5/5

posted Jan-26-2006

"I purchase a 517M from widow pc in April. My first impression was awe, this is a great machine. Second impression after messing with it a while was amazement, this machine makes my other computers look like they bark and leave brown things on the carpet.

I had one tech issue with the built in camera, I had inadvertantly pushed function F11 and turned it off. The only other issue was the wireless card had some spotty coverage. After downloading the latest drivers for the card I am in computer heaven.

I have done business with most of the big name computer companies and many of the smaller ones, WidowPC stands head and shoulders above the others. AMERICAN tech support! and they are willing to stay on the phone until the issue is resolved! I can't say enough good about these guys."

This review was modified by Agonisties on May 11 2006 12:54:40 PM

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4/5

posted Jan-07-2006

"At the moment Widow PC is bending over backward to make up for thier mistakes and providing me a hefty discount and a computer with all the bells and whistles....to be continued."

This review was modified by FORENSIC on January 10 2006 09:59:07 AM

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5/5

posted Jan-04-2006

"02/03/06 EDIT: I got my new computer 2 days ago on February 1st. All I can say is that I am elated. This machine is perfect, and all I had ever hoped for in a high performance PC. Its super fast, super quiet, and when I run my games, its like I am seeing them for the first time. The graphics, sound and smoothness of play is totally night and day from what I've been used to experiencing.

Furthermore, hats off to WidowPC and their truly outrageous customer service. When everything goes smoothly, its easy for a company to claim they have great customer service; but when things go wrong, thats when a company truly shows you what its all about. WidowPC treated me like a top, top priority, in communication and action, and really bent over backwards to make me happy.

When I was PC shopping a few months ago, I read all the reviews about WidowPC and thought to myself, "wow, this company sounds too good to be true." I know I had a rocky start with WidowPC when I first got my computer, but that mishap really just gave them the opportunity to shine. I'd like to thank Joshua and the whole crew at WidowPC, for really showing me what outstanding, outrageous customer service is all about, and for not just making me happy, but for making me thrilled.

01/12/06 EDIT: I got my computer and it was still not working. I called Widow PC and Joshua spent literally hours with me going over all the possible causes for the problems. Despite all our efforts, we could not get it working. Joshua has readily agreed to build me a new computer from scratch and take this one back.

Joshua took my complaints very seriously and worked with me for hours, at night no less. I am very appreciative of this truly positively outrageous customer service and look forward to getting the new computer. I will report back here on how that goes... to be continued ...

01/04/06 Original Post: WidowPC seems to have very good ratings, and they came highly recommended to me by a friend, but so far I have experienced nothing but disappointment.

My computer was ordered and paid for on November 30th and it arrived on December 23rd, a little longer than the 10 days in which it was promised, but that didn't seem too bad since it was the holidays. Even so, you'd think they would let customers know that they are backed up instead of over promising and under delivering.

And as far as I am concerned "Over Promising and Under Delivering" should be their company motto, not "Outrageous Customer Service" as they proclaim.

When my girlfriend called to inquire about the late delivery on the order, they were very nice on the phone and promised that they'd make it up to us and throw in some t-shirts and cool games for the hard drive, and that we would be totally delighted when the computer arrived. Fair enough.

When the computer arrived, however, not only were there no t-shirts, but we would never know if there were any games on the hard drive because all it did when I turned it on was beep and say "system failed: memory test."

Several calls to tech support had me opening the case and trying the RAM in different slots, removing brackets and screws, unplugging the power source, unplugging the network and video cards... all through several frustrating days and to no avail. I also noticed when I was inside the machine that there were the two default video cards that come with the base model, not the top of the line upgrade card for which I paid $390 extra.

I had to continually call them throughout this process, and on every call they promised me that they would figure out what was wrong. Every time I mentioned that the machine had the wrong video card, they had no comment.

Finally, my girlfriend called them and demanded that they take this machine back and make it right. They issued a call tag that same day, and UPS tracking confirmed WidowPC received it on December 30th at 9:55 A.M.

My girlfriend made a follow-up call on the morning of January 3rd and they told her they had to look into it, and she was promised a call back on that same day. They still have not called back, which is what I have come to expect from them since they almost never respond to voicemails, e-mails and particularly to promises.

WidowPC is very nice to deal with on the phone, they are extremely polite and very knowledgeable. They do seem to promise an awful lot though, and make good on very little.

As of today on the eve of January 4th, they have had my $4700 for over a month now, and I still have no computer and no ETA. At this point, I certainly don't expect outrageous customer service from them, but a little would be nice.

When this situation gets resolved, I will post here one way or the other. I'm hoping for a happy ending - that is all that I'd like."

This review was modified by JustinB101 on February 03 2006 03:31:56 PM

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3/5

posted Jan-04-2006

"When I finally decided to get myself a true gamers computer I decided on a WidowPC based in part on the reviews I read here, sadly my experience was not as rosy as the ones here. I received my desktop several weeks ago and it would not display video at all. When I contacted customer support I was given another number to someplace else (Ohio sticks in my head for some reason) and they tried to help. I still had limited video but since I was going on vacation for the holidays I did not have time to finish fixing the system. It still had problems (only one video card would work) and it would sometimes not have a video output when started though the keyboard powered up and I could hear windows starting. When I returned from my vacation I could not get video at all.

In addition to the obvious performance issues I was very dissappointed that it took much longer than advertised to get at all and when I got it I did not get what was advertised on the website. I will list the discrepancies:

I have Supertalent RAM, not Crucial.

My floppy drive is simply that, not the 7 in 1 I ordered.

Windows XP was not activated and when I tried I got an error that it had been installed on too many syatems already.

No Windows manual.

The case locks but no key was delivered.

Zonelabs was not installed.

Animated desktop was not installed.

Mozilla Firefox was not installed.

I choose WidowPC based on the reviews I read and their philosphy as espoused on their website and paid $3,700 for a computer that does not work properly and did not include the extras that were advertised. I contacted their support and the other number I was given again and neither time was the person I needed to talk to available. I have not finished dealing with them yet but I do want to make it known so others may see the other side of the coin.

-------------------------------------------------

Update - The computer has been returned to the manufacturer for repairs at their expense. I will update further when it is completed."

This review was modified by Lothlion on January 11 2006 01:39:47 PM

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5/5

posted Dec-17-2005

"I bought a computer for myself at WidowPC.com through their online ordering system. I found the ordering system simple to use and the depth of choices available in the hardware configuration was very refreshing.

Unfortunately or fortunately, I got the computer home and my wife liked it so much that I ended up having no choice but to give her the computer. I still have laptop envy whenever I see it on her desk. The computer I bought has a 17" screen that displays her photos flawlessly. Also, notable is how nice it looks at her desk just off the kitchen area of the house.

I can't remember what kind of issues we had with the initial order, but the WidowPC staff was extremely helpful and really seemed to care about it. It made me very comfortable with this company since, at the time of the problem, I knew it was going to be fixed by people who really cared about solving it for us.

I can't wait to order another computer FOR MYSELF from this company and highly recommend it to anyone who looks to this review site for validation. WidowPC has my stamp of approval."

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5/5

posted Dec-16-2005

"It took twenty days to recieve my laptop. At the time due to the holidays they had a load of orders to fill. I was not dismissed with my inquries at all. No matter how many times I called. I just got to know the staff. Also, when I received my laptop, not only was all software installed and tested. But they helped me with all my items at home as well. They have been great. They have 24 hour otech service and you actually go straight to tech. The tech support is awesome. They handle all of my questions and I did not have to prequalify my calls each time that I called either. I went straight to support and we started working immediately on my issue."

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1/5

posted Dec-09-2005

"Review Update - April 4, 2008:

My review used to be very positive but WidowPC is no longer the same as it was. Recent communications with WidowPC have lead me to believe they are now affiliated with another company (or even owned by). This other company does not have a particularly great reputation among consumers as far as computer boutique sellers go. WidowPC _was_ bounds above their competitors as far as customer service goes but not anymore.

[Note: All costs listed are in Canadian Dollars and approximated.]

My laptop was a customized high-end Sting 917 (Nov/Dec 2005). Exact specifications withheld to save character space for comments.

RD70911995: On September 8, 2007, my laptop failed due to a burnt-out video card (GO 7800GTX 256MB). Since I am in Canada, WidowPC did not cover my RMA shipping costs. For shipping alone, the cost for me was approximately $425 with insurance. Since it was already there, I decided I might as well upgrade the video card to a GO 7950GTX 512MB to give a boost to the aging system (another $650 from eBay + $200 for shipping here and then to WidowPC). I realize I paid above average price for the VGA card but since it had been discontinued, it was probably my last chance. As a result, there was a delay due to them waiting on my video card (as it would void my warranty if I installed it myself although it is a very, very simple procedure). During this wait period, I was also told that the HDD currently inside the system was failing.

When I received the laptop back on October 26, 2007, I decided to test the HDD with diagnostic tools such as HDTune and SpinRite. I could find nothing wrong, let alone anything that could result in HDD failure. Regardless, I purchased another HDD (200GB for $200) just in case and replaced the 'failing' HDD with it. Apparently DIY HDD installation does not result in a voided warranty (go figure, considering the video card is just as easy to install from my knowledge). Everything was good again until....

RD71112298: November 11, 2007, my laptop failed again. According to WidowPC/Pro-Star, the cause this time was motherboard, RAM, and HDD failure (I swapped back in the old HDD before shipping back, my new HDD was perfectly fine). Again, I still doubt the validity of the HDD failure. So, RMA shipping cost me another $250 with insurance (switched shipping companies due to exorbitant costs) this time around. There was a long delay before I ever saw my laptop again. First reason was the parts needed to be ordered and replaced. Second reason (directly from the WidowPC representive's mouth), they _forgot_ about my system for over a month. It was apparently sitting in a corner of their repair facility for all that time. I received the laptop back on February 26, 2008. Three months and the delay was not even a result of my actions this time.

Everything should be fine now, right? Pretty much everything was replaced. Unfortunately, no.

RD80305863: February 26, 2008 (yes, that's right... same day I got it back, 2.5 hours after booting it up), my laptop failed... again. This time it resulted in a Special Circumstances RMA (208344) where they asked me to send it to a specialist in Arizona to analyze the cause due to 'problems' with their repair facility. In the end, it was determined that the HDD Cable was the cause and replaced/repaired. I should note that the WidowPC representative also nearly forgot that I was still under warranty and almost charged me $60 (one-half of $120 which they would 'help' cover due to my troubles). If I had not mentioned the fact I was still under warranty, I would've paid even more. I finally got my laptop back on April 4, 2008. Yep, another month gone by. >_<

THP135: April 4, 2008... could it be? IT FAILED AGAIN LESS THAN 1.5 HOURS AFTER I GOT IT BACK! My assumption now is that the HDD Cable was not the main problem as the failure was identical to RD80305863 in the above paragraph. Essentially, they sent me a lemon back... again. There goes the $250 shipping from last time and a wasted month.

In all this time, my main contacts were Charlie and Brandon. Charlie left WidowPC shortly after my second RMA process began. Unfortunately, neither of them seemed to be able to do much for me since they had to answer to the 'higher-ups'. They were polite and well meaning as far as I could tell though.

Current analysis (April 4, 2008): I've put around $1750 or so into this system now, including shipping/customs charges. That's not even counting the original value of the system. Any decent computer technician could tell you that $1750 now could build a _great_ gaming system. Six months ago or so, $1750 would give you a system of comparable performance to my laptop. This is not fair in my opinion. If I had not bothered putting any money into this system at all, I could've built a much, much better system on my own with $1750 now. Yet, I'm $1750 out now and stuck with a lemon. I am very, very dissatisified at this point. I had put much faith in WidowPC in the past and it seems it has come back to bite me in the ass."

This review was modified by CWolfCW on April 06 2008 05:19:02 PM

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5/5

posted Dec-02-2005

"Though it took a while for my laptop to be assembled (motherboards) it was shipped out on a Thursday and the military post office here in Germany recieved it on a Monday night. That was pretty freakin fast for APO shipping! I was taken by surprise. Kudos to Josh who was willing to ship it overnight to my German address via UPS at no expense to me, just to ensure that it gets here before I deploy back to the Sandbox. Luckily, he didn't have to do that.
The laptop runs my games and FS2004 like butter with awesome frame-rates, and yes, its better than my desktop. You know have a devoted customer. Thanks!!!
"

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1/5

posted Nov-28-2005

"Update of 2005 review. Very sad since then customer support has worsened considerably.
Most current interaction started when I wanted to upgrade to 8800GTS640MB & was told by factory tech support (then Ryan G. in Georgia) that given other hardware in my desktop computer, I needed new larger power supply unit(PSU)to ensure stable performance. I always contacted WidowPC first before any upgrade as I did not want to void my 3 years parts and labor warranty. Ryan told me if I install PSU I void the warranty. He referred me to sales, Jay P. who took my order for new PSU and install (Silverstone 750W that Ryan G. recommended). Jay P. told me I had to mail desktop to Kent, Washington and should expect computer with new PSU back in about one week. Ryan G. also told me he was too busy to work on my computer. 2/26/2007 WidowPC Kent,WA received my desktop computer. After 2wks no contact nor computer so I called Jay P. & told delay in first Silverstone PSU with electrical problem & expect computer in 1 wk. On 3/29/07 e-mail from Charlie C.(WidowPC Kent, WA) stated delay due to 3 separate new Silverstone PSUs failed & now my 2 HDs damaged. He recommended 700W SeasonicPSU. On 4/1/07 call to Jay P. I asked to speak with Ryan G. and he told me Ryan no longer with WidowPC. I mailed Charlie C. DVD mirror of my hard drive (RyanG. had made in Spring 2006 after prior separate problem from Ohio factory tech) and this DVD mirror received at Kent, WA 4/4/2007. As of 4/13/2007, two emails (address confirmed by Jay P.) sent (4/2 and 4/12) to CEO Joshua unanswered. Between 4/2 and 4/12/07 through my own investigation I discover that the Kent, WA address I sent computer to in 2/2007 is that of Puget Custom Computers. Phone call to Jay P. and Puget tech support 4/12/2007 confirms this. I was told on 4/12/2007 by Jay P. to expect contact from Charlie C. for update on my computer that day. On 4/13/2007 no contact from Charlie C. or WidowPC Kent, WA. So on 4/13/2007 I again call Puget Custom Computer and speak with Perry who takes my information. Within thirty minutes I receive contact from JonB. (CEO of Puget). He tells me Puget just within past few months now manufactures all new desktop for WidowPC. But existing WidowPC desktops like mine are serviced by Charlie C. who is WidowPC employee and separate from Puget Custom Computers. Jon B. sends me total of three e-mails on 4/13/2007 and spoke with CharlieC. to expedite my computer's return. Also on 4/13/2007 I called JayP. and told him I have now file BBB complaint against WidowPC Austin, TX (headquarters).
Finally receive computer (by UPS overnight shipping) on 4/14/2007. BUT, both optical drives nonfunctional and no WindowsXP certificate of authenticity and desktop setup clearly shows DVD mirror I sent on 4/4/2007 not used. Calls to tech support (at least 10) on 4/14 and 4/15/07 all unanswered. I give up and goto local CompUSA and ask for help (diagnosis-damaged laser). I install new DVD-RW and it works fine.

Facts showing poor customer support:
(1) 1.5 months to get system back to me (all this for a PSU upgrade) (N.B. I installed new PSU in my son's cheapo computer in less 4 hours
(2) Computer damaged by WidowPC. CharlieC. admits to damaging two hard drives. Also side panel with the WindowXP COA damaged. They DID REPLACE FREE OF CHARGE with 2 new HD & new side panel. I suspect two non-functional optical drives were damaged by WidowPC too.
(3) Computer returned to me 4/14/2007 with two nonfunctioning optical drives. And given the DVD mirror not used I suspect optical drives not tested before sent back to me.
(4) Two emails to CEO Joshua without reply. CEO of their competitor Puget sends me three e-mail reply in same day.
(5) Ryan G. no longer with WidowPC. Website advertises "fanatical customer support". Ryan G. offered this. Read review by "half lifed" and he would support this opinion of Ryan G.
(6) website lists 24/7 customer support. Outgoing voicemail states (English accent lady) "will answer your call as fast as humanly possible". No answer to multiple calls left on voicemail since 3/2007.
(7) review of desktop FX system at http://consumer.hardocp.com/ shows that they do not build their own systems for that computer. They apparently were doing own computers with Ryan G. Now they have others do it. (I have e-mails from Jon B. should anyone wish to question this).
(8) Three new Silverstone PSU failure is unheard of (per Chalie C., JonB. and everyone else I spoke with).
(9) This is second time factory tech have damaged my computer. First time was in Spring 2006 when I had different problem and sent computer to factory tech (then in Cleveland, Ohio). I was very upset then and CEO Joshua M. then authorized complete system rebuild by Ryang..

Please tell me how can I trust WidowPC with service of my computer? I have documentation of all above interactions.

"

This review was modified by mdmvnaperville on April 16 2007 10:38:30 AM

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5/5

posted Nov-25-2005

"Top notch company. My portable pc. broke (may have been my fault) so I contacted the crew at Widow Pc. We couldn't pinpiont the problem over the phone so I sent it in to them. To my surprise, they built me a new one! And if that isn't nice enough, they even upgraded my video card!! Widow Pc has found another life long customer. When I upgrade my pc, I'll definetly be contacting you guys. Thanks."

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