"Late in 2011 I placed an order for sleeved fans. My order was placed and paid for on the 5th yet it did not ship until the 14th. While I needed the fans for a build I let it slide as past experiences with Sidewinder have been positive. I should note that I've ordered sleeved fans on multiple occasions from other online store, where they perform the sleeving themselves, and the turnaround time has been, at worse, a day or two before my order has shipped.
When I began to open the fans the first thing I noticed was the sleeving. For lack of a better word the work was sloppy. The sleeving appeared too large for the wire it was covering, the heat shrink was 3+" long at each end and the heat shrink did seal around the wires causing the entire sleeving to "float" over the fan wires. At one end there was at least 2" of just heatshrink before the sleeving even started. I'm by no means an expert on sleeving so I shared pictures of the work on a major water cooling forum (I left the company name out of the post). Those who replied echoed my above statements. In addition as I moved one of the fan's sleeved cable about the sleeving actually came away from one end of the heat shrink.
Even with so much going wrong I thought Gary would be more than willing to help me out. When I was finally able to reach him via telephone I stated my above observations and tried to be polite as possible I my intent was not to insult ones work. Unfortunately, Gary became quite defensive and I quickly learned that he has sleeved all the fans. He stated something to the effect that "I was the first person to every complain about his sleeving work." Assuming this is true I fail to see how it changes the fact that a customer is not happy with their purchased product. He further went on to suggest that I was the sole cause of the heat shrink coming away from the sleeving. Clearly, because the first thing one would want to do is damage a product that they've paid for and need for a build. In the end Gary did offer me some options to remedy the situation and we agreed that I would return the fans and pay a restocking fee. Gary stated "I'll get you a return postage label." However, this return postage label never came even after a follow up email that was sent ~ 2 weeks prior to me writing this review.
Why someone with such a limited selection of wares would want to alienate a loyal customer is beyond me."
"My first order I bought something that was not in stock. Very soon after I placed the order Gary personally called me in Hawaii to inform me that he expected it any day. I said, no worries. The next thing I know it was at my front door. They save me money by shipping USPS and have even beaten something I ordered from someone else the same day that shipped UPS at 3 times the price for shipping. I have bought sense as well, and know you won't find better service at good prices."
"I have bought parts from them now several times. I am very impressed by their speed of delivery as well as how quickly they send notice of receipt of order and order shipped.
Excellent job Sidewinder, be back soon."
"I officially am in love with Sidewinder Computers!
Everything was packaged VERY well, nothing but a great experience for me! Will be buying from Gary again in the future."
"I have received my order yesterday. I took about 10 days to reach Penang, Malaysia. I choose shipping method: First Class International and I am satisfied wit the service provided by Gary Stofer. When he received my order, within a same day he shipped out my order to me. Great Job!!!"
"Amazing! I ordered a few items from this website and made two orders by mistake. I emailed to sidewindercomputers and they replied back in *2 Hours* and this was around 2AM in the morning. They refunded me back the differance. I recieved my items in 3days via USPS. Very satisfied with the products. Shipping is very fair and fast. I'll be ordering more from these guys. This is how every company should be!"
"i order 10/10/08 & now a weeky later still no order
Orders placed using Priority mail generally arrive in 2-3 business days. now 10/16/08"
"Ordered my desired part at about 3:30PM on a Friday. Received it by 3:30PM on the following Tuesday. Received an "Item has been shipped" notification that same Friday! I tracked the item and every step of the way was covered.
Fast service. Item received very well packed and undamaged. Item (VGA card cooling fan) fit my video card like a charm.
I would recommend a thousand times over to shop from Sidewinder Computers. Not only because of the service but because they are practically the only US reseller of the cooling fan I was interested in. They also had the most competitive price available. I could have gotten it for like $0.50 cheaper on e-Bay (sorry e-Bay dudes!) but the shipping would have been double than what I paid for with Sidewinder.
Don't think about it twice in buying from them... great service... great products... they have won a new fully satisfied customer!"
"Great prices, Fast shipping (2 days!!), the best online store ever. Thanks"
"+1
Very courteous, professional, and on time. Will do business with Gary again!
Keep up the great work.
Cheers,
Phil"
"Great shopping experience.
Fast shipping and I received exactly what I ordered.
Great job guys!"
"Very good store, i have ordered parts for water cooling system and Gary Stofer from that store helped me a lot. It was a great pleasure to buy from them. "
"To Gary...
I make it perfectly at my first international shopping. It's all because of you,thank you.
However, I have a question about my order product "Bitspower Blue X-Station Power Extension II - Male Version". I have no information about this product.
If you can provide this product's manual, please send e-mail.
Once more, Thank you about your kindness.^^"
"Great prices, Fast shipping, and awesome customer service. After order the Swiftech MC8800 heatsink kit, I got a call from sidewindercomputers stating that they were out of stock, however they offered an alternative that would meet my needs. Now that is great customer service IMHO. Thanks sidewinder computers!"
"Specialty fan cable was shipped promptly and with reasonable shipping costs. Good communication from seller."