CCL Computers - bandits or bargains? (CCL Computers)

Member Name: The Duke

Product:	CCL Computers
Date:	06/02/01 (409 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: cheap, good gear, easy navigation, good info

Disadvantages: high P&P, customer service lacking, lengthy email reply times

The advent of online shopping over the internet has meant that people are starting to get better prices than if they had shopped locally. This is especially the case for computer components.

I’ve used a lot of online retailers in my time, and CCL is one of the ones I’ve used most. What I’ve found about them that I like is this:

Their web site is clear and easy to navigate, and most components have a link to a page which gives further information (although it’s usually of a technical nature) but should provide you with most of the information you need to know about a product you are considering buying.

Their contact points (e-mail, postal addresses, phone/fax numbers etc.) are easily found - sometimes it's very hard to find contact details without traversing every single page in a site.

I really like their prices, which are amongst the lowest that I have seen for any online computer component retailer, and the price list is updated daily, with a zipped file download for you to browse at your leisure, although I don’t think this contains the detailed information links which is a shame, because this would be incredibly handy.

I think they have a wide enough variety of goods to be able to offer a good selection, but not so large as to swamp a potential buyer with too much choice (i.e. confusing them). Some other online retailers have offered so many goods in a certain category that they surely must be losing customers due to overwhelming choice – the casual buyer who has no real idea of what is good kit or bad kit will go somewhere where information is given and they choice is more limited (without being restricted).

They say that it costs 14 times more money and effort to get a new customer than keep an existing one, and to this end, CCL's customer service is both good and bad. I'll explain the "good" here - their return policy is excellent, with no quibbles
returns. Always state what's going on, what went wrong, and how you expect them to help you out in a calm and courteous manner, and they'll bend over backwards to help you out.

Two things I dislike about CCL are:

They have no real variation in postage rates – e.g. I wanted to order a USB port set for my motherboard, which CCL used to offer for approx. £7 plus VAT (i.e. about £8.30) but they were going to quote me £15 P&P courier charges bringing the total to £23.30 for £8 worth of kit. I did ask them about simply putting the port set into a jiffy bag, and posting it, as it’s not a particularly fragile piece of gear as it’s only some cables, and a few pieces of metal, but they refused.

Another point that I dislike about them is that it takes simply ages to get any sort of response from them via email. I’ve put in a few requests for system quotes from them over the last week or so, but have had no reply, even 10 days later. While I like their prices, and have had no problems with them so far, if I continue to get ignored, I shall give my business to someone else.

Overall, they’re quite good, but the things that make a good company into a fantastic company like flexibility, and good customer services/care are sadly lacking and could be improved greatly.

**Update**
Over the course of the last 2 weeks, I've e-mailed CCL twice, and faxed them once, looking for a quotation for a complete set of components for me to biuld my own computer with. I've had no reply to any of them. This has cost them the sale of a computer system as other online retailers have provided me with comparitive quotes (some more than once!) in the same time period. I'm disappointed because this is the first time I've had trouble with CCL in nearly 4 years of dealing with them. Maybe they'll do better next time.

**Update**
Two things - I've since seen that you can buy USB port se
ts for any motherboard (they seem to be generic, and should cost about £10 - just go to any local computer retailer/builder and ask).

Secondly - since my last exploits with CCL's online info system, I have successfully ordered from them via telephone. Apart from the fact it's not as handy as doing it via the web, you do get the benefits of confirming your quote and stock levels before you order. My order was then delivered within a few days, all in one piece. So, the points I make above still stand - they are good to buy from, just don't mail them.

Summary: