Three years ago, I bought a new PC from Time. It was, for a very short period of time, the most powerful PC available on the market.
It had everything I needed, and still does. Plenty of storage space on the hard disk, plenty of memory, and it is quick (400Mhz). I am reasonably happy ... Read review
Advantages: Very easy to get up and running Disadvantages: The company is more interested in taking your money
...I have had to contact Time Customer Service on a couple of occasions.
The first time was when we had a thunder storm. A point to note for all you fellow internet users. If you experience thunder in your area, disconnect the telephone jack from the back of your PC to protect your modem.
I am quite good with computer hardware, so I ran a few basic tests on the modem, and it still didn't work. After trying switching the ... ...and called into my local Time Shop for advice. Their staff were unable to help. To be honest, I think they were just sales staff, and not of a technical background. Their recommendation was to call the support helpline, which I did next.
Support helpline is a premium number and costs £1 a minute so I wasn't very happy calling, but I felt I had no choice.
When I dialled the number, the first minute of the call is spent ... more
Three years ago, I bought a new PC from Time. It was, for a very short period of time, the most powerful PC available on the market.
It had everything I needed, and still does. Plenty of storage space on the hard disk, plenty of memory, and it is quick (400Mhz). I am reasonably happy with it.
PCs have increased in speed and capability since then. They are improving all the time, but I don't see the need to upgrade because, my PC, which could now be referred to as "old-hat" still does what I need without any running problems.
Generally, my PC has been very reliable, but not 100% and I have had to contact Time Customer Service on a couple of occasions.
The first time was when we had a thunder storm. A point to note for all you fellow internet users. If you experience thunder in your area, disconnect the telephone jack from the back of your PC to protect your modem.
I am quite good with computer hardware, so I ran a few basic tests on the modem, and it still didn't work. After trying switching the settings, trying a different port etc etc, I finally gave in and called into my local Time Shop for advice. Their staff were unable to help. To be honest, I think they were just sales staff, and not of a technical background. Their recommendation was to call the support helpline, which I did next.
Support helpline is a premium number and costs £1 a minute so I wasn't very happy calling, but I felt I had no choice.
When I dialled the number, the first minute of the call is spent introducing you to time, telling you about their services, then telling you that it's a premium call costing £1 a minute. Finally, the menu, press 1 for...
When I got through to a customer support operator, you could tell that he was reading from a script on hi sscreen. I have designed similar databases in my work, where somebody calls our IT team with a problem, key this into the database and instantly you are presented with possible problems and solutions!
The first few things the operator suggested, I had to say "I've already tried this". Eventually, the operator asked if we had experienced any thunder recently, then explained the effect thunder can have on your modem.
In the end, the operator said I had to take the modem out of the PC and send it back to time for repairs. He then informed me "By the way, you do have a 3 year warranty, so you actually didn't need to call the premium line. You could have phoned the freephone number!!! Thanks, I appreciate you telling me that at the end of the call!
Anyway, I sent the modem back and within 5 working days, a parcel arrived. I am not sure if it was a repaired modem or a new one, but either way, it worked fine and has done ever since.
I have learned my lesson now though, I only plug the phone jack in when I want to go on-line, just in case!
Generally, I am happy with Time, like I said, I have contacted them another time, using the free number this time and although, again I could tell the operator was reading from a script, but we still managed to solve the problem.
My advice to Time would be to give their support a more human approach, and train their staff to have a more technical background. Other than this, I am happy with my PC. I use it for both work and pleasure, so I would be lost without it.
My father bought a PC from PC World about a year ago, and he is experiencing problems with it. PC world will offer you support, but it costs £25 an hour in labour if you want them to look at it.
Comparing Time to the services offered by PC world, Time do not change £25 an hour, so I guess they are better here.
When I bought my PC, the deal I got included a lot of free software, printer, scanner, web camera, lots of software including some games, money off vouchers, free floppy disks (more than I've been able to use in 3 years). My dad did not get any of this with his PC, so the package was certainly better at Time.
Generally speaking, I have had a lot more ups with Time than downs. I would recommend them if you were looking for a new PC, but make sure that you shop around to get the deal that you want.
Advantages: Some good computers Disadvantages: Poor customer service
...that I have had a time PC. During those three years I have had about 5-6 problems with my personal computer.
I ordered my PC over the phone in 1998.
The PC was good at first but then had a problem in 1998, which I then had to phone up time computers, at that time the service was good the PC came back quickly and it was a fine service.
In 2000 I had another problem with the PC, which was quite a serious problem. The PC could not load up for some ... ...once again had to phone time computers the advisor said they will have to come and collect it. A few days later a delivery man came and collected the monitor, which he then said it will return back in 1 week.
OK, 1 day went, 2 days gone, 6 days gone, 1 week gone. I was wandering why the monitor still had not come. So it had been two weeks I was waiting for the monitor. I phoned time back again. The call was expensive and I had to wait for a long ...
fromthedarkside 08.06.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Time Computers (Shop)
Advantages: Couldn't think of any if you gave me a lifetime Disadvantages: not enough space in this box to list them
...years ago I purchased a Time AMD Duron 700 Mhz PC. Initially I was overjoyed with the performance of the machine, but this was short lived! After only 5 weeks of having the PC numerous problems began to emerge. Crashing and the 'blue screen of death' became an every day occurence. Thankfully, Time had supplied me with a reload cd, which was practically worn out by the time I had finished. It was nothing for my PC to crash up to 5 times in an hour ... ...per minute and by the time the staff have answered the phone and given you the spiel of "thank you for calling the Time Customer Technical Support.....blah blah blah.......this call will be charged at our premium rate of £1 per minute....." you have already accrued a £1 charge on your phone bill. I suffered listening to a technical staff member blabber on about using the reload CD and each time he paused for a breath I tried to jump in to the conversation. ...
tootsie1_uk 18.10.2002
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Time Computers (Shop)
Advantages: you get the spec you want for an excellent price Disadvantages: the customer services
...first opinion in a long time I might be a little rusty, but please just put up with it.
Next week I leave for university and so I thought I would buy myself a new computer. Over the past 18 months I have been keeping a very careful eye on the products available and so eventually I decided that a Time computer was the one for me. I went to the showroom in Canterbury, which is about a half an hours drive from me in Ashford, and went to speak to one ... ...in all I can’t fault time computers on any of the above things. The guy in the showroom was easy to negotiate with and just generally very helpful. I think he was pleased to be giving this spec machine as he could see it wasn’t going to a good home and its immense power would not be wasted. Plus it was £1600 pound to the company and the commission he gets I should imagine would be quite good aswell. With the product itself I have absolutely ...
S_Osborne 14.09.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Time Computers (Shop)
...that heading.
In general Time have been a complete waste of my time and money. I purchased the computer about 3 months ago for around £800, which I thought was very good value for the money, I could not find any that matched its price or specification. The computer arrived 28 days later. But only one big box arrived. There was not monitor or accessories, only the CPU.
I have quite a few computers at home 2 macs, and 2 pcs. So I found a spare monitor ... ...win ME.
I rang Time and was told they were out of stock of monitors and one would be shipped to me and that they would look into my software. After 3 days I still hadn't recieved my monitor nor software. I rang again and was told by another customer service rep. that a monitor had not been ordered for my computer!! Why then had the previous sales rep lied to me?
Basically the next 3 weeks was spent confirming my order with Sales and communicating ...
hoyin 09.01.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Time Computers (Shop)
...eventually I decided that a Time computer was the one for me. I went to the showroom in Canterbury, which is about a half an hours drive from me in Ashford, and went to speak to one of the reps there. He said that I could order a custom built machine built to the exact spec that I wanted. I needed this to be possible because I am doing a computer course and needed a computer that would 1) be exactly what I wanted it to be, and 2) be reasonably priced ... ...in all I can’t fault time computers on any of the above things. The guy in the showroom was easy to negotiate with and just generally very helpful. I think he was pleased to be giving this spec machine as he could see it wasn’t going to a good home and its immense power would not be wasted. Plus it was £1600 pound to the company and the commission he gets I should imagine would be quite good aswell. With the product itself I have absolutely no complaints ...
StreetWise 10.11.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Time Computers (Shop)
How well informed were ...
How efficient was the s...
Similar reviews »
Reviews which might be of interest for "Time Computers (Shop)"
Advantages: Availability is good Disadvantages: PRICE AND SERVICE ARE RUBBISH
Over the past few years, I have bought a number of PCs and pieces of software from PC WORLD, and the prices seem to get worse as time passes, and the quality of service has decreased tremendously. I recently decided to shop elsewhere for my software and Computers, and have been thinking of even making my own computers from scratch, as it is not TOO difficult. I would recommend looking around some of the smaller businesses and trying to find the cheapest parts, and then put them together yourself. If you lack the technical knowledge to put one together, don't fret, see if a freind will do it for you, and if nobody can do it for you, still don't worry, you should be able to pick up a PC for about 30-50% cheaper than if you bought it from PC WORLD or any other big-timeshops. The sum-total of my advice is to look around the smaller shops ...
Simwwjd 02.04.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of PC World (Shop)
Advantages: None Disadvantages: Salesman from Hell
Four years ago I decided that it was time for my young family and I to embrace computer technology. Up and till this time the only computers I had seen were in shop windows or on the tv, so I decided to shop around for the best advice. Dixons was actually the last place that I planned to visit and I arrived there one midweek evening to find the shop virtually deserted. I had just started to look at a PC when a salesman arrived. Explaining my predicament he guided me to the perfect machine for me, my needs explained to him and my desire to be able to upgrade explained.
He assured me that the Pentium 133 machine with the massive 1.5 gig hard drive was the cutting edge of technology,, easily upgradeable and for the bargain yes bargain price of just over £1000.00 a must. Muggins here decided to purchase the machine, expecting to take it ...
Bigbaz 24.02.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Dixons (Shop)
Advantages: Wide range of products Disadvantages: Above average prices
When PC World first started they were the first in the market to combine computer products and the warehouse concept together on the high street. The market has moved on now and PC World have recently bought their major competitors ? Byte. PC World are now probably the only PC retailer which has PC?s, equipment, games, and peripherals all together and their competition now comes from PC suppliers like Time, Tiny etc, shops which sell software like Game, Virgin, HMV etc and the stationery suppliers like Office World and Staples.
PC World does come in for a lot of criticism on pricing and some of this is clearly justified. However in their defence PC World does carry more stock and choice than many of their competitors and this does lead to higher costs. Computer products do also have notoriously short shelf lives and this too can be ...
