Favourite PC Retailers?

[MaverickPrince]

Hi... what's your favourite local PC shop to go to? Other than your big box stores (Future Shop, etc) that is.

I used to buy a lot of stuff at A-Power but I hear good things about NCIX. Any others you like to use?

Yah, they all have their shortcomings with service (it seems) so price and deals seem to tip the scales (especially since I can service my own stuff)...

[Digit Treesloth]

NCIX has good prices and is far enough from Richmond to be tolerable, but I deal with Compconex in Richmond (I've known the owner for umpteen years)

[PUREVIL]

I liked NCIX in the beginning, my salesman gave me a wicked deal but then when I returned to buy more shit he wasn't so nice the second and third time around. I dunno why.

[Kamui]

NCIX has crappy service.. they like making you wait a million years.

i've had good service experiences with anitec on kingsway. Their prices are usually very competitive too.

www.anitec.ca

otherwise it's usually a-power and sometimes NCIX :P

[Tigon]

try anitec on kingsway. service is not too bad but the prices are fairly good.

[adamantium]

NCIX is quite good, as is A-Power. Both shops in Richmond have treated me very well - and the NCIX store on broadway is hell (busy), but the other 2 are quite calm - at least anytime I've been.

[Jester666]

my fav is Crystal computer no Kingsway right by Staples(metrotown)
http://www3.telus.net/crystalcomp/index.html

Good deals and absolutely fabulous when things go wrong...How will they be when they get as busy as NCIX? who knows, but so far that's where I shop.
Even if the price is a couple bucks more there than somewhere else(though they usually match NCIX or anyone else) I still buy there because of peace of mind.
THey're nice and they are fair.

[Haxornator]

NCIX is CRAP, I bought a motherboard from them last year, it didn't work. I go to return it and at first they didn't want to return it because I didn't have the plastic bag for one of the cables. I went home fished it out of the garbage, brought it back the next day and they charged me a %15 restocking fee for their crap. I'll never buy from them again. oh and I was waiting for well over 30min before I got any kind of service on both trips. COMPLETE ASSHOLES!!!
my retailers of choice are:

A-power
Atic
Anitec

They're all awesome guys at all lotcations!!!
A-Power you may have to wait a bit though... They're a little slow...

[Jester666]

NCIX is CRAP, I bought a motherboard from them last year, it didn't work. I go to return it and at first they didn't want to return it because I didn't have the plastic bag for one of the cables. I went home fished it out of the garbage, brought it back the next day and they charged me a %15 restocking fee for their crap. I'll never buy from them again. oh and I was waiting for well over 30min before I got any kind of service on both trips. COMPLETE ASSHOLES!!!
my retailers of choice are:

A-power
Atic
Anitec

They're all awesome guys at all lotcations!!!
A-Power you may have to wait a bit though... They're a little slow...



Agreed about NCIX.
I used to be their customer, untill my CPU burnt out.
First they would not honour a warranty at all, then (after I filed a BBB claim) AND 3 months of back-and-forth bickering over an exchange, out of goodness of their heart they threw a $50 credit-on a CPU I paid $240 just a few months before...

Needless to say, I took the credit, thanked them kindly, got another CPU(added more cash of course)...and never shopped there again.

[Quasi]

I've bought a bunch of computers for myself and friends/family from NCIX and never had a problem. I had a few warranty issues with computers bought from them and everytime they fixed them under warranty no questions asked. Another shop I visit somewhat regularly is Atop in Surrey, comparable prices (not neccesarily the cheapest) but close to home.

The customer service is not the greatest and I to have waited more then my fair share for service since theres no real lineup but thats why prices are cheaper then so many other places. If you want customer service go buy a dell or go to Future Shop. It's the low overhead and the cheap sales staff that allows these shops to sell so much cheaper then the big box stores. If you know exactly what you want and you want to save some money hit up a place like NCIX or Atic but don't expect to much in customer service.

[Jester666]

Oh, and let me go ahead and save Saturnin some work, since it's inevitable anyways :


NEEEEERDSSS
(myself included :) )

[Man In Yellow]

A-Power in Richmond!

2 strong thumbs up. Customer Service is incredible everytime I go in. They also offer very useful information. To this day, they haven't sold me anything I didn't need.

Keep up the good work, Nick!

[adamantium]

Actually, both my sister and parents have used A-Power, and had great success, even with warrantying some stuff (which is often troublesome).

:thumbup

[heisenberg]

NCIX in Burnaby I have gone to numerous times over the past 3 years. Sometimes good prices. Availability of product is spotty except for their popular stuff. If you have to return something expect runaround and grief.

I have used Frontier PC on Broadway and Granville a few times. Their sales staff is uneven, like most places but they have and stock lots of PC enthusiast stuff. If you are building a "Quiet PC" this is the place to go.

My fave place is Uniwest Microsystems on Hastings near Nanaimo. It is a hole in the wall, it is a mess, he stocks almost nothing and you never know if he is going to be there or not. His prices though are the best I have found and he can get almost anything within a day. I always phone in advance and arrange a time to meet him at the store. Best to deal with cash or a debit card with him. Lots of ubergeeks use him.

[Hogie]

www.atic.ca seems to have some pretty good prices, I haven't shopped there though...

[boarder]

I used to work at NCIX and still recomend them. Daniel at the vancouver branch is awesome, and kevin at the richmond branch is prolly our best guy att he company. I still talk to alot of the staff, if u guys ever have problems with them let me know as I used to have alot of power there. I've heard nothing but good things about a-power.

If you're going to the vancouver shop, saturday isn't the best day to be there, buncha newbs I tell ya..stick to weekdays.

not sure about the mb problem that hax had, that's crap, they shouldn't have sent you home for a freaking bag, that's retarded, I would've gotten someone suriously repremanded if I knew about that.

As for a dead cpu, was it an OEM CPU bought by itself, or a retail CPU? Rule 1. any pysichal damage, we can't warranty. Retail CPU are 30day warranty. Not that I know about ur case, but that 50 bux came out of their pocket.

not that I'm saying this has anything to do with you, or any of your friends. But when I left, a customer came in with a dead, broken CPU. Claimed that I had installed in onsite, broke it...and that they should warranty it. Because he complained so loud, the tech fixed it for him (severely bent pins from being installed backwards). Talked to him later on...guess what, I never went on site...ever. Customers can be real assholes, that guy will probably never shop at ncix again because they gave him a hard time, he'll tell his friends exactly that version of the story im sure :rolleyes ..bad press, and for what?


just to note, I had a near perfect track record with my 3 1/2 years of working there.

[alexdeejay]

i second the atic (broadway @ ontario?) recommendation...i've heard some negatives about their customer service but i've not had any problems and pretty much best prices around for a lot of things...

[Jester666]

As for a dead cpu, was it an OEM CPU bought by itself, or a retail CPU? Rule 1. any pysichal damage, we can't warranty. Retail CPU are 30day warranty. Not that I know about ur case, but that 50 bux came out of their pocket.

not that I'm saying this has anything to do with you, or any of your friends. But when I left, a customer came in with a dead, broken CPU. Claimed that I had installed in onsite, broke it...and that they should warranty it. Because he complained so loud, the tech fixed it for him (severely bent pins from being installed backwards). Talked to him later on...guess what, I never went on site...ever. Customers can be real assholes, that guy will probably never shop at ncix again because they gave him a hard time, he'll tell his friends exactly that version of the story im sure :rolleyes ..bad press, and for what?


just to note, I had a near perfect track record with my 3 1/2 years of working there.

Well that's the thing. I know the rules, I'm one of those people who actually read their warranty cards, and the instruction booklets:)
This was waaaay back before they introduced fee for PC building.
Since I was buying all components, was going to do it myself, I figured what the hell mightr as well let them do it & get a 'system warranty'
THough if I remember correctly, if you buy CPU&MoBo at the same time, that already qualified as a system..Not 100% on that one.
Either way, the system was put together BY NCIX.
My feeling is that someone fucked up on the thermal paste on the CPU,since the system did a spontaneous shutdown/reset a few times about a month before it fried- but who knows...

And yes, I agree. Customers CAN be real assholes :roflmao
I'm not one of them, but I read ALL the fine print, ALL The rules front and back of invoices, just so I know what to expect if shit hits the fan.
It my case, they let me down big time...

But then, from a total of 10 or 12 systems I bought from them, this one was the only one that went REALLY wrong.
By dad's box was back and forth through them 3 or 4 times in the first month after we bought it.
THey were very cool with him. Got it sorted out propertly, no questions asked.

But after dealing with Crystal Comp, there is no going back for me.
These guys are down to earth, straight shooters, always take care of me, any warranty issues, there is no hassle whatsoever. Plus, they actually take their time to make sure you know what's what-you got question, they take time to answer it.
I like that.

[redDevil]

i second the atic (broadway @ ontario?) recommendation...i've heard some negatives about their customer service but i've not had any problems and pretty much best prices around for a lot of things...

Atic usually has the cheapest prices around but the worst customer service. And it smells like nerds in there. Blah.

I've had good experiences with NCIX and even though it's a few bucks more than Atic the service you get is worth it. Although I haven't been in there in a few years so who knows. If you really want to find out where the good deals are check out http://www.redflagdeals.com/deals/main.php/alldeals (don't forget to check the forums!)

[bafflebrain]

I like the sign in one establishment:
Cheap, Fast or Good - pick any two.
My experiece:

Atic = Cheap +Fast
NCIX (Netlink) = Fast + Good
Anitec = Cheap + Good

NCIX can be all 3 if you wait for their weekly sales. Plus they price match any other stores. Take you pick.

[boarder]

Well that's the thing. I know the rules, I'm one of those people who actually read their warranty cards, and the instruction booklets:)
This was waaaay back before they introduced fee for PC building.
Since I was buying all components, was going to do it myself, I figured what the hell mightr as well let them do it & get a 'system warranty'
THough if I remember correctly, if you buy CPU&MoBo at the same time, that already qualified as a system..Not 100% on that one.
Either way, the system was put together BY NCIX.
My feeling is that someone fucked up on the thermal paste on the CPU,since the system did a spontaneous shutdown/reset a few times about a month before it fried- but who knows...

And yes, I agree. Customers CAN be real assholes :roflmao
I'm not one of them, but I read ALL the fine print, ALL The rules front and back of invoices, just so I know what to expect if shit hits the fan.
It my case, they let me down big time...

But then, from a total of 10 or 12 systems I bought from them, this one was the only one that went REALLY wrong.
By dad's box was back and forth through them 3 or 4 times in the first month after we bought it.
THey were very cool with him. Got it sorted out propertly, no questions asked.

But after dealing with Crystal Comp, there is no going back for me.
These guys are down to earth, straight shooters, always take care of me, any warranty issues, there is no hassle whatsoever. Plus, they actually take their time to make sure you know what's what-you got question, they take time to answer it.
I like that.


thats fuct, if u bought it with a system, I'm guessing you're talking about an amd chip) it shouldn't have been a problem. How long ago was this? was it before the vancouver branch opened up?? i had some people who had burnt out chips at my branch and I talked our guys into sending it back to amd for them. There's some week points in the company that if I had a lil more power I would've loved to get rid of, but I could only suggest since it's stil run by the mom and pop :(

the one thing that would've caused them to do something like that, if the heatsink popped off the board, then they might deny warranty. Happens alot with shipping. If the core is burnt, no problem, but if it gets chipped then the warranty is dead. either way, i'll add crystal into my goodbooks for recomendations to clients