Vendors

[Direhit]

This section is dedicated to computer and parts vendors.

[Direhit]

Q: I want to buy some computer items over the internet, but I don't know which companies are good, and which ones are crooks!

A: If you are a http://www.pricewatch.com user and try to find the lowest prices, you should ALWAYS check with the ratings of the company at: http://www.resellerratings.com .

While it's not perfect, at least it gives you a good idea of what companies are honest, and what companies take your money and run. It also gives you an indication of how well the company treats its customers when something does go wrong.

My list of preferred vendors, for general components including cases):

http://www.newegg.com (this one has to be on everyone's list)
http://www.axiontech.com
http://www.directron.com
http://www.mwave.com
http://www.hypermicro.com (mostly for drives and other storage)

For memory modules:

http://www.mushkin.com
http://www.crucial.com
http://www.kingston.com

For proprietary memory modules:

http://www.crucial.com

For case cooling, CPU cooling or other mods:

http://highspeedpc.com/
http://www.jab-tech.com/
http://www.frozencpu.com

Again, always check with http://www.resellerratings.com AND http://www.bbb.org

Warning: If there is no record of the company on the BBB, then it's entirely possible that it's just a new name for an old company that has earned an unsatisfactory rating in the past.

[Direhit]

Q: OK. I now know some of the good companies, but what are some of the companies that are terrible?

A: If I had to post that information, I would single-handedly occupy all of the server space here.

http://www.resellerratings.com
http://www.bbb.org

Use both websites.

As for some of the companies that I know are truly terrible, watch out for:

http://www.partspc.com

http://www.bzboyz.com (what a stupid name...)

http://www.bunta.com/ (used to be a fine company, but ever since summer of last year, they have gone down the tubes)

http://www.tufshop.com
http://www.pcrapids.com

MOST of the companies based in Ohio, such as:

http://www.alvio.com/
http://www.pronetsale.com/ (These guys are a dozen or so, Slavic immigrants that do not speak any English, and have screwed over many, many customers)
http://www.pcinfinity.net/
http://www.a2zcomp.com/
http://www.pchardware4u.com/default.asp?ref=1 (same company as a2z)
http://www.hugebee.com
http://www.internetishop.com

Again, this is not to say that there aren't any good companies in Ohio; it's just that most of them are terrible.

More awful companies:

http://www.neutronet.com (Neutron USA: another good company that turned sour)
http://www.accubyte.com
http://www.coastmemory.com/ (These folks will ship you defective memory modules, and will keep trying to send you defective replacements, until you give up)

[Direhit]

Q: OK. I've been scammed by a vendor who has either taken my money and not delivered anything, or has delivered garbage and refuses to accept a RMA. What should I do?

A: If you have paid with a credit card, the first thing to do is to call your credit card company, and dispute the charges. Your credit card company will then remove the charges from your account, and take the money back from the vendor. Most of the time, this actually works, and when the vendor sees a lot of money missing from his account, he will then at least try to do enough to get rid of you.

If, however, your credit card company refuses to help you (this is exceedingly rare), then you should contact the Attorney General's Office for whatever state in which the business is located. Explain the entire situation to them. Surprisingly, this actually works quite well, as they handle both criminal and civil complaints.

Calling the police of the city in which the business is located might help, if you can convince them that criminal fraud has taken place, but if you can't convince them, they will merely tell you that it's a civil matter, and that they have no jurisdiction.

While you could certainly take the unscrupulous vendor to court, this takes a lot of time, and unless you have the time and money to drive / fly out to the state of its location, it's just not worth it. Let the State Attorney General's Office handle things, instead. Those are your tax dollars (they do receive some federal funding), so you may as well get something out of it.

[Direhit]

Q: One or more of my computer parts aren't working anymore, and it's already past the RMA period given by my vendor. What should I do?

A: Even though your vendor's warranty ran out, you can still get a RMA number from the manufacturer itself. Many of the manufacturers have support areas on their website that allow you to file RMA claims.

Others will have e-mail and / or phone contacts where you can explain your case. Make SURE that you have the proof of purchase and the receipt, in any case. If you do not have one or both, then the manufacturer may still honor your warranty, but will set the time of the warranty period's start to the date of manufacture, rather than the purchase date.

[Direhit]

Q: I bought an OEM CPU from (insert vendor's name here), and it is no longer functional. What can I do?

A: Vendors who sell OEM CPU's set their own policy on returns / exchanges. Most of them will give you a 10, 15, or 30 day warranty on OEM CPU's, although some will give you up to a year. It is YOUR responsibility to read up on what warranties they give you.

If you try to return an OEM CPU to AMD or Intel, they will simply tell you to deal with the vendor from which you purchased the CPU.

The reasons why OEM CPU's are generally cheaper, are 1) They do not come with a heatsink / cooling fan and 2) They do not come with the 3 year warranty that AMD / Intel gives you with their retail boxed CPU's.

[Direhit]

Q: Hey! I noticed that a couple of those "bad" companies that you mentioned before (BZBoyz and PartsPC) now have much better ratings. Were you wrong about them?

A: BZBoyz and PartsPC are essentially the same company, and have been unethically trying to convince people to post false positive feedback on resellerratings.com.

Essentially, they have been offering to give a 5 dollar credit to anyone who posts 100% positive / perfect feedback there. Very dishonest, and I have contacted Mr. Wariner about the situation.

I have warned all of you before, and shall say it again: Do not be tempted by the bottom feeders of Pricewatch.com. Stick with the "good" companies that I mentioned above. The fact remains that you will often times get screwed by the bad companies, and that you will end up paying shipping charges when you return the improper and / or defective items, which results in you paying much more than you would have, had you stuck with the truly reputable companies.

This unscrupulous compnay, BZBoyz, is also known as PC Rapids, Tufshop.com, and MicroX.com. They will bait and switch you.

[Direhit]

Q: My hard drive (or whatever item was purchased) died, and the vendor refuses to exchange the item, claiming that it is beyond their exchange period. Can they do this? What should I do?

A: The vendor is not obliged to provide any real level of customer service / technical support. If they state that the exchange / refund period is 30 days, then that's all you get from them.

This is not necessarily a horrible thing, since most items sold will carry a manufacturer's warranty, which is usually good for at least one year, and often times, especially with hard drives, significantly more than that.

Look up the company's website, and find a contact method, such as e-mail, phone, etc., and tell them about your problem, the date of purchase (make sure you have your receipt), etc. The manufacturer will then give you the proper RMA procedures, which are fairly easy to follow.

You want to beware, though, that some vendors sell OEM versions of certain pieces of hardware, and that these OEM pieces of hardware carry no warranty, other than the one that the vendor provides. CPU's are the most common OEM part purchased.

[Direhit]

Q: OK. The companies you recommended seem to be good ones, but they are all US-based. What about Canadian companies?

A: This list (under construction) is based on the testimonies from others, as I have not had any such dealings (nor will I) with non-US companies.

For memory modules:

http://www.ramstore.ca

General purpose:

http://www.ncix.com (is both canadian and US)
http://www.vibecomputers.com
http://www.kingstoncomputerplanet.com

[Direhit]

Q: What if I have defective merchandise? What's the best way to return such items back to the vendor?

A: First of all, save ALL of your receipts. Keep them in a safe place. When you call up the company, or e-mail them, they will want your invoice number before they even issue you an RMA. Otherwise, they can sometimes give you the runaround.

Save ALL of the original boxes and packing until you are sure you aren't going to return the merchandise to the vendor.

Fill out the warranty cards for each such piece of merchandise. This will save you hassle from the manufcaturers, should you have to send it back to them instead of the vendor.

In general, you should only send defective merchandise back to the vendors using UPS or FedEx. While the postal service may be less expensive, they do not offer a true means for tracking, when using Parcel Post or Priority Mail. The best you can get is signature confirmation. To get a true means of tracking using the postal service will mean using methods that will drive up the cost of shipping beyond what you would have paid for UPS or FedEx. Also, insurance is extra with the Postal Service, whereas you get a base level of insurance with the other two.

[Direhit]

Q: Where can I buy the Arctic Ceramique thermal compound? I can't find any places that have it at a reasonable price.

A: At this time, I recommend Directron.com, since they are apparently the only reliable source of the 22 gram syringes of Ceramique, at a reasonable price.

http://www.directron.com/ceramique.html

With shipping, a 22 gram tube should be around 10-12 dollars, and last you for dozens of uses.

[Direhit]

Q: I just bought an OEM CD burner from (insert company here). I just noticed that it doesn't come with anything, that it's just a bare drive. Can I ask the manufacturer for parts, such as cables and especially the burning software that comes with the retail version?

A: No. Whenever you buy a piece of OEM merchandise, it comes as-is, and the only support you are entitled to, is from the place which you purchased it. 99 times out of 100, the retailer will simply tell you that the purchase of an OEM item means you're on your own, unless it's defective. Yes, even the better companies do this.

This is the reason why, unless you already have everything else that you would need, you should buy the retail version, since it's only a bit in most cases, and does come with accessories, such as the all-important CD/DVD-burning software. In some cases, such as Lite-On burners, the price difference is only 1 or 2 dollars, and that you would get a fully functional copy of Nero burning software with the retail package.

[Direhit]

Q: A company is offering rebates for a product, and after the rebates, the price is actually excellent. Should I go ahead and get it?

A: A lot depends on the exact nature of the rebate. From whom does the rebate originate? If it comes from a reputable manufacturer, such as Western Digital, ATi, etc., then you can expect to see your rebate in short order.

However, many times, the rebate is store-related only, and that the store itself, or its headquarters, is the one issuing the rebate. Best Buy, for example, has been known to offer rebates that come from Best Buy HQ, but such rebates are always slow in arriving, and many times, never get there.

[Direhit]

Q: I bought a couple of hard drives from a vendor, and one of them went bad. This happened after my warranty with the vendor had expired, so they told me to deal with the hard drive manufacturer.

When I contacted the manufacturer, they told me that my serial number indicates that the drive was only to be sold in Malaysia (or insert another country here), and that they would not honor any warranty. What can I do?

A: In this case, the manufacturer is correct, in that they are not responsible for such a claim, if the part was not sold in the country it was destined to be sold.

Your only recourse is to contact your credit card company, and dispute the charges.

[Direhit]

Some links fixed (thanks, Cheesey Manz).