"Today, I received the money order that StarSurplus.com promised to return, so I am deleting my original review.

Here is a revised review:

This is the chain of events in my dealings with StarSurplus.com. I registered online at their website, entered my personal info, placed an order, and received an email confirming my order -- that's why I have an order number.

About a week later, I logged in to StarSurplus.com, found the order number, and clicked on it. This is what I saw: This order has been shipped with tracking # Cancel. There was no tracking number but I thought this was because I chose Free Economy Shipping. The odd thing was the word "Cancel" which was actually a link. I looked at the link and it went to UPS.com. I copied the link, closed StarSurplus.com, and pasted the link in my browser. It took me to UPS.com but I receieved an error saying that the tracking number was invalid.

I waited another week and received nothing and heard nothing from StarSurplus.com.

After two weeks, I sent them a message using their online email form, since I thought this was the best way to contact them. Because I had no trouble logging in to their site, I assumed the contact form would work correctly too. I received no reply. Two days later, I sent another message, and once again there was no reply. It didn't occur to me at the time to try their email address. They claimed later that they never received any of my messages.

I could have phoned them, but there are two reasons I didn't do this. For one, I have a speech disability that makes it very difficult for me to communicate over the telephone. Secondly, I have a pay-as-you-go phone and didn't want to risk eating up minutes in case I were put on hold.

After three weeks had passed, I got fed up and posted a negative review. Within hours, I was contacted by StarSurplus.com via email. Their reaction was abrasive and unapologetic. They said they received my money order the day before. Considering how long I had been waiting, wouldn't it have been prudent for them to have sent me an email immediately? Their position is that they did not officially place the order until they received payment. That might have been technically true had this been a mail-in order, but I placed the order directly on their website and the website said the order was "shipped".

Considering the conflicting information I was given, and my apparent inability to contact them, I didn't know whether to trust them or not. As a result, I replied with an email that was cynical and accusatory. This prompted them to send me an angry and defensive response which resulted in them canceling my order. The strange thing is that at no time did I ask for my money back, but they seemed rather insistent on returning it, as if they just wanted to wash their hands of me.

The emails they sent me were consistently harsh, condescending, and impolite. This surprised me. For a company that has supposedly been in business for 18 years, they apparently have learned nothing about customer service. The proper response, even to an angry customer, is to maintain a calm, professional tone. It is bad form to lose control and jump on the customer.

FINAL THOUGHTS: My impression of StarSurplus.com is that they value their company pride more than their customers. Note how quickly they contacted me after I posted a negative review.

I may have overreacted when I first posted a review, but at no time did I feel like StarSurplus.com was willing to meet me halfway. Rather, they acted petualent and arrogant. They were more interested in defending their pride than in addressing my problem.

I am giving them 2 stars for returning my money since that should count for something."

"Account Deleted - Account Deleted"

"I ordered the night of the 25th and got the confirmation the 26th. My order arrived a couple days ago but I just went to the PO box and got it today the 31st. Main reason I used them was they do ship to a PO second was it was cheap.

I ordered the ASUS travelite headset. I had one before that broke and ordered a refurbished one from them instead of buy new. It works and box says it's got a 90 day warranty. So I am happy."

"I will never order from them again. I ordered June 29 and the item was listed as in stock. The website stated that the item would be shipped in 24-48 hours. I e-mailed them twice regarding the status of my order and never heard back from them. July 10 I called because I had not received the item. Brian at customer service was very rude and talked down to me the entire time I talked with him. He even hung up on my husband. He stated the item was out of stock. When I told him it was listed as in stock on the website, and had been for the past 2 weeks, he went and checked on it and found out it had been restocked. He stated they dropped the ball, but the only thing he would do to make up for it was "try" to ship it July 13th, 2 weeks after the order date. I canceled the order, and am frustrated that I have nothing to give my father for his birthday tomorrow."

"Do not buy from these people. They sent me a used dirty motherboard (I ordered a new motherboard off of their website) instead of a new one that they advertised. I called their store and spoke to a person by the name of Brian who said mistakes happen, etc. I then informed this person that I wanted a refund and would ship the motherboard back to them. I shipped the motherboard back at my expense and also included a letter explaining the faulty shipment on their part. Long story, they have not refunded my money and StarSurplus has not responded to my E-mails for a week now. Really poor service and no apology for their mistake. I will further my complaint and report this company to the BBB and possibly other agencies. I took a chance on buying from an unknown company and I am now paying for it. Stick with the better well known companies that get a good rating."

"Sempron 3100+ 64bit new OEM $33.

1 year warranty.

$7. shipping.

Took 4 days to ship plus delivery by USPS.

Excelllent price.

Would buy from this vendor again."

"My payment throught PayPal was returned, because my billing and shipping address was not the same."

"Ordered an Intel server board that was listed on their site as being In Stock. They immediately billed my credit card. Received an email afterwards informing me that they were out of stock but would be receiving more in 2 weeks. 2 weeks turned into 6, and they still didn't have them in stock nor have an ETA on the order. I cancelled the order on 5/31/2007 and was told I would be issued a credit for the charge they made on 4/16/2007. Still have not received a credit as of 7/25/2007 and will be seeking a chargeback."

"The item I ordered was a rebuilt Apple iBook. Despite disclaimers about scratches, dead batteries, dead pixels, etc. it showed up on time and in really good condition. The battery seems new, no bad pixels, minimal scratches, and a fresh copy of OS X.
I'd happily order from them again."

"I couldn't have been more pleased with both the product and service that Star Surplus provided. Brian went above and beyond the call of duty to assist me with my purchase. I wouldn't do biz with anyone else.

Thanks!"

"I purchased two items, and two items were shipped. However, one item was wrong. I contacted the vendor and sent a copy of the original order confirmation. I was advised to return the incorrectly shipped item, but no offer of return shipping was made. When I requested return shipping, my email was ignored.
"