Question about Monarch Computers for those that received their systems

[Wikkid]

I recently ordered 2 customs systems from Monarch on a recommendation from a friend. I wont go into details but events lead me to look up ratings for them and ive been horrified at what ive been reading. My question is this: those of you that finally got your systems, were they what you ordered? did they work? Alot of the negative stuff ive been reading has been from people that cancelled and waited a long time for their refund, or had to deal with RMAs. I can deal with waiting to get my system as long as i get what i paid for and it works, i dont want to have to deal with them any more than i have to fussing with machines that were built poorly or arent what i ordered. Should I wait for them or cancel now and file with my credit card?

 

[Kenshiro]

I've won't even worry about the performance and reliability of your system yet. You have to get your system first. So, how long ago did you order your system? Typically, they will respond an email to you letting you know how long it takes. ACtually, i believe their website should indicate that timeframe.

 

[sno.lcn]

I can already see this turning into another one of "those threads" (ie. flamewar) that afaik the mods would really prefer to not have going on (I' think several were recently locked/deleted). The best thing to do would be to pm this guy or one of our other mods about it if you run into a problem.

 

[Wikkid]

im not trying to start a flame war, i just want to know if people that actually got their systems had problems. i ordered my systems on 10-27-06 and was told last week that they would ship by the end of November. Im not worried about waiting because i have a working system at the moment, but i am worried about not getting what i paid for or defective systems. i havent seen any posts from people that got their stuff, just from people that had problems with timeframe, RMAs or cancelled orders.
Bottom line is that Ill cancel and take it up with my credit card if i have to, but if i can avoid that Id like to.

 

[Kenshiro]

Wikkid, no worries. You are jsut trying to find more information. Sol.cn is just saying that it "may" turn into a flame war. He is not suggesting you are creating a flame war.

Anyways, this week is the end of November. In fact Thursday is the last day of November. You should call them up and find out whether if you are going to get your system or now. As of right now, no one knows for sure if your system is going to be perfect or defective. You just have to wait until you receive it to find out. Call them up and get an update. Tell them to give you the exact date that your system is going to be shipped. Should they say in a few weeks, I will suggest you to go ahead to cancel the order. If they have not ship it, they cannot charge you the restocking fee. When they could not ship within the promise date, they violated their contract and should not hold you liable. Let us know how it goes before we discuss other options. Who knows... your system could already be on it's way to you now.

 

[sno.lcn]

^ I agree.

Wikkid, no worries. You are jsut trying to find more information. Sol.cn is just saying that it "may" turn into a flame war. He is not suggesting you are creating a flame war.

Exactly, it wasn't directed so much at you, but more of a reminder for people to try and stay civil.

 

[Wikkid]

Wikkid, no worries. You are jsut trying to find more information. Sol.cn is just saying that it "may" turn into a flame war. He is not suggesting you are creating a flame war.

Anyways, this week is the end of November. In fact Thursday is the last day of November. You should call them up and find out whether if you are going to get your system or now. As of right now, no one knows for sure if your system is going to be perfect or defective. You just have to wait until you receive it to find out. Call them up and get an update. Tell them to give you the exact date that your system is going to be shipped. Should they say in a few weeks, I will suggest you to go ahead to cancel the order. If they have not ship it, they cannot charge you the restocking fee. When they could not ship within the promise date, they violated their contract and should not hold you liable. Let us know how it goes before we discuss other options. Who knows... your system could already be on it's way to you now.

Yeah I was going to give them til Thursday and see what happens. What really scared me were all the posts on resellerratings. I can almost guarantee they wont ship by Thursday, in which case im entitled to cancel. I know however that if i cancel im in for a long haul over the refund. If they still make good systems and i can avoid all the hassle with cancelling it then that would be nice, thats what im trying to figure out. Should i bail or are the systems worth waiting for?

 

[iceage]

I would have a look at resellerratings.com and read some of the rig reviews. I remember there being both good and bad reviews for system builds.

 

[Kenshiro]

Well, problem most people encountered here (including myself) for refund is that.... we almost could not get it back.

Now, when are you due to pay your credit card bill? It's almost a month since you purchased it, so you are probably due to pay it. Unfortunately for this case, you won't have much choice. Even if you request for a refund, it may take 1-2 weeks before you get it. I still think 1-2 weeks is reasonable amount of time. Let's just say that 2 more weeks have passed and you still could not get it, just call up your credit card company and dispute that charge. Tell your credit card company that you have never received an item, requested for a refund (get the cancellation confirmation number from Monarchcomputer), and still has not get your money back. Let your credit card company deal with them. Basically, the credit card company will see this as a fraud. But do not go thru that route unless you could not get your money back. It may also be a good idea to pm SSS about your situation if it really gets out of hand. He has been very helpful to this community and had helped some of us.

Even with all these negative comments and reviews about monarch, we should also have the responsibility to be rational and reasonable.

Keep us posted please.

 

[dylskee]

I recently ordered 2 customs systems from Monarch on a recommendation from a friend. I wont go into details but events lead me to look up ratings for them and ive been horrified at what ive been reading.

I know this is not helpful now but, check ratings of the company before such an expensive purchase. Sorry for stating the obvious. But as far as your problem, your best bet is to call them and find out exactly when the systems will be shipped. If you cancel now your GARAUNTEED a MASSIVE delay in a refund. Your probably better off waiting for your systems to be shipped. Good luck and I hope you get them soon.

 

[Wikkid]

Yeah the lesson ive learned form this whole experience is to read ratings before making a decision. I did however have a friends recommendation, their site had what i wanted at a good price, and the sales guy was available and helpful up front so i didnt think i had anything to worry about.

Either way im stuck waiting for the systems. I read through their TOS again today and saw a line i missed before "System orders can not be cancelled for any reason." Can you believe that?

The sales guy has at least responded to my emails. Just have to cross my fingers and wait i guess.

 

[iceage]

Either way im stuck waiting for the systems. I read through their TOS again today and saw a line i missed before "System orders can not be cancelled for any reason." Can you believe that?

You can always cancel your order by credit card chargeback. I know my CC company will chargeback if your order is excessively delayed. If the retailer says 'X time to build and ship' and X goes by, the CC company will take that as breach of contract.

 

[Pinky]

You can always cancel your order by credit card chargeback. I know my CC company will chargeback if your order is excessively delayed. If the retailer says 'X time to build and ship' and X goes by, the CC company will take that as breach of contract.

Exactly. I wouldn't wait anymore, just do the chargeback with your credit card company. X day has passed and they're already well past "reasonable" turn around times for a custom build. Do it now before their site suddenly goes "Page cannot be displayed" and the phone number is disconnected... once they go bankrupt (I'm assuming things are that bad as all evidence is pointing that way) the credit card company may find it hard to do a chargeback with no means of verifying the legitimacy of your claim.

 

[Kenshiro]

Yeah the lesson ive learned form this whole experience is to read ratings before making a decision. I did however have a friends recommendation, their site had what i wanted at a good price, and the sales guy was available and helpful up front so i didnt think i had anything to worry about.

Either way im stuck waiting for the systems. I read through their TOS again today and saw a line i missed before "System orders can not be cancelled for any reason." Can you believe that?

The sales guy has at least responded to my emails. Just have to cross my fingers and wait i guess.

WOW..... I didn't know they stated that line. However, I can understand why. I really think you should call back and find out when your system will be ready. They still have to ship it out in a reasonable amount of time. If they hold it for 3-6 months, that is totally ridiculous and sounds like a scam to me.

Call them and get a confirmation. If they could not ship it before November, call your credit card company for a charge back. This is like a fraud. For ethical business pratice, they cannot just put any rule they want.

 

[Xaotic]

As above posters have stated... This post is from one of their staff in their forums on Monday:

As soon as we are able, a press release will be issued and it will be linked in our forums as well. Sorry guys, but there is only so much we can say here and I'd appreciate keeping the speculation to a minimum.

As for now the only IDE drives I have are refurbished.

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=38157&postcount=7

If this is their current stock, then I'd be very doubtful of receiving any products.

 

[Wikkid]

oh geez, i really hope theyre not just trying to sell everything off before they announce bankruptcy or something.
when i mentioned that i saw someone from there posting that they were trying to fix things over there i got this reply:

Its not that we're "fixing" things, but we are in the middle of a major transition. I am not authorized to go into details about what kind of transition but fortunately it is very nearly over. Your order will be filled but I will be honest, it will most likely be a little late. I will try to get you an updated ETA soon. The good news about all this is that when the transition is complete, we will be able to ship systems in a matter of a couple of weeks as opposed to a month.

im a patient and trusting person but i cant help but be nervous will all these negative reviews and rumors of bankruptcy, etc...

 

[Wikkid]

Does anyone know anyone that has received a system from them in the last 6 months? In all the stuff ive found over the last couple weeks i dont think ive seen a single post from a person that actually got their system order...

 

[Mindreaper01]

Monarch Computer Incorporated

The below post is what has happened to me personally and my dealings with Monarch Computer Systems and the purchase of my system. I'm still having to deal with them legally and i'm going to warn as many people as i can about them in hopes of others avoiding a potential problem.

When i ordered my system it took an extra 2 weeks before i got it but when it did arrive it worked great, for a year.

In February of this year i had a motherboard that died on me. It was an ASUS A8N SLI-Deluxe motherboard. So i call Monarch tech support. I worked for Dell tech support for several years and i am an assistant network administrator now for a large financial firm, so i'm no novice to computers or their problems. So i'm speaking with the tech and i tell him everything that i've done and that since the motherboard starting dying, my video cards had been hitting temperatures as high as 238 degrees. I agreed with the tech that we should replace the motherboard first and see if that rectifies the issue with the temperature on the video cards.

So the tech sets up and on-site visit and mails the part to me. The part arrived in 2 days but i didn't hear from an on-site tech for another 3. By the time i heard from the tech i was tired of waiting and had replaced the motherboard myself. Well, that didn't rectify the issue of the video cards hitting excessive temperatures so i called Monarch back to let them know that both of my video cards (NVIDIA 6800 GTX's) were still overheating. I was speaking with a different tech this time but i told him of everything that had been done previously and he agreed to send me new video cards. He sets up an on-site service and mails the parts to me as well.

So, i receive the new video cards and i open up the box and there are 2 NVIDIA 7400 video cards in the box. I was like "WTF is this crap?!" So i call Monarch and ask them why they sent me these cards instead of identical cards? (The 7400 cards are a major downgrade from the 6800's by the way) The tech tells me that NVIDIA is no longer making the 6000 series cards and that Monarch has none of my cards in stock and had to replace them with "comparable" cards. This is where everything starts to go downhill. I explain to the tech that a 7400 card is not comparable to the 6800 cards and that this needs to be resolved. He tells me that it is a comparable card and refers me to BFI's technical support (the card manufacturer).

I decide to jump through their hopes just so they couldn't say that i didn't listen and follow their tech's instructions in case something goes wrong. So i call BFI tech support and i tell the tech everything that has happened so far and when i tell him what the Monarch tech said about the 7400 being a comparable card he actually starting laughing. Not a chuckle, not a haha, i mean a full room shaking belly laugh that by the time he stopped laughing he had me laughing just because he was laughing so hard! So we start comparing video cards. We compared my old 6800 card to the new 7000 series cards and he determines that the 7900 OTC's would be a comparable card. I thanked him for his time, and i also got his name and number before i disconnected the call.

So i try to call Monarch about this video card issue. After 2 days of TRYING to speak with a tech i finally reach one. I explain the issue with him and tells me that the BFI tech should never have told me what he did about the cards not being comparable or that there was an issue with the 7400 series cards and SLI. He says that he'll speak with a manager and call me back within the next day or 2. Meanwhile my computer will only function with 1 video card in it and i'm really getting upset (putting it very nicely) that i can't play WoW and attend raids with my guild. I agree to his calling me back and go on about my day. Well, 4 days later i still had not heard back from the tech OR the supposed manager so i call Monarch AGAIN. This day i called Monarch a total of 7 times, got put on hold 7 times, got disconnected 5 times. I was livid. For the next week i tried getting a hold of a manager in their "tech" department and amazingly enough, EVERY time i called and asked for a manager, i was told that they were either in a meeting or out to lunch!

Finally i get in touch with a manager and i was so mad i was physically shaking from my anger. I explained to him everything that i had been through over the course of 3 weeks and the issue with the video cards. He looks through my call records and sees how many times i've called in and he tells me that i will receive the 2x 7900 OTC video cards by tomorrow morning (this being 4 in the afternoon already). He didn't lie, sure enough i had those cards at 7:30 am. He had also set this up as an on-site call as well and the technician called later on that day to set up an appointment. By this time i had replaced all the components in my system and told him to come on out and pick up all the pieces, good and bad.

So the tech shows up the following day at dinner time. I gave him the 3 boxes of parts, 1 motherboard, 2 NVIDIA 6800 video cards, and 2 7400 NVIDIA video cards. He writes down my system information and fills out his form and asks me to sign it, which i did. Then he left. My wife and son were present and watched as all this took place so we're all thinking that FINALLY my computer is fixed and i won't have anymore problems.....WRONG!

About 2 months later i get a call from a Monarch tech asking me where are the old parts are and i tell him that the tech came out and picked them up and advised him to look up the company and the tech who did the call and hung up. Now, having worked for Dell tech support i know how things are SUPPOSED to work and i also know that the tech has to validate his repair with a signature from the customer in order for the tech AND the tech's company to get paid (at least they do for Dell). Time goes by and i didn't hear from Monarch again so i'm thinking everything is cool. I should have known better.

I got married in June and my wife and i went to the Dominican Republic for our honeymoon. When i arrived home and went to turn my computer on it wouldn't do anything at all. I could see the green light on the motherboard but not even the fans move when i hit the on button. So i call Monarch again , this is on Monday the 17th of July and speak with a technician about the power supply. He tells me that he'll set-up an on-site service and send the power supply to me. So 2 days past and it's now Wednesday the 19th so i call and ask where my power supply is and the tech says that they had to switch companies in the Nashville area because that company (don't know the name of the company) wasn't returning the parts to Monarch and that now they need my credit card information so they can charge me for the parts that were never returned from the past 3 on-sites PLUS charge me for the power supply before they will send it out. I was getting more upset with every passing second the tech was speaking. So i ask the tech how much those 3 on-site parts were going to be and i was told (and later confirmed) $2,109.00! PLUS another like $98.00 for a new power supply. I told him that there was no way in hell that they were going to charge me for those 3 on-site calls and asked to speak with a manager.

I was transfered to a manager named Tracy. She told me about this change in the companies and she apologized for the trouble but she said that she looked in my log and she see where they TRIED to charge those parts to the credit card i used when i purchased the computer (which was no longer active THANKFULLY!) She gave me the same spill as the tech about needing to charge me for those prior on-site parts and i told her no. I told her that the technician had come out and picked up the parts and that my wife and son watched him do it and that i wouldn't pay for their failure to properly enforce their contract with a subcontracted company. I told her that she may charge my credit card for the power supply and i understood that the charge would be reimbursed once the old part is received and i started to give her my credit card information. After she gets all the information she tells me that they're going to charge those on-site visits to the card as well as the power supply. I told her that if she charged me for those parts i would call the credit card company and stop payment on that AND then contact my attorney for possible legal action. Well, mentioning LEGAL action was the wrong thing to say! She said something to the affect of "Sir, since you have mentioned legal action may be an option against Monarch, i have to refer this matter to the legal department for resolution." Now, remember that this was on Wednesday the 19th.

By Saturday the 22nd i had a letter from a Monarch attorney stating that since i failed to return the 3 on-site parts totaling $2,109.00 and repaired my own computer, instead of letting "a trained and certified Monarch technician" do the repairs, i violated Monarch's Terms and Conditions and my warranty was hereby canceled. BOOM! I had purchased a 3 year ON-SITE parts and labor warranty and it wasn't even 15 months old and now it's canceled!

So, i type up a response to the Monarch attorney letting him know that the parts were given to the contracted Monarch employee at the time of the repairs. I printed out a copy of the terms and agreement (kept a copy for myself) and asked him to point out WHERE in the Terms and Agreement that it states a customer can not repair his own system? Also, if a customer "repairing" their own system violates those Terms and Agreement, why do Monarch technicians as the customer if THEY (the customer) want a technician to come out and do the repairs OR does the customer want to do the repairs themselves? I sent the letter out certified mail and contacted my attorney.

After 2 months of no reply from Monarch, i contacted the Georgia Better Business Bureau and filed a complaint against Monarch. The BBB said to give them 8 weeks to try and resolve the issue. So, at 8 weeks i call the BBB and they said that they had contacted Monarch on several occasions and they never responded to the complaint.

So i fired off another letter to them telling them that they had 10 business days to respond to this letter and correct the canceled warranty or litigation would follow. I got the receipt back in the mail, waited 12 business days just to be sure, then i had my attorney file a complaint against Monarch, which is still pending.

So all of you out there who want to buy from Monarch, the best thing i can tell you

BUYER BEWARE!!


Also http://www.atlanta.bbb.org/commonreport.html?bureau=atlanta&compid=4000343&language=&code=LC

*edit*-- A tech told a friend today that the company is being bought out. Didn't say by who though.

 

[Pinky]

Old news, but a good story to add to the droves already outh there.