SSSSSSSSSSSS: ComponentsDirect effs up again!

[ironchef]

Whelp, I tried holding out.. Give them the benefit of the doubt. But.. uh uh.

Today marks 2 weeks since I placed my order for that nice mobo/ram combo they were running. I placed it over the phone, even said I was a G|A? reader and that's where I got the deal.

Last night, I called to see what the deal was. I hadn't heard a thing since I spoke with the salesperson back on February 9th. I asked what the shipping status was on my package and was given a FedEx tracking number. I went to FedEx to find the package, they report that it's not a valid tracking number. So, I thought maybe I wrote it incorrectly. I called back. I was sent to three or four different people while on hold ("Who are you holding for? Oh, ok"). I finally got the same person I had spoken to a bit earlier. She said that the number I had was correct and that she couldn't see when the package had left CD because their server was down. Uh huh.

She was going to call FedEx herself and see what the deal was, then get back to me last night. Guess what happened?

Well, I tried the tracking number again this morning, thinking maybe it had finally been picked up. No, FedEx still says it's invalid. I'll try it again a little later - maybe once Pacific Std. catches up to Eastern FedEx will do the pickup. But I'm skeptical.

I'll keep you all up to date... In the meantime, if someone from CD wants to contact me and try to remedy the situation, my email address [email protected] The last name on the order is Lynn.

[helius]

Disclaimer: I've not had any dealings whatsoever with Components Direct.

It some times takes a while for tracking information to show up on the web, be it UPS or FedEx. I once had a package that showed up days after it was delivered (over a week).

[DARTH]

I am contacting CD as soon as they open. Will let you know.
DARTH

[ironchef]

Thanks for the assist Darth, but it looks like it's unnecessary.

I got home to find a message from an employee there. I called back (again having fun telling a few people who it was I was waiting for. Pen and paper do come in handy folks!) and was told that there "was a problem with the information that was taken for this order. There is a world-wide shortage of these [A7m266] motherboards. We do have the CPU [I did NOT order a CPU, just ram/mobo combo] available and other motherboards that will work with it."

So, I've cancelled the order completely. I'm really sick of online merchants just totally screwing things up. Listen folks, if you're not ready to go to online, then DON'T. You're shooting yourselves in the damn foot promising to fulfill orders you never have a hope of fulfilling. Also, when you get salespeople on the phone, have them wear headsets so 1) they can hear what the hell I'm saying and get the order right the first time; 2) I don't have to listen a room full of people laughing or saying something about the customer their about to speak to as they pick the phone up. Further, how freaking hard is it to maintain an accurate count of stock? If there is a shortage, tell the damn customer, else you run the risk of losing a return customer, and potential new customers (when the pissed off fella starts posting like this).

G|A? crew, I really do hate to be posting this stuff up here like this - I know they're a sponsor. But this is ridiculous. To the other readers, if you decide to order from these people, grill the salesperson, ask them a million questions and make sure what you're ordering is available.

Me, I'll take my business elsewhere.



[Edited by ironchef on 02-23-2001 at 07:21 PM]

[lipsons]

I actually called as asked them if my item was in stock before I placed the order too. You can see my experience in other post.

Don't give up on online merchants ... I've had great dealings with http://www.sunsetmd.com, and http://www.sg3d.com. I'm sure there are plenty of others too. I have no affiliation with either of these merchants, but I've order from both of them. I think the key is to make sure that they offer same day shipping.

-Steve

[DARTH]

Actually this is a very big well-known problem that I was working with Asus on yesterday. Evidently there is in fact a shortage and the fact that all of those rumors were posted yesterday everywhere that the A7M266 was being discontinued, many distributors cancelled their orders along with other 760 chipset based boards. The fact is the 760 chipset A7M266 we have reviewed here ROCKS! Hopefully you can find one somewhere. No, they are not discontinued, just hard to come by. It's truly crazy how influential our small tech community is. Anyways I am glad this was resolved, and sorry you had to be yet another victim of the 760 chipset shortage issues.

[Edited by DARTH on 02-23-2001 at 09:01 PM]