"I feel that this company needs to learn a bit more about customer service before continuing their business practices. I purchased a athlon xp2200 cpu combo w/motherboard and fan. The cpu is defective. I am holding on to it right now because Im waiting for the RMA to go through on the website, and the person who I purchased it for is without a working computer. I don't feel that I should have to pay for return shipping for a cpu that was defective. I recieved a defective CPU, it's not compubuzz's fault..... but it sure isn't the customers either. When instances such as this occur, the company must stand behind the products that they sell. I feel another CPU should be sent immediately along with paid postage and packing for the defective cpu. This a common business practice for 1st rate companies. If you want to develop a large customer base I would suggest changing your ways. Please knock off the return/restocking fees. That just ticks customers off. You should also chill out on the upgrades and bait and switch tactics, thats just plain annoying. I've ordered and been satisfied with this company before. This time I have a defective product, well see if compubuzz steps up to the plate with the 1st rate companies and promptly offers me a working product for what I paid."

"Purchased Athlon XP 2600+ & PCChips M848ALU mobo combo, paid $7 for a rushed order. Still took two days to process. Product arrives; and I install the parts with other working parts I have. Discover the CPU is bad after thoroughly testing. I contact for an RMA; first response is ignored and they ask me what the problem is. I then tell them I need an RMA; takes them 4 business days (including 2 days over the weekend) to respond - after calling them, which went nowhere.

The RMA is finally issued; but they put all kinds of stipulations and you must sign an agreement before sending back. Among the stipulations - they charge you a $35 fee if "item is found NOT defective" by their standards (gives them any reason to send back, even if product is really defective). They claim if the processor has the appearance of change - such as if you put heat compound or something of that nature on it - you cannot return product. Then there was another peculiar stipulation - if they don't find your packaging in which you returned the product in to be of their liking (and this is no joke), then they charge your credit card $35 for a service fee plus shipping charges to send it back. AND I KID YOU NOT THAT IS WHAT MY PARTICULAR RMA SAID.

Basically this company is a fraudulent trap. They resell bad products and shuffle them among customers if the product ends up back in their system. If you order from them you are playing russian roulette - you either get a working product for a low price or you get a defective product with an RMA policy that allows them to ignore your request at their liking and even ADD CHARGES TO YOUR CREDIT CARD on top of the original order.

If this company does not refund me by the time my credit card statement comes in; I'm filing a fraudulent charge claim, contacting the Better Business Bureau, as well as writing the local authorities in the Chicago area to take care of this scum of a company.

BEWARE - this is a fradulently operating company."

"DO NOT BUY FROM THESE GUYS. They're the Worst i ordered an AMD 2400XP and they sent an 1800xp with a broken fan that made the most god awful noise. When i contacted them absolutly no response from them. i'm still waiting. The absolute lack of customer service is the most annoying part of this ordeal.
and if anyone from compubuzz reads this. you suck!!!"

"BEWARE OF MARIA!!!

I placed an online order for a motherboard combo on February 10. Maria called me February 11 with what I now understand has become a common bait-and-switch tactic employed by this company. The motherboard I ordered was "incompatible with Windows 2000 or Windows XP." I suggested that since it was a socket 478 board, which means it was manufactured after 1999, it should be fully compatible with either operating system. Not so, according to Maria. The board I wanted was a "modified socket 478, an older board" and the company's "experience" had not been positive for Win2000 or WinXP customers. Not knowing any better, I authorized a $65 upgrade to my order.

I sat down at my computer that evening and began reading reviews and there were so many "let the buyer beware" reviews relative to this company and this particular board. The more I read, the more concerned I became about the transaction.

I tried to call that evening to cancel my order. They were closed for the day.

I spent over two hours trying to reach them the morning of February 12th and finally connected with Maria again. As we spoke, I pulled up my credit card account. The charge had not yet been processed. I shared this information with her as I asked that the order be cancelled and the charge not taken. She offered me several alternatives to sweeten the deal, but I insisted the order be cancelled. She placed me on hold.

When she came back, it was "ummm, actually... the charge was taken this morning." I couldn't believe it. I refreshed my web page and presto! There it was. They had processed it while I was on the phone!

Maria then began to explain that I would not receive a full refund - "it's a bank thing," she asserted - and that it would take "3 to 5 days" for the credit to appear on my account. Why so long? "It's a bank-to-bank transaction," she sweetly informed me. I've had that account for over 20 years and never have I had a credit take that long!

Today is February 17 and I have not yet received the credit to my account. Indeed, my order still shows as pending on their website.

I will update this review when (and maybe if) I ever receive my money back from this company.

UPDATE: I called my bank. Compubuzz took a "hold" at the time I placed my call to them on February 12th, as previously stated. That was shady enough, but despite assuring me my account would be credited in 3-5 days... THEY TOOK THE FULL CHARGE AT 10:30 PM ON FEBRUARY 13TH!

I faxed a no-holds-barred letter to Compubuzz, giving them until the close of business 2/18/04 to make good on the requested cancellation of the order and refund of the charge taken.

UPDATE - February 18: Received this email from Compubuzz this morning:

Dear Customer,

We are extremely sorry to inform you that due to error(s) on your order, and the inability to correct the problem(s), your order will not be processed. We have made several attempts to contact you and were unsuccessful. If you would still like to purchase the product, please correct the problem, and re-visit our site. Again, we hope that we will be able to serve you soon.

Thank you,

Compubuzz.com Web Team

I am dumbfounded. I have absolutely no clue what the hell they are talking about!

FINAL UPDATE - February 18, 2004: I received a rash of faxes a few minutes after the email quoted above. Compubuzz has reversed the credit authorization and thus refunded the entire amount of my transaction. They did not assess the mysterious fee mentioned earlier. They wrote a letter of apology to MasterCard, but not to me. That's about as good as it gets, I guess. At least I got my money back."

"Purchased an Atlon XP 2800 333 "barton" cpu through pricewatch. Listed as a barton on pricewatch but changed the add today (removed barton designation but left 512k which still indicates Barton) AFTER I made the RMA (glad I saved the old add/webpage and can make a printout or e-mail it). When I open the package, found the cpu to be a thoroughbred core. Thoroughbred had 256 L2 cache Barton has 512. The part number for a barton is AXDA2800DKV4D and the part number for thoughbred is AXDA2800DKV3D. You can tell just by looking at the core that is too short, recognised it the second I saw it. Created an online RMA request (which for some reason I had to wait all weekend to do) and so far no response. I called by phone and the Woman though polite wouldn't help (why not?) me and directed me to the online RMA. Now I've read the horror stories here! Sorry I ordered from them already as it will be much time before I have my system running and they will probably try to charge me for something extra like return shipping or a restock fee. I'll give them the rest of the day before I call my very good local bank/CCard company first thing in the morning to get a full refund and then CompuBuzz will have the responability of sending me a shipping label to get the part back. I hope compubuzz reads this, they can take care of me the hard way or the easy but it won't be me in the end who's out the money or future business but I'm already out in the way of time and aggravation. Oh, I couldn't care less about unreasonable bs "policy" only state laws and my CCs policy. Should they do the right thing with me, I'll edit this post to show a more satisfied response.

Thank You Resellerratings, you do consumers a fine service and thanks for letting me vent.

Update 3/31 I pleasantly surprised to have recieved my refund in full.
"

"This is the worst 2-bit company I have ever dealt with in 8 years of being a computer tech. I purchased a motherboard/processor from them on the 02/05, called back on 02/10 when the order was "still processing" after paying $7.00 for "rush order processing." After calling on the 10th, they said it should be shipped out the 11th. Now its the 12th and the order is STILL processing, after I was assured it would be shipped 6 days after the order (dont forget the extra money for "rush" processing) I have called in excess of 20 times and the number has been busy for the past 2 hours. This has to be the worst excuse of a company that I have ever dealt with. I would NOT recommend this supplier to ANYONE who is purchasing ANY equipment. If you want your supplies check somewhere else, this place needs to post a guarentee that you will not be satisfied. If you want to waste your time and money, try http://www.compubuzz.com, if not, shop around.

UPDATE:
It is now 02/25/04 and I have JUST NOW got an RMA number and an RMA "list of things to do" that is filled with surcharges and "if this" then we charge you $35.00. I read another recent review of this company and agree, they ship the same bad processors around and make money off the surcharges. Word of advice: SonicParts is the same company as Compubuzz, I received the same combo ordering from both companies, both found off of pricewatch and I chose them because of their competitive prices. Both have the same RMA addresses and the same tech people answering the phones. In fact, trying to RMA this product they told me to set the motherboard jumper to CLEAR CMOS and start up the PC. Any computer tech knows if this is done it will cause damage to the motherboard. This advice was given to me by there tech support. Don't use Compubuzz aka SonicParts if your money means anything to you."

"after searching for days I finally found the part at compubuzz."

"Great prices, fast shipping, good shipping rates. Will shop again."

"Easy to order. Great prices. Will shop there again."

"
Update: ordered 6th of feb, shiped in the 12th of feb or so. I guess thats a So/so sort of shiping time.
Last update: Worked like a champ right out of the box. Except the FSB jumper i had to set. nice heatsink, packaging etc. Will def order from again. Overall an excellant exp. Thumbs up.

The good:
Worked (other than FSB jumper) Right out of the box. No issues with missing anything. All items included.
Customer service was nice. And spoke clear, correct english. (odd thats considered a good thing)
Customer service worked with me on getting what they call a "windows xp compatable motherboard"
Everything was included in the box.
Undamaged, well packed shiping.
Obviously very new. No thumbprints, scratches, or marks.
They have low prices.
Fan was new, in retail box, and included. Its also rated for a faster processor.

The bad:
They should automatically send "xp compatable" boards.
Auto deselect available options when you order.
Ship a *bit* faster, and dont call to offer "upgrades" or anything else (providing they dont send you junk) , personally it just gets under my skin.

Again overall thumbs up.

Hope this review helps potential customers. "

"This seller's site was somewhat easier to navigate than others listed on Pricewatch. However, they do try to sell you extras before you check out. An item that is $70.00 can easily become $130.00 if you don't pay attention. I have attempted to purchase the same cpu chip on 4 different sellers from Pricewatch: Tufstore, PartsPC, etc. They all play the same frustrating game: sell you one item, then refuse to send it unless you agree to numerous upgrades. Don't allow yourself to be blackmailed. This site promises to have the item sent to me in 5 working days... we'll see! Other vendors have sold me a cpu with the "Barton Core" (OEM) and then called telling me they are out of stock, and I will have to pay $13- 25 more for regular AMD Thorobred. Obvious bait and switch. I am hopeful that this company is different. I guess I will have to wait and see. "

"Easy to navigate website. Have shopped with before, and will shop with again..."

"***DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM THESE CROOKS. Ordered CPU never received confirmation or tracking number. Unable to login to website after registering. Tried contacting all 3 email addresses over 30 times each with no reply. Tried calling phone number over 100 times over several days all business hours. Received CPU, invoice said correct item. Serial number on processor said another. I contacted the BBB as well as their state and local authorities. ***DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM THESE CROOKS. "

"Have just ordered Athlon XP2000 and then read the horror stories from previous customers. Hope that my order arrives safe and on-time. I've had some bad experiance with other vendors selling re-marked CPUs (ie:1900 as 2400) or DOA (Dead On Arrival) CPUs but they did credit my account including shipping (pain in the neck nonetheless).

CompuBuzz, Do Not let me down, inspite the horrors I've read I have high belief in you... :)"

"Smooth and efficent. No hassles. Just the way I like'em. Good price on select items."