What product or service you purchased?

I bought the following products as part of my 1st ever build:
Intel C2D E4300 @ 3.0 ghz
EVGA 680i SLI (A1)
2 x XFX 7600GT XXX @ 727/866 (SLIed only when gaming)
Ultra Gladiator Case
Corsair TWINX 2048Mb PC6400 DDR800
WD/CaviarSE16/500GB/7200
Cooler Master Hyper TX Intel 775
Ultra X3 1000W

Approximate timeframe you ordered the product
Over the last 4 months

What location you dealt with if it’s a company with many stores or service locations
Etobicoke

Your overall level of satisfaction
Extremely Satisfied

If you had a positive experience, please explain what made it such a positive experience.
Eventhough I had done extensive research before my 1st build I was still nervous.

1st off, The Store: Very Clean, spacious, lots of room. Ok not fancy like best buy. Lots of product are exposed so you can get a real touch and feel for quality and looks.

2nd The Staff: All wearing "uniforms" so you can clearly find one if you need help. If you look lost, they will ask if you need help, then go away if not required. I can walk there for and hour and not be annoyed by pushy salesman. Most of of them are "kids" that actually have built their own machines and know their stuff.

3rd Service: I walked in, found this "dude" and said, "I want to do a build, can you help?", he did something I found incredible. He asked things like, "do i have a list" (which he carefully reviewed, and made suggestions), "what do you want to use the build for?", for each of the components he mentioned pros and cons (e.g. "This case has got great cooling, but the on\off switch is behing the door, and can be annoying", etc.,), "This mobo might be overkill, unless you're planning to upgrade CPU down the road". Just a really great experience. He also showed me both cheaper and more expensive components from my list explaining again pros and cons of each.

4th Return policy: Before this build I had bought a GPU to upgrade my existing HP Media Centre PC. Went home and found out that my PSU was not powerfull enough, I went back to return the card, and the when I was at the return desk, the guy who suggested the card to me asked why I was returning the card, and I told him why, and he said he said he had forgot to ask me what my PSU was rated at, and that he should have, so he told the cashier to waive the re-stocking fee! I did not even ask for it :o, he just offered it. I could not believe this.

5th Defective product: One of the GPUs I bought was defective, went to the store, they tested it, and said I could return it without paying restocking fee, or I could get a replacement. Sweet.

6th Prices: They are usually good, compared to other retailers and etailers, and since I live close to the store I am always on the look out for specials which I can find on their web site. I will buy at TG even when i find cheaper stuff elsewhere (within reason off course) because of their service and returns experience.

7th Availability: The store has pretty good availability, and if something is not available at the store but available online, they do a special order and dont charge for shipping.



If you had a negative experience, please read our guidelines below.
1. MIR: A lot of their stuff has MIR, which is crap, I dont really blame them in such a competitive market. I just wish they were banned in Canada, but oh well. I only buy their stuff if the price is good and ignore the MIR.

purchased a number of products from them, recently the largest a viewsonic 37" lcd from the mississauga store - sales person i found quite helpful, however I have a couple of long standing rebate issues and will never purchase any item from them where a rebate is involved

Tigerdirect is one of the worst retailers when it comes to price gouging Canadians. All you have to do is compare identical items on www.tigerdirect.com vs www.tigerdirect.ca. 90% of their products are on both websites with exacly the same item#. Most items are shipped from exactly the same location from the same stock. If you receive e-mail alerts of specials from the .com amd .ca sites they are offering identical procuts with the $CDN price anywhere from 20% to 35% higher. Of course you cannot order through the US site and pay the US price.
Below is the text of an e-mail that I sent to a Toronto Star reporter re this.
www.tigerdirect.com It would be helpful if a columnist at the Star could write about some of the more egregious pricing practices by retailers and manufacturers of consumer electronics such as computers and televisions. Perhaps if enough direct examples of mis-pricing were published in the media people would resist purchasing the items therefore forcing some movement on the prices.

For example
Two days ago I attempted to purchase a laptop online from Tigerdirect I compared prices on the Canadian version of their website http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/category/category_slc.asp?Recs=30&Nav=|c:2510|&Sort=4

with the American version
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?page=2&Nav=|c:2510|&Sort=4&Recs=30

Upon looking it is obvious that they sell in most cases identical products
(which even have an identical item#) from both websites. The published prices are significantly lower on US site even though the laptops are sourced from the same warehouse in the US. They are not separate inventories.
I phoned the 800 number which is the same on the Canada and US site to enquire about a made to order Systemax Laptop (item# BTO 038663) which is their house brand which I was told is actually Tigerdirect's parent company. The price to Canadians is $976.99 to Americans is $749.99 a difference of $227 (30%)

Below are the links to this item on the US site
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3329171&CatId=2510

and the Canadian site,
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3329171&CatId=2510

You can see that the only difference is the price. Since this product is assembled in the same location with the identical components presumably purchased at the same cost they cannot use the usual argument of inventory purchased at higher Canadian prices.
Almost all of the products offered online by Tigerdirect bear a similar price discrepancy. Other online technology retailers who offer the identical or almost identical goods in both Canada and the US such as Best Buy and Costco are persisting in charging Canadians much higher prices. And of course a Canadian cannot order the products from the US web sites.
In the article on your front page about Jim Flaherty's meeting with Canadian retailers the justification used for such price differences was that
"prices reflect higher costs in Canada than the U.S. for freight, import duties, language translation and other items".

When you compare prices of many identical items as illustrated above this justification is revealed as a large amount of "bafflegab".
it is unfortunate that few seem to be commenting this issue with the appropriate amount of critical examination

We may wish for retailers in the US and Canada to have pricing at par, however, much of the time they are not buying from the same source. Distribution channels like TechData, Ingram Micro etc US and Canada are separate entities that will only sell to resellers within their country.

You can't let the large retailers like Tigerdirect Costco Best Buy etc. off the hook that easily.
Small retailers who have to source through distribution channels like TechData, Ingram Micro may have some difficulty negotiating appropriate pricing. Large multinational retailers however have much more leverage and the ability to negotiate pricing and to deal directly with manufacturers. They also often have house brands from suppliers with home they directly deal and greatly influence the price.
And don't get me started on price disparities from Dell and Apple.

I but alot of stuff from form a american site.Now on the surface yes i am saving.If i were to by the goods i just bought here would have been $1200.With this american site i paid $950.The kicker is shipping and ups fees.Which come up to $100.

I but alot of stuff from form a american site.Now on the surface yes i am saving.If i were to by the goods i just bought here would have been $1200.With this american site i paid $950.The kicker is shipping and ups fees.Which come up to $100.
What American site are you using? It can't be Tigerdirect.com They will not sell to Canadians

Another even worse example of price gouging for Canadians is the Canadian computer online retailer NCIX. It's worse than tigerdirect, because they ship the same stock from Canada, and there are apparent pricing differences on their web sites (ncix.com for Canada and ncixus.com for the US) - Canadian prices are 10 to 30% higher.

Hard drives are about the same price and cheaper
than dell.com. newegg is by far the cheapest for
computer parts as cpu's are about 50% cheaper
than tigerdirect.ca.

regards

Hard drives are about the same price and cheaper
than dell.com. newegg is by far the cheapest for
computer parts as cpu's are about 50% cheaper
than tigerdirect.ca.

regards
Are you located in Canada? It states on the newegg website that Newegg.com does not currently ship internationally; we only deliver to locations within the United States and to Puerto Rico.

No problems with Tiger Direct. Shipping costs a little too much but the order is always processed quickly and arrives in a reasonable timeframe.

Had to come here to give a review. I've been using TD for a few years and never had problems until today.

I ordered two Logitech Quickcam Ultravision last week. They were shipped promptly and UPS lost them. Called UPS and all they could do for me is to tell me to call the shipper. I called Tiger Direct and was prepared to have a hard time... but... the guy on the phone immediately shipped two new webcams for me and refunded the charge on my credit card! So I'm getting two webcams for free with appologies. On top of that, the guy gave me his name and direct phone number in case I have further issues.

Excellent customer service!

Placed my first order on saturday nite. Bought a harmony 550(60$ off) shipping was UPS for 10$ not sure if call that steep or not but since it was way cheap i went for it. Got the remote yesterday.

Very fast shipping, good price.. nothing more to say.

On Feb. 25/09 I ordered the following from Tiger Direct:

2 Gateway FX4710 Q9300 computers
1 20" LG Flatron Monitor (recommended by the agent)
and some other small items.


When received, I found that the monitor did not have a compatible cord for my video card. It only had a VGA cord. I went to the local computer shop and purchased a DVI cord. When I got home the cord didn't work. At this point, I assumed that the graphics card was not compatible with my monitor. My bad, but then I'm no expert.

I then called Tiger Direct, on Feb 27th/09, and my agent was not available, so I spoke to his superior. I explained the problem. He told me that it was compatible with the on board card. I informed him the reason I purchased the computer was to utilize the graphic card, not the less superior on board card.

The manager then offered to replace the monitor with a compatible one. He recommended a monitor. What he sent me the SAME monitor in a 22' size. At the same price as the 20". Nice of him, but it didn't solve the problem. At no time did the manager nor the sales person direct me to a compatible cord. Which would have solved the problem immediately. Now I have 2 monitors, and I've still not hooked up my computer.

I was sent a return request form, for the 20" monitor, which I promptly filled out and returned to my agent. This was on February 28th/09.

At this point, I went to Future Shop to see if I could find the actual computer and monitor. They had the identical computer and monitor properly hooked up and running. So I had a salesman check the chord, and the cord I had purchased earlier was not the proper DVI cord. So I purchased the correct cord from Future Shop.

When I finally got the computer set up, it was DOA. So now I had to return the computer for a replacement. (note: I had sold the other computer... thankfully they got a working one, or I would have been dealing with an irate customer of my own.)

I called Tiger Direct to arrange for the return of the dead computer. I filled out the forms and returned them immediately to them. The computer return form came quickly, and I returned it on March 4th/09. This cost me $31.89 postage. I've to date have not been refunded for this cost.

The return of the monitor did not go so smoothly. I had to make repeated calls. I filled out more return request forms, (because TD couldn't find my original form from the 28th of Feb.) All the while the salesman kept telling me he was "trying" to get the return authorized for me. He passed the buck continually to his supplier. Frustrating me to no end.

I informed them that no matter if the supplier approved the return or not, this mistake was theirs, not mine, and that "they" should send me the return form, and deal with the supplier themselves. I had to put out the money, for their mistake. After, many repeated calls, I was finally able to return the monitor on March 20th/09. Almost a whole MONTH later! The return cost me $13.77. Again, to date have not been refunded for this cost.

I did receive the credit for the monitor and the computer. Not in time for me to pay my credit card bill, mind you. So, I had to put out the money, or incur interest charges. I pay my credit cards in full every month. I don't pay interest charges.

My last phone call to TD apr. April 15th, I was informed that that the credits were issued, the previous week. I checked my credit card statement, and no credit was received. I called back and the salesman checked into it further, and was told that 2 checks were mailed to me.

I called TD again today, Thursday April 23, 2009, and left another voice message. I'm waiting to receive a return call. Now it is almost 2 months later, and I still don't have my credit, nor my computer. Was it worth the good price?
They don't have the computer available anymore. I've been assured that they are expecting more to arrive.

While TD tried to correct things, they have only managed to create more confusion. If the sales people were better trained about their products maybe this could have been all prevented.

I've been very patient. More patient then most. This was not my first transaction with TD. I have to say the others went fairly smoothly. This transaction proved to be my worst nightmare.

What this all boils down to is:

Proper cord should have been suggested. There would have been no need to send me a 2nd monitor.

Extremely slow authorization for return of monitor.

2 months after the initial order, I'm still waiting for refunds on cost of returns.

Due to this, I'm not re-ordering the computer till I'm satisfied they are able to take care of me. If they even have the same computer which at this time they do not.

E MacDonald
Windsor On.

PS: There was a video on the computer that bragged that this computer came with restore disks. Had to fight to get them. They took the video off the site after my complaint.

Edit: I just received one check for $31.89 for postage on the return of the Computer. Check mailed 4/21/09.

Bought an e-machines refurb computer from Tiger Direct about 2 years ago and it has been fine. Prices are ok but I normally find better from other online sources. With prices that are good shipping often makes it not worth the while. It is easy to see exactly what the shipping is up front, which is great. The computer purchase had a shipping promotion which made it work.

never had an issue with getting anything from tigerdirect. the only pet peeve i have with them is there stupid mail-in rebates on almost evey item they sell

I bought quite a few items over the years, and most were positive. Although I find that local Toronto/GTA stores can be cheaper most of the time now.

One issue was with a mail-in-rebate for an Epson scanner. The cheque actually bounced! No fault with TD or Epson, just the rebate company (went bankrupt). Epson was pretty quick to replace the cheque though. So I try to stay away from MIR's now.

Wish they would allow store pick up after you purchase online.

i filed a complaint with better buisness beruea myself. they are rated a C.
An A is the best. she said all complaints to date had an outcome where tiger would work with you to a satisfactory outcome.
they worked with me. very slow process but worth it.
i since have used them for a gps unit.
i agree better deals are to be found locally now days. the mail in rebates need to go.

I have to say that I have given Tiger Direct plenty of chances to win me over and aside from one or two instances, all my visits to the store or my purchases online have been absolutely horrendous. In fact, I don't know how they manage to stay in business. Come to think of it, the 1-2 times I did not have an issue was when I went into the store, found the product myself (with no help from anyone).

However, every other time I have had some kind of issue, ranging from terrible customer service, uninformed staff, conflicting stories and worse of all, defective products. I have noticed that recently (in the past year or so), their service and quality has decreased drastically to the point where I wonder how they stay in business. My bad experiences include the purchase of name brand wireless routers, flat panel monitors, hard drives, bluetooth devices - all of which were either defective or not the exact product they advertised.

Recently I tried to order online (mainly because the store never has the product they show online). This has turned out to be an even bigger nuisance. My most recent experience (in the past 2 weeks) involves purchasing a Bluetooth headset made by Motorola. TDirect shipped it immediately and I received it within 2 days. However, when I took it out of the box, I realised that it was not packaged in the usual Motorola packaging and even the user guide was a photocopy of the original. Regardless, I plugged it in to charge the battery but it never charged. I checked online for possible fixes but nothing worked. I even tried a different charger from my Motorola phone. I called TD support and as if they were expecting my call, they informed me of how I can return it for an exchange. I offered to hand deliver it as I live fairly close to the address on the return slip but I was told this is not allowed. That meant I had to go to the post office, buy a shipping envelope and pay for the shipping back to TD. TD did pay for the shipping costs but they did not cover the envelope I had to buy (about $4.00). They told me the exchange would happen quickly and that they would send me a BRAND NEW one. Within a week, I received a replacement. However, when I opened the box, I saw that the packaging was not the typical Motorola plastic packaging and again, the user guide was a photocopy. Regardless, I gave this one a try and immediately noticed that the connection on the headset for where the power connects was destroyed. It looks like someone tried to force the charger in and destroyed the connector wires. I packaged it back up and sent it back demanding a full refund. So far, the TD customer service person has not posted my refund and I know I am going to have to chase them down for this. I don't want an exchange nor a credit because after 3-4 years of very bad service, I do not ever need to do business with TD again.

I don't know if it is just my bad luck but for me, TD should not be allowed to do business they way they do.

By reading so many negative reviews on-line I was a little hesitant to order from ***************, but they have everything and I could not find better prices. I ordered 13 individual components to build a new PC including a mouse and the O/S. I placed the online order Thursday night at 7:50, at 8:40 I received a call to confirm my delivery address (because it was not my home address, I was drop shipping to my office). All the items arrived in 2 packages Tuesday morning in perfect condition via UPS, I was impressed how they were packed, very professional. Once I found they were coming from Illinois I was concerned I would get dinged with costoms fees, but all was good.
I will definitely order from them again.