Horrible experience with XoticPC (Hawaii/Alaska buyers beware!)

I've been in the market for a gaming PC lately, and after untold hours of research and looking around, I finally decided on the Clevo P370EM from XoticPC.

From what I could tell, XoticPC is one of the most praised and recommended sellers around. Their prices are good, and their customization and service options are great. About a week ago, I finally ordered my computer.

First off, XoticPC usually offers free UPS Ground shipping, which is awesome. Unfortunately, I have the lucky/unlucky fortune of living on Maui, Hawaii. I do not have the option of free shipping. Therefore upon checkout, my shipping options included UPS Ground for $130, or USPS Priority Mail for $64. I chose USPS (since I use them often for other things and rarely have any issues). My support guy through XoticPC (Hutsady, who is an awesome dude), cautioned me against using USPS (I think they are trained to repeat this warning) about how insurance claims through USPS are more stress and it takes you longer to get your money in case of damage to the PC (4-6 weeks, iirc).

I assured him this was fine, and he also told me that the shipping would probably be a bit over $64 due to insurance costs (which obviously change depending on the cost of the PC). I looked into this and found that the shipping + insurance would come out to somewhere around $70 (I obtained the exact weight, dimensions, and necessary shipping info from support). I also called the post office to make sure, and they told me the total ship cost would be $74 and some cents. I told this to Hutsady and he said that sounded right.

Upon ordering my system, the first problem popped up. Whoever did my billing (a woman named Courtney) first off sent me the wrong payment info. I clearly selected to pay via wire transfer, so I needed XoticPC's information (routing number, etc). She sent me the info to pay via check. I replied to her explaining this issue (as her message said to email her if I had any questions/issues), and over 24 hours later, she still hadn't replied to me. I went to Hutsady (again), explained how I wasn't seeing the necessary information, and that's when we realized that I was sent the wrong payment info. He told me he'd contact her and have her send the correct info.

This took her another few hours to send out, but she finally sent me the correct info. It was frustrating that this mistake further delayed my build time another handful of days, but the next day I sent the wire transfer and felt good knowing that I was done with everything and could just wait for my PC.

Unfortunately, the problems didn't end there. 2 and half days or so after sending the wire transfer, I get another email from Courtney. This time she apologizes, telling me that she had this additional info originally but "forgot" to tell me, the additional info being how much extra difference on shipping I needed to pay. Basically, she should have immediately amended my final bill with the correct shipping payment, but she "forgot". She also informed me that the shipping would cost $156.

Obviously this caught my attention. Instead of the $74 that the post office clearly told me it would cost to ship, I would have to be paying over $80 more. I messaged both Courtney (although I knew that wouldn't get me anywhere), and got a hold of Hutsady again, explaining this issue. I explained exactly how much it actually would cost to ship according to the post office, and he acknowledged that there was clearly something wrong and that he would tell Courtney to double check the cost.

Another 24 hours later, she gets back to me again, apologizing again, and says " I re-calculated and the cost I got this time is $117." This time? I have to wonder if she gets a different cost every time she recalculates. Still, this price was still $40+ more than the actual shipping price.

Finally I decided today to just call them and see if I could get this worked out. I got a hold of Hutsady on the phone, explained how I was still getting a much higher shipping price, and asked what was going on. I also asked if they charged a handling fee that I wasn't seeing. He informed me that they do charge a handling fee as well, but that it is very small, but also that they add "extra third party insurance" on USPS orders, and that was probably what was adding so much to the cost.

This is very, very frustrating, because I chose USPS shipping because it was cheaper. There was absolutely no mention of these fees until I gave XoticPC over $2000 of my money. I was also clearly told by XoticPC how insurance claims with USPS worked, while I was told nothing whatsoever about this "third party insurance company" that I still don't even know the name of, nor anything else about. I also told him that I did not want this extra third party insurance, and he told me that there's no way they can remove it.

So basically, there's a $50 hidden fee that apparently covers extra insurance and handling, which is shown absolutely nowhere until you order your system and send your money out. So you're paying for two separate insurances, which makes very little sense (will I get double my money back if my PC is damaged in transit?) Not to mention during this entire process, my system has only started being built today because of this $50 shipping difference. I ordered my system over a week ago, and issue after issue has made it only today that it's finally being built. Frustrating, to say the least.

And during this whole process, with problem after problem, the only courtesy given is a "sorry" now and then. I'm just being picky here, but for all the mistakes they have made, and all the issues I've gone through, a small free upgrade or two would have been nice. I guess XoticPC doesn't do that at all.

So in the end, I don't know. To anywhere else in the US, I'm sure that XoticPC is one of the best sellers out there, but if you're buying from Alaska or Hawaii, think twice before using them. I've never had such a stressful ordering experience online.

 

Sorry about your troubles. I've gone through them twice and had great experiences (I live in SC). There is a reseller feedback subforum that stuff like this is usually posted in btw. Hope the rest of your experience goes smoothly and problem free.

 

I didn't know there was a forum for that, but I figured since I bought a Clevo/Sager and dealt with these issues, it would be nice to let people know who are looking to buy a Clevo/Sager from XoticPC.

And really, parts of my experience were fine. Hutsady is a prompt and really helpful guy, but unfortunately support can only tell you what they know and pass along messages to other members of XoticPC. 90% of my issues came from the billing girl, while the other main problem is simply a massive hidden fee that I wasn't prepared for. Maybe an extra $50 thrown onto the bill isn't a big deal for some people, but I was trying to keep on a budget that I basically just was forced to break, especially since I already sent them 99% of the payment!

Hopefully the system comes without problems, because I apparently also have to front ALL the shipping costs (to and from them) even if my system comes broken in half.

 

Just wanted to update this saying that the computer came packed fine and I've had zero problems thus far. I firmly believe that Xotic PC is one of the best companies to buy from, but their shipping department and communication of shipping matters is really, really bad. How bad? I got the notice saying my order was shipped (with the tracking number) TWO DAYS after the package was delivered. Terrible shipping practice.

In the end, if you're in Alaska or Hawaii, ship the system to relatives on the mainland. They can ship it to you uninsured (it's packaged very well) for $43ish, and insured (just in case) for anywhere from $60-80 (depends how much you insure it for). Much better than $100+.

 

Part of the problem with the shipping, and I can imagine it is worse to Hawaii/Alaska, is that it does not ship from them unless you had tweaks that they handle. It is actually shipped from Sager. The problem a lot of times is the communication between Sager and the vendors.

In any case I have ordered twice from them and once from another vendor. I will most likely start my journey there for my next system as well.

 

I always go directly through Sager for any Sager laptops. They are friggin awesome, responsive, smart, and straight forward. I have never had billing issues and everything is directly through the manufacturer. If you request no OS you get the same pricing as the resellers, so there is little benefit to ordering from Xotic or anything. I also had bad experiences with them and this is when I decided to go directly with Sager.

They do, however, offer some cheaper shipping rates for international destinations and possibly Hawaii and what not, so in that regard it may be worth it to consider.

 

if i were in that situation, i would just cancel right away and move on to another seller

 

idiotekque, thanks for the follow up and its great to hear the computer is working out great for you.
Unfortunately the shipping cost for Hawaii and Alaska does cost more which we do have find out after processing the order. As you originally mentioned we talked about that before the order was placed.
The updates could have been better with the tracking number though, it should have been send to you as soon as it shipped. I did review that with our person who sends those out so it shouldn't happen any more.

 

Well, I went with Xotic PC because I heard only good of them. Plus I liked the options they made available.

The problem with the shipping to Hawaii is that you guys take a shipping service that costs around $70 and you make it $100+. Simply saying "The total shipping cost will probably be a bit more than what it says on the site." is really murky, confusing information. When I went through the site, the shipping cost said it would be $64. Now normally the exact cost of shipping the item to me would have been about $43, but that's without insurance. I discussed all of this heavily with you, and when I looked into how much the insurance would be, it came out to around $75 (due to the cost of the system). When the buyer is being told that the total shipping cost may be a bit higher than it says on the site, that extra $10 or so you see that the insurance will add makes sense. We talked about this and usually when I tried to confirm things with you (such as noting that it would be $75 instead of $64), I made it a point to ask if that was the extra cost you were talking about, and I remember you telling me that that sounded right.

Now fast forward, and I am suddenly given a notice that the shipping is going to cost $150+. I get a hold of you again, and it gets looked into, and then I am given a notice that it will actually cost about $115. That's really, really screwy. It made me feel like you guys (not you personally, by the way, just Xotic PC in general/the billing department) were just making up numbers. It was only at this point that I called and seriously asked "Where is this extra $50 charge coming from?" when I was told that there was a handling fee, and another fee from adding another third-party insurance onto the order.

That's another screwy bit. Who is this "third-party insurance company"? Not only is it a total phantom fee, it's a very large fee. Also, why am I paying for insurance from both USPS and this other company? Who even IS this other company?

Like I said, I think Xotic PC is great, and the product has been amazing. However the shipping practices have left a really, really bad taste in my mouth. If it were one or two little things, it wouldn't be too big of a deal, but when I'm giving you guys $2000+, it's a little unsettling to have to deal with problem after problem and murky hidden fees that I was never given proper information on.

At the very least, it would have been helpful to know in the first place that I was going to have to be paying for extra third party insurance + handling fee, and also an estimate on how much that was going to cost me. It's confusing to me why that information was unavailable to me until after I paid in full for the system.

 

Wow that was one big experience, great to hear it finally worked out in the end though.. these tend to happen a little to often in America, I wonder why