I’ve been pretty excited about getting a new desktop ever since my last one decided to stop working. But of course – I’m not the kind of person to buy a ready-made system, I want to pick my components a little more carefully and really know what I’m getting. I’ve never had problems doing this in the past (ever since my 386, I’ve been building my own PC’s. Actually, that’s not completely correct – I once built an IBM 8088 system out of spare parts, which I used for a long time). This time around has been quite – educational – I guess. And extremely frustrating.

First of all, let me get this out of the way: The Worst Computer Store I’ve ever attempted to purchase something from. I say “attempted” because I’ve paid, but as of today (14 days later), I still don’t have anything. Maybe I’m spoiled by the “normal” way I expect online stores to work: you pick what you want, you pay, and then they ship it to you. Sounds simple, but I guess it isn’t always – like in this case.

After a seemingly normal online order, I transferred the money to the store (one of the usual ways of payment here in Germany). Everything was in stock, which was important to me (I wanted it here quickly!). Everything went fine, although I never got a notification that they got my money (the opposite is usual – usually you do get a notification). So I wrote them with a “what’s up?” and they said “oh, yeah, we’re waiting on some of the stuff you ordered, its not in stock.” So OK: one of the reasons I ordered things there was because everything was IN STOCK.

I wrote them back, “When is it going to be in stock? I thought I would have had everything already!” and they replied “Tomorrow”. Later on, they wrote back with a “Ok, not tomorrow, and we can’t say when it will come.” Ok, so what’s the use in having just most of what you need to build a computer, but not everything? So I asked about a similar product, and they replied that they had a similar one and it would cost extra. A whopping $20 or so more.

So I said, “Ok, ship it now please, I will send the money to you!” which I did. They replied that they couldn’t until they got the money. So I said, “Ok, send the remainder C.O.D.!”, which occured after I had already transferred the $20 to them. They said fine, they’d send it that way, and I could pay the $20 COD and they would send my money transfer back to me.

So now it is 14 days since the original order, and the package arrives. DHL only takes one or two days. The problem is, the whole thing came COD. Yes, I already paid the $1100, but they also sent the package with an $1100 COD charge. What, do they expect me to pay twice? Are they crazy? It’s not like I have the $20 or $1100 back already.

Now the package has to go back to them, and I’m either going to have to cancel my order with them or wait another (who KNOWS how long) time for the same shipment. What a terrible outfit this company is. I am very dissapointed with these guys. Never, ever, again. I’m going to use a more expensive but at least reliable store from now on, I can’t deal with this frustration.
Update:
It seems that – for some reason – as a customer, you’re not allowed to call the company (with the phone number listed on the site). That’s the story I got when I called and asked what the deal was with wanting to charge me twice. Brilliant.