Cashforlaptops: The Reviews Scare Me

I was going to sell my laptop to cashforlaptops. Just as I was taking my laptop to the UPS drop box something in my gut told me to re-read the reviews that I had read online.

I do a search, and I find good and bad reviews.

Most of the bad reviews say the same thing. They were given a quote, usually in the hundreds. They sent in their laptop and were told they would only get a small fraction of the price because there was a scratch (the most common complaint). I found this odd because the quote process asks nothing about scratches or the condition of your laptop (besides if the screen is broken). Some people were offered small amounts like $5 or $15 instead of the hundreds they were quoted. When they asked for the company to return their laptop the company told the person to send $20 for shipping, although the website said nothing about that. One customer even shared an experience about an employee SCREAMING at him for pointing out the terms said nothing about a $20 return fee.

I searched the Better Business Bureau for this site, but they were not on it.

The good reviews were VERY suspicious. For starters the good reviews came from ONE user by the name of "electronicguru" (on a particular site) and all the rest of the good reviews were "anonymous." Electronicguru made glowing reviews for ALL of the sites by cashforlaptops (cashforiphones, cashforlaptops, cashforberrys, cashforsmartphones) giving them 5 star perfect reviews. I found that fishy because the company is in Sparks, Nevada. When I looked at the location of Electronicguru his location was Sparks, Nevada. Maybe he is a real person who owns a laptop, iphone, blackberry, and smartphone (he must talk a lot), but I'm not willing to bet my broken laptop on it. The anonymous reviews were equally suspicious saying things like that they received more than the quoted price. I found no negative anonymous reviews.

My laptop was bought in 2008, it is a Sony Vaio with a broken screen. It does have scratches on the case. It was quotes $219 by cashforlaptops. Yet, every other site gave me quotes like $15 or $35.

I am not sure if cashforlaptops is a scam, although the "electronicguru" character is shady. If he works for the company he should say so instead of writing misleading reviews as if he is the average customer. I do think they need to change their quoting process to give more accurate quotes. I wouldn't mind receiving $35 for my broken laptop if that is what I'm QUOTED. If you quote me $219, then I'm going to expect something in that range.

Also, the site says that if your laptop is accurately described during the quoting process it then you are GUARANTEED to get what you are quoted. That is not true. The quoting process ask nothing about scratches or how old your laptop looks, yet you will be penalized for those and other factors.

I decided to not mail off my laptop. Instead I found a cheap replacement screen for about $100. I'd rather spend $100 to keep a perfectly functioning laptop than sell a broken screen laptop $5 or $10.

Here you can find the reviews I read including "electronicguru" (he gives the favorable reviews)
http://www.viewpoints.com/reviews/CashforSmartphones-com-review-1c1f4
http://www.viewpoints.com/reviews/Cashforberrys-com-review-76251
http://www.viewpoints.com/Cashforiphones-com-reviews
http://www.viewpoints.com/CashforLaptops-com-reviews
http://www.measuredup.com/product/Sell-Laptop-3087/Reviews

this is a blog review of the site which also includes "electronicguru" and if you click on his name it takes you to cashforlaptops
http://thecheapskate.wordpress.com/2008/12/15/final-review-cashforlaptopscom/

http://www.dcs-media.com/Archive/review-cashforlaptopscom-OT
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/rip-off-scam-c283046.html
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/cash-for-laptops-c341744.html

You can read more reviews from customers on this YouTube channel where you can find videos about the site
http://www.youtube.com/user/hoshomukma#p/u/1/g7KrLtmBpbY