HIPRO 400W PSU from Tiger Direct

[tcsenter]

I wasn't sure if Hot Deals is an appropriate category, but to anyone that may recently have purchased a HIPRO 400W PSU Item #H11-1005 from Tiger Direct, you need to check the product label. Tiger is advertising the specifications of a 400W model but shipping a 350W model with lower DC Output.

Tiger Direct advertises DC Output for this item as follows:

+3.3V = 25A
+5V = 32A
+12V = 19A
(400W Max Combined)

However, the label on this model rates DC Output as:

+3.3V = 20A
+5V = 32A
+12V = 16A
(350W Max Combined)

The output ratings on the product label are identical to the published output ratings for "ATX12V 350W" on HIPRO's website.

Newegg.com has this model [correctly] listed as a 350W, not 400W.

I ordered two of these but returned them last week after noticing the discrepancy. I've informed Tiger Direct of this discrepancy three times now, once in a letter included in the box with my RMA. And yet, Tiger is still advertising the wrong specs.

FWIW

 

[Kipper]

Most of us should have come to expect this from Tiger...

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: tcsenter
I ordered two of these but returned them last week after noticing the discrepancy. I've informed Tiger Direct of this discrepancy three times now, once in a letter included in the box with my RMA. And yet, Tiger is still advertising the wrong specs.

LOL. That's why we love TD the way that we do, isn't it? Shame on them, thanks for the heads-up. I was perusing their PSUs the other day, actually, and found one that was claimed to be something like 600W, and adding up the DC specs, they were lower than the ones on my 360W that I recently purchased (from Directron). Check out this 420W or 350W one, $30/ea.

 

[tcsenter]

I was perusing their PSUs the other day, actually, and found one that was claimed to be something like 600W, and adding up the DC specs, they were lower than the ones on my 360W that I recently purchased (from Directron).

I don't think that is unique to Tiger Direct. This isn't a question of the PSU manufacturer inflating their specs by using peak power ratings. Tiger Direct is advertising the wrong specs for this model. Its a 350W PSU, but Tiger is advertising the specs of HIPRO's 400W model.

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: MadCowDisease
Most of us should have come to expect this from Tiger...

I just got off the phone with Tiger, they refunded the purchase price plus $14.74 return shipping on those power supplies.

While I don't dispute that some people have bad experiences with Tiger Direct, I've been a customer since 1997 or 1998 and have placed over two dozen orders during that time, totalling several thousand dollars. Tiger has screwed up a couple of my orders, but I've never been hassled about a return and I've received all my rebates to my knowledge.

I read about all the problems and get a little nervous when I place an order, but as long as Tiger continues to make things right when they screw up, I'll continue to be a customer.

 

[formulav8]

Your in the minority. this company should not be listed on this website for any kind of deal. I don't know why people keep posting this company for.


Jason

 

[tcsenter]

Your in the minority. this company should not be listed on this website for any kind of deal. I don't know why people keep posting this company for.

I think you have it the other way around. Tiger Direct is a huge operation that ships thousands of orders EVERY DAY. If I were in the minority, Tiger Direct couldn't stay in business, let alone be thriving.

There is an 'acceptable' rate in terms of dissatisfied customers as a business decision, but it is a single digit percentage, anything higher would begin to threaten one's business and invite legal troubles. To suggest that a majority of Tiger Direct's customers could be dissatisfied while Tiger Direct continues to have a thriving business is specious.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: tcsenter
There is an 'acceptable' rate in terms of dissatisfied customers as a business decision, but it is a single digit percentage, anything higher would begin to threaten one's business and invite legal troubles. To suggest that a majority of Tiger Direct's customers could be dissatisfied while Tiger Direct continues to have a thriving business is specious.

...obviously not a P.T. Barnum scholar.

 

[Crusader Rabbit]

Tiger Direct is an unethical company. They have one of the worst histories in the online sales business. I find it hard to believe that folks still post their offers as "hot deals" and ignore the experience of AT members, consumer fraud organizations, and the BBB.

Beware the Tiger !

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
...obviously not a P.T. Barnum scholar.

Well, other than the fact that P.T. Barnum isn't the origin of the oft-misattributed adage I think you're implying...

It simply defies reality and exposes fundamental ignorance of business matters to believe any company could stay in business with a majority of its customers disgruntled or dissatisfied, with the only exception being those entities which have monopoly status in their market, government being one such example.

Tiger Direct has gobs of competition and yet continues to thrive, we are to believe, because most of its customers are unhappy and, therefore, decide to keep patroning Tiger Direct over and over because they love punishment. lmao!

There is no model or example of this anywhere, but plenty of examples that companies cease to exist after an unsustainable percentage of their customers were dissatisfied.

Again, there is as a business decision an acceptable rate of customer dissatisfaction, but we are talking single-digit percentages here. A rate of 5%, given the volume Tiger Direct does on a daily basis, would translate into several thousand persons in one year's time. Complaints filed by a few hundred of these persons is all that would be required to earn an unsatisfactory business rating and gain the scrutiny of consumer protection agencies or consumer advocates.

I would note that Tiger's BBB rating has remained unchanged for 6 years, based on the same old complaints and actions that were filed years ago. No new compaints have been added to it since at least 1999. People have been saying the same things about Tiger Direct for years now, based on things that happened years ago.

The notion that any company with healthy competition could thrive with double-digit customer dissatisfaction rates is pure fiction.

 

[AMD K9]

There's a sucker born every minute, and a majority of them will be potential TD customers. Just their price gouging practices on shipping alone would make for a profitable business for them to keep up with their competitors.

That said, I have to sheepishly admit I placed an order for a Chieftec case the other day, $14.82 shipping in the same state of Florida!!!! With the great deal on the case, the shipping didn't bother me as much.

What's the latin phrase for let the buyer beware? Caveat Emptor? Well you think of that saying every time you consider buying from TD, that should tell you something.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: tcsenter

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
...obviously not a P.T. Barnum scholar.

Well, other than the fact that P.T. Barnum isn't the origin of the oft-misattributed adage I think you're implying...

It simply defies reality and exposes fundamental ignorance of business matters to believe any company could stay in business with a majority of its customers disgruntled or dissatisfied[...]

Want proof? AOL.

By my comment, I was referring to "there's one [a fool] born every minute". Your original statement was a bit of faulty logic - you need to take into account not only how many customers, but how many of those are repeat customers. It's quite possible for a business to survive, and even flourish, while consistently rendering a poor level of service to nearly all of the customers that come through their door. All they have to do is ensure that they have a larger supply of "fresh blood", as compared to those customers that would choose never to shop there again. IOW, there's always a fresh stream of "n00bs" to shop there; AOL is the quintissential example, of marketing to the unknowing and inexperienced. TigerDirect seems much the same way. That's all that I was trying to say.

Originally posted by: tcsenter
Tiger Direct has gobs of competition and yet continues to thrive, we are to believe, because most of its customers are unhappy and, therefore, decide to keep patroning Tiger Direct over and over because they love punishment. lmao!

Again, an erroneous extrapolation, that continued sales by TD, implies that customers continue to shop there. Without data on the number of repeat customers, vs new customers, such a suggestion has no backing.

Originally posted by: tcsenter
There is no model or example of this anywhere, but plenty of examples that companies cease to exist after an unsustainable percentage of their customers were dissatisfied.

That's just it - what is the "unsustainable" percentage? Has TD hit that yet? Will they ever? I have no idea. But it eventually started to topple AOL, last I heard, their "churn" (customers leaving due to dissatisfaction), had finally increased above their rate of new signups. That tends to imply that either the vast majority of potential-customers have gotten smarter (hard to believe), or that AOL simply saturated their entire "ignorant potential customer" market (far more likely).

Originally posted by: tcsenter
Again, there is as a business decision an acceptable rate of customer dissatisfaction, but we are talking single-digit percentages here. A rate of 5%, given the volume Tiger Direct does on a daily basis, would translate into several thousand persons in one year's time. Complaints filed by a few hundred of these persons is all that would be required to earn an unsatisfactory business rating and gain the scrutiny of consumer protection agencies or consumer advocates.

I would note that Tiger's BBB rating has remained unchanged for 6 years, based on the same old complaints and actions that were filed years ago. No new compaints have been added to it since at least 1999. People have been saying the same things about Tiger Direct for years now, based on things that happened years ago.

The notion that any company with healthy competition could thrive with double-digit customer dissatisfaction rates is pure fiction.

I'm not sure where you are pulling those numbers out of; unless you work rather high-up in TD's marketing organization, I strongly doubt that you could produce any accurate numbers. I know that I don't work there, so I won't even attempt to do so. Only to point out the simply reality, that given a large enough potential-new-customer base, one can continue to "piss off" existing customers to nearly no end, and still remain a profitable business. Many large corporations continue to exist this way. Sad but true.