ComplaintsforBallard Computes

• Initial Complaint

  03/12/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This transaction occurred on Thursday, March 9, 2023. But the overall deal took place over the entire course of the week leading up to it.I paid $450 to him to build me a $5000 Workstation PC.The nature of my dispute is both being delivered a defective product that died the moment I got it home and put the computer under more than idle load and the way I was treated by him yelling, berating, trying to intimidate and threaten me. As well as constant missing of deadlines they set themselves.The business will likey refuse refund as well as I do not ever wish to interact with him again after my experience with his business.See supporting document for receipt. That is all I was given at the end.

  Business response

  04/03/2023

  April 2, 2023

  Dear Better Business Bureau,

  I am writing to address the complaint filed by *************************** about a computer build that I completed on March 9th, 2023. As a professional computer builder, I take all complaints seriously, but I believe this complaint is unfounded and inaccurate.

  I want to clarify that ****** provided all the necessary parts for the build, except for a $50 RGB/Fan hub. Although I quoted him a price range of $200-$300 for a typical build, ******'s build was far from typical and required additional labor and materials due to a faulty RGB hub on the case he provided. I informed ****** of these additional costs before completing the build, and I believe the final price of $450 (including $400 for labor and $50 for the part) was fair and reasonable under the circumstances.

  ****** dropped off the parts on Tuesday and was told that his build would be finished Thursday.   ****** was present during the last two hours of the build. He witnessed the computer working flawlessly and even brought an additional four hard drives to be wired into the system, which I accommodated. However, I find it interesting that his complaint mentions the computer "dying" under load when he got home. I installed the latest stable driver from Windows Update for his **** graphics card, and if ****** updated to the latest driver from Nvidia, this could explain the system crashing under load. Nevertheless, as I warranty my builds, even if you supply the parts, for one year, it is essential for ****** to contact me to let me know there is an issue. He hasn't contacted me once since he picked up the build.  Odds are, it was a software issue that ****** has already resolved.  Having the latest greatest part isnt always what it is cracked up to be.  Sometimes the latest greatest thing has technical issues with drivers.  In a short time, these are hammered out by developers. 

  While I understand that ****** was excited about the build, his frequent visits to my office during the build process were a hindrance to my progress. I did my best to accommodate his requests and concerns, but standing over my shoulder while I worked was not the most efficient use of our time. I want to emphasize that I never yelled at ****** or engaged in any unprofessional behavior, despite my frustration with his behavior.

  In conclusion, I stand by the quality of my work and believe that this complaint is unwarranted. As a professional computer builder, I am knowledgeable about the components I use, and I rigorously tested the build before handing it over to ******. While I am willing to work with ****** to address any concerns or issues he may have, he has not provided any proof or evidence that I did anything wrong building his computer.

  Thank you for your time and attention.

  Sincerely,

  ****** Ballard

   

  Customer response

  04/03/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined the response would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. 
  
  There was absolutely no testing done by Mr. ********************** and when he claims that the system working while I was there that was with the ** under idle situations not under load as all he did was install the Operating System and a few of the drivers, many more drivers I had to install after I got the ** back hope before it failed. You wouldn't buy a sports car to only have it idle in your garage. When you start driving the car the way it was meant to you want it to work as well. That was the case here where when the computer was put under anything more than idle desktop load the power supply failed and was forced to bring it to another local shop because I did not want to deal with Mr. ********************** with how he treated me during my time of him building this **. And the fact that I had multiple faulty parts all brand new is highly unlikely so something must have been happing during the build process that caused multiple parts to be faulty. If you buy something that is meant to work under performance conditions you want it to work under those conditions. That was made clear when I had Mr. ********************** build this computer for me but between all of this I was left with a paperweight because he did not bother to test the computer all while treating me disrespectfully as well as missing multiple of his own self set deadlines to complete the project. Therefore Mr. ********************** did not have do diligence when performing this ** build and it led to a failure that would have easily been noticed had he done even the slightest amount of testing.

   
  Regards,
  
  ***************************

  
  

  Business response

  04/13/2023

  >There was absolutely no testing done by Mr. ********************** and when he claims that the system working while I was there that was with the ** under idle situations not under load as all he did was install the Operating System and a few of the drivers, many more drivers I had to install after I got the ** back hope before it failed.
  
  You have no idea what you are talking about.  How in the world did I set up your computer under only idle conditions?  This makes no sense.  By the time Im done with your computer, Ive made it work in a variety of ways that Im happy with.  If there are any issues, they manifest during the series of operations I put the computer through.  If I dont experience any issues, I dont see you again.  Thats the goal.  I installed every possible driver for your board, and updated your bios.  The only driver not updated was your graphics card driver and that was because you said you were going to login to Geforce experience and update it yourself.    I just installed the nvidia driver available from ********* update.   
  
  >You wouldn't buy a sports car to only have it idle in your garage. When you start driving the car the way it was meant to you want it to work as well. That was the case here where when the computer was put under anything more than idle desktop load the power supply failed and was forced to bring it to another local shop because I did not want to deal with Mr. ********************** with how he treated me during my time of him building this **.
  
  I dont think you understand what idle load means.  Its impossible for me to set up your computer under idle load.  Also, I specifically ran test to push the temperature on your cpu.  I wanted to insure your water cooling unit was working properly. 
  If your power supply failed as you say in your complaint, it had nothing to do with anything I did.  As far as I know, there is nothing I could do to make your power supply fail.  And you supplied the power supply, not me.
  
  >And the fact that I had multiple faulty parts all brand new is highly unlikely so something must have been happing during the build process that caused multiple parts to be faulty. 
  Your vagueness here causes me to not believe you.  What other parts failed?  Why wouldnt you mention them specifically?  Where are the receipts for these new parts you had to purchase?  You uploaded my receipt but dont have receipts for these other claims?  Also, you picked the computer up on Thursday evening around 6 pm.  Your first complaint wasnt until Sunday with the Better Business Bureau.  Why didnt you reach out sooner if your computer died when you got home? 
  
  >  If you buy something that is meant to work under performance conditions you want it to work under those conditions. That was made clear when I had Mr. ********************** build this computer for me but between all of this I was left with a paperweight because he did not bother to test the computer all while treating me disrespectfully as well as missing multiple of his own self set deadlines to complete the project. 
  
  ******, you are a liar.  I missed no deadlines.  I have a recorded phone call that contradicts this.  You called me Monday asking what time you could drop off your parts.  We agree on the next day and I tell you I wont get to it until Thursday.  And I finished it Thursday!  Here is a link to the recording: 

  
  *************************************************************************

  
  You had me build a gaming computer.  Its up to you to fully test it. Going with your car analogy, its up to you to race it around the track.  Its not feasible for me to push your computer like you will. You admit your power supply failed.  You bought that power supply from someone else.   Unfortunately that means someone else is responsible for that part.
  

  >Therefore Mr. ********************** did not have do diligence when performing this ** build and it led to a failure that would have easily been noticed had he done even the slightest amount of testing.

   Victors power supply was under enough load and used for enough hours, that it was reasonable to believe that it was fine.  I personally have never seen a power supply fail the day after being installed.  Its unfortunate.  If I would have supplied this part, I would have covered this for free.  In closing, my 400 labor charge for building Victors machine should not be refundable due to a failing part he supplied. 
  

  Ultimately I believe that ****** was upset that the total was more than he expected.  He also was upset that I was vocal about his numerous times showing up unannounced at my office during the build.  

  Im currently fighting a charge back from ****** on this build. 

  If the credit card company honors his chargeback, Ill file in small claims court and let a judge decide. 

  Customer response

  04/14/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined the response would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. 
  
  Mr Ballard is again using language that is obviously narcissistic in nature that tries to gas light me as the customer and make the impression that he did nothing wrong. As per his comments about me not knowing what I am talking about I do understand what Idle Load means and that is when you are doing basic desktop talks or the computer is sitting at  the desktop with no stress on the system. When the computer is put under the intended load such as a stress test or game it failed, something he could have easily identified if he used any software designed for this such as Furmark, Cinibench or any of the countless different software that can be found online. Along with him calling me a liar about multiple faulty parts being not an issue if you do any basic search about how common faulty parts are it would become very clear that even a single faulty part is uncommon, let along multiple. The fact that I had both a ********************* and the Power Supply being faulty as you claim I won't say which parts specifically proves that you are just trying to gas light and cover for yourself. In regards to his accusation that he did not miss any deadlines and has the phone records to prove it, all of his self imposed deadlines he made verbally in person so these phone records are irrelevant that accusation. And lastly this computer is not just a "gaming **" as you claim. It is used both as a workstation for my spreadsheet software for my financial work as well as for gaming and content creation after working hours. The constant berating, belittling and threatening you exhibited towards me leads me to believe that you should have just refused to do the ** build if I cost you money by doing this **. Treating your customers like this and trying to gas light them when they run across issues with you is very unprofessional. You run a business, having customers come by to check on the progress of your work is expected and treating them as a annoyance is not a good look for a business owner. The fact that you claimed that I taught you things you were unaware of and are now trying to accuse me not knowing what I am talking about just shows your narcissistic nature and how you are trying to manipulate the situation.
   
  Regards,
  
  ***************************
  

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