Time Computers / The Computer Shop Scam

Hey man, we're on YOUR side.

Bollocks ... time pcs are the best .... the modem fix is a piece of piss !

i totally agree with u. i sent my computer back to get fixed as after a few months it stopped working. it took nearly 2 weeks for them to pick it up and then took nearly 2 months to get it back again,even then i had to pick it up myself cos they took too long. i would not advise anybody to buy from them

I am reading in horror at the way TIME customers have been treated, not only on your website but on others too. This is my second and last TIME - although first one lasted me 6 yrs with no problems. Purchased another in May and has worked fine with no supanet problems either (managed to get onto AOL easily). Now after a storm and power cut I am left with a very poorly machine. Phoned Manager at local store to be told what seems to be a familiar phrase now: call our technical support line at £1 per minute and purchase RELOAD disc at £59.99. Same old story of why we dont get this cd included is due to Microsoft not allowing it to be included. So far I have not done either but thought would do a bit of research first.

For those who have read your TIME USER GUIDE, perhaps you can make note of the following statement in Chapter 7 on the Reload CD.

"The Reaload CD has been developed by Time in response to customer's requestes for a quick, safe and above all simple way to restore the software on the PC to its 'out of the box' condition.

Designed especially for the new or inexperienced user, it is extremely easy to sue, requires no special knowledge or technical expertise and will fix most software problems in a matter of minutes. Plus, it can save you the time, trouble and expense of returning the PC or having to call our Customer Care lines. The Reload CD is normally supplied as standard with all TimeCover support packs. If you are not covered by a support pack, you may obtain the Reload CD directly from our sales department for a small extra charge.

I just love the 'small extra charge' bit which is actually 11% of the purchase price of the goods, and thats 'small'!!!!

Seems like this is a permanent problem with this company and would appreciate finding out if there is any way around this ie. installing new hardware at the expense of the 12 month guarantee which seems pretty worthless anyway.

Jenny

I have to eat my words now, I got a result from Time in the shape of A FREE RELOAD DISK, which is in the post. Cant tell you how chuffed I feel!

Jenny

You do not have to eat your words. The disk should have been supplied with the computer, whether it will work for you is another problem, lol wouldnt it be funny...

I can't beleive they still operate! An didot friend of mine ignored advice from me and was in a hurry to get a computer. His cousin said time, and he bought the first pc he seen on their site.

What did he get?
A french keyboard (tech support required),
No internet explorer installed (tech support would have been required only fo me!),
A cd-rw drive that dont work (he called tech support, i wasnt there, they told him to uninstall/reinstall the drivers!, didnt work obivously, now their baffelled and they didnt offer to replace the drive. i've told him to ring them again and stop being thier bitch)

From their site:

Great News for all customers!
With effect from Sunday 7th September we are introducing extended hours technical support that will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!

Please note that on the new service, calls will be charged at £1/min

If my computer goes wrong i call the shop they either fix it over the phone, or i can take it in that day to be fixed. It needed to go away once and they organised it all for me. No waiting in a cue on a £1 a min or waiting 2 weeks for it to come back, it was back within 4 days. I am very pleased with the support i get from my local store. Lets face it, would pc world offer that kind of support? Dont think so, i've had one from there too, i paid £300 for support, and it cost me 50p a min to get help, no instore support!! I think time are great. Those who dont want to pay for support expect it all for free! Thats life! Where not all technicians, we all need help, you just need to pay for it.

End of the day, its all worth winging about Time, however PC World are no better and neither are half the other "Bargain PC" suppliers out there.

If you want quality spend a bit more, and buy that assurance that you so crave. End of the day, you get what you pay for

I think you should all feel lucky. Got the cheap machine, thought yeah I work in IT, can sort any problem.

That was till i got a TIME machine. DVD burner never worked, they wanted to charge me £30 to send it back (only had it a day), found an update, burner works. It kept crashing. bought what they said was Win XP, set me back £60. It was the stupid Reload CD (that does not work after 3 restores)! Might aswell brought the OS at PCW. Now the god damn GeForce FX 5900XT Graphics card has gone, and it has literally just gone out of warrenty! Plus the thousands I have spent phoning the £1 min send it back for £30 hotline.

They are the biggest con, wish I just brought a dell.

Thanks guys. I was about to buy a new pc from Tiny or Time.
Though this m/c is a Tiny & has been no problem over the last 6 years I will heed yr comments.

Previous pc was a HP which also gave no problems.

I am an untutored grey beard now retired but I have quite enjoyed using the computers for my business accounts, wages etc.

Any comments about most reliable suppliers & of course value for money.

All the best

kiembe

TIME o there great.

What aload of CRAP.

Got the comp 11 months ago, day i got it had to go back to the shop and get the reload cd at £60.

Whan i tried it, still the same prob. I shouldn't have to go and get a reload cd on the day the thing comes.

I have called tech support countless times, which at £1 a min. All telling me the same thing.

Get this driver then go to this site. And so on you get the picture. And now there new 24/7 tech support is in india and they don't have a clue what they are talking about.

I mean would you belive it, someone from time called me yesterday to ask how it going with the comp because my warranty was about to go. Told him, he said he had the same probs, took all his details on what to do. Still no joy.

Someone should try and sort out some kind of trading law for this company.

Try this link http://www.romulus2.com/forum/showthread.php?s=b7389537973e0a88a114210959c4894f&threadid=12206

Like the man said just 1 big con

I spent £1200 on a TIME PC a few years ago when i was at university and had nothing but trouble with it from DAY ONE. The premium rate support number was a farce and the people who worked there a bunch of morons. AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE

My friend had the same problem with a TIME computer. I didnt find a fix for the modem and just put in a new 6.99 modem. Works a treat. This is after they spent £60 on support calls to TIME.

3 Phone calls and the support staff always asked the same questions and very slowly! Well, you would at £1 a minute.

I dont agree in free support as you leave it open to time wasters and people who dont read the manual. But locking the ISP and charging to release it. Its a Scam my friend.

thank you girls boy i was thinking about buying one but not now

fuck u time is the best

I regularly repair computers and was recently asked by a friend to reformat there Time computer. Well wish I had never started. It's now one week since I started and i've had continuous problems with the standard system. It was running on Windows ME, but I decided to upgrade it to Windows 2000. No chance, untill - I removed the HDD and installed Win2000 on my own computer. I also had extreme problems installing software for the built in graphics card and sound system - before reformatting i wrote down the system information so i could download the win2000 drivers from the internet. It took four hours to install the sound and modem drivers and i'm still trying to install the graphics card - it just won't let me! i tried using the timesupport website but the model number is not listed! I'm now considering purchasing a new graphics card for it as it just is pissing me off and it is not even worth the time and effort i have put in.

My verdict? = Buy a similar product from the likes of Dabs.com - it's faster, better and the build quality is far superior.

I would not be able to reccommend a Time computer to anyone thinking of buying a new pc. You would also be best to avoid second hand time machines.

They dont supply the reload cd with the machines because its part of microsoft. They have the license to install windows onto the system, as for piracy, not to give out the CDs with machines.
You buy second hands time parts from dabs.com also known as emit.
You can refund the call time if they find out it is a hardware fault n needs to be arranged for RMA.
You cannot format the HDDs cus windows is partitioned on the HDDs, only time can access them, and the reload cd.. nothing else.
They give you support options which gives the reload cd in there for you. Then if u do have a software fault, USE THE CD INSTEAD OF CALLING!! if its hardware fault.. call and arrange for RMA!! so simple ya???

Wolfie.. by ur rights, you didnt need to pay £30 for delivery/part to fix the DVD burner in ur machine as you have only had it a day. As i said, its advisable to get support on PCs as parts to run out after the standard 12 month warranty. Could you be so stupid NOT to get it????
Technical support lines are open 9-5.30 after that its passed over to a 3rd party call service which is in india.. COMMON KNOWLEDGE PEOPLE!!

YOU ALL DONT DESERVE TO HAVE A PC IF YOU DONT KNOW THE COMMON GROUNDS OF WARRANTY ON PCS!!! DUH!

To unlock the modems go to www.tiny.com/deopt/ and fill in the information.. as soon as u download it.. install it and would put whatever you want.. advise not AOHELL!

Its people like you lot that expect everything for nothing!!! walk into a shop expect a porsche for the price of a skoda and a FREE 5 YEAR ILL COME ROUND TO YOUR HOUSE AND BAKE YOU A CAKE WARRANTY!! Get in the real world people! Helplines cost money.. either pay more for the price of the PC of pay extra for a warranty! SIMPLE!!
Its people like you lot who refuse to listen when salespeople try to tell you what is and isnt included in a standard warranty...and when offered a extended support pack insist you have friends who will 'FIX IT FOR YA' < Ye honest we all have pals who who will call on by and replace a bust TFT free of charge! Its fair to say the standard 12 month warranty offered by TIME/TINY is Sh**! but make the descision when you buy dont harp on afterwards!!!!!

Thank the Lord for 'Anom' of Nov 24th @ 6.58pm; tho I was steaming by the time I reached the bottom of the page - I worked in a time store and most of the people above smack of being the same wankers I had to deal with every bloody day. Yes - I agree; it is unfair that you have to pay £1 per min to report a hardware fault; BUT IN EXCESS of 90% of complaints about our 'crap computers' were about software issues which people expected us to get sorted for free! Get real! Also I can't speak for every store but in most that I know, customers are advised of the exact conditions of their warranty BEFORE they buy. Then when you find out your mate (the expert you said would sort any problems for you) doesn't know half as much about pcs as you thought, you then conveniently forget you agreed to these terms and conditions and try and get results by being a pain in the arse. What this is really about is a bunch of people who want to pay £700 for a £1000 PC AND get a £3000 level of service thrown in. Aint gonna happen.

You fucking tellem alex i still work for the computers shop and agree that most of the problems are software related . but the biggestv problem with all pcs is the idiot in the chair in front of it

Hi there, wrote the words 'time computer fraud' in google and this came up. Try and beat this one...

Bought a Platina from the Computer Shop last year. Specs were supposed to be 1024MB RAM, XP2600+ AMD Athlon, 256MB ATI Radeon 9200 Graphics Card and 160GB Hard Drive.

When I got it, everything was there and the computer was running at 2.25ghz (If my memory serves me). Then the thing stopped working with my monitor. After much support, which was alright - nothing bad about it just long winded - I convinced them to take it back and look at it. I sent it back and they said they found nothing wrong. It came back and was working...making me wonder if they changed something. I looked at my processor and could have sworn the card was a different colour.

So here I am about 5 months later, just noticing that my Processor is running at a speed of 1.25ghz...a full Ghz slower than what I remember it running at. Now could someone please explain to me why a Processor which is supposed to be an equivalent to the Intel P4 2.6ghz, is running at 1.25ghz? Simple...they must have switched it to a XP1600+ and hope we wouldn't notice it.

I call that fraud...and I'll be making a festival phone call very soon. If it isn't fraud, then someone has certainly messed up. This computer has been a £1000 nightmare...even when I've restored it to factory settings in the past, it has started with bugs and spyware. I know I will never buy a Time computer again.

IF YOU DONT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT COMPUTERS BUY A WARRANTY. IF YOU DO BUILD YOUR OWN?

SIMPLE?

I am a manager of computer shop i can assure we have the highest quality

I have a second hand time pc and want to "start again" but dont want to fork out for a reload disc.
Anyone know if i can put in a copy of windows or will i need a new hard drive aswell?

you can install any os if u have the right disk u wont be needing a reload cd. Im sure if u use the net u can source a copy of a well known and i hate to say this "Quite Good" operating system :-)

Id just like to point out that the 1st person to reply, amjad biag, is actually the MD/CEO of the granville group which owns TCS, Tiny, Time, and coincedentally Supanet, the ISP which TCS Pcs are locked to.

theres blatantly a lot of TCS staff on this board, im currently working for the TCS and id just like to say with regards to the warranty theyre no different to any other high street retailer, you get the support you pay for, if you buy a PC you get a PC, if you buy the support you get what you paid for. Support.

theyre still a shit company to work for tho, the comm structure is wank.

just out of interest try searching for the CEO's name in google, hes in court this year for a £20million fraud he puportedly commited when he owned the phone people.

Interesting to see nerds anon on board . This rubbish is built for the mass public market . Go back to the Amiga which was better than the PC . The PC was a business machine the operating system was rubbish then and is still rubbish now for the public .It is too technical for general use .

OOOOps!!! found these pages too late!!!! Purchased Time Optima package deal two weeks ago, been having grief from it ever since......internet, cd rewriter, dvd drive,.......no joy with any of it. Wish I had done my homework reading these pages first. I've been well seen off!!!

just want to say Time Computers are the biggest piles of sh*t ive ever seen!!!! I bought my nice new Time Power station,within a few mins of setting it up i was dissapointed.....my digicam had been broken in transit and my monitor had developed a fault on the wiring to rear of the screen...i then was told i had to ring a premium rate number(at A £1 a min)so im £20 down straight away,to tell them my fault which was a waste of time cos there are in pakistan or summat and cant understand wat ure sayin!!!!!! After a few days of messing around i finally got them to exchange the monitor and the digicam,no probs there i thought..well i was so so wrong the monitor they had sent has since developed a totally diff fault and the want me to pay £35 carriage charge to send there faulty goods back which they have already replaced...but to top it all my dvd writer will not burn on rewritable dvds,cdr's is no prob but it just doesnt like dvdr's and ive also noticed that some of my own programmes wont work on it unless i use the front usb port...how strange.I cant belive ive bought such a pile of sh*t,they are tossers and things must be done to stop them and yes the trading standards are now involved

I'm 3rd Line Internet support for most of the UK's ISP's and I'm also a system builder I work for a back bone to other ISP's for the likes of Egg, I have been into computers and the internet since the days of BB's and Prestel, so along time.

Never have I had so many problems thanks to the likes of TIME and Tiny and Norton and Maccafee antivirus suite, yes there PC's are quite bad and yes there support is very limited and script driven, there should be alot more training in that area with the fact that some poor sod is paying £1.00 a min for GOOD advice and support, not generic do this buy this etc.. IMO honesty goes along way, if it sounds like software problems explain your remit then offer solutions, if its hardware dont BS the customer explain if you know how to solve the problem and if not say so, if its a hardware problem then offer to replace the faulty part making 100% you have all the facts and not just assuming the customer is thick and that you already know the answer.

Good Support = good PR - remember you reflect against the company you work for.

Do a crap job in support and the customer will assume everyone in that company is crap.

In the end just treat that person on the other end of the phone how you would like to be treated if you were paying £1 or 50p a minute.

Paul Saunders
3rd Line Support Internet Engineer

A couple of hours ago my new shiny Tiny Monster 2004 pro pc arrived a week earlier than expected. It was like all my christmases had come at once. I set it all up then switched it on.
It keeps hanging on DCHP then saying it cannot find boot sector and asking me to insert the boot diskette. I phoned the support line and after 45 mins of trying to understand what some Indian bloke was saying and going through certain steps he decided they'd given me the wrong cd and that I would receive another in 5-7 working days! Is there anything I can do other than wait?

Ooops, using the new keyboard with my old pc......I meant to say Tiny Monster 2005 pro.

I got a laptop from their website. Have had it 3 weeks now, not used it once. System crashed on me right away. Called their useless support team at 50p/min and was told to use the provided reload CD. Well, the CD they sent me doesn't work with my system. So they said they'd send me a new one. That was 2.5 weeks ago. Still waiting. They've since "sent" me 2 more, first class post. STILL WAITING. So I basically have a £1000+ doorstop I've not been able to use. They refuse to help me on tech lines or customer support lines. I've even asked to speak to a manager, I was refused. Twice. Eventually I called Microsoft's free support line, and they were incredibly helpful. They conferenced me in on a call to Time and it was only THEN that I got through to a manager. He basically (in a nutshell) told me to wait for these phantom reload CD's and that until I got them, he couldn't help. He didn't even WANT to discuss a refund. Said he couldn't do it until they determined it was a hardware fault. But I can't see it being anything else. Their customer/tech support is UNBELIEVABLY HORRIBLE. They're like zombies...same excuses over and over. I strongly recommend anyone wanting to buy any type of computer equipment look elsewhere. It's not worth the hassle. I'll be on to Consumer Affairs if I've not received these disks by Monday.

for anyone interested there on watchdog this week and im definetly ringin in, i have a crappy laptop that wont work, and apparntly its the software. someone quoted avove "You fucking tellem alex i still work for the computers shop and agree that most of the problems are software related . but the biggestv problem with all pcs is the idiot in the chair in front of it", now im sure when i purchased my laptop i was buyin both software and hardware, so if its the software, seein as it was your company installd it your company should make sure it works, thats the whole essence of a package deal,if thats not the case maybe the idiot who sold it me should have let me in on the fact that its not your problem or fault when the software goes,its obvious you work there, you can just sense that same arrogant cock attitude that seems to be standard to all computer shop employees!

Why dont you all just stfu. You go and spend over a thousand and don't bother to read the t's and c's and then complain. People who are unable to de optimise a modem are all fkin noobs. Its a pieece of piss. simple process a monkey could follow.
The biggest problem with people's pc's is they get friends 'who know about computers' (they rarely know fuck all) to have a look and they sit and fiddle and fuck things up. I am a PC technician and Time are not as bad as ppl say. Learn how to use a PC before you fuck around with things.

Hi, I previously worked for Time Computers HQ in the UK (Burnley)... and I must say that I feel for all the suffering customers of Time.

As a tech there, I must say TIME ARE AS BAD AS CAN BE...

They calimed that they were the main suppliers for the "Home Computer User" market...

If that's the case then all you "techs" should be aware that Home Users are rarely clued-up about computers...

I as a former Time Tech I would never buy a Time Machine, there are better companies, such as Sony Vaio & Dell who provide great support & no crappy £1.00 a min lines.

I bought a machine from Dell @ £311.00 yes £311.00 for my friend, it came with brilliant support, better software (no OPTIMIZED Modem) & the same machine from Time would have cost over £500.00.

Time computers are also cheap in design, have you seen some of the crap white cases they have?... this 2005 not 1980.

Cheap components, cheap service, cheap customer care, cheap everything... sorry not the price... rip off prices.

Time had a fantastic hold on the Home User Market, only if they got thier act together, today they would be bigger than Dell.

Time tried to used a function refered to as "Reseller". They simply sold thier machines under contract with companies such as Tesco & Woolworths... I am glad to say Tesco quickly realised that Time would only damage thier rep & cancelled thier contract with Time. Hopefully, all the other companies will follow suite.

STEER CLEAR OF TIME COMPUTERS... THEY ARE TIME MACHINES... FROM THE 1980's.

I brought a time pc in december 2000, paid an extra £500+ for 4 year gold warranty which if you didnt use in those 4 years you could claim back. Now those 4 years are up trying to get the £500 is a joke. In 2003 i paid for minor repairs myself thinking its not worth losing the cash back for. Time say that because i didnt fill in the insurance certificate and send back within 15 days i do not qualify. The computer was brought in december and arrived in january more than 15 days later, this document i was spose to return did not arrive with this, nor did software i paid £200 for, or voucher for free computer table. I eventually got the software not from time but the local retail outlet i purchased the computer from. The voucher for free desk arrived to late to claim it. This cash back registration form never arrived, infact i never knew anything about it until january this year when trying to claim my cash back. I do however have a cash back claim number given to me by time and an account no. which they now decide to ignore. I also have all original paper work that proves i brought the cash back waranty. Anyone had a similar experience. (dont have the computer anymore got fed up of having to constantly reboot it)

Time for my tale, me thinks.

I phoned the cover gold technical support asking for help as to why my modem wasn't working. They told me to reset my computer to the factory settings using the reload cds. I tried it but the PC wouldn't recognise the reload cds and just booted windows instead. The guy told me that I must have been using the wrong reload Cds and so, like an idiot, I bought new ones (£40). They took a month to arrive and when I eventually got them, lo and behold; they were exactly the same as the ones I was using before.

I phoned customer support and demanded a refund. And got one.

People the problem with time is that they are inferior build made by nuggets. For gods sake go to somewhere like dabs, buy complete or better still build your own. I too have worked in an electrical shop and it is quite right to suggest that a large amount of problems are whats commonly termed in the industry as bastard faults. They are caused by the bastards who are operating the equipment. But time like many companies on the not so cheap as chips brigade exasurbate this by building shit.

I paid £60.01 plus £6.99 a month for Total Care cover. Total Care my arse. The disks they give you have no instructions on them, or with them.

The cover package does not give any user instructions (ie: it tells you what you can do, but not how to do it).

It doesn't tell you the website from which to download online virus scans from.

They keep you hanging on the line for between 20 & 40 minutes before getting through to people who give you wrong information.

You follow their "over the phone" instructions and end up with errors around every corner.

COME ON "THE COMPUTER SHOP", WAKE UP AND LISTEN TO WHAT YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE COMPLAINING ABOUT. IF YOU CAN'T SUPPLY EVEN THE BASIC INSTRUCTIONS YOU WILL END UP WITH A FRUSTRATED CUSTOMER BASE VENTING THIER ANGER ON SITES LIKE THIS.
THERE IS NO ROOM FOR THIS "TAKE THE MONEY & RUN" ATTITUDE ANYMORE.

Mark Parker
Tiny's Pissed off Punter of the month for March.

Hi. I found this site by searching for 'fuck time computers' in Google. Nice one!

I too worked for TIME as a technician in the Burnley HQ for about 2 weeks a couple of years ago. I ended up just walking out in the end. It was a horrible place. Arrogant senior technicians, underqualified front line technicians and a generally unpleasant place with a nasty atmosphere.

I truly feel for all of you who have had the misfortune to buy from these people. Every day involved speaking to person after person who have been sold absolute crap with ridiculously overpriced warranties and phone support. I'm also shocked to discover that, reading the posts above, they seem to have developed new ways of ripping people off since I worked for them! Locking modems to 1 ISP then charging £60 a go to unlock it? Come off it! It's OK saying 'any noob can de-optimise a modem' (whatever that means) but lots of their customers are people who are very new to computers, haven't a clue what a modem is, and have been conned by some slippery twat who knows nothing at all about cmputers (but is good at selling to little old ladies!)

I'm not surprised that many people are annoyed with the level of knowledge of most of the tech support advisors either. They basically let anyone in. First of all, because of the massively high staff turnover, most people are employed through agencies. Agencies want to make money by getting as many people as they can to them so they push people who just aren't qualified for tech support to interviews.

The interview and 'training' was an absolute joke. The technical interview involved being given a dis-assmebled PC and being told to put it together. Not switch it on or anything, have faults to diagnose, etc. Just put the cables where they ought to go.

The training lasted 2 weeks, split half and half into tech training and customer support training and was pretty basic to say the least.

Once actually into the job, I can honestly say it was the most unpleasant work I've ever had to do. I felt so sorry for all the people I spoke to every day. Most 'tech' calls were actually from people who have been waiting weeks for computers to be returned or given incorrect tech support advice the last time they called. They also happened to use the cheapest transport company they could find who were renouned for losing monitors, base units, etc.

Jim's post above sounds typical of the goings-on at Time. A reload disc is all well and good (as long as it's for the correct machine!), but selling crap components in the first place, built by monkeys on an assmebly line isn't really a good place to start.

If you've been taken for a ride by Time, complain as much as possible and demand your refunds. Please insist on speaking to a senior manager though - people on the front line just don't get paid enough for the amount of shit they take!

Hello there
Time are at this minute selling Laptops on QVC.
@ £1,299. They say they have been building computer for years, where as these computers and other Badged Names are based on one Model, 11 of which are built in Taiwan and other places, and certain additions added later by main outsourved companies, various dealers throughout Europe and USA.

I am most annoyed that the people who represent this firm, do not tell the truth about.

Victor. The source of my information comes over a period of time from "ChiP Magazine" in Germany. Where I worked on Main Frames for a large German Company.

This company doesn't pay its sales staff enough to put up with the crap that we're dealt. We send upwards of twenty people weekly out of the store eagerly awaiting their new machine, having done our job by the book entirely.


Then the people at Burnley take over, its down to us to make excuses for whatever seems to have gone wrong, again.


This may fall on deaf ears, but have a little sympathy for the lackeys at your local Computer Shop; Its not our fault, and we are on your side, honest! -.-'

i to have had the same problem with time with the tec support you can not understand them and i have had problem after problem and i have only had the comp for about 3 months and that tit who was saying about the skoda and that if you bought a skoda you would still expect it to run properly

I used to work for Time at Altham,near Burnley.They treat most of their workers like wankers,which probably explains why most of the higher up tech supports ARE wankers,as I have seen on this board.
When you buy a pc,you expect it to work.
If it doesn't,you expect the support people to have some idea whats wrong.
Not just get told to try the same things over and over like a total tosser!!!!!
Thats what they train you to do!
It's all about the money,guys,the money you have,that they want.
I've been there and I know the score.
Shame that most of the few decent techs who I knew there have either ended up leaving,or have sucked up to the Time philosophy that most pc users are stupid dicks who don't know there modem from their asshole:)

Jamius

I avoid ALL the problems mentioned above by doing a little research on the company BEFORE I purchase from them. If I discover they are run by Pakistanis I don't buy from them. It's not racist, experience has shown me these people have no honesty, integrity or scruples when it comes to business. As far as they're concerned, all's fair in love, war AND BUSINESS.

Buy from DABS. British owned with British attitude to after sales service.

The third pc I've owned is on its last legs so I'm in the market for another, The Tiny range appealed to me until I read the small (very small) conditions at the bottom of their ads. which look amazingly similar to Time. For example, I've always insisted on back up discs because from time to time (no pun meant), my sytem has crashed or I wanted to spring clean and reformat the hd. Tiny, like Time, do not supply back ups unless you request them (says the small print, which doesn't say what they will cost). They also send out preloaded ISP's on Supanet and again they say you can request another ISP but they don't mention charges.

So thanks a million for this site which has avoided me being and hopefully any Tiny person reading this will note thye've lost a sale through their jiggery pokery. If you're looking for a new PC the first thing to buy is a magnifying glass to read that small print. Incidentally, I am struck by those conditions imposed on their users and wonder - has not Time been rebadged Tiny? New name, old tricks?

Its GONE, saved up some cash and threw the heap of shit away.

Just brought an Advent T9003 for £800 from PC World and it works like a dream.

I gave up long ago trying to buy stuff just to try and get it to work. And calling some Indian nutter who thinks they know what they are talking about.

The so called Time Speed Demon(speed my ars) i brought would crash around 10 to 20 times a day, the new 1 has not crashed at all even when running loads of apps.

Converting AVI to DVD,ripping a DVD,Burning a DVD,running limewire & emule, while i played Doom 3.

All of that at the same time and it did not crash at all. With the Time 1 if i just had dvd shrink running it would crash half way through, played a game froze after 1 min of play.

How can anyone say that time are good.

4 those of you that are going out and buying stuff to try and get it to work the only thing i found that helped was a new power supply. It did not make that much difference, but it gave me just that extra bit of time b4 it froze.

lol, 60 quid for a reboot disc, and they woder why more and more people are turning into pirates.

Im actually in need of one just now but ill be buggered if im paying that, pirates ahoy!

Oh and their support is one of the the worst things i have ever had to experiance.

My dvd drive stopped working, phone the help line, give my details, account codes or what ever i cant remember by having to spell each letter out (n for november) it took 16 minutes (i timed) just to get that sort of stuff sorted out before i could even begin to talk about the damn computer, after 7 days of phone calls and reboots (this was with an older computer where they actually gave you the reboot disc with the computer (as they damn well should)) they picked it up to be fixed, i had to demand a receipt from them before i would let them take it away.

3 weeks later, nothing, even though we were promised it would take no more than 14 days, time to phone again, oh dear, they dont know where it is, simple as that.

From that point my dad (who can squeeze refunds out of a stone the guys amazing) took over and kept annoying them till they gave us a replacement.

another 3 weeks..... nuthin

THEN, both computers turn up, the new one and a day later the old one - fixed.

So you might think its a good thing but it just shows how bad the company is at comunication and if it wernt for my dad (who no manager wants to get on the wrong side of) god knows where i would be at.

Basically from now on im going to get my mate (who actually does know about computing and is probably better qualified than times staff) to make me one, helluva lot cheaper and far better support. For other people who dont have mates like that i recommed the smaller shops, not chains.

And at least then you wont have to deal with people in india who all tell you the same thing from their pre written scripts

I'm desparate for a Tiny Reload CD, can anyone either post me one or let me download a disk image of it? I'm proper screwed, offered to help a mate out with his new PC (usual story, turns up with loads of shite he'll never need, so I offered to format & install fresh windows XP Pro).

Nuked the drive to find it won't boot after, and need the reload CD.

He is so pissed off as is his mum who got it for him for his 18th, he's doing his A Levels and needs it, I'm so stressed!!

Please, if anyone can help I'll trade for whatever you want, 20GB of MP3s, MAME ROMs, latest DVDs, applications ANYTHING!!!!

Please e-mail me on steven.welton@gmail.com

Thanks a lot everyone.

Wow...we have lying sales people and complete wanker customers who can do a google search on Time yet don't bother for clock speeds on Athlons No way a 2600XP has ever run at 2.25Ghz. Sales people advise customers of nothing but bullshit and then pass the buck...have seen them here several times swaggering around and also seen the mails from them bragging about selling to muppets.
One of the posts here states within hours of turning it on there was spyware all over......STOP GOING TO DODGY SITES you fucked up idiot. Spy ware, as any reasonable person will agree is purely the responsibility of the owner. The reload everyone winges about is easy...look for a folder called Tclone and copy the contents to a bootable cd walla no more money to pay. You call yourselves Techies...bollocks I've seen and heard more technical chocolate bars. 4 hours to replace drivers....wanker look at the chipset...got to go another wanker ringing to complain about his own stupidity

does anyone know the sound drivers for a TIME computer model 231G84 400K6/ ALI?
We have formatted the hard drive and don't know where to find the drivers from - silly us I know

the 231G84 uses an MSI-5182 m/b. Manual is at http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/download/dld/spt_dld_detail.php?UID=230&kind=1
for sound drivers use the creative es-1373 at
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/driver/dvr/spt_dvr_list.php?part=1&kind=3&CHIP=3&COM=&Page=2&num=0
For display use the latest ATi rage pro's from ATi themselves.
chipset drivers use the integrated Ull/Ali ones at ftp://www.uli.com.tw/driver/Integrated2092.zip
Modem will probably be a conexant HCF from http://www.conexant.com/support/md_driverdownload.jsp, though it could be a PC-tel pvp soft modem, drivers for which are also now on conexant website somewhere but well hidden
Demdike

I bought a machine from Tesco in Feb 2004. The Battery failed 370 days after purchase, the power switch went at 70 weeks and recently it started BLUE SCREENING. As such i backed up my Data and put in my reload CD. Unfortunately this disc appears damaged, as such i now have a useless machine. I tried to contact time via telephone for 5 hours, but noone answered, I then called tech support. Abdul, in India, wasn't able to help me, but did try, he couldn't even find me on the system !!! Maybe Time build the systems in India !!

If anyone has a copy of reload discs 8375p 1&2 PLEASE contact me....

I have been forced to buy a new machine, which is a Sony Vaio, NIGHT AND DAY !!!

Hi peeps I see alot of posts about TIME computers. Personally I would not touch them with a barge pole.

I normally self build my systems.
However about 1.5 years ago I was checking around for suppliers of the then new Athlon 64bit 3200+,I was gutted when I found out the only UK supplier at the Time was TIME Computers.

I thought what the hell,any problems I can deal with these idiots. So I purchased the Platina.

Firstly the speakers did not work, after an hour on the phone to the Platina support they conceded they had to replace them. Then I noticed the card reader was really buggy. I did some checking around and found out the card readers they where using had been pulled off point of sale elsewhere because they corrupted memory cards larger than 128Mb. After the usual BS .They offered to send me another at their cost, but I thouhgt what the hell its only a pocket change item and bought a decent one elsewhere.

Now 11 months in I found that the Radeon 9200 256mb ATI All in Wonder card stopped working on the TV module. Did some checking around this was a known fault with PAL S-Video input. So I contacted
TIME, they said they would process it. A couple of months later I contacted to ask why this had not been sorted. They told me I no longer had any warranty. (In the mean time i had been talking to the guys at Sapphire who have the European licence to produce this card).

I pointed out firstly I had reported this within the TIME Warranty period, however Sapphire gives a full 24 month warranty on both OEM and reatil cards.

Not surprisingly the manager claimed that they had no record of the original report and since my warranty was no longer in place they had nothing more to do with it. I went onto point out European Law, their requirements as an OEM suppliers to conform to DTI regualtions etc.

He just slammed the telephone down.

Since then I have been dealing with sapphire directly. Who in turn keep being told by TIME's purchase manager that they will contact me and arange an exchange of the card. 5 Times now Sapphire have had to chase them up about this.

Eventually I will get this sorted even if I have to take TIME before the Dpeartment of Trade and Industry and get their OEM licence revoked.

If tech engineers like myself have major problems with them ignoring the law. What chance has the General public got?

btw I have already taken on the likes of Dabs.com and Pixmania.con in both instances I have obtained full refunds and formal Apologies.

In the case with Dabs.com they where actually reported for theft when they failed to forward a £116 DV tust cam to Trust. They recieved it at dabs then lost it instead of forwarding it under warranty. As they where only a go between, much like you sending somebody to post your letters. They could be reported for theft. They soon backed down from their position after Thames Valley Police contacted them. Dabs.com went from swearing at me. To yes sir, no sir, can we do anything else for you sir LOL.

Guess it was not a good idea for them to take on somebody who owns/runs a tech support site with 2.1 million readers per month ;-)

I am a Computer Technician, I stopped phoning Time maybe 5 years ago. As yes they are shit, just like thier Bosched Hardware and onboard bullshit, and friendly but clueless help desk.

Its about TIME something was Said...

If a Client or Customer calls me screaming My Computers not working!? First thing I ask these days is where did you get it from..... If its Time - Then my advice is "Fuck it, Its Cheaper Buying a new computer than trying to fix something that never worked properly...
Bla bla
BArnabus

wtf? £60? http://www.tiny.com/deopt will allow you to unlock for free

Haha dont i feel the fool

i went looking for the best specs for a laptop, and i came across the powerlite C835E, a very nice one on paper and as a previous tiny owner, i felt confident of my choice.

Now, 3 weeks into waiting for my order i know im just heading down the same path as everyone else so ive decided to cut my losses and cancel my order.

Funny thing is, cancelling the order is probably less hassle than haveing the HIGH chance of a break and £1/min x 30 mins support.

oops!

I have an older Athlon 1GHZ from Time that is still running but try and get a copy of the firmware out of them and its "ask Gigabyte, we haven't got it" for Gigabyte to tell me that the 7ZMMP board is Time's exclusive code and they should let me have it...

I am now lumbered with the mother in law's Time laptop, got the reload CD, just stuck my own slipstreamed and modded XP Corp on it, latest office when it lazily decides to look for the modem, installs it, halts on error 10 and puts the DMA modes into PIO so really slow slow IDE movement on it, the modem driver seems to be the right one, it comes from the right disc but XP or the machine just won't accept it...

And before the "experts" start sticking the old boot in claiming I am an idiot in front of the screen, I was using pre 8088's and Sperry's in the late '70's, in fact I believe that I was one of the very first people to respond to Clive Sinclair's ad in the Times for a kit build ZX80 so my credentials don't need checking.

My advice to the old MiL will be to put the damned thing up on eBay as soon as I have isolated and disabled the modem and buy something from Dell and with their customer service, things must be bad to go to them.

my friend bough a package time pc from woolworths and is desperate to take the money back but no chance so far. she had problem since the day it arrived.

he tried to conntect to the internet via bt braod band but she got problems straight away.

support told her to use the reload cd but the dvd/cd slot does not even read the reload cd ( i have seen it with my own eyes) so she cannot restore the original settings!! they told her to go to the internet to download a fix for the dvd driver and there is nothing wrong with the pc. how can she do that if she cannot repair the machine as the dvd driver is not reading the reload cd?

i am not expert but you expect a pc to be in working order when you buy, software and all, like all pcs i have had in my life. she has never used a pc before and this one was sold to her as the pc for beginners!

she was stupid to buy cheap&nasty but this does not give companies the right to take £500 off people for faulty goods and fraudulent support. this is a complete con. she has no pc she can use and she cannot get her money back.

Is Tiny in trouble? Their computer shop stores have all closed today. I searched and found lot's of recent articles saying that they are having cash flow problems http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/0,39020351,39210639,00.htm and http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=24916 and http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2005/07/26/time_shops_shut/

I was about to buy a PC from them but from what I have read here and what I have found on the internet I think it's a bad idea. Isn't google great?

Time (Granville) have just gone into administration, their Burnley factory has placed all workers on "holiday", and the 78 retail outlets are closed for "stock taking". Hope you didn't buy a stupidly priced warranty...

No great loss. Cheap computers with a build quality to match.

Hello All,

As an ex Time employee in Manufacturing I can 100% testify even in court with proof that Time Used to sell computers to customers as faulty.

I will give you an example,

1) Anybody who has a model 74XXXX (look on the back of the pc) the motherboard were Microstar ALI with Cyrix CPU's 80% are faulty, You will experiance crashes and hangs etc.

2) Anybody who bought model 475XXX( look on the back) AMD 475 cpu's were all faulty, you will experiance crashes and hangs etc.

3) Anybody who has rung tech support and given a SPECIAL flash disk and reset some jumpers???

What you were doing was lowering CPU clock so for example if you had a CYRIX 266MHZ you set the jumpers to 233MHZ and used the SPECIAL flash disk to flash the bios so that it displayed 266Mhz even though the actual clock was set to 233MHZ (All you techies will understand what I mean)This made the system more stable.

4)Modems are locked to Supanet because Time owns Supanet.

5)Time buys untested modems for 50p from conexant and sells to the customers without testing them. Tested modems costs £1.00

Most of there motherboards are bought from china, taiwan and malaysia and are of very low quality.

There are many more examples, but the best advise will be not to buy from them. The only genuine reliable pc's they have is the one's with Intel Motherboard with Intel CPU.

If anyone is out of pocket you should visit Zia Moshan and Dr Tariq (drives a Jaguar) they live in blackburn, Lancashire. Dr T (his nickname) will be moving to Dubai to set another company up. So if you are on holiday around that region give him call.

They are theives and have millions they should be arrested and put in prison.

AgentX
Informing the public

All of the above comments are correct, I can confirm this as I used to work in manurfacturing & tech support. The amount of times I personally went out of my way to help a customer was unbelievable. I even broke certain company rules to make sure that the customers I was dealing with were happy and had a fully working machine.

Tech support at time has always been a problem and Time/Tiny's demise is not a surprise to me at all. I am surprised that the company has lasted this long.

shame i started with the company 8 month ago. not only has he gone to dubai but he also took a big chuck out of the company an wired all sales money an warranty money to an account in dubai there all theives not only took the peoples money and gave them no product but took allstaff wages aswell as if you all heard the confrence call at about 4:45 ul find out that no one is going to get paid, period simple as we all have been subject to a big con to rip ppl off an take loads of money of inocent pll when there the ones that should be in jail i hope they rot in hell.i feel for fellow colleges specail one in perticular who has a baby an a wedding on the way still oh got telle on an it says there looking for a buyer for the stores only but they say headoffice is proving a problem as no one wantes teh scratty shit building. all my regards go out to past cologues. also before i got rumored that dr t an tahir are planning to set up an internet company in dubai.look at the first posting on this site is that really amjad baig shame he rumored to be jail prob got himself out of that thevin bastards any onme wants more info plz email me as this i wont let this rest :) his new company will pay hehhehehehe
from
technician from northewest store somwhere !!!
ps please use email address to send further posting or comments !

from a north west store agent X nice glad some one got that out in the open i herd about it didnt kno if itsd was true or not there not in the country are they cos i live extreemly close to them !!! couldnt hget much closer i might pay them a visit! get ma value in wages i suppose ne one facy it plz join me well be there fore a while.
u can prop guess what store i worked in if my last comment gets posted. the email is flse tho cant b bother settin one up just post ne comments in here thanx
north west store.

Independent Time Employee Forum http://pub2.bravenet.com/forum/123673187/ most of the news appeared here first, an informative read. My sympathies to all staff who were duped by this company.

Ex employee says Time going under is the best news I've had since I quit in 2001.

Why am I not surprised?

Maybe 'cus I met Dr T and Amjad years ago in their office in Burnley and they struck me as thieves then.

It never ceases to amaze me when I hear people harping on about how other people take advantage of them. Take some responsibility for yourselves will ya.

I'm not saying I've not been ripped off but I either dealt with it or let it go 'cus it would cost me too much to pursue. Make your choice, do it now and get on with living.

Life is far too short to be stressing about all this bollox and the world is full of opportunity take just one and have fun