1/5

posted Feb-13-2013

Sony's customer service is the worst and terribly inconsiderate in Not Resolving issues. When pointed to the fact of fraudulent claims, regarding the SLT-A99 capabilities in their advanced owner's manual, their response was nil... Oh, they are very courteous on the phone, but it took three hours, of describing and re-describing the issue with 4 agents, no of whom knew the A99 beyond what the manual says. Be careful with Sony. I guess I should have looked here first to see if they really back up their product claims. They don't. Very disappointed. Would recommend shopping elsewhere.

The buying experience is very different. I bought the camera, one lens and some other Sony products at the Sony Style store in Tampa, FL. The salespeople were all helpful and a lot of fun to work with. The buying experience from Sony's site was also excellent. Too bad they don't follow through similarly on the back end when there is a problem.

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5/5

posted Dec-14-2012

After a terrible experience with a different mac reseller, I kept searching, because I needed a seriously powerful iMac for editing video. Much to my pleasure, I found iPower through their store on eBay called Macinabox. At this level of pricing, I want a human voice; I called these people and got a lively, enthusiastic and extremely mac-knowledgable Christina on the phone.

I wanted a 27" i7 iMac, turbo-charged. You cannot modify the newly-released models, but the previous gen is highly configurable. I ordered mine with a 256 SSD boot drive, 1tb HD, 32 gb RAM, Apple wireless keyboard and mouse. Mine is shipping with a 1gb video card, would have preferred the 2gb, but hey... I'm phat with this rig. They even ordered the RAM kit overnight for me as I had time constraints to manage as well.

So far, so good. The machine is going out today and it will be in FL on Monday! I simply cannot wait to boot this puppy up and fly in FCP X. I know Aperture and CS6 are going to haul some serious ____.

I spoke with Christina at length about their company, their direct association with the demi-gods in Cupertino and their plans for future developments. Absolutely fascinating. I feel I have gotten superb customer service and more importantly, interest. I'll have more to add to this when the machine arrives.

For now, I have to N/A on shipping and breakage, because I have yet to take delivery. I will update the rating upon receipt...

12/30/2012: Oh, the joys... Where to begin? This thing is a smoker of a Mac. Feels like driving a formula one car after working on my mid-2010 MBP 13", which was no slouch until having Aperture and Ps open at the same time. Obviously, with 27" of real estate to work with, I can have Mail, Safari, iTunes, Aperture and CS6 all open and toggle through each at will.

With 32 gigs of RAM onboard, nothing slows me down. Even invoking NIk-ware simultaneously happens seamlessly...

Hardware aside, I must emphatically emphasize the trustworthiness of iPower, Christina and her husband. They knew their stuff cold. I do too, so after having done much research on how I wanted to build out the machine, my experience here was superb. They know about all the latest and greatest advances in hardware, so our ordering process was like a dream come true.

I had time constraints to work with, so they ordered the RAM kits overnight at my request. All through the ordering, building and shipping process, I was kept apprized of everything. It isn't easy to issue a domestic wire transfer in the amount of a couple grand to un unknown entity, but their copious great feedback on Ebay helped to ease the concerns created by my previous experience with another reseller.

My machine arrived exactly as promised, packed very well and fired up immediately with no surprises other than its stellar-SCREAMING performance. I could not be any happier with my purchase... couldn't!

Thank you, iPower! I wish your crew all the best for the coming New Year! Keep up the great work.

This review was modified by ckapp on December 30 2012 06:58:22 AM

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1/5

posted Dec-11-2012

Started out great; ended miserably. Very unprofessional and disorganized.

I wanted to order a 27" iMac i7, loaded. They had one in stock with a 2gb video card. Perfect. Excellent price, Steve the salesman made configuration a breeze. But then... he called me back (actually Jonathan) to tell me that the machine did not pass diagnostics and therefore not salable.

Deep Breath... They had an i5 as well, but with a 1gb video card instead. I edit video, so that was a bit of a loss. Ok, I'll deal.

From the beginning, I wanted to use an SSD boot drive with a 1tb HD. All through the process, Steve said that that was possible. Now, according to their service department, it isn't. But according to other Apple product resellers it can be done easily, along with adding either one or two additional drive, although with two additional drives, you lose the optical drive. The point is; Gainsaver's information is incorrect despite being told from the beginning that an SSD can be installed. Can they be trusted?

This back and forth dialog has been going on for two days. Their salespeople cannot seem to do credit card transactions in an orderly manner either, as at least half the credit card transactions were declined due to their inability to enter the credit card information correctly, while consistently assigning the blame on me. Meanwhile, because of now two order cancellations, I have $4k tied up in transactions in progress, namely my refunds. Not good.

The potential for greatness certainly exists in their pricing, but Steve the sales-guy became increasingly snippy, especially after my bank's data logs revealed his inability to enter credit card info accurately no less then 3 times.

Too bad for this experience, but I would suggest looking elsewhere due to lack of professionalism and personal accountability. If it's like this on the front end, it's guaranteed that it trickles through to the people in the shop who actually build the stuff.

Addition #1: I have not yet received a refund confirmation for the second order, as promised by Steve. I will continue to post my experiences as they occur. I sure hope I don't have to put the charges in to dispute through my bank!

Addition #2: The first order cancellation has been refunded and has fallen off my checking account, but the second one has not. Still waiting for this to clear.

Addition #3: 12/14 and the charge for $2006.39 is still showing on my checking account.

Addition #4: Finally got the second charge to my account cleared, so we are even. All through the numerous errors made by Gainsaver, never an apology, never an acknowledgement of personal responsibility; instead, personal grievance emailed to me by the sales manager for having "worked so hard". I can't believe that a seasoned sales professional would burden a customer in this manner.

Again, no responsibility for the headaches created by Gainsaver. All I wanted to do was buy a computer, not get involved in personal drama.

This review was modified by ckapp on December 18 2012 07:57:58 AM

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