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[MERGED] Retailer Discussion Thread

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24567…38

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    #32
    Fnz
    Registered Users Posts: 2,848 ✭✭✭Fnz


    extra-ordinary_ wrote: »
    I like elara.ie for the odd few things as their prices can be comparable and you can collect from their warehouse and so pay no shipping cost - handy if you live in Dublin.

    Unfortunately, they couldn't match Dabs' price for a monitor I'm considering. They were willing to knock a couple of quid of their price but they were still a bit dearer. I may still buy it from Elara for ease of return in case of problems.


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    #33
    TerrorFirmer
    Closed Accounts Posts: 29,930 ✭✭✭✭TerrorFirmer


    I'm amazed lately at how companies like Elara and Dabs have matched and surpassed Komplett in general. I got my 2nd 512mb GTS for 190 inc delivery off Elara, that's as good as HWV's best price inc delivery and substanially cheaper then Komplett.

    Also, saw misco.ie for the first time a few days ago, some decent prices on there as well!

    I've used Pixmania a few times but their customer service is the worst I've ever seen. Great prices for a real budget builder though. An alright looking large case+480w PSU for 30 euro! :D


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    #34
    AtomicHorror
    Registered Users Posts: 5,888 ✭✭✭AtomicHorror


    AtomicHorror wrote: »
    Having something of an ongoing nightmare with Hardwareversand.de

    Quote:
    Well I'm not quite sure what to make of these guys at this point...

    Ordered a rig (with assembly) on the 23rd of April.

    My payment was confirmed on the 24th.

    I was aware that some items might require a wait for delivery so I wasn't too surprised when they emailed me on the 26th to inform me that they were waiting for the motherboard to be delivered and that my order would be dispatched as soon as this arrived.

    Since I figured they would need some leeway time (I ordered an out of stock part), I waited. The motherboard delivery day (30th) came and went without word.

    On the 6th of May, after 10 days of silence, I emailed the company looking for an update and was informed that they were now awaiting delivery of the CPU (they stated it as being "still" out of stock but I can't remember if it was out of stock at the time I ordered). They suggested that I change my order to the tray version of the CPU (a bit more expensive) and a third party fan. The tray version was also out of stock but more regularly delivered. I replied immediately and said that if the price difference was not significant (I was chancing my arm that they might do me a deal there) that I would change my order. I also asked if any other components were at this point pending delivery.

    On the 9th of May the company replied and informed me of the price difference between the CPUs. They also stated that my order was otherwise complete. I took this to mean that assembly would happen as soon as the last parts were ordered. I checked the websites stocks and was delighted to find that the tray CPU was now in stock. I picked out a 3rd party CPU fan (also in stock) and immediately provided both catalog numbers to the company asking them to bill me for any price difference and provide any needed reference numbers. There was no reply to this email.

    Four days later (and 21 days after my order) and having heard nothing more, I emailed the company for an update.

    Day 22. Hardwareversand customer services replied to me, once again stating that the CPU in my original order is not in stock and once again suggesting that I instead order the tray version. It's possible that the email contained other information, but it's hard for me to tell as they felt it was appropriate to write in German. I replied (in English along with a request in German for them to respond only in English) stating for the second time that I would like them to change the order as suggested and bill me.
    Day 23. Hardwareversand replied to my email today (thankfully in English) stating that my order could not yet be assembled because I'd neglected to order a case. A quick look at my order history on their website shows that the case is the second item on the order list and that it is still in stock. I pointed this out.

    So on May 15 I sent an email looking for an update. I also, to be on the safe side, re-sent my entire order list complete with the items updated as I'd confirmed twice previously. Today I received an email from Hardwareversand informing me that the CPU I originally ordered was out of stock (as they had already twice informed me) and suggesting that I change my order to the tray version (as they had already suggested twice and as I had confirmed twice already).

    So we're now going round in circles. I've dealt with four different customer service reps, none of whom seem to read back through the email history, none of whom seem to communicate with each other and one of whom decided to respond to an English email in German.

    It is now 27 days since I ordered and gave the company over 2000 euros. My PC has not yet even been built. So, my provisional review of Hardwareversand.de (unless something utterly astounding happens today) is that they are the worst computer hardware company that I have ever dealt with.


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    #35
    AtomicHorror
    Registered Users Posts: 5,888 ✭✭✭AtomicHorror


    Day 31... This week I requested a callback from Hardwareversand (twice) and rang them myself at one point. I only have a mobile phone so when I was put on hold I figured I better hang up. Emailed them several times looking for confirmation that the changes I'd now requested three times had been made. I got no answer at all until I threatened to cancel my order and get a refund. This prompted them to confirm that my order had been changed and that a small price difference would be refunded to me. Finally.

    Sadly, the following day they emailed to inform me that the fan that I'd requested, which had been in stock the three times I'd previously asked for it, was now out of stock. Delivery of said fan will occur on Tuesday.

    I'd cancel and demand a refund but I shudder to imagine the cluster**** of ineptitiude that this would prompt.


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    #36
    joker77
    Registered Users Posts: 4,111 ✭✭✭joker77


    Hi, just wanted to post up a bit of positive feedback after getting my build from Komplett last month.

    Here is the build:

    KOMPLETT Intel Gamer ATI
    Antec Solo Miditower
    Corsair Powersupply 550W Bulk
    Gigabyte GA-EP35C-DS3R
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz
    OCZ Gold XTC DDR2 PC6400 4096MB KIT,#w/two 2048MB PC6400 XTC, CL5-5-5-15
    Club3D Radeon HD2600PRO 512MB, GDDR2
    2 x Samsung SpinPoint T166 500GB SATA2 16MB 7200RPM
    NEC DVD±RW burner AD-7200S, 20x, SATA
    PC with no operating system
    Logitech Cordless Desktop EX110
    Logitech QuickCam PRO 9000 Webcam

    The build arrived quick enough after ordering, the communication with Komplett on their forum here was good, and overall I'm a satisfied customer. The build itself is great, the Antec Solo case is very quiet with the noise dampening, and Quad Core Q6600 with 4Gbs RAM is great for running Vista.

    Fingers crossed that my good experience with Komplett keeps up


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    #37
    TerrorFirmer
    Closed Accounts Posts: 29,930 ✭✭✭✭TerrorFirmer


    So so you know, all retailer feedback and Q&A is moved to this thread :)


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    #38
    zilog_jones
    Registered Users Posts: 6,641 ✭✭✭zilog_jones


    AtomicHorror wrote: »
    ...
    Sounds like you chose the option for them to build the PC for you? Maybe that's where the problem lies...


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    #39
    blackgold>>
    Closed Accounts Posts: 852 ✭✭✭blackgold>>


    No his problem was he ordered parts 3 times when the parts where not in stock 3 times .
    And the fact he was to lazy to ring them, instead choosing to email them for about 4 weeks.
    Zzz Germans are not incompetent.


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    #40
    lol5605
    Registered Users Posts: 178 ✭✭lol5605


    Hey there a friend of mine got a new computer there about 2 weeks ago, he got it from a UK site based in Jersey, that island to the south I think, anywho he's on holidays for 2 weeks now and I wont have contact with him, he got a great deal, question is - anyone know the name of this site?

    Thanks.


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    #41
    AtomicHorror
    Registered Users Posts: 5,888 ✭✭✭AtomicHorror


    blackgold>> wrote: »
    No his problem was he ordered parts 3 times when the parts where not in stock 3 times .

    I ordered 1 out of stock part 1 time, which I was happy to wait for.
    blackgold>> wrote: »
    And the fact he was to lazy to ring them, instead choosing to email them for about 4 weeks.

    Well I don't have a landline (or an understanding boss at work) but I did ring Germany on my mobile a couple of weeks ago. I was put on hold so I elected instead to register for a call back. Did this twice, in fact. Never did get that call. That aside, given the cost of what could be quite a long international call, and the money spent on the order, is it totally unreasonable to expect a computer company to be able to deliver customer service via the internet?

    Not quite sure why you are so determined to paint me as being at fault here blackgold. I'd appreciate less of the personal shots, I'm not here for a slagging match.


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    #42
    AtomicHorror
    Registered Users Posts: 5,888 ✭✭✭AtomicHorror


    zilog_jones wrote: »
    Sounds like you chose the option for them to build the PC for you? Maybe that's where the problem lies...

    Once the parts had all come in the build and dispatch happened within 24 hours. Since they'd have held back dispatch until the order was full anyway, I don't think the assembly was a bottleneck.


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    #43
    AtomicHorror
    Registered Users Posts: 5,888 ✭✭✭AtomicHorror


    joker77 wrote: »
    Fingers crossed that my good experience with Komplett keeps up

    Ordered loads of stuff from them a few years back- built at least 2 PCs from it all. All pretty much without a hitch. Think I had 1 order from them go a bit odd but this was more than outweighed by their willingness to sort out returns with no hassle.


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    #44
    Gadgetman496
    Registered Users Posts: 8,362 ✭✭✭Gadgetman496


    hideous ape wrote: »
    Anyone ever order from these guys?

    http://www2.computeruniverse.net/

    They seem to accept Credit card and Paypal, if Hardwareversand.de accepted credit card or paypal I would use them. Don't have time to get to the bank on weekdays. Germans can be very strange when it comes to business! How any e-tailer can run without CC or Paypal is beyond me.

    Did up a spec the other day and I would save €180 by ordering from Hardwareversand instead of Komplett. I'm done ordering from Komplett anymore. Any opinions on Computeruniverse.net?


    Regards,
    hideous.ape

    Did you run with computeruniverse.net?

    How did you get on?

    -

    "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."



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    #45
    hideous ape
    Registered Users Posts: 339 ✭✭hideous ape


    Had to put the PC Build on hold, due to job hunting.
    Just got a job in Apple the other day so now I'm thinking of getting a MacBook Pro for music production and build a PC for games,etc.
    Bye bye paychecks...oh dear:)

    Just waiting on the new ATI/Nvidia cards before building. Will post if I order from them though.


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    #46
    extra-ordinary_
    Registered Users Posts: 1,288 ✭✭✭extra-ordinary_


    I've placed about fifty orders with komplett.ie.

    I used to get their 'Weekly Offer email' every week - and I could have a look at what they currently had on offer at the time. After a while I found that I really didn't want to be informed of their latest offers and I decided to unsubscribe from the mailing list. This went grand - no more emails.

    Then out of nowhere about 6 months later I start getting these emails again - not requested by me nor with my consent.
    I noticed the emails had started again but didn't think too much about it until today when I tried to unsuscribe from the mailing list. There is a link in the email to your account page where you can 'Manage Mailing Lists'. I clicked on this link and spent 5 minutes examining my account for 'Manage Mailing Lists' to no avail. I then realise it's not there, and I can't unsubscribe from their mailing list without sending them an email. This is really unacceptable.
    I then start to wonder how my email address got back on this mailing list anyway - without my prior permission or consent - especially as I had deliberately removed myself from this list previously. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got about their obvious disregard for my privacy.

    Does anyone else consider this over aggressive marketing or am I over-reacting?


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    #47
    icecube
    Closed Accounts Posts: 14 ✭icecube


    you are over reacting imo
    Database failures are quite common on websites(Ive ran a few database websites and i know)
    So a day or so after the unsubscription you put in the database could of crashed and they could of used a backup from before you unsubscribed.
    Its not as if companies are looking to force their newsletters on you, atleast i hope not


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    #48
    Shiny
    Registered Users Posts: 2,259 ✭✭✭Shiny


    In fairness you are over-reacting.

    Its not as if they leaked your email address to a spam list or something.
    Just send them the email to be unsubscribed and then thats it?

    For 6 months at least.:pac:


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    #49
    AtomicHorror
    Registered Users Posts: 5,888 ✭✭✭AtomicHorror


    So my system arrived on Friday. Having had a few days with it I can now give my review...

    hardwareversand.de

    Prices: Very low, have yet to see cheaper for most of the parts I ordered.

    Range: Very wide, with most items in stock at any given time.

    Payment: International bank transfer only. Very awkward and unless you go for an express payment (about €20 extra) it'll take several days to go through.

    Customer service: Variable but not good. An out of stock motherboard caused a delay that they dealt with just fine. However, a shipping delay on the CPU created a mess that involved about 20 emails and 5 different reps over the course of 35 days. Response time was sometimes as much as a week. Reps did not seem to be aware of each other's prior interaction with me. At the rep's suggestion I made multiple requests to change the order which failed until I threatened to cancel my order and obtain a refund. One email was responded to in German with no translation. Attempts to get a telephone callback via the company website failed to work.

    Shipping: €30flat rate with DHL.de. For the volume of parts ordered, this is excellent. Tracking only works within Germany though. It is however possible to contact DHL Ireland for information. An unfortunate hitch arose as Hardwareversand formatted my address very strangely (Apartment Building, Apartment Complex, Number, Town, County) and did not give DHL a contact phone number for me. This resulted in the packages failing to deliver until I contacted DHL after 6 days to find out what had happened.

    Build Quality: Exactly as ordered with no obvious damage to any parts with the exception of some minor dents in the cooling fins on the CPU fan. System performance is excellent. Software install seems flawless with fully up to date hardware drivers and firmware having been downloaded during the install.

    In conclusion, I'm not sure I can recommend the company. It ultimately comes down to whether the saving you make is worth the risk of delays and difficult customer service interaction. Total time from ordering to unboxing in my apartment: 44 days

    Overall score: 5/10


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    #50
    Raiser
    Registered Users Posts: 4,929 ✭✭✭Raiser


    extra-ordinary_ wrote: »
    I've placed about fifty orders with komplett.ie.

    I used to get their 'Weekly Offer email' every week - and I could have a look at what they currently had on offer at the time. After a while I found that I really didn't want to be informed of their latest offers and I decided to unsubscribe from the mailing list. This went grand - no more emails.

    Then out of nowhere about 6 months later I start getting these emails again - not requested by me nor with my consent.
    I noticed the emails had started again but didn't think too much about it until today when I tried to unsuscribe from the mailing list. There is a link in the email to your account page where you can 'Manage Mailing Lists'. I clicked on this link and spent 5 minutes examining my account for 'Manage Mailing Lists' to no avail. I then realise it's not there, and I can't unsubscribe from their mailing list without sending them an email. This is really unacceptable.
    I then start to wonder how my email address got back on this mailing list anyway - without my prior permission or consent - especially as I had deliberately removed myself from this list previously. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got about their obvious disregard for my privacy.

    Does anyone else consider this over aggressive marketing or am I over-reacting?

    I am willing to take up arms to support your struggle.

    /God help you should anything serious ever happen in your life. Seriously.


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    #51
    mike65
    Closed Accounts Posts: 88,978 ✭✭✭✭mike65


    They've got easily the best price I've found so far for an epson scanner that I'm after, anyone bought from them?

    Mike.


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    #52
    L31mr0d
    Registered Users Posts: 8,067 ✭✭✭L31mr0d


    mike65 wrote: »
    They've got easily the best price I've found so far for an epson scanner that I'm after, anyone bought from them?

    Mike.

    I personally know the guy who owns the company and he's a sound bloke. The website is a bit old but I believe he's in the process of revamping it. Give him a bell if you have any questions he'll be more than happy to answer them for you.


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    #53
    angryInch
    Registered Users Posts: 123 ✭✭angryInch


    Does any one know the phone number for hardwareversand.de?
    I have been trying +49-1805-711117, but I am getting an engaged tone every time I try it.


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    #54
    AtomicHorror
    Registered Users Posts: 5,888 ✭✭✭AtomicHorror


    angryInch wrote: »
    Does any one know the phone number for hardwareversand.de?
    I have been trying +49-1805-711117, but I am getting an engaged tone every time I try it.

    00491805711117 is the full number. If it's coming up engaged rather than out of service then that suggests you've got it right but that the line is busy.

    You can also request a callback from:
    https://www1.hardwareversand.de/callback.jsp

    Remember to put in the dialing code for Ireland and drop any leading zeros from your number. I wouldn't hold my breath for a call back though.


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    #55
    Spear
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Help & Feedback Category Moderators Posts: 25,063 CMod ✭✭✭✭Spear


    http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/06/24/komplett_down_pan/

    .ie is still up so far, but German, French, Austrian and UK are gone.


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    #56
    Inquitus
    Registered Users Posts: 13,730 ✭✭✭✭Inquitus


    Spear wrote: »
    http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/06/24/komplett_down_pan/

    .ie is still up so far, but German, French, Austrian and UK are gone.

    Strange that some are still running and others are not.

    Being an internet sales business all their cost base is in the Warehousing and Distribution centre(s), as well as the backend office side - Finance, Sales, Purchasing etc. So one would imagine there is little additional cost in operating in the UK if one is selling to Ireland already for example, so closing some and not other websites is a strange move, unless they are consolidating it into a smaller number of legal entities and will continue to sell to the UK from another juristiction (perhaps ireland). I guess we'll found out over the next few days, but Komplett will be a big loss if it does close down.

    Inq


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    #57
    Spear
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Help & Feedback Category Moderators Posts: 25,063 CMod ✭✭✭✭Spear


    Inquitus wrote: »
    Strange that some are still running and others are not.

    Being an internet sales business all their cost base is in the Warehousing and Distribution centre(s), as well as the backend office side - Finance, Sales, Purchasing etc. So one would imagine there is little additional cost in operating in the UK if one is selling to Ireland already for example, so closing some and not other websites is a strange move, unless they are consolidating it into a smaller number of legal entities and will continue to sell to the UK from another juristiction (perhaps ireland). I guess we'll found out over the next few days, but Komplett will be a big loss if it does close down.

    Inq

    Komplett do have a warehouse in Ireland which I would have thought would raise Irish costs.


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    #58
    Inquitus
    Registered Users Posts: 13,730 ✭✭✭✭Inquitus


    They dont have a Warehouse in Ireland, their only presence is a company who do their RMA's on their behalf.
    Komplett.ie c/o ECS Logistics
    Unit F
    Airport Business Campus
    Santry
    Dublin 9

    I've been down to RMA stuff on a few occassions

    Their only major distibution center is in Holland afiak, so thats where all the cost is, the only cost of doing business through Komplett UK would be maintaining the website and producing the UK Accounts and managing Statutory Compliance. Take maybe 1 person fulltime tops.


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    #59
    Creamy Goodness
    Registered Users Posts: 26,556 ✭✭✭✭Creamy Goodness


    good ridence, they were terrible for the last 4 years with pricing.

    *EDIT* didn't read the thread on the komplett forum.

    although closing several of their web stores does sit well for me as a customer.


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    #60
    DanGerMus
    Registered Users Posts: 1,525 ✭✭✭DanGerMus


    Hey guys i've found some sites that seem to have decent prices but for some reason i cant register for them i keep getting errors can someone else try and tell me if they have any success.

    www.notebooknet.de
    www.hoh.de

    Sorry if this is wrong forum mods.


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    #61
    Anti
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,401 ✭✭✭✭Anti


    yup, im getting errors too. But their in german. Possibly they only allow registrations through a .de domain or something. Or it could be we are filling in the wrong information ?


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