TigerDirect: The good, the bad and the ugly
Written: May 19 '05 (Updated May 19 '05)
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| Full Review |
Intro
I've been reading with great interest all of the reviews on TigerDirect.com, and they all either love or hate TigerDirect. Interestingly enough, I agree with both camps.
My experience with Tiger Direct
I have placed about 20 orders with TigerDirect over the past 5 or 6 years. I've ordered the components - motherboard, cpu, fans, memory, disk drives, power supplies, cases - for at least 3 complete custom-built systems, as well as various other individual components.
Product Selection 5/5
TigerDirect has an excellent selection of computer components, second to none in my opinion. They have the latest and greatest gear, as well as older and discounted models.
Product Pricing 4.5/5
The prices TigerDirect ask for their products is on the very-low end of the price spectrum. Usually they are the lowest, but occasionally another site will outprice them by a very nominal amount. TigerDirect is ALWAYS cheaper than retail stores like Best Buy and Circuit City, as well as most of the larger web-based retailers like PCMall and Amazon.com. In addition, I've found that TigerDirect has frequent specials and closeouts that cannot be beat. Many times items will be free after rebates (of course).
Shipping 5/5
Shipping charges are reasonable, and the bottom line, including shipping is still usually lower than most other retailers. I've found that delivery times where I live - Indianaplis IN - are phenomenal. In most cases, when I order an item using standard shipping it is on my doorstep THE NEXT DAY!! No joke, they are that fast! Now, to be fair, TigerDirect ships from Illinois, which is right next to Indiana, so your shipping time will probably be longer, but this is definitely one of the reasons I keep going back to TigerDirect. The important thing here is that they get their orders out the door immediately - assuming everything is in stock - so you will get your stuff as fast as possible.
Customer/Order support 1.5/5
OK, this is where they suck. If you have a defective part or there's something wrong with your order, it's like pulling teeth to both get through to a customer support rep, and to get the situation resolved. TigerDirect puts you on hold forever, then when you finally get someone they are usually a bit rude. Persevere, however, and you will eventually get some satisfaction. At least I always have. Order tracking using the website is satisfactory, and the only reason that they get more than a 1 on my Customer/Order support rating. Fortunately, out of those 20+ orders I have placed with TigerDirect, I have only had to return one item.
One more thing in this section, if you need advice on what components work together, like motherboard/cpu/memory combinations, I would suggest you do your own homework and do NOT trust TigerDirect to suggest the correct components. As noted in many of the other reviews, many of the motherboard/cpu combos and bare-bones systems are not very well thought-out, and you'd be much better off just doing your homework, deciding what you want, then buying all of those components separately. It would seem that customer support does not have very good information when it comes to component compatibility.
Website 4.5/5
The website (www.tigerdiret.com) is easy to navigate and use. Site design, product descriptions, ordering, and checkout are all done well, and I have never had any problems finding what I need.
Bottom Line 3.5/5
The bottom line on Tiger Direct is that they have a great selection of product at (usually) the lowest prices, and shipping is outstanding, but customer support is terrible, but you can usually get problems resolved with perserverence. If you know what you're doing, know exactly what you want, and don't need any advice, this is the place to shop. Most of the time you'll be very happy. If there's a problem, you're going to be frustrated.
And thats the God's-honest truth as I see it.
--Thrasher
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Many
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thrasher32
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Location: Indianapolis, IN, USA
Reviews written: 96
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About Me:
Old-school headbanger/guitarist/programmer/electronics nut with an itchy writing hand...
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