Micro Center — Attraction in Westmont

Nov 8, 2021 began the worst PC experience I've ever faced in the 20 years I've been building PCs. I showed up at the Westmont location an hour before they opened hoping they had a GPU in stock. They did have some GPUs in stock but they had designated those GPUs to Only be available for people who built their entire PC through them. This PC was for a client of mine and he was excited at the opportunity to get an RTX 3080 so he went for it. Their employee Ian helped me along through the entire process, was Very friendly and knowledgeable, and assisted me in getting all the price matches I could find on the parts.

The problem began when I learned that I not only had to buy all the parts from them, I also had to pay for them to build the PC. This is where I was Extremely reluctant. Every PC I've come across that was pre-built, or put together by a store has had some sort of issue, improper bios setting, RAM not running at the proper speed, parts selected not the best for the particular setup, etc. But, there was only one way to get the GPU so I went the lowest priced option where they just put the parts together, called the "Build 1 Retail Custom Build-Tier 1" on the invoice, for $149.99. I had to get a CPU I didn't want because they didn't have the Ryzen 5800X in stock, I was told once it came in stock I could exchange it. This was where I noticed the first problem. After getting the 5800X I began to swap out the CPU and noticed that the Tech who built the PC used almost the entire tube of thermal compound on the CPU. There was so much thermal compound it was dripping all around the CPU and onto the motherboard.

I contacted management and they were 100% wiling to help correct the issue. They had me bring the PC back in, swapped out the mobo, swapped out the old CPU for the new one, and I went on my way. When I got the PC home I began testing it out by playing the main game my client wanted the PC for and began to encounter some BSODs. I benchedmarked all the parts I could and made some adjustments to the RAM and it seemed stable so I shipped it. Unfortunately the BSODs returned after the client received the system. I did all I could to alleviate the issue but could not resolve the BSODs while gaming so the client sent the system back. Since then I've slowly swapped out Every part and have found the CPU to be the culprit. This makes sense since the BSODs didn't begin until they swapped out the parts due to the thermal paste issue and installed the new CPU in the process.

I have NEVER lost money on a PC build until now, and I can't tell you how many PCs, in particular PCs dedicated to gaming, I've built, too many to keep track of. The employees stated that their technician who first built the PC was "their best" tech. So it was their "Best" tech who put so much thermal compound on the CPU they had to swap out the mobo for a new one. I would also like to point out that while I was there for the mobo swap, another customer was there because his newly built PC was experiencing BSODs. In his case they had set his bios to CSM mode, even though he had All modern components with Windows 10 running. His issue was that when he learned his mobo bios should be in UEFI mode, he changed the setting, and since Windows had been installed on CSM mode, they just changed it back to CSM and the system became stable again. But there was no reason for it to be in CSM mode in the first place.

I would like to point out that Every employee I encountered was Extremely friendly, and in my opinion did their best to assist me. Because of that I do recommend Micro Center as a place to shop at, BUT I can NOT recommend it as a place to build or work on your PC. If you absolutely need a local place to build your PC I would say to either try to find someone knowledgeable to build it for you, or if it must be Micro Center my recommendation would be to Only allow them to build it if you've purchased their in-store protection plan on your parts. Issues don't always pop up right away and if you're beyond their in-store return time, like I am,...

Been shopping in here for almost a decade now and spending thousands of dollars. Here is my latest experience buying a GPU from them.

Visit 1 and 2: Go in and the sales rep: Ian recommended me a AMD 7900 xtx. This is my first AMD gpu and it was my fault for not doing my researching and trusting the workers. I go home unbox the gpu, and hear rattling from inside the sealed plastic and notice one of the screw sockets seem to be missing a screw and I concluded that what was the source of the rattling. So I drove back again (same day which is another 40 minute drive) to exchange out the faulty gpu. They were able to change out the gpu and when i got home I was able to game for about 1.5 hours before my PC restarted. From there on any time I gamed my PC would reset after a while. I tried running a bench mark through the AMD program and that caused another restart. When i booted it up this time the gpu was no longer being detected. I thought maybe my motherboard was bad and decided to take in for diagnostics at the Westmont Microcenter.

Visit 3: dropped my pc off for diagnostics and paid $50 dollars. The person working the front said it was going to take about 10 days since they were so backed up.

Visit 4 on Jan/5/25: A couple of days later (not the full 10 days), the tech working on my computer texted me saying that GPU was faulty. I go to the store and bring in a THIRD graphics card that I bought at a microcenter in Kansas city just in case. Good thing I did so because the Westmont location did not have the graphics card I wanted. The tech tries out the 3rd gpu and runs tests for 30 minutes and says that everything is working, and the GPU was faulty. I ask him if I could speak to a manager because I do not feel like given all the headache I had to go through with two faulty cards that Microcenter sold I should not be paying the 50 dollar diagnostic fee. The tech says he will get the manager, but also stated that I was paying for him time and expertise. When the manger (tall white guy with blue eyes, and a beard) came he essentially told me the same thing. I again said that I should not be held liable for figuring out if a gpu was bad especially if it is my second gpu and I do not have time to keep doing the 40 minute drive. I expect if I am paying about $1000 the product should be functional. The manager said, " well i do not know what to tell you, that is the price of doing this hobby, and you knowingly paid for the diagnostics and I cannot do anything about it". I ended up saying thank you and walking away. My computer after the repair is working fine, but I still feel like I do not need to be the on responsible for paying to diagnosis a gpu that I bought new for the second time from a "reliable" store.

Not sure what happened to Microcenter over the recent years but they used to hold themselves to a higher standard, and I have spent thousands here for the recent years. Will prioritize other options when it comes to electronics moving forward and will not be recommending...

Not happy with my first and last visit.

I needed a specific optical drive and the Westmont Micro Center was the only store who carried it. Their website showed they had one in stock so I drove an hour to get the item.

Once inside all the employees were congregated together and chatting. Didn't feel like going up to them and interrupting so I found the aisle with the optical drives myself. The particular model I was looking for wasn't there so I asked for assistance. I assume it was a manager or at least someone who isn't just a clerk. Again, was cackling away with several other employees. He instructed another employee to help me.

He took me back to the optical drives and also couldn't find the item. I showed him the Micro Center website that showed they had one in inventory. He left to check in the back. Which I found strange because he hadn't looked at the model number or even the specific name of the item. He came back 20 seconds later saying he couldn't find it. I'm not sure how anyone can search an entire backroom without knowing what they're searching for in such a short time. Rather than asking any other questions or suggesting other devices he kept saying sorry and tried to walk away.

I asked if any of the other drives on the shelf could do the function I needed. He picked up one and then proceeded to scroll through Amazon for a few minutes to get information. Rather awkward as I just stood there. I could've done the same thing. If he didn't have the proper knowledge that's fine, but at least ask another coworker.

I then sat in my car and started searching online again. I really didn't want to leave empty handed after driving an hour and really needing the part. I found that one of the drives on the shelf could work. I went back inside and grabbed the part. Unbelievable that I came so close to wasting all that time and going home without the part I needed plus the store not making a sale.

As I went to pay, the clerk asked for my email address. And phone number. And home address... I was not subscribed to any Micro Center newsletter and declined to give my address. This was all very excessive and they did not ask if I wanted to opt in to having my contact information sold in the first place. Is this a member's only store? Do I have to give my personal information for just making a purchase? Can I be asked first if I want to sign up at least?

All in all, I was not impressed with this shopping experience. -Website inventory is incorrect. -Employees treating the store like a casual hangout. -Unknowledgeable and unhelpful employees. -Company insists on collecting and most likely selling your private information.

Complete failure as a brick and mortar store. What's the point if shopping online is literally better...