Java Cafe / Viva Computers Warning

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me

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Hello,

Last week I had a nightmare dealing with Viva in Claremont, Cape Town.

Just wanted to warn people not to buy the Biostar 6100-939 board from them. In fact, do everyone a favour and don't buy anything from them.

I got this board on the Friday, and had big problems with the built-in NIC from the start. Googled, drivers, reinstalled, everything... somehow missed the news about the batch of 6100-939 boards _known_ to have broken NICs and recalled by Biostar _months_ ago.

Went back to Viva on the Monday, got a replacement board. Same problem. Brought it back Tuesday. Their tech still hadn't tested the board I'd dropped off, and the manageress wouldn't accept that the boards were both faulty. So wanting out I asked for a refund. They would only give it to me minus 20% -- so I lost R140 because I'd gone out of my way to ensure I'd tested every possibility.

Gross. They won't be getting much business out of me after this.

DotComputers on the hand got my new board to me the day I ordered it, and it works well. Thanks!
 
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Yes, in my experience, they will try and squeeze every last cent out of you!
 
well your first problem was buying something called biostar

never even heard of them

rather buy boards from known companies such as asus gigabyte etc

not biostar
 
I have had dealings with these guys as well (Claremont Viva that is)

Bought my PC from them a few years back. The service is definitely not great and the aftersales support is non-existent.

About 2 years ago my PC was not starting at all for some reason. Back then i did not know as much about computers as i do now. I took it into them to have a look at. They kept it for two weeks, and returned it to me(well i fetched it), saying they could find nothing wrong with it.

I took it home and it was still broken...Turned out to be a faulty sound card that was causing conflict issues of some kind. Once i took that out, it was fine.

So i would not recommend them. Their prices may be fair, but that is not enough.

For my money, Dot Computers has the best prices and friendliest service :)
 
I also dealt with the Claremont branch.

The service was digusting. The Sales / Techs at the back are so arrogant.
The Sales rep was quite rude to me while the Techs behind the desk were
laughing @ his sarcastic remarks at me.

I left it at that, wasn't in the mood to get into a heated debate.

Will never go back there again.
 
killadoob said:
well your first problem was buying something called biostar

never even heard of them

rather buy boards from known companies such as asus gigabyte etc

not biostar
Click to expand...

biostar is a well known brand in the US, just not locally. Nothing wrong with them in general.
 
well your first problem was buying something called biostar
Click to expand...

Actually this was my thought exactly, but Biostar was all they had.... I kicked myself when I discovered the problem, thinking dang I knew this would happen.... but IRONY!! I later discovered reviews of the board, and it turns out that it's generally regarded as much better than the equivalent ASUS. I just had bad luck by getting one of the broken ones. Still, Biostar are dumb for letting the broken batch out in the first place.
 
biostar is a well known brand in the US, just not locally. Nothing wrong with them in general.
Click to expand...

Yeah I don't think they're considered tier 1 though, still relatively minor.
 
Damn right, they are just simply rude, arrogant people etc etc.
Avoid the place at all costs!!!!
=(Claremont branch)=:mad:
 
me said:
I later discovered reviews of the board, and it turns out that it's generally regarded as much better than the equivalent ASUS. I just had bad luck by getting one of the broken ones. Still, Biostar are dumb for letting the broken batch out in the first place.
Click to expand...
I think anything is better that ASUS or Gigabyte. Biostar has quite a good name. I won't blame any company for releasing a broken batch of products. It's impossible for them to test everything. As long as they take the right corrective measures afterwards. The shop should have gotten a notice about the defective batch and should have replaced it promptly with a working one as it doesn't cost them anything. Messing up however costs them a lot. I had a similar experience with Incredible Connection years ago. Needless to say I won't buy hardware from them again. They are also too expensive for non-existent service.
 
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I tend to agree. Their internet cafe service also sucks. YOU CANT DOWNLOAD ANYTHING BIGGER THAN 5MB! The Chinese owners are penny pinchers running PCs on windows 2000 and full of spyware and popups. I asked the staff in the computer section to call when an item came in - last year & still waiting!
 
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Prometheus said:
I think anything is better that ASUS or Gigabyte. Biostar has quite a good name. I won't blame any company for releasing a broken batch of products. It's impossible for them to test everything. As long as they take the right corrective measures afterwards.
Click to expand...

Well yeah somebody obviously failed on the "corrective measures" here. The problem batch I think hit retail about 2 months ago. The lady at the shop said "nobody else had complained" which was not only a lame response but also made me wonder who else actually bought one...
 
me said:
Well yeah somebody obviously failed on the "corrective measures" here. The problem batch I think hit retail about 2 months ago. The lady at the shop said "nobody else had complained" which was not only a lame response but also made me wonder who else actually bought one...
Click to expand...
I think that's a lie. They want to stress to you that you are the complaining type when they are in the wrong. Clearly they don't want to provide good service since that would mean having to respond properly to all complaints. And as for the R140 you lost: should have demanded a full refund. Small claims court threats always helps. :D
 
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I have dealt with the Claremont branch of Cafe Java on numerous occasions and have been pleased with their service in general.

I have built 10+ PCs with components from them and I have had to return a RAM module that failed memtest and another entire PC which had more than 1 faulty component (I'm guessing PSU and mobo). On both these occasions, my problems were sorted without me having to endure undue hassle.

I also like Chaos Computers in Kenilworth.

I can definitely only agree about Vefa though, been there once and will not go again. I would been interested to know if anyone has been there recently and can comment on their service? Check this thread for a laugh:

http://www.mybroadband.co.za/vb/archive/index.php/t-21996.html

My 2 cents :p
 
Vefa International is improving

Vefa International is taking over from CAFE JAVA , please visit *********** , you will see I am right.
 
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vefa is honorable company

No one can Stop Vefa anymore, Vefa International Tygervalley also doing quite well. ************ will show to you how Vefa become so strong.
 
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funny how guys that post about Vifa being good, only have 3-4 posts.

Dont even look, nothing on their site about Vifa taking over Java... anyway that wont happen. As java is owned by Sonic informed.
 
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