GigaParts — Local services in Huntsville

Ordered from Gigaparts.com eshop 250$ handheld radio with ¬33$ international shipping due to the best price deal by far, but by the middle of next week I was contacted through email by customer support staff Sue that cheapest shipment is during pandemic problematic, so I could expect delays and further delays for returning money in case that package will not arrive as they lack tracking for cheapest international shipment. I was instead "recommended" to choose 3 times more expensive shipment option by UPS, furthermore, I was informed that in case my package will be confiscated by the customs (theory was that US model heading for Europe may be confiscated) I will not get my money back at all. I responded to Sue in the email that Baofeng radios with wideband transmit coverage far beyond what is allowed in the EU by civilians are happily sold across Europe (I own few), and also asked if they are serious about order PDF they sent me which stated dual-band in the model description instead of tri-band which I ordered, and ended the email with the notice that I may reorder if they intend to send me the product I ordered, which was not clear from PDF. When I checked the email the next day, there was no response, I looked at the order PDF again and noticed that they wrote dual-band while also adding to the description the US only model transmit frequency which is not available in mostly sold and often overpriced European models, so it was either just a mistake in description or intention to deal with fear from customs. I sent another email in which I acknowledged that I did not mind the long waiting times expected during the pandemic before the new year as long as they are sending me the tri-band variant I ordered. Instead of sending me any response, I was given an invitation to a ticket (but without any password nor password arrived when I requested it, there was an option to use google account login which I did not try at first and later did not work) but later I at least received the content of customer support ticket answer on my email asking me if I wanted to cancel my order. I responded to both emails from likely automated ticket portal email and an email sent to me by customer support Sue that if they can fulfill the order, then do it, and if they are not capable, cancel it. As I wanted to solve the issue quickly as possible I contacted in the same day by the end of shop working hours customer support through chat on their webpage. Even before fully explaining the issue, customer support on chat (Ivory) responded in an angry manner that they sending packages to Europe all the time, and after I asked him what is my order status, he just give me a link to check for myself and closed chat session. In given link where you add some personal info to access your order info was next to my order just a blank field. The next day I received an email that my order was canceled. I would not mind if they just told me that the cheapest option is currently not available or that they are not willing to take such risk, but the manner in which they responded wasted a lot of my time. Meanwhile, another US model HT that I ordered from a different US radio shop where they send you the email with price as an international customer for product and shipping you pay for through bank transfer already arrived, for a shipment price between 20-30$ cheaper than recommended shipment option on Gigaparts.com. Few improvements in shipment cost calculator or sending international customers the final price they should pay instead would make the need to write my review in order to make service for other customers better unnecessary. Concerns about customs may be legitimate and you always need to check your current local market situation before ordering from abroad, as these laws may/may not be enforced depending on the situation and changes in leadership, UK's medical masks selling ban to civilians happened just a year ago, while I read in customer reviews on Aliexpress about Baofeng HT with illegal parameters that were confiscated by...

Edit 2: Went back today to give it another go. Wanted to purchase the Promaster CL33RGB light. It was $49.99 in store, but is $39.99 online: Promaster, Amazon, etc. I asked about a price match and was told they don’t do that. Oh well. Bit my tongue and bought it but I think I’m done here. The only good thing about it is convenience.

Edit 1: I want to elaborate on some points. First, I like GigaParts, generally. They fill an important hole in the Huntsville photography scene. It’s an essential business.

COMPETITIVE PRICING/FINANCING: Canon EOS R8 at GigaParts is $1499.99 on sale with kits lens. Camera body only option is not available. I picked up camera body at Best Buy on sale for $1199.99. Financed the camera for 18 months 0% interest at Best Buy versus 6 months 0% at GigaParts for the kit through PayPal. Difference between a $76/month payment and a $250/month payment to avoid interest.

SELECTION: I have yet to see the battery in stock that is used in the Canon R100, R50, R10, and R8, the LP-E17. I notified one of the supervisors at grand opening that they didn’t sell the battery for many of the cameras they sell. They’ve added a peg for it finally but it has not been in stock. Wanted to purchase the Canon RF 35mm IS Macro Lens and they don’t stock it. Had to get it at Best Buy. I’ve already recounted trying to buy the RF 85mm and being charge $50 more for an open box display than a closed box unit at Best Buy.

They generally lack in the “good” tier of SD cards. They do have a lot of expensive options. One of the most popular SD cards on the market is the Sandisk Extreme Pro 128GB SDXC UHS-1 200MB/s. It runs about $29.99 although at the time of this edit it is $21 at Best Buy. This SD card currently has over 1,500 5 star reviews at Best Buy and is primarily used for photography and videography. GigaParts doesn’t carry it.

They have tried to reach out a couple of times and I really don’t care to speak to anyone there. I’m not mad and I plan to continue to do business at the store. I recommend people check it out. If they can fix the issues I detailed above it’ll be a 5 star experience.

Original Review I always find a reason to not spend money here.

I mostly come for photography gear. I have purchased a light, stand, backdrop, bag and a few other accessories from this store. I’m happy it’s around for sure.

However, they’ve lost about $2,500 in potential purchases from me by either not having competitive pricing or financing options, not having items in stock, or only having display items available for sale. Since GigaParts has opened I’ve opted to buy a camera and 3 lenses from Best Buy. I’d love to spend that money at a local business, but they just don’t have the offerings.

Just as an example, I went in to buy a Canon lens and they only had a display unit available for $549.99. They wouldn’t discount the open box lens as it was “locked in a case and customers haven’t handled it.” Well I’m not worried about the customers. I don’t know how it has been handled at all by employees. If it wasn’t a fragile piece of kit it’d be different. So instead of buying the full price display unit, I went and got it for $50 cheaper at...

update to original Never figured out what was wrong with my old computer. That being said I bought a new one and the labor for my old computer was assigned to the cost of the new one at least. Decided to purchase it here due to the discount and as mentioned in last review, this is a good place for prebuilt or custon rigs-if you're going to go this route buy here. Management also looked to see if they could find data on when someone went through my images and memes on my old computer and were straightforward about it being a violation of policy if it happened, and assured me cameras were in use. I went through them myself so I have no screenshots with timestamps to offer management, but they requested them and conducted an internal investigation. Much happier with my final interaction with the store.

Original review*

The store is clean and well maintained, new build service is good, but the actual repair service is lacking. I've had a computer made here for my wife, and I've also had mine repaired. The new computer build they made with parts I ordered went really well.

The repair on my existing desktop did not. Here are the issues I had...From everything I can see, they just ran benchmark software but didn't actually verify the problem I said I had was having and try to troubleshoot it; despite me dropping it off twice and having a long talk with a tech as he worked on it. They said they did, but it makes no sense it would crash for me but not for them. The computer appears to run fine on the surface but crashes when the game I play is brought up. The first time I took it to them they said this was due to a corrupted drive, so I had to pay for recovery services and a new SSD. Problem persists, they have no idea why. I found that answer beyond frustrating. As I browsed my computer later when I got it back, I noticed that on my recent file history a lot of images were pulled up, and the pictures folder had been visited. Aside from the benchmark test stuff they downloaded, it seems they browsed the images on my computer. I know for a fact I didn't look at any of them recently, so it seems whoever went through my computer potentially cruised through my picture folders as well looking for anything "interesting". I don't make that allegation lightly.. There were about 20-30 memes recently accessed and 1-2 personal pictures, some of which I know i haven't looked at in years. Even if it was mostly memes, its unprofessional and creepy to browse through galleries like that when you're supposed to be working on fixing a device.

Really disappointed with my repair service and interactions after the stellar build they did. I only recommend them for new builds....