"CADialog, I think your on to something.
--

First off... I'd like to address some issues. I'm still waiting for my $80 dollar refund for the shipping of a D.O.A barebone system. (since september)

I'd like to note the pathetic attempt to resolve the issues with the company by posting the "sale manager" email and phone number.

1. If you have ever tried to contact United Micro... you are guarenteed at LEAST a 20-30 minute wait. After this... they often take 10-15 minutes to try and "find" your order. (that is if your not disconnected from them)
--

After I had sent my D.O.A system back to them (and the speakers which they had SWITCHED on me without my concent) they sent the system back to me and said it tested fine. (therefor they would not refund me the money)

I had payed to ship the system all the way back to Ohio... (would I do this with a working system?)

I had already waited for 4 weeks to allow them time to refund my shipping. When I called them up again (and waited over 30 minutes) they said they could not because the system TESTED fine. In fact... they were not even going to refund my money for the speakers that they SWITCHED on me.

Honestly, I've never been so mad in my life.

Months have passed now and I'm still $80 dollars in the whole. Did I mention that every single piece of the barebone system had to be RMA'd back? I skipped United Micro and went straight to the manufactures. (which i had no problem with)

The moral of this story is take my advice... if you buy from these people you are seriously making a gamble. Sure... some people have actually gotten what they ordered (on time no less)? But really... who comes to reselleratings.com to write a positive review? It only happens when a company is exceptional in their service. Have you noticed that their are 116 posts in this forum... and yet this company is STILL in business.

I have much better things to do with my time then write this... so why do I ... because even after all these months I'm furious about not being refunded.

Remember these points:
You are being lied to.
You are being cheated.
You will not be refunded for an RMA shipping (and if your on the westcoast think about shipping to OH)
They really don't care about customer service.

Once again... Newegg.com does not have these issues and has excellent ratings.

If you have even the slightest doubt in your mind about the truth of what I'm saying... give me your email and I'll detail the full account!

sincerely,

a customer who will NOT give up"

"4/5/02 Update. ok, I emailed Justin this morning, stating that I would wait until the end of business today before updating my post on this matter. Its 7Pm, and I still haven't heard from him. So here goes.
Once again, my card did not ship. I have been fairly understanding of the fact that they ship what they get, and just haven't received enough cards from Gainward to fill their orders. Ok, fine, it happens. My complaint is in THE WAY they are handeling things. You can see in my post below for the earlier details. When I email them, every week on the claimed shipping date, I get assured that my order will ship the following week. And the same thing the following week, and the week after. This is after I email them, asking if my order has shipped as promised the week before. They have yet to initiate contact when they do not fill my order on time. Through the emails, they have stated that they shipped 120 cards 3-15, 20 cards 3-28, and 40 cards today, with 35 people still ahead of me. That would mean they have filled about 180 orders all together. But they also state that they have received over 700 orders. If you check their site, they list an ETA of 4-7. Thats a Sunday first of all, and even it it weren't, unless they are expecting 520 or more cards to come in, there is no way they can fill orders on their advertised ETA. I called this morning, not saying anything about my existing order, just asking "if I order today, when can I expect my order to ship?" The sales rep told me 1 to 2 weeks at the most. I asked if he was sure, and he said yes. Now go back and read above. 520 orders ahead of me, and I can expect delivery in 1-2 weeks? This to me is a downright lie, the same as when I called in the first time on 3-12 and was told it would ship no later than 3-15. 2 more co-workers have had orders placed THIS WEEK at new egg delivered. They are laughing at me for ordering from a company with such a low reseller rating. I have emailed sales twice today, asking when the next shipment is coming in, and they have yet to say. They replied, but without the ETA, stating it was my fault for ordering an item that was backordered. Based on the email reply I got from Justin last week, I doubt he neglected to get back to me today for lack of caring, more likely for lack of time. I imagine he is pretty busy dealing with those other 520+ unhappy customers.

I am having trouble with a Gainward 4600 order too. Order number 411346, placed March 12th. I called them prior to ordering, and the sales rep told me that if I ordered before the close of business that day, the card would ship no later than the 15th. So I ordered, and set it for overnight delivery. After hearing nothing by the 18th, I called, and was told that they had orders dating back to 3-2, and that there was no way I would have gotten a card from the 3-15 shipment. I was told I would get one from the next shipment, the following friday. Following friday rolled around, and no card. I called again, and was told I would get it 3-28. I offered to upgrade my order to the Gainward w/3D glasses, if it would increase my chances of getting it on time. I was told there was no need, I was in line for the next shipment. 3-28 rolled around, and I heard nothing. Thats when I saw the post below from the new sales manager. Called the number on 3-28, left a voice mail, haven't had a call back. I also emailed on 3-28, putting
"please direct to Justin R Grabowski
Sales Manager (As Of 3/25/02)
Ext. 221
***-***-****
at the very top of the message, then explaining the situation, and asking if I would ever get my card, or if I should just cancel and order form someone else. I received a reply back from Gene, not Justin, saying there was no guarantee I would get a card from the next shipment, ETA 4-7, because there is a SHORTAGE in the United States. Those were his caps by the way.
Now, I understand them having trouble getting enough cards to fill orders. But my problem is, I have had to make contact each time they did not deliver as promised, they STILL cannot tell me where I am in line for the next order, and this "next week" answer every week is simply unacceptable. Its plain and simple, you search your orders for a given product, then look at the order numbers. They should run in sequence from the order date, so it should not be hard to tell someone they have xx amount of people ahead of them. My roommate ordered his Gainward card from NewEgg a week after I ordered mine, and his is sitting in his system. I counted up receipts for the hardware I have ordered online in the past 3 months, and it came to a little over $6000. Yet this is the first company I have had a problem with. If I don't have a my order in hand by 4-9, they will never get my business again.

BTW, for anyone checking PriceWatch to find the Gainward 4600, United Micro and NewLinePC are one in the same. NewLinePC doesn't appear on the resellerratings list though."

"I ordered a full Athlon XP system from these guys. I made sure that I talked to someone to make sure that my parts were in stock. As it turnd out, my GeForce 4 was out of stock. They claimed that it would be in by next week, but they couldn't guarantee it.

I waited 1 week and it still hadn't shipped so I called and got Justin. He was very professional and asked if I would like them to ship my system w/o the video card. I said no as I wanted them to burn in the whole system to be sure that everything worked.

One week later, I got my system with the GeForce and all - in a very well packaged box within a box. First thing I did was checked the parts - I was very happy to see that everything was there as I ordered. I plugged it in and everything worked perfectly. To boot, they must have upgraded my case for the long wait or just didn't have the case I ordered. Can't complain about that!

The moral of the story - call and talk to someone before ordering. The GeForce card is in very high demand right now - especially from Gainward.

United Micro was very professional and quick with my order considering the circumstances. From what I understand, my system would have shipped in three days if I hadn't ordered that GeForce card. Kudo's to United Micro.

Granted, customer support shouldn't make promises they can't keep. Just tell it like it is - it may take up to a month to get the part you want. I was one of the lucky ones who must have gotten one of their first shipments of GeForce Golden Samples."

"I would like to say that I had a good experience with United Micro (www.unitedmicro.com), regarding a damaged ECS Motherboard I received.

I sent it back, they checked it out, replaced it, and sent it back to me within 4 days. I checked it out, and it works great.

So in contrast to what I've seen here, it went very well. Maybe they're trying to change their image. Thank You United Micro."

"Fast response, good prices, had everything I needed, very friendly."

"I ordered 4 KDS RAD5 monitors from Justin, UM's dales manager, and had them drop shipped to my customer. The shipment arrived with my invoice on the box and one of the monitors was used. The customer refused it. I returned the monitor on an RMA and have been attempting for three days now to get a credit on my CC. UM's phone system has got to be the worst ever! Emails have gone unanswered and phone calls not returned. In a prior post Justin promised a callback before the end of business the same day of the call. Don't you believe it. My advice: there are plenty of other online retailers that do a much better job. Keep lookin'."

"First, everyone needs to realize that this is an extremely in-demand card that you are all talking about. Try to find it anywhere else on the net. You won't. No one has it cause everyone wants it. So, you have UnitedMicro, who, like any business, wants happy customers...they receive 200+ orders for a card that they cannot possible fill due to GAINWARD. If they could fill all these orders, they would! You all know that on the site, they do not list the current stock of that card. When you order it, you are placed in a queue, where your credit card is verified, but not charged. You then wait for them to ship them on a first-come first-serve basis. This is how it is because no one can simply come up with large quantities of the card. Call up gainward if you like! Everyone should understand what is happening here, and not get upset about waiting for a video card. From what I know now, Justin R Grabowski is the sales manager and after talking with him today, I understand the latency in ordering. He was professional, courteous, and helpful. What else can you ask for? Everyone should just understand that they are going to have to wait for the card if they want it! It's like a Tickle-Me-Elmo or something...

Give these guys a chance! They want your business, as well as your contentment.

Scott Meyer"

"I too have been very disappointed with United Micro. I placed my order March 26 and have been waiting for a shipping statement when it was stated it would be shipping on the 27th. My Order # 411768 and Zip code is 60544. I understand that it's on back order but nowhere did I see that stated when I ordered it. It was just stated the ETA would be the 27th. I wouldn't have ordered it in the first place if I know it was on backorder. I'm seriously thinking about canceling and order from someplace else if I don't hear or get a shipping statement within the next couple days. Updated order statements would be very helpful!!!!!!"

"UPDATE ON POST BELOW:
Shortly after my post here, I recieved a call from Igor at United Micro. He was able to resolve my problem with no difficulty and my order is being shipped. It is good to see that some companies pay attention to what their customer's experiences are. My order confirmation email and tracking number was received about a half hour after our conversation. I will update again when my order arrives.


My Order Number is 411229 at zipcode 92109. Below is a reprint of my experience so far with United Micro for my order of a Gainward Geforce4 Ti4600 750 "Golden Sample" videocard. See http://www.sharkyforums.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=903585#post903585

I ordered my Gainward Geforce4 Ti4600 from United Micro's site on March 10th during the day. I didn't get an email confirmation of my order until the 11th.

I called on the 11th before I got the confirmation email to check that my order actually went through. I was told that I did and that my card would ship on March 18th. At that time, I didn't have a problem with the backorder, as I was still looking for a case for my new system.

March 18th came and no "order shipped" email came, so I called again and was told now my order would ship on the 26th. 26th came, checked their site and a new ETA of 3/28 was on the card, so I called on the 28th after, again, no shipment notification.

This time I was told that they received the cards but the salesperson could not tell me if mine would ship (???). He said "the best thing to do would be to call back tomorrow morning." I also asked him how big the list was for backorder and he said it was "pretty big," so I asked him where I was on the list then--he couldn't tell me (note that I told him the history of my order and the original date of March 18th that I was told back on the 11th).

In my opinion, sales should be able to tell the status of your order/where you are on the waiting list and I view the "call back tomorrow" as avoiding the question.

Well, called back today, got the same story again from the salesperson that my order is on backorder. However, he was able to tell me that they did receive 10 cards. I asked him where I was at on the waiting list and that I was originally quoted a March 18th shipment date. He transferred me to the manager at extension 221 where I got a voicemail system. I left a message but I doubt I'll get a response. I'm also going to try to email the manager. I'll let you know what happens.

United Micro's website does not list stock status of their cards, you have to call and ask.

However, if NEWEGG gets the card back in stock (since their website at least tells you that status), I'm going to pay the extra $ that they charge and cancel my order with United Micro. The way in which United Micro has handled sales does not give me a warm fuzzy as to how they handle RMA's, exchanges, etc.

Also, I did check reseller ratings before I initially ordered and got the feeling that it would be a toss up with this company (3.7 out of 10 rating at the time), but they were the only game in town for this card at the time.

This quote from ccucandidate on reseller ratings pretty much says it all concerning United Micro and the Gainward card ordering experience:

"3/16/02 8:16
Got the Gainward geforce4 ti 4600. Made 3 calls to the sales dept. First call they told me only 20 cards came in and were already shipped. Could not tell me where I was in the queue. Second call they told me the card would ship on 3/13/02. Third call on 3/13/02 they told me card would ship on 3/14/02. It did. Also received an e-mail on 3/14/02 with the FedEX tracking number. In my opinion the sales reps were not enthusiastic, or professional. They gave the impression that they did not care about their jobs and that my calls to them were an irritation."

I realize that this is a popular card and that I was initially on backorder for it. My problems are

1) that my quoted initial delivery date (18th) and follow on (26th) have not been honored,

2) that I was not notified of a delay and new shipment date

3) lack of a straight answer from sales about the status of my backorder, and

4) their website doesn't represent stock status.

I'm also going to post this on reseller ratings to see if I get any response by the manager (who made a post there himself) to resolve this.

Note that in my calls to United Micro, I was polite and just stated what I had been previously told regarding my shipping dates. I got the same response from sales as quoted above that my calls seemed more like an irritation than anything else.

The only positive is that at least they have not charged my card before shipping my order.



"

"I ordered on a monday night, the order was processed on tuesday and i received it on thursday before lunch!!!! you guys rule, i know where to shop from now on!!!!"

"Ordered system with configurator. Found out 3rd hand that mobo was on backorder. Called company several time asking about the status of my mobo. Finally called to cancel after 8 days of no board, was told I can't. I told them about their terrible ratings and how I really wanted to trust them. They offered to sell me a different mobo, add accessories to make up the $ difference and ship my system quickly after a good test and burn.

I received my system quickly once it shipped. It was in perfect order. I opened that baby up the second I got it out of the box to check out the pieces. All parts were as stated.

I never sat on hold for longer than 5 minutes (probably called them 10 times). I was hung up on one time, and I think that guy should really work on his issues. But that doesn't mean everyone there is a bad sales/tech person. United Micro has recently started posting ETA times on back-order products. May be too little too late for this company, but I think that means they are trying to clean up their act.

Customers are the ones that put your bread on your table guys, lets treat them with some respect.

I am happy with my final order.

Frances Baker"

"Here is a reply e-mail to this company.
I was told by your customer service dept. at 9:15 am on March 19 that this order would be cancelled. I checked with FedEx and they say that the order was picked up from you at 5:00 pm. on March 19.
That is 8 hours after you told me that it would be cancelled. This tells me that your customer service ignored my request to cancel the order and sent it anyway. I guess this would explain why he hung up on me
very rudely for no reason.
I will be posting this information on every reseller ratings website on the internet. I will be calling my credit card company to have them take whatever action possible as well. I will also make sure that everyone
I know that frequently buys computer equipment on the internet, never ever buys anything from this pathetic company. And I know quite a few of these types of people. I will also make sure that they tell anyone they know.
And I will make sure that I post this as www.unitedmicro.com without
the hyphen..
"

"This is the worst company I have ever done business with period! I purchased many items online before, but this company is a joke. I would rather deal with an immature sales clerk at Wal-Mart than these guys. Their customer service is non-existent. Stay away!!!"

"Long wait :("

"Buying my barbone system from these guy was nothing but a hassle. It turned out to be a 3 month ordeal (from initial purchase all the way through my refund for some of the merchandise) They are not straight with the customer regarding availability of merchandise for one (don't call). It is easy to get their sales people on the phone (even though you can't understand what they say) but nearly impossible to get someone in the RMA department. They had my RAM memory shipped incorrectly and it took me 3 months to get it corrected. On top of that thay shipped me Infineon RDRAM that looked like it was taken off of another machine or from a previous RMA. Memory was not packaged properly and looked like it was not new.

Positive notes: they did ship me a working Intel CPU, Intel motherboard, and Enermax case /power supply. All of those were assembled correctly and packaged very well.

My final advice is to eliminate youself of a possible hassle with these guys and go to newegg.com or googlegear.com instead."