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BUYING GUIDES - Buying a new PC

Introduction Buying Guides - Home

Checklist Decide what you want to do with the PC Decide on a budget including VAT Commence your research Establish your own specification and select five vendors Examine accurately specifications being offered by the vendors Thoroughly check out each vendor Examine the warranty supplied with the Hardware and all options if any Short-list three suppliers and it's decision time Parting with your money

Buying a New PC? 9. Parting with your money Although my advice on this is plain and simple, I thought it was worth explaining why. Whatever you do, buy using a credit card. The great thing is that should you have any problems with your vendor, the service, the warranty or the product itself, all you need to do is call your card company. Typically, if things go sour and you need to get a refund and don't have any luck with your supplier, then a letter to your card company will result in a swift transfer of funds back to you, and instant debiting from your supplier's account. They'll ask questions later. Suppliers rarely win in case of a dispute. Also, buying by credit card gives you added legal rights under the Consumer Credit Act. Under this law, the supplier and the card company are "jointly and severally liable" for the purchase. If your supplier goes bust then it's up to the card company to provide you with any promised ongoing service or warranty, or your money back. Points to note are that: This protection only applies to credit cards and NOT debit cards or switch. Vendors will sometimes insist that you pay a credit card surcharge. Between 1.5% and 2.5% is typical. Although this is frowned upon by credit card companies, it generally thought to be a quite acceptable practice within the industry due to incredibly tight margins. Try, however to negotiate - a keen salesman will normally "split the difference" and go halves with you on the surcharge. You should not need to resort to using the law or your credit card company to get results if things go wrong. A nice little "Arm twister" is to speak to someone senior at you vendor and promise to raise hell with the card company. Vendors know that in the event of a "Charge back" they will have little or no chance of recovering their money - and they will certainly be under a pile of unnecessary paperwork. Good vendors will want to stay squeaky-clean with the card companies - apart from anything else, a squeaky clean image lowers the vendor's commission rate with the card company. If you have several credit cards, use the one which offers you the best protection. Some cards, for instance, offer you 90 days insurance on everything you buy - useful, that. If you don't feel happy about buying by credit card on-line, then don't. It's good to call the vendor and get the personal touch. Remember that certain card companies are now positively encouraging you to buy over the net, promising that you won't ever be the victim of a teenage hacker. Lastly, get assurance that your card will not be debited until your order is dispatched. Cheeky cowboy outfits sometimes debit your card at the time of order, which allows them use of your money while they buy and assemble your system. Any reputable company will be solvent enough not to have to use your money effectively as "risk capital". Last but not least, I must mention the old "Interest free credit" sweetener. Although this might look attractive on the face of it, remember that nothing is free. All the vendor has done is absorb any interest charges into the margin, in other words, you're probably paying too much. Ask for a discount instead. The discount should be at least the current base rate x the length (in years) of the interest free credit offered. Well, you've made your selection and dug up your Gold Card, now it's time to go for it. Good Luck! We hope this guide has been useful, however any suggestions would be welcomed, please drop us an email at: feedback@one2surf.co.uk. Prev