AIComputers - 50% Off Coupon. Our AI Rep's ICQ#256399925

[Marka]

Gabe one of the major suggestions has been that AI ship out the parts in a box to those that want them that way, and we put them together.

[Lodz]

So are you saying that satish is a liar? Or was that message a follow-up? I'm confused. And why are they 'prioritizing' Satish's system? What about the rest of us suckers? Don't we all deserve a little prioritization?

And then it was edited....

[quantumburnz]

Yes, I agree with Lodz, and was asking myself the same question. Why should satish get his system prioritized because he sent more emails complaining to AI than the rest of us?

[stech4u]

geez... "two months"?! i'd just like to know what satish' order # is (first two numbers), cause i'm in the late 4xxx. just need to do some calculation if its going to be "worth it" in 2 months plus...

TIA.

[Apex]

OK, I'll ask them about parts in a box. Any other suggestions for me?

Lodz: No, not saying he's a liar. Simply saying that not only am I and our Rep working overtime for my viewers, but that there is communication happening, especially since I'm involved in this.

His prioritization is not so much being placed in front of other people's orders. There's an assembly line structure, not just 1 line from beginning to end.

Marka: This email happened BEFORE he started threatening people, not after.

[stech4u]

suggestion: maybe hire a few more helpers (ie. customer service reps, assembly line techs, etc)

[Lodz]

Okay, thanks. I think I get it now. They said they'd try to prioritize the building of his system, and THEN they told him that he'd have to wait a couple months. Hmm... That doesn't sound all that great either, but at least I'm a little less confused.

I think that the only way to put people at peace is to contact EVERYONE who placed an order and let them know if it's going to be a while before the system ships. I really don't think that's asking too much. If they really don't have the parts, then I'm not sure what they've been doing in the meantime.

Even better would be for them to let us know which parts are not in supply so that we could choose to have the rest of the system shipped, or change the order to parts that are in supply.

[beo]

Here's a transcript, with my parenthetical comments in boldface:

Beo (04:29 PM) :
Hi, I noticed that my system is in Stage-3 on the website today, but I haven't received an email about it. Should I have?
Mr. AI 5447 (04:29 PM) :
Yes, they're auto generated, what is your email address?

Beo (04:29 PM) :
[email protected] ([email protected])

Mr. AI 5447 (04:30 PM) :
Do you have spam filtering?

Beo (04:31 PM) :
Yes, but it routes it through a holding folder first, and I haven't seen it yet.
Does the process go from Stage-3 to shipping any faster since I opted for no OS? Seems like there would be fewer points to check.

Mr. AI 5447 (04:31 PM) :
They still load OS, to properly check, some things cannot be discovered w/o that...

Mr. AI 5447 (04:32 PM) :
Certain incompatibilities and such...

Beo (04:32 PM) :
gotcha, so it still goes through the whole checklist and then gets wiped?

Mr. AI 5447 (04:33 PM) :
Yep..

Beo (04:33 PM) :
Thanks, you've been very helpful!

Beo (04:34 PM) :
One more thing...

Beo (04:35 PM) :
Just a suggestion, but there are a LOT of people who are VERY concerned about not being able to phone, get an email response, etc. I know it might not be your department, but it would be a good idea for somebody in your company to put a notice on the website, or something. (AHEM.)

Beo (04:36 PM) :
I feel fortunate that I've been able to get through to you, though I was concerned at first about getting a constant busy signal and no email response. But like I said, I appreciate the help/answers you've given via ICQ. (Now I'm being diplomatic.)

Mr. AI 5447 (04:37 PM) :
Yea, I know...you're right (WHAT?! That's all you have to say?)

Beo (04:38 PM) :
Well, just wanted to point out what I'm sure you already know. Since I went into stage-3 yesterday, any idea how long before I'll get a shipping notice?

Mr. AI 5447 (04:39 PM) :
withing 30 days.. (You've GOT to be kidding, right?)

Beo (04:39 PM) :
From stage-3 to shipping is a month?

Mr. AI 5447 (04:40 PM) :
Could be a month, being conservative..if you get it sooner, i'm sure you'll be happy, right? (Excuse me?!)

Beo (04:41 PM) :
Yikes. That 8-10 days sure is stretching out. I'll be happy if it's still worth what I paid for it by the time I actually get it...

Mr. AI 5447 (04:41 PM) :
ha ha

Mr. AI 5447 (04:41 PM) :
you're funny (I didn't mean it funny.)

Mr. AI 5447 (04:42 PM) :
I believe it is worth the original price, the deal was a one time deal (It is most certainly NOT worth the "original price," but it was worth 50% off.)

Beo (04:42 PM) :
How many from this deal have shipped out so far?

Mr. AI 5447 (04:43 PM) :
not sure offhand (Ahem. *cough* BS...)

Mr. AI 5447 (04:43 PM) :
hard to track that

Beo (04:43 PM) :
Really? (Is it REALLY?)

Mr. AI 5447 (04:44 PM) :
Well hard to track for me, which sales were from this deal, and which weren't is what I mean... (So computers on sale receive different priority from those not on sale?)

Mr. AI 5447 (04:44 PM) :
I just see shipped computers... (Yes, and how many?)

Mr. AI 5447 (04:44 PM) :
Thats all i see...

Beo (04:44 PM) :
I see.

Mr. AI 5447 (04:44 PM) :
and order #'s
-----
SO. I was feeling pretty good for the first half of that conversation, until the THIRTY DAYS part. Thought everyone would like to see this. Now I don't know what to think.

[Apex]

Oh yeah, warranty issue:

The warranties are through a 3rd party (same one as a few pretty big computer companies use), and are paid UP FRONT. So, regardless of the condition of AI 2 years down the line, you still have the warranty.

[tourbound]

Beo,

I posted earlier about why they bill people at Stage 3. They don't have enough cash reserve to buy several hundred parts for computers at once. So they get what they can, then they put people in Stage 3, get money from them to buy parts for another system, and it goes on from there.

[beo]

Oh yeah, warranty issue:

The warranties are through a 3rd party (same one as a few pretty big computer companies use), and are paid UP FRONT. So, regardless of the condition of AI 2 years down the line, you still have the warranty.
By the way Apex, I want you to know that I for one truly appreciate your efforts on our behalf. I only hope that I get a computer before it's obsolete. If I went into stage-3 and they billed my card, then there's NO WAY I should have to wait another MONTH before they ship. That's just unacceptable. Ah, but I digress. Thanks again Apex, for going above and beyond for your viewers.


Beo,

I posted earlier about why they bill people at Stage 3. They don't have enough cash reserve to buy several hundred parts for computers at once. So they get what they can, then they put people in Stage 3, get money from them to buy parts for another system, and it goes on from there.
Hey, that's one thing, but if I'm in stage-3, they already have my parts assembled. There's no excuse to sit on them for a month. Right?

[bradpitt]

i'm up for parts in a box :)

the parts should still have manufacturer warranties if it doesn't work... also the 2 year warranty... 275 point check pssh i dont care as long as it works (which it should) but i guess the only problem i can see is putting that slow ass ram in a fast computer (swapping it out anyway) ... and maybe the motherboard not supporting SATA



Just received the following email:

Sir,

Due to delays in manufacturing, and delays on backordered parts, we cannot fulfill your order at this time.

During the next 2 months, you will be contacted by email, if you would like to receive these exact items at these prices, will will be more than happy to fulfill your orders.

Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused to you.

Thank you,

The a.i Team
www.aicomputers.com
*******************
1.800.775.4010

*******************
Please keep in mind our phone systems are being upgraded to a T1 connection phone and will be down for a few days. The phone server system is is on backorder a few days. Very sorry for any inconvenience. This is being done to better serve the customer.
***************************

satish, what parts did you order in your computer?

[tourbound]

Hey, that's one thing, but if I'm in stage-3, they already have my parts assembled. There's no excuse to sit on them for a month. Right?

I would agree with you there. Maybe it is a month because they can't even buy parts ahead of time, they are taking your money and buying parts for your computer.

[Lodz]

The warranties are through a 3rd party (same one as a few pretty big computer companies use), and are paid UP FRONT. So, regardless of the condition of AI 2 years down the line, you still have the warranty.

I've had this work against me before with a system I purchased at ABS. ABS was still in business, but they wouldn't honor the on-site warranty because they switched the warranty company they worked with. After much complaining, I got them to pay for the shipping to get it repaired, but I was without a system for 2 weeks and gads, what a hassle.

[beo]

I would agree with you there. Maybe it is a month because they can't even buy parts ahead of time, they are taking your money and buying parts for your computer.
If that's so, they're lying about their 5-stage system or they're lying about my being in stage-3. The email (which I still haven't received, but someone else posted earlier) stated that parts were collected in stage-1, assembled in stage-2, and testing begun in stage-3.

[ammo_collector]

#47XX and still "NEW" - still no responses after several emails and ICQ message.

My dream system doesn't look like it's coming:

A.I. 4600 64BIT
Antec P160 Aluminum Case
500 Watt - Titanium Power Supply
a.i - (Clear Side Panel) Prematched W/ Case Color
AMD Athlon 64 FX53-64 bit Processor
a.i - High Performance Quiet AlCu CPU Cooler
Asus Motherboard for Opteron 200 Processors Model
2GB Registered ECC DDR SDRAM PC-3200
ATI® Radeon 9800XT 256MB DVI/TV 8X AGP
148GB WD Raptor SATA 10,000 RPM(RAID 0 - (2) 74GB Raptors)
a.i - Aluminum Hard Drive Cooler (Quantity 2)
52x24x52x CD-RW - IDE - Black
16X DVD Drive (Black)
Floppy Drive (Black)
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS 7.1 Sound
10/100 Ethernet Onboard
Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional Edition
Standard (Black) Keyboard KB-9900
Blue Light Cathode -(installed w/ switch)
Blue UV Reactive Rounded IDE Cables
Stealth ultra quiet 80MM Case Fans
Blue-UV Reactive Paint applied to interior
Creative Megaworks THX 6.1 Speaker RT
6 Port USB 2.0 Configuration (4 Rear, 2 Front)
Belkin Back-UPS Professional 650VA
============================

Is ONE email acknowledgment too much to ask for?

[tourbound]

If that's so, they're lying about their 5-stage system or they're lying about my being in stage-3. The email (which I still haven't received, but someone else posted earlier) stated that parts were collected in stage-1, assembled in stage-2, and testing begun in stage-3.

I don't know what to think of it. I mean, 30 days from assembly through testing and to shipping. That is a heck of a long time. Something has to be going on there. 3 or 4 days I guess I understand with whatever testing they do, but a month, ouch.

[Apex]

If you tried to contact them through email and icq and couldn't, email me. Be sure to include AI Computers in the title and your order number. My turn around time has been averaging about 6-8 hours, though it has been known to be up to 19, depending on email load.

[gwells]

gabe, i appreciate all the efforts you've put forth in trying to make things right here, just like many others have stated.

i have to say, though, that what little information that's coming from AI just doesn't make any sense. a lot of it seems pretty contradictory.

i'm gonna sit tight and wait, just as some of the others, for a little bit longer. but it still seems pretty incredible that they haven't even sent a single blast email to all pending orders giving a quick low-down on the situation and making at least a token attempt to communicate with their customers.

[beo]

#47XX and still "NEW" - still no responses after several emails and ICQ message.

My dream system doesn't look like it's coming:
...
Man, I'll take the parts, too, but I'm afraid they wouldn't ship that until July either.



Is ONE email acknowledgment too much to ask for?
Even when you finally DO get to communicate with the AI rep, you still don't get much satisfaction.

[quantumburnz]

Woot! Got my Stage-3 confirmation in email and it says on the website I'm at Stage-3!! Hopefully, they'll get out of there before 30 days because that is pretty crazy. I would totally be up for having my parts just shipped in a box. I'll put it together myself.

I somehow doubt they'd do this, but if you could get them to pull that off Apex, you'd rock!!

FYI, I'm Order # 402X

[beo]

I somehow doubt they'd do this, but if you could get them to pull that off Apex, you'd rock!!

FYI, I'm Order # 402X
Just as long as they ship SOMETHING SOON. (With all functional parts, that is.)

[tourbound]

#47XX and still "NEW" - still no responses after several emails and ICQ message.

My dream system doesn't look like it's coming:

A.I. 4600 64BIT
Antec P160 Aluminum Case
500 Watt - Titanium Power Supply
a.i - (Clear Side Panel) Prematched W/ Case Color
AMD Athlon 64 FX53-64 bit Processor
a.i - High Performance Quiet AlCu CPU Cooler
Asus Motherboard for Opteron 200 Processors Model
2GB Registered ECC DDR SDRAM PC-3200
ATI® Radeon 9800XT 256MB DVI/TV 8X AGP
148GB WD Raptor SATA 10,000 RPM(RAID 0 - (2) 74GB Raptors)
a.i - Aluminum Hard Drive Cooler (Quantity 2)
52x24x52x CD-RW - IDE - Black
16X DVD Drive (Black)
Floppy Drive (Black)
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS 7.1 Sound
10/100 Ethernet Onboard
Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional Edition
Standard (Black) Keyboard KB-9900
Blue Light Cathode -(installed w/ switch)
Blue UV Reactive Rounded IDE Cables
Stealth ultra quiet 80MM Case Fans
Blue-UV Reactive Paint applied to interior
Creative Megaworks THX 6.1 Speaker RT
6 Port USB 2.0 Configuration (4 Rear, 2 Front)
Belkin Back-UPS Professional 650VA
============================

Is ONE email acknowledgment too much to ask for?

That is one heck of a system. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if you get the same email about coming back in 2 months. In 2 months they might be able to make some money from this system even at 50% off, but right now, I can't imagine how they would make a dime off of you.

[beo]

That is one heck of a system. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if you get the same email about coming back in 2 months. In 2 months they might be able to make some money from this system even at 50% off, but right now, I can't imagine how they would make a dime off of you.
By charging his card and not shipping him a system for another month or two. :eek3:

[tourbound]

By charging his card and not shipping him a system for another month or two. :eek3:

True, I guess they could try to get away with that.

[xuru]

I was able to talk with Mr. AI and here is some of the conversation:

xuru (03:51 PM) :
Are you available to answer a few questions?
Mr. AI 5447 (03:52 PM) :
Yes...
xuru (03:52 PM) :
Hi, my order number is 47xx
I was wondering if the Ideq cases are a long lead item?
Mr. AI 5447 (03:53 PM) :
There is a small delay, nothing crazy...
Mr. AI 5447 (03:53 PM) :
Which case did you get P or A
xuru (03:54 PM) :
P4-Mobile Lan Gamer
Mr. AI 5447 (03:54 PM) :
Small Delay...
Mr. AI 5447 (03:54 PM) :
That was a popular item, there was a promo about 2 weeks ago
xuru (03:54 PM) :
Yeah, that's when I ordered
xuru (03:54 PM) :
Any idea what the ETA will be for my order?
Mr. AI 5447 (03:55 PM) :
Should be within next 30 days, ri
xuru (03:55 PM) :
30 days?
Mr. AI 5447 (03:56 PM) :
Yep
xuru (03:56 PM) :
Why so long?
Mr. AI 5447 (03:57 PM) :
Delays...and large volumes...and backorders...
xuru (03:58 PM) :
So why hasn't anyone been contacted? Would be nice to know...
Mr. AI 5447 (03:58 PM) :
Sez who?
Mr. AI 5447 (03:58 PM) :
I personally have contacted 100's of people in the last week alone, so I think you're mistaken...
Mr. AI 5447 (03:59 PM) :
Plus i've contacted numerous people, or been rather on ICQ
xuru (03:59 PM) :
Well, I've been following the thread in apex's forum, and a lot of people haven't been contacted. Even a note on the web site would be nice.
Mr. AI 5447 (04:00 PM) :
I hear ya...
xuru (04:00 PM) :
Did you guys just get overwhelmed with orders?
Mr. AI 5447 (04:00 PM) :
On apex site, its the same 30 people posting over and over, and there were 1,000's of items sold, cancelled, reorderd...its been hectic to weeks for us
xuru (04:01 PM) :
yeah, I saw that
xuru (04:01 PM) :
What happened with the phone system?
Mr. AI 5447 (04:01 PM) :
Crashed, and new one was backordered...
xuru (04:02 PM) :
hehe, so everything kind of happened at once
xuru (04:02 PM) :
Sounds like fun
xuru (04:05 PM) :
Are you aware of the security hole in your web site? I.e. if you log in, you can pretty much look at anyone order.
Mr. AI 5447 (04:11 PM) :
Sir, yes, they're working on it.
xuru (04:12 PM) :
Good. At least my CC number isn't in that.
xuru (04:12 PM) :
Where are you guys located? Do you have an address?
Mr. AI 5447 (04:12 PM) :
Yep, it was a debugging issue, it is supposed to be fixed by end of day.
xuru (04:20 PM) :
When do you think the phone lines will come back online? I need to change the CC phone number on my order.
xuru (04:45 PM) :
Are you still there?
Mr. AI 5447 (04:45 PM) :
Hey, sorry was afk...
xuru (04:46 PM) :
np
xuru (04:49 PM) :
Where are you guys located?
Mr. AI 5447 (04:49 PM) :
NY
xuru (04:49 PM) :
Where in NY?
xuru (05:02 PM) :
you still there? Would be nice to have an address, just for my own peace of mind.

After that, I didn't get a response. Apex how ever did tell me that they are on 155b marine street, farmingdale, NY

I don't know... Personally I still think they just got overwhelmed with orders, and aren't thinking through some of the communication issues. I've been at enough companies that are "in business dispite themselves", so I can kind of see it. Not an excuse, but I can see it happening.

Anyway, I'll go on holding my nose and waiting...

:banghead:

Oh, BTW, anyone get a stage3 notice that ordered a Mobile Lan Gamer system?

[lurch70]

No offense Apex, you are doing a good job finding out things for us, but how can you stand behind a shady company like this?
I mean, that transcript of the chat with the Customer Service rep is like a conversation that I would have with a wiseass 14 year old.

And you have only ONE contact there at AI? There is one person that handles all this BS? No higher ups that are actually worried about the image this projects for their companies future?

My email went out for a cancellation yesterday and still no response from them. This is truely pathetic.

Sounds like a company that was strapped for cash and ran this deal to raise some revenue.

[knimbleknight]

This thread is endlessly fascinating.

So let me get this straight - they can charge your card during Stage 3, which could be 30 days before it is shipped?

And the guy who contacted them for a refund - said it would take 7-10 days to process?

Very interesting.

[Lodz]

Keep in mind that some credit cards only give you a month to dispute the charges.

[billr]

About the line that says:

Mr. AI 5447 (04:00 PM) :
On apex site, its the same 30 people posting over and over, and there were 1,000's of items sold, cancelled, reorderd...its been hectic to weeks for us

Just because Mr. AI only sees "30" people here in the forums doesn't mean that there aren't a lot more pissed off people than that. I know there are for a fact. And they're people who are even *less* in the know than we are! I can't imagine anyone who has tried to get in touch with AI being anything but severely angry and annoyed with them. AI's products might be good, and they might offer good deals, but their communication skills are just appalling. I've been pointing people to this forum, but I don't think any of them has the paitence to read through all 17 pages of posts in order to dig out the one or two that might tell them what is going to happen to their money. That they'd even have to resort to coming here to find out about their order with AI is just completely pathetic.

Apex, I have to say: Thanks for all your help on this. I really appreciate it. If it wasn't for your assurances, I'd have cancelled my iorders for certian by now.

As a suggestion for AIPCS, you should try to have them post something on their web page about the phone system. You might also suggest to them that they include something about email responses being 7-10 days (or something; I figure that ought to cover it). Just see if someone there will communicate with their customers. All anyone really wants is just to know what in the hell is going on. Instead, they make stuff up, and typically think towards the worst end of the scale. Ai could have headed off 95% of this nonsense if they'd have done something as simple as send out an automated message to everyone who ordered. That all they needed to do.

BTW, Apex, I sent you an email right before you posted about your offer to forward emails to them (thanks again, BTW). I think I may have included AIPCS in the subject, but the order numbers are in the body (I also included the email address I gave AIPCS). Long story short, because it's going to be so long since my card will be charged, I've got to change credit cards. I need them to get in touch with me if they want my money. (Or, as a happy alternative, they could bill me soon-ish and ship the laptops I ordered.)

[Apex]

Re: original deal date

I'm starting to worry about Apex's deals. There's one on the home page for a Onkyo HT from Vanns for $200, which is $100 more than the normal price at a bunch of different places. How is that a deal?

-Rav

Rav: Can you please point out where? If I was able to find a place for $100 shipped, I definitely would have posted it.

I did find a refurbished version for $79.99 plus shipping from eCost, but you'd have to add:

Ground shipping: $104.95
Priority overnight: $144.82
Handling fee: $4.95

If you can point out the $100 price, I'd greatly appreciate it.


No offense Apex, you are doing a good job finding out things for us, but how can you stand behind a shady company like this?

At this point, I'm doing the best I can for my viewers.

We've been working with AI for almost 9 months now, and people have always got their orders, whether they were parts & accessories or computers. There have been PLENTY of orders. The only ones that did not, were the ones that ordered after the products were out of stock (we put out of stock notices on the deals page at this time, and credit cards were not charged).

Because of this history, I was comfortable recommending this deal.

Now, because of the difficulty with communication, I'm doing everything I can to help our viewers get their questions answered. This single deal has become a full 2nd job for me, yet I'm glad to do it. Stand behind this company? I'm working to get our viewer's issues handled. That's my #1 priority.



BTW, Apex, I sent you an email right before you posted about your offer to forward emails to them (thanks again, BTW). I think I may have included AIPCS in the subject, but the order numbers are in the body (I also included the email address I gave AIPCS).

Yes, got it. Along with another bunch of them. :)

[tourbound]

Keep in mind that some credit cards only give you a month to dispute the charges.

Yes, fortunately, mine is not one of them. The rule on my CC is that 30 days have to pass from the time the transaction occurred until you can claim a dispute. I talked to them at length (15 minutes) today.

The final words from my CC rep today were: "If you can't get your money back from them, we will definitely get it back for you"

Thats all I needed to hear.

[quantumburnz]

Good CC company, which one do you have? I'm using the Military Bank of America. I have faith that they'll take good care of me if anything were to happen.

[tourbound]

Good CC company, which one do you have? I'm using the Military Bank of America. I have faith that they'll take good care of me if anything were to happen.

My CC is through Bank of America. Fraud protection is printed right on the card.

[Jax67]

Woot! Got my Stage-3 confirmation in email and it says on the website I'm at Stage-3!! Hopefully, they'll get out of there before 30 days because that is pretty crazy. I would totally be up for having my parts just shipped in a box. I'll put it together myself.

I somehow doubt they'd do this, but if you could get them to pull that off Apex, you'd rock!!

FYI, I'm Order # 402X

I'm Order #404X and my status still shows New. I'm not too far after you quantumburnz so I feel like I should be entering Stage-3 as well; and I'm nervous as hell. :puke:

It's like once I get there, there is no turning back. I'm in it for the long haul (30 days or more).

[quantumburnz]

Well, about that whole 30 days thing... I'm really hoping they're just saying that as like a worst case senario. I know I've worked customer service for a major computer company before, and we always told them that it'd take a lot longer to fix their computer than it actually would in most cases. That way, when they get their computer back sooner than we said, they're really happy! I'm hopping the 30 days is a scare tactic.

But good luck! I hope you get your stage-3 soon!

[blivius]

Good show Apex! I cannot begin to tell you how thankful I am to have you werking on this for myself and everyone else. I know my ass is covered one way or the other but I am just glad to be a member here to know I got someone like you looking out for me

[groebuck]

I was leary about ordering from these folks so I emailed apex - he responded back

Glen:

Thank you for contacting us about this. We have a good working relationship with that company. Though we've had a couple order problems, they were quickly solved. That's a very good record considering how many people have ordered from them through our links in the past few months already. You can read more here:

http://www.gotapex.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72090&highlight=aipcs

In a nutshell, the problem they had before was with a finance company they used. If you read each of the complaints carefully, you'll see they all stem from this. The finance company took the deposits and ran. They've since cut ties with that company, and have even set up a restitution fund.

Right now, the phone lines are down. They're upgrading to a T1, which the phone lines will run though as well. This takes a few days to transition over.

We've been keeping on top of it though, just watching out for our viewers.


Best wishes,


=================================
Gabriel C Lam - AKA Apex
Got | Apex?
http://www.gotapex.com
You're the kid, this is your cookie jar!
=================================


This was on the 28th, since Apex was kind enough to reply and reassure me that they were legit, I placed and order. Well like most of you I am here in "new" status some 11 business days later. Even on 4/28 they were saying they were having phone problems, T1 upgrade, now the server crashed. Excuse after excuse. And this whole business of charging at stage 3 then 30 days to ship? Come on they are getting the money to order the parts - which is shady. Now they have my credit card number on an unsecure server (it seems they have no luck or skill when it comes to networking).

I don't blame Gabe, I made the choice to purchase (albiet with an assurance from him, but ulitmatley I make my own decisions). I forgot my golden rule. If it looks like :censored: and smells like :censored: ...it's :censored: .

but..Gabe you should realize that this relationship with AI is having negative a affect on your reputation. Do you honestly think their behavior is good business? good customer service?? good anything??? If I were you, after all this is sorted out I would sever all ties with AI.

[cphreak]

...Gabe you should realize that this relationship with AI is having negative a affect on your reputation. Do you honestly think their behavior is good business? good customer service?? good anything??? If I were you, after all this is sorted out I would sever all ties with AI.

I absolutely agree... Gabe's voucher for AI, still ongoing to this minute, causes him to lose credibility in my mind.

[billr]

I absolutely agree... Gabe's voucher for AI, still ongoing to this minute, causes him to lose credibility in my mind.

I don't know about that. We all should seriously cut Gabe a little slack. He's been bending over backwards. For us. Yeah, he might be making a little money off the AI deal, but with the amount of hand-holding he's doing, there no way he's earning a profit. If anything, I feel sorta sorry for Gabe. Since AI is run by such complete mouth-breathing idiots, his obviously strong sense of personal responsibilty has him doing a lot of extra work. To make us happy customers. Of another company. That's above and beyond in my book.

Honestly, I'm going to try to shop through got|apex from now on, so that Gabe gets a little something in return for his trouble on this one. Granted, that's not much, but it's all I can offer. And more importantly: I know now that Gabe stands behind what he posts. Even if that post is completely FUBAR. No loss of credibility here.

Oh, and thanks again for the help with the email, Gabe.

[kksf00]

Apex -

Have you gotten an explanation as to why they haven't shipped anything out? I mean, does it take that long to fulfill the orders?

FYI everyone else - Apex is an affliate. Hence, he stands to gain from this deal, he earns referral revenue. I know, I work in an e-commerce company and we have lots of affliate websites that promote us - fatwallet, etc. To all those that want us to cut him some slack, believe me we would if he has done the necessary things to predict this. He brought it upon himself too by personally vouching for things to go smoothly. And he has too much experience to not expect something like this to happen, especially knowing how sweet the deal is. (well, if it's still sweet)

Hence, Apex stands to gain from this deal. But it seems to me he has not been too responsible in explaining to us why there are loopholes abound, i.e:
- credit return processing - 7-8 days? it should take minutes, any other delay is bank-related.
- 30 day shipping after stage 3. this just doesn't make sense. You ship as soon as you manufacture.
- nobody receiving anything in the last 11 business days since the deal. what has AI been doing all this while? Responding to e-mails and updating statuses is not one.

Personally, I think the best way to address this is
- have AI post something on the website to assuage consumers' fears
- set expectations, like when we can expect to get the items, and who can expect them and who will never expect them. Waiting for 2 months' is ridiculous so don't even dare set that kind of expectation.

This reminds me of a mini scam run by an internet company a few years ago that basically issued you a full rebate, but jacked up the prices of their products. This way, they could charge your credit card up front, ship you low quality produts and then get a free loan until you submitted your rebate. That company went under eventually, and not everyone got their rebates back. Gee - I hope this is not what's happening here. Company does this to get temporary financing, and then cancelling orders.

AI should not be running a just-in-time inventory system in order to do a deal like this. They should have stocked up on inventory or at least have their suppliers on call. And to think they extended the deal? Shouldn't they have at least stopped the deal if they knew they were going to have inventory over-runs?

Apex, as much as I have always liked your promotions - you have to convince us on this deal. Nothing so far has reflected this. I have always used your website for deals (Dell 400sc server) but this just smacks of pure irresponsibility to appease the consumer.

To potential flamers - Apex hasn't convinced me, and the tons out who bought in on this deal as well. I still have 'new' as my status and it has been 11 days with no communication - unacceptable by even the lowest standards. AND NO, he is not doing anyone a favor by linking you and the companies out there with deals. He earns comfortably enough on the revenue to responsible to us, especially if earned on a click-thru basis. The funny thing is I am not in a hurry to get it even and bought it as an afterthought but it is causing unncessary stress due to the uncertainty.

To tourbound and sathi - thanks for your work and feedback.

So Apex - stand up and be counted - you know what you have to do.

cheers, let's hope for some resolution soon.


(UPDATE)
P/S Apex, here's a suggestion on what to do:
- Send a stock e-mail to everyone who writes in, telling to be patient. And no bull about a T1 line upgrade, it doesn't take that long. Free up the phone lines with a stock message if it cannot entertain the load. Messages on e-mail and the phone should tell consumers to check the website on updates on this deal.

AS SUCH ...

- AI should post something on the website explaining delays, etc.
- AI should post updates on its Work order status on the website, so everyone knows where they are at in the queue. Update it as often as possible, so consumers who have bought know they are serious in fulfilling the orders and know where they are at. So they can decide whether to cancel or not.
... come on, it takes someone MUCH less time to update the order process than to answer all e-mails.

- And great suggestion by some readers - just send out the parts with proper warranties. If not, you piss off more than just people in this forum - there are others in anandtech and fatwallet discussing this as well.

Now, if nothing can be explained, well, this is a scam then. Of course, there's a small chance that this is a legit deal and business but run by a couple of clowns who have no idea what running an e-commerce company (remember my background) and doing customer service is all about.

[microman]

that's strange. I went by 155b Marine and found a UPS store at that address. hmmph

[quantumburnz]

I just drove out to 155 Marine Street, Farmingdale, NY and there is no business by the name of AI or Artificial Intelligence or anything similar at that address. As a matter of fact there was just one person at 155 Marine Street and he looked like a telemarketer (had a headset) and he said they have been out of business. There is no buliding (or section of building) that is marked as 155B, only 155. I took some digital photographs but cant find the cable to transfer the pictures to my PC right now. I will transfer the pictures and post a link as soon as I can find my cable.

Sounds like you got about as far as satish did...

[lurch70]

kksf00 .. i agree with all you said.

and I remember the co. you are talking about from a few years back with the rebates ... oddly enough they were in the same area in LI as AI ?!?!?
One of my customers was selling goods to them.

[xuru]

Just for the record, my status is still NEW. So the estimation of 30 days, probably isn't from the stage 3 time frame. He mentioned that my system was in backorder (the case probably), so I imagine that the 30 days is time to get the parts, assemble them and move it off to stage 3.

[beo]

Just for the record, my status is still NEW. So the estimation of 30 days, probably isn't from the stage 3 time frame. He mentioned that my system was in backorder (the case probably), so I imagine that the 30 days is time to get the parts, assemble them and move it off to stage 3.
Well, on mine, the status is Stage-3 and he told me it would still be as far as 30 days out before it was shipped. Then he kind of acted like I was out of line for expecting it sooner. The gall. :bash:

[quantumburnz]

Yes, I was a little shocked at how he talked to you on ICQ. He seemed more like your friend than a professional person selling you a computer. Not the best business language, but what can you expect I guess...

[ello13]

Apex -

The funny thing is I am not in a hurry to get it even and bought it as an afterthought but it is causing unncessary stress due to the uncertainty.

To tourbound and sathi - thanks for your work and feedback.

So Apex - stand up and be counted - you know what you have to do.

Now, if nothing can be explained, well, this is a scam then. Of course, there's a small chance that this is a legit deal and business but run by a couple of clowns who have no idea what running an e-commerce company (remember my background) and doing customer service is all about.

You can easily end your "stress" by cancelling your order and telling your cc company to not allow ai to charge you either...

How are you being scammed when you haven't been charged anything? I don't see how AI can possibly gain anything from this by scamming anyone?!??! We're all protected by our credit card companies if we get NOTHING and get charged so why are there so many people crying "scammers"??? I personally think ai is a horrible company run by a bunch of morons, but that still doesn't indicate that they're trying to scam anyone?!?


The fact remains, you're still sticking it out because it's a good deal. The real question seems to be whether this deal is actually going through or not. If not, AI should just cancel all orders and be done with it.

[beo]

Yes, I was a little shocked at how he talked to you on ICQ. He seemed more like your friend than a professional person selling you a computer. Not the best business language, but what can you expect I guess...
Ha, a friend would get me my machine faster... :)
Agreed though, very unprofessional; even sarcastic. But let's face it, everything about their customer service has been unprofessional. And yet, if we would just GET our machines, we wouldn't even care that much. It's like a company run by 15 year olds. Reminds me of the episode of Futurama, "The Route of All Evil," where Qbert and the other kid start the newspaper route.

[quantumburnz]

Haha, agreed beo.

ello13 -- I have to agree with you as well though. We all got in it in the beginning because it was such a great deal. Yes, they're racking some people's nerves, but honestly, I'm not really bothered by it. I checked how much it would cost me to buy these parts on my own, and I'm getting a steal. If it doesn't work out, well, damn, but like everyone's said, the CC co. will take care of everything.

Anyway, enough of my blabbering. Back to studying for my physics final tomorrow... :(

[ApltnHkyMutt]

in the last 24 hours tournbound or what ever his name is has posted here over 20 times.. not that is a scam :gle:

update. and while were at it why not add beo to that list.. good job guys.

[cphreak]

If you read my previous posts, you'll agree that I'm reasonable... With all that's happened, it's obvious that AI is unethical and untrustworthy. Anyone that disagrees is simply lacking common sense. While I am grateful for Gabe's personal involvement in this mess (I was the first to post a thank-you note on this thread), a simple admission from him that AI is to be never delt with or trusted will go a long way to rebuild his own credibility.

To now, Gabe is still backing AI... I don't appreciate that. :disa:

[Lodz]

I got the impression that he wasn't saying anything negative because that would do little to help us get what we ordered in the most timely manner. If he bashes AI, then AI really doesn't have any more incentive to treat us any better than they have been. But I'll bet that he doesn't post any more deals from AI after this fiasco.

[lights]

So Apex - stand up and be counted - you know what you have to do.


Hi kksf00,

In no way am I asking sarcastically,... I would like to know what you think Apex has to do?

And for those of you (not just kksf00) who have been "asking" about T-1 lines taking a long time to install,... I've been part of 3 teams with very large corporations who had T-1's and T-3's installed into their buildings for their VPN's. All 3 companies were Fortune 500 companies,... which I state since that seems to mean something to people.

The shortest install we saw was 2.5 weeks. We raved and fumed and screamed and spit at them,...but it still took 2.5 weeks. The others, you don't even want to hear about. :) And the vendors were all major backbone providers,... no middlemen were used.

I don't say this to say that you guys are all wrong and AI's right or other type of raving nonsense. There is no way I'm going to sit here and tell you guys that I'm not completely pissed at what's happening and how AI's been handling it - and I didn't even buy anything! I certainly don't mind reading what you guys have been finding out, communications you've had with Mr. AI, and being pissed right along side you,... ;) But let's not turn this into a guilty until proven innocent thread. Granted, it may seem like it's very close to that,... but the last nail hasn't quite been pounded in yet, right? *hehehe*

Apex's 2nd job comment is no joke. He's suddenly been "unavailable" to us,... and that's never happened with me even when the servers went down on us, hackers got in, or he had a baby! (I was able to reach him even then! *lol*)

Feel free to flame me (privately). On a side note, who here has seen Van Helsing??

[Xarthan]

AI is not a fortune 500 company nor is it a very large corporation

[Marka]

HOLY S!!T people on this forum were talking about how you could see other people's orders but I didn't realize that you could just browse through them. THE INFORMATION OF EVERY SINGLE USER THAT ORDERED FROM AI IS AVAILABLE FOR ANYONE TO SEE. FORGET EVERYTHING ELSE, SCREW THE COMPS, T1'S AND EVERYTHING ELSE, THEY'VE GOT TO GET THAT RESOLVED FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Apex]

If you read my previous posts, you'll agree that I'm reasonable... With all that's happened, it's obvious that AI is unethical and untrustworthy. Anyone that disagrees is simply lacking common sense. While I am grateful for Gabe's personal involvement in this mess (I was the first to post a thank-you note on this thread), a simple admission from him that AI is to be never delt with or trusted will go a long way to rebuild his own credibility.

To now, Gabe is still backing AI... I don't appreciate that. :disa:

Indeed at least a good 1/3 of the emails I receive suggest this. My options are:

1. Maintain my relationship with them, and assist getting emails answered. My personal workload is, doubled because of this, but I'm able to help my viewers with their concerns.

2. Cut relations with AI, and perhaps "save" my reputation, at the cost of the ability to help my viewers, many of which have been with us for as long as we've been around.

As many people as have, like cphreak, suggested going with option #2, I think the price is too high. That's a judgement call that I've made, and I'm sticking to it. Taking care of my viewers comes way before my reputation.

[Marka]

I don't know if any of you here have ever had a problem with identity theft, I did. Trust me it is an extremely unpleasant, time consuming and nerv raking experience. Much much worse than having no computer sent to you for 30, 60, or 360 days.

Even with all my whining, bitchn' and everything else I decided to be stubborn and wait it out, but neither I nor other patient people here can afford to have our personal info available for anyone in the world to see.

[lights]

AI is not a fortune 500 company nor is it a very large corporation

Wasn't saying that they were,... just that there were some mention of people who were talking about Fortune 500 companies. :)

[Marka]

To all the users out there, go to AI and change/delete all the info in your account. Let them get in touch with you if they need any of it. I guess you should leave the e-mail, and a phone number, but the rest I suggest that you erase.

[tourbound]

To all the users out there, go to AI and change/delete all the info in your account. Let them get in touch with you if they need any of it. I guess you should leave the e-mail, and a phone number, but the rest I suggest that you erase.

I will suggest that as well, but be careful if your card has been charged and you want to cancel. When Mr. AI saw that I deleted all my information he said it may take longer to get the refund back on my card now. They suspect fraud when someone does that. If I had been on the phone with him, I don't know if I would have laughed or strung together about 30 cuss words in a row.

But, since I refrained on IM, he said he will help me out and process my refund on May 21st. I asked why they needed 9 days to give me a refund and he said because they were very busy and back-logged. I said it only takes 2 minutes tops to submit a refund and he said yea, but there are many cancelations and we MUST do them in order.

Apparently there is an order when you want to cancel, but when it comes to getting a product, they are free to skip around.

They obviously need my money to show in their account so that they can get credit with their suppliers for more parts. Then they can refund my money and not have enough to pay for parts.

But I will trust Mr. AI on his May 21st refund. If it doesn't happen, well, AI, meet the fraud division from Bank of America.

[Marka]

Slimey bastards.

[dizzytrain]

Ok its crystal clear by now that this is a very sad attempt at getting a free loan to save a dead company, they will extend refunding the cards as long as possible. Maybe use our money to fill regular orders or for some other purpose (certainly not building our P.C, anyone not in stage three should cancel. (and switch cards if need be) Apex cant tell you to do this for the reason he has stated above, those of us in stage three are going to have to take this through our card companys. It was too good to be true, but we tried. Again dont wait for stage three, it does not mean they are building your P.C. it simply means your card is charged. Your order through AI should now be treated as a disease, the higher the stage the higher the risk, just changed all my info in my account directed them to call me for it. Will also have to wait now to dispute this joke of a charge.

[kksf00]

Apex - you haven't answered me or the rest.

What is going on? If you are in communication with them, you should have replied now to our satisfaction. But we still have no idea. People, like myself, have started to speculate whether this is a potential financing scam. You talk about answering e-mails and still sticking by them.

Then please answer my questions in an earlier post. Are you dodging the issue because you have no idea? If you don't then you should warn us to pull out of the deal.

Once more -

I DON'T CARE if you have pulled off good deals in the past.
I DON'T CARE if you think AI is a legit company. You have to convince us of that. For me, it would mean answering my questions.

So, categorically, can you, once and for all, answer me, tell me what is going on?

Thanks.

[Apex]

Apex - you haven't answered me or the rest.

What is going on? If you are in communication with them, you should have replied now to our satisfaction. But we still have no idea. People, like myself, have started to speculate whether this is a potential financing scam. You talk about answering e-mails and still sticking by them.

Then please answer my questions in an earlier post. Are you dodging the issue because you have no idea? If you don't then you should warn us to pull out of the deal.

Once more -

I DON'T CARE if you have pulled off good deals in the past.
I DON'T CARE if you think AI is a legit company. You have to convince us of that. For me, it would mean answering my questions.

So, categorically, can you, once and for all, answer me, tell me what is going on?

Thanks.

I would be glad to tell you once and for all. However, please tell me this:

How can I know?

What is the yardstick that I should measure this? Do I go with past performance? Do I go with what the rep tells me? What will satisfy you?

I can't even tell you for sure that Dell or HP will deliver your products.

As I said before, I cannot guarantee one way or another what will happen. Any measure of common sense will tell us this. I can only control my own actions.

I have said several times already:


Companies do go under, and things do happen. In these last few years, we've personally seen a lot of internet companies go under. Can I guarantee this won't happen with AI Computers? Nope. Can I guarantee this won't happen with Dell? Nope again. However, as I said before, I can guarantee this:

If this deal falls through, and you made an honest effort to dispute the charge with your credit card, but your credit card will not credit you against the fraud, I will personally pay for your charge, as long as you ordered through our links on gotapex.

Beyond that, I'm not exactly sure what you want. So, please help me not dodge the question. What answer from an non-omniscient being will satisfy?

[kksf00]

Well, I had some questions

- what have they been doing in the last 11 business days? Someone mentioned they had 100 employees. What have they been doing if nobody seems to have anything shipped?
- have they shipped any orders? If not, why haven't they? if they can't build one in 11 days, what are the odds they can build 3,000 in a decent amount of time?
- why won't they answer calls? I don't buy the TI installation b/s. no company takes that long to have a T1 line. no company this size that is.
- what exactly is the hold-up? Short of inventory? Do you agree that they are not following best practices if they continue taking orders despite being short of inventory?
- why are they charging cards without any indication of when the products will be shipped?

You can't tell me/forum members that you don't know what's going on? Aren't you in communication with them? Don't you think you should know what's going on? And if you don't know what those answers are - well, please ask them.

I am not asking you to vouch for their financial health. I am asking you to go figure out why we have not had satisfactory answers from them.

Put yourself in my/our shoes. Aren't you the slightest bit agitated you don't know what is going on? I have ordered from Dell before. They ARE SLOW, and I hate dealing with them. But at least they are contactable.

I apologize if I sound harsh. I just want to get to the bottom of this. And I am not the only one.

Thank you, would appreciate a prompt response.

[Apex]

Don't worry, I'm pretty thick skinned. ;)

More than that though, I definitely do understand where you guys are, and believe me, it's a huge concern for me. HUGE concern. If it was not, I would not be spending 8-10 hours a day, every single day since the start of this, dealing with this.

My understanding in this so far is:

1. Some units have shipped already. Not many yet, but some.
2. They have not one, but 2 phone systems on order (and I bug them about getting this done several times a day).
3. They need more people answering emails. Because some peoples emails are falling through the cracks, I have to take up the slack. That's inefficient. They NEED to place more of their people on email duty so that the [email protected] email is answered promptly.
4. Orders being placed now are merely a trickle compared to the torrent from before.
5. Cards are being charged only when they get to stage 3 of the build process. I will try to get more clear details on this.

Believe me, I want to get these things all shipped out and done with more than anyone.

[kksf00]

Don't worry, I'm pretty thick skinned. ;)

My understanding in this so far is:

1. Some units have shipped already. Not many yet, but some.
2. They have not one, but 2 phone systems on order (and I bug them about getting this done several times a day).
3. They need more people answering emails. Because some peoples emails are falling through the cracks, I have to take up the slack. That's inefficient. They NEED to place more of their people on email duty so that the [email protected] email is answered promptly.
4. Orders being placed now are merely a trickle compared to the torrent from before.
5. Cards are being charged only when they get to stage 3 of the build process. I will try to get more clear details on this.

Believe me, I want to get these things all shipped out and done with more than anyone.

Thank you for your prompt response. I appreciate it. If I may ask for some details.

1. Do you know how many orders have shipped? When are they estimating the rest to be shipped? What is the cause of the hold up? How long is the average consumer expected to wait?
2. Phone systems on order doesn't equate to phone lines not working? Why did they disconnect their current line to take calls? I don't understand.
3. Why don't they post something on their website to all those who got into this deal? Won't it aid their credibility if they show they are doing something about it? Isn't that just plain logical?

Finally, what did they say to the question of being able to just assemble the systems without the 269 (or whatever it is) checks?

-- sorry to have to have these questions. I hope this would help all those out there too who have the same questions that I do and would save you time.

Thanks again.

[Apex]

I'll try to get these and other questions answered when I speak with them tomorrow.

[dizzytrain]

apex, Please find out their Physical address
If theycant give you an address that can be verified this is a scam

[ello13]

Apex - you haven't answered me or the rest.

What is going on? If you are in communication with them, you should have replied now to our satisfaction.


I DON'T CARE if you think AI is a legit company. You have to convince us of that. For me, it would mean answering my questions.

So, categorically, can you, once and for all, answer me, tell me what is going on?

Thanks.

Oh my, aren't you the most demanding little spoiled brat? You really are in no position to demand such things, especially from apex after he's made us his promise early on into this deal. If YOU don't feel safe, please by all means BAIL on this deal. Why do you persist on having a heart attack and constantly demanding answers that are "to your satisfaction".

Who's forcing you to order from ai computers???
I know apex can't or won't say anything since he is the "host" and he wouldn't want to be rude to his guests no matter how rude they are to him....but I'll chime in. Just remember, you are in no position to deman anything from apex. He's not forcing you to stick out this deal. He made us a promise that he'd cover our butts if ai tried anything fishy. He didn't say he'd be your slave and answer all your questions.

With that said, the concerns with ai are valid. There does seem to be something fishy going on. Then again, I think it's probably just the most mismanaged piece of crap company on the face of this earth. Really, ai computers can't exactly get away with anything here short of fleeing the country.

Worst case scenaio is still you not getting anything but not losing anything either (you voluntarily gave up your time by stessing over this deal). I myself am still holding on and hoping I'll get a new lappy. That hope fades more and more each day with no word....but I'm still waiting. But for those of you having a heart attack over this deal....don't you have better things to do with your time and energy? (after you cancel your order that is...)

[saboism]

And for those of you (not just kksf00) who have been "asking" about T-1 lines taking a long time to install,... I've been part of 3 teams with very large corporations who had T-1's and T-3's installed into their buildings for their VPN's. All 3 companies were Fortune 500 companies,... which I state since that seems to mean something to people.

The shortest install we saw was 2.5 weeks. We raved and fumed and screamed and spit at them,...but it still took 2.5 weeks. The others, you don't even want to hear about. :) And the vendors were all major backbone providers,... no middlemen were used.
And you expect people to believe those "Fortune 500" companies had no phone service during that time? *cough*
Ya know that a good percentage of people that come to and post on boards such as this one are IT/IS people right? Who are you fooling?
My local DELI wouldn't survive the fallout if it was without phone service for 2 weeks, and that's hardly Fortune 500.
C'mon... seriously... you work for A.I. or something like that don't you?

But alas, I just registered for this forum, so I'm sure my opinion will be deemed invalid somehow... isn't that also how this thread has been progressing? I'm new here so certainly my thoughts are inappropriate and incorrect, and my credit card and bankaccount security is probably of no concern either? Excellent community you have... I'm beginning to see where my error actually lies with this deal.

I feel bad for Apex, news of stuff like this spreads fast in this day and age... this was my first time actually going for one of his deals (though I browse them daily over at HTF). He's the only one that's ACTUALLY been screwed thus far.

[kksf00]

Oh my, aren't you the most demanding little spoiled brat? You really are in no position to demand such things, especially from apex after he's made us his promise early on into this deal. If YOU don't feel safe, please by all means BAIL on this deal. Why do you persist on having a heart attack and constantly demanding answers that are "to your satisfaction".

Who's forcing you to order from ai computers???
I know apex can't or won't say anything since he is the "host" and he wouldn't want to be rude to his guests no matter how rude they are to him....but I'll chime in. Just remember, you are in no position to deman anything from apex. He's not forcing you to stick out this deal. He made us a promise that he'd cover our butts if ai tried anything fishy. He didn't say he'd be your slave and answer all your questions.

With that said, the concerns with ai are valid. There does seem to be something fishy going on. Then again, I think it's probably just the most mismanaged piece of crap company on the face of this earth. Really, ai computers can't exactly get away with anything here short of fleeing the country.

Worst case scenaio is still you not getting anything but not losing anything either (you voluntarily gave up your time by stessing over this deal). I myself am still holding on and hoping I'll get a new lappy. That hope fades more and more each day with no word....but I'm still waiting. But for those of you having a heart attack over this deal....don't you have better things to do with your time and energy? (after you cancel your order that is...)

i think you should refrain from flaming. i have my reasons and the right to know what's going on. Apex vouched for the deal and he should stand by his claims. I am asking him to justify it that's all. And he has responded satisfactorily and I am giving him the opportunity to obtain the answers.

You're right, nobody is forcing me to buy. But I have bought. And I am a consumer who deserves to know what is going on. AI hasn't responded or done anything to show that they care. Apex has taken it upon himself to represent them on our behalf from what I can understand. Hence my questions. Simple logic. If I don't feel safe, I will bail. Until then, I would like to know what's going on. Fair enough? Unlike you, I am being as proactive as possible, given the reasonable amount of time that has lapsed. Spoilt brat? I think not. Concerned? yes.

If Apex had decided my demands were unfounded - ie. if I started bugging him the day after the deal, etc. then he wouldn't have responded the way he did, so kudos to him. But it has been 11 days and I decided I can't take any more bull****, and I can understand the greater frustration for those who have had their CC charged. In fact, by leveling with him directly, I hope to be able to answer not only my nagging questions but yours and others as well. I also happen to think they are perfectly valid questions and Apex, in all graciousness, obviously thinks the same way to warrant follow up on his part. Yes, I was harsh, if only to elicit a response. To his credit, he has tried his best since. I didn't think he was addressing those concerns previously.

I resent your condescending tone and think you should just mind your business, it's between me and him. You should focus your energy in trying to get answers, which is your right. FYI - he's probably getting tons of questions like mine via e-mail from irate buyers. Should we be more patient? I think we have done our best. It's been 11 days. No word from the vendor. You decide whether that's good enough for you, but not good enough for me.

For your info, I wasn't the first one who has been demanding questions. I have been following the threads from Day one.

[dizzytrain]

ello13 and his kind need to Update their talking points
"just cancle your order" rings hollow at this point.
If you have been actually reading this board many of us have already been charged and have been trying to do just that, and we are getting no where.
As to Apex i'm sure he is a great guy, if he was'nt he would not have won over so many sheep. But his flock should not excpect the rest of us to be so passive when we are discovering we are about to be fleeced. I dont think Apex Thought this would happen he is a victim like the rest of us, but if anybody is still sitting around waiting on this deal, and their card has yet to be charged they are being silly. We can now confirm that they have lied, and contridicted themselves. It is not always as easy as you think to dispute charges to your card and the poor souls that went the path of debit have a whole war before them. even If A.I is being honest,those of us who are in the stage 3 of A.i's hell have a full month (if this P.C. is even coming) I doubt this is A.I giving a worst case analysis, that does not seem to be their style. Right now i have a 900 dollar dispute to deal with,not to mention my info. open to the world.
So if you want a new mantra to shut us up and follow the flock
switch " just cancel your order" to "just dispute your charges"
Or in a language you might better understand "baaaa baaa baaaaaa"

[kksf00]

dizzytrain - i agree - we shouldn't have to bail just like that.

I also agree that perhaps Apex underestimated AI too. I think he is also going to try and do his best.

[Apex]

Wooh, folks. Let's take just a step back for a second, and breathe. We are really in this together, and it doesn't help the situation if we turn on each other.

I'll readily admit that I have made mistakes in the past, and will most definitely make them again in the future. The reason we posted this deal was their track record over the last almost 9 months (oct 03), when we started posting more of their deals and talking with them more regularly. There were parts & accessories deals, as well as computer deals, with coupons upwards of 25% off. Products were received as expected. The most sure way to judge a company, we have found, is our track record with them. It's not perfect, of course, but we really do do everything we can.

As much as I understand where everyone is coming from, I would hope my viewers would give me the same kind of respect. Worse case, you may not get your computer. Worse case, because of my promise, I may have to take out a loan of upwards of three quarters of a MILLION DOLLARS to cover loses if, for some reason, credit cards are not honoring their fraud protection. That's on top of the huge potential loses for us as a company, which I would be responsible for.

[cphreak]

FYI, you can't block a potential credit card charge. You can only dispute it after-the-fact. Just found this out from my bank... My new credit card with a new number is in the mail...

[dizzytrain]

Apex, thanks for the concern, i for one will never take any money from you, we made a decision, and we should deal with it. All we can ask of you is your support, i do believe we have it,
Can you try and get their address?

[Quiescence]

FYI, you can't block a potential credit card charge. You can only dispute it after-the-fact. Just found this out from my bank... My new credit card with a new number is in the mail...

That's right, and it's not a easy process, neither it's fast. You may have to wait about a month and go to notary public a couple of times. Of course, this is not the case for all the credit cards. With some of them you can resolve the situation just by a simple phone call.

On the other hand, I trust Apex in this one and hope I'll get my tablet pc soon. But still, this address thing is a little bit intimidating..

BTW, do you think that sending a message to Apex's rep would speed up the process?

[satish]

Satish,

What order number (or range) were you?

Order #s 422X, 423X, 425X

[Underclocked]

It would take one person from AI Computers all of 10 minutes to post an explanation for this situation right here on Apex's forum. Seems that a single post here would/could go a long way toward reassuring folks they aren't being scammed in some way.

But I guess it is more efficient to spend time on ICQ giving non-answers?

[satish]

i'm up for parts in a box :)

the parts should still have manufacturer warranties if it doesn't work... also the 2 year warranty... 275 point check pssh i dont care as long as it works (which it should) but i guess the only problem i can see is putting that slow ass ram in a fast computer (swapping it out anyway) ... and maybe the motherboard not supporting SATA




satish, what parts did you order in your computer?

1. Description Amount Qty Subtotal
------------- ------ --- --------
A.I 375 $2,536.00 1 $2,536.00

SYSTEM INCLUDES:
-------------------------
- WARRANTY - **2 YR WARRANTY STANDARD ON ALL SYSTEMS: 182-Additional 3-Year Warranty

- INSTANT REBATE: 572-$200 Instant Rebate - Valid Through 04/30/04

- IN HOME SETUP - LET US SETUP YOUR PC FOR YOU RIGHT: 750-No Thanks, I'll set up myself.

- CASE - SCROLL UP TO SEE CHANGES IN YOUR SELECTION: 671-A.I 375 Case

- PROCESSOR: 672-Pentium M-1.6 GHz 400MHz Centrino Technology

- SYSTEM MEMORY: 194-*1024MB PC2100 DDR memory

- VIDEO CARD - GRAPHICS ADAPTOR: 609-Intel® Extreme Graphics 2 controller

- HARD DRIVE - STORAGE DEVICE OPTIONS: 442-(Built-In) 60.0GB (5400rpm) Ultra DMA HD

- OPTICAL DRIVE ONE: 175-(Built-In) 8X DVD /16X10X24 CD-RW Combo Drive

- SOUND CARD: 255-Integrated AC97 Sound

- NETWORK CARD- ETHERNET: 36-10/100 Ethernet Onboard

- WIRELESS NETWORK CARD: 674-integrated 802.11b Wireless LAN

- MODEM: 201-(Built-In) V.92 56K Internal RJ11

- OPERATING SYSTEM: 178-(Built-In) Microsoft® Windows® XP Home

- PRODUCTIVITY BUNDLE: 126-None

- MONITOR: 243-(Built -In)-15.4 Inch Display

- KEYBOARD: 118-None

- MOUSE: 117-None

- SPEAKERS: 611-Klipsch Promedia GMX A-2.1 Personal Audio System

- PRINTER: 84-None

- SCANNER: 120-None

- POWER PROTECT: 121-None

- FREE GIFT: 660-a.i official apparel T-Shirt (X-Large Size)

- FREE BONUS: 179-Deluxe Carrying Case

- BATTERY: 244-Smart Li-ION Battery


Coupon Discount: -$1,268.00
Shipping: $22.03
Tax: $104.61
Transaction Total: $1,394.64

2.Description Amount Qty Subtotal
------------- ------ --- --------
A.I 375 $2,392.00 1 $2,392.00

SYSTEM INCLUDES:
-------------------------
- WARRANTY - **2 YR WARRANTY STANDARD ON ALL SYSTEMS: 182-Additional 3-Year Warranty

- INSTANT REBATE: 572-$200 Instant Rebate - Valid Through 04/30/04

- IN HOME SETUP - LET US SETUP YOUR PC FOR YOU RIGHT: 750-No Thanks, I'll set up myself.

- CASE - SCROLL UP TO SEE CHANGES IN YOUR SELECTION: 671-A.I 375 Case

- PROCESSOR: 672-Pentium M-1.6 GHz 400MHz Centrino Technology

- SYSTEM MEMORY: 194-*1024MB PC2100 DDR memory

- VIDEO CARD - GRAPHICS ADAPTOR: 609-Intel® Extreme Graphics 2 controller

- HARD DRIVE - STORAGE DEVICE OPTIONS: 442-(Built-In) 60.0GB (5400rpm) Ultra DMA HD

- OPTICAL DRIVE ONE: 175-(Built-In) 8X DVD /16X10X24 CD-RW Combo Drive

- SOUND CARD: 255-Integrated AC97 Sound

- NETWORK CARD- ETHERNET: 36-10/100 Ethernet Onboard

- WIRELESS NETWORK CARD: 674-integrated 802.11b Wireless LAN

- MODEM: 201-(Built-In) V.92 56K Internal RJ11

- OPERATING SYSTEM: 178-(Built-In) Microsoft® Windows® XP Home

- PRODUCTIVITY BUNDLE: 126-None

- MONITOR: 243-(Built -In)-15.4 Inch Display

- KEYBOARD: 118-None

- MOUSE: 21-a.i Optical Mouse (Black)

- SPEAKERS: 125-None

- PRINTER: 84-None

- SCANNER: 120-None

- POWER PROTECT: 121-None

- FREE GIFT: 659-a.i official apparel T-Shirt (Large Size)

- FREE BONUS: 179-Deluxe Carrying Case

- BATTERY: 244-Smart Li-ION Battery


AI Credit: -$5.00
Coupon Discount: -$1,196.00
Shipping: $0.00
Tax: $98.26
Transaction Total: $1,289.26
3. Description Amount Qty Subtotal
------------- ------ --- --------
A.I. 3001 $3,040.00 1 $3,040.00

SYSTEM INCLUDES:
-------------------------
- WARRANTY - **2 YR WARRANTY STANDARD ON ALL SYSTEMS: 12-a.i - Toll-Free 2-Year 24/7 At your home Warranty

- INSTANT REBATE: 572-$200 Instant Rebate - Valid Through 04/30/04

- IN HOME SETUP - LET US SETUP YOUR PC FOR YOU RIGHT: 750-No Thanks, I'll set up myself.

- CASE - SCROLL UP TO SEE CHANGES IN YOUR SELECTION: 736-Antec P160 Aluminum Case -420 Watt PS

- CASE SIDE PANEL OPTIONS: 152-a.i - (Solid Side Panel) Prematched W/ Case Color

- POWER SUPPLY - UPGRADE: 73-500 Watt - Titanium Power Supply

- PROCESSOR: 545-Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 3.0GHz 800MHz FSB

- PROCESSOR COOLER - UPGRADE: 633-a.i - High Performance Quiet AlCu CPU Cooler

- MOTHERBOARD: 631-Intel (800 FSB) D875P Motherboard

- SYSTEM MEMORY: 604-*FREE - UPGRADE* 1024MB DDR SDRAM PC-3200

- VIDEO CARD - GRAPHICS ADAPTOR: 729-ATI® RADEON™ 9600 XT 128MB 8x AGP

- HARD DRIVE - STORAGE DEVICE OPTIONS: 558-240GB Seagate Barracuda SATA 8MB Cache RAID 0

- SECONDARY HARD DRIVE OPTIONS: 129-None

- HARD DRIVE COOLER: 482-None

- OPTICAL DRIVE ONE: 310-52x24x52x CD-RW - IDE - Black

- OPTICAL DRIVE TWO: 272-16X DVD Drive (Black)

- FLOPPY DRIVE: 215-Floppy Drive (Black)

- SOUND CARD: 40-Sound Blaster® Audigy 2 ZS Platinum 7.1 Sound

- NETWORK CARD- ETHERNET: 608-Integrated Gigabit (10/100/1000 Mbits/sec) LAN

- MODEM: 113-None

- DIGITAL VIDEO EDITING: 225-None

- OPERATING SYSTEM: 289-No Operating System

- PRODUCTIVITY BUNDLE: 126-None

- MONITOR: 32-NEC 17 inch (Black) LCD Monitor 1700V

- KEYBOARD: 118-None

- MOUSE: 283-Logitech Charging Mouse/Station

- CASE LIGHTING: 140-Blue Light Cathode -(installed w/ switch)

- EFFICIENCY CABLING (ROUNDED & SHIELDED): 349-Silver Mesh Rounded IDE Cables

- CASE COOLING SOLUTION: 323-Standard Case Fans

- ADDITIONAL STORAGE DEVICE: 703-None

- MULTIMEDIA CARD READER: 720-No Card Selected

- CUSTOM UV CASE INTERIOR PAINT: 653-none

- SPEAKERS: 280-Logitech Z-680 5.1 Metallic Silver Speaker 450Watt

- HEADPHONE: 726-None

- USB PORT OPTIONS: 708-8 Port USB 2.0 Configuration (4 Rear, 4 Front)

- PRINTER: 84-None

- SCANNER: 120-None

- POWER PROTECT: 121-None

- FREE GIFT: 659-a.i official apparel T-Shirt (Large Size)


Coupon Discount: -$1,520.00
Shipping: $75.00
Tax: $125.40
Transaction Total: $1,720.40

[satish]

OK, update for everyone:

I have personally been facilitating the emails between our customers and AI. 421 so far as of today. Most have been order status questions.

At this point, I'm not exactly sure what everyone wants me to do. Perhaps if we can put together some suggestions?




Satish:

You already received an email back. I know because I was CC'd on it.
Apex,

1. You posted a priveleged communication between AI and I without my permission. This is not only unethical, it is illegal.

2. This email message says "After speaking with Gabe from Gotapex.com, who personally looked after to make sure your emails were attended to, I took the time to look over your accounts. I am going to see what I can do to prioritize your account, and try to get your computers shipped out early next week for you."

3. Within 20 hours of that email, the next email says "Due to delays in manufacturing, and delays on backordered parts, we cannot fulfill your order at this time.

During the next 2 months, you will be contacted by email, if you would like to receive these exact items at these prices, will will be more than happy to fulfill your orders."

Apex, are you trying to tell me that within 12 hours the situation at AI changed so much that they went from "try to get your computers shipped next week for you" to "we cannot fulfill your orders".

The fact that this happened within minutes after I posted on this forum that AI does not exist at 155 Marine Street is not a coincidence. You have not responded to the question that they are not at 155 Marine Street. What is the physical address of AI computers? Why is there no address on their website. You say that you have been personally facilitating between AI and your customers.

I just tried logging into my account on their website and my account has been disabled. Surely, this is not a coincidence. You and AI are singling me out for special treatment because I took the responsibilty of verifying the bonafides of a business that has received approximately 2500 orders through a link from your website over a two-day period and has not shipped a single order in over two weeks?

[groebuck]

Let's be fair apex lives in CA, how can he know that they are not at 155b Marine Street (well he does now that two people have gone there and see nothing).

[satish]

Let's be fair apex lives in CA, how can he know that they are not at 155b Marine Street (well he does now that two people have gone there and see nothing).

I do not expect Apex to drive out to 155b Marine Street. Since he is in touch with AI, he should be able to get their current real address and tell us what the story is with their phones (or T1 upgrade!!!!! :)

[Jax67]

I've changed my online information to *CALL ME*. The form doesn't seem to do much validation so you can pretty much type in whatever you want. I've left my work number in case they want to contact me. I'll be calling my credit card company to get a new card. Paranoid? Yeah, maybe. But in the mean time I'll be monitoring my credit card online to make sure there are no suspicious charges (with my luck, there will be a charge for 500 processors to help build everybody's pc but mine). You can never be too careful. I hate to do this but I feel I have no other choice.

I would highly advise everybody to monitor their credit card activity. There is nothing AI or Apex have said (or haven't said) that makes me 100% comfortable with this deal. An email will be sent to cancel my order with a CC: to Apex. What good this is going to do, I have no idea. Emails seem to end up in a "blackhole" somewhere at AI.

I'm still in awe that this so called rep can't login and post a simple message. Un-f***believable.

Good luck everybody!

[groebuck]

You and I know it, but if they keep telling Gabe that, then what can he do? They seem pretty evasive, and for a company with T1 problems their website seems to work just fine (well okay it show all our personal information) but it's up..but I guess it could be hosted.

THe phone problems? Come on, any company that has had phone issues this long should fire their phone company.

[tourbound]

I'm still in awe that this so called rep can't login and post a simple message. Un-f***believable.

Good luck everybody!

He does read the thread. When I talked to him yesterday on ICQ he made reference to something he read here.

Why he doesn't just post something here, I don't know.

[poiselle]

Apex,

1. You posted a priveleged communication between AI and I without my permission. This is not only unethical, it is illegal.



Actually the e-mail was not privileged since Apex was cc'ed. It was posted because you stated that you have had no contact with them and he proved you wrong. Your order was cancelled which is what I thought you wanted. Apex staked his reputation on this deal and you run around accusing him of being part of a massive scam. It is taking them a long time to build and ship. I bought a Dell laptop. It took 1.5 months to get it. If I believe my status e-mails it took them 2 weeks to put it in a box. This happens. If the people who have been charged don't get their computers then go after AI and apex and anybody else but until then calm down. Anybody who ordered after seeing the questions about the company has no right to complain.

[tourbound]

I bought a Dell laptop. It took 1.5 months to get it. If I believe my status e-mails it took them 2 weeks to put it in a box.

Yes, but when did they bill your credit card?

[Jax67]

THe phone problems? Come on, any company that has had phone issues this long should fire their phone company.

If I was the rep, and the phones were really messed up like he says, I would provide a cell phone number. I would not have let this go on as long as it has. I know I can always change the number later.

[poiselle]

Yes, but when did they bill your credit card?

I imagine it was when they shipped it and not 3 weeks before as AI is doing. I am not arguing that this company is sketchy and I hope everyone who ordered gets their computer or their money back. The company is one that I don't think I would order from. I probably would not have before this deal and unless it is an insane deal I won't in the future. My credit card has been pretty good about disputing charges so I would just trust that it would work out. I hope whoever used their check card cancelled that order since I don't think you can dispute charges with those. Good luck everybody.

[gremlin190]

Wow, how has things unravelled in the last 24 hours. I have to agree, a lack of communication has been very aggervating for me. It's going on the 15th day since I ordered from this company and it's still in NEW status.

Apex: I would love to put my own computer together since I had planned on taking my AI computer apart anyway. I would also like to be able to substitute any part that was on back order so I would be able to speed up the delivery of my computer. AS far as warranty goes, I would prefer if it had the manufactor warranty, however as most of these parts can be had for under a hundred dollars, a 30 day warranty would be fine. I ordered pretty much a barebone system, if these orders are being handled by ones that they have parts put together first, then why am I still have the status of NEW ?

[Marka]

I just thought of something, if these guy's phone lines went down, or whatever it is that isn't working. Then why is there a busy signal all the time? If there is no service then shouldn't it either constantly ring, or have an operator telling you that the number is out of service? Not to mention that can't they have calls to that number forwarded to a different location/phone/cell phone?

[lurch70]

I think Gabe is being way too nice to these guys. Your foot should be firmly on the ground by this time and deman concrete answers from them. All everyone has gotten so far is the runaround and vague answers.
You rep and the guy on ICQ is quite simply worthless ... someone to just calm the herd with generic, canned answers to legitemate questions.

I know at this point it is hard for Gabe to abandon them all together as a huge financial risk, but it seems like the logical thing.

My take on what is happening ... AI is on verge of going under, they run this promo, have X amount of orders from us with a big $$$ amount to show lenders and creditors as pending revenue ... they stay afloat, possibly even getting new loans. Meanwhile there are no parts in stock ... and we all wait for things to be processed and them to be able to get more parts. Not sure if I am right, but I have dealt with companies with similar practices.

You guys are forgetting that the PC industry is not a very profitable one to begin with. The only reason to run a promo like this is to gain exposure and repeat business later on. Exposure they got, repeat business they will not ... so it makes me wonder what they real agenda is???

[blueboy]

As I mentioned yesterday, I have been in purchasing for twenty or so years. Much of this has been overseeing IT purchasing for large entities.

Although I am willing to take a risk for a great deal personally, I would never do company business with anyone regardless of price that has no working phone number, does not respond to e-mail, or refuses to give out a “real” physical address. For myself, I have done my share of ebay purchases, one day deals, coupons, rebates, and the like.

I can tell you this though, I just canceled my order, copied Apex, and altered my AI account info on their web-site. I hope someone gets the PC they ordered out of this deal. I hope it actually functions when it mysteriously arrives from AI’s secret assembly location. Do you think for a minute if AI is using an outside company to provide their two year warranty service that they are actually paying them? If they can’t keep the phones on, don’t have the parts to build the PCs, what kind of real options are you going to have if your dream machine bites it. I hope the deal you get is good enough to cover it.

All you have to do is look at the folks that were burned through aipcs. Apex claims that it was a separate financing company that was screwing customers, not the owner of AI computers. However, in many of the complaints on the web, they mention dealing directly with this owner. My understanding is that he took their money, sometimes requesting even larger deposits afterward. Then, they didn’t send them a PC or refund their money for a long, long time. (months)

This is the type of business you run when legitimate financial institutions will not lend you money for your ongoing operations. There is a reason for this: because you are a bad risk, have no collateral, and have a poor track record. Everyone knows that this is a slim margin business. How many of you think that you could continue to operate selling products at or below cost? Let me help you, no one. I think the best thing Apex could do for gotapex clients would be to have AI cancel the remaining outstanding orders. This would end all of this immediately, protect you and protect him.

For me, I will go back to a newegg or another equivalent who will gladly accept hardware returns and treat me like the customer with green I am. I do not want to have to go through weeks of misery after reaching “stage three” wondering whether I will need to dispute a credit card charge while all my personal info is sitting on their web-site for the world to see.

Good luck to the rest of you remaining. I think I will order my parts today from newegg and actually start building the screamer I thought I had ordered….

[tourbound]

Good luck to the rest of you remaining. I think I will order my parts today from newegg and actually start building the screamer I thought I had ordered….

Yes, good luck to anyone that still wants to stick it out.

I did the same thing on Monday. I cancelled my order (of course they already charged my card and I have to deal with that fiasco that I have already documented on here) and ordered parts from Newegg. My new mobo, cpu, additional ram and dvd burner should be dropped off by FedEx today. I even managed to pick up a brand new ATI Radeon 9800 Pro at Compusa for $200 yesterday. I was just going to go back and settle for the Nvidia 5900SE I had bought before, but for the same price, I quickly took the 9800 Pro. It will more than hold me over for a while until the 6800's and x800's became more mainstream and we start to see price dips.

[dizzytrain]

if this is phony (and i think it is) why would they not try doing a better job of fooling us? like posting more believable answers to questions< or placing phony posts on this board< or even placing some phony message on their site
we are lucky these guys are not as shrewd as they could be
just cancel all the orders that have not been charged and contact those that have been and ask us if we want to cancel our orders (include a ship date)

[knimbleknight]

It's starting to fall apart in here!

I think it's still a little too early to go into full panic mode. Everybody should just confirm with the CC companies what the statute of limitations is for disputing a charge, and make sure these guys don't string you along past that point. If you do that, I don't see much risk, save for that little problem of identify theft, but hey, what can you do? (that's why I got out the first day, cancelled my card, and deleted all my info from the site).

I would be absolutely shocked if anybody actually got a computer out of this deal, and since most everyone should be protected by their CC's, I'm thinking - what's in it for AI? Are they scamming the CC companies? Can they take the money and run? With a thousand orders or so, and let's say charging about 200 of those for an average of $1000 - that's $200,000 - not a bad little profit.

I think the more likely scenario is some kind of bankruptcy scam. I don't think they're even trying to stay afloat by using the CC "deposits" for working capital. I imagine they'll collect some of this money, launder it out somehow, declare bankruptcy and move on. Again, the CC companies would be the losers here - not the consumers.

But I guess it is possible for them to try to stay afloat and use CC "deposits" to fund working capital needs - akin to using a bandaid to fix a leaking damn - it just won't work for very long, unless they can get a proper loan from some bank. This isn't necessarily deceptive or fraudulent - it's just bad business practice. Not out of the realm of possibility, but if this is what they are doing, I would expect them to really pay attention to customer service to give it a proper go. Clearly, this hasn't been the case, which makes me believe it's one of the former scenarios.

Whatever the case, I see no reason to blame Apex for anything - it's just one of those things.

[Marka]

As a suggestion for all those thinking of where to get their computer parts, TigerDirect.com When I saw that AI might take it's sweet time (that was a week after the deal, and before all s**t hit the fan in this forum) I decided to buy the parts and put together a second comp. TigerDirect is where I bought them, and I am completely amazed. They shipped them either the same day (if I ordered early enough) or on the next day. All the stuff works. AND MOST IMPORTANT FOR THOSE HERE: THERE IS SOMEONE THERE TO TALK TO AT ALL TIMES OF THE DAY. I called them last night at 9:45pm NY time and talked to a person (an actual human being that picked up a phone) about my issues.

Just by the way, Apex posts a lot of their deals on this site as well.

[doughboy]

hahaha...WOW, things went SOUTH since i checked this forum yesterday.

I agree with the people asking for updates and whatnot. Also, a lot of people here went in on this deal b/c Apex personally vouched for the company. If this site IS a business entity and that WAS a business decision, then Got|Apex should be held accountible based on their "sponsorship", if you will.

Having said that, we need to all pause for a moment and breathe. Then pick up the phone to your CC company to inform them of what is going on here so they have a heads up on this. Meanwhile, Apex will continue to communicate with these people at AI and get us a satisfactory answer/resolution, if that is indeed possible at this point.

db

[akaRadar]

I have emailed AIComputers (an CC to Apex) to cancel my order. My status is still NEW. I also deleted my info on AI's unsecure website. I don't blame Apex, but this deal has too many 'red flags' associated with it. I've had no response to three email's to AI. Can't get them by phone in over two weeks. I hope I can get some confirmation that my order was canceled. Good luck to everyone who sticks with it!
I need my computer sooner than I think I could 'possibly' get it from AI.
Bill

[cphreak]

Canceling your order would not guarantee anything, except that your account access to AI will be disabled within hours. As I've already done, you should all get a new credit card number and cancel your old one. Every bank will UPS you new card(s) overnight. So it's very little trouble.

As a sidenote...AI cancel accounts pretty fast! Didn't see the same response rate from any of their other customer service.

I'm still worred that they have my personal info...one of the reason why I'm still checking this forum a few times a day. If there's one thing Gabe can do for us now, he should make sure our personal info is completely wiped from their systems.

GABE, I plead to you to make sure our info is protected (i.e., completely deleted). This is especially true for those of us who have cancelled our orders.

[tourbound]

Canceling your order would not guarantee anything, except that your account access to AI will be disabled within hours.
As a sidenote...AI cancel accounts pretty fast! Didn't see the same response rate from any of their other customer service.


GABE, I plead to you to make sure our info is protected (i.e., completely deleted). This is especially true for those of us who have cancelled our orders.

Interesting that you say they cancel pretty fast. I can still log into my account (I have deleted all info) and I have been trying to cancel since Monday. I even talked to the AI rep yesterday (as I have documented previously in this thread) about getting my refund.

I guess they figure they owe me access to my account since they are keeping my money for 9 days for no apparent reason.

[Xarthan]

Don't you think it's kinda weird that none of their phone lines work? Yes we know about their "T1" upgrade, but c'mon? No phone line?

Lets look at this from a different angle... those who have AI computers are provided with a 2 year Tech Support. So during these past weeks if they had problems, they've just been screwed over?

No company in their right mind would shut down their current line system while upgrade their phonelines.

However I highly doubt anyone's CC will get charged, if they do then they get around 1.5 Million dollars of free money from ur CC company.

Also if the computers do get shipped, I don't think their quality will be that good. They might be pakced with refurbished products in an attempt to get all the orders fulfilled. Even so I dobt I will have good Customer Service if I get something DOA or some unforeseen circumstances in the future.

They also claim that some orders have been shipped... this is prob 100% true, what they didn't tell you was maybe these ORDERS were neon lights, or fans, or some mundane item small cheap item? I'm wondering how many COMPUTER SYSTEMS have been shipped. That answer is probably 0.

[Ravendas]

Rav: Can you please point out where? If I was able to find a place for $100 shipped, I definitely would have posted it.

I did find a refurbished version for $79.99 plus shipping from eCost, but you'd have to add:

Ground shipping: $104.95
Priority overnight: $144.82
Handling fee: $4.95

If you can point out the $100 price, I'd greatly appreciate it.

My bad, I didn't see "refurbished" in the title. All the places I mentioned (found through froogle) are selling the refurbs for $100, and the new starting at $185. Apologies!

-Rav

[MASTERPL]

Well, after 21 pages of bish bish bish bish bish, I decided that my peace of mind is much more important than a pc that I can build for barely 200 more myself. I'm calling my bank on lunch and cancelling my card. I don't know about the rest of you, but at some point, you gotta ask yourself. Is it worth it?

I was having nightmares of my system being slapped together with sub-par components. I'd rather invest my hard earned money in brands and companies I trust.

[SteelheadBob]

Bwaak bwaaak bwakkk BWAAAAK bwak bwak it is worse than a hen house in here. I have never seen so many "It's been 3 hrs 27 minutes and 34 seconds since I posted last and if I don't hear from AI or Apex In 42 minutes I am canceling my order" Way I see it CC are on a minimum 26 day billing cycle. So even if you have a Charge from AI you don't even pay interest for 26 days. After that if you don't have a computer call your CC they send you the paper work and it may take another billing cycle to dispute the charge. Let the CC company handle it they pay people big money to do their job. You can go back to pecking for corn and clucking about some other hen problem.

[lights]

And you expect people to believe those "Fortune 500" companies had no phone service during that time? *cough*
Ya know that a good percentage of people that come to and post on boards such as this one are IT/IS people right? Who are you fooling?
My local DELI wouldn't survive the fallout if it was without phone service for 2 weeks, and that's hardly Fortune 500.
C'mon... seriously... you work for A.I. or something like that don't you?

Not at all. They most definitely had phone service and there's no way that they would be in business today (nor would we have teamed up to be part of those projects) if they didn't. I wasn't defending them,... my point was on the T-1 install and these "IT/IS" people claiming that it shouldn't take so long - that there are examples of such lengthy installs.

I don't work for A.I. I work for Apex.

[bradpitt]

They also claim that some orders have been shipped... this is prob 100% true, what they didn't tell you was maybe these ORDERS were neon lights, or fans, or some mundane item small cheap item? I'm wondering how many COMPUTER SYSTEMS have been shipped. That answer is probably 0.

ditto! yeah... my friend was looking at other people's orders and no computer has been shipped! just those cpu fans stuff

but for me... i think i will wait until next weekend... since they said they will ship by mid next week. maybe they'll read this and do my order first my order number is in the low 370X ;) yeah yeah hurry up :(



EDIT: i'm also sure you can go to the county clerk's office for longisland or wherever they are and look up thier address ! maybe there is a website some where, i know that they have a website for california. also, you can probably find thier IP address from the email headers ;) and then trace them back to at most get what city they are

[MASTERPL]

If anyone finds out where they are, Ill supply the feathers. I don't need those old pillows anyway.

All we need now is glue tar or mollases.

oh and, pitchforks, nooses, etc etc.

J'k I feel so much better since I've cancelled my cc card. Whew.

[DarkFury]

Tis a shame that it has come to this... however I guess some folks didn't heed the warnings that were posted on this...

http://www.gotapex.com/forums/showpost.php?p=670903&postcount=10

http://www.gotapex.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74269

[faither]

Bwaak bwaaak bwakkk BWAAAAK bwak bwak it is worse than a hen house in here. I have never seen so many "It's been 3 hrs 27 minutes and 34 seconds since I posted last and if I don't hear from AI or Apex In 42 minutes I am canceling my order" Way I see it CC are on a minimum 26 day billing cycle. So even if you have a Charge from AI you don't even pay interest for 26 days. After that if you don't have a computer call your CC they send you the paper work and it may take another billing cycle to dispute the charge. Let the CC company handle it they pay people big money to do their job. You can go back to pecking for corn and clucking about some other hen problem.

Thank you! :lmfao:

[Lodz]

Anyone visit www.aicomputers.bg ?

I speak a few languages; unfortuanately, Bulgarian is not one of them. Maybe we'd have better luck at the physical address in Bulgaria? Anyone willing to make that trip?

EDIT - email is [email protected]
address is 38 Dondukov blvd., Sofia
Phone: +359 2 9808751
Tech: [email protected] +359 88 8788497
Maybe THEIR phone lines are up.....

[beo]

Anyone visit www.aicomputers.bg (http://www.aicomputers.bg/) ?

I speak a few languages; unfortuanately, Bulgarian is not one of them.
I guess Russian isn't, either... :)

[Lodz]

I guess Russian isn't, either...

ahem....

http://www.kirildouhalov.net/language/language.html

Unless it's Russian on a Bulgarian site. Same alphabet, different language.
But it's good to get off-topic every now ad then.
Now! Back to the AI Bashing!!!!

[intendedacceleration]

Whoa, signs of life.


[13:06] Mr. AI 5447: Hi...
[13:07] intendedacceleration: hello, how are you
[13:07] Mr. AI 5447: Hello
[13:08] intendedacceleration: I'm sure busy goes without saying
[13:08] intendedacceleration: Were you able to address any of my questions from yesterday?
[13:15] intendedacceleration: I'm sorry, did I lose you?


:throw:

[Jae]

Everyone cancel so I can get my order sooner!! Thanks.

[epii]

I guess Russian isn't, either... :)

Bulgarians speak Bulgarian, then Turkish, then others. .

[under9hell]

this is their address :D

"A.I.Computers"
Адрес: София, кв. , ул.
ДН: 2220118285, БУЛСТАТ: 130363617 МОЛ: asdas asdasd
БАНКОВА СМЕТКА: asd as das da dad
Банков код: asd as da sd ads
Tелефони: (02) xxx xx xx (02) xxx xx xx (088) xxx xx xx

[AJ]

When AIPCS ran their scam last fall, they took payment in money orders and personal checks. Just be glad you guys have banks and credit cards standing behind you! You have a safety net. Everyone who lost their money last fall didn't. Just keep your fingers crossed you will get your money back, and that Apex can at least facilitate a clean refund of your guys money!

Sorry to see this happen, but good luck everyone.

[Marka]

The site has nothing of interest. The contact info is just a message post type deal, they don't even give you an e-mail address. By the way, it seems that the little problem of people's info being accessible has been resolved

[quantumburnz]

That's some good news at least.

[lurch70]

Well looks like they just cancelled my account as I can no longer log in. I requested this ... and it is finally done. My card was not charged , so looks like a clean break for me.

[Jae]

Well looks like they just cancelled my account as I can no longer log in. I requested this ... and it is finally done. My card was not charged , so looks like a clean break for me.

GREAT! I just move one more peg higher to getting my computer. Anyone else want to bail??

:dead:

[Marka]

Jae what's your bug? Why are you acting like an ass?

[Jae]

Jae what's your bug? Why are you acting like an ass?

I just feel people need to SH*T or get off the pot. If you don't like the deal cancel your order! That way I get mine sooner.

[ammo_collector]

They just fixed the account lookup bug. Now you must login to see youraccount and you cannot simply change the querystring to see other accounts.

[Marka]

Most of us would sh*t, but the problem is we don't have a computer to do so in. Get off the pot on the other hand is not a problem for some, but for those that were charged and need to lose time dealing with it, it is. Also I personally don't give a rat's ass about the comp anymore but I am pissed off about the week's time AI cost me, I purchased the comp for professional use. And just by the way, have you heard anyone say that they got their comp? So what makes you think that our cancelling will make you get yours faster? No one ahead of you or behind you in line has gotten anything from these guys.

I guess it's just easy to insult people anonymously.

[Jae]

Most of us would sh*t, but the problem is we don't have a computer to do so in. Get off the pot on the other hand is not a problem for some, but for those that were charged and need to lose time dealing with it, it is. Also I personally don't give a rat's ass about the comp anymore but I am pissed off about the week's time AI cost me, I purchased the comp for professional use. And just by the way, have you heard anyone say that they got their comp? So what makes you think that our cancelling will make you get yours faster? No one ahead of you or behind you in line has gotten anything from these guys.

I guess it's just easy to insult people anonymously.

Yes it is easy to insult people anonymously! But that is not my point! My point is if you don't like the deal and game of waiting just cancel your order. AI seems happy to that! All I know is I cancel my order and all you guys get a computer a month from now I am going to be pissed off!!

I will try and be nice!

[Marka]

Did you see my earlier post about the kind of system I put together and how much I paid for it? In a month from now you could probably do it yourself for the same ammount.

[Jax67]

Well, I have a new credit card coming to me. Not sure if AI even got my request to cancel the order. No matter now. The one I used at AI has now been closed for good. I'm still a litlte upset that a lot of us had to go through the process of closing are accounts. Extra "unnecessary" work.

But, I do feel better knowing I no longer have to worry about if I was going to get a computer or, most likely, wasn't.

The good news out of all this is Jae will be getting his computer a little quicker now.

I'm still going to monitor the group to see how this all pans out.

Good luck everybody !!!

BTW, anybody want my $5.00 AI Credit :)

[Jae]

Did you see my earlier post about the kind of system I put together and how much I paid for it? In a month from now you could probably do it yourself for the same ammount.

True! Just watch the prices on the internet and cancel your order if this becomes a bad deal for you. That's all you can do.

[PhansWorld]

hehe.. Sure, I'll take your $5.00 but I guess it will take us four months or so to transfer it to my account!

LOL...

[Jae]

Well, I have a new credit card coming to me. Not sure if AI even got my request to cancel the order. No matter now. The one I used at AI has now been closed for good. I'm still a litlte upset that a lot of us had to go through the process of closing are accounts. Extra "unnecessary" work.

But, I do feel better knowing I no longer have to worry about if I was going to get a computer or, most likely, wasn't.

The good news out of all this is Jae will be getting his computer a little quicker now.

I'm still going to monitor the group to see how this all pans out.

Good luck everybody !!!

BTW, anybody want my $5.00 AI Credit :)

You will be laughing at me in the end when I don't get my computer and they charge me for nothing! I am a gambling type person. You sound like a smart person. Good luck to you,

[Jax67]

You will be laughing at me in the end when I don't get my computer and they charge me for nothing! I am a gambling type person. You sound like a smart person. Good luck to you,

Jae, I'd never laugh at you. This is a serious problem, and there are a lot of people worried, and I honestly hope nobody gets screwed on this deal.

Take care!

[Apex]

Yes, the security hole is plugged. I'm working on the emails now, one by one.

Just an FYI on where I'm at.

[DarkFury]

The good news out of all this is Jae will be getting his computer a little quicker now.

Heh... did he also switch over to Geico for cheaper insurance? :D

[Marka]

I can no longer see my order this is what Mozilla Firefox puts out instead:

Error Occurred While Processing Request
Error Diagnostic Information
An error occurred while evaluating the expression:
discount = ORDER_DETAILS.discount
Error near line 341, column 7.
Error resolving parameter ORDER_DETAILS.DISCOUNT
The column DISCOUNT is not present in the query named ORDER_DETAILS. It is likely that you have misspelled the name of the column.
The error occurred while processing an element with a general identifier of (CFSET), occupying document position (341:1) to (341:41).
Date/Time: 05/13/04 13:19:04
Browser: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.6) Gecko/20040206 Firefox/0.8
Remote Address: 209.73.207.228
HTTP Referrer: http://www.aicomputers.com/myaccount.cfm?page=orders
Query String: page=orders&do=Edit&orderid=3831

Does this mean anything to anyone? I have a sneaking suspicion that either AI prices are about to change or they'r eabout to cancel all orders

[gwells]

so... gabe, would sending an email to AI and you actually help expedite my order? i sent an email to them (without a cc to you) the day after making an order, but... unsurprisingly, i haven't gotten any reply.

[beo]

I can no longer see my order this is what Mozilla Firefox puts out instead:

Error Occurred While Processing Request
Error Diagnostic Information
An error occurred while evaluating the expression:
discount = ORDER_DETAILS.discount
Error near line 341, column 7.
Error resolving parameter ORDER_DETAILS.DISCOUNT
The column DISCOUNT is not present in the query named ORDER_DETAILS. It is likely that you have misspelled the name of the column.
The error occurred while processing an element with a general identifier of (CFSET), occupying document position (341:1) to (341:41).
Date/Time: 05/13/04 13:19:04
Browser: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.6) Gecko/20040206 Firefox/0.8
Remote Address: 209.73.207.228
HTTP Referrer: http://www.aicomputers.com/myaccount.cfm?page=orders
Query String: page=orders&do=Edit&orderid=3831

Does this mean anything to anyone? I have a sneaking suspicion that either AI prices are about to change or they'r eabout to cancel all orders
That's what happens when they've been cancelled. Mine is showing that as well. In a month, I'll get the same machine, but with a socket939 processor, and an x800pro for about the same money. And it will come from Newegg or Mwave - not AI Computers.

[Marka]

So mine has been cancelled? Interesting. Actually I'm happy about it, but what an unclimactic ending. I was kind of hoping for them to offer me 2 gigs of RAM to appease me, but I'll take the cancellation any day.

[Apex]

so... gabe, would sending an email to AI and you actually help expedite my order? i sent an email to them (without a cc to you) the day after making an order, but... unsurprisingly, i haven't gotten any reply.

Well, what I'm doing is just making sure people are getting a reply. I'm facilitating the communication.

[Marka]

Gabe, any idea about what's going on?

[beo]

So mine has been cancelled? Interesting. Actually I'm happy about it, but what an unclimactic ending. I was kind of hoping for them to offer me 2 gigs of RAM to appease me, but I'll take the cancellation any day.
LOL, 2GB of memory huh? Gee, in my wildest dreams I just wanted an email response saying that they ack'd my cancelation. I shot way lower than you, and I'm still disappointed - no email yet. Hehehehehe.... :happy:

[Marka]

What can I say, I b*ch and moan, but I'm still oportunistic at heart.

Besides, if that really does mean that my order got cancelled then I'm feeling this strange euphoria, and elation.

[Ravendas]

I'm unable to log in to my account at all now. I haven't cancelled.
:eek3:

Apex? Any word on a physical address?

-Rav

[Apex]

Rav: Email me your info.

Physical address is 155b Farmingdale.

Marka: did you cancel?

[Lodz]

And be wary if they tell you:
4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey
Under the stairs.

[Lodz]

APEX,

I believe that a couple people went out to that address and nobody was there. So Rav was looking for a legitimate address, not the one that's listed for contact.

[Marka]

No Gabe, I did not cancell, but at this point I don't want it anymore.

[intendedacceleration]

I can no longer see my order this is what Mozilla Firefox puts out instead:

Error Occurred While Processing Request
Error Diagnostic Information
An error occurred while evaluating the expression:
discount = ORDER_DETAILS.discount
Error near line 341, column 7.
Error resolving parameter ORDER_DETAILS.DISCOUNT
The column DISCOUNT is not present in the query named ORDER_DETAILS. It is likely that you have misspelled the name of the column.
The error occurred while processing an element with a general identifier of (CFSET), occupying document position (341:1) to (341:41).
Date/Time: 05/13/04 13:19:04
Browser: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.6) Gecko/20040206 Firefox/0.8
Remote Address: 209.73.207.228
HTTP Referrer: http://www.aicomputers.com/myaccount.cfm?page=orders
Query String: page=orders&do=Edit&orderid=3831

Does this mean anything to anyone? I have a sneaking suspicion that either AI prices are about to change or they'r eabout to cancel all orders


I am getting the same error here too. I also have not cancelled. I can still login to my account though, for now at least.

[sdawg]

I started seeing this error at around the same time they fixed that bug with the order number security...

so maybe they just broke something else?

[Priest]

Although I rarely post here, I have been a member since 2000 (that should count for something :) ). I have no comments regarding this alleged deal or the validity of AI. I can however speak to the issue of CC disputes. The common theme here seems to be "just let the CC company sort it out and take the loss".

You people need to realize that CC companies rarely, if ever, take a loss on personal accounts. Any financial hit they incur is eventually passed along to the consumer (higher interest rates, increased late payment charges, and so on). Although you may never realize the full impact of a disputed $700 charge, you do pay for it in the end.

CC companies pay a significant amount insuring themselves against fraudulent charges. This insurance is financed by you, the consumer. Although it may seem tempting to use the "free" fraud protection your card provides, just remember that the protection is not totally free.

[Burzhui]

Anyone visit www.aicomputers.bg ?

I speak a few languages; unfortuanately, Bulgarian is not one of them. Maybe we'd have better luck at the physical address in Bulgaria? Anyone willing to make that trip?

EDIT - email is [email protected]
address is 38 Dondukov blvd., Sofia
Phone: +359 2 9808751
Tech: [email protected] +359 88 8788497
Maybe THEIR phone lines are up.....


i speak russian and i understand bulgarian and from what i read it's the same company

[MASTERPL]

now thats scary. Do we need to contact Interpol. lol J'k of course.

[beo]

And be wary if they tell you:
4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey
Under the stairs.
LOL... or on Diagon Alley. Maybe their physical location is like Brigadoon - it only appears once every 100 years...


I started seeing this error at around the same time they fixed that bug with the order number security...

so maybe they just broke something else?
Rats. When I saw that I thought maybe they'd received my cancellation notice. Figures. By the way Apex, I did cancel. At least, I tried to.

[thaxi]

FWIW I got my Stage 3 email at noon today (PST) and at the time I was able to view my details on the website. Now I get the same error as the one mentioned. My credit card has been charged.

Order # 404x

Does this mean the order got cancelled? I did not send any email asking it to be cancelled. I am willing to wait another 30 days (my credit card billing cycle will include this charge in the next bill coming up on the 18th of this month) to see if the unit ships.

Thanks to Gabe for all he is doing. I had initially emailed him at the time of purchase (27th April) and he was very re-assuring.

[mft4]

hey guys (this goes to apex also) anyone know anything about the warranty. When I bought my notebook, it says it comes with a 2 year standard warranty. However I needed more. SO I picked the option for 3 years. Now I have no idea if that means I have 3 years or 5 years (Reason why I am confused was because you could purchase a 2 year warranty for around 250 bucks... why would I purchase it, if it were free). I've emailed AI computers 4 times about this, and I've received only one response and it did NOT answer my question. ANyone know? Apex if you could ask them yourself it would be greatly aprpeciated, as I'm sure I'm not the only one unclear on this.

[sdawg]

hey guys (this goes to apex also) anyone know anything about the warranty. When I bought my notebook, it says it comes with a 2 year standard warranty. However I needed more. SO I picked the option for 3 years. Now I have no idea if that means I have 3 years or 5 years (Reason why I am confused was because you could purchase a 2 year warranty for around 250 bucks... why would I purchase it, if it were free). I've emailed AI computers 4 times about this, and I've received only one response and it did NOT answer my question. ANyone know? Apex if you could ask them yourself it would be greatly aprpeciated, as I'm sure I'm not the only one unclear on this.

yeah - to compound the confusion, under AI 375, it says:

">WARRANTY - **2 YR WARRANTY STANDARD ON ALL SYSTEMS
Additional 2-Year Warranty [+179]
Additional 3-Year Warranty [+249]
1 Year Standard Warranty "

Where 1 year is checked off by default. So maybe for Notebooks its only 1 year free....who knows...

I ICQed that dude about it, and he didnt really know what I was talking about ...I have a feeling that warranty is bs. That said, I tried to cancel the extra 2 years, and he said it couldn't be done.

[kksf00]

hi apex -

Any info on the questions yesterday? Have you been in contact with AI? Do they understand the amount of negative press that they have been getting?

Any info would be great.

Thanks

[billr]

Now I have no idea if that means I have 3 years or 5 years

Most of us have no idea if we'll be getting a PC, must less a warranty that comes with it. If I were you, I'd just conentrate on getting what you ordered. Odds are, AI is going to take the money and run. At least that's what it's looking like.


I've emailed AI computers 4 times about this, and I've received only one response and it did NOT answer my question.

You got them to answer an email?!? What did you do to accomplish that?! Let us know so that we can get some basic customer service as well! As far as I can tell, you can send two dozen emails and get NO replies, helpful or otherwise...

[Jax67]

That's what happens when they've been cancelled. Mine is showing that as well. In a month, I'll get the same machine, but with a socket939 processor, and an x800pro for about the same money. And it will come from Newegg or Mwave - not AI Computers.

The status of my Cancelled order now says OLD. I get the other error messages like everybody else. I had sent a cancellation notice to AI and Apex this morning. Thank you Apex.

[Burzhui]

what's wrong with you people... no one knows wether you will get those systems and you're worried about warranty?

I am also getting the same error as everyone else... what's going on :confused:

[mft4]

what's wrong with you people... no one knows wether you will get those systems and you're worried about warranty?



well I have the time to wait 30 days. I'd prefer not to, but I have the option since I don't need a lptop until August. So I mgiht as well answer other questions. And who cares what my concerns are? I don't need to complain like all the other 100 people on this topic (you guys do have the right, but it is accomplishing nothing, right?)

[ApltnHkyMutt]

They are so unordganized that a normal order that i put in for a stupid computer fan last week is still in "new". Wonder howlong its going to take to ship that out?

[Lodz]

I don't need to complain like all the other 100 people on this topic (you guys do have the right, but it is accomplishing nothing, right?)

Arrg, I want to call you a moron, but I'll refrain. Maybe you just haven't read through all the posts. People are using the only communication that has proven at all effective in contacting these cons. If not for the people complaining, do you think we'd be any better informed? Well, we haven't gained much, but at least some people have been able to cancel and our personal information is no longer available to the world. And maybe AI will see that if they try to take our money and not give us our product, they'll encounter some hefty opposition.

Now, if those idiots could just update their website to explain the real situation, maybe we'd really be getting somewhere.

[bradpitt]

Error Diagnostic Information

An error occurred while evaluating the expression:

discount = ORDER_DETAILS.discount

Error near line 341, column 7.

Error resolving parameter ORDER_DETAILS.DISCOUNT

The column DISCOUNT is not present in the query named ORDER_DETAILS. It is likely that you have misspelled the name of the column.

OOOOOOOOOF .... so in they database with all our orders... the DELETED the discount column!!!!!!!!!! either that or they did something funky with the tables! or they messed with the database queries ... i dont know which... but with all the shadiness already .. i would have to say the first one but it could be the last one .. i just hope they dont charge my CC more

or maybe i'm just over paranoid... but thats what that error message means

[billr]

OOOOOOOOOF .... so in the database with all our orders... the DELETED the discount column!!!!!!!!!! either that or they did something funky with the tables! or they messed with the database queries ... i dont know which... but with all the shadiness already .. i would have to say the first one but it could be the last one .. i just hope they dont charge my CC more

or maybe i'm just over paranoid... but thats what that error message means

They probably misspelled the column name in the SQL query in the cold fusion pages. Likely, they were updating the site to fix the security hole and fat fingered something. I hope they have more QA in the system building than on their web site (even though they may not have built that site, and might be editing someone else's code, the most basic test to see if their fix worked -- reloading a page -- would show them that they have an error).

I admit that my mind has been wandering in and out of Tinfoil Hat Land lately, but let's not go blackboxing their web site for clues as to what will happen to our credit cards.

[sdawg]

just thought i'd lighten the mood:

"Our Mission
Our mission is to continue to manufacturer the most powerful PCs in the world. We will always strive to be leaders in every area of our industry. Our customer service will be surpassed by none, period. a.i - artificial intelligence, inc. does everything in our power to maintain our high level of customer satisfaction. Our customer loyalty will be surpassed by none. Most importantly, we create the fastest and most reliable PCs in the market, utilizing only the highest standards of components. We maintain our elite standards by our professional work environment. We generously reward dedication, and complete commitment to the mission of the company and more importantly, you the consumer."

hahahahaha

[bradpitt]

They probably misspelled the column name in the SQL query in the cold fusion pages. Likely, they were updating the site to fix the security hole and fat fingered something. I hope they have more QA in the system building than on their web site (even though they may not have built that site, and might be editing someone else's code, the most basic test to see if their fix worked -- reloading a page -- would show them that they have an error).

I admit that my mind has been wandering in and out of Tinfoil Hat Land lately, but let's not go blackboxing their web site for clues as to what will happen to our credit cards.

lol yeah but how can you misspell discount ... i mean it could be possible that they messed up a query somewhere ... but i mean isn't it coincidental that the discount field was messed up when all of us used a 50% coupon? trying to get thier money back?

LOL oooof i hope i start a riot and a lot of people cancel thier orders so my brother will be next in line :-P

[Xarthan]

maybe the query is suppose to be DISCOUNT or Discount or someone messed up with the caps.

[Apex]

OK, getting emails answered. I'm caught up on my side, ball is now with the rep. Also, for those of you who haven't cancelled, but have problems logging in, please tell me what browser you're using. I'm going to tackle that next.

[bradpitt]

i can log in and everything except check my order, when i check my order i get that error message that i posted earlier... i'm sure EVERYBODY will get that error message since its server side

i'm using mozilla firefox btw but it shouldn't matter

[Jae]

I don't think this address has been posted before. I have seen a few others, but not this one. I received a shipment about 2 weeks before this 50% off coupon deal. The DHL confirmed address on the Way bill is:

AI Services
775 Park Ave.
Huntington, NY 11743

For all you New Yorkers out there go check that address and see if anything is there! I got three boxes from them so I know I know they exist!!

[gremlin190]

Let's beat the walls down if they dont give us our computers :)

[dizzytrain]

Like those who have already been charged, im getting ready for the dispute that is certain to come. I talked at length with my C>C rep today. I will have to fill out the usual forms and get it notarized, but what she said was important was the expected or implied date of shipment. We need some sort of proof that they inplied that they would ship these computers out within a certain time frame. This is where Apex comes in.
We need an official e-mail from Apex stating that their rep. told him the computers would be shipped in 8-10 days, and that he was told to pass it on to us. if we get that from apex our disputes should go fine, so Apex we need this from you. Also they pointed out to me that they have no detailed address or phone for A>I which is strange, so if they track them down it can only be to the bank where they have their merchant account. I also asked her if they would get the money soon enough to flee with it,
She said yes but they can go after their company (big whoop, that company is done with)
Again those of you waiting on this DONT,
Heres some more sketchy behaviour on their part, i ordered two computers each with a different card one was in my sisters name and was for her, well they charged my computer on my sisters card. even though when i ordered my sisters comp. i got a message saying the transaction was not completed because of billing/ shipping address reasons. So they charged my P>C on my sisters card even though on my account info none of her card info or order info is or was available. I Have tried to cancel but , they have already charged for my computer on her card, and i cant get any answer from them on this,
Again DONT WAIT UNTIL YOU GET CHARGED, this is not as easy of a process as you think.

[halfapie]

I canceled my order because i already purchased another computer while I was waiting :)

I CC'd Apex on the cancelation email, and it worked like a charm.
No confirmation email about the cancelation, but my information is wiped from AI's database. So i guess it worked!

Apex gets 5 stars as always for working so hard to make things better for his viewers (who are strangers to him in the first place!)

I feel bad for AI, but since they would've lost money building my machine, I don't feel so bad canceling my order :P

Others who are waiting for the Mobile Gamer, i think it might take a while for the order to go through because I heard that Ideq has a long backlog. Like, it takes 2~4 weeks for somebody to RMA a Ideq unit direct from biostar because they are too popular! :P The delay would be normal for ANY build-to-order company, so expect delays from AI too. (unless it's like Newegg who has tons of those in stock.)

[akaRadar]

I canceled my order because i already purchased another computer while I was waiting :)

I CC'd Apex on the cancelation email, and it worked like a charm.
No confirmation email about the cancelation, but my information is wiped from AI's database. So i guess it worked!

Apex gets 5 stars as always for working so hard to make things better for his viewers (who are strangers to him in the first place!)

I feel bad for AI, but since they would've lost money building my machine, I don't feel so bad canceling my order :P

Others who are waiting for the Mobile Gamer, i think it might take a while for the order to go through because I heard that Ideq has a long backlog. Like, it takes 2~4 weeks for somebody to RMA a Ideq unit direct from biostar because they are too popular! :P The delay would be normal for ANY build-to-order company, so expect delays from AI too. (unless it's like Newegg who has tons of those in stock.)

I canceled my order around 11:15 this morning and cc'd Apex, but I can still access my info and it still says NEW. I do get the 'Error Diagnostic Information' at the bottom of the page. Since I've seen where other people say there info says OLD and others have been 'wiped clean' I don't know if mine got cancelled or not.

[dcbly]

Also, for those of you who haven't cancelled, but have problems logging in, please tell me what browser you're using. I'm going to tackle that next.


I've tried with IE 5 & 6, no luck


Darren in Bakersfield

[kksf00]

APEX - have you talked to them yet with regards to my concerns? Please note that you were going to get some answers today.

What does AI think about all the cancellations? Why are they still so QUIET? are you still standing by this deal?

[RoniMan]

well, much thanx to sbp for finding this....

here's something for your reading enjoyment (http://gotapex.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66989)

it's not the exact same situation, but close enuf. 1-4 and 13-16

[Burzhui]

Mr. AI is online right now 2:18 AM

[Apex]

Answers I have received, take them as you will:


Well, I had some questions

- what have they been doing in the last 11 business days? Someone mentioned they had 100 employees. What have they been doing if nobody seems to have anything shipped?

Working.


- have they shipped any orders? If not, why haven't they? if they can't build one in 11 days, what are the odds they can build 3,000 in a decent amount of time?

Yes, they have. Odds, no comment.


- why won't they answer calls? I don't buy the TI installation b/s. no company takes that long to have a T1 line. no company this size that is.

Phones still not installed.


- what exactly is the hold-up? Short of inventory? Do you agree that they are not following best practices if they continue taking orders despite being short of inventory?

Hold up is a number of things including number of orders, number of people changing their orders, etc. I agree, further orders should not be taken, yes.


- why are they charging cards without any indication of when the products will be shipped?

Credit cards are charged at the beginning of the build process.


You can't tell me/forum members that you don't know what's going on? Aren't you in communication with them? Don't you think you should know what's going on? And if you don't know what those answers are - well, please ask them.

Yes, actually I can tell you that. :) I can only tell you what I hear, unfortunately.



hi apex -

Any info on the questions yesterday?

Yes, see above


Have you been in contact with AI? Do they understand the amount of negative press that they have been getting?

They should, because I've told them many many MANY times.

[doughboy]

well, much thanx to sbp for finding this....

here's something for your reading enjoyment (http://gotapex.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66989)

it's not the exact same situation, but close enuf. 1-4 and 13-16

almost, except that you omitted the fact that the deal is legit, people are left wondering what's going on, the rep still promises that the ordered parts are on the way, and finally...people's CCs were charged without receiving the product.

this deal vaguely resembles that one. i think everyone would be fine if...

- the deal got pulled/cancelled & people are sent cancellation notices
- credit cards were not charged
- our billing info weren't on the net

seriously, that billing info would've been a telemarketers dream.

db

[kksf00]

Thanks Apex.

How many orders have they shipped to date? can they post an update on the website showing when they will get to the orders?

If you were in my shoes, given all that uncertainty and all the credit card issues that has been going on, will you cancel your order?

[dizzytrain]

Apex, how can he say cards are charged at the begining of the build process? They are charged at Stage 3. Which according to their own sites explanation is when the PC is already built. My PC was in stage three last thursday, i have e-mailed them so many times since this started and not a single responce. Did they give you a physical address?
THE ONE YOU KEEP GIVING US IS PROVEN TO BE FALSE
Can you please tell them not to charge anymore cards if they excpect it to take a month for those pc's to be built, can you tell them to send those who have been charged an e-mail with a ship estimate allowing us to either stay with it or opt out, and get our cards credited. This was not that great a deal for them, why are they not letting those of us who have been charged get our money back? Should i email them and you with both my account name and the name i use on this message board, since that seems like the only way anyone is getting answers from them.

[bradpitt]

ok i just talked to the ai rep on ICQ and he said that a "few hundred shipped for sure" ... so if your computer was shipped please post so everybody can calm down.

but of course he could be lying, since i checked orders before mine and there were only 13 that used the coupon! how could a few hundred be shipped and i am #13... unless the skipped me... which makes me sad but he's probably buying time. i dont know all i know is i'm gonna have to cancel next weekend if i dont get mine, bleh

[dizzytrain]

I was number 36xx, and got my stage three on thurs.
i believe that is very close to you right Bradpitt
did he say that those which have shipped show a change in status?
God i cant believe i still care what this guy says he is already a verified lier

[bradpitt]

lol why dont you ask him right now? you can talk to him through AIM if you have AIM, just type in his number for his screen name, i think you need the newer AIM for this.

[billr]

They should, because I've told them many many MANY times.

Can you get them to TALK TO THEIR GODDAM CUSTOMERS?!? Doesn't it strike you as weird that they only talk to you, Gabe? Why can't they talk to people they are in business with? WHY?!? What do they have to hide? What is so strange about the people that buy from them that AI won't talk? They seem able to take orders, and charge credit cards. Yet they only talk to a select few.... Odd.

AI Computers is a scam. They are out to bilk and defraud would-be customers. Nothing more.

My refi is looming, and I'm going to cancel. I've sent them four emails practically begging them to take my money and they don't answer. I've emailed Gabe on two of those, with no reply from AI. I figure I'll get worse service if I were to get either of my orders. This is a done deal.

Sorry, Gabe. I'm going to cancel my orders. I know you tried, but AI is just too fscked up to deal with. AI isn't a company *anyone* could recommend.

[DankNstickY]

geez... i bet Apex SOOOO wishes he didnt run this site right now :hihi:

hang in there... it'll all be over. someday.

[Marka]

Gabe, I want to send AI an e-mail to cancell the order, what e-mail adress do I CC it to so that you get it as well?

[dizzytrain]

well its a long one....
ok just talked to him for a while, he seemed like he did not know what i was talking about half the time (hard to explain things over icq), and was seemingly confused about my problem with them charging the wrong card. he declared that the physical address that Apex is placing on the board is accurate despite what we have heard,
he claims ive been saying things about them that are not true, (ive been speculating, which was all i could do) i dont think he liked my calling him liar, i told him either hes lieing or the site is, he said whats on the site is just meant as a directive so neither he nor the site are lying.
he seemed upset at me for posting here, i asked for my order to be canceled, when he told me if everything goes right i will still have a few weeks to wait.
I could not get him to say my order would be cancled, he said that can only be done through e-mails, i told him i tried i get no responce. he said i should have gotten a responce. he said he cant check if the right card was charged cause i removed my account info, he says i should not have done that since all that was there was already open to the public. i then told him that i wanted to cancel again, and how soon my card would be charged back, he did not answer. i then asked him if i could be sent a receipt via e-mail that i have cancled, he did not answer to that specificly. He told me that he was not getting paid to be talking with me, implying that i should be grateful,
I gehuinely think that they just may not get that the onious is on them to show that they are legit.
It seems that they are offended when you ask natural questions, considering what has been going on.
Anyways,
it could have gone worst, everything would work out fine if they would just accept my cancelation via e-mail and send me a receipt that states my card will be charged back, if that happens, i dont think there is any scam going on here. if cards get charged back, that would be a clear indication of good will.
but if they continue to ignore my requests i dont know what to think. Apex can you help me get my cancelation request to them and get them to reply? thanks, gosh im so sick of this
just recredit the account already, i work at a business it takes 30 seconds to do

[Apex]

Again, caught up with emails that you guys have sent me.

1:35am Friday 5/14.

[dizzytrain]

The fact that you are still on this apex is a testiment to your genuine concern for those who frequent your site, thanks for the reading of e-mails

[blivius]

Thanks again Apex for helping everyone out on this! You are the MAN!

[ThinkBling]

Has anybody moved past stage 3? Is [email protected] the correct address to email too?

[faither]

AI isn't a company *anyone* could recommend.

Me guesses I shouldn't wear one of my two AI Computer beefy-t's to the next Got|Apex gathering. Don't want to provide unnecessary advertising for these cats.

If anyone is interested, I'll take offers for the one that's yet to be worn. You can burn it in effigy.

[knimbleknight]

This was not that great a deal for them, why are they not letting those of us who have been charged get our money back?

Not a great deal? - collecting $1000 or so for a computer that you never have to ship - I'd take that profit margin anytime.

The thing I find kind of amazing is how some people seem to be comforted by those Q&A's with "Mr. AI". Aside from the fact that he dances around most of the questions, the guy barely seems to have a grasp of the English language. Apex - have you actually spoken to these guys on the phone, or have all your communications been online?

[Bidhere23]

Guys,
Don't forget to rate them (badly) so they never have another customer again. Drive down that number to ZERO.

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller6310-p2-s1-d1.html

[eisman]

I am one of the poor misguided fools that used a debit card for this deal. I normally use my Amex Blue for online purchases, for just this reason, but AI didn't take Amex. But, I figured this had to be legit if apex was posting it, I have bad impules control when I see deals here.

Luckly I wasn't charged yet. I've submitted my cancellation request via email, with no response (surprised?). I went so far as to cancel my debit card and get a new one reissued. Now I don't have ready access to that account for my vacation this weekend. I'll definatly keep my bank cards in a room away from my computer from now on, and be a bit more careful on which 'deal' I get in on.

Sorry to post the same story as everyone else, I just wanted to be on record if this ever get's ugly. Apex, thanks for sticking this out, I believe you were duped like the rest of us.

/me hugs Reseller Ratings (http://www.resellerratings.com/) and promises to remember to consult you before all big purchases.

Jason

[SteelheadBob]

Just a few things to consider. First so you don't think I am blowing hot air I am 39 years old and have owned two businesses and when I sold the second I retired.I am not bragging just giving you the facts. The second business was involved with mobile computers and specific applications that I can not discuss. Now to my points.
1. I never sold anything below what I paid for it.
2. I never promised more than I could deliver.
3. My customers could always reach me even if I had to be called at home.
4. When we changed the office to T1 the old phone lines stayed on. They had nothing to do with my computer lines.
5. Even when I had a home office there was an address where I could reicieve mail.
6. If there was a problem I bent over backwards to keep in touch with my customers untill it was resolved.
7. I never let some one else take any blame or run interfearence for me. It was my problem not thiers.

[dizzytrain]

Apex i have e-mailed you a few times with my cancelation request asking you to perhaps forward it to AI, have you got any of these e-mails? i ve been emailing through the link on your username, is there another e-mail i should use?

[billr]

Me guesses I shouldn't wear one of my two AI Computer beefy-t's to the next Got|Apex gathering. Don't want to provide unnecessary advertising for these cats.

That might be slightly dangerous. Unless the gathering has at least a few people who've received an order from AI who can watch your back. But you might as well hope to have the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny behind you, because you'll probably have a hard time finding a satisfied AI Computers customer.

You're as likely to see the heat death of the universe as the UPS guy with a box from AI.

[dizzytrain]

should note that when i was on isq with their rep. I told him i did not want to wait a month to have my P>C shipped out, and that i need ample time to dispute the charges if need be, he told me i should not worry about disputing the charges cause i have 6 months to do so. When i told him i wanted to cancel again, he said i should not since i have 6 months to dispute the charges.. Thats odd cause the lady at my cc said i have to dispute the charge in the ifrst 60 days? do they think it is fine to ask your customers to hang on and dispute the charges over a month from now?
If they would just credit us back on our Credit cards we would all just shutup about this being fraud,

[dizzytrain]

AI I know You read this board, you told that much on ICQ Yesterday
thanks for spending time on icq , i wish to cancel my order please send me a receipt that you have canceled my order and are going to recredit my card, if my card is recredited it will show your good will, and go a long way in easing my mind and those who are giving you the time you say you need.

[Lodz]

Has anybody moved past stage 3?

HAHAHA... Past Stage 3. That's a good one... hahaha.

The AI Computers business strategy:
Stage 1: Collect Underpants (or CC info)
Stage 2: ?
Stage 3: Profit!

[quantumburnz]

Well, this is interesting... I'm in stage-3, went there 2 days ago, but I still haven't been charged yet. The website is still kinda down, so they don't know how much to charge me, but I don't see anything on there...

I'm still hangin in there. I didn't expect it to come until today in the first place. *Fingers crossed*

[beo]

Well, this is interesting... I'm in stage-3, went there 2 days ago, but I still haven't been charged yet. The website is still kinda down, so they don't know how much to charge me, but I don't see anything on there...

I'm still hangin in there. I didn't expect it to come until today in the first place. *Fingers crossed*
:nuts: :lmfao:

[quantumburnz]

optimism goes a long way :)

[dizzytrain]

hey guys if you want to talk directly to AI do so through this board, i know they read it fully, mr AI even knew me by my username,

[Ravendas]

According to the state of NY, only one active business is registered under the name artificial intelligence, inc.

NY state record for artificial intelligence, inc. (http://appsext5.dos.state.ny.us/corp_public/display_entity?p_nameid=1367710&p_corpid=1256061&p_name_type=%&p_search_type=BEGINS&p_request=1&p_entity_name=ARTIFICIAL%20INTELLIGENCE,%20INC.&p_entity_name_input=ARTIFICIAL%20INTELLIGENCE,%20INC.) - got the business name from the website (http://www.aicomputers.com/info.cfm?page=contact.html)

[update] Record for AIPCS (http://appsext5.dos.state.ny.us/corp_public/display_entity?p_nameid=2821292&p_corpid=2817091&p_name_type=%&p_search_type=BEGINS&p_request=1&p_entity_name=AIPCS%20SYSTEMS%20TECHNOLOGIES,%20INC.&p_entity_name_input=AIPCS) - and that's the address given Apex. So, they are claiming a business name on their website that's not their actual registered business name????

No idea how accurate it is, but corps MUST be registered with the state in order to conduct business. Note that the address is totally different than the one given Apex. So... who's in NY again? :D

-Rav

-Note - All information in this post is publically available.

[dizzytrain]

just cleared up an issue with my cc company, You have 60 days to deny a charge, and the dispute may go on much longer than that
Hear that AI 60 days to deny, if you would like to speak to a representative at my cc i would be happy to provide you with the number

[satish]

- and that's the address given Apex. So, they are claiming a business name on their website that's not their actual registered business name????



To the best of my knowledge, Apex did not provide any address for them. I found it by doing a reverse lookup on www.anywho.com. I am not sure if anyone else found it by other means.

[Ravendas]

To the best of my knowledge, Apex did not provide any address for them. I found it by doing a reverse lookup on www.anywho.com. I am not sure if anyone else found it by other means.
I meant given to Apex, if that wasn't clear. It's pretty obvious Apex isn't in on this if it's a scam, given the amount of work he's done trying to stay on top of it. Go Apex!!

-Rav

[billr]

Well, I'm cancelled on both of my orders. I emailed them Monday telling them that they need to contact me to get a new credit card number, and never got a single reply (Gabe even forwarded one of my emails to them). So, yeah. No deal here.

Gabe, I CC'ed you on both cancellations because... hell, I don't know why. Seemed like a good idea. If you could forward them off to your mysterious contact at AI, I'd dig it.

To the rest of you: Good luck dealing with AI. And I hope your computers (if they somehow magically arrive) work ok. Because if you ever have to contact AI for anything, I think you'll be out of luck...

[pcguy]

It looks to me like they deleted the entire discount column.....correct me if I'm wrong......nothing to do with them rewriting the code....Making orders only viewable by the correct customer shouldn't change any databases you have/discount columns. I happen to be a comp sci major and have done some server-side programming (albeit in java, not what they're using).

I was originally fairly optimistic since it was a legit deal, but I'm starting to get worried. AI, show us something to prove you're not out to scam us....please

[Cubsfan]

It looks to me like they deleted the entire discount column.....correct me if I'm wrong......nothing to do with them rewriting the code....Making orders only viewable by the correct customer shouldn't change any databases you have/discount columns. I happen to be a comp sci major and have done some server-side programming (albeit in java, not what they're using).
I wouldn't automatically assume they deleted the column in the database. As someone else pointed out, if they rewrote their frontend, it'd be very easy to misspell or get the incorrect capitalization on something. In other words, the discount column could be named "DISCOUNT" and they're trying to query for "discount" in a case-sensitive environment.

On the other hand, they could have also deleted the column :)

[rohackle]

i know george w bush has something to do with all this..
so does jimmy hoffa, he changed the coding..
our computers are being used by the baathists to hide wmd...
wheres-waldo is putting together all the machines..
The moon is made of green cheese
The earth is flat.
Bigfoot exists

[Ravendas]

satish, did you ever get those pics off your camera?

[stech4u]

i think i'ma give up on this "hot deal"... two months is waaaay tooo long. can someone help me out on how to cancel my order and delete my account from AI db?

TIA.

[Jax67]

i think i'ma give up on this "hot deal"... two months is waaaay tooo long. can someone help me out on how to cancel my order and delete my account from AI db?

TIA.

All I did was change my account info, by removing my name, address, etc. Then, send an email to [email protected] (I think) and to [email protected] I'm assuming with a status of OLD, my order has been cancelled.

Good luck!

[bradpitt]

they are using cold fusion and probably the microsoft data base system or something. and the coulmn was spelled discount. rewriting the code so that other people cant view your orders all you have to do is check if the order number matches with your account! well thats how i would do it. i am a comp sci major also, but i learned databases my self ( cant wait 3 years until i take the classes )

but i will still wait one more week so they can clean up thier act! if ai is reading this make it happen, and when i get mine i'll post and everybody can calm down! hurry! my order number is low 370X... go go go

[Burzhui]

i know george w bush has something to do with all this..
so does jimmy hoffa, he changed the coding..
our computers are being used by the baathists to hide wmd...
wheres-waldo is putting together all the machines..
The moon is made of green cheese
The earth is flat.
Bigfoot exists


and the terrorists have won

[Jaxidian]

I gave up - taking too long and it's no longer a hot deal if I get the system in a month, much less 2 months.

Could somebody please post how the charge appeared on their credit card? I'd like to have this information to give to my credit card company so they can ensure that the charge is not authorized.

Thanks!

[beo]

All I did was change my account info, by removing my name, address, etc. Then, send an email to [email protected] (I think) and to [email protected] I'm assuming with a status of OLD, my order has been cancelled.

Good luck!
When did you do that? I did it about 24 hours ago, and still no change. Of course, why should I expect them to act that quickly...

[tourbound]

I gave up - taking too long and it's no longer a hot deal if I get the system in a month, much less 2 months.

Could somebody please post how the charge appeared on their credit card? I'd like to have this information to give to my credit card company so they can ensure that the charge is not authorized.

Thanks!

The charge comes in as AI Computers...I'm currently dealing with getting a refund after getting charged and cancelling.

[mr_smooth]

I'm going to hold out till towards the end of the month, until the $200 instant rebate expires, who knows what may happen after the 29th of May, they may charge you the extra 200 bucks after that point due to the deadline. Mine is still a hot deal (I beleive, i priced another at another site and wit was coming in more expensive) so I am willing to hold on a little longer. My CC company has been notified though m we'll see how it goes.

[intendedacceleration]

Well I'm out of this deal guys. Just sent my cancellation email to both AI and apex.

I like to thank Gabe (apex) personally for all his hard work on this, in fact I feel I owe him some compensation for his time. Is there a paypal account I can send a small donation to?

Anyhow good luck to everyone that is still holding out for this deal! :cheers:

[ThinkBling]

Wouldn't it be a real kick in the head if the Free T-shirts where the real cause for the hold up?

[pcguy]

they are using cold fusion and probably the microsoft data base system or something. and the coulmn was spelled discount. rewriting the code so that other people cant view your orders all you have to do is check if the order number matches with your account! well thats how i would do it. i am a comp sci major also, but i learned databases my self ( cant wait 3 years until i take the classes )

but i will still wait one more week so they can clean up thier act! if ai is reading this make it happen, and when i get mine i'll post and everybody can calm down! hurry! my order number is low 370X... go go go

yeah, exactly. That was my thought as well. You wouldn't need to change the code that shows the orders/lists them in order to fix it. You'd just need to add a small section getting the values from the user and the order and making sure that the user is authorized to view that order. The discount column wouldn't need to be changed for that. It strongly seems to me on account of that that they intensionally deleted the column. Sorry I wasn't clearer before.

Yeah, I was lucky in that I didn't come in as a cs major and I came I started off-term taking cs, so I've always been taking a mix of lower and upper level courses since I wouldn't be able to take some of the lower level ones that I needed as requisites being that they weren't offered the terms I needed if I wanted to take things sequentially. It's been working out pretty well.

[PhansWorld]

Did anyone get charged for the pc and then canceled the order and then recieved a refund from AI?

Curious to know...

BTW... They charged my visa card and I ended up (like most of you) canceling the order after the fact. I emailed AI and got no response about canceling my order. So I called my credit card company and asked them what should I do given the circumstances... They asked me two things and then issued me a refund for the computer!!! YahOOO...my cc company ROCKS!

Good luck to the rest regarding getting your PC.... I believe everyone that is still hanging in will get theirs...I actually gave up due to "future support issues" that I probably won't recieve from AI. And if something did go wrong, I'll be sh*t out of luck and manufacturer warranty from the parts would probably be void due to the fact that AI resold the parts to the consumer bundled into a PC. Which means, we the consumer would still be screwed if we had to replace that part! **I gave up after debating awhile** and said not worth it... If I ordered from dell and they gave me a piece of crap, atleast I can argue with them over the "PHONE" and get something done!

kudos to APEX as he helped answer some of my pain in the bootie questions! ehehhe...

[beo]

Well I'm out of this deal guys. Just sent my cancellation email to both AI and apex.

I like to thank Gabe (apex) personally for all his hard work on this, in fact I feel I owe him some compensation for his time. Is there a paypal account I can send a small donation to?

Anyhow good luck to everyone that is still holding out for this deal! :cheers:
I tried to get out too, but still have no idea if anyone received my cancellation notice. Well, okay, I know they received it, but who knows if they acknowledged it? EJECT! EJECT! EJECT!


Did anyone get charged for the pc and then canceled the order and then recieved a refund from AI?

Curious to know...

BTW... They charged my visa card and I ended up (like most of you) canceling the order after the fact. I emailed AI and got no response about canceling my order. So I called my credit card company and asked them what should I do given the circumstances... They asked me two things and then issued me a refund for the computer!!! YahOOO...my cc company ROCKS!

Who's your CC company? Mine's CapitalOne and the said they were launching an investigation and AI had 60 days to respond to the dispute. Meanwhile, I get billed for finance charges that will only be refunded if/when the dispute is settled. Sheesh. "What's in your wallet" my butt.

[PhansWorld]

gosh.. that sucks!

I have a united visa with first usa bank. I stayed on the phone with them (less than 10 minutes). The general customer service transferred me to a specialist.

The specialist asked me what was going on and I told her. I said that the company seems too sketchy and they charged my card without giving me any notices of shipment so I got worried that I was going to get scammed. she asked me how did I try contacting them. I said sent numerous emails called all their listed numbers and no response what so ever! She then asked me when I was suppose to recieve the PC and I said "less than two weeks from now" and she said okay. I'll issue a refund and won't get charged finances for the item. The refund will be on the next bill cycle.

And that was it. She was super nice and helpful! Didn't have to jump through any hoops what so ever!!!

[Apex]

I'm working on the emails from today. Unfortunately, may people seem to have sent multiple emails, making my work much harder. :(

Folks, please. Send one email. I will follow up with them. While we have had good luck getting past email concerns answered, I cannot force them to do so. Yes, I will keep on it, as promised.

If you do not hear back from them in, let's say 2 business days, email me again, and I will follow up again. I've received like 6-7 emails from some people in a single day, and while I understand your concern, it's really REALLY not helping the me get this work done for you.

Thank you.

BTW, I will update again when I'm through these emails.

[billr]

I'm working on the emails from today. Unfortunately, may people seem to have sent multiple emails, making my work much harder.

Well thanks in advance for the effort, Gabe. It's a shame the deal fell through.

BTW, I sent you two emails. I had two orders with AI, and basically just replied to each order confirmation email, CC'ing you both times. If you're just going by subject lines, they'll look the same.

[Apex]

billr: Yes, saw yours. I spoke to them about it 5/12 at 6:24pm Pacific.

Believe me folks, I am getting your emails and I am doing everything I can on my side, as quickly as humanly possible.

[ammo_collector]

Gabe, just wanted to let you know although I cancelled, because of your efforts to help correct the situation, I will still continue to look to and use www.gotapex.com for deals.

[mft4]

I give up. How do I cancel? I emailed Sales and Apex to cancel? What else should I do? Call them :P

[DarkFury]

I am one of the poor misguided fools that used a debit card for this deal. I normally use my Amex Blue for online purchases, for just this reason, but AI didn't take Amex. But, I figured this had to be legit if apex was posting it, I have bad impules control when I see deals here.

I guess you must've missed one of the earlier posts I put in this thread...

http://www.gotapex.com/forums/showpost.php?p=671146&postcount=38

Sorry to hear that you did that... but glad to hear that it might work itself out.

[DarkFury]

Gabe, just wanted to let you know although I cancelled, because of your efforts to help correct the situation, I will still continue to look to and use www.gotapex.com for deals.

That would be a VERY good idea... Not all deals are as "messed up" as this one is... and for the most part there generally is no risk dealing with "reputable" companies who have goods for sale.

However the WARNING SIGNS were already there and folks just turned a blind eye to them when slapped upside the head with a "50% off retail" coupon...

Caveat Emptor is the golden rule when folks come out and try to tell you "hey... be careful with that company", not to mention that thhis month's Maximum PC had a "Watchdog report" which more or less put the "shame on you" finger on AI computers.

Yes, I trust that Apex is doing the best for all of G|A's veiwers/members... however sometimes, you gotta look out for your self... and not go over the cliff like a bunch of lemmings...

All in all... was a $200 savings REALLY worth the potential (and now actual) aggravation? Personally it wasn't to me, hence I stayed away from it.

[beo]

...Yes, I trust that Apex is doing the best for all of G|A's veiwers/members... however sometimes, you gotta look out for your self... and not go over the cliff like a bunch of lemmings...

All in all... was a $200 savings REALLY worth the potential (and now actual) aggravation? Personally it wasn't to me, hence I stayed away from it.After the fact "told-you-so's" aren't really useful at this point, are they DF? Of course I'd feel better if I wasn't involved in credit disputes, but I don't know if I'd gloat about it.

[DarkFury]

After the fact "told-you-so's" aren't really useful at this point, are they DF? Of course I'd feel better if I wasn't involved in credit disputes, but I don't know if I'd gloat about it.
Would a "Before the fact" told you so.. made you feel any better? :hmm: Guess not huh? :shrug:

Either way... now that folks have resolved that this deal is pretty sour... why not get out while you still can... or just stop fussin' about it and bothering Apex on it with more e-mails then he can shake a stick at.

One way or another it's gotta end... the facts are right there in front of you, either stay with it and deal, or get out and be done with it. Pretty much those are your only options at this point... at least that is how I'm personally seeing it (but hey... that's just my opinion. Take it for whatever it is (or isn't) worth to ya. :D

Have a nice G|A day. :wavey:

[Burzhui]

Ok this is where we stand. From the something like 3 years i've been on this site i learned a couple of things that with every deal you take risks.. wether it be a lost rebate, or a price mistake that will later be charged to your CC.

SO in either case i knew perfectly damn well that things can go wrong with this deal as well, everyone was plenty warned. Stop your b1tching and moaning. If any of you actually go through on Gabe's offer to pay for your losses if your CC does not then i'd suggest that you don't show your face on these boards ever again. The man is going through hell, losing revenue because he can be looking for new deals.

When 1 deal goes bad out of a thousand... and still it was not gabes fault, you have no right to complain about him.

[Jax67]

Either way... now that folks have resolved that this deal is pretty sour... why not get out while you still can... or just stop fussin' about it and bothering Apex on it with more e-mails then he can shake a stick at.


I think people might stop fussing if they would get a confirmation email that their order has been cancelled or it will be shipped. And we all know this isn't going to happen anytime soon. Apex is doing all he can. But I'm not sure what he can do; sure he's reading emails and then what? Forwarding them to the rep? How is he handling the cancels? What steps Apex are you taking? When I sent my email to cancel my order, I didn't get a confirmation email that it was cancelled. I had to go back to the AI site to see the status was OLD. I'm not even sure that means cancelled.

Nobody is going to be comfortable until they get an email addressed to them and which addresses the issue(s) at hand. Now, until this happens, people are going to be concerned and I totally understand. I've been there. :dead:

For those that used a credit card, the best thing you can do is call your company and get a new number issued to you. Then, if AI does try to put a charge through, it won't authorize and they'll move on to the next order. Don't wait people. Act now before they put the charge on your card; you'll be glad you did.

[Jax67]

When 1 deal goes bad out of a thousand... and still it was not gabes fault, you have no right to complain about him.

I'm pretty sure MOST people are not complaining about Gabe. His site has been a source of many great deals for me over the years and he's a stand up guy. That is pretty obvious with his kind offer to refund anybody who loses money if things go south quick. That's above and beyond of what is required of him. And I appreciate this kind of support. I would have never taken him up on the offer because he really isn't responsible for the sins of AI. That's why I know I'll continue to visit gotapex.com everyday like I have been for years.

It's the frustration of not knowing what's going on and the feeling of being screwed by AI that has the people venting.

Gabe, thanks for hanging in there. I know most everybody appreciates your hard work and dedication.

[Burzhui]

I'm pretty sure MOST people are not complaining about Gabe. His site has been a source of many great deals for me over the years and he's a stand up guy. That is pretty obvious with his kind offer to refund anybody who loses money if things go south quick. That's above and beyond of what is required of him. And I appreciate this kind of support. I would have never taken him up on the offer because he really isn't responsible for the sins of AI. That's why I know I'll continue to visit gotapex.com everyday like I have been for years.

It's the frustration of not knowing what's going on and the feeling of being screwed by AI that has the people venting.

Gabe, thanks for hanging in there. I know most everybody appreciates your hard work and dedication.


All i'm saying is that no matter how sour this deal goes i really don't want to hear about anyone taking Gabe up on his offer. Although i know that if he said he'll cover it with his own money then he will cover it.


Much love gabe! You are the man!

[beo]

Gabe, thanks for hanging in there. I know most everybody appreciates your hard work and dedication.
Ditto.

[Jax67]

All i'm saying is that no matter how sour this deal goes i really don't want to hear about anyone taking Gabe up on his offer. Although i know that if he said he'll cover it with his own money then he will cover it.!

Amen.

Please people, take what ever precautions you can now to ensure Gabe doesn't lose out more than he already has. Time is money.