EconoPC is by far the worst vendor I have ever dealt with. I am an IT manager in San Diego and I have dealt with hundreds of computer vendors throughout the years – many of them poor, but this one takes the cake. This message is to warn any potential customers of the problems that I’ve run into while dealing with EconoPC. I am still not finished dealing with EconoPC, but my frustration level is at the point where I have to make this known.
My latest purchase from EconoPC (my first and only purchase from them) was not business related, but rather a Christmas present for my brother. I originally placed an order, for a Slot1 1.0 GHz CPU, to be drop shipped to my work, on 11/26/2002 (note that today is 12/16/2002). I thought that I would start early and leave plenty of time for any problems that may occur. I chose the $.99 shipping method that they advertise through PriceWatch.com, thinking that I would save a little money.
I thought that I would receive the order within the 8 stated day. Instead, I received a phone call on the 8th day, from DJ in the sales department, confirming the order and stating that not only can they not drop ship my package to my office (because the address is not registered with my Visa company), but in order to take advantage of the advertised $.99 shipping, I would have to fill out “release of liability” forms for uninsured shipping. I decided to pay the additional $6 for shipping via UPS and I was forced to change the delivery address to my home, which in itself is inconvenient because I’m never there to receive packages. While I had DJ on the phone, I decided that I would take advantage of his contact to make a small change to my order, since it hadn’t shipped yet. I changed the order from a Slot1 CPU to a Socket 370 RETAIL BOX CPU (I’m using a CPU converter card and want to take advantage of the PC133 bus). He said it was not a problem. I told him that I found the exact item on PriceWatch.com for $128 but would rather order it through him since he already had my credit card information. He said that they normally charge $199 for the item, but would match any PriceWatch.com price, so he sold it to me for $128, plus $7 shipping. Great, I’m all done – right? – Wrong! Remember that I ordered the RETAIL BOX version, not the OEM, and I made sure he was aware of this. Well, another 8 days later (12/12/2002 – getting closer to Christmas) I received an item from EconoPC, that I had to pick up at the UPS office, because I was not there for the delivery, and guess what... It was the wrong item. They decided to send me the OEM version of the CPU with some cheap heat sink and fan. Since the price of the OEM CPU was only $97 dollars, and I agreed to pay $128 for the RETAIL BOX they decided that they would add an additional 1 year warranty to the purchase (the RETAIL BOX version already comes with a 3 year warranty from Intel), for the difference in price - $31. So, not only did I not receive the right item, I paid too much for the wrong one.
The next day, Friday, I called DJ at EconoPC to notify them of the mix up. He verified that the item was incorrect and proceeded to notify me that if I wanted the RETAIL BOX version, it would be an additional $21 – they could not sell me the RETAIL BOX CPU for the price that was originally quoted. At this point I’m extremely frustrated, but composed. I decided that I would go back on-line and find the original $128 CPU that I say a few weeks earlier. No such luck – the price went up. Now I’m stuck with the wrong item and a potential $21 increase if I want the right item delivered. I told DJ that I thought they should send me the item that I originally ordered at no additional cost, since it was their fault that I didn’t get it in the first place. He notified me that he could not do that and told me that he could refund me all of my money. This doesn’t do me any good, since the price went up everywhere else, and I still don’t have the gift. I turned his offer down, at which time he told me that I would have to work the rest out with someone in Customer Service. He couldn’t get anyone in CS on the line, so he told me they would call me back within the hour (this was at 10:00 AM). At 12:00PM I called DJ at EconoPC back, and he told me to give them another half hour. Okay, I gave them another hour and a half and called them back – still no luck. I couldn’t get in contact with anyone in Customer Service. This happened one more time, at which point DJ guaranteed me that I would get a call back before 4:00PM that day. Needless to say, I never received a call.
Well, today is Monday, I had to wait all weekend to take care of this. I placed another call at 10:30AM this morning, and had to re-explain my situation to DJ, who barely remembered the incident, only to find out that Customer Service would contact me within the hour. Well, here I am again. It’s now 12:15PM, and I’m stuck in the same situation I was before. I now have 9 days until Christmas and no gift. I refuse to drop this issue, but I don’t think I’ll win. DJ refuses to ship me the original item that he quoted me at the original price he quoted me. I can pay the additional $21, but whose to say that this delivery would be correct? Besides, it’s the principle. Give me the item I ordered, at the price I was quoted.
Okay… I feel a little better now. I just want to let all of you know about the problems I’ve had with EconoPC. I hope that you take this into consideration when making your purchases. As I stated earlier, I’ve dealt with hundreds of computer vendors, and EconoPC is by far the worst!!!
My latest purchase from EconoPC (my first and only purchase from them) was not business related, but rather a Christmas present for my brother. I originally placed an order, for a Slot1 1.0 GHz CPU, to be drop shipped to my work, on 11/26/2002 (note that today is 12/16/2002). I thought that I would start early and leave plenty of time for any problems that may occur. I chose the $.99 shipping method that they advertise through PriceWatch.com, thinking that I would save a little money.
I thought that I would receive the order within the 8 stated day. Instead, I received a phone call on the 8th day, from DJ in the sales department, confirming the order and stating that not only can they not drop ship my package to my office (because the address is not registered with my Visa company), but in order to take advantage of the advertised $.99 shipping, I would have to fill out “release of liability” forms for uninsured shipping. I decided to pay the additional $6 for shipping via UPS and I was forced to change the delivery address to my home, which in itself is inconvenient because I’m never there to receive packages. While I had DJ on the phone, I decided that I would take advantage of his contact to make a small change to my order, since it hadn’t shipped yet. I changed the order from a Slot1 CPU to a Socket 370 RETAIL BOX CPU (I’m using a CPU converter card and want to take advantage of the PC133 bus). He said it was not a problem. I told him that I found the exact item on PriceWatch.com for $128 but would rather order it through him since he already had my credit card information. He said that they normally charge $199 for the item, but would match any PriceWatch.com price, so he sold it to me for $128, plus $7 shipping. Great, I’m all done – right? – Wrong! Remember that I ordered the RETAIL BOX version, not the OEM, and I made sure he was aware of this. Well, another 8 days later (12/12/2002 – getting closer to Christmas) I received an item from EconoPC, that I had to pick up at the UPS office, because I was not there for the delivery, and guess what... It was the wrong item. They decided to send me the OEM version of the CPU with some cheap heat sink and fan. Since the price of the OEM CPU was only $97 dollars, and I agreed to pay $128 for the RETAIL BOX they decided that they would add an additional 1 year warranty to the purchase (the RETAIL BOX version already comes with a 3 year warranty from Intel), for the difference in price - $31. So, not only did I not receive the right item, I paid too much for the wrong one.
The next day, Friday, I called DJ at EconoPC to notify them of the mix up. He verified that the item was incorrect and proceeded to notify me that if I wanted the RETAIL BOX version, it would be an additional $21 – they could not sell me the RETAIL BOX CPU for the price that was originally quoted. At this point I’m extremely frustrated, but composed. I decided that I would go back on-line and find the original $128 CPU that I say a few weeks earlier. No such luck – the price went up. Now I’m stuck with the wrong item and a potential $21 increase if I want the right item delivered. I told DJ that I thought they should send me the item that I originally ordered at no additional cost, since it was their fault that I didn’t get it in the first place. He notified me that he could not do that and told me that he could refund me all of my money. This doesn’t do me any good, since the price went up everywhere else, and I still don’t have the gift. I turned his offer down, at which time he told me that I would have to work the rest out with someone in Customer Service. He couldn’t get anyone in CS on the line, so he told me they would call me back within the hour (this was at 10:00 AM). At 12:00PM I called DJ at EconoPC back, and he told me to give them another half hour. Okay, I gave them another hour and a half and called them back – still no luck. I couldn’t get in contact with anyone in Customer Service. This happened one more time, at which point DJ guaranteed me that I would get a call back before 4:00PM that day. Needless to say, I never received a call.
Well, today is Monday, I had to wait all weekend to take care of this. I placed another call at 10:30AM this morning, and had to re-explain my situation to DJ, who barely remembered the incident, only to find out that Customer Service would contact me within the hour. Well, here I am again. It’s now 12:15PM, and I’m stuck in the same situation I was before. I now have 9 days until Christmas and no gift. I refuse to drop this issue, but I don’t think I’ll win. DJ refuses to ship me the original item that he quoted me at the original price he quoted me. I can pay the additional $21, but whose to say that this delivery would be correct? Besides, it’s the principle. Give me the item I ordered, at the price I was quoted.
Okay… I feel a little better now. I just want to let all of you know about the problems I’ve had with EconoPC. I hope that you take this into consideration when making your purchases. As I stated earlier, I’ve dealt with hundreds of computer vendors, and EconoPC is by far the worst!!!
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