Computer Geeks: Good deals for people who can read
Written: Jun 06 '07 (Updated Jun 06 '07)
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First I should preface this by saying I have no affiliation with Geeks other than being a customer at their site. I've never worked for them (in fact, at one point I work for a group that competed against their local tech services), and have no plans on working for them in the near future.
I've been ordering from their website for over 5 years, and according to their order tracking system I've ordered from them about 35 times in the past 3 years, spending more than I'd like to admit. I've had a couple defective items, returned an item or two, and dealt with their customer service on at least three occasions.
First and foremost, I'd like to tell you the reasons I like this company. The prices are great, the items are always described with a good deal of detail, and the shopping interface is quite nice. They put a good deal of effort into making sure the vital data is there, including if the device lacks something like cables or software. They also retain the pages for the products for a good amount of time (about a year), so you can check to see if something was falsely advertised (which I've never had happen with this site).
There are a few warning I have to give though: Read everything carefully, and know what you're buying before you buy it! Some of the products are new, but some are refurbished, some are used, and some are system pulls. In many instances the products have packaging that is mislabeled, or has system requirements that are not that of a typical system. The Geeks are good about putting that detail in there, but if you're not reading it, or just skimming it, you may wind up with something you don't want.
Also note they close their warehouse on major holidays, which means orders placed on a holiday up to about a week later are sometimes delayed an extra day or two while they're catching up. They do spell this out clearly, along with policies about shipping to PO boxes, shipping COD, and shipping to addresses that don't match the billing address. If you do any of those things, expect delays, and understand the onus is on you to be pro-active about contacting them.
One thing to note is that they have no phone contact information on their site. They claim it's one way they trim their overhead to bring lower prices for you. You *must* contact them via e-mail or through their website. They assume (correctly) that if you're ordering something from them, you have access to the Internet and therefore have e-mail. If you don't like dealing with e-mail as a means of resolution, you should take this into consideration when deciding weather to purchase from them.
I've had three occasions that I can recall where I had to deal with their customer service. On each occasion the problem was resolved within one or two e-mails to my satisfaction. On one occasion they asked me to just discard the defective product and shipped me another one, which I was delighted with. On another they shipped me a replacement product with a pre-paid return shipping sticker for returning the defective item. On the third occasion the item worked fine but wasn't compatible with my system (I failed to read the system requirements in that case, hence my warning above.) They mailed me a return mailer sticker, and gave me a store credit for the returned item, minus a small restocking fee. In each case their customer service was quick, respectful, and gave me several options on how to settle the problem.
Overall, I'd say if you're an average to technical user that knows what they're looking for, this site is great for you. The deals are there to be had, with the caveat of reading everything before you buy it. If you don't know the difference between OS X and Windows, this is probably not a site you want to buy large ticket items from.
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Several. Everything from lighted pens to laptops.
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About the Author
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