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laptopsdirect.ie - what are they like?

  • 28-08-2008 9:51am
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,128 ✭✭✭


    About to buy a laptop off these guys. Any experiences good or bad? A bit nervous as they are based in England.


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Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 5,178 ✭✭✭killbillvol2


    Do a search here and google them. Mixed reviews to say the least. I bought something from them a couple of years ago with no problems but that's not the universal experience.


  • Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 23,157 Mod ✭✭✭✭Alanstrainor


    Good deals can be had, but dealing with them if something goes wrong is a nightmare really. They just try fob you off to the manufacturer. Well this is my experience in the last couple of days with my faulty EEE pc. People seem to have mixed experiences with them though.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,754 ✭✭✭Col_Loki


    Have bought a number of laptops & a tv from them, no problems and would buy from them again. (i have not had to contact them with any problems).


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 815 ✭✭✭KStaford


    I bought a pricy laptop from them last year. Prior to buying I emailed them with some technical questions, then after buying I emailed them several times with other questions.

    I never once got a single reply or acknowledgement. Deeply worrying, I would never trust them if I am not even able to make contact with them.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7 alphax


    I tried to order a laptop from laptops direct yesterday. I won't go into the ins and outs of it but the upshot was that after 3 phone calls to the sales line, spelling my address and delivery address out phonetically (a for apple) and dealing with the most condescending, unconcerned telesales agent I have ever come across I decided to buy my laptop from somwhere a little bit more expensive where I had the peace of mind that if something went wrong with my order I wouldn't have to endue phone conversations like that.

    If those calls are recorded then the Customer Services manager is doing a pretty poor job of monitoring the agent's performance. They appeared to know nothing about computers apart from whatever information came up on screen and really did not care whether or not they helped me.

    If you can deal with that though, the prices are a good bit cheaper


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  • Registered Users Posts: 23,212 ✭✭✭✭Tom Dunne


    The general impression I get is that if you purchase from them, and have no problems, you will be fine. I did two years ago and I was fine.

    As others have said, it's only when something goes wrong that you see cheaper laptops = no customer service.

    I've also commented many times at their underhanded attempts as shilling and generally misleading people on this very forum when I was moderator.

    Personally, I would say stay well away from them.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,111 ✭✭✭MooseJam


    buy a dell, they are cheap enough and if it breaks they come to your door - nuff said


  • Moderators, Education Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 35,031 Mod ✭✭✭✭AlmightyCushion


    sugarman wrote: »
    The other laptop i bought 2 years ago, again around xmas arrived swiftly and soon after when vista was released i was due a half price upgrade if i wished too do so. I got a call randomly the week before vista was released asking would i like the upgrade, said no, they offered it to me for free if i took care of p&p then as id used em quite frequent. Needless say an offer i couldnt turn down..

    Wait a minute, they tried to charge you for the vista upgrade? That vista upgrade you were due was meant to be free (apart from p&p). The have some cheek if they were trying to charge people for it.


  • Registered Users Posts: 43,274 ✭✭✭✭K-9


    Wait a minute, they tried to charge you for the vista upgrade? That vista upgrade you were due was meant to be free (apart from p&p). The have some cheek if they were trying to charge people for it.

    I think he means the original Vista, not the upgrade.

    Mad Men's Don Draper : What you call love was invented by guys like me, to sell nylons.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,523 ✭✭✭machalla


    Don't touch them with a bargepole. The problems I had with dealing with them in regard to a faulty Eee PC are mentioned on a thread on this form

    http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055354349

    I'd never go near them again. I would suggest dealing with someone who doesn't immediately try to claim you need to contact the manufacturer. I did contact the manufacturer who told me that laptops direct were responsible for dealing with the problem before I had to go to them.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 861 ✭✭✭regedit


    In relation to laptopsdirect, I would recommend that you find another retailer. I bought an acer ferrari a year and a half from them and had issues with acer but as I did not have a contract with acer but with laptopsdirect, they were the ones supposed to help me. FYI, they did not


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,530 ✭✭✭Zonda999


    I ordered an Acer Aspire Laptop off this crowd there last night.I got order confirmation there this morning but under the order status, it reads "We are due to take payment from your Google Account".I find this odd because i did not order using google checkout.There was an option to pay with google checkout but i just payed on their own site.Can anyone who's used them before tell me if it says this even when you've paid on their own site.This is fairly annoying.I was hoping to have it by tomorrow:(


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,128 ✭✭✭dellas1979


    Ok, so I took into consideration what people were saying and did a bit of research on the net and I opted to order with them.

    I asked PC World if I bought a computer off them and something broke in the warranty period, what would happen and they said the same thing to me that it would go back to the manufacturer and take 4-6 weeks. Same thing really. So, I ordered there on Wednesday at 11am. So far they have sent 2 emails. 1 confirming order, 1 confirming payment. No emails since i.e no emails about despatch. So yikes, I hope everything is ok.

    On a side note, I paid with my credit card that morning at 11am. By 2 pm that afternoon AIB rang and said that they had detected unusual activity on my credit card account. What service from AIB eh? 3 hours. Never happened before.


  • Registered Users Posts: 14,424 ✭✭✭✭MisterAnarchy


    I bought an Asus laptop off these guys last year for my Dad.
    He uses it the odd bit for writing reports and betting on horses online.
    Swift service and I got the VAT back as I used his VAT number.
    Has worked fine so far touch wood.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,530 ✭✭✭Zonda999


    dellas1979 wrote: »
    Ok, so I took into consideration what people were saying and did a bit of research on the net and I opted to order with them.

    I asked PC World if I bought a computer off them and something broke in the warranty period, what would happen and they said the same thing to me that it would go back to the manufacturer and take 4-6 weeks. Same thing really. So, I ordered there on Wednesday at 11am. So far they have sent 2 emails. 1 confirming order, 1 confirming payment. No emails since i.e no emails about despatch. So yikes, I hope everything is ok.

    On a side note, I paid with my credit card that morning at 11am. By 2 pm that afternoon AIB rang and said that they had detected unusual activity on my credit card account. What service from AIB eh? 3 hours. Never happened before.

    Great, i'm not the only one having problems.Still no movement on my situation.My new lappy still hasnt been dispatched and my payment has'nt gone through.I dont need the laptop in a hurry or anything but a swifter service would be nice.I was hoping to have it today but next week now i suppose:(:(


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,030 ✭✭✭BArra


    try giving them a ring to see whats going on fella


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,530 ✭✭✭Zonda999


    BArra wrote: »
    try giving them a ring to see whats going on fella

    I already have after another horribly vague email on their part.Basically, when i got through to them, i told them to cancel that first messed up order and then gave them my Credit card details over the phone and ordered again.I told them to get a move on too so it should be dispatched sometime today hopefully.Apparently their delivery is pretty swift once an order is actually dispatched so i should have it by monday at the latest...

    I got one of these

    Not the greatest specs but very good for the price i think.All i'll be using it for is light word processing, internet, music and the usual stuff.I was tempted by this but i couldnt justify the extra 130e..


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,523 ✭✭✭machalla


    Well good luck with it anyway. I hope you don't have any problems with the machine. I am 3 months waiting for a refund on a faulty laptop from them. At this point I'm thinking of bringing a claim in the small claims court against them.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,111 ✭✭✭MooseJam


    Zonda999 wrote: »
    I got one of these

    Not the greatest specs but very good for the price i think

    yeah can't go wrong at that price, might pick one up myself


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,948 ✭✭✭✭bnt


    I got an Asus eee PC 1000 from them a couple of weeks ago. Price was v. good, website payment system is odd & caused a delay (scripts within scripts, plays havoc with Firefox & NoScript). Delivery was very quick.)

    I used to work for a computer company, so I said "no thanks" to their attempt to "up-sell" me an "open the box and turn it on" service. Then I said "no thanks" when they called me yesterday to sell me a service package. Hey, they gotta make money somehow... from someone else! ;)

    From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch’.

    — Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 Astronaut



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  • Registered Users Posts: 5,530 ✭✭✭Zonda999


    Zonda999 wrote: »
    I already have after another horribly vague email on their part.Basically, when i got through to them, i told them to cancel that first messed up order and then gave them my Credit card details over the phone and ordered again.I told them to get a move on too so it should be dispatched sometime today hopefully.Apparently their delivery is pretty swift once an order is actually dispatched so i should have it by monday at the latest...

    I got one of these

    Not the greatest specs but very good for the price i think.All i'll be using it for is light word processing, internet, music and the usual stuff.I was tempted by this but i couldnt justify the extra 130e..


    It turns out i had to make another couple of phonecalls after i posted this to finally get the order through.Very annoying, I have to say.The second time i was holding for half an hour.I'm not even sure the payment went through yet.There was some mix up when i tried to pay first on wednesday night.Basically, i had to ring Visa today to find some code that i had to give to them.I thought at least my order would be dispatched by this evening but no.They have to give the code to their "accounts department" but they wont be in again till monday so it looks like it wont be dispatched till then FFS.I dont think i'll be buying from them again after this sh!t........


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,128 ✭✭✭dellas1979


    They are emailing me now since yesterday that the laptop is enroute. Ok - nothing too bad so far but delivery in 1-2 working days as they claim should have been Friday (yest).

    I am getting it delivered to work - am working O/T today till 1 so maybe something will arrive. In any case I have the number of the haulier so I will give them a ring in a bit.

    I have to say ordering something at this price over the net is not something for the faint hearted. Even if all is ok, I dont know if I will be doing something like this again.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,107 ✭✭✭ytareh


    Last poster raises good point ....How much do you/we value an hour of your time ?VERY often you will spend an hour and 4 or 5 isnt outside my experience dealing with these sort of people on the phone (pulling your hair out) when things got wrong.Now even on a laptop never mind a graphics card or mouse etc this totally negates any cash benefit gained by going online ...


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,931 ✭✭✭ewj1978


    machalla wrote: »
    Well good luck with it anyway. I hope you don't have any problems with the machine. I am 3 months waiting for a refund on a faulty laptop from them. At this point I'm thinking of bringing a claim in the small claims court against them.

    3 months is extreme...:eek:

    http://www.smallclaimsonline.ie

    Just submit it online... make sure you have ALL the documentation.


  • Registered Users Posts: 23,212 ✭✭✭✭Tom Dunne


    ytareh wrote: »
    Last poster raises good point ....How much do you/we value an hour of your time ?VERY often you will spend an hour and 4 or 5 isnt outside my experience dealing with these sort of people on the phone (pulling your hair out) when things got wrong.Now even on a laptop never mind a graphics card or mouse etc this totally negates any cash benefit gained by going online ...

    I will repeat what I said in a previous post - if all goes well, and it really is a matter of click, click, pay, then it is worth it. If you have to go chasing these clowns around, well then as you said, it is not really worth it.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,530 ✭✭✭Zonda999


    Absolutely.Their customer service is a shambles and when i rang visa, they had suspicions over what they were trying to do with my card.They are indeed issuing me with a new card because of this whole bloody thing!!I just hope they can deliver my laptop trouble free early next week and i can then forget about them.They may be a nice bit cheaper alright but i would recommend having a good look around the net before attempting to place an order with them.Will report on these clowns progress again on monday when hopefully, they will realise that my payment did indeed go through 4 f**king days ago and just send me my laptop pronto!!


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,948 ✭✭✭✭bnt


    Zonda999 wrote: »
    Basically, i had to ring Visa today to find some code that i had to give to them.I thought at least my order would be dispatched by this evening but no.They have to give the code to their "accounts department" but they wont be in again till monday so it looks like it wont be dispatched till then FFS.I dont think i'll be buying from them again after this sh!t........
    Is this the Visa Verified / Secure Code thing? If so, note that your code does NOT go to the seller - it's between you and VISA/MasterCard. When the seller can't get that part to work, they do it the old-fashioned way - they call the bank during office hours.

    I have SecureCode set up for my MasterCard, but had problems with that because of the way LaptopsDirect embeds the VISA / Mastercard Javascripts inside their own pages. Putting another company's Javascripts inside yours is a bad practice. It had NoScript (and, I suspect IE7) screaming at me about XSS (cross-site scripting) security holes, and that part did not work - so they called the bank.

    From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch’.

    — Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 Astronaut



  • Registered Users Posts: 5,530 ✭✭✭Zonda999


    My payment finally went through today:D:D.Still waiting for dispatch, though. I hear their delivery is pretty snappy.If its dispatched today, who thinks, from past experience, that i could have it by tomorrow??I'm in the suburbs of Cork city, if it matters
    bnt wrote: »
    Is this the Visa Verified / Secure Code thing? If so, note that your code does NOT go to the seller - it's between you and VISA/MasterCard. When the seller can't get that part to work, they do it the old-fashioned way - they call the bank during office hours.

    I have SecureCode set up for my MasterCard, but had problems with that because of the way LaptopsDirect embeds the VISA / Mastercard Javascripts inside their own pages. Putting another company's Javascripts inside yours is a bad practice. It had NoScript (and, I suspect IE7) screaming at me about XSS (cross-site scripting) security holes, and that part did not work - so they called the bank.


    No, it was'nt the "Verified by visa" code at all, just the actual number of the transaction.I would have been very suspicious if they asked for that!! It was definitely more hassle than i asked for, ordering from them.Those tedious phone calls :(:(.It should be worth it for the 100e or so i saved, though:)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,111 ✭✭✭MooseJam


    trying to put an order for 2 laptops through their website, it doesn't work - not a good start, guess I'll phone them in the morning


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  • Registered Users Posts: 5,530 ✭✭✭Zonda999


    Good luck with that Moose.Their customer service over the phone is a bit erratic, to say the least.One time last friday, i got through grand, no waiting at all.I had to ring again about an hour later, and i had to hold for about twenty five f**king minutes!!I nnow their prices are great and all but i would seriously think twice about placing another order with them.My payment was confirmed there around lunchtime today but my order still has'nt been dispatched!!:mad::mad:


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