Maximus Computers

useless tech support

I ordered a PII 300 from Maximus, here is a summary of my experience:1)System arrived a month late.2)System would not power up when put together. Power supply plug was out of MB. They say that each system is tested prior to ship, but not likely for this plug to "fall" out during shipping.3)When plug plugged in, system would not boot up Windows, worked in DOS only-ran diagnostics on video card and found that it was faulty (couldn't draw rectangles)4)After new video card, power supply fan locked up and fried supply and MB5)Sent unit back, my expense, and then they charged me $95 because I had opened up the Win98 disc to reinstall.Technical support was a nightmare. I could only get a person when I went through the sales number. Whole process took about a month. I still have nightmares. Side note: My brother bought a PC from them a year earlier than me and had few problems, until his monitor died last year and his memory went bad about 6 months ago.

I will never again purchase a major component from a mail order firm again, even if they are down the street.We purchased (2) 266 Pentium II laptops in March, 97 for $7,000+. Once they finished "building" the systems which we where told were in stock, they shipped one without loading an operating system and the other would not even power up.Both went back to meet their makers and one came back OK while the second went back (3) additional times before it was returned operable. Their tech support and attitudes got so bad I filed a complaint with the California Attorney General's office and all they said they could do was an investigation if they decided it was warranted.In 8 months, both units battery's went bad within a month of each other, and the cases have not worn well.Overall, we consider it a $7,000 lesson in the drawbacks and basic philosophy of why mail order will never replace a traditional "hands-on" retail establishment. I was able to sell the unit I was stuck with for $1,200 in the last month and I am happy to report that I will be purchasing a new IBM or Compaq unit within the next 30 days to replace the nightmare called Maximus.

Inferior parts and tech support (takes about 5 calls daily for more than a week to get through)that create more problems than the ones they are supposed to solve. Their solution to every problem is to reinstall windows.

This is a group of crooked business people. William Chen and Raoul V. are both crooks. They sell junk and when you complain to them, they either ignore you orthey simply send you to their voicemail. I spent about $650 to fix this pile of jink they sent me. AVOID at all costs. Or it will cost you plenty.

I purchased a mail order computer from Maximus in Apr 97,Since the day it arrived it has not worked properly and I am unable to use it. I haverepeatedly called and E-mailed them and have not received any calls or E-mails back. As a result of notbeing able to receive a Return merchandise authorization(RMA) code, I have been unable to return thecomputer and now the 30 day money back guarantee has expired. Is there anything I cando?

I beg you, don't ever buy from this company. They begin lying to you the minute they answeryour phone call. You do not get what they advertise on their website. This is without a doubt the WORST place to buya computer. Best Buy is like heaven compared to theseslimey BASTARDS. AVOID at all costs!!!!

Cannot get any service. Sold w/1 yr. on-siteservice, but only get answering machine, promising call-back in 10 mins, but a week laterstill no call! Systems may be fast and cheap to buy, but whatgood is that when once it breaks, it becomes adoorstop?

THE SUMMARY .....=== What was promised ======= Maximus PC promises in their advertising ... (Every quote is verbatim from their ad):... "Performance." ... "Value" ... "Quality In, Quality Out. Only the best components go into Maximus quality performance systems." ... "PC Computing magazine in January 1996 and PC World magazine in July 1996 issues again rated Maximus systems the best overall systems reviewed." ... "Not only we offer great performance, superior design & engineering, we back all systems with 24-Hour BBS, Lifetime Technical Support, Lifetime Labor & One Year Parts Warranty."All this sounds good, eh? So I bought a Maximus PC. After all, even PC Computing and PC World rated their system highly.=== What I ordered ============ In June, 1996 - I ordered a Magna Graphics Media system (one of the "award-winning" systems) for $2,554.The system specs were ... Pentium 133, 24MB of RAM, 2.0GB hard drive, Matrox Millenium video card, WaveBlaster sound card, 8X CD-ROM, 300 Watt speakers, 28.8 Voice Fax/Modem, 17" CTX monitor, etc.==== What I got ============== My Maximus PC got to me in July of 1996. It brought new meaning to the word "defective." Here are the things that have gone wrong, one or two at a time, in the first 13 months of ownership.o Defective CD-ROM -- replaced. o Defective Keyboard # 1 -- warped and replaced. o Defective Keyboard #2 -- warped even worse, went back to # 1. o Failed System Battery -- PC wouldn't keep time - replaced. o Failed PC Heat Sink+Fan unit -- replaced. o Failed Hard Drive # 1 -- failed after 4 months - replaced. o Failed Hard Drive # 2 -- failed after 9 DAYS - replaced. o Failed Hard Drive # 3 -- failed after 6 months - replaced. o Defective PC Speakers -- Power button failing - not replaced. o Defective Voice/Fax Modem - horrible voice quality - replaced. o Inferior Sound Card -- makes buzzing sound and not as advertised. o Defective Video Problem -- intermittent corner flickering - not replaced. o Failed Motherboard -- replaced.WHAT ABOUT SERVICE? For Maximus, their service was only as good as the PC they sent me! LQQK at this!o "I'LL CALL YOU TOMORROW" -- On 15+ of my calls, I held for 10 minutes, left message on a voice mail system, and waited 1-to-3 DAYS for their call back. On several occasions, I made 2 or more calls, plus sent emails at the end of the second day of waiting, to try and get a response.o "SUCKER-PUNCH" Product Support -- For the first 30 days you own a Maximus PC, they ship out replacements the same day you call in (this is also the period in which you can return your PC).After 30 days, their defective replacement policy is "We take up to 14 DAYS to examine the part." With shipping, this can be up to 18 days. So when my hard drive failed on two occasions -- which means the computer sat completely dead -- Maximus took 12 days for the first replacement turnaround, and 17 days for the second one.o GOT COMPLAINTS -- GO SOMEWHERE ELSE! When I complained about the slow service (along with the never ending stream of component breakdowns) Maximus Tech Support said,"If you needed fast service for your PC, you should have bought it locally at a store, instead of from a mail order manufacturer like us."And I told them that "If you gave me a PC that had any quality built in, like your advertising promised, I wouldn't need ANY kind of service to start with. But since you shipped me a piece of junk for $2400 -- you should at least show some hustle in trying to make things right."o WHO'S THE BOSS? And when I asked several Maximus people who the President is so I could write him a complaint letter, everyone of them said, "I don't know -- send your letter to Raoul. And I don't know his last name, either."AND REMEMBER ... many of the replacements of a defective component were very time and labor intensive.Each ONE of those involved all or most of these steps ... calling Maximus ... waiting for a call back ... explaining the problems ... waiting for an RMA # ... disconnecting all the PC's cables and lifting the CPU to the desktop ... unscrewing and taking off the CPU cover ... unscrewing and removing the component ... boxing and labeling the component ... replacing the CPU cover ... driving to a shipping store ... waiting in line ... filling out a form and paying for the shipping ... driving back home ... waiting for the replacement ... taking off the CPU cover ... screwing in the replacement component ... screwing the cover back on ... reconnecting the many cables.And with Maximus, I had to go through all this many times. And on the last two replacements -- the motherboard and hard drive #4 -- I had to pay for them with my own money as they went bad in the 13th month of a 1 year warranty.

THE SUMMARY .....=== What was promised ======= Maximus PC promises in their advertising ... (Every quote is verbatim from their ad):... "Performance." ... "Value" ... "Quality In, Quality Out. Only the best components go into Maximus quality performance systems." ... "PC Computing magazine in January 1996 and PC World magazine in July 1996 issues again rated Maximus systems the best overall systems reviewed." ... "Not only we offer great performance, superior design & engineering, we back all systems with 24-Hour BBS, Lifetime Technical Support, Lifetime Labor & One Year Parts Warranty."All this sounds good, eh? So I bought a Maximus PC. After all, even PC Computing and PC World rated their system highly.=== What I ordered ============ In June, 1996 - I ordered a Magna Graphics Media system (one of the "award-winning" systems) for $2,554.The system specs were ... Pentium 133, 24MB of RAM, 2.0GB hard drive, Matrox Millenium video card, WaveBlaster sound card, 8X CD-ROM, 300 Watt speakers, 28.8 Voice Fax/Modem, 17" CTX monitor, etc.==== What I got ============== My Maximus PC got to me in July of 1996. It brought new meaning to the word "defective." Here are the things that have gone wrong, one or two at a time, in the first 13 months of ownership.o Defective CD-ROM -- replaced. o Defective Keyboard # 1 -- warped and replaced. o Defective Keyboard #2 -- warped even worse, went back to # 1. o Failed System Battery -- PC wouldn't keep time - replaced. o Failed PC Heat Sink+Fan unit -- replaced. o Failed Hard Drive # 1 -- failed after 4 months - replaced. o Failed Hard Drive # 2 -- failed after 9 DAYS - replaced. o Failed Hard Drive # 3 -- failed after 6 months - replaced. o Defective PC Speakers -- Power button failing - not replaced. o Defective Voice/Fax Modem - horrible voice quality - replaced. o Inferior Sound Card -- makes buzzing sound and not as advertised. o Defective Video Problem -- intermittent corner flickering - not replaced. o Failed Motherboard -- replaced.WHAT ABOUT SERVICE? For Maximus, their service was only as good as the PC they sent me! LQQK at this!o "I'LL CALL YOU TOMORROW" -- On 15+ of my calls, I held for 10 minutes, left message on a voice mail system, and waited 1-to-3 DAYS for their call back. On several occasions, I made 2 or more calls, plus sent emails at the end of the second day of waiting, to try and get a response.o "SUCKER-PUNCH" Product Support -- For the first 30 days you own a Maximus PC, they ship out replacements the same day you call in (this is also the period in which you can return your PC).After 30 days, their defective replacement policy is "We take up to 14 DAYS to examine the part." With shipping, this can be up to 18 days. So when my hard drive failed on two occasions -- which means the computer sat completely dead -- Maximus took 12 days for the first replacement turnaround, and 17 days for the second one.o GOT COMPLAINTS -- GO SOMEWHERE ELSE! When I complained about the slow service (along with the never ending stream of component breakdowns) Maximus Tech Support said,"If you needed fast service for your PC, you should have bought it locally at a store, instead of from a mail order manufacturer like us."And I told them that "If you gave me a PC that had any quality built in, like your advertising promised, I wouldn't need ANY kind of service to start with. But since you shipped me a piece of junk for $2400 -- you should at least show some hustle in trying to make things right."o WHO'S THE BOSS? And when I asked several Maximus people who the President is so I could write him a complaint letter, everyone of them said, "I don't know -- send your letter to Raoul. And I don't know his last name, either."AND REMEMBER ... many of the replacements of a defective component were very time and labor intensive.Each ONE of those involved all or most of these steps ... calling Maximus ... waiting for a call back ... explaining the problems ... waiting for an RMA # ... disconnecting all the PC's cables and lifting the CPU to the desktop ... unscrewing and taking off the CPU cover ... unscrewing and removing the component ... boxing and labeling the component ... replacing the CPU cover ... driving to a shipping store ... waiting in line ... filling out a form and paying for the shipping ... driving back home ... waiting for the replacement ... taking off the CPU cover ... screwing in the replacement component ... screwing the cover back on ... reconnecting the many cables.And with Maximus, I had to go through all this many times. And on the last two replacements -- the motherboard and hard drive #4 -- I had to pay for them with my own money as they went bad in the 13th month of a 1 year warranty.For comments from other miffed Maximus customers, visit these sites ...http://x1.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=286355166&CONTEXT=884916527.1253310527&hitnum=0http://x1.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=286549520&CONTEXT=884916527.1253310527&hitnum=2http://x1.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=285916938&CONTEXT=884914039.1174864047&hitnum=18http://x1.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=285166646&CONTEXT=884914039.1174864047&hitnum=19http://x1.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=242382054&CONTEXT=884915599.1181089957&hitnum=20http://x1.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=242572878&CONTEXT=884915557.1174864417&hitnum=21http://x1.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=242684705&CONTEXT=884915599.1181089957&hitnum=22http://x1.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=242293651&CONTEXT=884915599.1181089957&hitnum=23http://x1.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=242815160&CONTEXT=884915599.1181089957&hitnum=24http://x1.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=242851162&CONTEXT=884915599.1181089957&hitnum=25http://x1.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=242519174&CONTEXT=884915557.1174864417&hitnum=26http://x1.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=142235859&CONTEXT=884915557.1174864417&hitnum=40http://x1.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=141747886&CONTEXT=884915557.1174864417&hitnum=41http://x1.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=146094521&CONTEXT=884915557.1174864417&hitnum=43

I have had excellent results with maximus. I had a failure of my mouse, modem, and sound card due to static that were all replaced promptly by Maximus. I had a defective Win95 boot disk that was replaced immediately.

Maximus has NO regard for their customers. To see the full account of my Maximus nightmare go to http://userzweb.lightspeed.net/~rlambeth

This is what the salesman told me I would recieve when I order my Pentium 75 from Maximus : Motherboard-GIGABYTE w/SiS chipset;CDROM-Mitusmi4x;Fantastic software bundle;- High powered speakers;dos+windows with diskettes.THIS IS WHAT I ACTYALLY GOT:unknown make motherboard with a pci/vl dual bus and a forex chipset;a teac 4x cdrom;comptons multimedia enc.windows and dos no disks;speakers-hahahah. In addition my charge card was charged well before my order was shipped, which is not legal.In all fairness I must say the system has had no problems in the year since I bought it.Do to the deception I got from the salespeople, I would never recommend this company.

Ordered Computer and called to check and see if computer had shipped. Tried for two days to find out if computer had shipped. Kept getting bounced from voice mail to voice mail and never got a single call back. Finally, I became concerned about getting help if I needed it and cancelled my order. They seemed completely unorganized and didn't seem to care about much anything.

Ordered Computer and called to check and see if computer had shipped. Tried for two days to find out if computer had shipped. Kept getting bounced from voice mail to voice mail and never got a single call back. Finally, I became concerned about getting help if I needed it and cancelled my order. They seemed completely unorganized and didn't seem to care about much anything.