Owner’s Corner: The New Server Purchasing Drama *UPDATED*
So as we announced a few months ago, after the whole google drama, we got a bit of a donations bump, enough so that it allowed for us to purchase some dedicated hardware and have it show up. This is the story of how, after 2 months, it's still not here, and the current status. I also intend for this to be a bit of a finance snapshot, so you can see where your donations go.
I have used www.pacificgeek.com to buy cheap, refurbished servers for some time now, and I've never had any problem with them. So, here's the original order, and no I'm not frightened to show my address, send me christmas gifts beeyotches :D
| Order Date: 8/28/2012 1:26:41 PM | Order Number: 156273 | ||||
| Billing Information: | Shipping Information: | ||||
| Joseph Gullo 13 Georgetown Green Charlottesville, VA 22901 US | Joseph Gullo 3502 Marsh Creek Way Elk Grove, CA 95758 US | ||||
| Paid By: VISA | |||||
| Qty | Product Name | SKU | Warranty | Price | Total |
| 1 | DELL SC1425 Dual Xeon 2.8GHz 1U Server $99 First 50 Orders! - | C02-COM-SC14252800X2R-WT | 90 Days | $99.99 | $99.99 | 1 | Upgrade to 4GB Memory SAVE $100 - | C02-MEM-1452GB | 90 Days | $69.99 | $69.99 |
| You have successfully placed your order with PacificGeek.com | Subtotal: | $169.98 | |||
| Discount: | $0.00 | ||||
| Tax (8.10) | $0.00 | ||||
| Shipping/Handling (FedEx GROUND): | $4.99 | ||||
| Order Total: | $174.97 | ||||
Seems great right? Well...nothing showed up for a while. Coincidentally, I ordered a set of server rails for my rack from them as well, and I don't wanna give as much detail about that purchase, but I'll give a synopsis later.
So, that was August 28, and time goes on, and time goes on, then on September 17, I get this e-mail:
| Thank you for your recent orders on PacificGeek.com We are in the process of consolidating our businesses which will result in some minor changes. We will be processing your order and re-invoicing under ComputerSurplusOutlet.com We will email you your new invoice within 24 hours. Your credit card statement will reflect a charge from Computer Surplus Outlet ( CSO ). Your tracking number will be emailed as soon as they ship. You will be able to access your coupons, tracking, orders, warrantees, daily deals and much more here: https://www.computersurplusoutlet.com/myaccount/index.asp Thank you again for you business Computer Surplus Outlet ( CSO ) "Your Internet Liquidator of Today's & Yesterday's Computer Products" Pacific Geek 684 Wells Road Boulder City, NV 89005 USA |
Ok, sucks, gonna cause a delay, but whatever shit happens. I can understand why things like this happen. So here's the new order:
| Order Date: 9/17/2012 2:08:07 PM | Order Number: 253341 | ||||
| Billing Information: | Shipping Information: | ||||
| Joseph Gullo 3502 Marsh Creek Way Elk Grove, CA 95758 US | Joseph Gullo 3502 Marsh Creek Way Elk Grove, CA 95758 US | ||||
| PO Number: | |||||
| Paid By: PREPAID | |||||
| Qty | Product Name | SKU | Warranty | Price | Total |
| 1 | DELL SC1425 Dual Xeon 2.8GHz 1U Server $99 First 50 Orders! - | C02-COM-SC14252800X2R-WT | 90 Days | $99.99 | $99.99 | 1 | Upgrade to 4GB Memory SAVE $100 - | C02-MEM-1452GB | 90 Days | $69.99 | $69.99 |
| You have successfully placed your order with ComputerSurplusOutlet.com | Subtotal: | $169.98 | |||
| Discount: | $0.00 | ||||
| Tax (8.10) | $0.00 | ||||
| Shipping/Handling (FedEx GROUND): | $4.99 | ||||
| Order Total: | $174.97 | ||||
Ok, great. Now we should be rolling. Well, they said I was about to get my tracking number, and I didn't get it. So...I sent the following ticket to them on September 24:
| First Name: Joseph Last Name: Gullo Email: surfrock66@surfrock66.com Regarding: Order tracking Message: I placed order 156273 on 8/28 with Pacific Geek. I know with the move to CSO to order was re-placed as order # 253341 on 9/17, but there's no shipping info yet. Is there any way I can get an ETA? This is supposed to replace a hosted server I am paying for weekly, so any sort of an ETA on arrival will help me plan out my budget. |
This was their response on the 25th:
| Hi Joseph, We have had extreme shipping issues in one of our fulfillment warehouses. We are working to rectify the issues so this no longer will or can happen. We can give you a full refund immediately or we expect to ship by the end of this week. Please advise and again sorry for these long delays. Computer Surplus Outlet Mailto:Sales@computersurplusoutlet.com "Your Internet Liquidator of Today's & Yesterday's Computer Products Serving Our Customers Since 1998" |
Ok, that's fine, I tell them that I still want the hardware. So...October 1 rolls around, and I still have no update to the tracking information. Here's the e-mail I sent them:
| Hey, sorry to be a nag. I had indicated that I still want the server and very much still do, and was wondering if there is any further update on the shipping? Thanks! |
Then, the next day on October 2, they send this response:
| Hi Joe, Your not a nag, our issues here, we expect to finally ship on Friday. Again thanks for your patience. Thanks from the CSO Team, |
Well, Monday the 8th rolls around, so I send this message:
| Hey, I didn't receive any shipping info on Friday, is it possible to get an update? |
Well, a miracle happens...I get THIS e-mail that afternoon on the 8th!
| ________________________________________________________________________________ This tracking update has been requested by: Name: 'not provided by requestor' E-mail: 'not provided by requestor' ________________________________________________________________________________ SHIPPING DEPT of CSO sent Joseph Gullo of Joseph Gullo 1 FedEx Ground package(s). This shipment is scheduled to be sent on 10/08/2012. Reference information includes: Reference: 156273 Status: Shipment information sent to FedEx Tracking number: 614308361288783 To track the latest status of your shipment, click on the tracking number above, or visit us at fedex.com. To learn more about FedEx Ground, please visit our website at fedex.com. This tracking update has been sent to you by FedEx on the behalf of the Requestor noted above. FedEx does not validate the authenticity of the requestor and does not validate, guarantee or warrant the authenticity of the request, the requestor's message, or the accuracy of this tracking update. For tracking results and fedex.com's terms of use, go to fedex.com. Thank you for your business. |
Ok, great! It is supposed to get to my house on the 10th! Well, I log in, watch, watch, watch...nothing moves! So I called them on the 11th of October, and left a voicemail with a pretty strong WTF tone to it. They e-mailed me this response:
| Hi Joseph, They have finally shipped to us from our east coast refurb house and we will be shipping to you by early next week. Please advise if you would like to continue to wait on this inexcusable delay. omputer Surplus Outlet Mailto:Sales@computersurplusoutlet.com "Your Internet Liquidator of Today's & Yesterday's Computer Products Serving Our Customers Since 1998" |
So of course I tell them I want it still...and here we come to yesterday, October 15th, and I send them this ticket:
| Hey, just wondering if I could get a status update. Any and all information would be helpful, including current status ("it's still on its way from the east-coast warehouse and is expected to get here on ___"), expected ship date to my house, etc, anything you can do. Thanks. |
So, here we are, I haven't gotten a response yet. I'll update this post as I get news.
As sort of a P.S. to this post, at the same time, I bought 1 set of rails which are expensive (like $75) and I have 2 sets of the same server, so the plan was to use 1 set and rest the second server on top, since I'm ghetto fab. Well, I get the same delay e-mail, but they do send the set of rails.....and it gets here and it's 2 right-sided rails! So that's fucking stupid, I send a ticket...and they agree to send me 2 sets of left sided rails, with the whole move to CSO, they tried to create 2 new orders and bill me for both sets, so pay for 3 and get 2! Bla bla bla complicated e-mails later, the result is I got 2 sets of rails for the price of 1, but it was a pain in the ass. Fin!
10/17/2012 UPDATE
So I decide to do what any self respecting man would do and have my wife call them because she has no filter. This is the chat conversation that happened this morning:
| Jennifer: sned me the cso number again? me: it's now all helpfully available here: http://www.teh3l3m3nts.com/?p=3139 253341 Jennifer: i want their phone number me: 602-314-2761 Jennifer: thanks Jennifer: the guy who answers is a huge asshole me: ? Jennifer: its very simple he's an asshole me: what'd he do? Jennifer: he's just an asshole me: like you ask a question, and instead of words it's just literally farts back? Jennifer: joe he's a jerk condescening quite simple asshole me: did he help? Jennifer: absolutely not never does me: so is there any status? Jennifer: no still dealing send another email me: did Jennifer: today? me: right now Jennifer: ok |
WHAT THE HELL. So I submit this ticket:
| First Name: Joseph Last Name: Gullo Email: surfrock66@surfrock66.com Regarding: Order tracking Message: I placed order 156273 on 8/28 with Pacific Geek. I know with the move to CSO to order was re-placed as order # 253341 on 9/17, but there's no shipping info yet. Is there any way I can get an ETA? I've already purchased rails for this server and am not going to find this hardware at this price anywhere else, so I'm sort of forced to continue to wait, but I'd really like any info I can get at this point. Also, what is the name of the person that answers the phone number listed below on this page? |
10/17/2012 12:45 PST UPDATE
Just got this e-mail:
| Hi Joseph, The tracking # 614308361288783 should show movement by Friday. Robert is the one that usually works the phones. Again sorry for these long long delays. Thanks from the CSO Team, Computer Surplus Outlet Mailto:Sales@computersurplusoutlet.com "Your Internet Liquidator of Today's & Yesterday's Computer Products Serving Our Customers Since 1998" |
10/23/2012 UPDATE
So, Monday rolls around, no movement on the tracking page, so I send them this message at about 9:30AM:
| On thursday of last week, I was told to expect movement on my item at tracking number 614308361288783 by Friday, it is now Monday and no movement. Can I please get a detailed breakdown of when I can expect to receive it? Here is the message I've submitted twice before: I placed order 156273 on 8/28 with Pacific Geek. I know with the move to CSO to order was re-placed as order # 253341 on 9/17, but there's no shipping info yet. Is there any way I can get an ETA? This is supposed to replace a hosted server I am paying for weekly, so any sort of an ETA on arrival will help me plan out my budget. |
I got this message about 5 minutes later:
| You will receive by Thursday probably Wednesday. Tracking should be updated tonight. Thanks from the CSO Team, Computer Surplus Outlet Mailto:Sales@computersurplusoutlet.com "Your Internet Liquidator of Today's & Yesterday's Computer Products Serving Our Customers Since 1998" |
10/24/2012 UPDATE
So this morning, I sent them this message:
| On Monday, at about 9:30 AM, I received this message from you guys: ---------- You will receive by Thursday probably Wednesday. Tracking should be updated tonight. Thanks from the CSO Team, Computer Surplus Outlet Mailto:Sales@computersurplusoutlet.com "Your Internet Liquidator of Today's & Yesterday's Computer Products Serving Our Customers Since 1998" ---------- As of today, the tracking page shows this, no movement: http://www.fedex.com/Tracking?cntry_code=us&tracknumber_list=614308361288783 We're coming up on 2 months...is this an order you can fulfill or not? I've already spent money on rails, I've bought additional hardware in prep for this...and now I've spent $130 in 2 extra months of hosted servers waiting for this to come in. Please tell me if you can fulfill this order; if you can't than I need to know so I can plan for it. |
Their response shortly later:
| Hi Joseph, You will finally see movement tonight. Thanks from the CSO Team, Computer Surplus Outlet Mailto:Sales@computersurplusoutlet.com "Your Internet Liquidator of Today's & Yesterday's Computer Products Serving Our Customers Since 1998" |
10/25/2012 UPDATE
AHHH! MOVEMENT ON THE TRACKING PAGE! IT GETS HERE TOMORROW!
For the purposes of making it easy, here's the TRACKING PAGE
This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 17th, 2012 at 10:46 am by 
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