there are not volunteering their time.  They are making a living just like any other employee of a for-profit or non-profit. The fees also, of course, pay for the cost of running the organization, rent for their building, phone service, office supplies, etc. 
 
Not all companies can be accredited.  If the company has unresolved complaints, if the company is not licensed properly, if the principals are involved with another company that has a bad rating, if there are lawsuits against the company, the WILL NOT be accepted, period.  They could try and give the BBB any amount of money and the will not be accredited.  There are many, many companies that have tried to become accredited and were turned down. 

Being accredited does give a company a slight step up on their rating.  If they were a B then accreditation brings them to a B+, a C would be a C+, etc.  The reason for that is that there is a background check done on the company before they are allowed to be accredited.  The BBB has a whole lot more information on that company than a non-accredited company and that is the ONLY reason it brings the grade up at all.

There are also many people that are not happy with the complaint process because the BBB is an impartial party in resolving complaints.  A lot of consumers think that they are automatically going to win any dispute but the BBB gets the company's side of the story and based on the information from both parties, they make a decision on what shoud be done.  This can also make for a very unhappy business owner.  They also seem to think they are going to be given some sort of advantage in the arbitration process, especially if they are accredited. 

The dispute process is what makes the BBB extremely valuable.  Unlike this site and others like it, a competitor or an unreasonable customer cannot ruin the company based on unproven claims.  The BBB will get the other side of the story before that information is made public.   

Because I am farmiliar with the process, I check the BBB rating before I do business with anyone.  I know that the information that I get isn't an emotional rant from a crazy customer that could never be satisfied and I also know that it isn't a flat out lie that an unethical competitor decided to post to give themselves an edge. 




Good info at http://www.bbbsouthland.org/

#30

Tue, December 05, 2000

Since Sylmark, Inc. (Ab Slide) is a member of the BBB, you can look up info and file a complaint online at http://www.bbbsouthland.org/. Use the "find a member" link, and enter "Sylmark". There's a listing of their various addresses/phone numbers, and email contact.

According to the BBB:
"The company has a pattern of complaints alleging non-delivery of merchandise, and various billing problems and disputes. The company has responded to most complaints by shipping orders or issuing refunds. Some complaints were closed as disputed meaning the customer was not satisfied with the company's response."

Once again, my thanks to www.ripoffreport.com, without which I wouldn't have been able to find this info!

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