"I recently had the pleasure to work with Joe Mundy at AVAdirect (recommended by Chad Ashley on the GSG podcast). Joe was great, worked with me and my budget (even when we had multiple ones) to get me a computer that fit my companies needs. On top of that, we went back and forth multiple times to discuss prices, discounts and payments, and he was a pleasure both via email and on the phone. I would have been frustrated with my stupid questions, but he handled it like a professional.

Will definitely be reaching out to them again in the future! "

"We purchased a desktop computer from AVA in June 2016, and finally configured and had it up and running in September with the Windows 7 OS (at our request). The glitch we encountered was a failure of live updates of the OS not downloading, which we discovered within a short time after the computer was up and running. Tech Support at AVA was contacted, and offered a “fix”, which still did not solve the problem. After much reading on the Microsoft website about the problems with Windows 7 updates, and a “click”; for a fix, the problem with live updates persisted, further adding to much frustration and a need to abandon problem resolution for a while. AVA was again contacted in January 2017 for help, and their Tech Support was there to help bring successful resolution to the problem. After a 4+ hour of remote work from Joe, we now have all of the live updates for Windows 7, and our computer is running smoothly and fast. We are now considering upgrading to Windows 10 in the future, and will only purchase the product from AVA because of their superior USA based technical support. Thanks Joe and Sean. Keep up the great work."

"First off I would like to say thank you to the AVA Team for an amazing buying experience. I have bought gaming computers in the past from other companies and AVA Direct is by far the best I have purchased from.
The prices are great and the customer service is top notch.
I know Sean C. one of the sales reps. had to be getting sick of my constant messaging and emails but throughout he was very professional and courteous.
Their accounting person (can't remember her name) was amazing I had a hiccup on my end with the purchase and she walked me through my issue and followed-up with me to verify everything went through.
They have a huge selection of components and everything I was looking for they had. I went with an EVGA build of my own through the "True Custom" section of their gaming desktops. Kyle M. helped me out with my quote and I upgraded some components as he suggested. Got the custom rig home, unboxed it plugged it in and not one issue, what-so-ever.

I highly recommend AVA Direct to anyone thinking of getting a custom computer or a regular one for that matter, you will not be disappointed.

My Build:
DG-8 Series DG-87 w/ Window, No PSU, E-ATX, Metallic Gunmetal Grey, Full Tower Case
X99 FTW K, Intel X99 Chipset, LGA 2011-3, DDR4 128GB, M.2, USB 3.1, E-ATX
Core i7-6800K Six-Core 3.4 - 3.6GHz TB, LGA 2011-3, 15MB L3 Cache, DDR4, 14nm, 140W
GeForce GTX 1080 FTW HYBRID GAMING, 1721 - 1860MHz, 8GB GDDR5X 256-Bit, PCI Express 3.0
16GB Kit (2 x 8GB) Vengeance LED DDR4 3200MHz, PC4-25600, CL16 (16-18-18-36) 1.2V, Non-ECC, Black, Red LED, DIMM Memory
SuperNOVA Series 850 P2 850W, 80 PLUS Platinum ECO Mode, Full Modular, ATX Power Supply
MasterLiquid Pro 280mm, Socket 2011-3/1151/AM3+/FM2+, Retail Liquid Cooling System
HTK-002, 2.37g, 0.8 (W/m-K), High Performance, White Thermal Compound
6 x SickleFlow 120mm, 2000 RPM, 52.19 CFM, 19 dBA Cooling Fan
128GB 600p 2280, 770 / 450 MB/s, 3D NAND TLC, PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe, M.2 SSD
1TB / 8GB MLC FireCuda ST1000DX002, 7200 RPM, SATA 6Gb/s NCQ, 64MB cache, 3.5-Inch OEM SSHD
Standard Wiring with Precision Cable Routing and Tie-Down
"

"I placed an order for a custom computer that I intended to use for both work and gaming purposes on Black Friday, November 25th of 2016. It should be noted that I did not purchase a hard drive, OS or video card (they did not have the hard drive I wanted and I already had a video card). I also paid for a mild overclocking (10-20%) of the Intel 6700K 4.0 ghz CPU I chose.

I picked this time so that I could take advantage of certain savings as well as free shipping. I had been shopping at other custom computer sites and chose Avadirect for their slightly better pricing. They also had a great option in the form of "Affirm" that allowed me to pay the full price of the computer over the course of 3 months with a very small interest charge. I received the computer on December 29th due to a 1-day delay by Fedex.

Positive experiences with Avadirect: when speaking to customer service, they were generally pleasant to talk. The computer itself runs very well, and I had no issues installing Windows 10 on it. Unfortunately, that is all the positive experiences I had.

Negative experiences: As you can see, considering that no hard drive, OS or video card was ordered, the amount of time it took for my computer to be completed and delivered to me was a bit excessive. One might say that it is around the holidays and that this explains it. I saw reviews on here of people who ordered AFTER me and received it before. It took 2 full weeks before my computer was past the parts allocation stage. A week later I called to inquire and was told it was on the overclocking bench and that it should be ready to ship by the next day. I called the following Monday only to hear that it was still on the overclocking bench "because there was no hard drive and we had to install our own to overclock it." I'm not expert, but I have put computers together myself and it doesn't take 2 days to pop in a hard drive. I had been told that the average overclock done normally with an unlocked CPU is around 17% by a customer service representative by the name of of Sean yet I only received a 10% overclock (4.4 up from 4.0 ghz). I purchased a large 240mm liquid cooler so that it could handle a higher overclock, which it seems now was unnecessary. When I called back to inquire regarding the 10% overclock I was told once again by Sean "that's the best our guys could do."

The icing on the cake was when I VERY respectfully and calmly shared my concerns about the whole experience, there were NO efforts to justify, explain or validate me as the customer whatsoever. Instead, there was silence until I finally said "well, thanks for your time I guess."

It's unfortunate that although I received a pretty good machine (as of yet it runs well), I had to have a pretty sour experience. I would NOT order from them again.

Little customer service tip: don't tell a customer the BEST case scenario about when they can expect their order. You're bound to leave them disappointed."

"I made an order on the 5th of December. It said on the e-mail it would take 10-14 business days to finish. I waited about ten days then I sent a message inquiring about the status of my order. A sales rep responded shortly saying It's scheduled to be shipped on the 27th, which was fine for me since I picked the true custom tier. Then during work I got an e-mail that said it would ship on the 23rd. It got sent to my house through overnight on the 24th and I was eager to see it since I was at work during that time. When I got home, I unboxed it and got everything I ordered plus holiday freebie games. Thank you very much AVADirect, your prompt response and great service has made my holiday very special!"

"On October 2nd I completed my computer build and placed my order. I was shortly contacted by a customer service representative for credit card verification as it was a high dollar order. They worked with me on how to get my banks approval to complete the payment process. It really is nice that they take extra verification steps (don't forget to e-sign your order form when ordering).

After my order was placed I was advised through email of the estimated build time, about 8-10 weeks. This may seem like a long time to wait but my system was custom built from the ground up. There was also no telling how many systems were ahead of mine.

I contacted AVA several times asking for build time updates. My inquiries were answered by sales manager Joseph Mundy, who answered any questions I may have had and never seemed bothered by my inquiries. It should be noted that most of my questions were responded to the same day. The only exception was when I sent an email after business hours. I always received a response to these inquiries first thing the next morning.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, my computer arrived on December 6th. The packing itself was very will done. Tons of protective wrap were inside and the computer itself was fit into a styrofoam sleeve. The outside of the box itself was covered in black plastic, protecting it from water damage. Be aware, AVA also places formed packing foam inside the computer to protect it. Make sure it is removed prior to starting it up.

After unpacking and starting the computer up it was immediately apparent that everything was worth the wait. Then only hang up I had is the remote control for my LED lights was missing. I contacted Mr. Mundy and advised him. He immediately got back to me and sent me a new remote. I would also like to add the remote was sent next day shipping and I received it the following morning.

All in all I couldn't be happier with my computer. The cable management is brilliant and the custom water cooling is a work of art. The only issue I ever had after several months of correspondence was the missing remote, and that was remedied immediately!

AVA Direct runs a business with the customer in mind, and you actually feel valued. The wait times for you product may seem like forever, but the end result is definitely worth it! Customer service was great and honestly, I can't think of anything this company could of done better."

"Good build at a mediocre price. They failed to include my motherboard driver disk which is extremely important and necessary when I went to install an M.2 hard drive. The driver CD is supposed to be included in the motherboard's box -- where is it AVA? I wanted to upgrade to a better video card (before the computer was even built) and they charged me a 20% "restocking" fee. Really? My $800.00 purchase wasn't enough? "

"I was extremely satisfied with the number of options / customizations that were available on their site. After visiting various other computer sites (Dell, HP, Falcon Northwest, Origin PC, iBUYPOWER, CyberPower, and Digital Storm.), I ultimately ended up going with AVADirect and do not regret my decision. I have never owned a desktop before (always been a laptop guy), so I didn't want to build my first one from scratch. I did know what I wanted in my desktop and AVADirect took care of the rest."

"I had AVA Direct build a Windows 10 workstation for me to do motion graphics and video editing. I also have an Oculus attached to the system. This is a screaming fast system.

Throughout the process, AVA Direct was top notch. There was a slight delay for my order during the QA process, as the CPU failed to pass the overclock test. I was grateful that they caught it before my system was shipped out. I called a couple of times towards the end of the process as I was anxious for the new box, and the people I talked to were very friendly and helpful.

I will definitely go back to AVA Direct for my next desktop machine."

"Custom PC arrived perfectly assembled and in immaculate condition, the shipping was exemplary."

"I ordered a higher end gaming laptop at this time last year. I don't live in the States but planned to pick it up when I visited for the holidays. The laptop was there waiting for me when I arrived in mid-December. That's where everything started to go wrong.

My laptop started, then did not start again. I called support. "M" from support asked me to open my new laptop and try to re-insert the memory card. I tried but failed to get the new laptop open (thinking why am I opening a new product). So, we agree that I'll send it back.

I send it back and, tracking the delivery, see that it has arrived. I call to ask about it. M tells me that, though it may have been delivered, AVA is a large place and it has not reached the tech department. He says he'll call once it has. His tone is condescending.

The next day by noon I have received no call. I call AVA. It's another very polite person in tech. He says that M is at lunch but that he'll have him call me once he has returned from lunch. By 2:30, no one has called. I call M, and he acts as if no one has told him anything about my calling. He simply asks "What can I do for you?" as if he has no idea why I'm calling. I ask about my computer, and he says they haven't gotten to it yet, but that he'll call me when they have looked at it. I wait until 4:30. No call. They're about to close. I call him, and he says it's on the bench and the techs are looking at it. He doesn't know how long that will take.

At this point, even if the computer gets fixed, it is doubtful that it will make it back to me before I leave. M has spoken to me like I'm a child every time I've had contact with him, and I'm done.

I tell him I want a refund.

This seems to get his attention. He's like "Ohhhhh....kay....I'll have to charge you a 15% restocking fee because you ordered this over a month ago. I tell him that is not acceptable. He says that is the rule.

I ask him for the contact number of the person who handles credit card arbitration and calls from the better business bureau. M says that he is that person... I tell M that I want to speak to whoever is above M. He says there is no one above him. I ask him about the owner of AVA. He says "Well, yeah, but he's on vacation." He finally decides that I can contact the head of customer service. We'll call her C.

I contact C, and to make a long story short, she resolves the problem with my computer (incompatability between hardware and memory) AND gets it express shipped to me overnight.

Voila.

She would get a 5-star rating if I had only dealt with her alone. I didn't, and my experience with M is not how I expect to be treated when making an $1800 purchase. I know that the holiday season is coming, and I can't just let this go knowing that someone else might be doing business with AVA and getting the runaround from M, who might very well be a good technician but has no business dealing with customers. Moreover, the idea that he is second in command below the owner is highly unsettling.

I further awarded a low-score for shipping because my computer initially shipped in a state that was not fully functional. M attributed this to not having put enough foam in the shipping box. It had nothing to do with that.

Would I recommend AVA to other computer shoppers?
I'm sorry, but I cannot."

"I am currently on my third laptop computer, with all being from AVADirect since my first purchase in 2009 for college. (Other 2 laptops, one I dropped in a college hall, the other bad wiring in apartment blew). Since my first purchase, I have always returned to AVADirect due to their competitive prices, ability to extensively customize their systems, but most importantly to me, their customer service. They are always available via direct call to help troubleshoot any issues, even after the warranty period has passed. This level of customer service that has been a constant since I met the company in 2009 is what will keep me coming back in years to come.
And oh, did I say their systems are perfectly priced?"

"Ordered a custom light gaming build (1080p) with GTX 1060 with all the parts I wanted. The selection of parts is vast and has high quality components to choose from. The prices are great as even compared to DIY builds. The machine arrived in a box well packaged outside, and inside the machine was packaged with form to protect the parts from moving around. The machine has been running for over three weeks, and I'm very happy with it! Customer service is very responsive. I will do more future builds with this company!"

"My experience with your company started off great. Then it went all down hill. The sales staff was very helpful and got a uncommonly large payment processed, through all the troubles. I was happy and was told my system would ship out after a 2 week period. I also received an email (which I still have) letting me know my system would ship in that period. This is a line taken from that email "Your order has been approved by our Accounting Department. Please allow 10-14 business days for us to process and ship your order. If you have any questions regarding your order prior to shipment, please feel free to let us know at any time." So you can imagine my surprise when I called after 2 and a half weeks to find out my system wasn't even being built yet. So I was obviously upset because I had made plans for my new PC and sold my old one. Just to be stuck with nothing now. I was informed then that it would probably be 3 additional weeks! (due to "extensive testing of the system and quality checks." Okay so I finally choke that bullet down. (PC still didn't ship until after 6 weeks....) Then the PC arrives and I'm totally happy! Then the first remote for the LED light controls didn't worked. (Tried 3 new batteries so I knew it was the remote) So I'm stuck with a rainbow color PC, flashing like crazy. They send out a new remote and it works! BUT! The LED strip is two different colors when you pick any solid color and half turns off when you pick blue.... (not to mention the remote only works from 8 inches away.) I also noticed at this point because I have the side case off and am trying to check all the connections that there is some black substance all over the glass tubes. (It did wipe right off) But still where was the testing and quality checks??? Obviously NOT done! I paid 6,300 so I would getting taken care of, not to get my money taken and get thrown aside. Now that you are paid you don't give a damn that I've gone through hell and the problem still isn't fixed and support stopped responding to my emails and picture evidence. Yes I've been complaining this transaction should of been smooth for such a company. (So I thought.)"

"AVADIRECT gives you the opportunity to build the computer the way you want it. There is no added software, other then what you order. You also have the option of picking the type of case the computer comes in. Very unique.

It is so refreshing not having to contend with all the pop-up reminders and messages that comes with the extraneous software installed on Dell, HP and so on.

My AVADIRECT custom computer has been up and working for 1 week and I have experienced no problem what so ever. I have no reason to think that will change but I want to be fair and up front with this review.

When ordering the computer, I communicated with Mr. Joe Mundy on several occasions and he was always very helpful and accommodating.

I am very satisfied with the computer and would certainly recommend and order other computers from AVADIRECT."