Tiger Direct has awful service.

I just bought a Canon Vixia HF200 from them, I was lucky to get the order processed they fought me the whole way. Almost everyone I talked to was not friendly or helpful in any manner.

I live in Canada, but the HF200 wasn't available on Tiger Direct .ca... When I tried to purchase it on tigerdirect.com I got to the checkout to find Canada is not listed on the country list.

So I tried to call the number on the website, and it called TD Canada, who was closed for the long weekend. Then I went back to TD.com and find the chat support, and try to get some help. I tell them I'm trying to order the camera, but Canada isn't on the list, the camera isn't available on TD.ca, and that I don't need to ship to Canada, because we have a place to ship to in Lynden Washington. So the chat support guy tells me I can't order from them, I'll have to order from TD.ca and that they don't ship to Canada. It's like he didn't read a word I said. Eventually he gives me another phone number I can call, and it actually rings through to TD.com now.

The agent answers and all he says is how can I help you... To which I reply I'm trying to place an order... Nothing... Nothing... Hello? I say... So he says how can I help you? Again, I say I'm trying to place an order, and again he says nothing... This goes on a few more times... It turns out that it wasn't him not hearing me, he simply didn't understand that I wanted to place an order on the phone I guess? I thought the fact I was on the phone, and asking to place an order would be a give away, but no... I really wasn't impressed with this guy... However we get the order placed.

When I wake up I check for my confirmation email, and I have one from their credit card dept saying my order is on hold. They won't attempt to process the order because my shipping address is different from my billing address.. What is with this? Why do they allow you to provide different addresses if they don't allow you to use them? They say there's no way to confirm it's actually the card holder ordering, however, I am almost certain that the purpose of the CV or whatever number on the back of the card is so that it can be verified on the phone or internet. Aside from that, they put you on hold for about 15 minutes and confirm the information with the bank? So they have my phone number, they have the card holders phone number, but no, they won't process it. So I give up and say fine, ship it to Canada, to my billing address but it better still be free shipping. I still don't like this option though because there will probably be an additional $50 - $70 "brokerage" charge from UPS if they take it through the border. So we switch the address and they send it to the credit dept, they put me on hold for another 15 minutes to verify all of the cards information with the bank.

Then they come back and say, ok so we've verified everything with the bank, the address, name, phone number, etc, and you are shipping right to the card holder (me) billing address.... However... We can't find you in a phone book so we can't process your order. What the hell is that about?! They want me to send them a copy of my drivers license. You know, in case the bank issuing the credit card company decides not to pay them since they shipped an item to the verified card holder registered with the bank?

I make them put me on with a supervisor (I've already been on with one during the process earlier, to get the shipping address changed to the billing). Again, it is quite a long wait. Finally, the supervisor comes on, and says since they've verified the info with the bank, that she can instead confirm it by calling me on the phone number registered with the card. She says she wants to put me on hold and call me... I have to explain that I'm already on that phone with her and she'll have to hang up first. She calls back, and says ok we'll process it now. So, this whole we won't process your order is a judgement call obviously, since she decided that a phone call would suffice, so everyone else has simply been being a ***** with no sense of customer service.

Anyways, I still don't want to pay the broker fee when they ship across the border, so I call back right away now that they've billed me, but haven't picked, packed, or shipped the order. I ask them if they can change the shipping address... I also recognized the voice on the phone, it was that first guy I talked too with the worst attitude. He simply says it's already processed we can't do anything. I hang up and try again, I get someone else, same thing.

So I go to the web site, and go to chat support, and get on with an agent. I say, can you change the ship to address on my order. He responds, sure, what is your order number?!!! What?! It's that easy? Seriously, the last guy was good, he didn't waste time, he wasn't rude, and best of all he actually helped! I verified that it was changed (immediately) by tracking my order on the website.

If he could change it, the phone agents should have been able too as well, but they are rude, unfriendly awful service providers. Tiger Direct has the worst customer service I've ever experienced and I will not ever order from them again.

You couldn't buy it from a different source? I feel you though. I went through a some what similar customer service issue with our internet provider Comcast. Boy that was a ridiculous scenario. I posted about here a while back. http://www.sevenforums.com/chillout-room/85853-wierd-comcast-customer-service-rant.html.

I'll check it out.

I suppose I could've bought it elsewhere, but I didn't see as good of a price... It was on for $399, granted it is refurbished... Looking now I do see the same price at another store, but I thought TD was the only one with that price when I ordered.

Was taken from them a year back or so... extra fees on top of that as well for been canadian, it took 4 weeks to arrive and the box was crushed... needless to say i never signed for it and refused the order... then ordered from another outfit, may have been future shop or something as so and I got it in a few days for much cheaper... GL

Newegg all the way!! Love them

The Egg is Great, never had a problem with an RMA or a return

Tiger Direct blows. Years ago, I bought a stick of 256 MB Crucial RAM. When I opened the box, it was a stick of SimpleTech instead. They had baited and switched me! I've never bought anything from them since.

I've never had a problem with any order from TD, and shall continue using them until I do.

I'm happy for you.

I had a friend who ordered a Socket 939 motherboard from them. It arrived DOA, wouldn't boot at all. He sent it back via RMA and they sent him that SAME motherboard back. He knew because he put a small mark on it with a Sharpie.

Very poor customer service. I would never order from them no matter how cheap their prices were.

OMG! Did he report them to the FTC or BBB?

silverwolf73 said:

OMG! Did he report them to the FTC or BBB?

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No, he sent it back and demanded his money back. I decided to throw him a bone and give him my old Asus A8R-MVP that I had.

Good on ya!

I made several purchases from TD, with rebates at very cheap prices. Then they started spamming my email. I unsubscribed, contacted, emailed, begged, threatened, anything I could think of to get off their list. Finnally I just had to give up that email account and create a new one. I realize I am just one consumer, like a drop in the ocean, but I chose to never buy there again no matter how good the bargain. It takes years to earn customer loyalty ... and seconds to trash it.

iseeuu said:

I made several purchases from TD, with rebates at very cheap prices. Then they started spamming my email. I unsubscribed, contacted, emailed, begged, threatened, anything I could think of to get off their list. Finnally I just had to give up that email account and create a new one. I realize I am just one consumer, like a drop in the ocean, but I chose to never buy there again no matter how good the bargain. It takes years to earn customer loyalty ... and seconds to trash it.

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I agree completely. I was an avid Seagate owner once and refused to buy any other brand. Their drives were always reliable and quiet. Then I had a 500GB 7200.8 start to make noises on me (weird chirping sound) and a 320GB 7200.10 starting having write errors.

I switched to Samsung which have been completely reliable, run completely silent and also are the coolest running drives I have ever owned. I now own 6 Samsung drives. I'll never get another Seagate. I already heard too many nightmare stories about their 7200.11 series.

iseeuu said:

It takes years to earn customer loyalty ... and seconds to trash it.

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That is very true for so many companies

In Aus, we don't have TD or the Egg, but the same deal applies. Some online e-tailers are great - others are to be avoided at all costs.

And just as one person has nothing but good experiences, there are always others who will have bad experiences.

I find that even if shonky store X has a component for a cheaper price, I still prefer to pay a little extra and go with a store I've had good experiences with.

JonM33 said:

I switched to Samsung which have been completely reliable, run completely silent and also are the coolest running drives I have ever owned. I now own 6 Samsung drives. I'll never get another Seagate. I already heard too many nightmare stories about their 7200.11 series.

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I was reluctant to go back to Seagate after the 7200.11 fiasco, but touch wood, my 1TB Seagate 7200.12 has been flawless.

And yes, the temps of Samsung drives are awesome compared to Seagate and WD. So too is the noise. As it stands for mechanical HDD's, I'd go Samsung over others as my first choice.

I find that the Samsungs usually run between 1-5c above ambient (depending on activity) whereas the others are significantly higher.

This current machine - ambient 19.6c:



And that WD is a Green model

iseeuu said:

I made several purchases from TD, with rebates at very cheap prices. Then they started spamming my email. I unsubscribed, contacted, emailed, begged, threatened, anything I could think of to get off their list. Finnally I just had to give up that email account and create a new one. I realize I am just one consumer, like a drop in the ocean, but I chose to never buy there again no matter how good the bargain. It takes years to earn customer loyalty ... and seconds to trash it.

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You are right that they send a lot of spam, but my email has been so slow as of late, I really don't mind. If I did, it would be simple enough to add them to my account's spam filter.

smarteyeball said:

I was reluctant to go back to Seagate after the 7200.11 fiasco, but touch wood, my 1TB Seagate 7200.12 has been flawless.

And yes, the temps of Samsung drives are awesome compared to Seagate and WD. So too is the noise. As it stands for mechanical HDD's, I'd go Samsung over others as my first choice.

I find that the Samsungs usually run between 1-5c above ambient (depending on activity) whereas the others are significantly higher.

This current machine - ambient 19.6c:

View attachment 85547

And that WD is a Green model

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Yes, knock on wood with that Seagate.

Here's my pair of 1TB Samsung F1 drives. All four other Samsung drives are in USB external enclosures.

JonM33 said:

Yes, knock on wood with that Seagate.

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Then again, it's knock on wood for any mechanical HDD these days - all models can let go at any given moment

Here's my pair of 1TB Samsung F1 drives.

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It does makes you wonder why the other brands run as hot as they do though

smarteyeball said:

I find that even if shonky store X has a component for a cheaper price, I still prefer to pay a little extra and go with a store I've had good experiences with.

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Words to live by my friend.. Words to live by.