"Monarch, biils your credit card the day you place the order, even if they don't have the product in stock. When I cancelled the product ordered after delay in shipping. They stated that a credit would be issued within 10 to 14 days. They invoice at once but only issue credits every 10 to 14 days. I have called twice in the last 28 days and still have not received the credit. "
" I recently purchased an Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe and AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Dual-Core combo to replace my NF7-s XP-3000+ rig. I use my PC as a digital audio workstation and also to keep track of my music students. I was a bit nervous at first, as this was my first order from Monarch and I have had some very bad experiences with other companies. Needless to say, I wasn’t able to find a better price anywhere. My order arrived on time, it was extremely well packed and it runs like a dream! They even sent a follow up email a week after I had received my order just to say thank you. I plan to use Monarch for all of my future upgrades and I highly recommend them to anyone!
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"I have canceled this order for 2 weeks but never received any refund money. I'm still on this case and hopefully they return my money. Else I'm going to file a lawsuit on them."
"This is the first time I ever bought anything from Monarch. The 3 main reasons I did so are as follows:
1. Since this was the first computer I built myself, I was really worried about installing an expensive CPU (AMD Athlon Dual Core 4800+) myself, so seeing the Combos they offered, I decided to buy the motherboard, CPU, and memory together because they put it together and test it. I've heard the horror stories about things going bad and having to contact 3 different vendors to try to track down the problem.
2. Their prices were great. Nuff said.
3. Their tech support was fabulous. I must have called at least 15 times before I placed my order. It's unbelievable how knowledgeable those guys are. Not only did I learn everything about what I was buying, I got a free education about computer components I never knew before. My over all experience was very satisfactory and will buy from them again. Paul
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"I had problems with a motherboard and their service department was very helpful and their RMA process relatively speedy. They stand behind what they sell."
"I admit I was quick to judge this company. But I'm like that about my hard earned money. Anyways, very pleased with my first order. I even got extra free goodies. My order was shipped out with 3 days of placing the order but it was also my first order from them.
The product I ordered came very well packaged against damage and works as it should. I look foward to future orders."
"Hope this will get your attention! Order Number 0531593, I've placed the order on 3/16/06 and requested to be shipped via 3 days express. I called your office on 3/24/06 and was told there is a problem and your shipping supervisor will call me back, never did receive a phone call. After more phone calls and 2 emails, still no reply from your company. I am running out of patients! "
"Everthing was fine,but the ship date was over 1 week later than quoted.They did e-mail me about this delay."
"Ordered a Thermaltake Big Typhoon, Opteron 144 and DFI LanParty UTNF4-D for my next computer (planned to save money and overclock a lot).
While the time until shipping was a little longer than expected, my shipping was randomly upgraded for free (from 5-7 day to 2 day). I never ordered round cables, remember selecting to receive an attached heatsink (installed with thermal gel), yet both were included in the box. It also might be worthy to note how meticulously packed the contents were, I have had problems in the past with companies rushing through the packing. Before this order I never heard of Monarch yet not only are their prices very good, they are a wondeful company. A pleasure doing buisness with them, there certainly will be more transactions with them in the future. Highly recommneded!
Con: The various emails recieved about my order were confusing, there were many different order and invoice numbers I was told were mine. Minor in comparison to the positives, but it was something I should mention"
"Great price and reasonable shipping. They went out of the way to assist me."
"UPDATE: I would like to note that the item i purchased was very new on the market (day after product launch) and there were supply problems at many online retailers.
The first two complaints below are still valid, however, I am told that they will be updating their website soon to take care of this. I really hope so, because it is my only real complaint about the company. The third was an oversight/error and not their standard practice.
I was contacted by a CSR at Monarch, and they did everything to fix the situation and more. This included giving me an after hours contact number, upgrading my shipping to Sat/next day, and offering almost identical product at a very nice discount.
Original Review:
I am sure that most consumers will not have problems with monarch. However they are lacking in a few vital ways that may make buying from them a pain.
First: they have no real-time inventory tracking system. The item you have purchased may already be out of stock and back odered, but you will happily purchase it, blissfully ignorant of the fact that it may take more than 2 weeks for them to even begin to ship it to you.
Second: Combine this with their charging policy.They charge your credit card immediately upon your placing of the order. However if you decide to cancel, they will take their time in getting it back to you (5-8 days). So if you do find your item in stock somewhere else, you better hope you didn't have a debit card, or that you have the extra money in your bank account.
Third: NO-Email was ever sent to tell me that there was any delay with my order. Even after i e-mailed their customer service. It is two weeks later and i have yet to recieve ANY email from them, other than to confirm that they were delighted to take my money, in exchange for possibly sending my order sometime in the future. I only found out the status of my order after calling. Which i will give them credit for answering fairly promptly. Apperently, because this is a new item, there were supply problems with the vendor.
so this is where i am left. monarch has $335 of my hard earned cash. while i am sitting here, waiting for some clandestine e-mail to tell me they finally got around to shipping the card they forgot to mention they didn't actually have."
"Excellent and fast service. Even though my order was small, I am sure I will return."
"We're a small company and can't afford mistakes. We needed two new servers, and my sysadmin recommended that we get them through Monarch. I've bought a lot of enterprise level computer equipment from many different sources over the years, but Monarch tops them all. We'll be using Monarch for all our future needs."
"Terrible experience (not the first, but will be the last). Stay away from this vendor.
Ordered a computer part, and it was DOA. Advertised as "OEM." It was actually refurbished. Promptly returned for refund, but did not get one. No contact from vendor in over 6 weeks. "
"Unbelievable service...smooth as ice transaction...great packaging, service...email contact/confirmation was superb. Highest recommendations!!!!"