I responded anyway, saying: "I want to confirm that these monitors are complete and under manufacturer's warranty and that shipping is free. Please respond if incorrect."

    Several days later, I received a note stating (abbreviated): "Congratulations! You have won three Viewsonic monitors for xxx. The total charged to your credit card with shipping of $0 is xxx."

    A few days later, I received another note stating: "Your order of three REFURBISHED Viewsonic OPTIQUEST monitors have been shipped. Your credit card has been charged xxx for the monitors plus $96.60 for shipping."

    I immediately emailed them to ask when did the new Viewsonic monitors become refurbished Optiquest and when had the free shipping become $96.60. After two days with no response to several emails, I emailed stating that I would refuse delivery and charge back my credit card. Only then did I get a response stating that the monitors had been listed as refurbished. I went back to the site, but the listing had disappeared. I emailed back stating that I almost never buy refurbished items because they have no warranty. They emailed back stating that these monitors had a one year warranty. Because of this email, I decided to accept delivery and deal with the shipping charge later. Big mistake.

    The monitors came with a notice stating that there was NO warranty. My emails to Zones went unanswered. When I called them, I was told that auctions items could not be handled by phone, so I would have to email some more. I contacted the Better Business Bureau. The woman to whom my case was assigned, sent my complaint to Zones. They sent a long, whining letter about how they don't know the shipping charge at the time of the auction and that is why it wasn't applied until the end. I countered with:    1) every auction site has either a fixed or approximate shipping charge on each item. Why is Zones the only one that claims to be unable to do this?         2) If Zones' claim is true, then the confirmation should have read, "Shipping to be applied later" NOT "shipping is $0."     3) I had bought two other items from Zones Auction on the same day and both of those had the shipping charge right on the bid confirmation, proving that their whole "defense" was a lie. As to why Viewsonic had become Optiquest and why a one-year warranty had become none, they did not even bother to reply.

    The BBB agreed with me and told Zones to work out a compromise. I agreed to accept the monitors despite the fact that they were refurbished and Optiquest instead of Viewsonic. Zones agreed to send me a credit for the shipping, good toward any purchase on their site. I agreed to this but asked for the warranty. They then sent a printout of a page on their site that said "All Zones' products are sold as-is with no warranties." They stated that it was my responsibility to read all their terms and understand them before making a purchase. I sent the BBB woman the email Zones had sent me, stating that there was a one year warranty. She sent it to Zones and asked why their terms kept changing. Three weeks later, there was still no response from Zones.

      In mid August I sent the BBB a reminder that we were still waiting. She contacted Zones. They had the gall to re-send their original letter of a month before, stating that there was no warranty, completely ignoring their own email to the contrary.

    It seems to me that Zones is using the Internet to deceive their customers. It is easy to make false claims on a web site that you can change. It is much more difficult to lie in magazine print. It seems to me that this is a Zones policy. I (and the woman at the BBB) have together heard from three different Zones employees. All three have reiterated the party line. "Shipping can only be determined when the item ships," "All Zones items are sold as-is." It looks like Zones has a training class where they teach their employees how to parrot lines and make no attempt at correcting complaints caused by their own "mistakes."

    I told the BBB I did not want Zones credit. I did not want to ever do business with them. I wanted the overcharge credited to my card. Zones did not respond. Faced with no other recourse, I have charged the entire transaction back on my credit card. When my bank saw the confirmation which read, "the total charged to your credit card with shipping will be xxx," they agreed that Zones had no right to add another $96.60 after the fact.

      Realizing that they weren't going to get away with this fraud, Zones suddenly snapped into action. First, they stated that I could not charge back the monitors without sending them back. I replied that since this entire transaction was being voided due to their fraud and I had asked them not to send the monitors in the first place, they could arrange for UPS to do a pick up at their expense. Zones finally agreed to credit the shipping.

      I am tempted to email Zones that my web site states I have the right to charge back anything for any reason and it was their responsibility to read all my terms and understand them before making the sale.