I recently ordered a small hydroponics kit from a company by the name of StealthHydro. I'm trying to inform as many people as possible that this place is a scam. The website looks legit and all of the products they say they offer are actual components of a hydroponics system. However, I am convinced that the whole thing is a scam. I placed my order 2 weeks ago. 4 days after, I had yet to receive any information about updates to my order, so i called the number listed on their website. The first time I called I spoke to a man named Ryan, who informed me that my order had not shipped because they were out of air pumps, but that they had more being delivered and my order would ship no later than that Friday, 3 days later. Friday came and no new information. I let it ride through the weekend, and still nothing. For 5 days I have been calling all 3 numbers listed on their website. In more than 20 calls, not a single one was answered. I have also left multiple messages and sent e-mails, but to no avail. They have a system on their website in which you file a "support ticket" so they can speed up their processing of sooooo many e-mails. You are supposed to get a claim number so you can track your support ticket's progress. I've filed 2 of these. claims and never received a claim number. I've filed a dispute with my credit card company in hopes to get my money back. I want to inform as many people as possible about this so that no more new growers like me get ripped off. If anyone else has ordered from StealthHydro and NOT had problems like this, please say something. Maybe i'm just being impatient or paranoid, but so far my experience has pointed to a scam. Also, if there's a better place to post this, please let me know. - Dr. Amazo
[quote name='"DRamazo"']I recently ordered a small hydroponics kit from a company by the name of StealthHydro. I'm trying to inform as many people as possible that this place is a scam. The website looks legit and all of the products they say they offer are actual components of a hydroponics system. However, I am convinced that the whole thing is a scam. I placed my order 2 weeks ago. 4 days after, I had yet to receive any information about updates to my order, so i called the number listed on their website. The first time I called I spoke to a man named Ryan, who informed me that my order had not shipped because they were out of air pumps, but that they had more being delivered and my order would ship no later than that Friday, 3 days later. Friday came and no new information. I let it ride through the weekend, and still nothing. For 5 days I have been calling all 3 numbers listed on their website. In more than 20 calls, not a single one was answered. I have also left multiple messages and sent e-mails, but to no avail. They have a system on their website in which you file a "support ticket" so they can speed up their processing of sooooo many e-mails. You are supposed to get a claim number so you can track your support ticket's progress. I've filed 2 of these. claims and never received a claim number. I've filed a dispute with my credit card company in hopes to get my money back. I want to inform as many people as possible about this so that no more new growers like me get ripped off. If anyone else has ordered from StealthHydro and NOT had problems like this, please say something. Maybe i'm just being impatient or paranoid, but so far my experience has pointed to a scam. Also, if there's a better place to post this, please let me know. - Dr. Amazo[/quote] Damn sorry to hear but a good legit place is HTG supplies
The BBB doesn't actually do anything. Any company that wants to be a part of it can pay a fee and they're in. Reporting something like this would only get them a nasty letter and lose the ability to put the BBB label on their site/store window.
i ran into a sleazy company a year ago. really bad business practices. the company took my money and rubbed it in my face. needless to say, after trying to go through the bbb, attorney general and several other agencies to get my money back.. nobody could help. the silver bullet was calling my bank and report a fraudulent charge. they investigated and 2 weeks later, the amount was back in my account.
Hey are you talking about stealthhydroponics.com? They have a retail location so I don't think it's a scam. It's just one of those dip-shit owners who doesn't understand that you have to take care of your customers. I've ran across hundreds of online shops like that. they usually do this when an item is out of stock and they can't find it from another source. So they just ignore the customer in hopes of acquiring the out of stock item before the customer asks to cancel the order or disputes the charges.
Whether it's a scam or a flakey shop owner, I'm not trusting them. I don't think anybody who is serious about setting up their grow in a timely fashion should either. Perhaps I use the term "scam" too loosely, but at the very least it's very unprofessional and I haven't got the time to be given the run around. Setting up a grow as quickly as possible is key to seeing returns on your investment, and not attracting attention to yourself. Plus there are just too many loose ends with missing claim numbers, e-mails and phone calls unanswered; the whole thing just has a stink to it.
I bought my two boxes from stealthy hydro. I was local so I just picked them up.... They are legit. But the boxes are put together well but the "hydro system" and lights are really sub par. I have spent a lot if time and more money to make upgrades. Better odor control Better and movable lighting They put 6 tiny net pots in a 5 quart res. I switched it to two 3 inch net pots. Over all the box is well made and pretty light sealed.
The biggest issue I'm having with the whole thing is that they won't respond to any of my attempts at contacting them. To me that's a huge redflag. Maybe their retail locations are legit, but their website definitely is not, imo. I've called my credit card company and they're looking in to it as far as getting my money back. I've told SH to not even bother shipping anything, I just don't even feel like dealing with it. I went out and had to spend more time and money gathering new supplies, but i spent less on the individual pieces and I feel like I got better quality. I really only bought from them because I was born in Ypsilanti so I wanted to support local business, ya know. Like I said, whether it's a scam or just an irresponsible dealer, I am never attempting business with them again, and I can't recommend them to anyone.
A simple google search of "stealthhydroponics" brings up an eerily coincidence A post from 2008 on another gardening forum. Seems like this stunt has been pulled before. Do Not Order from Stealth Hydroponics - Hydroponics Forum - GardenWeb
Yeah, I read that but thought to myself 'oh that sucks but maybe it's an isolated incident.' Plus the price was too good to pass, or so I thought. I'm just trying to let other people who need equipment know that there are better alternatives to StealthHydro.
I think you are doing the right thing putting the word out, thank you. I will never do business with them now. My bank is real good about internet fraud but it is so upsetting to get jacked around by some scum. I understand most folks cant just build stuff. but i always do everything i can by myself. this is a light i built yesterday out of some extra parts.