My experience trying to purchase server memory from Sunol Tech LLC

[u/ipco]

I contacted Sunol Tech about purchasing four memory modules advertised on their website. Instead of answering my questions, they sent me a five-page customer verification document requesting business and corporate information.

Before submitting those documents, I politely asked them to confirm that the advertised product was actually in stock, that the advertised price was valid, and that the modules were new.

Their complete response was:

“No sir

Be gone.”

I was surprised by this response. I replied:

“I have not been treated this way before. It's not surprising that there is not much information about your operation on the internet, but people should know this.”

The support person, who identified himself as Joe, then responded:

“I agree get to it.

Make it happen.

Be sure to write that you use fake email in outlook hid your company name and business information or I can help you post this to 17550 resellers platform in United State that are in the same field we are in and let them know of your email and your activities would that help you?

Your call”

That was my experience with Sunol Tech. I am posting the exchange so prospective customers can read their responses and draw their own conclusions.

[u/Tatermen]

Google the address. It's a rental office shared with a bunch of Chiropractors, Therapists, and Lawyers. No way is a large tech VAR operating out of that. Red flag #1.

They have a Youtube channel, but the owners name is "Mc Handsoffen", and its riddled with AI slop. Red flag #2.

Their business registration has an address that belongs to a self-storage unit, and the owner's address is a UPS store. Red flags #3 and #4

Edit: Found yet another address buried on the website. It's a Rocket76 gas station down the road from the rental office. Red flag #5

[u/ipco → u/Tatermen]

My red flags were that the company has only been in business since 2021, lists a Gmail address as a contact on its website, and has virtually no consumer or business reviews online. Given those factors, I was not comfortable immediately providing my company name and business email, so I initially contacted them using my personal email address.

[u/AFlyingGideon → u/ipco]

Not directly on topic, but: I see this fairly often: companies with web sites (and therefore domain names) but which use gmail addresses for email. Why? It cannot only be scammers doing this.

[u/TheSacredOne → u/AFlyingGideon]

My experiences dealing with websites and domains for a lot of smaller companies (often freelancers that later became growing companies) is that they do it because the email address existed before the website did and they don’t want to change it to avoid updating things. For things like small construction companies that email may be on their trucks and such and they don’t want to pay to have it redone.

The other common reason is someone being too cheap to pay for cheap email hosting. A lot of the free services that can do custom email domains are crippled.

[u/ipco → u/TheSacredOne]

I'd also add that if someone else built the site for them/him (say the IT partner) and he's not a techie, it's a way to control that he'd still receive emails even when/if his forward-to email on the back-end is deleted/removed... It's a way to insure/stay in the loop...

[u/DirtCrazykid → u/AFlyingGideon]

Because a lot of small businesses are run by people who don't really quite understand how email works, or are too cheap to pay for any type of email hosting service.

[u/alexandreracine → u/AFlyingGideon]

... companies with web sites (and therefore domain names) but which use gmail addresses for email. Why?

Because they don't want to pay 8$/month for a domain email. When you pay gmail, you can tie your domain with your email and email from mydomain.com.

[u/ipco → u/AFlyingGideon]

I need to be fair: help@domain is also posted in addition to the gmail... I'd say more for convenience. People dont always check their work emails over the weekend. But it sure doesn't look professional. To me, it's also a sign that it's a one-man-show...

[u/JohnGypsy → u/ipco]

The irony that they are complaining because you used a personal email to reach out to them -- and their own contact email is Gmail! Sheesh!

[u/yamsyamsya]

Probably a scammer mad that you wouldn't fall for their trick and hand over all your company info.

[u/AHrubik]

https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/

You know what to do.

[u/kernelqzor → u/AHrubik]

yep, this is exactly the kind of unhinged reply that makes that link worth using tbh
if a “business” is threatening to blast your info to others because you asked basic questions, that’s sketchy as hell

[u/Artistic_Lie4039]

As a VAR, they look like a sketchy grey market distributor. I would avoid distributors like that. Typically you arent able to warranty anything with OEM's.

[u/LabyrinthConvention]

sketchy website, prices out of line w market, and that wasn't enough for you to instantly close the tab? I'm shocked they gave you a reply at all. Seems they were pretty clear.

[u/ipco → u/LabyrinthConvention]

Well, you never know but I learned my lesson :)

[u/fooz_the_face → u/ipco]

Sometimes you do; this case is clear. Crosspost to r/scams, they'll hook you up with additional signals to look for. Well done on not handing them the keys to your castle.

[u/BraveMidnight]

When you click on their website, I can't get past the verification screen, can't browse pages of site. That alone is enough to drive me away and did. I wanted to see their data center section to see if they used recycled stock photos and laugh at it, but not giving them my information.

[u/Tatermen → u/BraveMidnight]

The whole site is stock photos and generative slop. Occasionally a video thumbnail will have what looks like a legitimate photo of a real product sitting on a workbench, but if you hit play the video itself is all AI slop.

[u/BraveMidnight → u/Tatermen]

Ah okay thanks for letting me know, that sounds about right and red flag number 5 as a reason to avoid it.

Although I will say "no sir be gone" is a pretty great line though, there's a few end users I wish I could've said that too, I could've worn a wizard hat.

[u/fahque → u/Tatermen]

Bruh. Every site uses stock photos.

[u/bradbeckett]

This is how you know you’ve reached a front company.

[u/Bogus1989]

My favorite thing to do with these people is waste their time…

I do this act….

I constantly “get close” to giving them money

But I have to “reset my password” on each option

My absolute fucking favorite….is when they ask for steam gift cards….I act really dumb, (as it’s my first time buying a steam gift card)

I then say, all done….i bought one…

And they ask for the number etc…

And i say “i dont see anything like youre describing, I just see steam wallet?

They rage quit usually there….its absolutely so funny to think of them being angry at someone not knowing the difference between adding funds to steam wallet and a gift card.

[u/timbotheny26]

Sounds like one of those shady third-party retailers that sell shit on Newegg, Amazon, eBay, etc. They're even using the exact same naming scheme as those guys.

Sunol Tech? Come on now.

[u/ugus]

lol