Memory Express experiences

[SmAcKpOo]

Originally posted by Skidro
Just made a new rig and bought most of my stuff through Ncix over the holidays but the small stuff through memx. The salesman was trying to describe their commission structure and he was stating that as long as the company keeps getting the customers back then they won't be pushy. He tried offering warranty on the heat sink I was buying but I declined. The only loyalty I have is that they are local, if Ncix was in calgary they would be out of business

Not sure why they don't have a store here. I primarily shop from NCIX now since Memory Express never has anything in stock.

[ryanallan]

Originally posted by Khyron
I returned a special order Asus gsync monitor because of a dead pixel and while they spent a good 10 confirming the pixel, they got me a replacement model just as advertised. I did buy the 2 year IPR on that.

I had a poor experience with the SE store, and a very good experience at the NE store with my swift. From what I understand the stores' are franchised and so the NE would be under different management than the SE store. Any way, due to my experience with the swift I will probably never set foot in the SE store again. The NE location, on the other hand, has won over my business.

Day 1 - They get 2 swift's in stock and sell out in a few hours. I managed to get one. Also purchased the 2 year IPR.
Day 2 - Notice dead pixel, call SE store and ask if I can return the monitor when new stock arrives. They say no, return for refund only as new stock is more than 30 days away.
Day 3 - Call NE store and ask same question. They say sure, when we get new stock, bring in your monitor and we'll swap them.

[Nitro5]

They price match DirectCanada all the time for me just got a new router last month for over $80 off retail.

Sure a manager has to ok it so it's not instant, but I don't see how that's bad service.

[GoChris]

They choose to not price match certain stores that are always cheaper than them. Didn't feel like arguing a few weeks ago over $8, but...seems a bit shady and dumb to exclude some over others. I had used them before.

[msommers]

I really like the NW store, couple guys I'll wait to deal with whenever I go in.

[Asian_defender]

I've never had an issue with their price match at both the NE and NW stores. My experience there has always been great except for when someone pushed me to go to patroit ram.
While I'm standing in line I'll go to shopbot.ca and I've never had a problem.

Everything I buy there is price matched. I do find the NE store better to deal with.

[UndrgroundRider]

Bumping this old thread. I rarely shop at MemX anymore for the same reasons everyone else mentioned, but when I need something urgently they're my go-to. Apparently they are really enforcing the 2-per customer rule now. I went in with a build earlier today and the guy told me I was over the 2-per-customer limit on the RAM. Even though it wasn't on sale and even though they had the stock, the sales guys suggested I buy half the RAM today, and then make another trip and buy the other half tomorrow. lol, like I have time for that shit. Way to eliminate the last bit of usefulness you had MemX.

[Xtrema]

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Bumping this old thread. I rarely shop at MemX anymore for the same reasons everyone else mentioned, but when I need something urgently they're my go-to. Apparently they are really enforcing the 2-per customer rule now. I went in with a build earlier today and the guy told me I was over the 2-per-customer limit on the RAM. Even though it wasn't on sale and even though they had the stock, the sales guys suggested I buy half the RAM today, and then make another trip and buy the other half tomorrow. lol, like I have time for that shit. Way to eliminate the last bit of usefulness you had MemX.

What's the reason behind that? I know there is run up on RAM and SSD prices but if I need 4 8GB dimms and it's not a price match item, why can't I buy 4?

[benyl]

weird. I went to the NW store last week and got the ram I needed. Then went back 2 days later for a price match (newegg was $20 cheaper and I was in the area). No issues.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Memex sucks compared to many years ago (the store policies, not the employees), but they can afford to be bad because there is STILL no viable alternative in Calgary.

Their 'uber' (overstatement of the year) price beat used to be the best, now it is so bad they might as well just call it a price "match". Typical savings are $1-2. They are also extremely stingy with price matching, even if it is literally the identical product, they will try find a way to deny it, try to find out if it's being shipped from another country before landing in Canada, etc. It's also wildly inconsistent, with some stores approving when another denies.

Their IPR isn't nearly as good as it used to be. I am always reading horror stories about people not getting truly equivalent replacements when things fail (it's purely at their discretion), they can keep your stuff for up to 5 business days without temporary replacement so it's not at all "instant". It's also structured in a way that encourages you to buy IPR on the entire system, including BS items like the case, cables, and fans. I used to buy it on everything, and now I never buy it. Just as one example, EVGA's factory warranty has a faster turnaround with less hassle than Memory Express.

Their "daily deals" used to be amazing, now they are no better than Soundsaround, advertising "deals" that are available 24/7. Typical discounts are 10% or so.

Their day-to-day prices are almost never the lowest anymore.

So yeah - they are still the best but they used to be wayyyy better. If you get lucky with price beats and decline IPR you can still usually get a good price on everything without having to peace meal everything from online vendors.

[Asian_defender]

I've never had an issue with their price beat. As long as its sold and shipped by bestbuy, newegg, amazon etc I've yet to be denied and I price match everything there. This is at both the NE and NW stores. I'll agree that the daily deals aren't as good anymore, even their black friday/boxing day specials aren't nearly as good anymore

Still I don't have complaints about their price match or IPR, I still think it

[eglove]

I've been looking for a new video card for the last 6 months and it bugs me that they won't price match any of them. Stupid coin mining driving prices up

[Mitsu3000gt]

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I've been looking for a new video card for the last 6 months and it bugs me that they won't price match any of them. Stupid coin mining driving prices up

Haha I forgot, you're right. They won't even price match video cards anymore. It's a joke.

[UndrgroundRider]

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What's the reason behind that? I know there is run up on RAM and SSD prices but if I need 4 8GB dimms and it's not a price match item, why can't I buy 4?

Exactly my thinking. I checked with the manager too (Mike I think?) and no dice. I don't understand what the issue was, I'm paying full list price for fully stocked items, 10+ at all stores. "RAM shortage" or not, they're in the business of selling computers, at the very least I should be able to buy 4 sticks of RAM for one computer.

Oh well, the ship sailed on MemX long ago.

[zhao]

I used to shop at ncix literally about 20 years ago and they were the be all end all of online stores. Back in the late 90s pretty much every single thing on their site was next day delivery almost anywhere in western Canada and their prices were untouchable. Then it went downhill around the mid 2000s (stuff took longer to arrive days, sometimes 1-2 weeks on stuff that said in stock), employees on the phone sucked to deal with or hard to get ahold of) and i started shopping at memory express exclusively. I'd be surprised if NCIX was that much better then mem express is now, unless tehy've totally re-invented their company. I always liked the employees at memory express and I never had any issues buying stuff in their store.... but then i'm not picky. I usually shop not by walking in knowing exactly the specific thing I must have, but having multiple things I am ok with walking out of the store with as long as they have one of those things in stock, so I didn't really notice them going downhill.

But if they told me they could only sell me half the ram I needed for a computer, that was all in stock and full price... I'd boycott their store until the end of time.

[Star1995]

Customer service is horrible. I won't set foot in the place unless I really, really, really need it now and can't wait. I walk in there and I get followed by some moron, he finally approaches me and instead of asking me if he can help me he tells me he wants to check my bag, this was in the North East store. I haven't been back since and now just order everything on line, save money, save hassle and depending on what it is I get it within a few days. I now thank that moron as I was spending a fair amount of money along with my time, now I sit back and order online. If you don't need it quickly then Aliexpress is the way to go, otherwise Amazon is a good choice.

[thetransporter]

they were the best in the year 1999-2002

[Crazyjoker77]

I've only dealt with them twice.

First was when I was looking for a new high end gaming build ~4000$ and as it was a big ticket item I shopped around and got multiple quotes. I sent them off a very detailed list of the parts I wanted along with the best quote (which was very detailed with prices and part# of every component) from a single store out in toronto. They got back to me and said they couldnt get the MOBO, ram or graphics card and suggested suitable replacements. Of course there was no price match or discount on their sub'd components and was several hundred dollars more than the quote I provided them. their online inventory showed they had both the mobo and GFX card in stock. They also wanted more money to ship the PC from calgary to medicine hat than the other company was charging for shipping coming from Toronto to the same address... Needless to say I ordered from the toronto store. Following weekend I was up in calgary and for the first time stepped into the store and they did have both items stocked on the shelves that they said were not in stock...

Second time I dealt with them was on pascal launch. I really wanted an evga FTW 1080 so I placed pre orders with both BH photo and EVGA directly.(didn't care if I ended up with 2). Getting fed up with the delivery date keep getting pushed back I started shopping around. Memx had them listed as in stock so I placed an order and it shipped out next day and arrived the day after that. It was slightly more costly than my preorders and got charged shipping but I was still happy to finally have my 1080.

[adam c]

As soon as they see I have a business account with an IT company, they usually stop pushing IPR right away although I rarely shop there anymore and get most of my stuff from amazon as I can wait a few days

I've gone into stores after verifying stock online only to be told, 'we don't know where it is so we can't sell it to you'

I've also seen them be scammy with computer illiterate people but not as bad as the Staples sales person the other day

[Xtrema]

Business is tough. Margin is low. It is harder to fight big online retailers. Even NCIX is having financial trouble. I am sure MemX is now feeling the same pressure.