Reserved 3 items for store pick-up. All items were listed as in-stock on the website. However, at the store two of the items were "missing".  
 
Also, the website signed me up for their SPAM newsletter WITHOUT my permission. WORSE: they erroneously (or falsely) claimed that I had SIGNED UP. AS IF I WOULD SIGN UP FOR THAT GARBAGE.  
 
Without a doubt, the quality of service at this website/store is lacking. However, they do occasionally offer some good prices/deals.

I was surprised to see Micro Centers rating so low when I looked it up. I don't recall ordering anything form them online, but I do shop in the store a lot. Everyone is always very helpful and friendly, and they have prices on some things that are way less than anywhere else, like flat screen mounts.  
 
I have also returned my fair share of items to the store, just because they didn't fit my needs, and I have never gotten any kind of hassle or charge for doing so. A few years ago I went there looking for an LCD HD TV, and the deal they had was so good I bought a second one that I really didn't need. They were $2000 TV's that had almost $900 worth of discounts and rebates on them.  
 
I have always been very pleased with them, and they are absolutely the best place to go for computer stuff now that CompUSA is gone. Maybe they are different in different locations or online, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.

I have placed two orders with two separate Microcenter locations online over the pass two days and have had both cancelled with 10 minutes after getting a confirmation email. I was told in both instances that the online deals really did not exist. I asked how could I know what was really avalilable and was told by Kim at the Marietta, GA location that "if it seems to good to be true then it probably is". Umm, shouldn't any good deal at a discount electronics store "seem to good to be true"?  
 
What a screwed up company! They didn't even offer to make up for it help me find what I was looking for or anything. Here was an opportunity right in front of them to try to correct a mistake and keep a customer for life, and they passed it up without even noticing it.

Microcenter had the Nikon AF-S DX VR Zoom-NIKKOR 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED Lens for $149.99 on 1/23/09. I could have ordered it online, but stopped by the store in Santa Clara to get it sooner. Sales guy in Peripheral Sales said they had one in inventory; searched but could not locate it. About 45 minutes later, he said he would search more thoroughly after the store closes, and if they had it, I can come pick it up, and if not, he would have one shipped from another store. In any case, the cost to me would be the same price. No phone calls from him whatsoever. So called him back a few times days later. Left several messages. No return calls.  
 
Extreme thumbs-down for 1) not honoring their word, 2) empty salesman promises, and 3) wasting my time, both at the store, and on the phone.  
 

I placed an order in Dec. 08 for a game that went on sale online. I then received an order confirmation. Then shortly after that I received a cancellation notice that the item was out of stock or there was an issue with charging my account. Checking online forums produced numerous other customers that were experiencing the same issue so this led me to believe there was a supply shortage. This is acceptable in most cases, except that now I receive and inordinate amount of emails that I never signed up for from this store and attempting to unsubscribe was a pain in the butt, which I stil haven't accomplished.  
 
Just this morning I placed an order for the same item that went back on sale. However, the same scenario happened and I am left without the product, email advertisements that I never signed up for, and mostly a waste of time.  
 
Stay away from this store, they have no inventory management system in place available online and use this as a way to subscribe people to their emails. But, the issue is exacerbated by the fact that providing a "In-stock/Out-of-stock" notification on their product pages should not be that big of a deal since they were clearly able to find out that they needed to cancel mine along with numerous other persons orders (they couldn't all be due to account charging issues).  
 
My advice is not to give them your private information and purchase from more reputable stores.

To Whom It May Concern:  
 
I received a cancellation notice for my order.  
 
I was just told today that it was being shipped. I am very disappointed with your company. I have gotten the run-around ever since I first placed my order on December 30. I cannot believe that you still have the product showing on your website and it is no longer available.  
 
I received a phone call on 12/31 questioning the shipping address because it was different than my billing address. After that phone call I understood that it was being shipped within a few days. I then saw a transaction on my bank account with the amount of the purchase on 1/5 so I expected it was shipping. Then on 1/7 I found the transaction had disappeared. I called Micro Center Customer Service and they told me they were waiting for a phone call back from my bank for authorization. Authorization? I don't understand why they would call for a credit card authorization? Why didn't they tell me that on 12/31 when I spoke with them?  
 
Anyway, your employee called the lost and found number and they never got an answer so my order sat. So when I spoke to Jamie today she let me know all of this and I gave her the correct number for my bank...still don't know why they had to call for authorization but they did and the bank was confused as well but told them to withdraw the money.  
 
Jamie said it was going to ship in 1-3 days and now I get this email saying my order is cancelled. And what is more disturbing - My account was charged again today!  
 
I am a very dissatisfied customer...or non-customer since my order was cancelled.  
 
Please get your company and ordering department more organized so that another customer will not have to go through this horrible situation.

While we've only had a couple small online orders with Micro Center so far, we have no complaints at all.  
 
We fully intend to purchase again from Micro Center; and if they had a location closer to us, we'd be a customer there, too.  
 
One of our orders was backordered, but the order was still filled and shipped within a day or so.  

Out of the last half dozen orders or so that I have placed (probably at least 20 items), they had 1 item. Even though there system showed in stock (in some cases a lot in stock), they couldn't find them and canceled the orders. One time, I went to the store anyway, and they actually had an item that the canceled claiming out of stock.  
The last time gave me a real shock about how they handle debit/credit cards. I ordered a 32" lcd tv that showed in stock. 4 minutes later the order got canceled, but they went ahead and put a hold on my checking account for several hundred dollars. They blame it on the bank, but after spending the whole morning on the phone, I did determine that they are just not releasing the hold. They wait for the bank to automatically drop it off after 3-4 business days. I demanded it get released and they did it right away (after 3 days. They said, what, are we supposed to manually release every hold? I would say so if you are going to cancel every ones orders (especially if the dollar amount is high). Plan on your order getting canceled and your money getting tied up for days if you buy anything large.

Microcenter has a pretty bad rating, but I have ordered three times recently -- once in November, once in December, and once in January 09 -- and have had NO problems. All orders went very smoothly, items were packaged properly, and the shipments arrived in a reasonable time.  
 
Don't know what else to say, but I plan to order more in the future.

This review was modified by its author, rjh4890, on 1/10/09 7:05 PM.

I purchased a laptop in the store on Oct 10th, my plan was to transfer all my files from my old, dying laptop to the new one, then back up the files via dvd. On Oct 12th my brand new computer failed. The OS for some reason erased itself along with all my files. Considering that the other laptop had been dying, I had already deleted the files.  
Microcenter itself was not overly rude to me in the process of returning the item, they refused to even discount the cost to restore the files on my old computer though. What upset me was my phone conversation with the Store Manager Tom Welsh.  
He stopped short of calling me stupid, raised his voice to me and was just all over rude. I explained to him that his product had failed me, his response was that it was "not his product." Like I didn't buy it from his store. He was polite enough when I bought it from him (he assisted me during the sale), but seemed to be angry over my being upset over the incident.  
 
DO NOT BUY FROM THAT STORE!!! It's on Bethel Rd in Columbus, OH.  
 
I might buy from Microcenter again if they can find a way to remedy the situation.

They took my order and sent me a confirmation email. 2 days later I received a "order canceled" email saying the product is no longer available. 5 days total and the credit card hold has not been removed. Avoid this merchant.

I really despise companies that have an "inventory status" but it's not even real-time or accurate.  
 
The nearest Micro Center was showing 1 item in stock for pickup. (After I ordered it, the quantity did change to 0.) I ordered around 7 AM, before the store even opened, so no other customer should have claimed that last one. I had to wait for confirmation email until an hour later. The actual "Ready for pickup" email didn't come until 10:43 AM (40 minutes AFTER the store opened). I ordered two items, but the one showing the quantity of 1 was canceled and only a partial pickup was allowed. The employee tells me he could not find it and it was probably lost -- and "it happens"; that's not a very good excuse.  
 
Pickup orders that are unfulfilled due to their mistake are just simply canceled. There is no backorder/raincheck or any compensation. That is bad business if you ask me. I don't understand why if one were to order it to have it shipped, then they get the option of waiting for backorder, but not if it's pickup? A company with good customer service would actually have the item ship free of charge if the item cannot be picked up -- not just cancel and forget like the whole thing never happned -- when the store claims they had it in the first place.  
 
It's one thing if it's showing out of stock and one tries to order it, but if they claim they have it in stock, they should take some more responsibility.  
 
What irritates me more is that even after the cancellation, it's showing a quantity of 1 in stock for it again. However, the price had been raised than the time I first ordered. That got me suspicious. I decided to order it again anyway just to see what would happen. The second time I ordered it (the next day), it was around 5 AM, but received cancellation again. This time, though, it took longer for them to send the email; it was at 11:40 AM when they sent the pickup cancellation. Every time they cancel my order, they seem to update the quantity back to 1 again. Hmm.  
 
This was not a good first time pickup experience with Micro Center. I have done pickup orders from other competitors and they have been much quicker sending order confirmation and have services such as offering gift cards for pickup orders if the order cannot be fulfilled when it's showing in stock.  
 
It would also help to show the Order # on the order confirmation email too. If you don' save the invoice at the time you ordered, you won't be able to find out your order number. That's pretty ridiculous.  
 
Considering Micro Center is mainly a computer store, it's even more dissatisfying to know their own computers/ordering system has issues.  
 
Update 8/15/08 - I just checked the website and now it's showing 19 in stock. All of a sudden, they restocked 19?! That just makes me even more angry.

This review was modified by its author, Robo209, on 8/15/08 3:02 PM.

The majority of complaints about this company seems to involve back order products. Microcenter clearly states that an item is on back order, and you should expect delays.  
I contacted them through live chat(which every website should have), and they told me that the item i wanted was on back order. I was in no hurry for this item, so I went ahead and purchased it on july 31st. on august 1st, i got an email telling me my item was shipped.  
It arrived on the 5th and was new in package.  
If I was looking for good prices and didn't need it in a week, i would buy from them again.

Oh June 28, 2008 I ordered a Toshiba Satellite laptop computer online from Micro Center. Total cost was $785.59 prior to a $100 mail in rebate.  
 
I submitted all the required documentation including the only invoice/shipping document I received, the UPC cut from the box etc within the required time frame.  
 
Micro Center declined the rebate at their site saying the documentation was deficient. I emailed them TWICE explaining why the documentation was in order but I GOT NO RESPONSE TO EITHER EMAIL...NOTHING.  
 
I SENT A THIRD EMAIL AND TOLD THEM SCREWING ME OUT OF A LOUSY HUNDRED BUCKS WAS A BAD BUSINESS MODEL AND THEY LOST ME FOREVER AS A CUSTOMER!!  
 
I ALSO TOLD THEM TO SHOVE IT.  
 
I OF COURSE, HAVE RECEIVED NO RESPONSE TO THAT EMAIL EITHER.  
 
FORGET ABOUT ANY REBATES FROM MICRO CENTER...YOU WON'T GET THEM.  
 
8/24/2008 IT'S AMAZING THAT THIS LOUSY COMPANY WILL NOT EVEN RESPOND TO MY EMAILS...NOT EVEN ONCE.  
 
YET I CONTINUE TO RECEIVE SPAM ADVERTISING MATERIAL FROM THEM EVERY FEW DAYS.  
 
AGAIN, DO NOT COUNT ON GETTING A REBATE FROM MICRO CENTER.

This review was modified by its author, KLRose, on 8/24/08 9:33 AM.

Ordered a CPU very late on Tuesday. Got it Thursday. Can't ask for any better than that!  
 
Good price on the CPU too even with taxes and shipping.