DO NOT BUY FROM THIS WEBSITE. You've been warned.
1) I decided to buy an old laptop with Linux preinstalled (I usually do it myself), and came upon a site called Laptop Mountain. They would seem to offer older refurbished laptops (circa 2011) running Linux Mint / Cinnamon. The site seemed sketchy, but since there was an option to buy with Shopify I pulled the trigger.
2) I got an immediate response from Shopify that the order was placed and waiting to be shipped, as well as an immediate auto-generated email from laptopmountain(at)gmail.com saying they received my order.
3) Two days later, when there was no activity, I sent the following message (and got no response):
"Hey there... Checking on the shipping status of my order: HP ProBook 6570B 15.6" (2.6GHz i5, 8GB, 256GB SSD) Linux × "
4) This led me to search for reviews which suggested there is a high probability that this is a scam website, or at the very least a shady operation. I contacted CHASE Bank, and the Fraud Dept initiated a claim. To be thorough, I sent a second email to laptopmountain.com:
"Second request for info on a laptop purchase made via website. Bank contacted."
5) Not sure if it was the mention of the bank or if Chase began contacting them on the back-end, but suddenly I got a response:
"Your first message was sent only 5 hours ago. This order was placed just 2-days ago. Did you not review the delivery information on the website before placing your order?"
Note: there was no name, no number, no email signature, and the tone is obviously inappropriate. Red flag.
6) I responded:
"I did read it, however when there was no activity in SHOPIFY -- which is not usually my experience -- I thought to give a call. When the number listed on the website was a nonworking number I thought it was unprofessional and became concerned that your website is a scam site.
If your business is legitimate, and if in fact you have a functioning HP ProBook 6570B 15.6" (2.6GHz i5, 8GB, 256GB SSD) running Linux Mint which you plan to ship to my address, then please give me an estimated idea of when it will arrive and we can move forward.
Thank you"
7) I then received an immediate refund with the following message:
"Honestly I don't like your attitude and don't want to deal with you as a customer. Your order is being refunded."
8) And I ended our transaction with this:
"I'm okay with that. Appreciate the timely refund.
Since quality is obviously important to you, be advised that this came up after a quick Google search for 'Laptop Mountain + reviews', which -- together with the nonworking contact number -- undermined my confidence in the legitimacy of your operation: https://www(dot)scamadviser(dot)com/check-website/laptopmountain(dot)com
Take care."
9) After these exchanges, I decided to try to dig for more reviews, and I ended up here. I really hate leaving bad reviews, but as a business owner myself with an A+ accreditation from the BBB, I feel obliged to warn anyone who might think about spending money here.... DO NOT. Period.
27 July 2022
Unprompted review