I would doubt it happens every time, but I strongly recommend not shopping there. Even if you get everything you pay for, their communication is terrible, both in terms of slow responses and their poor English. And on the chance that they make a similar mistake with your order, presumably you can expect similar treatment to what I received.

The emails are in order - I'm currently in the United States and hence a different time zone which results in the weird looking dates.

I have had two similar problems with PC Pacific. I believe they are dishonest and extremely difficult to deal with.

I used Pricespy to price up a new high-end system 1 year ago (June/July 2008). PC Pacific seemed to have the best pricing and also looked to have very good customer service and warranty information on their site. I had issues with them being out of stock and supplying a different CPU and charging me for the more expensive one and minor issues with getting the components shipped to me.

Once I built the PC I found one of the RAM sticks was faulty. I advised PC Pacific and they told me to send it back for a replacement. After two weeks I followed it up and they told me I needed to send the other (non-faulty) stick of RAM back as well as it was from the same package. I asked for a forward replacement first so I could actually use the PC but they refused and said they didn't have any more in stock. I sent the second stick of RAM.

PC Pacific made several attempts to stall me by saying they hadn't received the RAM despite having signed for it from the courier company. In one email they maintained they had 'only received it from the post office today' despite having signed for it from a courier two weeks earlier. After four more weeks of emails and calls PC Pacific still hadn't sent a replacement so I asked for a refund. I should note that under the Consumer Guarantees Act I am entitled to choose if I want faulty goods to be replaced or a refund given. PC Pacific REFUSED to give a refund. It was not until I made arrangements to take the matter to the Disputes Tribunal that PC Pacific finally gave me a refund. It took almost 8 weeks to sort out what should have been a simple refund or replacement.

Time passed and 10 months after my initial order the high-end graphics card I had purchased developed a fault. I contacted PC Pacific and made arrangements to send the card back to them under warranty. Again the same pattern of problems emerged: Despite having signed for the courier package on the 20th of May AND emailing me to confirm this, a later email stated they had not received the card until the 26th of May. PC Pacific then advised me the card had been sent to the Manufactory [sic] in Hong Kong and had been received there on the 5th of June. On the 12 of June I contacted PC Pacific again to follow up and was told the Manufactory [sic] had only received the card on the 11th of June and it would be another 2 weeks before I would hear back.

From my two experiences with PC Pacific (and from reading several other remarkably similar experiences from others) I can only conclude PC Pacific is a dishonest and extremely unreliable firm to deal with. This sort of behaviour would not be accepted from a physical retailer and should not be accepted from an online retailer either. It is also worrying the lack of knowledge or complete disregard PC Pacific has of important legislation such as the Consumer Guarantees Act.

Their english is also terrible. I am not judging them for english not being their first language - but if you are running a business you are expected to be able to communicate with your customers.

PC Pacific are the worst retailer of have ever dealt with. I would strongly advise people to avoid them.

Below is a series of emails documenting the latest saga:

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From: PcPacific [mailto:sales@pcpacific.net]
Sent: Fri 12/06/2009 1:50 PM
To: Matt
Subject: RE: Order Update

We will try to sort this out for you ASAP. As we have to wait supplier turn the card back to us anyway. You will receive a new replacement card back to you finally.

Regards

Team of PcPacific
--------------------------------------------------------------

From: Matt
Sent: Friday, 12 June 2009 1:33 p.m.
To: PcPacific
Subject: RE: Order Update

Hello

You also told me on the 5th of June that the card had just arrived at the manufacturer. Now you are telling me it arrived on the 11th? So which is it? I understand it takes time for these to be sent and processed - but what I don't understand is each email you send gives a different date for when you received the card, when you sent it to the manufacturer and when you say they received it. This is not great customer service and it does not give me confidence that this is being handled well.

I am prepared to wait until next Friday (19th). This will have been one month since I sent you the card and more than enough time to get a warranty claim sorted out.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: PcPacific [mailto:sales@pcpacific.net]
Sent: Fri 12/06/2009 1:50 PM
To:
Subject: RE: Order Update

Sorry, As I replied you at 11th of June. The manufactory just received the card. As this model card is quote old. So local supplier don’t have any more this model. We have to sent back to manufactory, which is in HK. They just received card at 11th of June. So it should take 2 weeks to get replace from them.

Regards

Team of PcPacific

----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Matt
Sent: Thursday, 11 June 2009 9:27 p.m.
To: PcPacific
Subject: RE: Order Update

Hello

I emailed you last week and you told me the same thing. They must have had the card for at least two weeks by now and that is long enough for them to make a decision. I would appreciate it if you could call the supplier and ask what they intend to do.

I would appreciate it if you could follow this up as soon as possible.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: PcPacific [mailto:sales@pcpacific.net]
Sent: Thu 11/06/2009 8:46 PM
To:
Subject: RE: Order Update

Not yet, As the manufactory just received card, it will take a week or two to get replacement from them. If you don’t have a video card for use, we can borrow you one for use now.

Regards

Team of PcPacific

-----------------------------------------------------------

From: Matt
Sent: Thursday, 11 June 2009 5:10 p.m.
To: PcPacific
Subject: RE: Order Update

Hello

Can you tell me if you have heard from the manufacturer about my GFX card?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Matt
Sent: Fri 5/06/2009 11:39 AM
To: PcPacific
Subject: RE: Order Update

Hello.

Are you sure you only received the card on the 26th of May? That sounds unusual as I couriered it on the 19th and you emailed me to say you received it on the 20th. I hope we are both talking about the same card? Here is your email from 21st May just to be sure we are talking about the same card:

From: PC Pacific [mailto:sales@pcpacific.net]
Sent: Thursday, 21 May 2009 14:42 p.m.

Dear Matt
Yes, we received your card yesterday, and we are processing the warranty at the moment, as we don't have this card in stock anymore, we will need to send it back to the manufacturer overseas to apply a new replacement. We will let you know once we got the replacement back.

Kind regards
PCP support

I am happy to wait another week, and I have a spare card I am using for now. Please keep me updated if you hear anything.

Thank you.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: PcPacific [mailto:sales@pcpacific.net]
Sent: Friday, 5 June 2009 11:31 a.m.
To: Matt
Subject: RE: Order Update

Hi, there

We only received your card at 26th of May. The card just arrived Manufactory. It might take another week or two. Meantime. We can borrow you a video card for using if you need one. Please let us know.

Regards

Team of PcPacific

---------------------------------------

From: Matt
Sent: Friday, 5 June 2009 9:55 a.m.
To: PC Pacific
Subject: RE: Order Update

Hello

It’s been a couple of weeks since I sent my card back. I am just wondering if you had heard from the manufacturer or if you had an update?

-------------------------------------------------------------
From: PC Pacific [mailto:sales@pcpacific.net]
Sent: Thursday, 21 May 2009 14:42 p.m.

Dear Matt
Yes, we received your card yesterday, and we are processing the warranty at the moment, as we don't have this card in stock anymore, we will need to send it back to the manufacturer overseas to apply a new replacement. We will let you know once we got the replacement back.

Kind regards
PCP support