I can't ask this on the OCUK forums, so...

[kingcon]

komplett, aria, scan.co.uk, ebuyer and ocuk are my 5 usual pricecheck sites when buying components.

Exactly the same as me, I found scan the most reliable so far apart from payment problems where their system doesn’t recognize the 'issue number' 4 (you have to put 04) :touch:

 

[mank!]

I've used Scan and Ebuyer and never had a problem, but then I'd not had a problem with OCUK before either.

 

[Chilly]

scan are good if you dont have to order over the telephone like i do, because they wont accept delivery addresses other than the invoice address (im a student so live away from home), and their sales staff are fuckign chimps - i recently bought a computer from em in bits and ordered over the phone. it took 35 minutes, the bloek got all bar two components wrong, even after i rechecked every single one with him and he said it was correct. so i ended up having to spend about 15 quid sending it back to them and buying another lot from the fuckers. to be fair the return went smoothly and i got the cheque in the post etc in a few dyas but its hassle that was needless.

if you can use the website to order, scan are very very good imo.

 

[Clown]

I've not had any problems with random obscure cheap google websites either. I'm just lucky.

 

[Jarakin]

I've not had any problems with random obscure cheap google websites either. I'm just lucky.

Playing with fire there tbh =p

 

[Cask]

I like OcUK a lot because of good experiences and because they have forums where some staff post quite regularly.

Ebuyer on the other hand are a bunch of cowboys because they took my money even when my card was rejected because the card address didn't match my shipping address. But it's probably all down to the way their billing system is programmed assuming it's all automated.

Buying online is a pretty clunky process on the whole where the buyer is always at more risk than the seller. It'd be nice if you could control your online purchases from your online banking website and companies make a request for payment once the item is ready to go.

It'd be like more like buying chips, you tell them what you want, they shovel chips on the paper and wrap them up, then you exchange goods. If you pay first the guy can just walk off with your money.

I'm imagining a web applet with all your outstanding purchases listed, with the item name and a status. When the company has the item ready it sends a request to the bank that updates your account info which enables a field allowing your to pay for the item.

You heard it here first!

 

[`mongoose]

I'm imagining a web applet with all your outstanding purchases listed, with the item name and a status. When the company has the item ready it sends a request to the bank that updates your account info which enables a field allowing your to pay for the item.

You heard it here first!

kinda like how Play.com works and loads of other online shops

Generally I dislike shops who charge for next day delivery and then take over 24 hours to process your order so you get it two days later. When I buy stuff online I expect it next day, if muppets like dabs can do it anyone should tbh

I think most of the online retailers are fine until you have a problem. I haven't been inside aria or ocuk but from descriptions they sound like warehouse jobs where there's a tiny retail centre and getting stuff swapped out and tested is always gonna be a pain in the backside....

Having said that - if you want uber named parts at budget prices there has to be a trade off somewhere...

M

 

[Clown]

Viking Direct does same day delivery

 

[mank!]

The nightmare begins...

Right, so all my stuff arrived on Tuesday morning all neat and tidy and I set to work taking apart my old PC to start again from scratch. Took me a few hours to build it, but it all went smoothly except for the LED Panel thing which was just irritating. Anyway, I finally went to boot it up and all I got was this long high-pitched beep which wouldn't go away, nothing on the monitor, CPU/PSU fans would work but nothing else would happen. This was Tuesday afternoon and after taking it apart and reseating the RAM a couple of times, checking all of the connections and trying again about half a dozen times, the PSU blew up in my face. It was fairly loud and it smelt horrible. Bollocks.

Anyway, I thought perhaps the problem was the PSU so seeing as I had to buy a new one anyway, I went in PC World and picked up a 500w PSU to replace the 360W one that blew, a couple of people had told me that 360W might not be sufficient to run all the new meaty hardware I ordered but I thought I'd see how it goes and replace it later on if neccesary, but my hand was forced. I got home about 8:30pm, whacked the new PSU in and completely stripped the case to start from scratch the following morning.

Wednesday morning I got up nice and early to crack on, took me an hour or so to build it from scratch this time but the problem persisted. I tried with my old graphics card, and although I still had no signal on the monitor, there was no horrible deathly screech so obviously this meant the noise was coming from my new 6800GT. I thought it might be a dodgy cable, so I dashed into town to buy a new one, came home and hooked it up to my old graphics card and et voila, it worked! It booted up, did POST and prompted me to go to the BIOS setup. I didn't bother as I thought I'd solved it, so I whacked the new card in again and tried again. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP. Fuck. Still the same problem. Tried the old card again, nothing. Back to square one, so I rang a mate to borrow his monitor, but to no avail - still nothing. My monitor is an iiyama and as anyone who owns one should know, they have a self-diagnosis screen. If the screen is white (which it was) it means the monitor is fine and it's a problem with the PC.

After phoning OCUK Tech support and getting absolutely no support whatsoever, I went round to a mate's house and had a look around on the OCUK forums and Google. I discovered that the beeping from my 6800GT was because I hadn't hooked up a Molex cable to it, as it never occured to me that the big fuck off fan on it might need some power to work. Doh. Back home I go, whack the Molex cable in and fire the bastard up. No beeping but still no signal, tried my old card again and nothing. I eventually gave up, phoned OCUK and I've sent the stuff back today to be tested which will take 3-4 working days, so I won't see anything until the middle of next week now.

Instead of having no PC for a week, I rebuilt my old PC and booted it up and it worked fine, except I had the master/slave cables on the HDD the wrong way round but that was easily fixed. I thought I could try the new 6800GT in my old motherboard and low and behold, it works absolutely fucking fine. Not a problem. So I've kept that and sent the mobo/cpu/ram back to OCUK and if they try and send me the same stuff back, they can fuck off and give me my money back because I know it doesn't work.

Basically, does anyone have any experience with OCUK when it comes to this sort of thing? What are they like? Will they take ages? Will they try and fob me off with dodgy goods again? Is this a common occurence? Will I get the money back from paying for next business day courier service?

Furthermore, I did a bit of research and it seems as if there's been quite a lot of problems with the A8V Deluxe and 3500+ Winchester's, something to do with the older motherboard's BIOS not recognising the CPU. I don't think this would be the issue as it wouldn't boot up, and if it did it'd tell me in the POST which I can't see. I'm guessing but I think the AGP slot is fucked. Yes, I tried cleaning it with compressed air and stuff.

It's been a fucking nightmare to be honest, last time I built a new PC I swore I'd never do it again... I should have listened to myself :|

 

[Gray]

heh the joys of building computers. i said i wouldnt build one either after the last time (Reminded me to make sure memory was the correct way around) but other week i did a rebuild which went... nearly fine.

The only problem, which quite literally took me about 2+ hours to fix, was taking out ONE fucking screw from the motherboard, the little copper holder instead of staying still, was turning along with the screw meaning it wouldnt come out...

Eventually i got fucked off with it and pulled it of the case, knowing i probably did break it but that was the risk i was taking for somethin so small ;o

But it worked fine... bar the Blue screens im hitting every so often but gonna install new case fans which should have arrived via OcUK (eep!) today ;o

PS - Aria is a tiddy place, i went on a huge adventure around manchester to find it, but at the back they have a big warehouse apparently

 

[Escape]

OCUK have built up a pretty good reputation, so I doubt they'll force you to keep dodgy goods

Are you sure you slotted in the 6800GT properly? Some AGP slots might be a bit tight, so you have to force down the card pretty hard. Also check your motherboard manual, there should be a trouble shooting guide to explain what caused the long BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP.

Should be getting my new system in next week, which will be a huge upgrade from my 4year old system The capacitors on my PSU started burning last year, there's some brown ooze coming out of the top so I figured it's time for an upgrade

btw, if you can refund the whole package, you might want to consider a PCI-E system. I'd guess your new PSU is ATX2.0 compliant? All you'd need is an nForce4 motherboard(hard to find until Feb) and PCI-E graphis card(OCUK should have the X800XL's in next for for about £200. Performance is similar to 6800GT).

 

[mank!]

Yeah, reseated the 6800GT at least twenty times and I'm not kidding. Strange though, nothing in the mobo manual or the manual for the graphics card about the long beeps. Eventually found it out via Google.

I've used OCUK loads and never had a problem but I've heard quite a lot of dodgy reports so I'm a bit worried now.

 

[smurkin]

I'm not a betting man...but, having had similar problems before with new builds...I'd bet strongly on the RAM...it may have been buggered out of the box...or, the dodgy psu may have blown it (dodgy psus are the leading cause of faulty ram).

Not an expert, but I would say, 3-4 working days is outstanding, especially this close to christmas - I hope they werent bullshitting you :touch:

 

[Herbal]

I'm not a betting man...but, having had similar problems before with new builds...I'd bet strongly on the RAM...it may have been buggered out of the box...or, the dodgy psu may have blown it (dodgy psus are the leading cause of faulty ram).

Not an expert, but I would say, 3-4 working days is outstanding, especially this close to christmas - I hope they werent bullshitting you :touch:

iiyama sorted out a problem with my monitor quicker, replacement comming today...1 day after my phone call :worthy:

Will be buying iiyama again in the future after such outstanding customer service

 

[mank!]

It was sent back last Thursday, definitely signed for according to Amtrak but I've heard nothing from OCUK. Do I have to wait around all day trying to phone them myself?

 

[Trem]

They are ***** for swapping stuff in my experience. It may be better for their precious mail order customers though. They sure as hell don't give a flying fuck about their real life customers, thats for certain.

 

[mank!]

I managed to get through and was told they hadn't receieved it, it was signed for last week! Apparently it was still sat in the warehouse, lovely. That fills me with confidence about your customer service.

Not been tested yet so won't hear owt until next week apparently. Gah. If they send me the stuff back I'll fucking send you round to hurt them Trem.

 

[Trem]

Well I need a power supply sometime next week so let me know. I will go and poke their nerdy faces.

 

[Vae]

Well I'm still waiting for a monitor that I ordered 2 weeks ago and should have been in stock in 1-3 days. Chased it last Thursday to be told they would have it in stock yesterday and I'd receive it today except the order is still showing as having gone to their warehouse and not been processed.

I'm seriously thinking of canceling my order when (if) I eventually manage to get through to them again on the phone.

 

[]SK[]

Basically, does anyone have any experience with OCUK when it comes to this sort of thing? What are they like? Will they take ages? Will they try and fob me off with dodgy goods again? Is this a common occurence? Will I get the money back from paying for next business day courier service?

Oh man I wish the BarrysWorld threads where still around. I have the same mare 2/3 years ago. Its like looking into a mirror this post

I sent my stuff back twice to OCUK they claimed everything was ok and charged me for postage three times because of it. In the end though it was my fault as the PSU wasnt powerful enough. By the time I learnt this though I had burnt out a XP2200 and had to settle in paying extra for a xp2000 from a local shop to see if the PSU did actually work. Ive still got that shitty CPU now. I think unless you know something is going to work or if you have spares around for testing I wouldn’t recommend building a machine again. From what ive read though this problem only occurs with AMD users. Its kinda frustrating when your not a computer noob either.

 

[SheepCow]

Avoid them whenever you can. If there is any problem at all they are impossible to contact.

They sent me RAM in a massive cardboard box with airbag padding. The RAM was loose, no other packaging, not even an anti-static bag. Needless to say it doesn't work.

 

[old.user4556]

I've used overclockers.co.uk now for years, had to return three things in that time and never had a problem.

Granted, they are hard to contact, but this isn't Dell we're talking about here. I also find that attaching a letter to the goods they respond much quicker.

 

[Danya]

Ordered a few bits from them last friday, got them next day, no probs. I've used them a few times without issues - never had to return anything tho.

 

[Sar]

Scan tbpfh.

Never had a prob with them.

 

[Catsby]

Catsby has had similar problems reported here with Scam.
Catsby does agree that all these companies are fine, untill you have to return something. Then, like Catsby, you will find yourself spending alot of time on the phone and spending money on shipping the product back and forth.

Catsby had to return 2 mb's which were faulty, costing about the same as mb itself. Then, to Catsby's delight, they tested the board before sending it to him. Catsby does not feel it totally necessary to say, it worked (and had a totally different batch number!)

 

[mank!]

Stuff was dispatched today, so it should arrive tomorrow morning. I hope.

 

[Danya]

I've never had a problem returning hardware to any company, including Scan.

 

[mank!]

It arrived today and I've spent all day putting it back together and it still doesn't work. They've sent me back the exact same items and told me there was no fault and it worked fine for them.

Either they're bullshitting me or I'm being a retard. Anyone fancy coming and putting it together for me?

 

[Trem]

Run me through it. Step by step. It may be a ball ache to do but it may be worth it.

Make sure mobo is set to correct agp speed btw.