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General discussion

Ripped off by CyberPower? I was too...

Mar 11, 2005 2:49AM PST

If you have gotten ripped off by this company, please contact me at naokothewarrior@yahoo.com. I have been dealing with them and trying to get my computer fixed for over 6 months with no avail. Maybe strength in numbers will help in trying to get some satisfaction for the customers who have not gotten close to what they have paid for.

I had/am having the most horrible experience with this company. I bought my system and it didn't work from the beginning--it froze everytime I tried to use large files, or play games, or used certain software, etc.

By the time I could actually make a 2 hour (one way) drive to the company, a couple months had past with trying to make do with the situation. All they did was run system testing overnight and sent it back to me, even though I told them the specifics on when my system was crashing, what error messages I got, etc.

I made the drive to bring it back to them a second time, and asked if I could get a refund, or a new system. It was past the 30 day refund period so one of the tech support employees, Gret Tiangco, promised that everything inside the computer would be replaced so it was pretty much like getting a new computer. WRONG. They only replaced the motherboard and added a new CPU fan and my system still crashes at random times. I finally got the computer back after they sent it to the wrong address in Massachusetts (I live in CA), because that was the address on the credit card used. They sent it to the wrong place even though they sent it to CA twice, and knew I brought it in from L.A.; I even left a note reminding them they said they would replace everything and left the address to send it to.

The tech support people were very rude--Gret Tiangco and Benny Ho in particular.I don't know what triggers the problem. Sometimes it will work for days, other times it will crash every 5 minutes. They told me that I need to simulate the problem for them, but I could be sitting there for days before something happens to it again. Bottom line is it is they are the tech support and repair techs, they are supposed to be able to figure out what the problem is based on the information I give them. Their website claims they have excellent tech support services. Gret even discriminated against CyberPower's own employees for not fixing the computer right "because they are Asian." I don't have the time or money to be driving to and from CyberPower Inc. just because they can't fix the problem (and don't replace the system), or make the problem worse!

Everytime we ask to talk to the supervisor, who they say is named Eddie Vong, he is never there. They tell us to leave our number and a message so we do, but he never calls back and is always "in meetings" and "comes in at different times throughout the day." I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't even exist.

Since they won't give me my money back (which is all I want at this point), we are just going to the Better Business Bureau and contacting product reviews in magazines that convinced me to buy the product. I was without my computer for over a month, and it still doesn't work. If anyone has had a similar problem please let me know how the issue was, or wasn't resolved.

Naokothewarrior@yahoo.com


Better Business Bureau on CyberPower:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This Report was developed from various sources, including the business, governmental agencies, and the experience of the company's customers. For further information contact the Better Business Bureau of the Southland 315 N. La Cadena, Colton, CA, 92324 (909) 825-7280 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cyberpower Incorporated 4802A Little John Street Baldwin Park CA 91706 Business Started: 01/01/92 File Open Date: 07/10/98 Last Report Date: 08/16/02 Principal Contact: Steven CHV Phone: (626) 813-7730 Fax: (626) 813-3810 EMail: cyberpower@cyberpowersystem.com Web Address: http://www.cyberpowerpc.com Bureau ID: 13080817 Member Status: Member Join Date: 03/15/99 Nature of Business This company's business is a computer dealer selling via the internet. Bureau File Experience Some complainants allege they receive defective merchandise. Other customer complain, they experienced inadequate technical support, or encountered difficulties contacting the company to resolcve problems. The company has responded to all complaints by issuing RMA's for exchanging defective products, providing refunds, or offering additional assistance. Some complaints are closed as disputed, meaning the customer was not satisfied with the company's response. We advise careful evaluation of the company's technical assistance, servicing, and refund and exchange policies prior to ordering products. Some companies may require purchasers to ship computers back at their own cost and often bear the burden of time lost without a computer. This company is a member of the Better Business Bureau, and has agreed to membership standards which include a commitment to ethical business practices. The Better Business Bureau does not endorse, recommend or disapprove of any product, service or company. Why would you buy a computer from a company that can not even support their own product? Buyers beware.


Also: There is another company running out of the same building as CyberPower, with the same products. They even share the same fax number. The website to this company is http://www.buyxg.com

Discussion is locked

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Curious
Mar 11, 2005 8:38AM PST

What are the specs on your machine, and what applications are you trying to run?

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Couldn't agree more
Mar 15, 2005 7:55AM PST

I had the same problem with this company. The computer shipped with a defective motherboard (no sound). They sent me a sound card instead of replacing it. After 7 months the motherboard totally failed. After replacing the motherboard, Windows would not load. Their recovery disk made the problem worse. Frequent calls to Tech Support offered a variety of possible solutions (bad RAM, bad Power Supply) but none of this was true. Finally after 4 months of back and forth, I shipped the computer back to them for a second time. It looks like they replaced the motherboard again. It does work now. But any attempt to get Cyberpower to apologize or compensate for their serious quality control and tech support issues falls on deaf ears. Eddie Vong responded to my BBB complaint by categorically refusing to discuss compensation. He thought it was enough that they paid for me to ship it back for repair (under warranty). And I haven't even begun to talk about their deceptive advertising on their web site. They offered immediate shipment for $106, except when I called them after several days had passed, they said they hadn't received the CPUs yet from Asia. It took 4 weeks for my immediate shipment to arrive, and I had to fight like hell over the phone to get them to refund the $106.

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We shall see....
May 4, 2005 6:09AM PDT

I was disturbed to read this post, but not surprised. I have a PC that shipped yesterday from CyberpowerPC.com, and now I am wishing I had read this first. We'll see about the quality.

I do want to post a letter I wrote to them regarding the sales process. Some of this letter is more or less complaining about the functionality of the site; some of it is more substantial in nature, and should have been taken seriously. However, no one in the company ever responded to me. I did follow up directly with them, only to get blind-transferred to the same associate I had so much trouble with. When I asked to escalate, he simply told me that he had no boss other than the president of the company, and that he was only in the office "once a month or so". Here's the original letter:

April 29, 2005

I was very pleased with the ease of placing an order on your site. You have obviously spent a lot of time putting together an excellent "configurator" to make it very easy and very enjoyable for your customers to place orders.

However, that high service level stopped for me when I came to post-order support during the sales process.

? Your "Order Status" system is not dynamic at all
? Your system caters to your client right up until the point you take our money, then provides very little support or opportunity to ?go that extra mile?
? Your ?delivery clock? starts over for even the most minor changes
? Your support staff is not empowered to help expedite orders to allow for common sense changes


Dynamic Order System, or Lack Thereof

Your site has an ?Order Status? section, but all it tells me is that I placed the order on April 17! How is that useful to me? When I want an order status, I want to know where my order is in the process. Instead, I have to call/IM you, and in that case no one even knows the ship date! All they can tell me is that I selected 5-10 business days in my order, ?so just expect it to take the full ten days?. After finally pushing to find out, I was told today that it will ship 5/5/2005! This is 14 business days after my original order!

Also, the website told me (and still does) that my order was received April 17. What this means, is that I will not be able to go online and make sure you have my revised order right (see changes below).

Bait-and-switch

When I filled out the online order, at the very top of the ordering screen, next to the price that updated with every click I made, the system told me ?expected ship date is 4/22/2005?. When I went to fill out the ?Rush Service? section, you were still telling me at that point that my system, as configured, will ship 4/22/2005, so why would I pay extra to expedite for five days? I find that very sneaky to tell me one thing at the top of the screen, but in actuality revert to the ?5-10 business days? allotment in your order fulfillment.

Even right now, when I go out to configure the exact same system I ordered, your website tells me that it will ship 5/6/2005. Looking at this right now, do you know what this looks like to me? It says that someone placing the exact same order today as I did almost two weeks ago will get theirs only one day later than mine! I ordered my system on April 17. That?s 12 days ago! Mine ships one day before the one I configured right now? Even if you factor in the change I made on April 22 (?) it still doesn?t make sense.


Going that Extra Mile

I also have an issue with what you consider a change to my order and how that ?change? starts the delivery clock over. Wayne told me today that when I asked for a new monitor, it started the clock over! When I made the change originally, he did not mention that.

Regardless, a different monitor does NOT impede the ability to construct a computer. If I had canceled the monitor, would it have had the same impact? One more thing to add: I changed the monitor on Monday, 4/18, which was not even a different business day, so I don?t know why Wayne was so adamant today over the phone that I delayed my order by making that change.

The second change I made (I believe it was 4/22?) apparently started the clock over again! The change was simply adding a different fan. However, when I made the change, I was told it would delay it by two days, not start the process over. Another sales rep (a woman) told me this via live chat. However, Wayne told me on the phone today that it started my clock over. I was lied to by one of the two people I spoke with.

I can understand a delay in this case if the fan had already been installed and needed to be pulled out and replaced. Can someone tell me with a straight face that my PC already had the fan installed? If so, I can understand a delay of a day or two.

All Wayne would tell me is that the order was delayed in both scenarios because he has to pull the paper work to make the change and that when the paperwork gets pulled, it starts everything over. Real service would mean using common sense to put the order back in line where it came from in order to make the customer happy. Poor service is telling the customer on the phone that ?I can?t help you because our process is what it is?. Real service would have been saying, ?I know you?ve already waited a long time for your PC; I will try to expedite this for you?.

To summarize, I am very disappointed in the length of your order cycle, your support during this cycle, and the means by which I can get updated on the status of my order. At this point, I don?t look forward to doing business with CyberpowerPC.com again, nor do I look forward to referring my friends, co-workers, or family there.

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Man I wish I read this...
May 6, 2005 7:31AM PDT

After months of drooling over PC Gamer and Age of Empires 3 I realised I needed a new computer if I was going to be able to run that piece of beautiful art. So I saw the ad for CyberPower in PC Gamer. I looked at their site. I was instantly amazed that the prices were so much lower than Alienware for example. I ordered an Asus SLI Deluxe Motherboard, AMD Athlon 64 3500+ processor, and a GeForce 6800 GT along with all the other stuff. It's been about 2 weeks since I ordered it...and two days passed the expected ship date. In that time my credit card was denied and the order status hasn't changed a bit. I just called them today and they said because I ordered the Windows XP Professional x64 Edition that I wouldn't get it for a month!!! Now why the heck did they put an expected ship date of 5/5/05 if they knew they couldn't get that OS for another month? I switched the order to the original 32 bit XP Pro and they said it'll ship by Monday. And now I have horrid nightmares of spending $1600+ on a malfunctioning computer because of the crappy reviews on the site...Sad I should've ordered from Alienware even if it was $500 more.

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Do your research on Alienware.
May 6, 2005 7:40AM PDT

Some unhappy experiences there too.

See the notebook forum...

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post on this site as well
May 6, 2005 4:29PM PDT