IBuyPower's checkout page and support, yikes



  • So yes, computer died, built a replacement on iBuyPower (which I've previously had good experiences with), went to checkout.

    The SELECT controls don't work. They're doing some jQuery mojo to break them. So I can't select VISA for credit card type, and I can't select my expiration month/year. Hm. Try a few things, and well, there's free support chat so let's try that.

    Now I've tried the free support chat on websites before, so I have an idea of how useless it is. I've submitted WTFs before of support chat from Comcast and Sony and probably others. THIS BLEW MY PRECONCEPTIONS AWAY.

    (I didn't save the whole log; this is paraphrased.)

    Him: How can I help you?

    Me: I'm trying to check-out but I'm having trouble, I can't select my credit card type or the month/year expiration

    Him: Are you on a tablet or smartphone?

    Me: No, Windows desktop PC with Chrome

    Him: Some people have trouble with Chrome, try another browser.

    Me: Uh, ok... I spent a lot of time configuring this PC, will my shopping cart be saved if I go to another browser

    Him: Yes

    Me: (while switching browsers) You know, I'd think you'd be more concerned that your checkout page doesn't work with second-most popular browser in the world.

    Him: Sometimes it just doesn't work.

    Me: (keeping chat open while I log in and go to the cart page) Ok, I went to the cart in Firefox logged-in and it says the cart is empty.

    Him: You need to reconfigure the computer then.

    (These lines are verbatim:)

    Him: is there anything else i can answer for you?

    Me: Well considering you told me my cart would be saved and it wasn't, no I don't think there is

    Him: Will do

    Him: Have a great day

    Dafuq!???!?? Un-fucking-believeable. If you could harness this guy's "not giving a shit about my job" power, you could heat 100,000 houses for a year.

    Note I'm about to give these guys about $2,000. At least, I'm trying to give them money.



  • Un-fucking-believable. It's like they've never heard of funnel optimization.

    Serious question. Why are you buying PC online? Delivery is convenient when you're not in a hurry, but it's pain in the ass for any kind of support (in my experience). My first criteria when picking a place to buy PC hardware from is that I can drive there straight away and get replacements if something breaks.


  • FoxDev

    @blakeyrat said:

    Note I'm about to give these guys about $2,000.

    if it was me, after that experience i wouls have said "was"; the past tense is important there.



  • @cartman82 said:

    Serious question. Why are you buying PC online?

    As opposed to...?

    @cartman82 said:

    My first criteria when picking a place to buy PC hardware from is that I can drive there straight away and get replacements if something breaks.

    Well you can't get a decent gaming PC (or a decent PC of any kind) at Best Buy, and while I could build-my-own with parts I scrounge at Fry's, I'd rather have a warranty.



  • @accalia said:

    if it was me, after that experience i wouls have said "was"; the past tense is important there.

    Yeah I went back to the drawing board. Now I'm not sure what I want to do. Falcon PC and Alienware are both grossly more expensive. Any other good iBuyPower competitors?

    I mean, I'm almost down to the "drive to Fry's" alternative. Which. Hell. Maybe I should do that, I haven't built a PC in a long while, but I still have the skillz I bet, and I can re-use the case and some other parts.


  • FoxDev

    well if you're willing to assemble yourself i've built the last three of my computers by building the computer on Newegg and then actually ordering the parts from Amazon.

    and for the record: they all worked brilliantly first cat out of the bag

    except for the middle one because i was a poo-poo head and forgot to include the PSU in the order the first time so i had to wait for the second shipment



  • @accalia said:

    and for the record: they all worked brilliantly first cat out of the bag

    How was the liquid CPU cooling installation? That's one thing that's "new" since I last built from scratch.

    The problem with Fry's is that they don't have an online store, so I can't even get a rough idea of what a new PC would cost from them without driving the 70+ minute trip down there.


  • FoxDev

    i've not found liquid cooling to be an issue. all of these have been aircooled.

    granted two of them did sound like a jet turbine and the latest one has 3kg of copper bolted to the CPU and two case fans a foot in diameter (plus the usual assortment of 80mm and 120,, fans

    buddy of mine does liquid cooling and his verdict is: "Well you gotta be careful, but it's not that hard"


  • FoxDev

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147053
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0AJ2MH1536

    The case and heatsink i went with for my current I7 build. works a treat, have yet to have CPU temps top 70c, even when gaming, and doing two bluray encodes at the same time



  • Well I don't know what I want to do. Fry's usually has motherboard/CPU combo deals, but I'd have to drive there to see them since their website sucks so thoroughly. On the other hand, I could save buying a few components. On the third hand, I wouldn't have a warranty. On the fourth hand, it the warranty program was managed by the dumbshit who does that support chat...

    Maybe I'll sleep on it and decide tomorrow.



  • Interesting. I guess the market is different in the US.

    Here, I would first do the online research (what are current technologies, AMD vs Intel this generation etc). Then I'd pick one of the 100 PC hardware places - each wanting to sell me prebuilt PC configurations, but which I'd skip and go straight for the components. Then I'd order what parts I want, wait 2-3 business days and then go there to pick up my stuff. Then build the PC myself.

    I'd get the warranty on each component individually, 1-3 years depending on the component. I'm not sure what greater warranty you need over that. You certainly don't want to take your entire PC for them to "fix it under warranty" - which means give it to some half-trained cretin, who'll mess with your stuff and (oopsie) end up losing your data. That shit is for noobs.


  • I survived the hour long Uno hand

    That used to be the way it worked around here, but one by one, all the electronics chains have gone under. Pretty sure Fry's is the last. Best Buy sells prebuilt computers but only a small selection of parts -- and they also sell washing machines.


  • FoxDev

    @blakeyrat said:

    On the third hand, I wouldn't have a warranty.

    The individual parts would have their own warranties, so you'd still be covered ;)


  • FoxDev

    that's pretty much my approach. i build on Newegg because they have all the data i need. i typically build 4 PCs one AMD and one intel with all the stops pulled out. and then one intel/amd that I can actually afford.

    Then with the model numbers in hand i hop over to Amazon, filter for prime and loadup my shopping cart.



  • @cartman82 said:

    Then I'd pick one of the 100 PC hardware places - each wanting to sell me prebuilt PC configurations, but which I'd skip and go straight for the components.

    Like... brick and mortar places?

    Yeah, NewEgg + Fry's (where they have stores) + Amazon put those guys out of business years ago. Well, that, and the fact that 90% of them were scummy assholes who lied about what components they put in a system, would steal your naked photos if you took your PC in for repair, etc. In short: they were killed-off and nobody misses them.

    @Yamikuronue said:

    Pretty sure Fry's is the last.

    Fry's only works because of the scale, and because they make-up their not very profitable PC parts business with very profitable home entertainment business.

    @RaceProUK said:

    The individual parts would have their own warranties, so you'd still be covered

    Right, but every time I take the side off the case there's a non-zero chance of my fucking up hardcore and ruining everything.

    That said, I usually end up doing that pretty often anyway-- this last PC I replaced the spinning drive twice, then the GPU. So. Whatever.

    Hm. It's 2:15 now. I could get on the road, hit Fry's, probably be back by 5:00 or so if the shopping is quick and they have all the parts I need, and maybe be gaming by 9:00.



  • @Yamikuronue said:

    That used to be the way it worked around here, but one by one, all the electronics chains have gone under. Pretty sure Fry's is the last. Best Buy sells prebuilt computers but only a small selection of parts -- and they also sell washing machines.

    @blakeyrat said:

    Like... brick and mortar places?

    Yeah, NewEgg + Fry's (where they have stores) + Amazon put those guys out of business years ago. Well, that, and the fact that 90% of them were scummy assholes who lied about what components they put in a system, would steal your naked photos if you took your PC in for repair, etc. In short: they were killed-off and nobody misses them.

    Shit. That's like a dystopian future for me.

    You guys are like: "We used to be proud PC people. But then The Great Downfall happened. And now we have to scrounge through shady online shops and widget megamarts, like animals."

    I hope that one trends never filter down to my particular backwater country.



  • @cartman82 said:

    You guys are like: "We used to be proud PC people. But then The Great Downfall happened. And now we have to scrounge through shady online shops and widget megamarts, like animals."

    You're underestimating how shitty the small local stores were.

    EDIT: That said, I would be happy if Fry's moved into more locations. To have just ONE in the entire State of Washington is ridiculous. IKEA does that business-model, too, the "we build just one huge store and hope everybody comes to us" business model.



  • Ok, I decided i'm going to just buy the parts and build one. I've already wasted enough of my Saturday on this shit, might as well waste the rest.

    Now I just have to figure out how I'm gonna get Windows 8 on it when I don't have any working PCs with a DVD burner...



  • @blakeyrat said:

    Ok, I decided i'm going to just buy the parts and build one. I've already wasted enough of my Saturday on this shit, might as well waste the rest.

    Now I just have to figure out how I'm gonna get Windows 8 on it when I don't have any working PCs with a DVD burner...

    Install a bootable image to USB stick and boot from that? Worked fine for me the past years.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    You're underestimating how shitty the small local stores were.

    That was probably the tail end of that business model, when they had to fight for every scrap to prolong going out of business for a while longer. It's really strange to think you have to drive 2 hours to buy a PC component in the US.



  • @Rhywden said:

    Install a bootable image to USB stick and boot from that?

    http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/windows-usb-dvd-download-tool <- Using this? Or some other method?

    I'm not sure I have any USB flash drives DVD-sized, lemme dig in my laptop bag... oh this Sandisk one is 64 GB, that's plenty big.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/windows-usb-dvd-download-tool <- Using this? Or some other method?

    I'm not sure I have any USB flash drives DVD-sized, lemme dig in my laptop bag... oh this Sandisk one is 64 GB, that's plenty big.

    Exactly. Works great for anything from Windows 7 and up. Just be sure that you have nothing important on that stick, the installation will want to wipe it.

    Oh, and if you want a Windows 8.1 iso: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media

    That way you don't have to go the "Install Windows 8 and then install the service pack" route.



  • Awesome, you anticipated my next question. "Windows store only lets me download the upgrade setup.exe file..."



  • Just saw that this tool also can create a bootable USB image directly...

    ... but I can attest that it works - just did the same song and dance a week ago.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    Ok, I decided i'm going to just buy the parts and build one. I've already wasted enough of my Saturday on this shit, might as well waste the rest.

    Since I did this recently, a little pro tip:

    • Don't forget to plug in the little motherboard distance holders in places where you can't put screws.
    • Don't forget to place in the motherboard back panel mask before you screw in the motherboard

    Spoken by someone who had to unscrew A HUNDRED LITTLE THINGS when he thought he just needed a few more touches and he was done.



  • @Rhywden said:

    Oh, and if you want a Windows 8.1 iso: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media

    That tool doesn't recognize my Flash drive. For some reason... wrong format maybe?


  • BINNED

    @Rhywden said:

    Just saw that this tool also can create a bootable USB image directly...

    That's the way I installed 7 on a few laptops already. Had no luck with the tool, so I actually made the USB on my Linux laptop using ms-sys in the end.

    I have been told by other people that the tool worked for them though. I just have a rotten luck with Windows I guess. Shit that works for others keeps breaking for me.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    That tool doesn't recognize my Flash drive. For some reason... wrong format maybe?

    Shouldn't be the case - it usually formats it when installing, so the existing filesystem shouldn't matter. Though the partitions might be weird.

    Does the older tool recognize the stick? If so, create an ISO through the media creation tool and then use the Windows 7 Usb Download Tool to install.



  • @Rhywden said:

    Shouldn't be the case - it usually formats it when installing, so the existing filesystem shouldn't matter. Though the partitions might be weird.

    It recognized my Kindle, which might actually be large enough to install Windows from, hahaha. But not the actual USB stick.

    Which is weird, because Explorer sees it fine, lets me move files to it, etc.

    I'll download the ISO while I'm going ot Fry's and figure it out when I get back.



  • One last thing: You do have your Windows Key?



  • @Rhywden said:

    One last thing: You do have your Windows Key?

    Yeah. It's a Windows Store copy so I can get it from my order history at any time. I just copied it to the desktop of my laptop



  • Kingston drives work; Sandisk ones do not. Why? shrug!


  • Java Dev

    Offhand I know at least 4 different dutch online retailers who offer a full complement of PC parts:

    • Alternate.nl (showroom near Rotterdam)
    • informatique.nl (showroom near Rotterdam)
    • bol.com (online only)
    • mycom.nl (also a chain of brick and mortar stores).

    Then there's others (EG mediamarkt.nl) which are general consumer electronics chains which do offer components, but geared at upgrading your existing PC.

    Interesting, why are both of those big webshops near Rotterdam... probably to do with the harbour.



  • @PleegWat said:

    Offhand I know at least 4 different dutch online retailers who offer a full complement of PC parts:

    ... ok? Is there a reason you're posting this in my thread, or...?


  • Java Dev

    not really



  • Welp! Add Fry's to the list of utterly worthless computer stores. Not a single decent GPU in stock. Newegg gets.my business I guess.



  • I had the same issue with a SanDisk flash drive. I believe the reason is that it lies to Windows and says it is a non-removable drive, because a lot of their drives come with bundled crapware and a lot of Windows machines have autorun disabled for removable drives to prevent infected drives autorunnng.


  • BINNED

    @PleegWat said:

    not really

    This a is blakeyrat thread! Don't mess with it! Danger! Danger!


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @blakeyrat said:

    Add Fry's to the list of utterly worthless computer stores. Not a single decent GPU in stock.

    The only thing I buy in person these days is monitors (and that's one of the few things the big box stores can figure out how to sell); everything else I get online.

    Except for consumables like keyboards and mice. They don't count.


  • Java Dev

    When you're buying based on specs anyway, the only reason to have brick&mortar around is simplifying warranty claims.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @PleegWat said:

    the only reason to have brick&mortar around is simplifying warranty claims.

    It makes sense for monitors, where the the most likely problem during delivery is the thing getting something dropped on it causing a scratch on the screen. It's not like getting a big CRT used to be, when you'd get it delivered anyway, since then you'd get some people come who could lift the device into where it was going to live for you. I have moved a 24" wide CRT myself. Once. That hurt. (Oh well, at least they weren't things that would get stolen if you had a burglary. With that much weight, nobody would take them…)


  • Java Dev

    I was intending to exclude monitors, keyboards, and other I/O devices with the 'buying based on specs' qualifier. These are items you are likely to want to try out in the shop as well.



  • @cartman82 said:

    I'd get the warranty on each component individually, 1-3 years depending on the component. I'm not sure what greater warranty you need over that.
    @RaceProUK said:
    The individual parts would have their own warranties, so you'd still be covered
    If you have a whole system warranty, and anything breaks, the warrantor has to fix it, because no matter what's wrong they're responsible.

    If you have a warranty on each individual part, then when something breaks the reply is almost always "somebody else's problem!!!one"

    The only time I've actually had a warranty actually be useful is on Western Digital hard drives, and only when I took advantage of their Advance Replacement program; since I already had the replacement part, they didn't think it was worth putting up a fight.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @TwelveBaud said:

    The only time I've actually had a warranty actually be useful is on Western Digital hard drives

    I've used a warranty on a graphics card which failed on me (i.e., couldn't boot the machine with it installed; it'd hang during the POST) after about 3 months of use. The only problem I had was that the vendor wasn't keen on replacing it until I'd run their diagnostic tool against the card, and that was more than a little difficult when it prevented booting. Once I managed to get to someone with a clue, everything was sorted out rapidly.



  • @TwelveBaud said:

    If you have a whole system warranty, and anything breaks, the warrantor has to fix it, because no matter what's wrong they're responsible.

    That's good enough for ordinary users. Problematic for nerds like us. Who knows what hacks, warez, low-level crap etc. I have installed that might be deemed as "broken" by whatever drone is inspecting things and warrant a full reinstall "to fix it". Not to mention the time delay involved.

    You can troubleshoot almost all of the hardware failures on your own and just get the replacement part. The only thing you can't really determine (unless you have spares) is whether CPU or motherboard is broken in case of a "nothing works" scenario. But in that case, I'd just take both to the PC shop and ask them to test it.



  • iBuyPower does save your cart, but apparently it's like an overnight batch process?

    They sent me this condescending email today:

    Forgot Something?

    We noticed you left something in your cart!

    Your custom configuration is saved below
    http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/2198/M/6090835

    So there you go, if one of you clowns wanna buy it.



  • I am amazed by how their site works in combination with NoScript.
    I mean, I can't exactly expect every site to work correctly, I'm aware of that.

    But having a site load just fine - at first - and then jump to this screen is new to me:

    Not a toaster or so. It just jumps to something else entirely.


  • BINNED

    @aliceif said:

    Not a toaster or so. It just jumps to something else entirely.

    To be fair, how would you do a toaster without Javascript? Unless you mean one of those static headers or something inside a <noscript> block, but I wouldn't really classify that as a "toaster".

    I love how it's asking to turn on YOUR JavaScript though. I don't own any JavaScript. Or does it think I'll go around turning JavaScript on on everyone's computers unless it warns me not to do that?



  • Those. The yellow bars on top that ask you to accept cookies/install addons.


  • Fake News

    PLEASE TRUN ON YOUR JAVASCRIPT.

    Seems not too many people hit that page, or nobody cares.


    Filed under: Probably the latter.


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