Tiger Direct

[circusslaughter]

Is tiger direct good to buy from? I know they are $10-20 more then newegg and they hardly have any free shipping or shop runner offers.

 

[NickelPlate]

I've bought a few things from them but generally avoid them these days because of so many rebates and software trial requirements to get their "low" prices.

I get most of my stuff from Amazon. Newegg is fine but nobody beats Amazon's return policies which are usually no questions asked and they pay for return shipping. Newegg often charges restocking fees for components and they don't pay for return shipping.

 

[circusslaughter]

Well I am going to try bill me later option which amazon and tiger direct both have it.

I have a $600-$650 budget and I want to build a home office computer. No gaming.

Who will be cheaper? Amazon or Tiger?

 

[ZanCrow]

well, if you have live nearby one, tigerdirect is great. you wont need to pay shipping and they sell stuffs okay-cheap ish price. tehre are often mail in rebates but thats fine by me.

amazon have okay- normal price. BUT they probably have the best customer service around here. last time i dealt with them, i wanted to cancel my order for something. 2 minutes max and everythign was solved, no problem.

 

[lakedude]

I've bought a few things from them but generally avoid them these days because of so many rebates and software trial requirements to get their "low" prices.

I get most of my stuff from Amazon. Newegg is fine but nobody beats Amazon's return policies which are usually no questions asked and they pay for return shipping. Newegg often charges restocking fees for components and they don't pay for return shipping.

^This

I bought from Newegg for years and they were fast and great, until I had a problem. Now I try to avoid Newegg but I do still buy from them on occasion.

Amazon is better to deal with and can have better prices but they can be high as well.

Tiger Direct has been inconsistent but I'd still buy from them if they had a great deal.

Micro Center, Best Buy, Fry's, and eBay can be worth checking and every once in a while Wal-Mart, depending on what you are looking for.

 

[Torn Mind]

My Tigerdirect experience has generally been good. I even got a rebate approved by going through their Rebate Assurance thing when 4myrebates said that I didn't send the UPC codes even though I knew I did.

Just make sure to securely attach UPC labels to the former securely via tape or glue so they can't claim they are "lost".

That is not to say you might not have a good experience.

 

[circusslaughter]

I want to go through TigerDirect.

Budget is $700. Needs to be able to play SimCity. That's the only game requirement. Wanting Intel as well.

Am I better buying pre-built or buying parts?

 

[Blain]

Use Reseller Ratings to check on companies before buying from them.

 

[AdvHomeServer]

TechBargains.com is pretty good for special sales that don't last long. TigerDirect is one of their advertisers, as is Newegg and many others.

I like to look look around and see who is selling what I want at that moment at the best price. Everyone has different sales and some prices can be very different sometimes. You really need to bookmark your favorite vendors and work the bookmarks until you know who has what you want at that moment at the best price.

 

[corkyg]

As Blain says. Most customer reviews here are negative. http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Tiger_Direct

My past info is that TD deals a lot of gray market merchandise.

 

[JackMDS]

As far as I know you do not Marry any of them, you just buy boxes of plastic with some metal, silicone, and wires inside them.

Go to the three that you mentioned shop for the parts (build shopping carts) and buy from the one that is the least overall expensive.

Or even better split between the Vendors and get from each one the parts that they sell for the lower price.

The rest of the considerations (how nice the Governors are) is just verbal mundane BS that has nothing to do with your specific goal.

As I said at the beginning you do not marry any of them.

 

[Brainonska511]

I've purchase from them before, but nearly got burned on a fake rebate. Has to get amex involved to get my rebate money that was falsely advertised. After that, I don't rush to go buying from them. But, I did but a monitor from them around Christmas, since they had a good deal, free shipping, and amex gave me a $30 credit for my purchase (special offer at the time).

 

[JackMDS]

Most of rebate has little to do with the upfront vendor (I.e., Amazon. TD. NewEgg etc.).

Most of the problem comes from the specific company that offer the rebate for their specific products and the instructions that they give to the 3rd party that process them.

It does not matter from whom I buy, I always factor in the probability that I would Not see the rebate.

Some rebates are offeedr by companies that are undergoing financial difficulties, and they might be going under, or and filed chapter 11, or and sold. In such cases there a big chance that One would never see his/her rebate.

 

[Brainonska511]

Most of rebate has little to do with the upfront vendor (I.e., Amazon. TD. NewEgg etc.).

Most of the problem comes from the specific company that offer the rebate for their specific products and the instructions that they give to the 3rd party that process them.

...

True. But my problem was I purchased something where the rebate would never have worked, because it was for a different product. And then after the order was processed, TD told me to pound sand and that the advertising error was my problem. So I got amex to solve my problem.

Yes, I should have read the rebate form more closely before hitting buy, but I slipped up.

 

[jaydee]

Use Reseller Ratings to check on companies before buying from them.

Seriously, a 1.6/10?

I wouldn't really trust a "reseller ratings" site like this. I find the chances of competitors dropping crap ratings on TD is extraordinarily high. Of the "real" people leaving feedback, I doubt much of anyone who bought something and got it fine have any gumption to leave a positive rating on a site like this.

I personally have bought from TD and have had fine experiences, rebates and all. That being said, I don't find good deals there very often anymore, so I haven't used it lately. I have not tried returning anything there.

I mostly stick with newegg and amazon, but it's for better prices and I now find rebates to be more of a hassle than its worth (in general), not because some ratings website says you'll never get your stuff, everythings DOA, they charged my card 5 times, etc.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Tiger is ok. I've ordered from them on and off over the past ten years or so. Customer service is fair too. I spotted a pricing error once on a motherboard so I ordered it. Well they sent a cheaper board. When I contacted customer service they hooked me up with an even better board no cost to me.

Double rebates is a pain but every one I've done payed out.

 

[circusslaughter]

Tiger Direct has horrible customer service. I asked about getting preferred account with them. Like interest, special financing, etc. They told me just buy something and find out.

So I guess when I pay off my Newegg card June 7th, I'll buy my mom stuff for her new computer. I went ahead and ordered her case because my card wasn't completely maxed yet.

I haven't had any problems with Newegg. I've bought all of the parts for both of builds and returns are hassle free.

Granted I have shop runner and RMAs are at no charge to me. The customer service is always nice and helpful.

 

[mfenn]

TigerDirect is fine. Not great, but OK. I would order from them if the price was right. However, they are hardly ever the lowest price, so I don't bother.

That being said:

Well I am going to try bill me later option which amazon and tiger direct both have it.

Looking for a vendor with a different financing option just because you have maxed out your Newegg line of credit is a terrible idea. Pay down your current debt first, then worry about building a new machine.

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

Tiger Direct has horrible customer service. I asked about getting preferred account with them. Like interest, special financing, etc. They told me just buy something and find out.

So I guess when I pay off my Newegg card June 7th, I'll buy my mom stuff for her new computer. I went ahead and ordered her case because my card wasn't completely maxed yet.

I haven't had any problems with Newegg. I've bought all of the parts for both of builds and returns are hassle free.

Granted I have shop runner and RMAs are at no charge to me. The customer service is always nice and helpful.

LOL @ your finance ideologies... you shouldn't be ordering anything until you get out of debt.

And, I ordered from TD once in like early 2000. Horrible back then, never went back. I've heard bad things recently.

 

[nwo]

TD is bad. But, if the price is right and if you like rebates (I do) then it's OK. Two major reasons I hate TD :
1) Horrendous customer service
2) Only 10% of their items are shop runner eligible. If you order a shop runner item and a non-shop runner item in the same order, you still pay for shipping, and the entire order gets downgraded to the shipping option you paid for.

Newegg customer service is nice, knowledgeable, and helpful about 90% of the time (chat & phone). Every time I chat or talk with TD, I get absolutely nothing done. I've wasted several hours between the half dozen or so times I've had to contact TD in the past several months and I can't think of a single positive customer service experience with them (chat & phone).

 

[Doppel]

As far as I know you do not Marry any of them, you just buy boxes of plastic with some metal, silicone, and wires inside them.

Go to the three that you mentioned shop for the parts (build shopping carts) and buy from the one that is the least overall expensive.

Or even better split between the Vendors and get from each one the parts that they sell for the lower price.

The rest of the considerations (how nice the Governors are) is just verbal mundane BS that has nothing to do with your specific goal.

As I said at the beginning you do not marry any of them.

That's how I see most vendors. I hold a special place in my heart for Amazon but otherwise money talks. And using one-time use numbers from bank of america when I shop online I have essentially no risk to buy from anywhere and so do it without a second thought.

 

[bryanl]

Tiger Direct and its rebate processing subsidiary, 4myrebates.com, have improved greatly over the years, but they used to be terrible. 4myrebates.com is now handling many rebates for Newegg.

 

[cubby1223]

Tigerdirect has been good for me.

I've only purchased once online from them, a laptop, when it arrived it had a glossy screen that gave me such eye strain I couldn't keep it. The hard drive in the laptop also was flakey, so when I called them up about the bad hard drive, they offered up a full refund for the laptop, good deal!

I stop in to their retail store regularly, the deals on refurb desktops are unbeatable, have purchased around 20 machines in the past year from them. For that many refurb machines and I haven't had any troubles with any of them thus far, those are good odds.

Oh, and I just ignore the rebates, don't even care to send them in.