Complaints To BBB Say Austin-Based Rerun Media Gives Customers The Runaround!
Austin, Texas - February 12, 2009 - People all over the country are complaining to BBB about an Austin-based company called Rerun Media, which does business as DVDPawn.com and GamePawn.com. The websites operate like online pawnshops where consumers can sell their used DVDs and video games for extra cash. Potential sellers register an account on the website and submit their list of game and movie titles for a quote. They then have 20 days to ship their items to Rerun Media's office located at 6805 Wood Hollow Drive #130R in Austin, Texas. The company's website says customers are paid by check or Pay Pal the same day their merchandise is received. The problem is - consumers say they're not getting paid what they were promised or they're not getting paid at all.
On June 18, 2008, Ryan Cohen of Oakland, California shipped 5 packages of video games to several dvd- and game-trading website companies, including GamePawn.com, one of Rerun Media's websites. Ryan says he shipped all of the packages via Priority Mail, with insurance and delivery confirmation. Within 1-2 days of shipping the packages, Ryan says each business contacted him via email confirming receipt- except for Gamepawn.com. When he tracked the package he had sent to Rerun Media using the tracking numbers on his receipt from the US Post office, he found out the company had received his package. Ryan says he even called the US Postal Service to confirm. Six months later, however, he still hasn't gotten the $82.10 Rerun Media owes him.
"Their site indicates that my package was not received," says Ryan. "I tried contacting them by email and by phone numerous times, but each time I called, I was forwarded to a full voicemail box where you cannot leave any messages. I initially followed the instructions on their site as to the times I should call for business concerns, but since each time I called I was not getting through, I called during their 'non-business' times and was still met with the same issue...full voicemail box with no option to leave a message. I still have not heard from them."
Based on BBB files, this business has a BBB Rating of F. BBB processed a total of 28 complaints about this company in the last 36 months. To view this company's report, click here. Consumer complaints received by BBB allege they do not receive the amount of payment originally quoted for their DVDs and video games. Some claim they don't get paid at all. Consumers also complain the company does not honor its guarantee that payments will be sent as soon as merchandise is received.
The company's website states, "We will remit payment for your games within 24 hours of when we receive them. This is opposed to the several week processing times of competitors. If you select to be paid by Pay Pal, then you will receive your payment almost instantly. If you select to be paid by check, then it will be shipped to you via USPS first class, and you should receive it in 3-5 days depending on your location."
"Their website says, 'with DVDPawn.com, the deal is done instantly, and you get paid as soon as we receive your dvds'," says Brittany Whitaker of Raleigh, North Carolina. "But I sent a few hundred dvds to them back on September 2nd and I'm still waiting for my $250 check."
The company is owned by a man named Jeffrey Winkler. The address listed on the company's website and where customers send their dvds and games is an apartment where Winkler is believed to live and from where he operates Rerun Media.
Winkler did respond to some complaints presented to him by BBB early on, saying some customers' payments were adjusted because prices change daily and current prices aren't always applicable. He also explained that some delays in processing payments were due to items submitted by customers that did not meet his company's quality requirements or that needed maintenance before they could be assessed. As of April 2008, Winkler quit answering BBB complaints and appears to have quit paying customers as well. Consumers also complain that their emails and phone calls to Winkler go unanswered.
Dawn Kjeldsen of Crest Hill, Illinois says she's tired of waiting for the $149 Winkler still owes her for the 27 dvds she mailed to him 8 weeks ago, so she's taking the company to small claims court. "I have waited months to receive payment," she says. " I do not want money anymore, I want my movies back. Maybe when I take him to small claims court, I'll be saving some other poor sucker like myself some aggravation!"
Most online pawn shops require details of your personal financial information as part of the pawning process. If the shop's website is not secure, your details could be stolen and you may become a victim of financial crimes such as identity theft. BBB encourages everyone to be careful and check out an online pawnshop before doing any business transactions by going to www.bbb.org.