Stay away from Monarch!

[Brigette R.]

Thank you rpjones 68. I'll do that tomorrow. The truth will set you free. No body deserves to get ripped off and be disrespected in the manner which is occurring to me. Hopefully, things don't get any uglier for me. So far I've been ignored and dogged-out. Let's pray for peace and honesty. Will Monarch send me that which they promised or give me my money back? Only they can correct this.

[michaels39]

Originally Posted by rpjones68

There is consumer advocate Clark Howard in Atlanta, he will go to the store with cameras on WSB TV and it will be in the news if he has enough info. There are also rumors of a class action suit in the works too in other posts. E-Mail Clark with your case and see if he can help.
http://clarkhoward.com/

Just refer him to this thread and the customer reviews here on RR,that should give him plenty of info.The more people spreading the news about Monarch the better,I hate seeing all these people getting ripped off.

[mkpa509]

Yep 1/10/07 0900 hours small claims court.

BTW still have not heard from Dave@ Monarch that my computer has been repaired or that it is shipping like both he and Matt promised.

Good Idea on the clarkhoward.

It's under Clark's Advice / Ask Team Clark....
Done Deal

[mkpa509]

Still no contact with either MAtt or Dave.....

[mclazyj]

Originally Posted by mkpa509

Still no contact with either MAtt or Dave.....

I tried posting a reply about my motherboard on Monarch Forums, but almost every post I submit never makes it.

The board that died was an ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe. I really enjoyed the board and I was bummed it died a short death. But after some explaining to ASUS, they gave me an RMA. I think they are familiar with Monarch and their "issues", but she would not elaborate. I would also look for a replacement board on Ebay if possible. That was going to be my recourse as my motherboard is now discontinued.

And if you need more ancedotal evidence for your case, email me at tballfst@gmail.com.

At this point, I would have to say stay away from Monarch as they are really in the gutter. I was going to tell them that ASUS solved my issue with an RMA, but they never picked up their phone during my 1 hour lunch break from 2PM to 3PM EST.

[michaels39]

I think their forums are pretty much non-functional now,they really don't care what problems customers are having.Most customers have probably given up trying to get through there.I doubt they even have anyone working in support and customer service,but I'll bet they're still taking orders - and unwary customers money!

[invinceable104]

Maybe we should try to direct Monarch refugees to this thread - especially if they don't know what's going on.

I assume posts will only be seen by a handful of people, so maybe through PMs?

[michaels39]

There are threads going in several forums about the problem,whenever I see posts recommending Monarch in various computer related newsgroups I make sure to warn people.At this point what's really needed is for consumer advocates,like Clark Howard,to get involved,as well as legal action by one of these government agencies that are supposed to be protecting consumers from frauds like Monarch.

[Mudhen00]

I'm so glad I found a support group. I thought I was going through this alone.

Monarch has had my computer on RMA since 9/12. Three months.
I have been told several times that it was on the dock ready to ship, only to be told after it didn't arrive that they are still testing it. But "It will probably ship this week."

I used to speak so highly of Monarch Computer

All I want for Christmas is my computer back.

[helj]

Hey all,

I am yet another very unsatisfied Monarch customer. Here is my story in a nutshell:

I am a senior level application architect that works in a very stressful environment (financial sector) and I work long ugly hours (60 hours a week or longer required). When i was in college I used to like to get under the hood of my PC. I was swapping modems back no one had the guts to open their computer cases at all. I was no expert, just a little bleeding edge. Fast forward a decade, and now I am out of the loop. I code all day long and I don't have to time to keep up to speed on PC maintenance.

Unsatisfied by the Dell's/HP's of the world, I was hoping to find a perfect blend of quality hardware and decent price. I thought I had found it in Monarch. I went to resellerratings.com (about 1.5 years ago) and they had pegged Monarch as the #1 rated PC seller (that had any kind of real volume or ratings) that custom built.

Perfect. I did some research on what I wanted and had them build me a PC.

- #1: It took me like 6-8 weeks to finally get the PC.

- #2: When I got it, there were screws floating around inside the case. When I went to open it, I saw with my own eyes problem #3:

- #3: The hard drives (Dual Seagate Barracudas SATA) were not even anchored to the case. They were wedged into the frame there on a 30 degree angle. Looks like they were a little too wide to fit into the Antec case frame I had ordered. Instead of calling me, or working out a solution, the just slid them in there until they kinda were snug, on an angle, and then shipped it. I wish I had taken pictures ...

At this point, I was an idiot. I assumed it was a fluke and just my bad luck. I didn't even call them. I just assumed it was one bad techie or something. They had such amazing ratings here I felt odd questioning them.

Fast forward 4-6 months.

- #4: The power supply starts having strange problems. From time to time, it would just not power up. For a day or two at a time (long hours I work would mean sometimes I wouldn't get back on the PC for a few days). Then suddenly work again. Shrugged it off at first but then, when I needed it badly (for online bills and some work at home stuff) it suddenly permanently went out. At this point I requested an RMA. I also told them about the drives for kicks. I assumed I was in good hands at this point and not to worry.

- #5: They had my PC for almost 2 months. I kept calling and emailing and they kept saying that my RMA had been lost and that it slipped through the cracks and such. I was getting upset at this point. I figured maybe they were so popular that they were that backed up and busy. I tried not to worry. It finally came back with a new power supply, so I was content again.

- #6: A week ago, the USB ports on the machine just went out. Computer recognizes the USB ports but none of them actually work. It's an ASUS Deluxe, and now I cant use USB mouse/keyboard/printers/iPod/etc.

This stinks, because I am no handy man and wouldn't think about trying to replace the motherboard. I also wont send it back to Monarch (since I need my PC on an almost daily basis), so I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I came back here to rant about Monarch, thinking I would be a lonely voice in a sea of happy customers, and I see that they have had a 3.7/10 rating over the last 6 months. Sad ... but it almost seems like I was that first batch of people who suffered when they decided to go from a reputable company to absolute garbage. I will never buy from them again. I won't even send my computer back there to be repaired for free ... I'd rather pay someone else I trust more.

Along those lines ... I am thinking of buying a new PC, and maybe using this one as a file server or something ... who do you guys recommend at this point? Or should I just buy a Dell ...