Should have built my own, but...

  • Thread starter Thread starter straightnut
  • Start date Start date
straightnut said:
They don't have a return policy that I can find. At the end of our
conversation I was perturbed and
asked, so how do I go about a refund. As he was hanging up on me he
said to get an RMA through
pcusa.com. Can't find any link for returns or warranties. I even
looked using the site search option on google for "return" "refund"
"rma" and "warranty" each coming up with nothing.
Jeff
Click to expand...

All you have to do, is look at an archived page from the site. This page is
from 2006. (And maybe the next time you're on the phone with them, ask them
why their new website design, has no terms and conditions page on it.)

http://web.archive.org/web/20060210152501/www.pcusa.com/displayCustomPage.asp?id=5

"4. CHANGES AND CANCELLATION:

Open order can be changed and cancelled without penalty.

Orders shipped or completed by PC Source, Inc ( dba PCUSA.COM ) are not
subject to change or cancellation by purchaser except with PC Source's
written consent and upon payment of an appropriate charge to cover the cost
or less incurred by PC Source which, unless otherwise agreed in writing shall
be not less than fifteen percent (15%) of the price of the product subject
to charge or cancellation.

Freight charge is NOT refundable nor credit."

That means there is a restocking fee of 15% plus the cost of shipping the
item to you originally, if you return it. And in order to return it, you'll
need the equivalent of an RMA number to write on the outside of the box.

Their contact page is here, such as it is.

http://www.pcusa.com/displayCustomPage.asp?id=0

Paul
 
I went with a custom PC builder called PCUSA.com and I received my PC
today with something rattling around in it. I went to open the case
and there was a sticker sealing it saying that the warranty is void if
removed. Is this a common thing?
What about people who want to add a PCI card or a drive or something.
This seems ridiculous.

Also, even if they don't honor their warranty, will all of the parts
manufacturers at least honor theirs, even though I went through a
third party to build it?
If so, what would I need to have in order to return a part to a
manufacturer?

I appreciate any help you can give me.
Thanks,
Jeff
Click to expand...

I have looked at over 100 damaged/faulty computers and only once seen
such a sticker. The shop which sold it had closed a few months after
the sale.

The on/off switch was the problem and on opening the case I found that
the moulding around the switch was missing and to overcome this it had
been stuck with stick-glue from a glue gun. After a few months of use
the finger prseeure had simply detached the fitting. Having tried to
overcome broken mouldings in the past I know that this is continually
going to fail.

It was clear that the shop had got hold of a batch of free/cheap cases
because of a manufacturing error and were charging full rate to the
customer. Opening the case easily revealed the problem so in this
situation the sticker was there to ensure that the case was opened
only by the shop so that they could get away with another botched
repair.

km
 
John Weiss said:
Not necessarily true...
Click to expand...

It doesn't have to be necessarily true.
Shipping may loosen stuff that would otherwise be reasonably
secure in a computer case. The "rattling" could be as simple as a
PSU or IDE cable terminal, or as bad as a CPU or heat sink. We
don't know which, yet...
Click to expand...

We might never know. Sometimes an original poster disappears without
posting the end result. If your guesses are better than mine, maybe
you'll get satisfied, for what it's worth.
 
straightnut said:
I forgot to mention that I called them immediately upon noticing the
sticker, and they were not fun
to talk to. It's actually just one guy who runs the whole thing I
believe. He said something about if
I open the case and a part is broken, I have no way to prove that it
wasn't me who broke it. His english
was bad, so I'm not sure about everything he was saying. But I recall
him saying that I assume
full responsibilty for the parts if I open the case.
Jeff
Click to expand...

This is definitely grounds for your getting cc-company to reverse
charges--try to talk in general & truthful terms to your cc. Like, say,
"I've found out the warr. is no good and I am generally dissatisfied with
the product and am afraid to use it". I have detected your conscience
entering the picture, but the most the builder will do is to to send a few
*WORDS*. And they only sound ugly; they do not hurt. After you have your $
back and it's all over, I'd wager you will feel lots better than if you had
kept it and were unhappy from then on--WITH the comp. and WITHOUT your
hard-earned $. Builder has obviously faced such before!
Good luck, and believe me: it's all fair and ethical. s
 
This is definitely grounds for your getting cc-company to reverse
charges--try to talk in general & truthful terms to your cc. Like, say,
"I've found out the warr. is no good and I am generally dissatisfied with
the product and am afraid to use it". I have detected your conscience
entering the picture, but the most the builder will do is to to send a few
*WORDS*. And they only sound ugly; they do not hurt. After you have your $
back and it's all over, I'd wager you will feel lots better than if you had
kept it and were unhappy from then on--WITH the comp. and WITHOUT your
hard-earned $. Builder has obviously faced such before!
Good luck, and believe me: it's all fair and ethical. s- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -
Click to expand...

So here's the update. I spoke with the cc company which was very
helpful. They seemed to be taking my side after all that I brought up
about pcusa.com.
I sincerely thank you for leading me to the very helpful links which
help the dispute to
heavily weigh in my favor at this point. I even had the cc dispute
person on the phone in a conference call while the company owner was
being unreasonable. I think the return will
happen. I won't disappear. I'll let you know how it all turns out.
Thanks so much,
Jeff
 
After my fiasco with pcusa.com I've decided to go with another online
builder.
Someone led me to resellerratings.com to show me the negative reviews
for pcusa, where I found what looks to be a very reputable dealer of
inexpensive custom built systems called AVAdirect.com

I configured a system and I was hoping you could give me your
thoughts
on it. For those who aren't aware, I need a dedicated multitrack
audio
recording and editing machine with pro audio software.
I won't be overclocking, and I want a fairly quiet system as well.
I spent a great deal of time checking new egg reviews for all of the
components that were offered on the website's barebones P35
configurator. The builder doesn't have all of the top-rated
components
I might want to choose from but seems to have enough good ones.
The system I came up with comes to about $1230(which is at the top of
my price range, but I'm okay with it) and contains the following:


ANTEC, Sonata Designer 500 Silver Mid-Tower Case, ATX, Steel, 500W
PSU


ASUS, Maximus Formula (Special Edition), LGA775, Intel X38, 1600MHz
FSB, DDR2-1200MHz


INTEL, Core(tm) 2 Duo E6750 Dual-Core, 2.66GHz, 1333MHz FSB


ARCTIC COOLING, Freezer 7 Pro Quiet CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink, Socket
775


KINGSTON, HyperX 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-6400 DDR2 800MHz CL4 (4-4-4-12)
SDRAM Non-ECC


2 drives: WESTERN DIGITAL, 320GB WD Caviar(R) SE16 (WD3200AAKS), SATA
300MB/s, 7200 RPM, 16MB


Lite-On Lightscribe DVD burner


MICROSOFT, Windows XP Professional Edition w/ SP2c, OEM
WARRANTY, Assembled and Tested (1 year parts, lifetime labor
warranty,
priority service)


I went with the 1333 FSB processor, but there weren't many motherboad
options that got decent reviews which is why I went with the
expensive
board. If there are much more stable options with 1066FSB please let
me know.


If you see anything that doesn't look good, please advise me.
Thanks,
Jeff
 
straightnut said:
I might want to choose from but seems to have enough good ones.
The system I came up with comes to about $1230(which is at the top of
my price range, but I'm okay with it) and contains the following:
Click to expand...

You'll have to check comparative prices, but below are what I chose for my
recent system...
ANTEC, Sonata Designer 500 Silver Mid-Tower Case, ATX, Steel, 500W
PSU
Click to expand...

Lian Li PC60Plus2 case: 120mm fans are VERY quiet!
Antec Earthwatts 500 PSU
ASUS, Maximus Formula (Special Edition), LGA775, Intel X38, 1600MHz
FSB, DDR2-1200MHz
Click to expand...

Gigabyte P35-DS4: Will support new 45nm CPUs for upgradability.
INTEL, Core(tm) 2 Duo E6750 Dual-Core, 2.66GHz, 1333MHz FSB
ARCTIC COOLING, Freezer 7 Pro Quiet CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink, Socket
775
Click to expand...

Go with the stock Intel boxed heat sink/fan, and save your $$. You don't need
aftermarket coolers if you're not overclocking.
KINGSTON, HyperX 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-6400 DDR2 800MHz CL4 (4-4-4-12)
SDRAM Non-ECC
Click to expand...

I went with Crucial Ballistix, but you should at least consider PC2-8500 RAM...

I went with the 1333 FSB processor, but there weren't many motherboad options
that got decent reviews which is why I went with the expensive board. If there
are much more stable options with 1066FSB please let me know.
Click to expand...

The Gigabyte P35-DS4 also supports 1333 FSB. My only problem with the board is
the on-board Realtek audio; I got a Creative X-Fi to "fix" it. I assume you'll
be adding audio equipment anyhow...
 
You'll have to check comparative prices, but below are what I chose for my
recent system...


Lian Li PC60Plus2 case: 120mm fans are VERY quiet!
Antec Earthwatts 500 PSU


Gigabyte P35-DS4: Will support new 45nm CPUs for upgradability.


Go with the stock Intel boxed heat sink/fan, and save your $$. You don't need
aftermarket coolers if you're not overclocking.


I went with Crucial Ballistix, but you should at least consider PC2-8500 RAM...


The Gigabyte P35-DS4 also supports 1333 FSB. My only problem with the board is
the on-board Realtek audio; I got a Creative X-Fi to "fix" it. I assume you'll
be adding audio equipment anyhow...
Click to expand...

Sadly, most of what you mention aren't available in this particular
site's configurator. The Lian Li is but that and a power supply would
double the cost of these parts for me, and I already had 2 Nexus real
silent 92mm fans to add to the Designer I was getting from pcusa(the
PC I'm RMAing)
I know that the Maximus supports the 45nm as well as the 1600FSB, so I
figured I'd be good for a while. The Ballistix they offer are only in
667MHz, and they don't offer the PC2-8500.
I guess that's why you guys build your own. You can have anything you
want.
Thanks for the suggestions.
Jeff
 
Just to follow up on this thread, I wanted to let you all know that I
did indeed finally, after a bunch of nonsense, get a full refund for
the PCusa.com PC minus the shipping. Thanks again for all of your help
here. I am happy with the replacement PC I got from AVADirect.com.

Jeff
 
straightnut said:
Just to follow up on this thread, I wanted to let you all know that I
did indeed finally, after a bunch of nonsense, get a full refund for
the PCusa.com PC minus the shipping. Thanks again for all of your help
here. I am happy with the replacement PC I got from AVADirect.com.

Jeff
Click to expand...

Well since you failed to include any part of what you were replying
to, we have no idea what the heck you are talking about. But I see you
are using AOl which explains why.

Bob
 
I went with a custom PC builder called PCUSA.com and I received my PC
today with something rattling around in it. I went to open the case
and there was a sticker sealing it saying that the warranty is void if
removed. Is this a common thing?
What about people who want to add a PCI card or a drive or something.
This seems ridiculous.

Also, even if they don't honor their warranty, will all of the parts
manufacturers at least honor theirs, even though I went through a
third party to build it?
If so, what would I need to have in order to return a part to a
manufacturer?

I appreciate any help you can give me.
Thanks,
Jeff
Click to expand...

Sorry, above was what I originally posted to start this thread.
Anyway, all is well.
Jeff
 
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