TigerDirect
TigerDirect.com ripoff deceptive company

TigerDirect.com sold me a "new" IBM ThinkPad 600 last April from one of their web pages that showed it as new - the words "refurbished" or "reconditioned" DID NOT appear on the pages whatsoever. Therefore I felt I was purchasing a NEW product.

Once received, I opened the box to be greeted with a piece of paper on IBM letterhead that said "this product is sold as-is with absolutely no warranty whatsoever". When I saw that, I just knew I was going to have a bad day. And an evern worse time trying to contact TigerDirect to get satisfaction.

That notice notwithstanding, I unpacked the product and tried to get it to run. Nada. I had the funny feeling that the battery might be bad and using some basic troubleshooting, that's what I determined. That and the power cord from the AC adapter to the laptop looked like it had been run through a meat grinder.

I tried calling TigerDirect but only got "PermaHold" (at my expense). Then I took their suggestion and posted an email to their customer service department. Nada. No response. I sent the email five or six different times - still nothing.

Trying to make the best of a potentially bad situation, I called IBM and guess what? They informed me that the unit DID have a warranty. But it would expire in eight months, since twenty-six months of the original 3-year warranty had already elapsed.in other words, TIGERDIRECT SOLD ME A NEARLY THREE YEAR OLD PRODUCT which they represented as new.

IBM explained that batteries are not usually covered under the 3-year portion since they're 'consumables' and usually only have a 1-year warranty, which had long since elapsed. BUT GUESS WHAT? IBM SENT ME A NEW BATTERY AND ADAPTER FREE via OVERNIGHT Airborne Express! They said it was important to them that I was a satisfied IBM customer regardless of what the retailer did.
And, oh yeah, they allowed it to slip that "we've had several similar problems with this retailer".

So, with my new battery and adapter, I felt that perhaps I could just go ahead and accept the ThinkPad and let bygones be bygones. That philosophy worked great until the battery failed again on 12/26/01. More attempts to contact TigerDirect went... Well you know, no place. A Call to IBM and my throwing myself at their mercy (begged and groveled at lot - after all those batteries are over $100!!) got POSITIVE RESULTS! Again, they agreed to send out a battery!

Finally I did get an email response from TigerDirect, by-the-way, which BLAMED ME for having purchased a refurb. I stated that their web page did not show it as refurbished (and I did an earlier screen-shot of it, just for my routine records not knowing how handy it might be!) and said they weren't inclined to do anything. Even after my spending thousands with them on bare-bones kits, add-ins, parts, etc., still I was peanuts to them and obviously they couldn't be bothered, even if it meant losing me forever as a customer.

MORALE OF THIS STORY: Proceed with caution when you purchase anything from TigerDirect! They definitely DO NOT embrace the high level of customer service that IBM has. No wonder that IBM has been such a well-known and driving force in the industry for such a long time. I'd say buy from IBM with confidence that they will support you every way they can. STAY AWAY FROM TIGER DIRECT!!!

Greg
Allentown, Pennsylvania

Company: TigerDirect
Country: USA
State: Florida
City: Miami
Site: www.tigerdirect.com

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