Please add a Complaints / Review Forum section

[Delly]

I would like to post details of my very bad experience buying a PCSpecialist 'overclocked' PC but I do not see where in the forum I should post this?

Can you create a this new area and put it right at the top so prospective customers could be warned about what they are getting into?

What do you think?

 

[keynes]

I would like to post details of my very bad experience buying a PCSpecialist 'overclocked' PC but I do not see where in the forum I should post this?

Can you create a this new area and put it right at the top so prospective customers could be warned about what they are getting into?

What do you think?

Since PCS owns this forum I doubt they will create a section and put it right at the top. I had an excellent experience with them, I am sorry to see it was not the case with you.\If you want to write an official complaint you should email them.

 

[Delly]

I did email them and ring of course but they weren't helpful, check out how little their Senior Support Specialist actually knows about PCs, pretty scary:

Matthew Griffin
As I am sure you are aware, not all chips are the same and each one will overclock differently, some overclock better than others and in this instance it appears that the maximum for your processor is 4.2Ghz and the voltage at 1.31V is perfectly fine as the processor (I7-4790K) could take up to 1.6V (1.45V on air although this is not ideal) and still be within a safe range.

Well, he clearly has no clue, 1.31 was totally unstable on my machine even with water cooling. Out of the box my machine blue screened after about 5 minutes of moderate GFX use, the thing was never ever tested properly which they refuse to admit despite it being very clear. The true maximum for this chip is really about 1.35V according to almost all the guides, Mathew doesn't even know how to google properly! 1.65v is dangerously high and 1.4v is probably impossible without nitrogen cooling.

I finally got mine stable at about 1.25V and by lowering some other voltages, I could never get more than 4.2Ghz (which is means it is in the bottom 1% of chips).

Then the graphics card died after 52.5 weeks of very moderate usage.

I won't bore any more of this, you get the picture but it is safe to say they have been incompetent, unhelpful and have not answered my concerns or questions about why my very expensive PC was so poorly built and is now doesn't work.

I am sure some people have had good experiences but mine has been very poor from start to finish, I now have no PC at all.

 

[keynes]

I would advice you to remain calm when contacting/communicating with them to find an amicable solution. Is your warranty still active? If that's not the case did you highlight this issue before it run out?

 

[GeorgeHillier]

I did email them and ring of course but they helpful, check out how little their Senior Support Specialist actually knows about PCs, pretty scary:

Matthew Griffin
As I am sure you are aware, not all chips are the same and each one will overclock differently, some overclock better than others and in this instance it appears that the maximum for your processor is 4.2Ghz and the voltage at 1.31V is perfectly fine as the processor (I7-4790K) could take up to 1.6V (1.45V on air although this is not ideal) and still be within a safe range.

Well, he clearly has no clue, 1.31 was totally unstable on my machine even with water cooling. Out of the box my machine blue screened after about 5 minutes of moderate GFX use, the thing was never ever tested properly which they refuse to admit despite it being very clear. The true maximum for this chip is really about 1.35V according to almost all the guides, Mathew doesn't even know how to google properly! 1.65v is dangerously high and 1.4v is probably impossible without nitrogen cooling.

I finally got mine stable at about 1.25V and by lowering some other voltages, I could never get more than 4.2Ghz (which is means it is in the bottom 1% of chips).

Then the graphics card died after 52.5 weeks of very moderate usage.

I won't bore any more of this, you get the picture but it is safe to say they have been incompetent, unhelpful and have not answered my concerns or questions about why my very expensive PC was so poorly built and is now doesn't work.

I am sure some people have had good experiences but mine has been very poor from start to finish, I now have no PC at all.

Just keep calm about the situation, being rude about people (especially those who work their) isn't going to help you.

1.3V is a "safe" overvolatage for most chips, but at the end of the day it's the silicon lottery, that's not PCS fault. He even said that different CPUs overclock differently.

Did you explain to them that it kept blue screening? If you did then you should've requested an RMA.

As for the graphics card that was just unlucky. Is your warranty still active? If so then request an RMA and explain what's wrong with it.

 

[Delly]

Just keep calm about the situation, being rude about people (especially those who work their) isn't going to help you.
1.3V is a "safe" overvolatage for most chips, but at the end of the day it's the silicon lottery, that's not PCS fault. He even said that different CPUs overclock differently.

George, you didn't read my post very carefully or I wasn't clear.

1. I am super calm
2. I have not been rude about anyone though it is tempting
3. I never said 1.3V is unsafe and I know CPU's overclock differently, I have built many systems. In fact that is the whole point, they never tested my overclock that I paid them for!! My particular chip (poor quality silicon) was totally unstable at 1.3V and so it shows that they did not test it.

I guess when its busy PCS just boot it to windows and mark it tested (most chips are stable at this on a water cooler so a laziness sets in). Ship it! Any real tests would have shown it crash immediately.

4. What I will say about Mathew is this: If you tell me 1.65V is a safe overclock (or even 1.45) then you clearly have no idea what you are talking about. Not rude just a fact.

Did you explain to them that it kept blue screening? If you did then you should've requested an RMA.
As for the graphics card that was just unlucky. Is your warranty still active? If so then request an RMA and explain what's wrong with it.

Why would I RMA a CPU that works perfectly?
I just needed to remove the untested PCSpecialist ovcerclock and do it myself until I found a stable state (1.25V)

As for the graphics card that was just unlucky. Is your warranty still active? If so then request an RMA and explain what's wrong with it.

Agreed.

52.5 weeks so not under warranty with PCSpecialist and they wouldnt honor it which is disappointing given the terrible service I've received.

Apparently it might be under Palits warranty although no one will tell me if it is. I am going through RMA now, they've passed me from person to person, asked me for a serial number. Provided.

Now they want a picture of the card (without providing any way to send it to them). The whole thing is a run around intended to make people give up. I remain calm but intensely dissatisfied. I would recommend anyone reading this and considering whether to buy from this company to consider it very carefully. If you are a manager at PCS reading this then really for your own business sake you need to take a look at what you are doing.

 

[GeorgeHillier]

George, you didn't read my post very carefully or I wasn't clear.
1) What I will say about Mathew is this: If you tell me 1.65V is a safe overclock (or even 1.45) then you clearly have no idea what you are talking about. Not rude just a fact.


2) Why would I RMA a CPU that works perfectly?
I just needed to remove the untested PCSpecialist ovcerclock and do it myself until I found a stable state (1.25V)


3) 52.5 weeks so not under warranty with PCSpecialist and they wouldnt honor it which is disappointing given the terrible service I've received.

Apparently it might be under Palits warranty although no one will tell me if it is. I am going through RMA now, they've passed me from person to person, asked me for a serial number. Provided.

4) Now they want a picture of the card (without providing any way to send it to them). The whole thing is a run around intended to make people give up. I remain calm but intensely dissatisfied. I would recommend anyone reading this and considering whether to buy from this company to consider it very carefully. If you are a manager at PCS reading this then really for your own business sake you need to take a look at what you are doing.

1) Saying someone has no idea what they're talking about is rude, if someone came into my place of work and told me I have no clue what i'm on about then I could refuse to serve them (although that would be a bit extreme and I wouldn't do that), you may not have meant it to be rude, but it is.

2) Fair enough, I just meant if you were unhappy at the time then that was an option

3) As you said, the warranty might still be valid, best to chase them up about it

4) You can email them the picture of the card. They aren't trying to annoy you, at the end of the day they're a company that's trying to make money, companies lose loads of money from refunds, replacements, etc, which is why they want to make sure everything is correct before they replace it (if there is a warranty left on it), plus the GPU company may be the ones wanting a picture of it

Anyway hope it gets sorted

 

[Delly]

1) Saying someone has no idea what they're talking about is rude, if someone came into my place of work and told me I have no clue what i'm on about then I could refuse to serve them (although that would be a bit extreme and I wouldn't do that), you may not have meant it to be rude, but it is.

I do not consider it to be rude it is merely a statement of fact. He does not know what he is talking about. I am sorry if you or Mathew find that rude but that is not my problem. You are free to debate the fact of whether he knows what he is talking about but so far the evidence is very clearly supporting my claim.

2) Fair enough, I just meant if you were unhappy at the time then that was an option

I did and in fairness they took the money off what I paid for the overclock, essentially admitting it wasnt tested. They later denied this saying it was tested properly. You decide, hint: it wasn't.

3) As you said, the warranty might still be valid, best to chase them up about it

I am chasing but they keep changing the goal posts to delay the whole process.

First response: it might be software issue, please re-install windows. So I bought a new hard drive and installed windows, still didnt work.
2. Ok, now ring back on a weekday because it is over 52 weeks old. (it was 52.5 weeks)
3. Ring back. No sorry you need to use the mail portal on your PCS login and submit a formal complaint because its out of warranty.
4. Ok, maybe its under Card manufacturer warranty, send us the S/N. Ok sent.
5. No actually the RMA guy might (not does, might) want a picture of the card you better send that. No email address provided because and mail system doesnt support attachements.

This process is designed to delay the customer and make them give up.

4) You can email them the picture of the card.

They haven't provided an email address.

They aren't trying to annoy you, at the end of the day they're a company that's trying to make money, companies lose loads of money from refunds, replacements, etc, which is why they want to make sure everything is correct before they replace it (if there is a warranty left on it)

They arent losing any money, this is a card failure that the manufacturer will replace! PCS wont even let me pay the difference for a different brand or an upgrade because "the replaced card is no longer used in any machine they can sell'. Totally unhelpful despite the nightmare and loss of use I have had with this machine.

PCS havent helped me at all or been reasonable despite me spending well over 2 grand for what was described as a top quality and tested PC. It was neither and if I had more time I would pursue legal action under false advertising and failure to respect statutory rights: the product clearly was Not as described and did not last for a reasonable period of time. . 1 year is not reasonable period of time for a GFX card.

At this stage I just want the card replaced so I can put it on ebay and buy a different card. I will never buy another Palit or PCS machine.

the GPU company may be the ones wanting a picture of it

Well PCS can take a picture of it then when I send it back to them! It is the very least they could do for me

 

[GeorgeHillier]

1) I do not consider it to be rude it is merely a statement of fact. He does not know what he is talking about. I am sorry if you or Mathew find that rude but that is not my problem. You are free to debate the fact of whether he knows what he is talking about but so far the evidence is very clearly supporting my claim.

2) They haven't provided an email address.

3) They arent losing any money, this is a card failure that the manufacturer will replace! PCS wont even let me pay the difference for a different brand or an upgrade because "the replaced card is no longer used in any machine they can sell'. Totally unhelpful despite the nightmare and loss of use I have had with this machine.

4) PCS havent helped me at all or been reasonable despite me spending well over 2 grand for what was described as a top quality and tested PC. It was neither and if I had more time I would pursue legal action under false advertising and failure to respect statutory rights: the product clearly was Not as described and did not last for a reasonable period of time. . 1 year is not reasonable period of time for a GFX card.

5)Well PCS can take a picture of it then when I send it back to them! It is the very least they could do for me

1) What you consider to be rude and others to be rude is different, most people at the least won't appreciate someone say they don't know what they're talking about. It's disrespectful to say someone doesn't know about something in their area of work

2) Have you asked how to send the image? Ask for an email address? They may have forgotten to give it to you, which is a simple human error

3) They would still lose money from shipping, both from you to PCS and then from PCS to the card manufacturer, plus if the card isn't covered by the warranty then they have to pay for shipping back and sometimes costs of inspection. Many card manufacturers do this as their profit margins aren't very big.

4) It was not as described as the overclock didn't work, fair enough, but you chose not to send it back and they refunded you the difference. Plus under EU law electrical goods have to last a year, so that is classed as a "reasonable" amount of time. I do understand your frustration, but threatening with legal action etc doesn't help, you're acting hostile on this thread and that probably goes onto messages etc as well, whether intentional or not :/

5) For them to take a picture you'd have to mail the whole system to them, they take a picture, they mail the whole system back to you minus the gpu and then mail the gpu to the comany, that's not a cost effective way to do it, especially with the low margin profits of computer parts

 

[Delly]

George as I said I don't care if you find me to be rude, most intelligent people wouldn't. I am stating a clear fact without any emotion, which no one disputes: Mathew despite being in a very senior role at PCS doesn't know (or cant be bothered to google) about overclocking.

If you put 1.65V through Haswell you risk damaging the chip. Fact.

If you are not a PCS emplyoee, which I find very hard to believe given your incredibly 1-sided support of them and frankly rude trolling of my complaint, then please stop right now. Please get a manager to reply to my inquiries through the portal and not out here trying to sway public opinion. Its not working. You are only embarrassing yourself and PCS.

Furthermore if you want to get into a debate about EU law then trust me you really are quite some way out of your depth: read EU directive 1999/44/EC, the important bit: 'A two-year guarantee applies for the sale of all consumer goods everywhere in the EU. In some countries, this may be more, and some manufacturers also choose to offer a longer warranty period.'

As with UK law, a seller is not bound by the guarantee 'if the (fault) has its origin in materials supplied by the consumer'. But the EU rule does not require the buyer to show the fault is inherent in the product and not down to their actions. The EU rule also says buyers need to report a problem within two months of discovering it if they want to be covered under the rule.

As for your waffle about returns, honestly you are just talking nonsense, they actually asked me to send the whole system back which I wont do. They can take a picture of the card when I send it. End of.

George, I am not going to keep this ludicrous back and forward going with you, a proxy-stooge for PCS, please go and find another unhappy customer to attack on their behalf or better still watch some TV, there is an election on and you should be working out who to vote for not being a shill online for this lot. Its a clever tactic PCS I will give you that. Thumbs-up.

Please let the real employees be man enough to answer my points directly either here or on the portal.

Keynes you clearly work for PCS, have a look at my profile notes there. Is it company policy to give customers such a runaround?

 

[keynes]

Keynes you clearly work for PCS, have a look at my profile notes there. Is it company policy to give customers such a runaround?

I don't work for PCS. You may not get an answer from an employee or manager on the forum, you would need to contact them by email or over the phone which I assume you already have done. Just curious why you do not wish to send the system back, was it suggested by PCS?

 

[steaky360]

Ok this is getting a bit silly now, please stop with the back and forth everyone before it gets out of hand

Please let the real employees be man enough to answer my points directly either here or on the portal.

Keynes you clearly work for PCS, have a look at my profile notes there. Is it company policy to give customers such a runaround?

Just to get a point across that's quite important - only the forum admins (not Mods nor members as far as I know) actually work for PCS - so to be clear neither Keynes nor George nor I work for PCS.

The forum is not an official channel of communication with PCS - its more of a community driven forum, if you're wanting answers from PCS your best lines are as you've already used Telephone / Email and maybe the live chat (but I'd advise to phone them personally and follow up with an email - its free to phone them now if you've got inclusive minutes on your phone for example), although not unheard of its not often that the PCS staffers get a chance to visit the forums and answer any grievances.

By portal do you mean the Tech Support ticket service via your login to the main page (just wondering..)?

For my two pence, in terms of RMA'ing the card - I'm not sure what's been agreed between you and PCS but if you're RMA'ing directly to Palit then I'd imagine you should be dealing with them rather than with PCS? - if it is PCS who's asking for the picture (to send to palit on your behalf) you can email PCS directly ([email protected]) and attach the photo to the email. That should at least get a photo across if that is what's causing the delay?

 

[GeorgeHillier]

George as I said I don't care if you find me to be rude, most intelligent people wouldn't. I am stating a clear fact without any emotion, which no one disputes: Mathew despite being in a very senior role at PCS doesn't know (or cant be bothered to google) about overclocking.

If you put 1.65V through Haswell you risk damaging the chip. Fact.

If you are not a PCS emplyoee, which I find very hard to believe given your incredibly 1-sided support of them and frankly rude trolling of my complaint, then please stop right now. Please get a manager to reply to my inquiries through the portal and not out here trying to sway public opinion. Its not working. You are only embarrassing yourself and PCS.

Furthermore if you want to get into a debate about EU law then trust me you really are quite some way out of your depth: read EU directive 1999/44/EC, the important bit: 'A two-year guarantee applies for the sale of all consumer goods everywhere in the EU. In some countries, this may be more, and some manufacturers also choose to offer a longer warranty period.'

As with UK law, a seller is not bound by the guarantee 'if the (fault) has its origin in materials supplied by the consumer'. But the EU rule does not require the buyer to show the fault is inherent in the product and not down to their actions. The EU rule also says buyers need to report a problem within two months of discovering it if they want to be covered under the rule.

As for your waffle about returns, honestly you are just talking nonsense, they actually asked me to send the whole system back which I wont do. They can take a picture of the card when I send it. End of.

George, I am not going to keep this ludicrous back and forward going with you, a proxy-stooge for PCS, please go and find another unhappy customer to attack on their behalf or better still watch some TV, there is an election on and you should be working out who to vote for not being a shill online for this lot. Its a clever tactic PCS I will give you that. Thumbs-up.

Please let the real employees be man enough to answer my points directly either here or on the portal.

Keynes you clearly work for PCS, have a look at my profile notes there. Is it company policy to give customers such a runaround?

Calling me stupid is also rude. I am only trying to explain what is happening and why it may be happening. Being rude in life gets you no where (something you're too stupid to realize yourself).

And do you even know what trolling is? Does a troll put their real name online, don't think so?! If you think that I was trolling you then you couldn't be more wrong. This is trolling, here's my new song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9ymUX1fJLw

As for accusing me and Keynes and myself as working for PCS, we don't. Only admins work for PCS. I post on the forums to help people, most of whom are a lot nicer and less hostile than you. If you must know I'm studying Computer Science with a year in industry at the University of Kent and also work part time in a DIY retail store.

I have worked in both B&Q and Homebase, both of which have told me that all electrical goods have a 1 year returns policy, unless the manufacturer states otherwise. If they have told me the wrong information then I would apologize, but considering how rude and hostile you've been you won't be getting that.

Please tell me when I've acted "hostile" to you. You have done so to me, by saying i'm not intelligent and throwing wild accusations at both me and others.

Two things on voting:
1) Forum rules say politics shouldn't be discussed
2) I know who i'm voting for

Basically, stop being aggressive towards people that are only trying to explain things to you that you clearly don't understand.

 

[GeorgeHillier]

Oh and forgot to add, the whole idea of making a complaints section is stupid. That's like a supermarket having a big sign by the entrance with complaints on. Get a grip of reality and realize that you're not always right.

 

[Rakk]

As steaky360 has already said, please everyone try to calm down.

 

[GeorgeHillier]

As steaky360 has already said, please everyone try to calm down.

Delly needs to learn the difference between him being rude to others and vice versa, as he clearly can't tell the difference.

 

[moosEh]

Delly,

I am sorry for the issues you have been having with PC Specialist, after reviewing your account I can see we have arranged the standard replacement of the graphics card. As regards to who here works for PC Specialist I can confirm here and in writing if you want that Keynes, George or anyone else that has so far responded on here do not work for PC Specialist.

As forum members have stated and as my signature applies this forum is not a channel of official support so we will not be adding a complaints section at this time.

 

[Delly]

George I never called you stupid, relax buddy and reign in your rudeness.

I've every right to post my experiences on here, if you find my statements of fact, which no one disagrees with, rude, I am very happy with that, move on and don't get involved.

..people that are only trying to explain things to you that you clearly don't understand.

Haha! At no stage did you add anything helpful to this thread, you tried to derail it. And rep'ing me down despite you being the rudest person on here is pretty funny. You are a troll.

To everyone else thanks for the help. And apologies for suggesting you work for this company. But they are all watching so I am actually talking to them. They have now sent me the 'basic RMA' details. Finally

Steaky, you are actually not right, by law you have to deal with only the people you bought the item off. Palit would tell me to go to PCS unfortunately.

Keynes, I did not want to send the whole system back because its huge and would cost me a fortune (I've to pay for postage) and could damage other components.

Because the card was 52.5 weeks PCS refused to replace the card themselves, despite all the issues and the card being under a Manufacturer warranty for longer than 1 year (a 'reasonable amount of time' for a GFX card is clearly more than 12 months).

If it went to court under statutory rights 'reasonable amount of time' and EU directive (1999/44/EC) I am pretty sure PCS would settle and honor the full warranty. There are a few precedents there but I haven't the money to take them on.

This whole thing has cost me a lot of money and months (since Jan/Feb) without a working computer. To keep my business going I have had to buy a laptop.

There are no doubt loads of great people working at PCS and I have spoken to a few, but Mathew ignored all my points and issues, flat out lied and didn't know what he was talking about regarding the overclock.

Ultimately he had a chance to help but was as unhelpful as he could legally be. That's very disappointing after spending so much money and having such a poor user experience. I influence a lot of people in my position and from PCS point of view spending a 100 quid or so to help me out would have benefited them by changing my really negative experience into a positive one.

I would advise PCS to employ somebody who is trained in customer services when dealing with complaints, not just a Senior Technician who wants to win an argument.

To potential customers, if you may have to rely on your computer be very wary of using PCS, customer service is only an after thought to them and they are purely a volume business. Fine. Lesson learned. If you do take the risk then I suggest purchasing an extended warranty.

 

[DeadEyeDuk]

To potential customers, if you may have to rely on your computer be very wary of using PCS, customer service is only an after thought to them and they are purely a volume business. Fine. Lesson learned. If you do take the risk then I suggest purchasing an extended warranty.

This was my favourite bit.

Seriously, you have had a bad experience. Your experience =/= everyone else's.

The whole point of this thread from your OP was not about your issue, but about PCS putting a complaints section on the forum. To that end, it was resolved pretty quickly - not gunna happen.

With regards to your problem, people have taken exception with your singling out PCS staff with only your opinion to back it up. Never mind what actually happened, that just veers towards pointless name calling.

moos's post (the only one in here from a PCS staff member) highlights a replacement has been issued, soooooo what's the problem now?

(This entire post was created because I didn't get a mention in your previous post that picked out other forum members, and I am nothing if not a semi-professional-amateur-part-time-highly-paid drama queen!)

 

[moosEh]

Delly,

Thank you for your comments regarding the process, I will pass these on but I think it prudent to lock this thread.

If you wish to create a new one feel free but I believe this thread has gone a little of course.