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COMTRADE 1999 ARCHIVE

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General info about Comtrade

This file is filled with individuals' opinions and experiences with the Comtrade computer mail-order company, which sells a wide line of computers and products. The most recent experiences are at the beginning of this file.

If you have bought from them and have not yet made your contribution to this list, simply fill out this form about your experiences with Comtrade and they will be added to the beginning of this file. Thank you and Good luck!

DISCLAIMER: This forum is presented as an area where individuals can post their positive and negative experiences with a computer company. The owner of this forum does not pre-screen messages posted to it, and in no way will be held responsible or liable for the content of any messages posted therein. You agree to accept full responsibility for the veracity of any posting you make, and by reading this forum, agree to hold the owner of this forum harmless for any posts appearing therein.

Charles A Kniest from Freeland , WA USA
Date - Friday, December 31, 1999 at 19:12:48 (EST)

Ordered my "JUNK" 1/28/99, paid $200. for 2day shipping
(outrageous charge) received unit 8 (EIGHT) days later.
They sent wrong monitor (it wouldn't even work in addition
to being different from what I ordered)Tried to contact
them (tech support????) for 3 days before I called SALES,
their line was always staffed! They sent out a different
monitor and were supposed to send a call tag for the other
one but instead billed my credit card for the second unit
More phone calls and wasted time to get this straightened
out finally after about 3 or 4 weeks of waiting I finally
get to set up my NEW?? computer only to find that it does
not work. Hangs up, several different error messages,
modem won't work at 56K sent it back (I made them send "Call Tags" for it and extra monitor) I no longer
trusted them at this point. After nearly a month, I
finally get back this piece of crap that still "hangs" on
occaision and the modem still won't work at 56k. The hard-
drive sounds like worn out brakes on a car. I went into the
case for something only to find the heat-sink on one of the
cards had fallen off. Iput that back on myself (CoNtrade isn't going get it back again unless I get a full refund
of all my money including shipping - FAT CHANCE)
Then in April or May, the power supply literally exploded
for no apparent reason. I removed it to see what had
happened only to find that the "void" seal had already been
broken so no warranty from Mfg
As with nearly everyone else, calls to tech support are a
waste of time, letters to Christopher Luke are a waste of
time and postage.
D O N O T B U Y F R O M T H E S E C R O O K E D
S O B 'S

Feel free to add my name to your list of screwed consumers
via coNtrade

Erin Lunders from New York, NY USA
Date - Sunday, December 26, 1999 at 03:11:25 (EST)

I bought my dream machine in fall of 1996. My hard drive has been failing as of recent, and my speakers were far from a dream item. Other than that my machine has ran alright. After reading the archives I discovered how some of the socket 7 chips had their heat sinks glued on and identifying number on the bottom covered with a sticker. It was found that the chips were not what they were supposed to be. This sparked my curiosity. I took out my "Pentium 166" from the socket and saw just what others described- a sticker with a bar code. It was really STUCK on good. Removal required careful scraping with a knife. Underneath was revealed the code A80502100 SY046. After checking Intel's website we found it to be a Pentium 100. I have no way of contacting Comtrade as they have discontinued business it seems. I would urge all computer buyers to beware against this type of fraud. Shame on you Comtrade!

Steve Todd from Lenoxdale, MA USA
none
Date - Sunday, December 12, 1999 at 21:39:32 (EST)

I have never seem service like this in an business, i tried to call there tech support, and no one answers, i have some problems with my computer, and they won't even answer there phones to help. This is life time tech support. Life time of no help

John from CA USA
Date - Tuesday, December 07, 1999 at 15:40:13 (EST)

I bought two comtrade pc last year. I had no problem about the product and tech support servicing. Now, I want to buy one for my grand son as his X'mas gift becuse he is going to college next year. I went to the store, but it was moved. Does anyone one know where they are.
Thanks.

Chuck Jones from USA
Date - Sunday, December 05, 1999 at 14:28:10 (EST)

I bought a comtrade 200mz pc about 3 years ago.
I got fast response from the ordering and shipping
department and when
I had a minor problem about 6 months later where I lost
sound I got good tech support answers and only had to wait
10-15 minutes on hold. My sound card software settings got
messed up somehow and the tech person showed me how to reset
them.Granted this was not a very big deal but the lady
who helped me (yes, Asian. Some are very intelligent you
know) was knowledgable, patient, and friendly.
That was my good experiecce.
My bad experience is that last
week the muffin fan on top of the CPU burned out and took
the CPU with it. I think this is a design flaw.
I went to what I thought should be
comtrade's home page(www.comtrade.com)but could not find
any way to contact them from there. I could only order a
new pc from there. I shall have to search my house for the
three year old manuals for the phone number I used last time
My advice to you is check to make sure your CPU is not
cooled by an attached muffin fan. A $2.00 muffin fan can
wipe out a $2,500 computer.

Brad P. Scott from Houma, LA USA
Date - Friday, December 03, 1999 at 23:24:22 (EST)

I have had great success with this company.
I have purchased a system for myself and four other people have purchased systems. I have never had any problems with techincal support the few times I have called. Also, my friend had a problem with his system and they promptly paid to have it shipped back and shipped him a new computer.
I blew a com port in my system and within 4 days they had shipped a new motherboard out to me.
I have been very satisfied with this company.

Marc dos Santos from USA
Date - Wednesday, December 01, 1999 at 16:45:55 (EST)

I bought my computer last year and was pleased with it and the few times i needed service, the people were available and friendly. However, I recently found I had a problem with my DVD-ROM drive and when I called for help, no one answered. I assume the company is under new, very unsatisfactory management.

jeff k from Milwaukee, WI USA
Date - Thursday, November 25, 1999 at 01:29:08 (EST)

I bought a Pentium 233 MMX PC from them in 1997 and had a few bad pieces of hardware. They were handled pretty well back them but I know when I had a support question, I never got an answer once. Their drivers/support page was VERY incomplete and their stories over overclocking CPU's are pretty scary. I noticed that every person here that has been supporting Comtrade lately has been typing in broken English VERY BADLY. Before you try to defend Comtrade, learn how to say something a little more intelligent than "Eat a banana and enjoy you coffee."

Brian McLaughlin from USA
Date - Monday, November 22, 1999 at 20:06:09 (EST)

I have bought 2 Comtrade computers. My first computer from
them was fine. I used it for several years without any
problems. Thus, when it came time to buy again, I didn't
think too hard about it. HOWEVER, my second experience has
been TERRIBLE!!!

First I had hard drive problems. My computer basically
got worse and worse (crashed more and more) until finally
I could no longer boot up. I called anf they promptly
sent me a new hard drive to replace my old one. However,
the same problem finally overtook my hard drive again as
it began to lock up and crash more and more. I called
again, this time they said to send my whole tower back!
OOOOOKKKKKAAAYYY. I paid over $100 dollars to insure
and send back the tower which DISAPPEARED INTO THE
COMTRADE BLACK HOLE for over a month! I called numerous
times to find out what was taking so long and when I
would get it back, but to no avail. NO-ONE would tell
me what was going on. Finally I got a hold of a tech
person whoh said he would out in a different kind of
hard drive due to an incompatability with my DVD-Drive.
Well, I finally got my computer back (I was beginning
to wonder if I would) and it "seemed" to work fine, but
now I have been having trouble with the CD rom not being
able to read some discs! I still feel that I have some bad
memory in the computer as well because my computer doesn't
lock up anymore, but it still crashes enough to be
troublesome.
To sum it up I would NEVER buy from them again...Comtrade is the most poorly run company in the world, either buy
design or through total lack of customer satisfaction.

SueAnn Solis from Phoenix, AZ USA
Date - Thursday, November 18, 1999 at 01:45:58 (EST)

Although I bought an

Penny from victor , WV USA
Date - Tuesday, November 16, 1999 at 22:09:13 (EST)

I bought my comtrade computer for Christmas of 1998. We started having problems right away but being new to computers we didn't know this wasn't normal. It was constantly freezing up, it would "forget" having a sound card, would "forget" having a printer then suddenly find it as a new componet.After a while it started having problems when you would try to turn it on ,most of the time it wouldn't do anything and the monitor would say to check the signal cable. I bought a new signal cable but it didn't fix the problem.If you did get it to work, then it wouldn't go off,even pushing the dreaded power button wouldn't turn it off. I tried to call Comtrade tech support almost continiously for three days. I even tried calling a few minutes before they were to open and then kept hitting redial but as soon as business hours started I would get a "Due to the high volume of calls" message. I never did get through. I tried e-mailing them but got no response. Finally, I took the computer to a local shop and found that the motherboard was bad.I tried again to call and e-mail comtrade with no luck. When the motherboard was replaced I lost the driver for the dvd, I tried to contact comtrade to see how to get the dvd to work but ,of course, no response. this was in July of this year. I still don't know how to make the dvd work. Any ideas? Anyway, I wish I had seen this site before I bought this computer. I would never buy from comtrade again.

Penny
West Virginia

Dr. Tangirala S. Reddy from Baton Rouge, LA USA
Date - Tuesday, November 16, 1999 at 12:09:27 (EST)

Dear Sir, I bought my computer with Comtrade last year. Basically they are cheaters. I already complained with the BBB of California. There is no answer received from the Comtrade by BBB. I just found that my computer has DVD rom without any decoder. I never bothered to check whether my computer has decoder or not, because of my travel job. I tried to contact Comtrade but there is neither phone number nor e-mail address on their WEB site. Few weeks back there was an e-mail address and I wrote the problem and few days later to my amazing the address was also retracted. Now I have no idea to whom I should compalint. When I bought my computer they said that I can watch movies with my DVD rom immedaitely and I will have life customer support. As soon as I bought my computer I compalined about the computer case, mouse and speakers. Because what they showed on the picture and mentioned in their advertisement, they were not there. All those they gave me are spurious material for the price I paid. They infact refused to take back the PC. I do not know now to whom I should I complain. If any body can help me in this regard, I appreciate. Thank you.
Dr. Tangirala S. Reddy
dr_satyam@hotmail.com

Computer Mascohist from PA USA
Date - Friday, November 12, 1999 at 22:22:54 (EST)

Note the responses written in praise of Comtrade. Their
sentence structure is that of an Asiatic, probably Comtrade
personnel. Tech Support??? From Comtrade? Naa. First of all,
I could never get through to them. The line was always busy.
Oh! Once I did get through. Lucky me. I got told to send the
sound board back, and they'd replace it, once they received
my bad one. It was cheaper to just go out and buy one which
I did. Has anyone noticed how the keys on the keyboard erase
themselves after about 6 months of hitting them? The modules
used in the computer had to have been manufactured in
someone's basement. As far as the service contract, I've
found it to be good for one thing: toilet paper. I wouldn't
buy a new twenty five cent diskette from Comtrade, let
alone another computer system. I guess I'm a bigot, but from
now on, I'm buying from American companies like Dell or
Gateway. They speak without an accent, answer their phones,
and stand behind their products. Oh, and watch out for those
Moscovites too. Amazing how both groups seem to lose the
ability to understand English when you have a problem with
their product.

Is Burstcomtrade a Liar? or Comtrade ? from FL USA
Date - Sunday, November 07, 1999 at 02:09:46 (EST)

HiBurstcomtrade
Steve is 100% right. we as consumers would like to get hold of these facts. Not just what you said. Otherwise. I
believe you are the most dangerous guy, who hate the good and smart good men, and you are the one who just don't like the person who make good money. Is that true? If so, you don't need to tell us. just don't say anything to any ower any more.
Just relax and eat your banana and enjoy your coffee.
Take it easy.Ok

steve bissey from USA
Date - Saturday, November 06, 1999 at 19:31:44 (EST)

Hey Burstcomtrade
I can find all of your contact information regarding
comtrade/gogocity on gogocity's web site,
can you dig up more juicy stuff, like court document,
police report regrading there crime, I mean if they are
so bad there most be something that you an show us.
customer complains are common amount computer companies
but the crimes that you claimed are very serious, we as
consumers would like to get hold of these facts. If you have those facts please produce some hard facts, been following this forum for a while and you seems to have lots of leads on this/these company(s).

Some one who cares from Los Angeles, CA USA
Date - Saturday, November 06, 1999 at 19:12:20 (EST)

There are many more ecommerce site that are Comtrade's
the list is as follow:
www.bananapc.com, www.buyabs.com,www.computer411.com,www.direct411.com,
www.mwave.com,www.nutrend.com,www.allstarcomputer.com
www.bunta.com,www.comtech.com
you can verify this info. with burst comtrade.
they all carry similar items and prices too...

P. Gardner, Jr. from Pompano Beach, FL USA
Date - Saturday, November 06, 1999 at 02:28:58 (EST)

Proponents of Comtrade are not worthy of comment, whatsoever.

Comtrade Has Good Products from AZ USA
Date - Saturday, November 06, 1999 at 00:14:17 (EST)

Hello,
I don't think Comtrade is bad as what you think.
If you said everything is true, why Comtrade is still there.
Its technicians there and they are professional and
friendly too. Comtrade has good products and excelent tech supporting I have ever find. If Comtrade doest not take care for its customers, why it has so many customers?
Don't tell all of its customers are stupid?
I don't think so.
Good Luck

not this time again from USA
Date - Friday, November 05, 1999 at 23:48:11 (EST)

Hello,
Bustcomtrade again,
If you reached this page by searching gogocity.com on yahoo, you NEED to read this. it is for you good.
gogocity it is owned by the same person that owns Comtrade, a fraudalent business company. so if you were trying to buy something from gogocity, think it twice.

If you are trying to contact Comtrade with no answer, don't be surprised, people here are instructed not to pickup the phone, but to clean up desks and paperwork. they are no longer in their old building at 1215 bixby drive, they are now located in a hidden place somewhere in city of industry.
Here is what you need to do, call Gogocity at the following contact information, you can ask for
Chris Luke
Rachel Luke (vp)
Johnathan Wang
Eric Chang
The should be able to help you to get refund or service on you Comtrade computer.
It was hard to find this contact information as it is not available from gogocity's web page, but only from a Computer located at gogocity's building.
(wooooo they must be guessing who is this)

Company Profile

GoGoCity.com
748 S. Epperson Dr.
City of Industry, CA 91748
USA
http://www.gogocity.com

Order Phone, Fax, & Email
Phone: 888-883-9889
Fax: 626-839-1607
Hours: Mon - Fri, 8AM - 6PM PST

Customer Service Phone, :626-839-6235
Fax :626-839-1607
Phone: www.gogocity.com/email.asp
Fax:

Hours: 9AM - 6PM PST
good luck.

Need to Be Smart from USA
Date - Friday, November 05, 1999 at 02:13:48 (EST)

I bought two computers last year from Comtrade. They have been running well.
Some of my friends also have Comtrade Computers. Nobody said anything.
I assume they are happy about the Comtrade products. I don’t
Understand why you guys had so many problems. Let me ask you a question.
Why did you buy the product from Comtrade?
Your one of the answers is because you are stupid, or anther one is because you
You did not have enough money to buy from the other big Company. Have you ever
Hear your Mon said “ What you pay is what you get, there is no free lunch in the world ? ”
So next time make sure you have enough $ before you decide to buy thing.
In addition, you need to understand that computer is make in electronic that is not human being.
No mater what kinds computer or even human being, sometime the system down likes you
are sometime sick too. That is why there are so many computer technicians, so are doctors.
If you are not happy your product, please bring it back to get repair or your refund. They are
Waiting for you. Comtrade is still there, pick up your phone and call them for more detail. I think they
Are more than happy to help you. But remember, keep your voice down when you ask for help.
If you want people are your friends, you need to be their friend first.
Good luck!!!

Eric Thornton from Raleigh, NC USA
Date - Thursday, November 04, 1999 at 00:53:32 (EST)

I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER COMTRADE PRODUCT AGAIN

They buy the most generic parts and get monkeys to put the things together. i have a noname "vista point" monitor, and the matrox video card must have come from the company's dumpster. It definately didn't pass their quality contro check. Becuase my computer crashed so often(2-3 times a day) i bought an iomega zip. I then found out the ide card that came with the computer was faulty. the zip drive would only show up when i didn't need it. I've tried calling tech support and the one time i got through, the guy's english was barely understandable. My parents have a comtrade and replaced the hard drive 6 months after buying it. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!!!

Smith Johnson from Seattle, WA USA
Date - Tuesday, November 02, 1999 at 15:55:17 (EST)

Check out banana.com and computer411.com, they are all Comtrade's sites

J. N. Lovria from USA
Date - Monday, November 01, 1999 at 14:50:37 (EST)

Quite simply.....these people SUCK!!! First the mother board needed replacing then I received really bad advice as
to how to salvage data caused by a crash and after having
my third cd rom drive went bad,, I had to be subjected to a
snotty little @#$#@#@ who wanted to know what the point of
my call was!!! I had to pay shipping both ways for replacement parts.
Mind you the system is still under warranty.

Consider this a warning...STAY AWAY FROM THESE CROOKS.
Their computers and components are junk and the people
that represent them are swine.

P. Gardner, Jr. from Pompano Beach, FL USA
Date - Friday, October 29, 1999 at 02:16:28 (EDT)

Here we go again. http://www.gogocity.com is up and expanding....http//www.comtrade.com remains static as last reported....

The transition is clear....they are seeking the new venue,
as predicted by other contributors to this forum, in order to maintain their grasp upon the unaware low end buyer with
cheap components and peripherals. If you are in need of customer service you will receive the easy reply "did you submit your warranty card to the manufacturer?" Don't expect more. Be sure to inspect your goods for broken seals and other indications of tampering, a wise procedure for any consumer.

As for the old (new) comtrade.com site, it will be interesting to see what direction they will go..... or will they go out of "site", altogether. Again as prdicted by others.

not this time from USA
Date - Thursday, October 28, 1999 at 22:11:56 (EDT)

Hello
This is bustcomtrade, I'm not gone. I'm here to inform you that Comtrade is still under heavy investigation, first for their very well known FRAUD. Overcloced CPUs, you may have one, second for Tax Evation, third money laundry, ETC..

If any of you have an overclocked CPU contact your lawer, you cannot contact comtrade, because their page is helpless about contact. (more about this in a bit)
If you did not know, The owner of Comtrade has now a new business name www.gogocity.com so spread the word NOT TO ORDER anything from this site, As you may see that there is no phone number where to contact gogocity, very obscure type of business.

Now you may ask. So why Comtrade page is still up, even a single page with no info?
There is a big sue currently undergoing against this compay and by law, they CANNOT close until more victims get reported or a settlement has been reached. ACT NOW!! Don't wait.

OH yes, my informant still work at Comtrade, I mean at gogocity. so I'll kee you updated!

this is provided to you with the intention that as a Victim you act quickly.

steve bissey from USA
Date - Sunday, October 24, 1999 at 21:24:58 (EDT)

stumbled across this forum and felt compelled to offer my
two cents....purchased a p-166 system two years ago,
generally un-impressed with the performance of the system
compared to all the "blazing" hype of the magazine ads
(which are no longer published, it seems, in the Computer
Shopper.....), after some minor problems and because of
non-existent tech support, i dove into the case myself
what a disappointment !!!!! very cheap, Chinese components
now that i have replaced everything (hard drive, cd-rom,
sound card, video card, etc...)the machine runs acceptably
sounds like other here have had worse troubles, i can only
corroborate what i have read here, con-trade is really
the worst and hope the owners get all they deserve

Michael Berthold from Lowell, MA USA
Date - Saturday, October 23, 1999 at 03:14:35 (EDT)

I have had my Comtrade PII 400 for approximately 2 years and the only problem I have ever encountered with the system was a DVD drive that failed. I e-mailed a request for assistance and was called later in the day. The tech rep dispatched a new drive immediately and it was recieved in 2 days.
In contrast, at work we have several Gateway systems, SGI systems and a Power Mac G3 (or should I say Power Crap G3). None of these systems is pushed as hard as my system at home (they don't have kids beating on them everyday trying to play the newest game or a cat that likes to lay on their cases). Everyone of these systems is newer than my Comtrade and has suffer far more problems than it ever has, except for the SGI systems that seem to run forever. The Power Mac suffers a crash at least once a week (sometimes, once an hour). The Gateways are a little more reliable than the Power Mac but they have had their share of annoying little problems and we have had worse response times from Gateway than the one that I had from Comtrade. All in all, if I had to buy another computer, I wouldn't be afraid to purchase another Comtrade.

SoHo Owner from North Bay Area, CA USA
Date - Saturday, October 02, 1999 at 04:15:29 (EDT)

In reading all the sad and truly angering comments about ComTrade, I feel so sorry for those that have been victimized by a company that is clearly 'in-it-for-the-buck' ONLY! It almost makes me ashamed to call myself a business owner, but then I don't treat my clients that way. It's clear that the BEST way to have a computer that you KNOW is going to work, is to either build it yourself from the case up, or have your local 'geek' do it for you. The guy probably needs a few extra bucks anyway :) Support your local techie, there MUST be one in your neighborhood. Make his day by contracting him to build 10 (or more) computer systems, and THEN tech-support is just a short walk away :)

P. Gardner, Jr. from Pompano Beach, FL USA
Date - Saturday, October 02, 1999 at 01:45:34 (EDT)

Sorry, but this is my fifth contribution to this page in as
many years. It is odd. Their website, www.comtrade.com (a url that originally belonged to another company) now sports only a single page. No bells and whistles. The interesting part is that they no longer push the low end. They are now featuring the Pentium III Xeon 500 base system at $3799, a definite change in their market target. Guess they drained the low end are now after deep pockets, most likely figuring that a few pigeons at the high end will be easier to deal with in numbers and are more likely to write off any losses. Also of note, you can't purchase online without going to the add on selection which will surely boost the bottom line, big time, guaranteed. Terms and conditions remain a joke...if you're in business you had best declare the taxes! Note, too, _The Computer Shopper_ no longer carries their ads, previously their main channel for advertising. For whatever reason can be imagined.

Joel Wolfe from Los Angeles, CA USA
Date - Friday, September 24, 1999 at 01:23:12 (EDT)

DO NOT BUY A COMTRADE.
THEY USE GARBAGE PARTS_ 4 of our comtrades have had power supply, hard drive, and motherboard failures. Their customer service is the worst I have ever seen, they are rude and they lie. They make me sick to be honest, do not buy fromn them.

TVP from Temple City, CA USA
Date - Wednesday, September 22, 1999 at 17:59:54 (EDT)

Folks after seeing ALL of these other complaints regarding, in my opinion Comtrade's poor customer service, at least I know that I am not the only victim!

In my case I have not had many problems with the computer, but I had a horrible time regarding Tech. Support ... and an extremely rude young lady via the telephone, who told me if I did not like it to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. SO I DID #144 or was it #145? Note: Comtrade has never sought to respond to the complaint.

Yes, my letter(s) to the President of Comtrade to this day remain unanswered, and I had to fly my nephew from Ohio to California to repair a computer that was suppose to be under full warranty.

Also I paid for a FOUR YEAR EXTENDED G.E. Warranty that Comtrade's phone Rep. claims does not exist. However the G.E. phone Representative did believe me and did assist me and told me if I have the paperwork they will honor it! The G.E. Rep. also told me they have had to many complaints about Comtrade to count.

From now on I will check with the Better Business Bureau before making another major purchase ... with Comtrade in my opinion buyers beware!

Ed W. from Washington, DC USA
Date - Monday, September 20, 1999 at 09:15:34 (EDT)

I purchased a Comtrade P-II 350MHZ system in January, 1999.
The system was shipped promptly, and everything worked fine.
All advertised s/w was included, and everything functioned
as advertised. The processor supplied with the unit was as
advertised. My one call to tech support was returned promptly and the needed advice was provided.

I recently decided to upgrade my modem and have been unable to contact COMTRADE over the ast two weeks. Their toll-free (800) number is out of service and their web site is defunct.

Indications that COMTRADE is on the way out do not seem to be exagerated, although a freind (and Comtrade PC owner) who lives nearby says they are still functioning at their old location in Industrial City.)

Michael Fielder from USA
Date - Tuesday, September 14, 1999 at 08:33:39 (EDT)

Replaced:
video card
modem
sound
hard drive
cd-rom (two from comtrade, then i bought my own)
operating system- they packaged one that was not compatable
with the computer.

I would have been happy if i was planning on buying a bare-
bones system. Except that now the powersupply is failing.

Do not buy COMTRADE.

Mark Mosty from USA
Date - Monday, September 13, 1999 at 21:59:43 (EDT)

My experience with computers dates to 1979 when I bought my
first computer (a Radio Shack Color Computer) through the
mail. Suffice it to say that my experience with Comtrade is
THE WORST I have had in 20 years of mail-order computer
purchases.

The day my $2000 Pentium II-266 system arrived (about 18
months ago),I excitedly unpacked and set it up.
It ran about 20 minutes, then died. I then discovered
why Comtrade was cheaper than Dell or the others....
the support was nonexistant. I had a tech call me one time
(no usuable suggestions)after I made at least 15 requests.
Then they never returned pleas for help.

Then I discovered a hidden restocking fee (their ads now say
no fee). Really bad and frustrating to have to get the
screwdriver out after 30 minutes.

It turned out to be a bad video card. I replaced it on my
own.I could never get them on the phone...always busy..
nor could I get an email response to my requests for support
Eventually I gave up.

I have replaced the following in the past 18 months:
video card, floppy disk, CD Rom, modem.
The USB ports have also quit working.
I think they use very cheap parts.

My biggest complaint is that despite my many, many phone
calls and emails to customer support, they NEVER tried
to contact me to see if they could make a repeat customer.
I even wrote (via snail mail) to the CEO, some guy named
Luke, who never wrote me back. Nothing. Nada. They could
care less.

Even a year and a half later, I still an angry.
I feel like I got took for $2k. I should have eaten the
15% restocking fee ($300) but I didn't. Better yet I should
have either spent the extra for Dell or someone with
at least a will to make customers happy. These guys
clearly only want the money. After they have it,
they're done.

I work as a quality improvment professional so I even
tried to appeal to their business sense, but no one
was listening.

My advice to you: LET THE BUYER BEWARE (of Comtrade)

JRM from Irvine, CA USA
Date - Friday, September 03, 1999 at 19:23:23 (EDT)

Yikes...Looks like Comtrade grew a bit too big for their britches and started trying to cover their butts illegally:(. I am a consultant working with 3 local companies and have ordered systems from them since jan of 96(13). I will admit to having to do a bit of driver hunting and tweaking, but overall I had been very satisfied with their products and my customers loved the pricing. A big factor in this may be that I picked up all of my systems at the factory and actually opened the cases to verify the components(This included checking the cpu's in most cases).
Maybe their standards for mail/net orders was different. My condolences to those of you who got screwed. This stuff happens ALL the time with small VAR operations. Verify your components on the phone with your salesperson, and get a quote in writing before ordering. If this is a problem, go somewhere else. On the other hand, if you have little/no experience with pc components/configurations go with a big VAR like Dell, Micron, or the like. They will hook you up with a nice machine and good support, for a price of course. A PC is a big investment for most people. Get informed, do some research, don't be a sucker:)Best of luck to all of you.


JRM

Ravi Joshi from Dartmouth, MA USA
Date - Monday, August 30, 1999 at 11:32:59 (EDT)

I bought Pentium II 300 Mhz computer from this company in February 1988. From the very first day the computer never ran right. After replacing a CDROM and a Hard drive, and now totally disgusted with its technical support, in August 1998, I sent the system back to them for the repairs, after paying for the shipping out of my pocket. Instead of putting a new hard drive, the tech support just reformatted it and loaded Windows 95 back on it and sent it back to me. The total loss of time: 1 month. The system still crashes, monitor (Megaimage) is on its way out and I feel totally helpless for being taken by these people. Now, I read that the company has fired its Tech support staff and is out of business. The owner of this company, Mr. and Mrs. Lukes, also operate some other business under different name. I think we should put these people in jail.

Ken Long from USA
Date - Saturday, August 21, 1999 at 03:42:37 (EDT)

I bought two computers from Comtrade. One was 486-66 Mzh 5 years ago. And the other is Pentium II 300 Mzh last year. Both have been working fine and fortunately the Comtrade Technical Support men have been helping me a lot. For example, when I received my Pentium II last year, I tried to hook up to my scanner, it conflict with the drivers or IRQ. I called the Comtrade Tech Support. They were more than happy using their professional skill to help me step by step to solve the problems. Yes, the Tech supports are sometime very busy because they want to do the better job for their customers by spending too much time in details of the problem solving process.
In short, Comtrade does the good jobs. It has a lot of customers to support. I think that is why sometime you need to wait for a little bit. If the phone is busy, you may hang up and go to get cup of coffee or tea, or hotdog or whatever you like , then try again. Up on the information of this Website, Comtrade is busy with its expanding business, Gogocity. Hopefully, Comtrade will hire more Tech Supports to help us soon. So next time, take care yourself and each other. Good Luck.

defensor@anticomtrade.com from USA
Date - Friday, August 20, 1999 at 22:05:57 (EDT)

Hello Kumar,
To me, that would be easy to deal with. Here is what you need to do, CHARGEBACK,
I'm very sure that American Express will help you.
Ask American Express to call Comtrade themselve, which 99% will get no answer at all, this violates the agreement of warranty and support, subsequently will make American Express to charge back. You should get your money back, DEMAND full Refund and I'm sure Comtrade will not pick up the old computer from you since they have to people Taken care of it, so you will keep the rest of the computer for FREE. Come on, excersice your RIGHTS!

Anil Kumar from West Palm Beach, FL USA
Date - Friday, August 20, 1999 at 21:30:58 (EDT)

I bought a computer model no. PC5/200 BEST BUY BC5/200 (32MB, 512K) MMX from Comtrade (address above) on September 02, 1997. The computer was running fine till on April 14,1999 it would not start at all. The lights on the panel would light up, but the machine did not reboot beyond that.
This computer had a manufacturer parts warranty of three years and labor warranty of 1 year and an extra one-year labor warranty from American Express Buyers Assurance plan. So I took my computer to an American Express Buyers Assurance authorized repair shop (Allan Business Machines in West Palm Beach), and they gave me a labor invoice of $ 144.50, and asked me to have the motherboard, CPU and fan and modem replaced from manufacturer.

I called Comtrade and left a voice mail, which is their standard way of communicating with the tech support. A technical representative by the name of Andre called me and asked me to send the defective parts by UPS, which I did. A week later, Andre from Comtrade called me again and told me that the CPU sent was not of Comtrade brand, and he send me back the CPU via UPS. I took the CPU to Allan Business Machines, where they realized that they had given me the wrong CPU and then they gave me the right CPU (200 MMX MHz of Comtrade brand). I send them back the CPU.

I waited for about 3 weeks for Comtrade to send me back the new parts. I had no response from Comtrade, so I tried to contact them. I tried to call them everyday for next 8 business days. Everytime, the receptionist would pick up the phone and ask me to leave a voice mail, as it was the only way to contact tech support, and she told that they would call me back. Nobody called me and I still did not get my parts. When I tried to call them on the 9th and 10th day, I could not reach anyone, not even the receptionist. I realized that my home phone number was blocked by Comtrade, because I could reach the receptionist when I called from a different phone number.

After my persistent efforts to reach them from a different phone number I was able to get to one representative, who looked over the computer records and told me that their seemed to some confusion in their records because of the CPU I sent second time. He corrected the record problem. He told me that because it was a 200 MHz Computer, It would be a special order.
I waited this time for next 4 weeks and I did not get the parts still. So I started calling them from my office number (my home phone number was blocked), and after 2 days of calling, my office number was also blocked!
I started sending faxes and after 7 regular days of faxing complaints to them, a technical representative by the name of Paul called me. I had to explain him the whole thing all over again. He was apologetic for the mess-up and promised me to send the parts the next day.
It has been about six weeks from then and I still don't have my parts. I have kept on sending faxes, but they do not respond.
Comrade has put me through a lot of mental agony and harassment, and I have wasted a lot of time calling them, faxing them. Apart from that I have not been able to use my computer for financial purposes, and it has affected my income flow. This is a gross violation of all customer service principals, and I demand that Comtrade be duly punished for causing so much mental trauma to me. They are guilty of stealing my parts because they have accepted parts from me, but never sent me anything in return.
American Express Buyers Assurance has already sent a notice of delay in receiving the labor receipt, hence I might end up having to pay for the labor cost. I need help.

MA DU from USA
Date - Wednesday, August 11, 1999 at 23:58:02 (EDT)

Du MA is obviously a lost cause..I guess he would like it if he bought a new car and the motor blew up as he pulled it in the garage..His comment to this would be

Du Ma from USA
Date - Friday, August 06, 1999 at 04:46:12 (EDT)

If you think Comtrade is bad or ?. So what, It still keep on running. What I am trying to say is that don't say any bad to someone you don't like. Just let them alone.

Anthony Proszenyak from Mt. Prospect, IL USA
Date - Monday, August 02, 1999 at 18:26:56 (EDT)

I purchased a Pentium II/300 on May 05,1999 and are having
problems with the 6.0GB EIDE drive. It appears that the
6.0GB are splitt up on two separate drives- drive C & drive
D. I have approx. 695 Mb on drive C and 3.4GB on drive d.
The problem is when I try to install additional software
over 695 MB, I get an error message advising me that I
don't have enough space on my drive to install the soft-
ware. It appears that the 3.4GB on drive D cannot be
accessed after the space on drive C has been used up. I
tried calling Comtrade customer service and tech support,
but no answers their telephone lines. I hate to get stuck
with 3.0 GB of drive instead of 6.0GB that I paid for. If
there is anything you know that I can do, please let me
know.

Smith Johnson from Seattle, WA USA
Date - Monday, August 02, 1999 at 01:47:29 (EDT)

Brought system 2 years ago. Been working fine, no major problem. Sound card failed 1 1/2 year ago, Comtrade replaced it with a generic brand (same chipset as the orginal one), just have tto download a generic driver to make it works( they did not send a driver disk). BTW, took them only a week to replace the card and tech. support seems to know their stuff. Overall, if you know what you are doing , they are OK. NOT for novice.

from USA
Date - Friday, July 30, 1999 at 23:53:46 (EDT)

Hello Mr. Grohol,
First of all, You are the Hero of all of us, The Comtrade's Victim, We understand your concern, however, this is the only way we can let Comtrade know what is to be their customer or better say, their Victim, We would say it to them if the were to pick up their telephone, if some of these days you got a chance, try their 800-899-4508, they will never pick it up.

You don't have to be worry, everything that is posted here, it is TRUE, I have in my possesion very heavy evidence against them, DIGITAL DATA, DIGITAL MANIPULATION (THEM DELETING CUSTOMER'S NAME IN THEIR DATABASE TO EVADE TAXES). And also this is a warning to other people that may have bought computer or are planing to buy it from them, they are advised not to do it, What is wrong in warning people not to be another victim? THIS IS AMERICA ANYWAY.

As far as I know, you had also a Very Bad experience with them, so we are.

Again, this is TRUE.

A message to all COMTRADE EMPLOYEES!
My internal informat has told me that the Former sales manager that left the company about 2 moths ego, and was to sue the company on his own, (DOES IT SOUND FAMILIAR?) But then it never happened? Well; he was paid $30,000.00 to shut up, he is know having a good time in Taiwan, My internal informant will be forwarding me the copy of his checks by email, just in case you don't believe me, I'll let you know in what NEWS GROUP this will posted.

You may know this already, but another sales rep. was fired this week, including an assembly technician, they haven't posted in their website, but they are moving this week and run away from their obligation with Warranty and Support. THIS IS WHAT MAKES A CUSTOMER PISSED OF. You are buying a computer and you are not told that your computer will not have a warranty or will have no support, they just want your money.

J. Walker from Boston, MA USA
Date - Tuesday, July 27, 1999 at 12:39:44 (EDT)

Comtrade strikes again! I ordered a case from them, which they charged me for and then never sent. Attempts to obtain a refund have been in vain. This company should be shut down! Where's Ralph Nader when you need him?

Bad New from USA
Date - Saturday, July 24, 1999 at 01:38:51 (EDT)

Hey bustcomtrade or the rest... Didn't I tell you all 2 months
ago (look at my may 20 message)....?? They already laid off "all" their
tech support plus 'most' of the sales 2 months ago....
There is no tech support available right now..... if you all want
to do something.. hurry up... you probably won't see this "brand name"
soon.......good luck to all of you......

bustcomtrade from USA
Date - Sunday, July 18, 1999 at 21:36:53 (EDT)

If you have problems with Comtrade system, do something immediately! They are closing!
If you have CPU problem, contact Intel!
If you just bought a system, call your credit card company immediately regarding a chargeback!
Protect yourself! Do something immediately!!!

Ike House from Haughton, LA USA
Date - Saturday, July 03, 1999 at 06:48:49 (EDT)

I purchased a used laptop about 3 years ago and the only problem I have had is that the battery is no good anymore.
When I tried to get them to sell me another, they said since I didn't buy it from them they wouldn't help me. And
then they informed me it was too old and they didn't have one anyway! They suggested I look in Computer Shopper for a
battery supplier. Of course, no one has a battery that will fit their product. Oh well, from the sound of the other complaints it could be worse. If anyone knows where I can get a replacement battery I would appreciate it.
BTW, they were rude when I asked about upgrades or trade-ins. I just thought they were angry because I didn't buy it from them but bought it used.

E Braun from boise, ID USA
Date - Saturday, July 03, 1999 at 00:39:29 (EDT)

We recently purchase a PC system from Comtrade and it was dead on
arrival (DOA)! The PC booted but got hung before it got through the
OS (Windows98).

The problem got worse as we tried to contact the people at
Comtrade. After many phone calls and long wair, we finally got to talk
with a service rep at Comtrade. The service reps at Comtrade were very
rude, unprofessional and plain incompetent. We got no where with the
people at Comtrade. The only thing we got out of the whole thing was
frustration - lots of it.

We wish we had run into this site befoe we dealt with Comtrade.

Raymond V. Smith from Germantown, MD USA
Date - Friday, July 02, 1999 at 15:15:51 (EDT)

On April 11, 1999 I rec'd my new Comtrade Pentium II "400". Right way I noticed that it interfered with AM radion reception through my house indicating improper shielding somewhere. I emailed techsupport and my sales rep, Becky, but never rec'd a reply from either them. Oh well, maybe the FCC would be interested I thought but I could live with that.

Then on Saturday, June 22, the PC booted with a BIOS error and asked if i wanted to go to the "default settings". Since that was the only choice, I took it.

It then booted - as a Pentium II 266!!! Not a 400! I'm another victim.

I've called Comtrade but the phone is never answered. I've emailed Comtrade but have never received a reply.

Con-trade is more like it. Thieves.

Dan Hofstetter from Geilenkirchen AB, Germany
Date - Monday, May 31, 1999 at 07:59:15 (EDT)

Another victim. I'm a US airman stationed overseas. I bought a 200mhz PC mailorder from these idiots a year ago. From moment it came out of the box, I've had serious problems. Think you've had fun trying to get through to customer service? Try sitting on hold paying long distance overseas rates. And what technical experts. "Uh I dunno, try the US Robotics Web site." We mailed modems back and forth. I never did get that system on-line, despite many hours of troubleshooting. The computer froze nearly every session and started getting intermittent hard drive boot failures. As it wasn't economically feasable to deal with this company long distance, I packed the whole system up and took it to a German repair shop. They got a real chuckle--"was fur eine stuck scheisse!" They were astounded to see the glued on fan over the chip. They took the whole thing apart and ran diagnostics piece by piece. Their recommendation was to salvage the drives, modem and video card. Trash all else.

bustcomtrade from USA
Date - Sunday, May 23, 1999 at 19:59:06 (EDT)

Chapter 6

UPDATED INFORMATION TO ALL.

Hello people...
There is a lot happening at comtrade, several people have been laid off, rumors are that key people that know a lot about Comtrade fraudalent business are being laid off one by one. My updated information indicates that these people are being threatened not to tell anything to anyone. This is not going to work out, Mr. Christopher Luke and Mrs Luke, literally have one foot in jail and one out, other executive managements will be considered if they refuse to cooperate with the autorities. The local autorities needs Witnesses at the time of trial, so far there is no one willing to cooperate, very serious threatens will keep people quite, but we will seek police protection for these people, the point here is to send comtrade executive to jail at once, this was their last game and they will loose it.

At this time, I'm about to finish sorting the name of people with overclocked cpus, at the present time, and this is serious, about 97% of people who purchased Pentium 90, 100, 120, 133, 150, 166 and 200 have OVERCLOCKED CPU. if you have one of this cpu, check your computer after reading this news, Right Now, you are highly one of them, see the other previous posted message about how to check this on how to proceed. (486 cpus is another story)

If you purchased a PentiumII cpu, 90% you got a REMARKED one.

Here are some information that will reveal you about Comtrade future plans on trying to stay in business fraud market.
www.comtrade.com is Christopher Luke
www.vistastore.com is Christopher Luke (waiting for Comtrade to shut down)

How can you find this for yourself? go to wwww.networksolutions.com
COMING IN SUMMER!!
Hey Guys, Let's kick Comtrade's ass, We don't want this kind of business in America!! We are hardworking people and we don't appreciate this.

To be continued.............

Paul N. Gardner, Jr. from Pompano Beach, FL USA
Date - Saturday, May 22, 1999 at 00:13:30 (EDT)

I have contributed to this page from the time of my first and last
bad experience with this company five years ago. From this standpoint I can add some perspective and comments which still
add up to the bottom line....Comtrade represents all that's evil
in the American Marketplace. They somehow get away with their
criminal activity without any consequence. When I confronted
PC World magazine complaining that Comptrade was sporting their
logo on the Comtrade Web Site implying an endorsement they showed
concern but expressed little that they could do unless it was
blatent. My comment to them was that it diluted the meaning of
their logo to which there was no reply. They have somehow acquired the url "www.comtrade.com", one which belonged to another
company not too long ago. I wonder what underhanded method they
used to acquire it. Think about it. Seems there's nothing they
can't do except offer a true product.

bad news from USA
Date - Thursday, May 20, 1999 at 00:09:54 (EDT)

Hi Guys!
Don't you get what I mean?? Especially bustcomtrade.... They are closing down... Until you get all the name lists, everything will be too late.... They are gone.... period..

bustcomtrade from USA
Date - Wednesday, May 19, 1999 at 03:52:38 (EDT)

Chapter 5

OVERCLOCKING CPU & REMARKED CPU

Over the years, Comtrade is very well known in the PC industry to have overclocked their processors and selling remarked processors. Their technical staff admitted it and the company has also acknowledged it with the settlement of class action lawsuits.

To put it in simple terms, Comtrade is illegally selling processors at a higher than the market value without the consumers knowing it. In other word, they could be selling you something that you think is of a particular value but it is actually of a lesser value. For example, you could be paying for a Pentium 300Mhz as advertised in their ads but actually getting a Pentium 233 processor, a loss of about $200. That is highway robbery and total fraud. In additional to monetary loss, you could also be loosing a lot of down time and that could be quite significant. Unfortunately, Intel is not doing anything about it and consumers usually do not want to bother with it other than promising themselves not to buy from these people again. Unfortunately, or fortunately for Comtrade, other consumers continued to be ripped off!

How can you tell if you are a victim of this fraudulent sale? Well, If you bought a system from Comtrade, the chances that you are a victim is extremely high. You can also try different methods to confirm that you have received what you paid for!

First of all, if your system freezes for no apparent reason, you have a victim; You can also look at the processor, if the fan is glued to the processor, (there is no reason to glue the fan) you are a victim; If you removed the fan, you will see exactly what the processor speed is, and if that is not what you paid for, you are a victim; If you removed the fan and the top of the processor is all scratched, again you are a victim; If you need to find out for sure if your processor is overclocked or remarked, call Intel or you can send your processor to Intel for testing by one of their technicians.

What do you do if you have an overclocked/remarked processors? Call and talk to one of the executive of Comtrade. You may want to report the purchase to Intel immediately and also write or call the State Attorney General of your state. We need a team effort. Intel or the State Agencies will not act until enough people complaint.

I have been working with ex Comtrade employees over the past few months. I will be exposing Comtrade customers who had received overclocked and/or remarked processors over the years. If your name is listed, you will want to call Comtrade and get a new system and if you are a corporation or government agencies and have ordered numerous systems from Comtrade, you may want to get your attorney!

I have in my possession, individual and corporate names that I am still sorting. I will post the names as soon as I can confirm the name list.

To be continued…………………….

bad news from USA
Date - Friday, May 14, 1999 at 23:21:46 (EDT)

Bad New to all of you...I heard that the last group of tech support had been fired.. The tech support department was "empty" right now... They are inofficially closed down "comtrade" except "PLPC"...... Please think carefully before you want to buy from them again if there is ever a comtrade left.......

william reinwald from cincinnati, OH USA
Date - Friday, May 14, 1999 at 12:43:37 (EDT)

I purchased a Pentium 400 DVD DreamMachine in January. After getting the machine and setting it up, the hard drive started to develop write errors, and soon after would not work at all. They sent a new hard drive, which worked for about 2 weeks and then had the same problem. I asked for my money back, they refused. So I sent the tower back to California from Ohio and had to pay shipping. After 33 days turnaround time I got the system back, and it worked for about 3 hours, and then the exact same thing happened. I called the repair shop, and they said all they did was replace the hard drive and DVD drive. Even though the first 3 hard drives went bad, they thought replacing it again would fix the problem? So I still have a $1800 paperweight 4 months after payment. I am very dissatisfied with this company.

RICHARD SHAW from USA
Date - Wednesday, May 12, 1999 at 15:03:29 (EDT)

IN 9-98 I PURCHASED A PC FROM THEM AND WHEN IT ARRIVED, IT BEGAN TO HAVE POWER UP PROBLEM WHERE I HAD TO ATTEMPT A FEW TIMES TO GET IT TO RUN AND SOMETIMES IT WOULD JUST POWER DOWN.

WELL ON THE 29TH DAY AFTER IT WAS SHIPPED, NOT 29 DAYS AFTER I RECEIVED THE PC, IT WOULD NO LONGER POWER UP. I CALLED THEM AND BECAUSE IT CAME ON A WEEKEND I WAS UNABLE TO GET THROUGH BECAUSE THEIR INTERUPT SAID, "LINES ARE BUSY DUE TO LARGE NUMBER OF CALLS".

I WAS ABLE TO CONTACT THEM ON THE 31ST OR 32ND DAY AFTER SHIPPING.
GUESS WHAT, NOT RETURNABLE SINCE IT WAS OVER 30 DAYS. I ARGUED THAT I HAD CALLED, BUT SINCE IT WAS NOT IN THE COMPUTER BEFORE 30 DAYS AFTER I ACCEPTED THE SHIPPMENT, I WAS CONSIDERED A LIAR.

I DID ACCEPT THE SHIPPMENT OF A NEW MOTHER BOARD TO TRY TO GET THE SYSTEM GOING, BUT IT DID NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM.

RETURNED THE MOTHER BOARD AND THE CPU AND WAS TOLD THEY WOULD SHIP A "NEW UNIT" ON THE DAY THAT UPS PICKUP WAS MADE AND I NOTIFIED THEM OF IT. I DID THAT ON THE DAY OF PICKUP.

GUESS WHAT, THEY DID NOT SHIP A NEW SYSTEM AS THEY SAID THEY WOULD AND THEN CLAIMED THAT THEY DID ON A LATER DATE.
UPS ADDED TO THE PROBLEM BY LEAVING IT AT MY DOOR WHEN I WAS GONE AND WHEN I CAME HOME A FEW DAYS LATER, THE PC WAS NOT THERE.

PRIOR TO THIS HAPPENING, I HAD CALLED MY CREDIT CARD COMPANY TO DISPUTE THE CHARGES, GIVING THEM THE FACT OF THE EVENT.

IT NOW (7 MONTHS LATER ) HAS BEEN RESOLVED IN MY FAVOR AND I HAVE MY MONEY BACK, BUT MY BUSINESS HAS HAD TO OPERATE ON AN OUTDATED SYSTEM FOR THIS TIME AT A GREAT INCONVIENCE. I NOW AWAITING THEM TO PICKUP THEIR MONITOR AND SPEAKER SYSTEM.

THE FIRST CONTACT WITH THE DISPUTE COMPANY FOR GM CARD, INDICATED THAT THERE WAS AN INDICATION THAT THEY WERE IN VIOLATION OF THE LAW BY USING THE UPS MAILING SYSTEM TO DO THE THINGS THEY DID.

I AM AN ACCOUNTANT AND HAD ABOUT 15 SYSTEM SET TO BE PURCHASED BY MY CLIENTS, BUT YOU CAN BE SURE THEY DID NOT DO SO FROM COMTRADE.

IT WAS RELATED TO ME FROM A UPS PERSON THAT COMTRADE SHIPS ABOUT $10,000 I COMPUTER ITEMS EACH MONTH.

BUT TO ME IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

Gregg Fisher from Milwaukee, WI USA
Date - Sunday, May 02, 1999 at 01:51:29 (EDT)

Hi
I have been reading threw your investigation boy its live Da sha vu I bought my computer in March 15,1998 and have had nothing but problems its a Penium 11 233 it first started about two days after i got it set up it was the moniter that went Trigem is the name wait I ordered comtrade why this name. Ok well then it was harddrive went hours and hours of calling couldnt get threw to tech finauly I did. About four days later well put that one in about week later it went again got that one and put it in worked well till the thirty days where up ok now having problem after problem then called them up again after getting nowhere with tech and it still having same garbage wrong asked to talk to manager of course he was either on the phone or not in that day I told them that i wanted my money back or new computer they sayed it was over my 30 days it wasnt when my second harddrive and monitor went out. so it went on for months and months wishing I would have bought the one I was going to at best buy they also told us that we had up to 1 year to get the extended warranty so that was fine 10 th month beacause of all the problems figured well it might be good idea to get it called the up and they said that I couldnt cause you only have up to 9 months well now payed alot of money alot to me. the point is they sent garbage when I figured it was going to be good deal figured could use it for several years but its caused nothing but pain. They should be out of bisness and soon. Bought it to use but afraid to go on it. I want my money back for this crap like I should have from the start after three harddrive and a monitor and a keyboard PLEASE BRING THEM DOWN . How do you get results fromthis or is it a waiting game
Thanks for doing this Gold73olds Milwaukee,WI

bustcomtrade from USA
Date - Friday, April 30, 1999 at 03:47:12 (EDT)

This is Part 4 of the continuing report on Comtrade!
Please give me your input!
Chapter 5 will be on Overclock CPU....

Chapter 4

FALSE ADVERTISING & MAIL FRAUD

Research done through different channels including but not limited to the local Better Business Bureau and Attorney Generals of different States will only come to one conclusion.

Comtrade is a fraudulent company. The numbers of complaints against them are just astounding. Calls to the management of the company are met with rudeness, denial and impossibility.

If you have bought systems from Comtrade, you will come to realize that they are advertising a system and ship a completely different system. They will have all these fast and full speed systems in their reviews in all the top rated magazine but when you actually get the systems, they are different motherboard, different video card, different monitors, different cases and on a lot of occasions different CPU (remarked CPUs). We will discuss that in the next chapter. They are shipping systems with substandard parts.

Common sense will tell us that we should never buy from this company again. However, the beautiful advertising, reviews and the pure greed on all our part will tend to forget what they did and give them another chance. Enough is enough! Something got to be done!

I have in my possession (evidence), three systems that I purchased over last 12 months, all reviewed systems. And I specifically make sure that they understand that I want the reviewed systems. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, the systems that I got are not exactly as advertised. Isn't that illegal?

A few other examples, when they advertise Yamaha sound card, you got Asonic (what the hell is it?) they advertise PCI Lucent Modem, you got ISA no name modem. These are minor parts and I guess they are betting that it is so minor that you will not complaint.
Isn't that illegal?

The advertisement says one-year parts and labor! But, try calling them for warranty, it is practically impossible unless you make a threat of some sort. They are more than glad to take your money when you order a system but, when you need warranty; it is like, What? Who are you? Why are you bothering me? Isn't that illegal?

The advertisement says lifetime toll free tech support but they don't bother letting you know that they don't answer that phone. They do have a toll free number but reaching them is a completely different matter. I can say with certainty that nobody ever answer those calls. Try calling them, the voice mail always says that they are busy, early morning, midday, late evening or anytime. I tried calling them repeated of numerous occasions but could never get through. Isn't that illegal?

The advertisement says 30 days money back, no restocking. But, shipping is not refundable and open software is not refundable. How do you know if you have a decent system unless you get it and how can you test the system without opening the software? And they will charge you an arm and a leg for the software. Isn't that illegal?

I think we have an extreme case of false advertising and mail fraud on our hand. Again I was trying to be fair. Numerous attempts to contact the management were met with deaf ears. And no executives ever respond to all these allegations! And I wonder why?

Again, a completed report will be sent to the Consumer Protection Agency as well as the PostMaster.

I think a possible class action suit should also be in order!

I am open to suggestions and ideas!

Dave Midgett from Ocala, FL USA
Date - Tuesday, April 27, 1999 at 15:45:49 (EDT)

Our firm bought 3 Comtrade PII-333 machines earlier this year. Each of them had problems with modem/network card issues. Multiple telephone calls, faxes, and emails pleading for tech support assistance were ignored, even though we had a one-year on-site warranty.

Well our county small claims court judge agreed that Comtrade breached the warranty and issued a judgment in our favor for the full price. Once the judgment is domesticated in California and a garnishment order issued to freeze corporate accounts, maybe we will get a courtesy phone call. If not . . .

FELIX DE LA CRUZ from HONOLUL, HI USA
Date - Tuesday, April 27, 1999 at 04:39:12 (EDT)

Hello my name is Felix. I'm looking for a power cord for my laptop. I have a Comtrade Sound Win-note laptop model#GREEN753.
If there is anyone that might know where I can locate one. Please e-mail me. Thank you very much.

Felix

bustcomtrade from USA
Date - Wednesday, April 14, 1999 at 01:03:00 (EDT)

This is part 3 of a series of reports on Comtrade!
Comtrade is getting away with fraud and murder!
Make sure we put a stop to this! Call them, write them or name them on lawsuits and see what they have to say!

Chapter 3

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Comtrade Electronics/PLPC

Address: 1215 Bixby Drive
City of Industry, CA 91745

Phone: 800-969-2123
626-961-6688

Fax: 626-369-1479

Website: www.comtrade.com

Incorporated State: California
Year of Incorporation: 1986
Federal Identification Number: 95-4176118
State Identification Number: 356-3005-2
Also doing business as: PLPC, Vista Point
Better Business Bureau rating: Unsatisfactory




TOP COMTRADE EXECUTIVES

Christopher Luke, President
626-961-6688 x102 - Office
800-969-2123 x102 - Office

Rachel Luke, Vice President
626-961-6688 x 108 - Office
800-969-2123 x 108 - Office

Jonathan Chi Chung Wang, General Manager
626-961-6688 x 132 - Office
800-969-2123 x 132 - Office


Again, if you have any other info that you think will help, please email me! I think I am about to convince FBI to get involved!

bustcomtrade from USA
Date - Sunday, April 11, 1999 at 23:11:56 (EDT)

This is Part 2 of a series of investigating reports on Comtrade!
I have received a lot of input since my last correspondence; Thanks and please keep those mails and valuable information coming!

Chapter 2

GOAL

MY PERSONAL GOAL IS TO MAKE SURE THAT COMTRADE IS OUT OF BUSINESS AND THE TOP EXECUTIVES ARE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE IN THE COURT OF LAW.

COMTRADE'S CRIMES AND ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES

False advertising & Mail Fraud

Selling overclock CPU

Selling illegal software

Selling stolen merchandise

Tax Evasion

Money Laundering


COMPLETED REPORT WILL BE SENT TO THE FOLLOWING AUTHORITIES AND COMPANY:

1. Consumer Protection Agency

2. Federal Trade Commission

3. Federal Bureau of Investigation

4. US Postal Service

5. Attorney General of California

6. Intel Corporation

7. Microsoft Corporation

8. California Board of Equalization

9. California Franchise Tax Board

10. Internal Revenue Service

11. Major Publications


The next report eill be on Comtrade's company profile including the top executives' home address and phone numbers (FYI! if you have gather enough evidence and plan to sue, make sure you name those executives in your lawsuits!)

bustcomtrade from USA
Date - Tuesday, April 06, 1999 at 02:19:32 (EDT)

This is part of a series of investigating reporting on Comtrade!

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

COMTRADE needs to be stopped and STOPPED FAST!

COMTRADE is engaging in so many different kinds of illegal activities that FBI, Federal and State Agencies should be brought in! No company or person should be able to get away with what they are doing!

My GOAL is to do just that! Bring COMTRADE and everybody associated with COMTRADE down! I have done extensive research on COMTRADE and I think I am getting very close to shutting them down for good and throwing the top executives in jail. They are guilty of false advertising, fraud, tax evasion and money laundering, to name just a few. But, I still need YOUR HELP to bust them wide open!

I am compiling a report on Comtrade. I am gathering information, sorting out findings and getting the reports ready. Over the next few weeks, I will be posting my findings on the Web. When I am done, I am going to post the whole report on the Web, send them to news organizations and all interested government agencies.

What I need from you is information. If you think you are a victim, please email me a short message with your name, address, email address, phone number and a short story. I will use them in my report. You are a victim if you do not received what you paid for, received overclock CPU (check your CPU), received counterfeit software, (check with Microsoft or other software vendor), or paid cash and did not get an invoice (or suspicious invoice). I need your help in putting away those thugs!

My invitation is extended especially to current or ex Comtrade employees, I need your help! I want to get some inside information and use the evidence for future prosecution. I have some of the information but I want to nail them and nail them right! Any bits of inside information will be extremely helpful. I cannot offer any monetary reward at this time because I am not in it for money. It is pure satisfaction and civic duty. I think you will be exonerated if you know that you have done your civic duty.

My upcoming segments will expose what they have been doing, what they are doing, and what their plans are. Also I will share with you the top executives' home addresses and phone numbers. I have spent a lot of time and money and I think all these information should be public knowledge.

Anybody interested in my report can email me and I will email you a copy when the complete report is done!

John from USA
Date - Monday, April 05, 1999 at 23:38:48 (EDT)

Read this before you send anything back to Comtrade...

I order the core hardware for my new system from Comtrade. I had now problem getting the parts to my place, 2nd Day UPS. However, when I put the thing together with a Diamond viper V550 AGP. I couldn't get above 16 colors. Of course I figured it was the video card, but after several TNT based cards failed to work, I was down to the stuff I got from comtrade. I called and I got hooked up with a guy named Andre in Tech Support. He said if I shipped my computer back they'd configure it and ship it back (BIG MISTAKE)....

Two days later I get a call from Andre claiming my system was damaged during shipping. OK, I thought, no problem, I had insured it with UPS. UPS had a little problem finding the computer (comtrade just left it sit in repair and didn't bother to tell anyone who deals with UPS that the system was there). When UPS gets to the computer, they find that comtrade has thrown away the original packaging ... CLAIM DENIED!!!

Now I have about had so I call up Andre again. "So Andre, UPS tells me that you have discarded the original packaging and my claim is denied. What is comtrade gonna do about this?" (Yeah Right). He acts all confused and says that the guys in recieving remove all items from the packaging then ship it off (without boxes) to repair/restocking. Since it was obvious he had not one intellegent brain cell, I asked to speak with his supervisor, Saul Furman. The ditz receptionist says he's on the other line, can she take a message. "Sure, have him call John at (XXX)XXX-XXXX or (YYY)YYY-YYYY after 3:00 PST". Needless to say, after 1 week straight of leaving urgent messages, I never heard from the man. (still haven't for that matter).

Lucky for me, the owner of Mail Boxes Etc, from where I originally set it back was wonderful. Between the two of us we were able to get UPS to agree to pay for repairs since they had taken so long to get out and look at the computer (1 month from first call to evaluation). Next problem, comtrade still had the system. So I give my 'buddy' Andre a call again. Not there, left message so on so forth. Finally I get message on my machine one nite. He is all pissy saying "I am not working on you machine anymore, since last time we spoke you only wanted to speak to supervisor...... blah blah blah. We are not dealing with your insurace company, only with you..... Comtrade did everything they could....."

Pissed off I just straight to repair (the only number that the receptionist can transfer you to by the way ) And get Paul (who's name came up in the UPS Ordeal. I tell him UPS needs to inspect the machine so send it back to me. He agrees and 2 day's later I get everything back (dead'r then a door nail) and a bill for $50 for configuration. I guess they did configure it and that system will not have any Y2K problems. Next call is to the credit card company to refuse that payment.

Bob from USA
Date - Monday, March 29, 1999 at 14:59:56 (EST)

Never buy anything from Comtrade.

My company recently purchased two Pentium III Comtrade computers. The first arrived late and did not boot and the monitor had two large green spots. After loading a BIOS upgrade that failed, we initiated the return. They claim they will not pay to ship it back??? Comtrade customer service is obviously in the toilet.

Fortunately we cancelled the second; however, it's impossible to get anyone on the phone, the operator repeatedly comes on the line to re-ask why you're on hold and no one there appears to be able to give the status of the credit.

Computer trade magazines should be liable for listing Comtrade as anywhere near a good company let alone claiming their benchmark tested computers are equivalent to what they send consumers.

Azmodeus from Las Vegas, NV USA
Date - Sunday, March 21, 1999 at 00:49:18 (EST)

Wow! From the rest of the entries made by Comtrade customers it looks like I must have been lucky. I purchased a 400 mhz system with dvd drive on November 6th of 1998, its now March 20th 1999 and I've never had any problems or complaints. The system was shipped promptly with all parts included and has run fine since day one. Although I've never used dvd's in it, I do play audio cd's almost constantly. My main uses for the system are web design, internet and video games.

Daniel Kerr from Eugene, OR USA
Date - Thursday, March 11, 1999 at 12:30:10 (EST)

They are the worst people to deal with. I was sent a defective motherboard and after 3 days of trying to get a hold of tech support, I got thru. The first thing that ticked me off was that I had to pay for the shipping again and also pay for the shipping to send it back to them. I needed the motherboard, so I had them ship it next-day air. It is now two days later and they still havn't shipped it yet.

Ron from CT USA
Date - Wednesday, March 03, 1999 at 18:20:35 (EST)

Can't recommend Comtrade at all. I placed an order for parts via their 'secure' website, adding a comment (in the appropriate comment box) that their site is, in fact, NOT secure (they do not use SSL, as is stated on their order page). I received an emailed receipt, complete with an order #, indicating that the order would be processed immediately.

Well, two weeks went by and I emailed them to find out the status of the order. Here's the response I got from 'Becky':

"We thought we [sic] were upset about our SSL website and don't want to order from us, therefore you order has never been process."

You can imagine my response.... I emailed and called and was assured that the order would be processed. The customer for whom I was building the system has long since found another source. I received a box of parts today with a 128MB RAM module, motherboard and cooling fan all missing from the order (as well as two back-ordered items that had been labeled 'in stock' at the time of order). Since I have no motherboard and no memory, I can't even test the parts I did receive. If and when they come across with the rest of the parts, I'll post my findings here.

Dave Smith from Ruston, LA USA
Date - Monday, March 01, 1999 at 21:50:41 (EST)

Oh my GOD.....never buy anything from Comtrade. I spent hours upon hours trying to reach any living humanbeing at Comtrade's Tech support line. I purchased a Comtrade in January of 99 and three days later, the fucker was shot...bad power supply. Never, never, buy anything from those towel-head bastards.

Russ Langston from Huntsville, AL USA
Date - Wednesday, February 24, 1999 at 16:17:22 (EST)

I'm really surprised Comtrade is still in business...I think
the only way they have been able to stay above water is with
the amount of people they get away with ripping off.

My first experience with Comtrade was in mid '92 when I purchased
my first PC. I was in college and had tossed my entire savings
into the computer which was a demand for school. Well, I
called Comtrade and ordered one of their 486 Tornado PC setups
(when Vesa Local Bus was relatively new).

I dealt with a sales guy named Pat (a very hotheaded Indian-American salesman) who said my computer would
be at my house in 10 days. Unaware of the support problems
Comtrade was having, I said "Great" and waited on it.

Needless to say, 10 days and no computer. I called Pat back
and he claimed he would check on it to see what the problem
was. He called back within 5 minutes and said that there had
been a "mix-up" and that my computer had actually been shipped
to someone else. He apologized a couple of times and told me
that it would be drop shipped and I made him agree to send it
to me UPS red (2day). Pat said he would and I hung up the phone
feeling that I had finally put this thing to rest.

Well 2 days came and STILL no computer. I called Pat back and he
claimed that the computer had not been shipped. When I inquired why, he claimed that he had to go to court (immediately after
he got off the phone with me) for a divorce settlement hearing.
He also claimed that this had been affecting his job and apologized again. Mind you, none of this I cared about or wanted
to hear. I then told Pat I wanted to speak to the manager. My
card had already been debited for 2 weeks and I was considering
pursuing fraud action. I let the manager know this and he took
and attitude with me "you want me to help you or what?" I told
him that I wanted my computer, he took my details down and got
it sent to me. Unprofessional as hell but got the computer there.
Unfortunately, the story does not end there. I opened my case
up to make sure all the components were included in the computer
and noticed that my HD Card was an ISA card-- I had ordered a
Vesa Card at a fairly significant price difference. I called up
and talked to the manager again (due to Pat's emotional and
inefficient state) and had the VL card shipped to me-- and that's
the last time I ever did business with those con-artists.

DAN RUSSELL from Bluff City , TN USA
Date - Wednesday, February 24, 1999 at 01:58:03 (EST)

BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE
IF YOU WANT TO GET RIPPED OFF THEN COMTRADE WILL DO IT FOR YOU.
I BOUGHT A 333 SYSTEM FROM THEM IN AUGUST 98 AND HAD TO HAVE A NEW VIDEO CARD REPLACED BEFORE IT WOULD WORK. THE REPLACEMENT CARD WAS A LOWER GRADE REMANUFACTURED CARD. THIS CARD WENT OUT AND WAS REPLACED THEN THE HARD DRIVE GOES OUT.ONE OF THEIR TECKS TELLS ME I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE MOTHERBOARD OR THE PROCESSOR. AFTER REPLACING ANOTHER HARD DRIVE THEY TELL ME TO SEND THE UNIT BACK TO THEM AT MY EXPENSE. I DO AND THEY TEPLACE THE VIDEO CARD AND HARD DRIVE. AS SOON AS I GET IT BACK THE HARD DRIVE SOUNDS LIKE A CAR WITH A ROD KNOCKING IN IT, I GET ERROR MESSAGES AND MY THREE.5 TELLS ME IT IS NOT ACCESSABLE. COMTRADES TECKS ARE VERY ARROGANT AND RUDE WHEN I CALL TERYING TO GET THIS RESOLVED. FINALLY ON THEY SEND ME ANOTHER HARD DRIVE UPON INSTALLING IT THE SYSTEM STARTS TO BOOT AND THEE SCREEN GIVES ME AN ERROR MESSAGE. I CALL AGAIN AND FINALLY GET THRU TO A REP. HE TELLS ME TO RESEAT THE PROCESSOR WHICH I DO BUT NOTHING. THEY TELL ME I NEED TO SEND IT BACK BUT THEY GIVE ME NO RETURN NUMBER. I MADE OVER THIRTY CALLS TO CONTACT THEM BUT THEY WOULD HANG UP, PUT YOU ON HOLD OR DISCONNECT YOU. I FINALLY TOOK THE COMPUTER TO A LOCAL REPAIR SHOP AND FOUND THAT THE MAINBOARD AND THE PROCESSOR WERE COMPLETELY GONE. THE REPAIR TECK TOLD ME THIS ONLY HAPPENS WHEN A PROCESSOR IS OVER CLOCKED AND BURNS OUT BURNING UP THE MOTHER BOARD.HE TOLD ME I WAS LUCKY IT DID NOT BURN UP SOMETHING ELSE. THE MOTHER BOARD MANUFACTUR TRIED TO GET COMTRADE TO WORK WITH ME AND ON GETTING THE SYSTEM RUNNING AGAIN BUT COMTRADE WOULD NOT. A-TREND REPLACED THE BOARD AND I WAS TOLD THE BOARDS HAVE A TWO YEAR WARRANTY AND COMTRADE WAS ONLY GIVING A ONE YEAR WARRANTY. I ALSO LEARNED THAT COMTRADE IS MANUFACTURING COMPUTERS USING REMANUFACTURED PARTS. MY MOTHER BOARD WAS A REMANUFACTURED BOARD AS WELL AS THE OTHER HARD DRIVES AND VIDEO BOARDS THEY SENT ME TO INSTALL. THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICES MANAGER SAUL FURMAN TOLD ME ALL REPLACEMENT PARTS WERE NEW. THIS SHOWS YOU HOW MANY LIES THEY TELL.
THE INFORMATION I DISCOVERED WAS TURNED OVER TO THE JUSTICE DEPT AND FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. I ALSO DISCOVERED COMTRADE HAS SEVERAL SUITS PENDING AND HAVE SETTLED TWO ALREADY. MORE ARE ON THE WAY. TAKE MY EXPERIENCE AND GO LOCALLY AND BUY YOUR COMPUTER. IT MAY COST YOU A FEW HUNDRED DOLLARS MORE BUT TO TAKE IT LOCALLY TO HAVE IT REPAIRED IS WORTH IT IN THE LONG RUN.
RESPECTIVELY YOUR,
DAN A.

joe batrich from birmingham, AL USA
n/a
Date - Monday, February 22, 1999 at 13:11:07 (EST)

I bought a comptrade laptop as a result of computer shoppers recommendation! what a bunch of crap. who at computershopper is taking bribes from the comptrade people! my laptop which i purchased had a mother board go bad. i sent the cuper off for repair. comptrade had my laptop for over 3 months before i got tired of waiting and contacted them. the tech (SOL is his name) told me the mother board was bad...duh! sol, the tech, then informed me the computer could not be repaired. he told me the supplier did not have the necessary parts. bullshit! if comptrade wasn't such a piece of shit company and paid their bills, the supplier would not have cut them off( i contacted the supplier). anyway, after numerous calls to the company. i finally got a sympethetic phone rep( must have been her firts day on the job) and she put me through to the sales manager Jim. he offered to sell me a new laptop at a slightly discounted price, nice guy! the broken computer was less than 1 year old and still under warranty. i contacted the attorney general's office for alabama and guess what....other complaint's about comtrade were on file. i do not understand why u.s.state atorney general offices allow this company to continue doing business. i ended up buying a newer version with updates at a reduced price. the battery lasted about 1 month and the touchpad driver is broken and cannot be repaired. DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM COMTRADE EVER! YOU WILL GET BURNED! just read all these other complaints.

P. Gardner from Pompano Beach, FL USA
Date - Monday, February 22, 1999 at 00:04:08 (EST)

This is my fourth entry to this page since 1996.

Since,I've purchased four computers upgrading from my
unfortunate purchase from Comtrade. I have yet to have
to resort to "Customer Service" in order to solve any
problems or be abused by either ignorant or condecending
service personnel. I have yet been criticized for not
having sufficient knowledge of computers. I have yet been
ripped off by machines that will blow me away. Yes, I
paid through the nose, but at least I'm finally at peace.
I'm talking Micron & IBM among others.

Rumor from USA
Date - Saturday, January 30, 1999 at 21:10:06 (EST)

There is rumor coming out stating that comtrade is closing up their retail division (or may be sell to zenon)... Whoever have their system no longer get the support from them (comtrade).. even heard that they have "fired" most of their technical support person... Beware n watch out!!

Eric Pichon from Castle Rock, CO USA
Date - Friday, January 22, 1999 at 17:24:07 (EST)

I purchase a Comtrade Pentium 166 Screamer in Summer of 1997. Since then, the mouse had to be replaced the first year and the following year my hard drive died. When I contacted the company,and managed to get through, I was on hold for hours. Tech Support's voice mailbox was full and no one called me back. They finally offered to send me a hard drive if I sent them the broken one first and enclosed $10 for shipping. I don't trust them enough to try to swap it out.

DO NOT BUY A COMTRADE. I BET money THEY'VE HAVE NEVER HAD A RETURN CUSTOMER. Do yourself a favor and buy a quality computer from a reputable company. Comtrade is a rip off company with a lot of advertising dollars behind it.

Kevin from Reston, AL USA
Date - Thursday, January 14, 1999 at 14:49:11 (EST)

Hi!
I agree that when a Comtrade computer runs, it is, indeed, the "lightning pc." Unfortunately, my experience with Comptrade has not been the most satisfying.
In August of 1998, I ordered a 333 mHz DVD unit, basing my decision on the write-ups I had seen and the advertisements. "Customer satisfaction is our #1 priority." Good, good. Just what I like, customer service, and a company that is proud to say so. Well, my sales rep was Kimberly, and she went over my order in detail, assured me it was a great pc, and it would be on my doorstep in 3 days. Well, 5 days later, no pc; Kimberly explained that the 3 days was after they built it, which takes 5 days. Gee, Kimberly, we went over the delivery date, didn't we? "No, you are wrong," she said. No matter.
When it arrived, yes, 4 days later(total 9, not 8), system boot error. Hard drive...could be the motherboard took out the drive, or the drive was defective. Called "Technical Support," and, being a computer tech since the days of the TI-99-4A, I was not impressed. The "tech" seemed to read from a list, instructed me how to load from disk, modify registry, etc. "Hard drive bad," he declares. I asked if it could be the motherboard causing it, OH NO!, says he. I want ot return entire unit for refund OH NO!, again. We send replacement hard drive, here is RMA for old drive.
Well, the hard drive came in by the third day, installed it, boot, YES! Hammer! Used it a few times, configured IP for internet, transferred to new location for a few months, come home, unit works...but pauses. Nah! Windows 98 conflicts...hangs...Nah! Virtual memory setting...No hard disk found...Dang! Hard drive went up again!
Call in again. Hi Chip! Chip, if you are reading this, I appreaciated your help, for it was the only real help I received at Comtrade. I gave you my new address, because I had moved, remember? I packaged up the unit ("Gee, could be a bad motherboard causing the hard drives to go bad," says Chip. No fooling, Sherlock.), snet in back Priority, wrote my new address twice on note (L@@K!!! New address!), Comtrade ships it to, you guessed it, old address. Goes back to Comtrade.
I won't go into detail about the lack of customer support, the unreturned messages, the hang ups when I ask to speak to a manager, the salespeople telling ME it is MY responsibility to call UPS to find out where my computer is (Hey guys, ever hear of F.O.B.? Well, unless you declare it F.O.B., it is YOUR responsibility.) To me, the term "your satisfaction is our number one priority," means "you are the customer, you are the reason we are in business, we will please you." I have reached the conclusion that at Comtrade, the term "your satisfaction is our number one priority," means "you are wrong, I will prove this to you, and yes you are bothering me." I don't know about your experiences with Comtrade, but every time I call, I think that I reached Party Central, because those folks seem to be having too much of a good time!
I have yet to receive my pc (again). I am a consultant, and my job depends on a pc, so I thought it important to buy the best I could get. However, the downtime that this has cost me is definitely not worth it. Really, I would have been better off to go to BestBuys and get the on-sale model!
I cannot foresee what experience you will have with Comtrade, but I do hope it is very pleasurable and nice. For me, it has not been nice. As for recommending them to my clients, no way! I would rather recommend my clients buy slide-rules and abacases, and also learn to tie Mayan memory-knotts!