"I'm rating the quality of the sales/ordering process, since I decided not to place an order. The salesman, James, promised to call me back to discuss my email sales quote. He informed me that the prices on the website are not "in real time" and therefore change all the time; I can only place the order with a representative to get an actual price. He called 3 times to say that he still diidn't have time to review my order, even though I told him I needed to place the order today. I waited around for 3 hours, then he finally told me that they were closing for the day and he didn't have time to complete the order. This was a most frustrating and shady experience. What business quotes prices on their website that are not accurate at the time you place an order? BEWARE! I think that many of the negative reviews for this company may have been deleted because no order has actually been placed (per guidelines on site). I strongly advise you to avoid this company because of the "bait and switch" sales tactics."

"Here is the evaluation for an AVA direct purchase I made about 3 weeks ago. The computer designed was a graphics workstation for running Photoshop.

Website Rating* 4 (Good)

Sales Service Rating 4 (Good)

Customer Service Rating 4 (Good)

System Build Quality 5 (Excellent)

System Packaging Quality 5 (Excellent)

Overall System Rating 5 (Excellent)

Technical Support Rating 4 (Good)

Best Features*

Customization
Build Quality

Worst Features*

Processing Time (but bot really too bad about 2 weeks)

Overall Company Rating* 5 (Excellent)

Overall Satisfaction* Satisfied "

"The computer was packed well and arrived on time with no parts loose when it arrived. This computer has worked as anticipated without problems. Delivered as projected. This computer is used in our church office.

CUSTOM PC, Core™ i3 / i5 Performance HD Series Desktop Computer System. COOLER MASTER, Gladiator 600 Black Mid Tower Case, ATX, No PSU, Steel
HEC, Orion HP 585D 585W Power Supply, 24-pin ATX, ATX12V, Dual 80mm Fans, OEM. GIGABYTE, GA-H57M-USB3, LGA1156, Intel® H57, DDR3-2133 (O.C.) 16GB /4, PCIe x16 CF /2, SATA 3 Gb/s RAID 5 /7, USB 3.0 /2, VGA+DVI, HDMI, DP, HDA, GbLAN, FW /2, ATX,
INTEL, Core™ i7-860 Quad-Core 2.8GHz, LGA1156, 4.8 GT/s, 8MB L3 Cache, 45nm, 95W, EM64T EIST VT XD,
ZALMAN, CNPS10X Quiet CPU Cooler, Socket 1366/1156/775/AM3/AM2/940/939/754, Copper/Aluminum, KINGSTON, 8GB (4 x 2GB) HyperX PC3-12800 DDR3 1600MHz CL8 (8-8-8) 1.65V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC. SAPPHIRE, Radeon™ HD 5450 650MHz, 1GB DDR2 800MHz, PCIe x16, VGA+DVI, HDMI. WESTERN DIGITAL, 640GB WD Caviar® Green™ (WD6400AARS), SATA 3 Gb/s, IntelliPower™, 64MB Cache RAID, No RAID, Independent HDD Drives.LITE-ON, iHDS118 Black 18x48x DVD-ROM Drive, SATA, OEM. SONY, AD-7241S Black 24x DVD±R/RW Dual-Layer Burner w/ Lightscribe, SATA, OEM. SABRENT, CRW-UINB Black 1.44MB Floppy Drive + 68-in-1 Card Reader/Writer Drive, 3.5" Bay, Internal USB. CREATIVE, Sound Blaster® Audigy® SE, 7.1 channels, 24-bit, 96KHz, PCI, Retail. ENERMAX, Aurora Premium Black Keyboard, USB 2.0, 2x USB ports, Audio, Aluminum.
MICROSOFT, Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 Wired Optical Mouse, 5 Buttons + 1 Wheel, USB + PS/2, Black.
MICROSOFT, Windows 7 Professional 64-bit Edition, OEM. WARRANTY, Silver Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts, 3 Year Labor Warranty)"

"I ordered a custom built gaming PC from AVADirect.com and the computer has exceeded all my expectations. I called customer service twice while the order was being processed and had my questions resolved immediately. The product received was well worth the wait (which was about 3 weeks) and the money paid. Highly recommend."

"I normally have my husband build/customize my computers, but this time we decided to go with a custom builder for my Windows 7 PC. We are glad we did and very pleased we are a customer of AVA Direct. Our purchase went smoothly and our inquiries were answered promptly. My PC was ordered in mid-October and was received the first week of November.

The package arrived in fine condition and the PC was firmly packed and double boxed. My CPU cooler and other delicate parts in the tower were secured in the interior of the case with foam.

The PC was constructed as ordered and runs perfectly. The wiring was neat, professional and very well done. I am very satisfied with my purchase and would definitely buy from AVA again. The only real issue for me was the manner in which the software and hardware documentation was sent to me. It was all piled together in the motherboard box which was okay but messy. I sorted it all out. The manual came with some disk sleeves in the back. Some slots were empty and I would have thought it would have been a bit neater to put the disks in a holder and make the end product even more classy.

Overall, this was a very satisfying purchase."

"Overall, I am very satisfied with AVADirect, the PC I configured and had them build for me. There is no reason why I wouldn't do business with them again."

"You guys did a great job thx for not screwing up my computer, I would have flipped out if there would have been any problem at all! Always remember how important your work is and keep it up be 100% at all times no mistakes. Ha no mistakes I should proof read this or spell check it, but no this is just a survey so. The only thing you guys didn't do perfect is my i7 brag sticker is on the i7 instruction booklet and I can't really get it off. I know your not allowed to like put it on the computer yourself but find a way to ppl can use the sticker easily. On the website where you let ppl pick out there parts put a little spot that says ("If a part will not work properly with your build we will call you and let you know") something like that. So that if some idiot buys a tiny computer case with a gigantic cpu cooler or attempts to, you can say whoa whoa whoa that's not gonna work bro. I was scared that might happen to me so I called and asked about it first. Encourage people to research"

"I found AVA Direct on google based on ResellerRatings after I had a very bad experience with CyberPowerPC. To be clear, AVA Direct is the trustable lowest price online store for custom PC. Yes, I did extensive google research. And AVA Direct website give many choices of custom components at very reasonable price. I was really impressed by the detailed spec and pictures on each particular component. That gives me further confidence that AVA Direct is very detail oriented and professional and reliable.
My Core i5 PC arrived with nicely packed. Foams were used between internal components to avoid shipping damage. PC works without problem at all. Very glad I chose AVA Direct. You will understand the reasons behind the high ratings about AVA Direct on ResellerRatings and somewhere else on internet "

"This is a good place to put together a system if you know what you need; The choice of part and options is better than any other site and the quality of the building is very good.The price of parts is at PAR with other online retailers."

"Simply could not be happier with AVA. Never used them before, but I will use them from now on!

Their website was easy to use, they have a great selection and great prices as well. The whole ordering process was very simple and easy to use.

I can't tell you how happy I am with my machine. AVA did a fantastic job doing a wire tidy and taking care into ensuring that the computer was assembled and my concerns were addressed during production.

It's SO powerful and SO quiet too! My games load 2-3x faster, and my Adobe applications start in record time! The folks at AVA have been very helpful and it's easy to see that they are professionals in the field who want only the best for their customers.

AVA comes with my recommendation in spades. Simply couldn't say enough good things about them."

"I had previously purchased a customized desk machine and was looking for a server. The box was delivered a few days early exactly as ordered.

This is a boring result of a much longer ordering process to create a system with the specific components needed. The patience and expertise of the sales associates lead to uneventful implementations -- which is what I really seek in a business partnership. The box arrived, all of the out-of-system parts were found in box, the power, networking cables connected and with the addition of a keyboard and mouse the system went live and and been productive ever since.

I've not had any issues or problems with either of the purchased systems -- the new 2x4-way server or the previous purchased "desktop replacement" box which has been in service, continuously, for about 10 months).

But AVA Direct is becoming my first stop when additional parts, or systems, is needed."

"This is the best laptop i ever owned.It worked flawlessly and better than expected."

"I bought a PC from AVA direct 1/1/08. The ordering, delivery, and performance of the PC was fine. I purchased a "Platinum" (5 year warranty) from AVADirect.
The PC has a RAID 10. Two of the four hard drives failed, but because of the RAID, the system still functioned without loss of data. I sent the PC back to AVA 9/09 for repair under warranty.
I am currently waiting to see how AVA handles the repair and look forward to giving them a favorable review. I'll keep you posted!

12/8/09 UPDATE:
Completely unhappy with AVA's service.

Unit was returned, NOT REPAIRED ("RAID DEGRADED"), and all of the contents from my hard drive, including all program files were wiped off the disk!

Here's a brief chronology (there are 61 emails between myself and AVA since 9/09/0):


My computer was functioning (as noted above)when I sent it back to AVA 9/9/09, because two of the four hard drives in the RAID were still functioning properly (one reason I had a RAID 10 was so the computer would continue to function without data loss if one or two of the hard drives failed).
I returned the unit for repair on 9/09/09 and was notified by Chris in service on 9/26 that "AVA was waiting on Hitachi to replace the hard drives."
I reminded AVA that my warranty was with AVA and not Hitachi, and could they please replace the hard hard drive(s) and tranfer the contents of the (functioning) remaining two drives which contained my complete program and user files.

Chris insisted that we wait on Hitachi to replace the "defective" hard drive.
On 10/05 I expressed concerns about retaining the existing and still accessible hard drive data, and was reassured by AVA thatIf we need to touch the hard drive you will be the first to know. Otherwise he wouldn't touch it unless there is an issue with the operating system.
Over the next several months, AVA received from, and sent back to Hitachi multiple hard drives until, on 11/30 I was notified that the New drive installed and RAID was being rebuilt and then a read/write test will be performed for 24 hrs and shipped tomorrow.

I had reminded AVA service of our agreement that, "REMINDER, My repaired PC, or a replacement with the contents of the hard drive cloned onto it, is due to be shipped by you tomorrow, 11/25."

So today, 12/8, I received my computer, and during boot up there is a message: RAID DEGRADED.
I thought, "You've got to be kidding".

HOWEVER, that wasn't the worst part.
I went to check the disk and ALL OF THE PROGRAM AND USER FILES WERE GONE.

Before shipping, I had copied my user files onto a separate hard drive, but there were MANY programs on the disk that will have to be reinstalled and some of them repurchased (presumably at my expense and with my time).

At this point I don't see how AVA can make amends for the time lost (I rely on the PC for Photo-editing), lost programs, and the fact that I still have a comptuter with a degraded RAID.

I voiced my displeasure to Chris and Mishe.

Mishe said to take it up with service since, this is a service issue. I said I had "taken it up with service", and that at this point, it is more than a service issue, but also a credibility issue with the company and probably a breach of the warranty I still hold with AVA.

Service said that the data could not be saved because two hard drive needed to be replaced. They had replaced two hard drive and were unaware that the data was lost. They apologized. As for the degraded array they tested the system for over 48hrs with the new upgraded drive without and issues and even did a rebooter test and offered to send the test results as well. What might have happeend is a SATA cable could have come loose from one of the drives during shipping which would cause your issue. I was advise reseat all cables on each end drive and motherboard to make sure.

Now, I don't even know how to open the back of the computer or know what a SATA cable is or looks like.

I am obviously very reluctant to send the computer back for repairs given the dismal outcome so far.
To be fair, I'll listen to what AVA has to say, and if they come up with a solution better than what has been done so far, I'll promptly update this review.

12/9/09 UPDATE:

Followed written advice of Chris and opened the PC to have a try at finding the SATA cables. Having never opened a PC, it was still obvious what the problem was: two of the four RAID hard drives were dislodged (downward) almost completely from their slots and the lower most drive cable was dangling in the breeze. It appeared as though the unit m ust've been dropped, and, judging from how much force was neede to reseat them it must have ben dropped from at least 6 feet. (The fact that AVA immediately told me to ckeck this, and, other reseller reviews of similar problems, makes me wonder how often shipping damage is happening).
Once I plugged in the SATA cable the RAID rebuilt itself successfully.
Now I have the task of reloading all my user files (no big deal, I hope!) and reloading my program files ( a bigger deal, since it appears that I might have to repurchase some of the photo processing software that I had previously downloaded onto the PC.)
Will keep you posted.

Summary: The most aggravating part of my repair, was having patience to deal with AVA's policy of returning defective parts to the manufacturer and then passing on these delays (which in my case was 3 months). My warranty is with AVA, not a 3rd party supplier. AVA could've taken a hard drive from their on hand inventory.
For my next purchase, I'll seriously consider a vendor who offers the option of in home repair."

"Great experience. I've purchased several computers from the "big box" people such as Dell and Gateway, this is my first custom built. Everything went smoothly, machine arrived ahead of expectations and built quality is superb. I would recommend AVA to anyone who wants a quality computer at a very fair price."

"First time buyer. Was quite happy with my system, arrived well-packaged and well-built. Would've maybe liked a little bit more feedback from customer service regarding the parts I picked for the custom system. Otherwise, no complaints, system runs stable as a rock.
"