CPL Online, as Bad as The Reviews Say?

LNarull on 27/02/2022 - 19:01

Hey All,

Just trying to find out if anyone has positive experiences with CPL online a friend has had a bad experience with them and they have the worst reviews on product reviews etc but they are literally the only store in Australia showing stock of the card I'm after.

Has anyone had good experiences with them? All I can find is bad, which yeah has me not wanting to shop there but again thy are the only store with stock of the card I've been waiting months for in hopes of someone getting stock.

Computing

Related Stores

CPL Online
CPL Online

Comments

  • Ocker on 27/02/2022 - 19:07
    +3

    I have had no issues with my dealing with them.
    Just bear in mind they are a low margin, high volume business and I don't think they give a rat's toss about reviews.

  • plmko on 27/02/2022 - 19:11
    +1

    Have you called them? If it's in stock then very little can go wrong.

    • Narull on 27/02/2022 - 19:13

      It's more if (on the unlikely chance) an RMA is needed the reviews and my friend even said they just don't give a shit and will tell ya too bad.

      I've emailed them and am going to call in the morning to find out if really in stock as there are even afew reviews saying they ordered 3090's for them only to be told 2 weeks later they didn't have stock and took a month to refund the money.

      • plmko on 27/02/2022 - 19:15
        +3

        Every computer store has it's own flavour of terrible. Name it and there will be something. Best to treat them with zero expectations and plan to contact the manufacture directly.

        Most graphics card warranty through the manufacturer are pretty good anyway.

        • Narull on 27/02/2022 - 19:18

          That's my thought, if they actually have stock with how hard these bloody things are to get I might just bite the bullet even with GPUs coming down in price I don't expect the 3090 too and the TI I reckon won't even release now.

          But it's still worrying buying from a company that a personal friend has had bad experiences with and the reviews match up with that.

  • Shadowsfury on 27/02/2022 - 19:35
    +2

    I have had very poor experiences from them including for RMAs. Enough that I decided I won't go to them any more (unless in the same situation you find yourself in now - where they are the sole stockist)

    • Narull on 27/02/2022 - 19:40

      Tat seems to be the general conscious and always seems to be the Preston store (was that the one you went too?).

      Ah hate being in the situation were the only store to have stock is one that's dodgy.

      • Shadowsfury on 27/02/2022 - 20:32
        +1

        No the one in Notting Hill (near Monash Uni)

  • bobbified on 27/02/2022 - 19:39
    +1

    It's a bit of a gamble - I've bought lots of things over the years (not from CPL Online) and, fortunately, I've never had to return anything to anyone.

    If you do buy this card, realistically, what are the chances of something being wrong with it that you have to go through their RMA process? Within the first few months, you can do a paypal or credit card charge back (if they allow payment using either method).

    • Narull on 27/02/2022 - 19:43

      See my paranoia comes from buying a card in December (not from CPL) that did fail DOA basically and ended up getting refunded no problem from Scorptec but as no one has stock I'm kinda stuck and I've contacted 14 stores across Australia looking for it and no one has stock and have been told 3090's are EoL.

      (which is why I reckon the 3090TI was meant to be out by now, but yeah something went very wrong for Nvidia to make them disappear).

      • bobbified on 27/02/2022 - 19:49
        +2

        Can you order online with Paypal or Credit Card and do that chargeback if necessary? That should fix up any possible DOA issues.

        • Narull on 27/02/2022 - 19:52

          No PayPal but Mastercard, the problem being 4k in limbo for awhile if they bodge job me screws me if someone else gets it in somehow.

          • bobbified on 27/02/2022 - 19:53
            +1

            @Narull: If you're saying that they're the only place with stock, even if you get your money back quickly, you're probably not going to be able to get another one any time soon.

            • Narull on 27/02/2022 - 19:59

              @bobbified: A fair point. Guess I'm just paranoid to the max when spending so much.

      • the Unforgiven on 28/02/2022 - 15:15
        +1

        get a 6900XL instead

    • freefall101 on 27/02/2022 - 21:31
      +1

      I can be weird, I actually had MSY RMA a CPU once. They didn't believe me at first (of course, who suspects a CPU?) but they threw it in a testbed overnight and it threw a huge number of errors, so they replaced it the next day.

      Considering their reputation (this was pre-lawsuits and ACCC notices) I'm kinda shocked they actually did it. Must have been feeling good that day.

  • idonotknowwhy on 27/02/2022 - 19:47
    +1

    Unlike everyone else, I've been very happy with the Melbourne stores, and a very poor experience with Scorptec RMA (they only fixed my issue after someone higher up saw my 1 star review online).

    • Narull on 27/02/2022 - 20:02

      ASUS was the brand I bought in December only to have it die on me, so very put off by them.

      There are stores with 3090's in stock but I'm picky about which I want as I know it's quality (MSI SUPRIM X) as I've had those cards in the past so I know they are good build quality.

      • Slippery Fish on 27/02/2022 - 20:03
        +1

        Even Mai have rma…

        https://www.mwave.com.au/graphics-cards/geforce-rtx-3090

        Lots of good options from good sellers…

        • Narull on 27/02/2022 - 20:04

          Yeah as I said is 390's in stock at places but the high end well cooled ones aren't, the ASUS strix was the one I (and many others ) had problems with and next best quality is the SUPRIM X, no one has it. When buying a high end card I don't like to skimp on build quality/cooling.

          • Hoofee on 28/02/2022 - 09:37
            +1

            @Narull: What kind of problems did you have with them?

            I have two ASUS Strix 3090's (built PCs for my son and myself) and haven't had any problems with either of them. I have changed the thermal pads and paste within them though because I also use them for mining. Curious about what problems you ran into.

      • Slippery Fish on 27/02/2022 - 20:04
        +1

        Centercom have MSI not seprimx instock online atm.

        • Narull on 27/02/2022 - 20:06

          Yeah and I had both the Ventus and Gaming Trio fail for me back in 2020 and ended up with MSI replacing them with a SUPRIM X so learnt to go with their best.

          • Slippery Fish on 27/02/2022 - 20:12
            +1

            @Narull: Considered EVGA? Also considered quite good.

            I wouldn't shop with a retailer I didn't trust off the bat.

            • Narull on 27/02/2022 - 20:14

              @Slippery Fish: Thought about it, but never had anything from them, might do some research into them as yeah heard they are good, thanks mate

              • Slippery Fish on 27/02/2022 - 20:15
                +1

                @Narull: No problem, I just ordered prebuilt from bpc with 3080 ftw edition. It's considered a good card :)

                • Narull on 27/02/2022 - 20:16

                  @Slippery Fish: See only reason I want the 3090 is rendering work the extra vram, I hate that they didn't release like a 20gig 3080, so bloody annoying even more so with 3080's coming down in price and the insane deals you can get with prebuilts of them.

                  • Slippery Fish on 27/02/2022 - 20:18
                    +1

                    @Narull: First prebuilt, I usually build my own but was cheaper and had parts I wanted, I'll likely put my 850 xfx PSU in cos I have it and had to upgrade nvme. Nvme was the big letdown of the build. Nvme gen 4 with a 1000mb nvme.

                    Bought the wd 850 deal from earlier today, max that gen 4 nvme.

                    Considered a 6900xt? 16gig with heavy process power, just doesn't do ray tracing etc as well.

                    • Narull on 27/02/2022 - 20:20

                      @Slippery Fish: Yeah it's nuts that prebuilts can be cheaper then buying parts atm, never thought I'd see the day.

                      I know I'm being super picky with what card I want but while rendering never had an issue with AMDs I swear every game I enjoy never gets along with AMD cards I've had in the past.

                      Nothing is simple haha

                      • Slippery Fish on 27/02/2022 - 20:37
                        +1

                        @Narull: Fair enough, if your spending the $ get what you want man.

  • apple2016 on 27/02/2022 - 21:20
    +1

    I am quite happy with them, but havent had the need to return stuff.
    You can call them up for stock check. I have done this few time and got an acurate reply on stock.

    • Narull on 27/02/2022 - 21:34

      Thanks mate, will do in the morning.

  • Snicko on 28/02/2022 - 07:19
    +1

    They are my last choice to deal with

    Behind
    Centrecom
    Msy
    Scorptec
    PC case gear

    Then lastly cpl

    Even though you place a web order for pickup it's never ready and takes ages on arrival to get it

  • Wickz on 28/02/2022 - 08:21
    +1

    Purchased a switch in Nov 2021. It was DOA so I returned it three days later and asked for a refund (not replacement) as I needed one immediately and had already procured one elsewhere.

    Notting Hill staff told me that it needs to go through RMA process before a refund can be issued. No problems. The guy walked off with the switch. I assumed he was going to plug it in to confirms it’s DOA status but no, he just put it in a tub and came back 15mins later with an empty form i needed to fill out.

    Fast forward to February 2022, I have called every two weeks since Nov and my RMA “is still being processed”.

    Did a charge back via my bank and vowed never to go there again. I’d had bad experiences there before but thought I’d try them again, nope. Staying away permanent now. Walk across the road and have Scorptec price match.

    • Narull on 28/02/2022 - 13:46

      If it was purely price I'd happily pay extra somewhere else but they are literally the only store in Aus with the card I want in stock. But think I'm too scared from all the bad experiences to try.

      Thanks mate.

  • OzHunterNSW on 28/02/2022 - 11:41
    -1

    NGN on CPL not yet at least but YNK

  • psdillon on 28/02/2022 - 13:14
    +4

    Don't buy anything that might fail. And book out an extra 20 minutes of your day while you wait for them to retrieve your pre-ordered items in extreme slow motion. It's like every time the guy goes through the stockroom door he takes the opportunity to do a no. 2.

  • GaryG on 28/02/2022 - 19:03
    +1

    I've had good experiences with them and found them very helpful.

  • Narull on 28/02/2022 - 21:34

    Thanks for the replies all, got an email from them this morning saying that had one card left in stock, a few hours later another email saying it's now sold.

    My hesitation cost me but it's just such a big purchase to gamble on with how much of a bad rep they have. Good to hear some people have been treated well though.

  • lainey13 on 28/02/2022 - 21:49
    +1

    They were so horrible I vowed never to buy from them again. You will get the card elsewhere. It might take a while but it can't be any worse than dealing with CPL…

    • Narull on 28/02/2022 - 21:50

      Yeah that's my thought, just getting antsy as been waiting since December, I miss having a video card haha.

  • Meeb on 01/03/2022 - 17:15
    +1

    Have bought stuff a bunch of times from the West Melbourne store and have had to return a mouse for RMA before without any issues. YMMV.

    Also keep in mind that people seldom go out of their way to post positive reviews, unless they get some sort of reward or the service was extremely outstanding.

  • 87percent on 03/03/2022 - 08:56

    their instore experience is horrible (at their Notting Hill one)

  • Neology on 07/03/2022 - 00:05

    I usually buy accessories (that I would not claim warranty) from their West Melbourne store for a quick turnaround. Decent price, customer service is so so.

    For more expensive parts that I am after warranty, I'd rather go Amazon or Officeworks (with PB).

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