I did check reviews about this vendor beforehand but gave them the benefit of the doubt. HUGE mistake. I strongly urge you NOT to make a purchase from this company if you haven't already, for the reasons I state below.
First of all, believe all the negative comments you read about this vendor. I gave them the benefit of the doubt (because we all know how pi—ed off customers can be sometimes), but now I believe every word of those negative comments.
I ordered some components from their website on 8/7.in the ordering process I specifically chose NOT to have my components assembled in order to eliminate the possibility of receiving refurbished equipment, which is one of the things I had read about this company. I received an email confirmation and called THAT DAY and reiterated to the person I spoke with that I wanted the components as parts and did not want it assembled. He confirmed what I was requesting and, further, told me it would ship out THAT DAY (though I didn't ask for that - I was fine with the 1 to 2 days listed as the shipping time for parts). Despite that statement, I did not receive an email shipping notice with a tracking number that day, although my credit card was charged for the components.
The next afternoon (8/8) I called back again because I still hadn't received my email shipping notice. I called again (only because they had said it would ship the previous day) and was told (again) that it would ship THAT DAY.
Another day passed (8/9) without an email shipping notice so I called again on 8/10. At this point I was told that they didn't have the motherboard in stock that I had ordered but they could ship me a different "right away" so my shipment could go out. I had selected that particular motherboard because it could handle the Pentium D 940 I had ordered but also had an AGP slot since I was going to keep my old video card. They ended up offering me a choice of two motherboards - one substandard with built in video and one that was actually better than the one I had ordered, but which required me to buy a PCI Express video card. I figured, "What the heck" and got the nicer motherboard at the same price as the one I had ordered and just had them add a PCI Express video card to my order (an additional $49.99). I once again confirmed that it would be shipped as parts and they told me it would go out THAT DAY. Low and behold, it did - I thought all was good with the order.
On 8/14 I received my order in a single box. Upon opening the box, I found the boxes for the motherboard and video card without the components inside, as well as another box containing the midtower. The CPU, CPU heatsink/fan/thermal compound, and RAM where not in the package - or so I thought. Upon opening the case my suspicions were confirmed - they had installed the motherboard, CPU (with heatsink and fan), RAM, and video card in the case. There was no retail packaging to be found for the CPU and RAM.
Given my numerous contacts with them specifying that I did NOT want the system assembled, and given the lack of any packaging for the CPU and RAM, I did not accept the system at face value. I checked the CPU and found that, not only had they sent me a Pentium D 930 rather than the 940 I had ordered, they had sent me a USED CPU. It was very obviously used because you could clearly see where they had attempted to rub off the old thermal compound. It was very obvious because they had improperly applied the thermal compound to the new heat sink, which I don't believe is actually compatible with this CPU socket design since IT DIDN'T MAKE CONTACT WITH THE CPU. Yes, that's right - they had a CPU fan with dried thermal compound on it (in a very different pattern from that evidenced on the CPU) that was not actually making contact with the CPU.
I, of course, called them immediately and informed them of these problems. At this point I told them I wanted to ship everything back and have them re-sent to me as components - the way I ordered and confirmed them in the first place - in their original packaging. "Nick" proceeded to argue with me asking if I had checked to see if they worked - which is totally irrelevant considering the fact that it had the incorrect CPU and it was previously used. As can be expected, he tried to claim the CPU was brand new and the rubbed off thermal compound "must have been from testing". He did offer to credit me for the price difference in CPUs, but after being argued with as to WHY I had a problem with being sent the components fully assembled (which I believe was a calculated attempt to hide the fact that the CPU was used) despite my multiple confirmations to the contrary and having a line of BS about the thermal compound I said, "Forget it - I'm sending these components back for a refund". The funny thing about this is that I wanted the components badly enough that if he hadn't argued with me I would have accepted unopened, "in the box" replacement parts (though maybe they just don't have those and that's why he argued).
I have to add one more bit about the CPU here. One of the things I did to try and convey exactly why the used CPU was a problem was using an analogy (since he couldn't seem to grasp it when I stated it very clearly to him). I asked how he would feel if he purchased a brand new television yet when it arrived it wasn't in any kind of manufacturer packaging and bore marks that indicated it had been used previously. His eloquent response was, "the don't sell television as parts". Woohoo - way to dodge, dude!
So here's how it stands: I have to ship the components back at my expense - which is complete cr@p - and they say they will issue a refund to my credit card "once the components are received". I intend to ship them with the "signature required" option because something tells me actually getting the refund is going to end up being a chore.: (
If you want to avoid getting really pi—ed off and tying up a couple of hundred dollars on your credit card for a while, don't buy anything from these guys (unless you like getting refudbished equipment in place of new equipment).
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