Hi everybody, this is my first post although I've been a relatively frequent to the anandtech forums. What finally persuaded me to register with this forum would be my harrowing experiences with www.ibuypower.com
Since I purchased my computer, my experiences with ibuypower have been disappointing to say the least.
I placed the order for my computer on August 22nd, 2005. I selected the 5-10 business days, No Rush and the computer was shipped 12 business days later.
When my computer arrived on September 9th, 2005 it did not work. I plugged in my Viewsonic 191b monitor, my mx510 mouse and my logitech keyboard, powered it up and the system would not let me enter the BIOS setup. When I turned on the computer all I saw was an Asus logo. At 7:30PM I call their tech support number. I am told to leave my number and I should get a call back in a half hour. One hour later I call back and the lady on the phone tells me to wait another half hour, but I'm "next on the list" so a technician should contact me soon. I wait another hour and another. THREE HOURS and some change later Steve calls me.
I explain my situation to him and he instructs me to pop open the case. I do so and he runs down a checklist of things that should be connected to the mobo. Unfortunately, my CD Burner was not connected to a power source, and my hard drive was not connected to my mobo.
I turn my computer back on, and now the motherboard isn't recognizing my x800xl video card. Steve says he'll have ibuypower ship me out a new video card. This is on Friday, September 9th.
I call ibuypower's on site technician the following Monday. I speak with Brian who informs me the reason my video card doesn't work is because a power cable that's supposed to connect to the back of the video card is not plugged in. So Brian has me cut off all the plastic wire holders to find this socket thing that's supposed to connect to my video card. After 15 minutes of not being able to find it, I ask to speak with somebody else. Lee comes on the phone and he informs me that there is NO power cord that connects to my video card. Thanks Brian. I ask Lee to send me a new video card and I also ask for an upgrade. He declines, I accept.
I just received the new video card today, September 15th but they sent me the wrong one. Instead of sending me a sapphire x800xl they sent me a x850 pro which actually performs WORSE on benchmarks. I couldn't believe it, they actually downgraded my video card. So I install the x850 pro into the pci express slot and the mobo is still not recognizing the video card.
So I call up their tech service again and again I have to wait nearly THREE HOURS for them to call me back.
This time the technician informs me that there must be something wrong with my motherboard so he's going to order another motherboard and have a tech come to my house and install it for me. I am certainly not looking forward to this experience. I have enough trouble getting technicians on the phone; actually getting one to my house will take lord only knows how much more time.
It's been nearly a MONTH since I placed the order and I still do not have a functioning computer. The money was taken out of my account 3 days after I placed the order and I have nothing to show for it except a $1700 foot rest.
At this point, I would certainly NOT RECOMMEND any individual do business with this company because of my horrible experience thus far. I am thankful for their 30 day money back guarantee because that appears to be the route I'm going to have to take. Unfortunately, the shipping fees will leave me approx. 120 in the hole.
Oh, on a side note, I thought Steve was an excellent source of knowledge about my comp. He was polite and courteous and explained the inniards of my comp to me.
And here's a link of the benchmarks of x800xl vs x850pro.
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050524/index.html
Since I purchased my computer, my experiences with ibuypower have been disappointing to say the least.
I placed the order for my computer on August 22nd, 2005. I selected the 5-10 business days, No Rush and the computer was shipped 12 business days later.
When my computer arrived on September 9th, 2005 it did not work. I plugged in my Viewsonic 191b monitor, my mx510 mouse and my logitech keyboard, powered it up and the system would not let me enter the BIOS setup. When I turned on the computer all I saw was an Asus logo. At 7:30PM I call their tech support number. I am told to leave my number and I should get a call back in a half hour. One hour later I call back and the lady on the phone tells me to wait another half hour, but I'm "next on the list" so a technician should contact me soon. I wait another hour and another. THREE HOURS and some change later Steve calls me.
I explain my situation to him and he instructs me to pop open the case. I do so and he runs down a checklist of things that should be connected to the mobo. Unfortunately, my CD Burner was not connected to a power source, and my hard drive was not connected to my mobo.
I turn my computer back on, and now the motherboard isn't recognizing my x800xl video card. Steve says he'll have ibuypower ship me out a new video card. This is on Friday, September 9th.
I call ibuypower's on site technician the following Monday. I speak with Brian who informs me the reason my video card doesn't work is because a power cable that's supposed to connect to the back of the video card is not plugged in. So Brian has me cut off all the plastic wire holders to find this socket thing that's supposed to connect to my video card. After 15 minutes of not being able to find it, I ask to speak with somebody else. Lee comes on the phone and he informs me that there is NO power cord that connects to my video card. Thanks Brian. I ask Lee to send me a new video card and I also ask for an upgrade. He declines, I accept.
I just received the new video card today, September 15th but they sent me the wrong one. Instead of sending me a sapphire x800xl they sent me a x850 pro which actually performs WORSE on benchmarks. I couldn't believe it, they actually downgraded my video card. So I install the x850 pro into the pci express slot and the mobo is still not recognizing the video card.
So I call up their tech service again and again I have to wait nearly THREE HOURS for them to call me back.
This time the technician informs me that there must be something wrong with my motherboard so he's going to order another motherboard and have a tech come to my house and install it for me. I am certainly not looking forward to this experience. I have enough trouble getting technicians on the phone; actually getting one to my house will take lord only knows how much more time.
It's been nearly a MONTH since I placed the order and I still do not have a functioning computer. The money was taken out of my account 3 days after I placed the order and I have nothing to show for it except a $1700 foot rest.
At this point, I would certainly NOT RECOMMEND any individual do business with this company because of my horrible experience thus far. I am thankful for their 30 day money back guarantee because that appears to be the route I'm going to have to take. Unfortunately, the shipping fees will leave me approx. 120 in the hole.
Oh, on a side note, I thought Steve was an excellent source of knowledge about my comp. He was polite and courteous and explained the inniards of my comp to me.
And here's a link of the benchmarks of x800xl vs x850pro.
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050524/index.html