Negative Monarch Computer Experience

[Richard Adams]

On Aug 3 I ordered a motherboard/CPU/memory combo, video card, OS, HD,
PSU

After ten days I hadn't received anything, even though I had paid for
express shipping (2-3 day)
I find out they are just sitting on their hands because the motherboard
I ordered they couldn't get. No attempt to contact me about this.

I get through to an operator and we reshuffle my order for a
motherboard they do have and a graphics card which will work with it, I
had an AGP board/video card on order and had to switch to a
PCI-Express, not my first choice, but so goes the herd these days.

After about 20 days a box arrives, it contains the motherboard, with
CPU installed, OS, PSU, no HD or video card, those are back ordered.
Why don't the tell me these things earlier, like when I'm ordering.
Unprofessional to say the least. Then I examine the contents and find
they subbed the memory.

I ordered Corsair memory and there was this Buffalo stuff on the MB,
the packing list indicated it to, no expanation, further the Buffalo
stuff was far cheaper than the Corsair memory. I call them up and they
say they'll exchange it, they'll send out the memory I ordered and I
send back the Buffalo stuff. Nothing has happened in 3 weeks. The HD
and Video card finally arrive and I borrow memory from another computer
to get things going. The Windows XP Home version CD has a CRC error
and refuses to work, great, so now I need to contact them about that,
too.

I keep calling them, asking for technical support and put on hold for
about half an hour and then finally booted. I've sent emails and left
messages for them to call me back to no avail.


Let this serve as a warning of what to expect from Monarch Computers.
Your order is subject to change without notice, shipping happens when
they get stock, and customer service is a lot of your time wasted on
the phone trying to get things corrected.

 

[Agent_C]

Let this serve as a warning of what to expect from Monarch Computers.

I'd have blown my top long before this.

At this point, I'd demand a full refund, including shipping both ways.
If they balk, tell them you're fully prepared to register a complaint
with the Attorney General in their area and challenge the CC charge.

Wow, what a difference from my experience(s) with newegg...

A_C

 

[Richard Adams]

I'd have blown my top long before this.

At this point, I'd demand a full refund, including shipping both ways.
If they balk, tell them you're fully prepared to register a complaint
with the Attorney General in their area and challenge the CC charge.

Wow, what a difference from my experience(s) with newegg...

A_C

The primary reason I went with Monarch was a positive experience a
couple years ago. New mobo/CPU combo went without a hitch. This has
been an utter nightmare as I'm building the system for someone and
they're getting sore. Monarch seem content to leave their customers in
a bind.

 

[Mike T.]

Wow, what a difference from my experience(s) with newegg...

A_C

Several years ago, I built two identical systems. The first, I got all my
parts from mwave, and had no problems at all. The second, I was trying to
save a little money (not my money), so I ordered all the same parts from
newegg. When the (ordered from newegg) mainboard arrived, it was in a box
that I didn't recognize, as the box was totally different from the box that
the other mainboard (of the exact same make and model) had shipped in. When
I opened the box, I discovered that the seal on the anti-static bag had been
broken before the mainboard was shipped to me. I already figured that the
mainboard was trash, but curiosity led me to hook it up to see what would
happen. Not surprisingly, the mainboard was massively unstable. I went to
the newegg site to post that newegg had apparently shipped me a used,
defective mainboard, when I'd ordered a new one. Funny thing is, someone
had beaten me to it. A few posts down in the comments about that mainboard,
someone else was complaining that newegg had shipped them a used mainboard
that was busted.

I no longer trust newegg for major components. Not even if I'm spending
someone else's money. It's not worth the hassle. I eventually got a good
replacement from Newegg, but you have to figure how much your time is worth.
The defective (known to be defective by newegg before newegg shipped it to
me) mainboard delayed that particular build by almost a week. I was
severely pissed...not so much that the mainboard was defective, but that the
build was unnecessarily delayed.

I've had no such trouble with mwave or a few other vendors. Sometimes I
still buy minor parts (cooling fans, cheap cases) from newegg, as newegg
does have a good selection on parts that are less prone to failure. -Dave

 

[johns]

Oh great. Something to look forward to. I
have one of their dual Opterons in a very
high priced case. Fans are running wide
open, and won't throttle down. Guys thought
it was the air handler in the ceiling, until
I pointed it out.

johns

 

[BigJim]

sounds to me like they are getting ready to go out of business.

 

[johns]

Yep. NewEgg and XFX are both restockers. And they
will charge you 15% of the purchase fee to do it too.
Otherwise you just get more of the same. Try getting
NewEgg on the phone. I also found a bunch of vendors
who charge extra to guarantee that you don't get a
flakey restock. So far, I'm paying somebodys salary
at Mwave.com

johns

 

[Agent_C]

[...] (known to be defective by newegg before newegg shipped it to
me)

How do you know?

A_C

 

[Mike T.]

[...] (known to be defective by newegg before newegg shipped it to
me)

How do you know?

A_C

Well if newegg did NOT know, that would look even worse for newegg. It was
in the wrong box (hint one), the seal on the antistatic bag was broken (hint
two). That meant one of two possibilities:
1) Some other customer had returned it to newegg as defective, in the wrong
box
2) It was tested (why?) by newegg, and then placed in the wrong box.
During testing by newegg, the board was massively unstable but newegg
shipped it anyway, OR newegg failed to notice somehow that the board was
massively unstable, which would point to faulty testing procedures by
newegg.

So either newegg knew that the mainboard was defective before they shipped
it to me, or they (newegg) tested it and somehow concluded that a massively
unstable board was OK to ship as brand new to a customer, in the wrong box.
Or, newegg 'tested' the board and somehow failed to notice a massive
stability problem with the board. Which of those scenarios is worst, in
your mind? To me, they are all equal. -Dave

 

[Richard Adams]

sounds to me like they are getting ready to go out of business.

If not the behaviour of a company going out of business, it certainly
strikes me as the sort of behaviour that will lead to a company going
out of business.

I forgot to mention, my delay on the phone yesterday was explained by
the operator as caused by lunch time. I did the time conversion and
realised they must be taking lunch at 4:00 PM in Georgia. Hmm..

 

[Agent_C]

Which of those scenarios is worst, in
your mind? To me, they are all equal.

With the possible exception of (1), I frankly don't find them
applicable to Newegg. Aren't they just a box retailer? I doubt they
actually 'test' anything, beyond a cursory inspection when something's
returned.

In your case I think it's entirely possible that the supplier pulled a
fast one and shipped them defective goods. Their operation has got to
be gigantic, so I could see how it got passed along unnoticed.

A_C