Best place to order parts for US besides newegg

[monte84]

rant: Having been shopping at newegg since 2003 and very staisfied customer. Returns were good shipping was good and prices were good. But now terrible. I have only ever had to RMA twice before now. Never paid restocking fee nor shipping. Now on the memory that doesnt like my system, I have to pay both, which using UPS from newegg site would cost me $17.24 on a $65 order. So im taking my buissness else where. /ran

So what other places are there? How is customer support? Thanks.

 

[PaulieG]

Well, I love Newegg. However, since I moved to TN I get hit with 9.5% tax because Newegg has a warehouse here. So, I buy my stuff from Tigerdirect, Mwave, ewiz, Directron and Amazon. Amazon is awesome, if you have a Prime account. I do still buy memory at the 'egg. They just have way more of a selection than anywhere else.

 

[majestic12]

Depends on where you are in the US. I've had really good luck ordering parts from Tigerdirect. The best deals I've gotten on computer parts (especially CPUs)in the US were at Microcenter though. I've had positive experiences at Fry's and that could also be worth looking into.

 

[Arctucas]

^+1^, Microcenter, if you have one nearby, since the best deals are in-store only.

I only had to return one defective item; an Auzen soundcard that died two weeks after I bought it. Took it back and got a cash refund.

I also returned an E8400 CPU because of stuck thermal sensors, which I do not believe most stores would even consider doing, for store credit.

Also, I have printed out Newegg items listings and taken to the store, where I got the manager to price match.

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

I browse with newegg, then shop around for best price. Sometimes amazon beats them on cases and hard drives but their search is terrible. You ususally don't even have to visit tiger direct though because their deals appear on amazon.

 

[Wrigleyvillain]

Amazon is definitely one of the better ones and always a go-to site along with The Egg on my "price comparison list". The free Super Saver Shipping doesn't hurt either. The only caveat is sometimes something isn't stocked and fulfilled by Amazon themselves but this also makes you able to find an even wider selection.

 

[OnePostWonder]

Sorry to hear about your experience with Newegg OP.

The other day I ordered God of War III from them and when it arrived it was the Greatest Hits edition. Being a somewhat obsessive person I didn't want it (the picture showed me the non-Greatest Hits version and I was crossing my fingers because hey, they had other games listed as Greatest Hits) and decided to send it back. Typically it's their policy that you can't return PS3 games, but they made an exception and sent me a UPS label within the hour.

 

[erocker]

I use Provantage quite often. A newer place I've been using is ExcaliberPC and their customer service is just awesome. Very prompt to return corresponence, ship things out, communication, etc.

 

[Sasqui]

What happened to ZipZoomFly?

"Dear ZipZoomFly shoppers, We apologise for the inconvenience. Please come back later. Thank you NM80"

WTF?

 

[erocker]

What happened to ZipZoomFly?

"Dear ZipZoomFly shoppers, We apologise for the inconvenience. Please come back later. Thank you NM80"

WTF?

Bad customer service, poor management, listing things "in stock" when they weren't, not a great selection, slow to ship, etc. I ordered from them twice and both times I didn't recieve the product and got a refund. Never ordered from them again.

 

[Wrigleyvillain]

Yeah it seems ZZF had a better-looking website than anything else.

 

[monte84]

Yeah, im in KY so when the egg ships it from TN i get it next day. They have almost gotten to big for themselves. But contacting their support is great, just their policies have changed. No microcenter near here unfortunately. Amazon is awful to navigate. I tried contacting tigerdirect customer service through live to to get me details on exchange/return policies but no one was available it said. Wonder how returns/refunds would work with amazon?

Didnt zipzoomfly used to be googlegear or something like that?

Lucky for me i got my memory working, appears it likes being in DIMM slots 3 and 4 so no need to RMA (forgot gigabyte boards are like this).

Thanks everyone for their input.

 

[Sasqui]

Didnt zipzoomfly used to be googlegear or something like that?

Yes indeed. When Google made it's rise, they "kindly" asked them to change their name.

Edit... LOL - http://www.google.com/googlegear.html

I haven't been to ZipZoomFly in ages. At one time, they were pretty good but seemed they went downhill slowly after the name change. Newegg must have taken a huge chunk of marketshare from them too.

 

[monte84]

Interesting, that was ages ago it seems. Found googlegear back when i was trying to put together my athlon XP system.

 

[xxdozer32]

THE frys by my house price matches everything, so i like to do my shopping there, and if i cant find it there ill most likely find it at the microcenter in my area

 

[Fitseries3]

seems like newegg only has half the stuff they used to have. way less inventory and HIGHER PRICES gees.

microcenter is good but sometimes not worth the drive for me(and other people)

i just buy used stuff anymore. saves you money and you get stuff from people you know/kinda know.

 

[Batou1986]

seems like newegg only has half the stuff they used to have. way less inventory and HIGHER PRICES gees.

microcenter is good but sometimes not worth the drive for me(and other people)

Yep and Yep

Amazon is good I use them all the time.

 

[Fitseries3]

Yep and Yep

Amazon is good I use them all the time.

i been finding things for $0.01 cents + $3.99 shipping on there lately.

not pc stuff but still.... amazing deals for stuff that costs $35 locally. well worth the wait.

 

[Sasqui]

seems like newegg only has half the stuff they used to have. way less inventory and HIGHER PRICES gees.

Newegg = "all good things must come to an end"

I remember when they could waive fees, even asked (pleaded) a woman on the phone to honor a one day sale price they day after, and she did.

 

[Steevo]

I stopped using tiger years ago, they promised me a good deal on one of my PC's components and when I went to order they backed out. I have used the egg and used zipzoomfly a few times before its closure, and since then I have bought a veritable wealth of computer hardware from the egg.

 

[Wrigleyvillain]

seems like newegg only has half the stuff they used to have. way less inventory and HIGHER PRICES gees.

Probably cause they had to make warehouse space for the vacuum cleaners and jewelry and other stupid non-tech shit they added since apparently deciding they wanted to be Amazon (though without the third-party vendor partnerships freeing up some of said space).

Newegg = "all good things must come to an end"

I remember when they could waive fees, even asked (pleaded) a woman on the phone to honor a one day sale price they day after, and she did.

They'll still do stuff like this. Maybe not as prolifically but still worth asking.

 

[fullinfusion]

For me in Canada it's Ncix or Direct Canada... Ncix is fast as Fu*k for delivery and have excellent customer support. DC is a day later and cheaper too plus I dont bother them with RMA..... It's faster through the manufacturer.

 

[newtekie1]

But now terrible. I have only ever had to RMA twice before now. Never paid restocking fee nor shipping. Now on the memory that doesnt like my system, I have to pay both, which using UPS from newegg site would cost me $17.24 on a $65 order. So im taking my buissness else where.

First, you should pay the restocking because it isn't their fault the RAM isn't compatible with your system.

Second, the RMA process is automated when filed online. That is why it is approved instantly, and why the restocking fee is added automatically(even on parts selected as defective). Phone them up and create the RMA using the phone system. I just RMA's a pair of headphones that were past the 30 day limit. The rep waved the restocking fee and generated a UPS return label for no charge without me even having to ask. Yes, you have to wait on hold for like 5 minutes to talk to someone, but it usually isn't even that long, and the process is so much nicer.

 

[fullinfusion]

First, you should pay the restocking because it isn't their fault the RAM isn't compatible with your system.

Second, the RMA process is automated when filed online. That is why it is approved instantly, and why the restocking fee is added automatically(even on parts selected as defective). Phone them up and create the RMA using the phone system. I just RMA's a pair of headphones that were past the 30 day limit. The rep waved the restocking fee and generated a UPS return label for no charge without me even having to ask. Yes, you have to wait on hold for like 5 minutes to talk to someone, but it usually isn't even that long, and the process is so much nicer.

110% agreed with newtekie

 

[newtekie1]

Also, don't take my post as suggesting that Newegg is the only game in town and you shouldn't use anyone else. There are plenty of good places out there, most of them listed here already.

I use:
Tigerdirect/CompUSA(It helps that they have a store 25 minutes from my work.)
MicroCenter
Fry's
Buy.com
Amazon
Edit: I also use NCIX a bit too.
Some of these places also have ebay stores where they sell a lot of their open-box and refurbished items. I often catch good deals on there too. NCIX, Newegg, and Tigerdirect all do this for sure, not sure about the others.

Price shop, their customer service is all pretty much the same. And since most of them have moved to an automated RMA system when filed on the website, pretty much all of them will give you the same experience Newegg did when getting an RMA. The only difference is that Newegg's phone service seems to be much better. I've never sat on hold for longer than 5 minutes with newegg, some of the others have left me sitting for half an hour or more(looking at you amazon!).

What happened to ZipZoomFly?

"Dear ZipZoomFly shoppers, We apologise for the inconvenience. Please come back later. Thank you NM80"

WTF?

They went under in August 2011. Kind of a shame, I liked them sometimes. They did have some good deals, even if their service was spotty sometimes. Though I never had an issue with an RMA or getting a refund if something was out of stock after I ordered it, it was just kind of a hassle to order something only to be told it is out of stock.