Centercom Australian PC Shop

[LollyWater]

If you live in Australia and happen to know about these guys I advise you not go to them for your equipment. If you've never heard of Centercom and don't live or plan to live in Australia I suspect reading this may be unnecessary.

http://www.centrecom.com.au/

A week ago I requested to buy a Cooler Master Storm Quickfire Rapid Red Switch. They had none in stock so they said they could order one in for me. Not only did I specifically ask for the red switch at least 3 in detail over the phone. But it sounded like the guy was having a hard time looking it up so I explained to them how to identify differences between switches and also packaging of the Red Switch edition as opposed to the Brown, Blue and Black. I knew the Red Switch QRF wasn't on their website anymore so I wanted to make sure it was still possible to order. After a while he said he did have the board, I asked him if it was in the black shell and it was. These were also the guys who suggested a membrane keyboard for gaming because sound matters most, apparently. As well as also giving crap service to friends. I knew that if I didn't explain it properly it wouldn't happen.

I ordered on Friday last week and keyboard came in at the following Friday. I called on Wednesday to check on how things were going also taking the opportunity to ask if it was the right switch or not. Well my Father was kind enough to pick the board up yesterday before I had even woken up. Went to grab it from the car and of course, it was the Black switch and apart from the keyboard being the wrong colour it was also littered with the words "Black Switch" on the box and the order form and the receipt.

It was an hour to closing time and my Dad offered to see if he could swap it or at least get a full refund, A very kind offer. Apparently they didn't even have a Quickfire Red in the system. The only board they had was the black. I knew these guys were going to give some bull**** information on my Dad, while he's definitely not computer illiterate he's still not sure on the whole mech keyboard thing so I asked him to take in a Red and Black switch to show them. Just so they couldn't claim that all the switches are all the same or something, because I knew that's the type of thing these guys do. Well even with the switches in hand they mocked me about not being content with the Black switch along with all the other ignorant stuff people who don't know about keyboards say.

In short don't deal with these guys. I'm not here to ***** and moan. I know a bunch of you are from Australia and I don't want you to deal with this crap. They also overcharged me. I thought I was getting a good deal since the Red Switch edition is about $80 while the rest are about $60. I waited a week for nothing. Tits.

[rayuki]

Yep, I'm Aussie and know all to well to stay away from these rip-off merchant scumbags!

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Tapatalk 2

[okooko]

Yeah, I will agree their service isn't upto scratch.

I ordered a motherboard from them a long time ago. On top of the stupid credit card verification process they did...why?...
Even PCCG don't do it.

There were so many delays in shipping and ultimately delayed me computer build...
Would definitely look elsewhere if possible.

[scytheR]

Yeah this place is for crumbags, absolutely do not like centercom, they have overpriced stuff as opposed to Msy or PCCG and their quality of goods is lacking. My friend built a 2200 dollar computer once and the motherboard was faulty but since he didn't wanna complain since he's sortof a passive guy so he didn't wanna complain so his dad forked out an extra 250 for a new mobo

[jeroplane]

Thanks for the heads-up. Never heard of them before, but a good mental note if I ever come across them.

I'm going to stick with MSY/PCCG/APCM.

[rowdy]

They used to be really good.  We are not naming stores, but one in Vic was really helpful when I wanted to buy an AGP video card.  They did not stock them, but ordered one in anyway, after taking a deposit.  My other half called them once or twice (we didn't live too far from them), and got regular updates.  When it arrived they called, she visited, paid the balance and collected the card.  No worries there, highly recommended.

Then they moved down the road to a bigger store.  I went there a few times, but there was AT LEAST a 20 minute wait in the queue, more like 30+ minutes.  They only had one or two people serving, none of whom seemed especially motivated, and typically were talking to customers who were buying an entire PC piece by piece, or who had no idea what they wanted.  I just walked out a couple of times and bought the bits somewhere else at a slightly higher price, but considerably faster.  Then once we tried to buy a web cam.  A web cam for ****'s sake, something that most stores carry dozens of in stock, and CentreCom actually had this one on special.  Guess what - none in stock, but they would get some in 2 weeks.  So we placed an order and left.  3 weeks later - nothing.  They were still waiting for stock to arrive.  Another couple of weeks later we cancelled the order and bought one from OfficeWorks, marginally more expensive but a better model.  I said I was never going back there, but I gave them one last chance, to buy a hard drive.  After waiting more than 15 minutes in the queue, I asked for the specific model I wanted.  This was a hot day, iirc, and I was already hot and tired from standing in the queue.  The clueless ****head at the counter tried to sell me a different one, so loudly I told him where to put it, that there service was lousy in general, and walked out.

Now they have moved to a third premises.  Went there to get a cheap TV tuner for my other half, and we were greeted inside the door by a staff member who showed us where the TV tuners were and gave some general advice.  I took the opportunity to buy a hard drive at the same time.

TL;DR They were great, then they started to really suck, now they have improved, but I would look elsewhere first.

[urbanus]

A lot of Aussie computer stores just put their suppliers' inventories on their website, with some kind of message saying "order in", "1-3 days" or whatever.  When this information is wrong or out of date, I have generally found vendors to be nonchalant and unapologetic.

So now I never buy products that aren't in stock with the vendor.  If I need something, I send a message to the vendor saying I'm interested and asking them could they please check with their supplier on how long it will take to get the item in.  Most vendors don't even bother replying: 4 out of 5 will simply ignore you.  I recently dealt with a vendor who had the goods in his own warehouse.  I emailed him twice, but he stopped replying and the transaction went nowhere.  Do I need to get down on my hands and knees and beg these vendors, "Please take my money!"?

I'm not trying to be unkind in saying this, but you messed up.  You placed way too much faith in an Aussie vendor when you gave them money for goods they didn't have in stock.  With some notable exceptions (AusPCMarket, PCCG), most Aussie vendors don't give a toss.  They only like to whine about how the lack of Goods & Services Tax on international vendors is driving them out of business (although I have a different theory, as you might guess).

[webs0r]

I literally live 50m down the road from one of their stores.
I thought it would be a bonus, but they never have stock of stuff I want. The stuff they have in-store is mostly mid-range junk, go for something good and niche => can't find it. Go for something low end and cheap => can't find it.

If only it was PCCG...

[rowdy]

OTOH it was in a CentreCom store that I saw a mechanical keyboard not that long ago that got me back into them.  But it was BWU.

[LollyWater]

think CLayton has them in stock and as much as I don't want to support Centercom as a whole or even drive that distance, I may have to.