"I've been shopping with the guys at PCAlchemy and couldn't be happier. I can confess that these guys really take customer service to heart - as I think some of the other reviews can attest, many times it's PCAlchemy that's offering to compensate me, before I've even suggested it. I simply can't go wrong with them - I don't even bother shopping their pricess anymore - I'm happy to support such an outstanding firm."

"I was fortunate enough to visit PCAlchemy with a friend who was picking up a video card by Will Call. After speaking with the staff there I was impressed; these guys are truely HTPC enthusiasts. As somebody new to HTPC they took time to answer my fucilade of questions and I left with two boxes full of parts to build my own HTPC. This may not be the typical internet shopping reseller review but, the fact that I got to meet the staff and they are truely nice guys is worth noting. I definitely plan to use these guys as one of my preferred vendors."

"Great site, easy to order, fantastic prices and all my items were in stock and ready to ship. I would buy from pcalchemy again without hesitation!"

"Everything was perfect as promised. I fantastic place to do business with. highly recommended."

"I ordered a new case from PCAlchemy on Friday the 17th. On Saturday, I received a phone call from Greg stating that I put down will call, yet I live near 100 miles away. I had mistakenly chosen will call instead of delivery and they caught it for me. Once everything was cleared up, they shipped it out on Monday, and I received it Tuesday afternoon. It was definitely a good experience and I wouldn't hesitate to buy from these guys again."

"Update:(3-4-06) I recieved my 2nd order on 3-2-06 as scheduled after a short delay due to Pcalchemy.com doing a complete site update. Because of this delay Pcalchemy gave me a discount and dropped the shipping cost! This is the kind of customer service and dedication I referred to in my original review! Pcalchemy has been a total pleaesure to deal with! I would definitely do business with them again and recommend them to anyone considering purchasing anything they sell! Price and choice are the 2 big factors for me and Pcalchemy is very competitive in both areas and their customer support is excellent!
I couldnt ask for a better experience!
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This is my first purchase from Pcalchemy and it has been great! I have already made a second order and I would highly recommend Pcalchemy to anyone considering a purchase from them! I had a question before I made my purchase and one during the installation of my OrigenAE X15e and both times I recieved a reply email within the hour fully answering my questions, and that was on a sunday afternoon! For all your HTPC needs, Pcalchemy has the equipment, answers and their support is incredible!"

"Wow, Coldbrook, be careful before you jump to such harsh conclusions!

I placed my first order with pcalchemy.com on February 11, 2006. The complete order consisted of several items, including a specialized HTPC keyboard, totaling $230. I received my order about 7 days later, and everything was as ordered.

I didn't get around to trying the keyboard until about 5 days later when I found the keyboard didn't work properly. Since it was a brand new, unopened keyboard I knew it wasn't pcalchemy's fault, but I still needed to replace it.

I went back to their website and found that it was down. I called the next day and talked to a very pleasant person. He explained that the website had very unexepectedly gone down and that they had been scrambling trying to recover. He then offered to replace the keyboard with a much more expensive one, provided I was willing to pay the shipping. Naturally I was quite pleased with the offer and jumped at the chance.

They shipped the new keyboard the same day, and I received it 2 days later. The new keyboard is MUCH better than the one I ordered, and I am elated that Greg and pcalchemy took such good care of me.

I don't know how the experience could have been handled any better, and pcalchemy will get my business and money in the future."

"Although pcalchemy's website was briefly down, I had an excellent experience shopping with them. My SageTV trial had expired so I went to the site to purchase a key and was disappointed to find it down. They had their phone number on the homepage so I called and they really couldn't have been more friendly & helpful. Their billing system was also down, but they even offered to send me a Sage key and trust me to make the purchase when their system was back up! I find that level of service above and beyond what any company should be expected to do. Before I knew it, the site was back up & I made my order.

They're a great company with unbeatable prices & friendly people that are willing to work with you. What else could you want? Three cheers for pcalchemy and they've got me as a life long customer!"

"I ordered a $280 computer case. I received an email entitled "Order Process" which one would assume would contain something about the order process, but simply listed the order details.

The next day, their web site disappeared without warning. A day later they eventually posted a placeholder page saying their site was down for an upgrade (one of those no-warning upgrades, I guess).

I called their listed number to confirm they had received my order before the site went down. The conversation went like this:

Me: "Hi, I placed an order just before your site went down"
PCAlchemy: "Shame on you!"

Shame on me for placing an order?

Me: "Well can you confirm if you received my order?"
PCAlchemy: "No."
Me: "Can you confirm it when the site comes back up?"
PCAlchemy: "No. You'll have to resubmit the order when the site comes back up."

Fat chance! I find that the true test of customer service is how a retailer behaves during a crisis like their web site going down. In this case they were extremely rude and unhelpful.

Also, it seems that they're being dishonest about their web site status. Nobody does an unplanned upgrade with no notification. It seems much more likely that they were kicked by their hosting provider, and we can only imagine why that might occur. Few of the possible reasons are pluses for PCAlchemy. I say AVOID."

"Quick and easy purchase, site had good speed and was laid out easily to buy from. I purchased an electronic software download and was emailed the link/keycode quickly. I would buy from them again."

"Package arrived on time and in good condition. I have nothing bad to say about this company and would do business with it again."

"What can I do but add to the litany of good reviews for this company? I'd ordered from them in the past for an HTPC build, and more recently ordered the makings of a desktop PC for my wife which was just coincidentally going in an HTPC-style case. One concern I had was that the low-profile case and CPU cooler I ordered weren't fit compatible, so I asked them to give me advice if they knew in the order comments.

Not only did they get back to me in the positive that it would fit - they hadn't known ahead of time so they actually 'fit-tested' the parts specifically for me. I was hoping they'd just say "yeah, we've seen that done before" or if necessary "sorry, we don't know...but we'll take the return if necessary". Instead they went out of their way to make sure before shipping my order.

Service like that doesn't come cheap...except in this case it does, as their prices really were quite competitive with others like Newegg, Monarch, etc. from whom I've also ordered parts.

If I had any complaint at all to make about PCAlchemy it would be that the only flavor of Windows OS they sell is the MCE, but really given their chosen market segment that's the right choice for them. I'd just find it convenient for me to do all my purchasing (HTPC and gaming and friend's general PC builds) from them, because I've been that satisfied with them. :)

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Addendum: I am having a problem with one of the items ordered, and have been in discussions with the manufacturer about getting a replacement part (its the power supply that came with a case). I cc-ed PCAlchemy to let them know of the situation, not that it was really their responsibility to fix it, but they responded even on Superbowl Sunday and have stayed abreast of the situation both to make sure I'm being helped and to make sure they can avoid this particular snafu for their customers for the future. These ladies and gents really are on top of the customer service!"

"I have placed three orders with pcalchemy. Each one has shipped promptly and I have received exactly what I ordered. They seem to carry the products that I like, like Seagate hard drives, and Seasonic power supplies, so I trust their judgements on other products.

I recently had a problem that I could not understand with Windows MCE. I emailed pcalchemy, even though it was not their problem, and got a response back within an hour, with a detailed explanation and the correct solution.

I will definitely use pcalchemy as my first choice supplier. If they produced computer stickers I would proudly put one on my HTPC."

"I am a very cautious online consumer and spend alot of time researching a company before making any purchases. After locating my wireless keyboard with them, I decided to place the order based on all the positive feedback I found. I am so glad I did. They shipped it out fast and it arrived in perfect condition. Excellent emails to let me know the status of my shipment each step in the process. Easy to use site and have many hard to find items. I am sure I will purchase from them again. Thanks pcalchemy!"

"Edit: Pcalchemy, contacted me right after this review was posted, and after I got the message I called them back. The person that I spoke to explained to me how this error had happened because their ordering system allowed addresses longer than UPS allowed, and since my address was so long, it cut off the last digit. He explained how this was the first time and apologized. He was very nice and I felt bad for posting such a negative review. It was a completely HONEST mistake and he said that they are fixing the error on their website. In light of what happened, I definitely would not hesitate shopping with them again, this was quite possibly one of the best customer service experiences that I have ever encountered. This is an excellent company that will have an excellent future if they keep up the good work. _________________________________________________
I had never heard of pcalchemy.com before, but they carried a case fan that I wanted for the cheapest price I could find. So, after reading the reviews on resellerratings I went ahead and ordered two of them. They shipped the order out very quickly, but it was so fast that they didn't put down the correct apartment number. They only put down the first 2 digits of my apartment number instead of the full 3 digits. Delivery was supposed to be made on a Friday, just in time for me to finish up my computer that weeekend, but the delivery address mishap caused delivery to be delayed to Tuesday after the weekend I was supposed to finish. All of this could have been avoided had they been more careful to put the correct address on the shipping label. You would think that they would be more careful about putting an address on a box when it is one of the most important details to consider when you ship something. What if my package had been delivered to the wrong apartment number, the package would have been lost causing me even more headache than it has already. Luckily UPS noticed it was an incorrect address and held the package. While this is was my first experience with pcalchemy, I'm not sure if I would deal with them again, because out of the MANY MANY times I have shopped online this is the first time that a store has screwed up the shipping label. This shows a great deal of carelessness on their part."