Universal Mania- Heads Up!

Sorry if this is a repeat post. Mods, please delete if that is the case.

Seems they are in trouble.
http://wncn.com/2017/05/03/fayetteville-...nterfeit-items/

I just placed an order with them a few hours ago. Item showed in stock and got an order confirmation number emailed to me right away. Automated I assume.

Well, I logged back into their site a few minutes ago and every item I clicked on is now sold out. Doesn't matter what dept or item, they all show sold out. Can't even add anything to the cart. So I googled reviews on them and came up with hundreds of bad reviews from the past couple of months alone. Seems items are getting ordered, billed for, and not shipped, or shipping is taking for ever when something does arrive. Most reviews say there is no answer on the phone number, no returned calls from voice mails.

I had ordered from them in the past with no problems so I never hesitated this time. I sent an email to them cancelling my order and informing them I will be disputing any charges to my card that show up from them. I will order elsewhere for a few dollars more. I hesitated to be that way, but I don't need any additional drama in my life.

Just thought TFF ought to know about this if y'all didn't already.

I have ordered from them in the past with no problems but I was told the owner got arrested for selling some fake knockoffs and no one knew who was running the company. I don't know if that was true info or not, it came from one of their competitors.

I bought two Helix 12's from them and had no issues registering them. I guess even a blind squirrel finds a nut. They had great prices.

I was comparing prices yesterday, and UM had MSRP on their Helix’s and Terrova’s. I will steer clear of them.

Was considering them for ordering my Helix 10. Read too many bad reviews and decided to pay a little more elsewhere.

There has been a lot of talk about them on Bass Boat Central. Bobby Milam above post is
correct. Steer clear. If you just placed an order I would call your card company and cancel
the order.

I got my solix from them in July. I got a payment confirmation from them but the same unit had two different prices. So I sent them a pm through BBC. They were prompt to answer my PM but that was the only contact I got from them was through PMs, no emails of shipping info. I then had to PM them for shipping info and they replied with it. Very unusual for them to do business this way. They also had some issues with being a board sponsor on BBC as well. They may not recover from this mess

The items I purchased had the best prices on the Internet, no tax, free shipping.All good things must come to an end.

I know that the Manufactures such as Lowrance, Garmin, Humminbird, Minn Kota and MotorGuide have had them on there radar for a few years trying to shut it/them down. I am not sure what is going on with the website and or the article. The phones still go to the original company voice mail. I have been told that it is one guy and he runs Universal Mania, Digital Oasis, "THE" Digital Oasis and several other like websites. It has been a 50/50 shot weather your order would go through or not. I have heard many horror stories from customers that asked me for quotes then went through these said websites to get a better deal only to come back to me for there purchase telling me they either got burned and are disputing the charge with there CC company and or PayPal. Sometimes they said they got a refund minus a 15% restocking fee. This being the case after talking with someone and being told they had the item in stock. After they placed there order they got an email stating item is on back order. The consumer would ask for a refund which was granted minus 15% restocking fee. Some folks like you hear in this thread had great success with placing there order. That is the 50/50 part right there...

Just not sure how legit this all is....

Yep stay away from them.
Ordered a smartstrike map card (in stock) for my helix little over 2 weeks ago. Never shipped. They were slow to respond to emails and they never answer the phone. Finally got response saying it would take 1-4 weeks. Sent email back telling them to cancel order and give refund. Still no reply and no refund.

They are no longer a board sponsor on BBC........doesn't sound good for anyone that has placed orders through them. I hope all affected gets their money back if they're not able to deliver

Shut up and fish above has the information as I understand it. The manufacturers (Lowrance, Johnson Outdoors, Motorguide) are taking Mininmum pricing, MAP pricing, MSRP seriously and doing different promotions to catch the retailer. You will notice that dealers for these items do not discount the items subject to these price restrictions. UM, MooDeals, Digital Oasis are owned by the same people is my understanding also. To the consumer, I don't blame you for saving a buck -- but you need to see what you're sacrificing in service when you save the $$'s and is it worth it.
John

the map pricing is a joke there is always somebody that goes around it . the field will be leveled some when an out of state retailer cant send product over state lines without collecting sales taxes.

There was one link posted that said they were selling counterfeit garmins. I’m not sure how that would be possible??? So maybe the link was wrong or made up, I have no clue. They did have some great prices at times though.

I know my HB Helix's were legit because I didn't have any prob registering them. Guess I dodged the bullet.

Apparently they first got into trouble by selling fake Otterbox cases, then expanded their counterfeit lineup. I hate crooks.

They will register fine. It is if you ever have the need for any warranty work is where a red flag could or could not pose an issue.

They have now closed shop....

I can agree it's a joke, but it's a "joke" that dealers have to contend with. The interstate sales tax is being worked on in various ways and will upset some when it comes about. The only way the mfgs are going to enforce the MAP pricing is to allow only dealers to carry their product, or they could set prices high enough that non dealers couldn't discount or wouldn't be worth it in $$'s to sell the item,then could give the dealers an incentive on the back side after the sell. As long as "business" can order from a jobber, there will be non dealers cutting prices. As a dealer, we can't afford to be "cut off" from shipments of a product.
John

I tried to contact them multiple times with no response, my bank disputed the charge and I have all my money back, so it's all good on my end. Kind of a shame they couldn't be content making money honestly, my past experience with them was just fine. Oh well.....