"I was extremely skeptical about ordering a Hunter fan from HomeAnnex that my local Lowe's did not stock (they had it available for special order). I figured if I was going to wait two weeks for delivery I would try HomeAnnex, which was found by Froogle.com as the cheapest supplier of the Hunter fan I was looking at (model no. 23868). The cost savings was roughly $20 over Lowes (after shipping).

Order of events:
-November 20th, 2007 - I placed my order; note that the website showed the fan as a special order with a lead time of two to three weeks. So, my expectations were set.
-December 4th, 2007 - It had been two weeks, and given the poor ratings, I called in to check the status of the order. The gentleman I spoke with said the item shows as a special order item that is shipping from the manufacturer this week. I was then told I should have it 4-5 business days after that (to allow time for their processing and shipping). Offered to call back on the 13th if I had not received it by then.
-December 6th, 2007 - I was pleasantly surprised when the UPS man left the Hunter fan on my front doorstep.

A quick response to other's critiques:
-I did not have to sign for the fan, which cost less than $100

So, overall I was very satisfied with my purchase experience from HomeAnnex.

Would I buy from them again? Probably.

My recommendations to any future customer (until the ratings improve): take excessive notes regarding the transaction (order date, contact made (phone/email, with whom, what you were told)) in order to protect yourself in the event of them screwing up."

"Be afraid. Be very afraid. Read the reviews here, and do not assume that you will be among the few lucky ones who had a trouble-free experience. I have placed two orders with them, and literally every step of the way they screwed up. Cumulatively, I probably spent three hours on the phone dealing with my two orders. One I cancelled, and then spent the next four months trying to get them to refund the money. The other they sent the wrong part, and I spent the next three months getting the RMA and the correct parts sent. At every step of the way, their staff was very, very nice, and very, very, very incompetent. Tip: I learned to develop a personal relationship with particular staff members so that I could follow up every week to nudge the process along to the next step. Despite assurances that they would handle what needed to be done next, I had to literally coax them through every step of the process. On the positive side: their prices are great. Just figure out how much your time is worth, and multiply that figure by the two to three hours you will spend dealing with their screwups to get the true final price you are paying."

"I ordered through their website, and the next day the item was at my doorstep. I was amazed! Fastest response I ever got on any order."

"They are a thieves. On their WEB site you can see an item in stock, you order it, they charge your credit card and ..... an item is not in stock and will never be, you spent hours unseccessfuly asking them for refund. They hope thay you give up some day."

"Beware of stock issues and lies. Told the day after I placed my order it was in stock. Then about 10 days later received nothing. No response to emails and required 2, 30 minute phone calls. Finally when someone picked up I was told they had to get it from the manufacture. When asked why I was told it was in stock I was told "yes in stock" but not their own warehouse" Then told it would ship in 3 more days. Not truthfully in stock as originally told or I would have cancelled. Then when I said it was holding up a job and would like to cancel the rep acted as if he could no longer hear me and then quickly hung up the phone. Homeannex is one of the most unprofessional places in the web. Telling lies to customers for fear they will cancel orders is just wrong. Shop elsewhere unless you have 3 or more weeks to wait for something because they probably don't really have it in their stock.
"

"Web site says product needed 1-2 weeks lead time to ship. Upon calling, I was told it could ship in 3-5 days. 4 weeks later, I still do not have my merchandise. When I cancelled the order and disputed the charge with my bank today, I received this apology:

"I would personally like to apologize on behalf of our customer service department for any inconvenience or dissatisfaction you have experienced with this order. Please be assured it is never the intention of our company to withhold any customer’s rightful property or funds – our sole aim is to bring the right hardware and products to valued clients such as you.
It is disappointing that we were unable to appease you in the matter of your order; unfortunately we have been at the whim of the manufacturer, who has cited processing delays for constantly pushing back their shipping date. While this is not a worthy excuse for the frustration you have experienced, we hope you will not judge our organization entirely on these setbacks.
We would be eager to serve you better in the future. Should you wish to shop with us again, I would like to offer you a coupon code for 5% off of your next purchase. Mention my name, and I will personally try to assure that your order goes off without a hitch."
Thank you,
Alexander T.
Customer Service Representative

MY REPLY BACK:
Alexander,

You've got to be kidding! Do you really think that I believe this delay is because you are at the "whim of the manufacturer"?

When I reordered this mirror through your competitor this afternoon, the customer service representative put me on hold and then contacted the manufacturer to confirm that the same mirror would be shipped out to me in 2 days. The manufacturer had plenty in stock.

How is it that the same supplier you share can give terrific service to your competitor - but you get "processing delays" from them?

Several quick observations about your service:
1. You do not treat each individual caller like he/she is your most important customer.
2. Your right hand does not know what the left is doing. On October 23 one person told me that the estimated arrival date would be October 29. Then two days later I received an email from someone else saying that the mirror won't even ship until November 5. Your competitor is having the mirror shipped to me Friday, November 2. Hmmm - what's wrong with your service?
3. When I spoke to Dave #243 yesterday, I found it amusing that he did not know what his supervisor's telephone extension number was. He tried to tell me that he had an old directory. When I told him to stand up in his cube and ask around, all of a sudden he came up with a number for me.
4. The last line of your message lacks total customer service commitment. You say you will personally try to assure that my order goes off without a hitch. What's up with that? If you wanted to be convincing and wanted my future business, you would have said that you " will" personally assure my order goes off without a hitch. Drop the "try" - it implies that if things don't go as planned, you can at least say you "tried".

Until Home Annex gets its act together, I suggest that your department be renamed to just "Customer Department". Drop the word "Service" since it is apparent your company doesn't understand the concept of the word.
"

"Ordered a lamp from this store, and had the card charged immediately. Was to be shipped within 7 to 10 days. Began emailing and of course, never a reply. Tried twice on the phone, each time over 30 minutes and still waiting. Tried diligently to find shipping details and then saw the reviews - very dismal. Tried to call at nearly 30 days and still unable to reach them and still no answers to email. I called sales and got thru immediately and said "I'd make a large order but your customer service ratings are abysmal, how can I insure that you're not scammers?" "We always ship within 7 days." "So, you charge, THEN ship, unlike the more reputable resellers?" "Yes, but we always ship promptly." "I know you'll tell me anything, but how can I buy from you, get your unbelievable prices and secure myself?" "I don't understand ... " "I do, you're scammers." And I hung up. I'm sure the good ratings are probably padded by them, they're a couple that are written as no consumer would. So beware, avoid the headache knowing the high-fives on the other side when they charge and then promptly forget you. Don't transfer money to these guys. They're really weak."

"STAY AWAY! These people have had me waiting for over 2 months on the delivery of my items. They have told me on 3 separate occasions (michelle and alex) that the item was to delivered the following week and nothing has been received. I cancelled my order today and now they are trying to have me pay a $25 restocking charge per item. I am having AMEX and the better business bureau look into this company. Stay away!"

"I found a lighting fixture on-line, but I called to place the order, to be sure it was in stock. The salesperson assured me that it was, I ordered, the next day they sent an invoice "shipped". The same day they left a message "it's no longer available from the manufacturer". I wrote an email - BE SURE TO CREDIT MY CREDIT CARD, but I called a few days later, just to be sure they had. No, they hadn't, but I was assured the next day they would. I got my credit card bill 3 weeks later, still no credit. I waited on hold twice for customer service for a total of 40 minutes of obnoxious blaring bragging about their pitiful company. Never got anyone, also wrote an email last week, still no answer. I had my credit card company issue a chargeback this week. Save yourself the trouble, go elsewhere. LIARS!"

"Fast shipping within 48 hours. Well packaged and no damage when it arrived. Would definitely buy from them again. Excellent prices too."

"Believe everything you read about how lousy Homeannex.com really is. I’ve never had such a bad experience with an online purchase and have witnessed a new level of bad business practices. Ridiculously slow shipping is only the start of the problems. Attempts to obtain a return authorization have been ignored at every turn. When I finally did reach someone who would allegedly authorize my return (her extension was 252) I was promised a call back within the day with the RMA number.
Of course I never received the call and all attempts to the RMA department go directly to voice mail.
I will follow-up with the BBB in New York but I don’t expect much help.
Save yourself the aggravation and disappointment and shop someplace else
"

"This company is TERRIBLE! I ordered 5 items from them. 4 items arrived as what I ordered but the 5th item that arrived was the wrong thing. I called the company to notify them of this and they refused to replace the item or take back the wrong item. They made me fill out a "Return Authorization" form online and say they cannot process this return for 7-10 business days. I then had to reorder (at my own cost) the correct item. This means I paid once for the wrong item and then a second time for the right item. I asked them to expedite the replacement item and they charged me $40 to process my order that day. They then shipped the package GROUND so it took almost a week to get to me. I think it is ridiculous to pay $40 to rush something and have it take a week. I have left 3 messages for the manager (Eric x245) over a span of three days and he has yet to call me back to address this. "

""Skrazyman" at Homeannex.com emailed me that the manufacturer would not process my order without my phone number. Not only was my phone number required by the order page, Homeannex.com accurately displayed my phone number on my account page. Homeannex.com deliberately sent an incomplete order to manufacturer, perhaps as a stalling tactic. I followed their cancellation policy posted on their website to cancel my order using their website contact page. Homeannex.com promptly responded be committing identity fraud. Homeannex.com email confirming receipt of my cancellation was doctored using *my* email address in both the "From:" and "Return-Path:" fields. When printed, this gives the illusion that I sent the email to myself. Only when the email is viewed as "message source" is the legitimate sender identified: "Received: from email.homeannex.com ([67.102.45.74])"."

"These people are crooks. They have not delivered the items ordered, have failed for two months to address the situation or follow up on calls, and yet charged my credit card. They are crooks, frauds, and cheats. DO NOT ORDER FROM THEM!!!"

"I have yet to receive anything from this merchant. About the only thing they did quickly was bill my credit card. Customer service told me that they don't have a part in the right finish. I responded by telling them I'd be happy with the alternative only to have them repeat the process THREE TIMES. Three days ago they assured me it would come overnight . . . didn't happen. They're either completely incompetent or a scam. Either way, they're no good."