tl:dr Ordered a custom build, Jason tried to sell me a $600 prebuilt computer from Amazon for $1732.
I have previously gone to Jason for computer repairs and been happy with his work. I've even recommended him to several friends. This last December I wanted to get a custom built gaming computer for my son and reached out to Jason to see if he did custom builds. He said yes, and we agreed on a budget of $2000.
He contacted me a couple weeks later letting me know the build was complete and sent me some pictures and the specs of the hardware installed. I didn't even think to check the prices of the components because I had had no issue with Jason's work before. I thought the motherboard choice was weird because I'd never heard of STGAubron mobo's being sold separately (as brands like ASUS do for custom builders.)
The tip-off came when I picked the machine up. He handed me a bag of branded peripherals. Anyone who has ever been around gaming PCs/custom builds etc knows the only way someone has matching branded keyboard, mouse, mousepad, headphones and an RGB SOUNDBAR is if they bought the PC as a package. They definitely do not have all of those items matching from the same off-brand no name manufacturer unless they were purchased as a package. I still wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but when I got home I started looking online.
Sure enough, there on Amazon was the STGAubron prebuilt PC with the exact named parts specifications Jason had sent me, packaged with the exact same STGAubron mouse, STGAubron mouse pad, STGAubron Headphones, STGAubron Keyboard, and the cherry on top, an STGAUBRON RGB Soundbar. When I say exact I mean down to the component brand, model and spec of everything in the entire machine.
I did some additional checking and found that I could not find an STGAubron motherboard sold separately anywhere, the only way they sold them was in prebuilt PCs. I reached out to STGAubron and they confirmed, they do not sell their motherboards separately retail in the US.
The price of this prebuilt machine package, $609. (Jason charged me $1732.
When I confronted Jason about this he initially lied repeatedly and started saying that this was all supplied by his "tech." He continued to claim that he bought all the parts from his "tech" and assembled the machine himself. At this point I had done more than enough research to know that I was being defrauded and was done arguing with him. I informed him that I would be taking him to small claims court with the evidence I had gathered.
After continuing to lie he eventually agreed to refund me what I paid minus several hundred dollars for setup and a "restocking fee," in the amount of $1353.21. At this point I was tired of dealing with it and accepted.
On December 12th he told me he would initiate the refund (PayPal) and that it would take 3-5 business days.
On December 20th (6th business day) I contacted him and told him I had not gotten a refund. He claimed that he had initiated it and it would be arriving soon. He then initiated the refund that day. How do I know? PayPal tells you immediately when someone initiates a refund and displays the status as pending until it goes through. So yeah, he did not initiate it until the 20th when I contacted him, and lied about that too.
Next time you are attempting to scam someone, don't give them a branded mouse, keyboard, mousepad, headphones and soundbar matching the brand of the mobo. You probably would have gotten away with this if you hadn't because I wouldn't have started checking.
As there is a high chance Jason will dispute this, to anyone who needs it I am happy to email/provide all of the aforementioned evidence. read more