Don't buy from Monarch Computers

[zirik 0]

I just finished talking with Sterling at Monarch Computer regarding the purchase of a Geforce3 video card two days ago. This man is not very professional. When I mentioned to him that other resellers are pricing the same item for much less he went off on a rampage and started badmouthing other resellers saying that they are fly by night operations offering no tech support to complaining that those resellers are using cut throat pricing followed by expletive words. Last time I checked cut throat pricing is good for consumers. And tech support for a component? Since when did resellers offer tech support for a video card by itself?

 

I contacted Sterling because the price of the item on their website has gone down $25 in a matter of day. I still have not received the video card and asked if I can get the price adjusted to reflect the current price. His reply was simply no and the reason why the price was higher two days ago was that Monarch Computers had to pay Nvidia to ship the product overnight last week and they decided to pass their shipping cost to the consumer. That to me is just bad business practice. The cost to ship a product to your warehouse should never be directly passed to the consumer. If anything I know that part of that cost can be a business deductible at the end of the fiscal year.

 

So three days later I still have no video card and I could have bought the item today at their website and have it overnight to my address and still come out saving money. This will be the first and last time I will buy from Monarch Computers.

[Guest]

Thanks for the tip zirik.

[clutch 1]

Shipping is always passed to the consumer in one way or another. However, this joker sounds like an a$$hole. I hope it works out for you.

[Igor 0]

Call ya credita card company and say that you want to cancel the transaction since goods haven't been shiped yet.

[thecheese 0]

Just before I start my comment I wan't to make it clear that I am not defending Monarch Computers, they sound very unprofessional and shonky, I can relate as I've had similar dealings with a company here in Brisbane Australia. But I will say this...

 

I've now worked for a wholesaler for the last 2 years and am fully aware of shonky retailers. Unfortunantly the whole computer component industry is in a state where margins on items such as memory, video cards & hard disk drives are often as low as 3% I've seen many companies big and small go down or have serious cutbacks on staff within the last 12 months. It's not good news and the bottom line is companies cannot and won't survive on these margins for ever. Even though it may be a $300.00 vid card you are buying, chances are the guy you're getting it off (if he's legit, pays his taxes etc, but that's another matter altogether.....) is making as little as twenty bucks on it, maybe less.

 

So if price is your most important factor in buying, by all means buy on the cheapest price you can find, but be weary you may get stung later on down the track.

 

Just my 2c, keep it in mind.