Factor Gaming

Does anyone have any experience with Factor Gaming? They are at www.factorgaming.com. I did a search on here and it came up with very little information.

 

not listed on better business bureau.
Reseller rating has them here (only 5 lifetime reviews):
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Factor_Gaming

 

Operates out of Silver Spring, Maryland. Business is run through a limited liability company called Factor Gaming, L.L.C., which was formed on August 1st, 2008, and is most likely owned by a gentleman by the name of CHRISTIAN CARRIER GOGOL, who is also listed as the registered agent for the LLC in MD (I'm guessing that he's also the owner because his address as registered agent is the same address as that given for the LLC's principal office).

The business address is most likely also Mr. Gogol's apartment, and not a separate business suite, as the MD state entity detail identifies the address as an apartment, not a suite.

So, to summarize - my best guess based on these limited facts is that it is probably a start-up reseller with about 8 months' operating experience run by a single individual.

The articles of organization for Factor Gaming, L.L.C. can be viewed here. The articles were apparently filed using the very basic form available from the MD department of state, and were apparently completed by Mr. Gogol himself without review by an attorney or accountant (I believe that to be the case since Mr. Gogol has limited the purpose of his LLC to just acquiring, constructing, testing, and/or (??) selling computer systems for the purpose of generating profit - an attorney or CPA would not have limited it to that, but would have added language to the effect of "and any other activity or purpose that is lawful for a limited liability company to engage in or carry on." While it doesn't cause a lot of troubles in this "expedited" day and age, technically, Factor Gaming, L.L.C. cannot do anything other than those enumerated activities - anything else would be ultra vires).

There do not appear to be any UCC financing statement filings or lien filings against Mr. Gogol or Factor Gaming in the Maryland UCC system (don't take that as the final word, though, if you really have to know, then you'd better pay for a proper search of the system). While that is good in one sense - the business does not appear to have any large debts outstanding - it also indicates that the business is still quite small and doesn't carry any inventory other than that which it can afford to purchase in full for cash up front (or put on a personal credit card) - if the business were large enough to be able to obtain inventory on credit, a financing statement would have appeared.

Of course, this is not necessarily very relevant with respect to the new breed of internet-based computer resellers, most of whom conduct their business using the drop-shipping method, where the reseller's wholesale vendor delivers product directly to the end-user upon receiving a confirmed order from the reseller.

The basic summary from the Maryland Business Data website is here.


Probably the best thing to do is to contact the business directly (i.e., by phone) and speak with the owner (if possible) about the business and about what your needs are and how he would propose to fulfill those needs. If possible, conduct this over the course of several telephone conversations over about a week or so, which will give you a better sense as to how professional (or not) this business is run.

That, I believe, was how the NBR crowd determined that the late-great, sorely-missed reseller Dark Smiley Systems LLC was a professionally-run operation, notwithstanding that it was a brand-new business started by a gentleman who could not yet (legally) join you for drinks after work - at least not the hard kind!

 

Just remember, Apple was started by two hippies on pot working in a garage-

 

Yeees, and...? So were a lot of other businesses, most of which also ended in that very same garage.

 

Lol! I just hope that this is not one of those fly by night operations---

 

Well, we know for a fact that Dark Smiley Systems wasn't just a fly-by-night but a well-run, professional business that got the short end of misfortune, so there is at least a 50/50 chance that this business is the same; of course, that implies that there's about a 50/50 chance that it's not, so it seems to me that the only way to resolve it is to get the owner into an extended conversation and see how he handles himself, that and find some folks who're willing to buy from them.

On that point, it seems to me that the only real risk you take is paying for warranty coverage or service that isn't in fact delivered - so long as this business is running on the same drop-shipping model that most resellers use nowadays, the risks on not getting the hardware you purchase upfront is probably minimal, although it would be best to use a credit card (or paypal) to order so that you shield yourself from the risk that the reseller will take your money and "forget" to place your order with the drop-shipper.

So, I'd suggest the following: someone(s) start talking to the business owner to see what sort of model he follows - drop-shipping from his vendor, or shipping from his location himself, and if it's the first, then find some buyers who don't care about warranty coverage (i.e., they're either rich enough or skilled enough in repairing things that they don't care) to purchase from the business (with a cc or paypal) and see how the transactions go.

The other thing to watch is how much hype (or how little) the owner puts up on the website - i.e., is he giving a hard-sell sort of push for things and claiming unrealistic delivery dates for systems that haven't been officially released yet - like some folks we know - or is he just sticking to the facts, ma'am. Also, watch to see how frequently he updates and maintains his website - if he lets it get seriously out-of-date, then he's probably not too involved in running the business in a proper fashion.

 

I already emailed him around 7 oclock tonight-- I'm surprised he hasn't responded especially if he lives in his office. I inquired about the NP8662 (so far resellers I've contacted are "out of stock" of this model). I guess we'll how he responds tomorrow--

 

I emailed them twice in a week... got a response about a week later, that didn't answer my questions. I replied to the email asking for clarification, they never responded.

This was about 3 weeks ago.

 

Wow, that's pretty bad. I wonder how many actual customer he's had-

I may even call his 800 number tomorrow. If he doesn't answer, I guess he's out of the running as a competent reseller--

 

In the last two days I have emailed him (Chris) 2 times, and the longest time between his responses was 12 hours. The website is one of the nicest and most navigable I've used for Sager resellers. The site says they do their own 96 hour burn-in, and it makes it sound like the integration happens at thier facility. There is also a picture of their facility on the site. He also claims to have the 5797 in stock ready to ship, and he claims to have shipped a bunch of laptops to military members that were deployed. If I had found a few favorable reviews or I wasnt deployed and need this machine right away, I would have placed this order already. Powernotebooks has been screwing around with my order for weeks now and despite their stellar reputation on here, and the BBB, they've treated me pretty crappy. I've been jumping through hoops for them for weeks and even if I finally call my bank and change my billing address to my deployed address (rendering my card useless to my wife who is still at home), it will then start the 15 "business" day build time. I just wish I could find someone that would charge my card and send me a computer when they charge me, and have it be the same competative price no matter how I pay. Is this really too much to ask?

 

gijosh28, let's put a little truth back into your story. You placed your first order on April 15th, exactly one week ago. You selected wire transfer as your payment method but discovered for some reason you could not pay by wire transfer.

So, on Sunday the 19th, 3 days ago, you placed another order using your credit card. However we informed you that your financial institution would not verify any of your information unless you were on the phone in a conference call with them and us, which you told us you could not do because of the time difference and the $12 a minute phone charges.

No one except maybe a brand new business that hasn't learned the painful lessons yet will accept a credit card for payment when the shipping address given is different than the billing address, and when they cannot verify either address.

We told you how you could handle this situation but you have apparently decided not to do so, and claim here that temporarily changing your billing address would somehow make the card useless to your wife (does anyone understand how changing his billing address to his shipping address for a few days would render the card useless to his wife or any other authorized user of the card??)

We also explained to you how we were able to verify a deployment address for one of your buddies by talking to someone at his stateside home phone, but you never even mentioned to us you had a wife at home that could also do this for us.

I am sorry that you don't understand how important it is to protect against misuse of a credit card by an unauthorized person, and how any legitimate vendor is going to have to verify both your billing and shipping address with the credit card company before the will ship a laptop anywhere that is different than the billing address, much less ship it out of the country...but that is the reality in today's world. Even if a vendor would accept your PayPal payment, they would only ship to your PayPal "confirmed" address.

What really makes us sad is that we really respect and admire those of you who are overseas protecting our FREEDOM, and we so appreciate the sacrifices made by not only the service members but also their families. We have shipped literally thousands of laptops to APO and FPO addresses to service members for whom we have been able to verify their shipping address. This is usually not that difficult, but in this case your financial institution has a rather unique policy that requires the account holder to be on a conference call with them, and the vendor (hmmm, maybe your wife could have done this??).

In the end, we have explained the ways that others have done, and you can do to accomplish what is necessary. Please don't blame PowerNotebooks.com for the policies set by your financial institution, or for your unwillingness to make the necessary arrangements (or get your wife to help) that any legitimate vendor will require.

I am sorry that we could not be more helpful.

 

omg does Shyster work for the FBI??
Incredible amount of information, +rep

 

gjjosh, I too am in the military. If you're having problems with your credit card I suggest going directly through Sager. That's what I did, because I was also have problems with my billing/shipping address. They worked with my bank (since I was using debit), and as soon as the transfer went through they shipped my notebook. It took 2 days for the transfer to go through because my bank would only allow so much each day, but I was updated everyday as to the status of my computer.
Now it's somewhere between Cali and Iraq...just waiting for it to come in.

 

First, let me say that it is unbelievable that you would openly attack me on a forum like this. This thread had nothing to do with you, except to say that I didnt feel like jumping through your hoops anymore. I think I went pretty far to prove my validity. If you'd like, I can take my personal info out of the emails and attach them here. Your opening statement is designed to discredit me by accusing me of lying. Where exactly did I lie? My order has been delayed and my name not entered onto the waiting list for 9 or 10 days instead of 14, so instead of saying weeks, I should say 10 days. You really got me there. Not lets put some truth in your story.

Thats real professional. Imply that I am lying, and then put my financial business out in the public. For anyone who cares to know, my Federal Credit Union requires me to be there in person to sign the wire transfer. Not PNB's fault. I told Donald I would pay a different way. Of course they don't take paypal, and I cant exactly bring them a satchel of money. So on to credit card. Now I lose my cash discount.

So a copy of a military ID, the fact that it is addressed to a deployed person in Afghanistan, and the fact that I am friends with someone who just recieved a laptop from you, and proved it by having a similar address wasnt enough verification for you? You're an awfully suspicious bunch. I understand protecting yourselves from fraud, but getting deployed, stealing a credit card, and making friends with a legitimate customer of yours, would be an awful lot of work on my part just to buy a laptop with a stolen credit card. Besides, its not like it would be hard for the US ARMY, and the Federal Postal Service to find the guy running the scam. I am on an airbase in Afghanistan.

Well for starters I can't use my card with you guys with that address so if I change the address to my deployed address, you are an example of a place she couldnt use the card. Secondly, a few days is a loose term. 24-48 hours to change, then you take 24-48 hours to charge me, 24-48 more hours for it to show up in my account, 24-48 hours to change it back to my home address. By then a bill would probably have been mailed to the wrong address, and I am sure those are "business" hours. So a weekend would undoubtably fall in there somewhere. Sounds to me like your few days would probably go for about a week or two. We'll call it "weeks." Not to mention that this would all need to be done over the phone.

Furthermore, why are you asking if "anyone" understands anything. Why are you involving other people in my affairs. Who the hell do you think you are?!

Its not really any of your business who is at my home. I don't see how talking to my wife would verify anything. I have to imagine that what I already provided would offer much more validation then letting you talk to someone that I claim is my wife at my house. Also, youre not shipping it "out of the country." The out of the country statement implys that it is a foreign transaction which are usually higher risk. You're shipping it to an APO/FPO, using the United States Postal Service. It is a domestic transaction.

Good god, don't play the self ritcheous card. I hate that. Regular shipping to regular customers is $40. You offer a $30 military discount, but you charge $100 to ship to APO/FPO. My wife shipped me an entire desktop computer in an Antec case, fully cushioned and double boxed, last year for $34, and I shipped this Gateway FX to my friend for $23. Both were fully insured, and shipped using USPS Priority mail. Looks to me like your making more money off soldiers, rather then "respecting" them. Sell that BS elsewhere.

Here you are once again bringing up my wife. She didnt buy a computer from you, I did. If I was a single soldier I would be screwed is how I read this.

I absolutely love when I read a line like, "We all do this to protect you from misuse of your credit card. Please understand that we get anywhere from 2 to 8 fraud attempts every day! We have to have a way to protect cardholders from misuse of their card by unauthorized personnel."

Let me correct you. You are protecting yourself. Card owners dont need any protection from you. I have all the protection I need. If someone charges something to my card that I didnt authorize, I call and tell the CC company, and have my money back within a day. So you are not protecting anyone but yourself. The self ritcheous act is old.

I am not some kid who got his dads credit card to order a computer. Consider who you try to discredit on a public forum. I don't care if your'e giving away computers, you'll never get business from me again. It is EXTREMELY unprofessional to put personal business out on the internet like that.

And thanks for hijacking a thread asking about another computer company.

 

When did you place your order?

 

I started working the order on the 9th of April and by the 15th it was on the usps truck. So considering there was a weekend in there, it took between 4-5 days to get everything worked out.

 

What gijosh was getting at is nearly all sellers require the address on the credit card where the notebook will be ultimately delivered to. Most of us including Sager require this. Most companies can break up a charge to work with Debit Card spending limits, but you would want to check with them to confirm.

gijosh - I think Donald was trying to explain why policies are in place. Merchants are required to scrutinize transactions and follow certain procedures not only for our protection but also a requirement put forth by the issuing card companies to maintain our merchant accounts. If you re-read some of your original post you can likely understand why Donald wanted to explain some of the procedures nearly all merchants follow with credit card transactions.

 

Well what sager did was send me an email with an attached word document, where I had to fill out where the card's billing address was, where I wanted it sent, the order number, the amount, sign it, and show a photo I.D. I did this and was able to take a picture with a digital camera and send it back. A fax would have worked too, but we don't have any here.

 

Justin, I dont have a problem with making sure a deal is legitimate. In fact I am all for it, but I think it got a little ridiculous. With the picture of my military ID, and associations I provided wouldnt you be confident that I was who I said I was? Then they wanted me to change my billing address on my CC to this temporary address, but aparently a phone call to my wife would have been sufficient. I dont understand where calling someone claiming to be my wife would verify anything further. Besides theres no excuse for a reputable business to put this on a public forum. That's absurd.

 

so its ok for you to do it?

if you wanted to keep it in private. then don't say anything.

you are saying bad things about his company. he is defending himself. your brought it in public. he responded. i dont think Donald did anything wrong.

if you don't like the policy of a company, then move on. it won't be the end of the world for anyone.

its not like he made a thread about you calling you out.

you posted in a thread about ANOTHER company, then started calling PNB out.

you are in the wrong good sir.

 

I didnt post in a thread about another company. I started a thread inquiring about another company. I did move on. I came on here and asked about another company, hoping to find some people satisfied with the other company. What I posted was truthful. And I prefaced it by saying, "despite their stellar reputation on here, and the BBB..." Thanks for your input. Know anything about Factor Gaming?

 

If I did, I'd probably have been able to tell you the size of the guy's tightie-whities - but I don't.

I wish it was as cool as that, but it's really just plucking the low fruit - the freebie stuff available through google or the public record, which a number of states have put online for free.

Whenever you have a legal entity, like a corporation, an LLC, or a limited partnership, the first place to check for info is always the website for the state agency that regulates the formation of business entities for the state in which the particular entity in question is doing business - either (i) the entity will have been formed in that state, in which case you should be able to find a summary of its basic info, and a link on how to get copies of any documents that were filed for such formation, or (ii) the entity was formed in another state, and thus had to file an application for qualification to do business in that particular state - that application will tell you (generally) what state the entity was formed in, which will then tell you where to go look to get the goodies on who formed the entity.

Keep in mind, this won't give you really good info with a lot of entities, mainly because the owners of that entity had it formed by a professional incorporation specialist, such as CTC (Corporation Trust Company), in which case the only names that will be identied will, generally speaking, be those of the paralegal or office assistant who filed the papers as the so-called "sole incorporator" and who then resigned and passed control of the entity over to its real owners. However, for a small entity that doesn't have a professional draft and file its formation papers for it, the public record frequently reveals who the real owner is (at least at the time of formation).

At any rate, I didn't find anything that anyone else here couldn't have found.

 

Well I called factor gaming- I got a very self assured, friendly sound guy named Chris. Basically same model as other resellers(drop ship method).

I asked about the NP8662 and basically he's out of stock of this model- he didnt try to pass off as some big operation with elves assembling things behind the scenes. I asked if he could waive the shipping if I decided to pickup. No can do.

Overall he seems very eager to please- I did not go into more detailed questions since Im not too sure about a company who may not be around in the next year or so- let alone the next few months.

So he seems like in a good start. I wish his company good luck.

 

It's a pretty snazzy website they have.

 

Well, that part does sound on the up-and-up. By any chance did you invite him to come on down, because he's the next contestant on NBR's "Name that Business" show? Seriously, though, it would do wonders for his business if he introduced himself here and joined in on the conversation (as much as resellers are permitted to do so under the NBR rules).

It's decent; however, one would be foolhardy to judge a business by the snazziness of its website. One thing I just noticed after looking at the website is the [url="http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Factor_Gaming"resellerratings reviews[/url] look a little..strange (I went there 'cause there's a link to it on the business' website). First off, there are four (4) 5-checks reviews spanning the dates 10/10/08 to 10/26/08, and then nothing after until the latest, which is 3-checks, and which was originally posted on 3/8/09 and edited on 3/10/09. This review also mentions a "problem" that seems to be becoming endemic - troubles with one's 800 carrier.

 

very nice looking website indeed. best one ive seen so far

 

I like the website. Some of the incentives they offer (Benchmarking CD, notebook with all the information, warranty, etc in it is nice). My only gripe is that I wish they were more established and I would consider buying something.

 

Unless you're going to buy an extended warranty, or some customization to your system, you shouldn't have any troubles if you buy using a credit card or paypal because, according to an NBR member who has spoken directly with the owner, they use the usual internet business model of drop-shipping directly from their distributors, which means that if you order a Sager system from them, it will be shipped directly to you from Sager and they will never have physical possession of your computer. If they did go belly up, the most you'd lose would be the standard warranty (which I think is a year).

 

Yeah, I don't quite understand how the warranty will work if the company tank all of a sudden-

On the other hand, I've never really had to cash in most of my warranty on things that I buy. Either I sell or donate them, so in a way, it's no biggie for me. For problems, I've been able to fix most of the issues (except for when one of my toshibas motherboard crapped out on me- thank goodness it was on warranty- but this has been a rare for me).

 

Actually the 1 year warranty is from Sager, so the most a buyer could lose would be the promise of the 2nd and 3rd year labor warranty.

Sager also provides the lifetime toll free support, Monday through Friday during West Coast business hours.

However they don't offer 24/7 support and their prices are a bit higher than other Sager resellers.

 

I know you guys (resellers, that is) are kept pretty muzzled by NBR, but do you, as a reseller, know anything about this new one?

 

No more than what is in this thread and the sites to which have been linked, and the subject website itself.