"Negative interaction, response, and delivery of customer satisfaction from Compuvest.com.

Issues:
• Long delay on order acceptance.
• Long delay in receiving order.
• Merchandise did not work when received.
• Long wait for testing to verify the issue.
• Still waiting for final resolution.

I would not recommend purchasing ANYTHING from Compuvest.com.

We needed another Laser Printer for our business. To minimize supply expenses we choose to purchase another HP 1200 LaserJet. Unfortunately, they are no longer being manufactured. So we decided to purchase a refurbished unit.
• Long delay on order acceptance - After submitting a requisition to our purchasing department, I was informed that we were purchasing through Compuvest.com. I did not think that would be a problem. Order was taken on Friday Jan 8th but the order was not placed until Jan 13th.
• Long delay in receiving order - After a couple of phone calls we were told the unit was shipping from Renton Washington by UPS but they could not give us a tracking number. Being in Oregon, we figured it would be here in a couple days. That was not the case. When the printer finally arrived on Jan 20th, the UPS Labeled showed it shipped from Tennessee.
• Merchandise did not work when received - The Printer came with a HP Test Print Sheet that looked like it came from the printer. We installed the toner Cartridge and hooked the printer up. It made a horrible gear grinding noise. We removed the cover. Took pictures and Video for emailing back to Compuvest.

When Purchasing contacted Compuvest, we were told we could not get a refund, they would need to verify the issue first and then would send us this Printer repaired, or a replacement Printer. At this point I was frustrated, but willing to let it run the course and chalk this up to experience and not ever order from Compuvest.com in the future. But….

• Long wait for testing to verify the issue - We shipped the defective Printer back to Compuvest on Jan 25th, they received it Jan 27th. (hummm two days from Oregon to Renton WA, go figure????). We called them on Feb 1st for a status. All we were told was it takes them ten days to process the defective units. When I asked Sara, of Compuvest, why it took so long ,I was told that they process items as they receive them, and since they get so may returns, it takes ten days. When pressed about the comment of ‘so many returns’, I was informed that many customers don’t know what they are buying in the first place, and that all the items that are returned need to be tested before they can determine course of action.

Now let’s make some assumptions… Say there is one test technician. Let’s say the technician can test one item an hour; that would mean that Compuvest receives 40 items a week that do not meet the customers’ needs or expectations. With 52 weeks in a year that comes to 2,080 returns in a year. Compuvest has been in business for ~14 years, so if this is a typical year with typical assumptions that means they have received over 29 thousand returns in the life of their company. And that assumes they only have one test technician. Since Compuvest’s reviews on the internet have been mixed for over 10 years, I could only assume that they have addressed the issue and added more testers so that makes my assumption on 29K returns very conservative.
• Still waiting for final resolution - As it stands now, three weeks later… I don’t have a printer, I will not know what the resolution will be for another week and a half, and even at that time (if history holds true) I may not receive the repair/replacement for a week after that.

This is not acceptable, but I have no real recourse except to add to the numerous mixed reviews on the internet. And with my experience, I take the positive reviews with a grain of salt and truly question the authentication of the posters. I believe they have failed at delivering their tag line from their search engine results posting “Compuvest.com offer the best pricees on computer parts,fast shipping,top-rated customer service.”

Update: 2/3/10 – I contacted Compuvest’s Sales Manager. She was very compassionate and was able to expedite the testing phase. Testing confirmed that the printer was indeed defective. Unfortunately, there was not another HP 1200 Printer available. Therefore, Compuvest honored their return policy and refunded the entire purchase price, including the defective part return shipping cost. I have already received the credit memo. I’m happy with the outcome. I just wish business deal could have been handled quickly without having to escalate to the management level. In the future, I may consider doing business with Compuvest."

"Excellent resources,good products. Service is very prompt and the products are good quality. I highly recommend them. "

"Compuvest was the only store online that I searched to have in their posession an Intel Pentium 4 w/HT socket 478 processor, this alone was amazing. The fact that they had manufacturer refurbished ones for ~$30 was even more amazing. To top it all off, with the 3day shipping, it arrived in exactly 3 days from when I submitted my order. I'm definately coming back to Compuvest for any of my "odd-ball/ancient" upgrade needs."

"Bought a refurbished GTX 285 and love it! Fast service and I even talked with a Human....Bought on Friday received on Tuesday!"

"great service, great price. item got to me much faster than anticipated. thanks!"

"Ordered a router from them at after looking around the web for around 30 minutes. They had they best price for it and it arrived very fast. I'm very happy with there service."

"Ordered a CS50 USB Wireless Headset. Got a message later that it wasn't in stock and would I like to substitute something else. I said no and they canceled. No problem except they had already billed my credit card! Two days later the charge was reversed but I didn't appreaciate the charge before shipping."

"Product works great, price to fantastic. Arrived promptly."

"I am very pleased with the prices, attention and speed that I got from CompuVest."

"I wasn't sure about the product I would be getting and actually thought the AC adapter would just be compatible with my computer and not made by the manufacturere. I was really excited to see that it was brand name and it was shipped as promised and delivered on time. I will definently do business with Compuvest again. Thanks!"

"I got what I ordered and it arrived quickly. They had the best price I could find. I would buy from them again."

"Price of item was the lowest on the internet, The shipping was very reasonable, And the item was a first class product, and was new as was stated."

"Quick shipping as requested, and the motherboard was new and sealed as advertised. Price was very competitive. I'm very pleased with the transaction I had with CompuVest."

"Shipped in a reasonable fashion & packaged very good."

"Compuvest's website was organized well. The Customer Care representative I've spoke to before purchasing my CPU was friendly, professional and answered all my questions fully. I especially enjoyed the feature on the site that allowed you to add a discount to your product. The only negative thing I can think of is that some of their customer service information on their website was out-of-date. Perfect examples include "PayPal for U.S. Customers Only" when in fact PayPal was available for everyone internationally.

Another issue applied for credit card purchases for international customers. On the company's "Before Ordering/Shipping" information, the site clearly stated that international customers with credit cards would have to have pay 4% through a service called PAILY. Turns out PAILY service was dropped. Other than that I was happy with the service experience I received. "