Abe's of Maine
Coupons Plus 1.8% Cash Back

My mom ordered a Sigma 50-200mm lens 3 days ago and they called her today with some BS story about how the UV filter that was ordered with it is no good and plastic and degrades image quality. So this being a xmas present for me, she wants to get something good so she agrees to get the 3 filter set the guy says is good for $99. She tells me about the call and I look on their website and that 3 filter set is $69, not to mention the super lens combo deal with the memory card, bag, lens cleaning stuff etc is like $72 more than the lens itself. Then I google the "plastic" UV filter model # and find out it is indeed glass, they just didn't want to sell a $13 filter when they could sucker some old lady for $99. So I call them up and they won't change the order for me so I have to have her call them and edit the order. So she tries to get it back to the original order and they're trying to charge her $6 more!! So she canceled the order (we'll see if this actually happens or they give some BS story about having already shipped it). So moral of the story, its going to be real slow shipping from Abe's of Maine because they need time to try to up-sell you some stuff you don't need for higher than it's listed on the website. That stuff must work on enough people where its worth all the canceled orders.

Bought a DSLR lens from them. They called to verify the order. Good communication, but also tried a bit hard to cross sell some additional products. Shipped the next day and received 2 days after I ordered. Would definitely do business with them again

Sent me an email after I placed my order telling me to call them. The email did not say why or even hint at reason. After I called I was put with the upsale for 'better' shipping, and each time I declined he dropped the price a bit, and gradually made the point that there is a high likelihood that my item will arrive damaged if I don't. Ridiculous.

Ordered an exercise bench from them, then later that night I got an email to call them. There was no reason given, just that I should call them about my order. When I called, the rep gave me hard sell on upgrading my shipping. After I refused a few times, he basically told me that unless I upgrade there's a high chance that my items will be damaged in shipping. All the while he could not have sounded more apathetic.

Wish this section of fatwallet was BIGGER and easier to see! I would not have bought from them if I saw this earlier.

I bought an LED TV from Abe's of Maine. It was advertised on their website that it would come with a free wall mount. Shortly after ordering, I got the (usual) upselling phone call that purpoted to "confirm my order" but was in fact clearly an attempt to sell expensive peripherals. Anyway, I was asked whether I intended to mount the TV on the wall. I said no, and they said if I declined the (free) wall mount, they would send me some promotional discount coupons instead -- I accepted this offer.

A few weeks later, my TV had arrived (no complaints on delivery of TV) but not the coupons. I called Abe's -- the support guy claimed to not know of the coupon offer and had to ask me what I was offered (though the coupons were explicitly printed on my invoice). He offered me a $100 restaurant gift card instead. I took the offer. This was maybe 3 months ago. It never came in the mail.

Ironically, if they had mailed me some coupons for the store, I definitely would have made more purchases there!

Abes of Main still condones and supports the mean-spirited and aggressive sales tactics they have for over 30 years. Challenging and patronizing callers is still the modus operandi. They also did the normal routine of saying "Yes it is in stock" even though the website shows it is on backorder. In fact, this was even verified by their own customer service representative today. They promised the employee would be reprimanded but that is just fantasy talk.

I last called them in 1985 to order a lens and hung up after the "you need a warranty and these accessories" pressure. Yesterday I tried them again (instead of using my normal reputable dealer) and it's almost as if it was the same guy from 26 years ago answering the phone.

Nothing changed except this time I hung up after the first insult and before he could start his sales pitch.

I bought 1 DSLR, 2 Lens before and recently 1 netbook from them. For the DSLR, they called me, tell me 'there is a problem with the transaction' - I tell them, 'If there is a problem, I will just go ahead and cancel the order. They answer 'I will ship your order'. For the 2 lenses, they email me wanted me to call them, I reply their email saying the same thing, if there is a problem, just cancel the order and let me know. They ship the product.

Same thing with the netbook I order just yesterday. They call me on Black Friday! ask me to call a guy named Alfred. OK, I called. He wants my name and my phone number, I told him 'You are the one who called me, you should have my number and my name, and what is this about?' He said 'There is something I need to verify on your order'. I just told him 'If there is a problem, I will go ahead and cancel my order and buy it elsewhere'. He replied 'OK, I will ship your order right away'.

So, they like to call you, email you, etc. I don't understand why they want to do that -- this action is apparently doing no good to their reputation. Maybe they were force to do that by the owner, I don't know. For me this is just a stupid move to ruin their online reputation.

But so far the product they send me (1 DSLR, 2 lenses) are good. I will see if the netbook is good, else I will just never buy from them again.