I'm not exactly sure where you guys are coming from in your issues because my experience with Monarch was great.
About two or three months ago, the time where many of the supposed issues on resellerratings.com stem from, I ordered an OCZ 700w GameXstream for $130. My order was placed in the PM hours and I chose the cheapest shipping option they had. Within two days of placing my order, it was shipped out and the PSU got to my door in the two or three days following (I live in Illinois if anyone wanted a time estimate of FedEx's service). Took me another day or two to get up to Fedex to sign for the package (which, in my opinion, is a completely awesome procedure because it makes sure that I get my parts--they are the only merchant I am aware of that does this and they do not appear to pass this cost onto the customer) and I found the PSU to be packaged very well, not to mention completely functional upon trying it out.
I didn't post my positive story on resellerratings because I don't really like the way it's laid out--there is no real verification of the information being posted. Did you guys know that businesses bribe people to post on reselleratings? Ever ordered from a place like FrozenCPU (others probably do this too, but I haven't ordered from those ones before)? You are basically bribed to go post your story on ratings sites; for example, FrozenCPU gives you $5.00 off your next order or something for going and posting your story (again, others probably do something like this too--or at least Bizrate stuff where you get entered into a "random $25 drawing" to give feedback).
When I ordered from FrozenCPU, I ordered about $25 worth of stuff (sorry it was a while ago and don't remember everything)--two of these items were 10-packs of zip ties. Guess what I got in my box? Yah, one pack of zip ties. I had a legitimate reason to file a negative comment, but I didn't because resellerratings is not a very good gauge of a company. Most people who are really doing business do business. They don't give a crap about whether other people shop at a store, they just want their items and when they get them they don't need to tell anybody how "great" something was unless they ask--it's the nature of the majority of people. Sure, there are some sites that have fanboys (yes, sites have fanboys), like the Egg, FrozenCPU (even though some may be bribed), and even Monarch, but if you take a look at everybody's ratings, how many of the posts are from buyers with only
**ONE** review? That's right, 99% of them.
Do you really think that people who go onto resellerratings to praise a company just for getting them their order on time would have only
**ONE** review? Of course not, they are likely just the same people doing repeat business that really like a certain store and want to bump them up--else they'd have more reviews from the other stores they would have gotten packages "on time" from or whatever standard business thing companies do. I'm not saying any stores specifically are good or bad or that all companies blow even though resellerratings says their good, but that you can't use an unverifiable document as a source with any sort of validity.
Did I post my stories on resellerratings? Nope.
Do the majority of people post "success" stories of their experiences? Nope.
Do those on this forum represent the population as a whole? Nope.
Do many people expect a great deal more than what they pay for? Yup.
I'm not exactly sure if you are familiar with processes that consumers go to if they can't get everything "their way." With the BBB, for example, here's one of my experiences: (quotes to separate it from other text):
Quoting myself:
I used to work at an Arby's that got a BBB complaint. Want to guess what it was for? One of our fryers broke earlier in the day so we didn't have fresh fries up at the time the customer came in. Sure, we could have (and should have) given the customer old, disgustingly cold fries that they wouldn't enjoy, but we, instead, advised the customer that there would be a three minute wait for fresh fries. Basically, the customer then began throwing a tantrum so we got our manager to come resolve the issue. The customer demanded not only their fries for free (which we would have given them just so we wouldn't have to deal with them), but their sandwiches for free, as well. Obviously, we are not in business to give food out for free.
Following this, we got a BBB complaint. The complaint (didn't see it myself, but this is what I was told) was that we did not sufficiently resolve the issue with the customer because we *only* offered to give them free fries. To get it closed, we really didn't have a choice except to give the customer a coupon for a free meal. I guess we should have offered to blow them right there in the store, too.
My point is that many customers demand unreasonable things; we were basically blackmailed to comply with the customer or either face the tediousness of explaining to the BBB why the customer should not get a free meal or take a hit to our reputation. Sure the BBB can cut through most of it if it's a BBB thing, but something, for the most part, unmoderated (ie, do they contact everyone that posts to verify the story is true) like resellerratings does not. My experience represents food items costing Arby's less than about two dollars--with Monarch it's computer parts that cost a hell of a lot more than that, so I don't see why they should be blamed for people being unreasonable.
I mean, seriously, most of the issues I see brought up with them is related to pre-order Conroe refunds, which were clearly stated on their website at the time to be non-refundable (IIRC, I don't have a Conroe but I remember browsing around and seeing that notice right on the product page at the time), or the time it takes to refund, which is estimated in
Monarch's Terms and Conditions as:
Quoting Monarch's Terms and Conditions:
Refunds, if applicable, will be made in U.S. dollars and Monarch Computer Systems is not responsible for currency fluctuations. Credits are processed within 15 days and take one billing cycle to post, typically within 30 days.
Looks to me like Monarch lets everyone know that it's going to take time for refunds. If people actually read terms and conditions on websites, maybe they'd stop complaining about things that they are
INFORMED OF IN ADVANCE. To make an analogy, it's claiming that you didn't know the rules so it's not your fault if you broke them, but it's someone else's fault for you not reading the rules. Beyond this:
Quoting Monarch's Terms and Conditions:
Delivery dates and build times may be delayed due to credit processing, component incompatibility and changes in order. Statements that an item is "in stock" is not a guarantee.
In other words, sometimes crap happens that they can't foresee. If you aren't willing to accept that a company can't predic the future 100% of the time, then why are you ordering from anywhere? Conroe stuff didn't ship as they predicted--how do you know it's not Intel's fault?
Anyways, on the BBB, some of Monarch's issues are "repair related"--how much is everyone willing to bet that it's an item someone got DOA then blamed Monarch for since the customer did not purchase a warranty through Monarch--despite it being clearly stated on their website. (Yes, this is an assumption, but it's just an example of the kind of stuff people complain about)
I'm not saying you guys don't have valid issues or that you guys are lying, but that you should simply stick to things that are known. Clearly, we don't and we are not legally allowed to know the surroundings of all stories that go on--specifically from the side of ANY merchant.
As I said, though, I had no problems with Monarch and, from what I've heard, they've been working on getting things together that they actually had wrong (ie, some phone issues or something maybe, can't say for sure because I never had to call them because they had my order right the first time). They get a thumbs up from me.
Perhaps some of you guys should go back and check to see if your issues are valid or not--maybe it was just because you didn't read the Terms and Conditions on Monarch's site before ordering (ie, refund times), in which case you're at fault and owe an apology. Granted, this doesn't apply to everyone posting here, but I think that some, at least, fall into this category (generally speaking, perhaps not even specifically anyone here).
--Jeff Miner
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