hardwareversand.de vs scan.co.uk

Elisabeth Blanctorche

With the sterling exchange rate now, I've compared some products and there doesn't seem to be much of a price difference when ordering the basics, motherboard, cpu, ram, gfx, hd, etc

Why is the 1st site always quoted in builds as the cheapest?

darego

because it still is the cheapest for some/most products, not by a lot though in most cases. i personally made 2 orders for my system that should come soon, 1 from HWS and 1 from scan with a cheaper moniter and some other stuff which was cheaper than HWS. i can say though that scan was a lot easier to order from and the order is due tomorrow (which is a few days before the HWS one will come)

Tea_Bag

Elisabeth Blanctorche wrote: »

With the sterling exchange rate now, I've compared some products and there doesn't seem to be much of a price difference when ordering the basics, motherboard, cpu, ram, gfx, hd, etc

Why is the 1st site always quoted in builds as the cheapest?

never having actually bought anything from HWVS myself, but i can say:

HWVS's website is much easier to navigate. and its simple. Scan's stuff is all over the place.

The basket for your order on HWVS is very simple to read from a print screen.
It's usually cheaper to order a full rig from the german site with their flat rate.

TBH, people come to this forum for advice, and thats what the we do. after you give us a budget, we find the best all round rig for the price, and advise on the stuff to buy. its then up to the individual to go to the other websites and compare prices. im not gonna do everything for you!

a few websites to compare with are:

scan, overclockersuk, HWVS, ebuyer was very good from personal experience, but now you need a UK address to get your stuff delivered to. pixmania, and amazon to a lesser degree.

Moon54

HWV is the cheapest for sure, but the hassle of doing bank transfers put me off.
I ended up buying the core bits of my system from scan.co.uk.
Fast and reasonable delivery prices.

I suppose if you were spending €500+, HWV might be worth the hassle,
even with their €30 shipping charge, however if you want a easy life
I'd recommend Scan.co.uk.

Tea_Bag

I dont know why people are put off by bank transfers. surely everyone does internet banking by now???

it takes me 2 min to set up a bank transfer from here, thats not much more time than it is to type in your CC details.?

and just as an example, when i built my rig nearly a year ago, people gave me specs from HWVS, and i ended up buying from ebuyer.com because it worked out ~€100 cheaper because of some stuff i got in a sale.

jeffk

I’ll throw my recommendation in for hardwareversand.de! The only advice id give is to make sure you order items in stock with full green bars beside them.

For sending stuff back they are great, printed off a free sticker from their site and brought it to UPS and 7 days later a replacement motherboard arrived. There were no emails or debating over the replacement.

Also you can pay by Paypal but i think it costs 3% of the cart, but I’m sure the savings you make will easily cover it.

Serephucus

Personally I buy most of my stuff from Amazon, as 90% of it qualifies for free delivery anyway, making the €30 HWVS flat rate moot. Anything I can't get from Amazon, I usually pick up from Overclockers, Scan, or Dabs. There's also the fact that I find HWVS a right pain in the swiss to search through.

Tea_Bag

Serephucus wrote: »

Personally I buy most of my stuff from Amazon, as 90% of it qualifies for free delivery anyway, making the €30 HWVS flat rate moot. Anything I can't get from Amazon, I usually pick up from Overclockers, Scan, or Dabs. There's also the fact that I find HWVS a right pain in the swiss to search through.

Amazon are usually far more expensive than the other retailers in the PC components department, even if you include free shipping:eek:

Serephucus

Tea_Bag wrote: »

Amazon are usually far more expensive than the other retailers in the PC components department, even if you include free shipping:eek:

Not in my experience... Maybe I just got lucky.

heid

Scan, because of Paypal and if anything going wrong it be a problem with communication.

jeffk

heid wrote: »

Scan, because of Paypal and if anything going wrong it be a problem with communication.

How is there a problem with communication?

In all the emails I had with them I never had any problems. Ok one or two words or sentences are in broken English, but its easy to understand and they are to the point, you wont be emailing back and forward for weeks unlike some places.

PogMoThoin

I've had many dealings with hdv.de (about 12 orders) and just one with Scan. Scan are expensive, but they are very quick to dispatch and deliver, hdv.de are much cheaper but it usually takes more than a week. I've hdv.de added to my bank account, I can pay online instantly, they receive it instantly and usually ship the next day.

I've had about 3 rma's with hdv.de in my time dealing with them and they were all fine, you email them about a problem and they email you back telling you to ship it back to them and they'll refund postage, never a bother with them. There is no bother with understanding the email, they must have English native speaking staff that deal with it.

My only complaint with hdv.de is that they use DHL for shipping, the packages don't get handled with care, I've had damaged packaging and even an item missing once. Dhl don't operate here anymore, they hand all packages to An Post, which usually adds a day of confusion to the delivery.

Scan, I've dealt with once, well rather tried to. They wanted me to jump through hoops for security checks so I got my old boss to order for me with a UK credit card and get it delivered to a UK address, and then forwarded on to me. It arrived to the UK address the next day.

DamoKen

PogMoThoin wrote: »

Scan, I've dealt with once, well rather tried to. They wanted me to jump through hoops for security checks so I got my old boss to order for me with a UK credit card and get it delivered to a UK address, and then forwarded on to me. It arrived to the UK address the next day.

Was wondering if it was just me.

Spent most of Tuesday morning alternating calls between them and the bank with each blaming the other. The fact that you have to ring your order in if you're from Ireland is ridiculous enough, but then the continuous "Card Refused" while on the phone to the sales agent, them telling you it happens all the time and the bank needs to remove the security flag on your card, the bank saying no it's not, your card is fine and they haven't recieved a request for release of funds so they can't do anything etc etc etc. My head was wrecked by the time we got it sorted. First call to them was at 10am, finally gave up with the CC at 1pm and set up a transfer. By the time that was finished it was 1.45pm so in total 3.45 hours to place my order.

Still waiting on confirmation that they received the bank transfer I sent on Tuesday with the additional charge to me in exchange rates and transfer fees. Love their selection and prices but to be honest unless they change their ordering system to cater for users outside the U.K I'll pay the extra elsewhere from now on

/Edit just as I posted got a mail saying payment has been authorised

Varik

Ordered from scan on Tuesday over the phone and there was no delays other than the short time when trying to enter the payments section of their site and got some chrome related problems, IE fixed it and order went through.

DamoKen

Varik wrote: »

Ordered from scan on Tuesday over the phone and there was no delays other than the short time when trying to enter the payments section of their site and got some chrome related problems, IE fixed it and order went through.

Weird, I asked if Chrome was ok or should I use Firefox 4 and they said Firefox would be fine. Maybe they were having the same problems with Firefox?

Forgot to mention and meant to in my previous mail apart from the frustration with unsuccessful payment by card they were very helpful.

el dude

Just made my first order with Scan there now, so will see how I get on. Nothing fancy, just a case and a few other bits and bobs.

Oh and how much will they knock off if i ring them up and order through the avforums loyalty thingy does anyone know?

srsly78

HWVS promised to refund my VAT (I'm vat regd company). After 3 orders they have gone verrrry quiet and are no longer responding to any mails about VAT refund. Not happy... The only way to get proper support from them is to ring up and speak German, I have friend helping me out with that. Expect same grief with RMAs etc.

Am quite angry that they lied to me in the email tho. Reclaiming european is so much hassle it's better for me to order off other retailers that will respect vat regd status.

Krusader

Ordered full rig from HWV and a few bits like 8GB USB stick, thermal paste, anti-static band, €30 delivery and €17 paypal charge and checked Scan.co.uk for same rig without the extras Scan was only €5-6 cheaper. So went with HWV.
HWV are shooting themselves in the foot with this 3% paypal charge though, ridiculous

slave1

el dude wrote: »

Oh and how much will they knock off if i ring them up and order through the avforums loyalty thingy does anyone know?

On P+P you'll get £7.99+VAT off

Trevor451

srsly78 wrote: »

HWVS promised to refund my VAT (I'm vat regd company). After 3 orders they have gone verrrry quiet and are no longer responding to any mails about VAT refund. Not happy... The only way to get proper support from them is to ring up and speak German, I have friend helping me out with that. Expect same grief with RMAs etc.

Am quite angry that they lied to me in the email tho. Reclaiming european is so much hassle it's better for me to order off other retailers that will respect vat regd status.

When I had to call them up the staff spoke perfect English?

sink

PogMoThoin wrote: »

My only complaint with hdv.de is that they use DHL for shipping, the packages don't get handled with care, I've had damaged packaging and even an item missing once. Dhl don't operate here anymore, they hand all packages to An Post, which usually adds a day of confusion to the delivery.

DHL is owned by Deutsche Post which effectively operates it as the national postal service of Germany, it is their equivalent of An Post, Royal Mail, etc,. You have to distinguish between 'DHL' the bog standard postal service of Germany and 'DHL Express' which is their international express courier, the equivalent of FedEx, UPS, TNT etc,.

DHL Express do operate here. If HWVS sent it by DHL Express it would get here in 1-2 days, but they just send it by normal post which is why it takes a week and is handled by An Post when it gets here.

el dude

el dude wrote: »

Just made my first order with Scan there now, so will see how I get on. Nothing fancy, just a case and a few other bits and bobs.

Oh and how much will they knock off if i ring them up and order through the avforums loyalty thingy does anyone know?

Made this order just before 5pm, and I've just got an email(a txt too) saying it's with the delivery company.

Very impressed with that.

Krusader

sink wrote: »

DHL is owned by Deutsche Post which effectively operates it as the national postal service of Germany, it is their equivalent of An Post, Royal Mail, etc,. You have to distinguish between 'DHL' the bog standard postal service of Germany and 'DHL Express' which is their international express courier, the equivalent of FedEx, UPS, TNT etc,.

DHL Express do operate here. If HWVS sent it by DHL Express it would get here in 1-2 days, but they just send it by normal post which is why it takes a week and is handled by An Post when it gets here.

I'm getting images of my 2 packages now being kicked around DHL depots

PogMoThoin

sink wrote: »

DHL is owned by Deutsche Post which effectively operates it as the national postal service of Germany, it is their equivalent of An Post, Royal Mail, etc,. You have to distinguish between 'DHL' the bog standard postal service of Germany and 'DHL Express' which is their international express courier, the equivalent of FedEx, UPS, TNT etc,.

DHL Express do operate here. If HWVS sent it by DHL Express it would get here in 1-2 days, but they just send it by normal post which is why it takes a week and is handled by An Post when it gets here.

Facts of the matter is, when I first started dealing with hdv.de 3 years ago I got orders in 3-4days, delivered straight to my door in a DHL van, I even drove to Athlone one evening to collect the order from the DHL depot. These depots no longer exist, DHL don't operate here anymore for small packages (bulk cargo only) and DHL now hand over to An Post to complete the delivery and now hdv.de orders take longer.

slave1

On my last order of ~€800 there was cents in the difference of Scan and HW, after around a dozen previous orders with HW I went with Scan, made the order on a Tuesday at noon and had delivery Thursday morning, that's lightening quick. By comparison I order my OS from Dublin on Monday and hadn't got it by the end of the week...

sink

PogMoThoin wrote: »

Facts of the matter is, when I first started dealing with hdv.de 3 years ago I got orders in 3-4days, delivered straight to my door in a DHL van, I even drove to Athlone one evening to collect the order from the DHL depot. These depots no longer exist, DHL don't operate here anymore for small packages (bulk cargo only) and DHL now hand over to An Post to complete the delivery and now hdv.de orders take longer.

I think you'll find your wrong.

http://www.dhl.ie/en/express/shipping/find_dhl_locations.html

HWVS probably switched from sending it Express to snail mail in order to cut costs.

PogMoThoin

sink wrote: »

I think you'll find your wrong.

http://www.dhl.ie/en/express/shipping/find_dhl_locations.html

HWVS probably switched from sending it Express to snail mail in order to cut costs.

No, its always been DHL Express shipping and still is, its DHL who operate differently here and now use An Post. See
http://www.google.ie/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=dhl+cut+jobs+ireland&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=

Especially this one:
http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0507/dhl.html

godskitchen

What is the deal with Scan and VAT? Does anyone have any experience of dealing with them when you are VAT registered?

savemejebus

Was putting together a new build and found a 5 euro difference in the price from Scan and HWS. Decided to give scan a go and ordered late Sunday night. Items arrived yesterday morning. The speed of delivery and the ease of paying with paypal was defo worth a fiver to me +1 to Scan.

Tea_Bag

savemejebus wrote: »

Was putting together a new build and found a 5 euro difference in the price from Scan and HWS. Decided to give scan a go and ordered late Sunday night. Items arrived yesterday morning. The speed of delivery and the ease of paying with paypal was defo worth a fiver to me +1 to Scan.

following on from that comment, i thought i'd add to it, I just put through an order on HWVS for a friend (€1400 budget) yesterday. comparable system from Scan was over €100 more delivered (the savings were used to upgrade all components slightly, including upping from a HD6950 to a nice HD6970)

Scan just doesnt come close to HWVS in stuff like PSU's, GPU's and peripherals.
Other than that, ive nothing against Scan. I actually ordered the monitor and keyboard from Scan, as HWVS doesnt have a great selection on either of those.

Ill update ye on how long it took to arrive etc.

savemejebus

I suppose i should, in the interests of fairness, point out that my PSU didn't come from scan, got it from Amazon.co.uk along with my HDD (free delivery). GFX, CPU Cooler & SSD came from OCUK and Case from Komplett, who i took a gamble on but they delivered in 4 days so fair dues.

Off Topic: The case actually cheaper than Hardwareversand and zero shipping cost.

HAF 912 Komplett
HAF 912 Hardwareversand

Tea_Bag

savemejebus wrote: »

I suppose i should, in the interests of fairness, point out that my PSU didn't come from scan, got it from Amazon.co.uk along with my HDD (free delivery). GFX, CPU Cooler & SSD came from OCUK and Case from Komplett, who i took a gamble on but they delivered in 4 days so fair dues.

Off Topic: The case actually cheaper than Hardwareversand and zero shipping cost.

HAF 912 Komplett
HAF 912 Hardwareversand

so just the CPU Mobo, RAM and DVD drive from scan then i assume?

Thats hardly a comparison between Scan and HWVS, especially when you point out a only a €5 difference.

getting a "today only" Bundle from Scan doesnt compare overall prices.

savemejebus

I can see where you are coming from but i do think it is a fair comparison (normally for me, a CPU, Mobo, Ram would form the guts of an upgrade and be a valid order), just because I only got what i needed didn't mean the other prices were not competitive or better as well.

I did get more bits and bobs from Scan as well, keyboard, cables, card reader, fans. A couple of today only items but no bundle. . I could have gotten the PSU & HDD from them for slightly cheaper than Amazon but I'd already got them before I decided to do a new build rather than just upgrade. Same with the case.

The other items that came from OCUK did so because I was unable to get them from HWVS (out of stock or unavailable) or because they were cheaper .

I know its €5 more expensive but to be honest, it is only €5 for quick payment and very quick delivery which is a fiver well spent for me.

I'm not even saying Scan are better, just that it pays to check both.

richieoflynn

godskitchen wrote: »

What is the deal with Scan and VAT? Does anyone have any experience of dealing with them when you are VAT registered?

I just ordered some parts today from them ex. vat. I was looking for a particular motherboard (Asus P8Z68 Deluxe) and found their site searching google. I emailed them last night and first thing this morning I had a reply saying they'd have them in today. I also asked about vat and they told me it was no problem.

In the last 2 weeks I've emailed a number of companies enquiring about the availability of the motherboard and buying ex. vat and the majority of companies didn't even reply. I was so happy that someone actually got off their ass and replied more or less straight away that I thought, well, they can have the business and I'm not pricing around anymore. I get sick **** of companies who don't reply to emails or say that you have to claim the vat back yourself, it's pure horse-****. Last time I checked this is actually legal :rolleyes:

I did give them a call late this morning to get advice on some product and the sales guy, Lee, was more than helpful, very polite and knew what he was talking about. A few more emails later with more questions from me, all replied to quickly and I had all items picked out. Invoice landed in at about 5.20 and I transfered the money to their account. I had asked him for IBAN & BIC numbers, all provided immediately.

The graphics card I wanted is out of stock but due in. I said I'd wait for it because the money will probably take a few days to appear in their account so I can wait. I'm in no rush other than the feeling you get as a child at Christmas !

Will be interesting to see how the order progresses however I do feel confident that it will be dealt with professionally. So after that, yes I do have experience with ordering ex. vat and it's been no problem at all

Sephiroth_dude

Will scan build the rig for you?for an extra cost of course?

Monotype

They have their Scan 3XS systems.
http://3xs.scan.co.uk/

There's a fairly large selection but little customisability. I'm not bowled over by their prices although they'd be cheaper than dell for gaming. They seem to be reasonably good quality and well supported and regularly include extras such as overclocking. I'd prefer the full customisability of a self build and if someone was really stuck, they should consult the volunteer list of builders (thread somewhere in this forum, if you look for it).

M00lers

Don't forget that if you are a member of AVForums you will receive a reduced shipping rate, you have to order over the phone though as the website doesn't process the reduced rate to Irish customers correctly.

I was quoted £2.60 delivery for a Silverstone case....best price on the web and shipping is peanuts.

deejer

I dont know is it just me but alot of items are out of stock on scan at the moment. Selection in the ati 6950 range is very poor and has been all week. And also with asus AM3 motherboards. Most annoying thing is all they say is that they are overdue or have no eta. :mad: