AVADirect

I had been looking into building a workstation for a while, and currently am without a PC (the why isn't entirely relevant) so I know about what the price of parts are at the moment. AVADirect looked to be a decent deal. The problem is a couple days after the charge went through support contacted me to tell me that the price of RAM had gone up due to AI companies. It's not entirely true; AI companies do use a lot of RAM, but not consumer grade (it more sounds like an excuse to get out of poor planning on their part) The support then proceeded to tell me that the price on nearly every kit of RAM in their configurator is higher than it's actually listed at (which I'm pretty sure since I was already quoted a price, this is a very serious up-charge, not to mention lying about the actual cause and VERY UNPROFESSIONAL) I'm posting this review because I'm unsure if they'll get back to me about canceling (I'm about ready to ask for a charge back on the card used for the purchase, but I'd rather avoid doing that) At least be honest and upfront about what's actually going on with your services and why supplies are low rather than giving run arounds about prices and AI (especially if you don't have them accurately listed on your site in the first place)

I did a lot of research on who was the best when it came to custom pre builds of your choice and my research led me to AVADirect, and I couldn't be any happier. Not only did they have a wide arrange of parts to my liking, they did everything in their power to get even the hardest parts that was sold out everywhere (4080 Super, Ryzen 7 9800, etc). They kept me well informed about everything about my build, shipped it fast and in pristine condition, packaging was perfect (video tutorial for unpacking) and if there were any damages, left many instructions on what to do. I appreciate the team for putting in so much effort in my build, and look forward to being a continued customer. I am extremely satisfied with the results and hope AVADirect continues down this road. Hope your business continues to grow!

Thank You!

I received a quote and later purchased that product only to have customer service reach out to tell me there was an issue with the pricing they provided, and asked if I would be willing to pay an additional amount just so they can "break even". First of all, they're not losing money on a $2,300 laptop. Second, even if that were true, they would still make more money on a potential repeat customer if they just agreed to eat the additional $60 they wanted. Shouldn't businesses stand behind their quotes? I can't stress enough that all I wanted to do was purchase the quote they provided me. I can't recommend AVADirect.com if they won't stand behind their quotes. It's that simple.

I ordered a custom Desktop online for my parents. Ordering onlinr was a breeze picking what I wanted in parts. The next day after I ordered, customer service called me to insure everything was correct and if I had any questions. I could track the progress online and was notified when it shipped. PC was well packaged and protected by foam inside and out, and arrived in perfect condition. During unpacking of inside of case I noticed it was built well and wires very tidy. It fired right up and I set up it up easily. Runs great and parents love it. I have built my own computer before so have the computer knowledge. I will definitely look to them for my next computer needs.

PLEASE NOTE: AVADirect had this review deleted from Resellerratings. On there, they have <1% negative reviews, but on here they have 50%+ negative reviews. Resellerratings cannot be trusted.

An employee of AVADirect created a sock account known as John-e-Diamonds on Reddit in order to defame our company. We contacted AVADirect in June in regards to a distribution deal where they would build some of our laptops and sell them on their website. We actually worked out a deal, and they did offer our laptops on their site for a brief period of time. You can find mentions of it on their social media.

Well, after only a couple of months, we decided to end the deal and asked AVADirect to remove our laptops and all mention of our company from their site, and we told this employee that he was the reason why we were ending the deal. So if you're wondering what his motive is to create a sock account and defame our company, that's probably it. He really seemed to take offense to us saying he cost his business one of the best opportunities they will ever have.

This AVADirect employee is one of the worst kinds of people to deal with. He will say anything, flip-flopping back and forth from one day to the next, as if he has no memory or conscience. For instance, he'll give you a price on day 1 and then, on day 2, increase it by 50% without even telling you he's doing it or justifying why he did it.

When you correspond with him through email, he honestly comes across as a goon. One of his favorite expressions is, "It is what it is." This is what he says when you call him out on his nonsense. "It is what it is." His creating a sock account in order to defame our company is honestly proof of how little character he has.

When we were working out a deal, this employee said AVADirect makes 5% on the sale of laptops. Then, right after this, he asked us for a 20% cut on the sale of our laptops and even tried to get 30%. After some back and forth on why he was asking for so much, he said AVADirect makes 20% on their MSI laptops. So what happened to the 5% he said AVADirect makes on laptops?

In his Reddit post, he said that AVADirect refused to do business with us. This is a direct quote: "In the 15+ years I've been in the industry, this was the first time I refused ongoing business from a client. Take what you want from that statement." In actuality, we are the ones who ended the deal between our companies, and it was because we were tired of dealing with this employee. AVADirect never refused to do business with us.

The fact that AVADirect doesn't fire this employee means they allow their employees to engage in this sort of duplicitous behavior, so if they reply to this review, you cannot trust a word they say. Of course, they will probably try to make up more lies about us in order to defend themselves. The facts speak for themselves. We terminated the deal between our company and AVADirect and one of their employees subsequently created a sock account on Reddit in an attempt to defame us by saying we are so bad they refused to do business with us.

This was my third PC purchase from AVADirect. I bought a computer from them in 2008, 2018 and now in 2023. I just love the ability to customize every part in my PC, especially going with air cooling. I hate the fragility of liquid cooling and every other builder wants to ram that down your throat.

I worked with Joe Mundy and he made some suggestions and substituted some out of stock parts to make sure I didn't have to wait 6 to 8 weeks for my PC. I did have to reattach the CPU cooler to the CPU heatsink when setting up the PC, this is BeQuiet's fault and not AVADirect's, as the retention clip is very flimsily.

Overall, a nice experience, although I have one suggestion and that is they break down the price for each component on the invoice. When parts were being substituted, it was very hard to do an apples to apples comparison between the ordered part and substituted part, because the whole order is given 1 price.

When I get my next PC, I will likely send them what I want in an e-mail and see what's in stock before doing the configurator on the website.

I was really optimistic and excited to order a custom machine from AVA Direct. I picked everything out meticulously, did my research, and asked for help on a couple builds to make sure there wouldn't be any bottlenecks in the performance. I got a response right away about how we could make some tweaks- great! I gave more info, and then silence. Two days later I send some more info to try to remind the sales associate that I'm still interested. Nothing. Another rep reached out to me saying "welcome to AVA direct, just let me know if you have any questions!" I did have questions and sent them over. Nothing. I message both again a couple days later. Nothing. And yes, I checked my junk mail and everything. I'm so disappointed, I loved my build and worked hard on it but I can't trust them to deliver if they don't even have the time of day to SELL me something that I am ready to pay for.

The AVADirect team has been great to work with. Fantastic communication and fast shipping make the experience of working with them one of the best. Highly recommend them if you are looking for top products!

I've purchased three PCs from AVA-Direct over the years but haven't come around to writing a review until this latest one. I hope this review detailing my experiences will help anyone reading in their decision to purchase a PC from this company, as the custom PC market is very large, and it can be difficult to find a trustworthy and reliable company to invest the substantial money needed for a high-end gaming PC. I've done my best to keep this review unbiased as a result, so that readers can have a fair and detailed impression of AVA-Direct before making their purchase.

1. The Website: AVA-Direct's website is decent, leaning towards variety rather than streamlining PC purchases (Though they've recently added an Insta-builder option for quick configurations). Pre-builds are featured front and center; they can be customized once selected, or simply purchased outright. However, the pre-builds are categorized around the motherboard/CPU chipset, which subsequently can limit the configuration options (IE: If you choose an Intel pre-built, you'll only be able to view Intel-compatible components. Choosing a motherboard model will lock your motherboard options to that model (Z690, B550, etc.) as well), so be sure of your motherboard/CPU selection before choosing a pre-built for customization. They also sell gaming laptops and even servers, but my experience revolves entirely around their desktop PCs.

2. Customization: AVA-Direct offers an extremely wide range of options for every relevant PC component (Everything from the case and graphics cards to fans and cooling configurations), which comes with both advantages and disadvantages. If there is a PC part available on the market AVA-Direct will have it. The obvious advantage is the extreme customization possible with your order, akin to selecting and buying the parts yourself. This is rarely seen among most of AVA-Direct's competitors, who often limit their parts selection ostensibly for 'consumer convenience' but in reality to cut costs by reducing component logistics. On the other hand, this places the burden of parts selection on the customer…meaning you are responsible for your PC specs as well ensuring your selected components are compatible. Also, not all parts are readily available and so using more obscure/less in stock options can add a week or more to the processing time as AVA-Direct has to order them first. Obviously this can be avoided by sticking to AVA's prebuilt configurations, but otherwise I advise you to do extensive research on PC building and part compatibility/availability prior to making an order. AVA-Direct will actually let you know if there are incompatibilities in your order, along with alternate recommendations, but this process consumes time and is best avoided.

3. Price: Unfortunately, this variety comes at a cost. While AVA-Direct's pre-builds are more or less in line with their competitors in terms of price, making a custom PC order will see you paying around 100-200$ more than if you purchased the parts yourself. While this is somewhat made up for by their multi-year warranty, excellent quality assurance/customer service, and overall convenience, you may want to stick to their pre-builds or look elsewhere if you are on a budget.

4. Processing: If you're not ordering a pre-built, AVA-Direct's order processing can take an extensive amount of time. It took me a month to receive my PC after I ordered it, though I would say the average is about 2-3 weeks depending on how your PC is customized as well as your location (AVA-Direct is based in Ohio). In exchange, however, you receive a quality product, with no shortcuts that other PC-builders might take such as sloppy cable management or untested components.

5. Customer Service: I found AVA-Direct's customer service to be excellent. I communicated with them mainly through their website messaging system, but they would almost always reply back to me within a day of each message (Can vary depending on your time zone). In my case I made several mistakes in my build configuration, but AVA-Direct's customer representatives, namely Aspram and Craig, were extremely helpful with their advice and quick to make any changes I asked for (Some of which were quite extensive), often at no additional cost. As I mentioned previously, they will also contact you directly if there is an issue in your order you aren't aware of.

6. Quality Assurance: I've never had any issues with the custom PC's I've ordered from AVA Direct. Their multi-layered packaging is very secure, able to weather careless freight handling from FedEx with no damage whatsoever. It is also clear that unlike many other PC-builders, they take the time to extensively test each build they make to ensure there are no issues prior to shipping. This includes stress-testing for the CPU and graphics card – the logs for which they include in the PC files, which I replicated using my own tests. As a result I have little experience with their return/RMA process, as I've never had any reason to use it.

Overall I can say I've been very happy with AVA-Direct. Provided you have some PC knowledge, the customization and order experience are very smooth, and they are quick to address any issues that do happen. While they aren't the cheapest builder around, they more than make up for it with their excellent customer service and quality assurance. I've been a loyal customer for many years now and I intend to remain so in the years to come.

Of course avadirect isn't going to publish bad reviews on their own site (that should be red flag 1). Over 2 years ago I ordered a system. I still have no factual proof of delivery so I'm out of over $2700. Not only that but I was also informed I couldn't get the "free" digital download games without receiving the hardware. Here are the facts gathered from my order:
FedEx was unable to determine where they were on my property via their own GPS tracking during time of delivery.
FedEx's "signature" was not that of mine but one that matched exactly a cursive font from Microsoft word.
FedEx's driver gave a very generic description of the person that supposedly signed for the package which at the time only possibly matched one of my neighbors who did not have the computer.
My neighbor noted he saw a FedEx truck but did not see them unload a package.
After a supposed investigation somehow this conjecture was proof of delivery and I was denied any compensation.
Not only this but the hours of frustration spent all for nothing was unbelievable because Ava would not stand behind their own customer. I had to contact FedEx and go through a bunch of hoops. Perhaps that specific problem was internal to FedEx. I don't know, but what I do know is that I had no choice in who the carrier was and that Avadirects website blatantly claims a signature is required for delivery. Clearly no real signature was given nor identification checked to see IF there really was a person on my property whether or not they should be eligible to sign for the product.
Not only this, but I was also able to purchase parts with better warranty and get them all much sooner than the weeks of parts allocated took for their process and at a better price. Buyer beware, avadirect does not stand behind their customers. What's really sad is the much greater amount of money they would have made by just making this right and having a loyal customer for years to come. Guess management doesn't see that or really thing about long term profit, just how many quick onetime instances they can rip someone off. I also requested to speak with someone further up the chain in management and was denied to be able to do so as the rep stated there wasn't a point and it wouldn't do me any good.

I placed my order in November and it finally has shipped 4 months later. First, either the mail delayed or they lost my first payment. Two weeks later they said they received a second check but it was never returned to me as they said they would do. They changed my SSD to prevent a backorder without asking first, then did nothing for nearly two months waiting on a video card. Finally, I called them fed up and they told me that if I kept that video card they didn't know when my order would ship, even after 3 months. I asked them for other options and they didn't have anything equivalent. After they wanted to either downgrade my card or charge me hundreds extra, and with all the time that had passed, I asked about canceling. Despite not being able to fulfill my order, they wanted to charge me a fee. Upon asking to talk to a manager, they magically found another card that was still over a hundred dollars more, but I conceded. Then the computer failed testing and was delayed again. Finally, and probably the last straw to convince me to take time to write a review, the promos offered with the order back in November were not honored by the company and they blamed the manufacturers rather than taking responsibility for taking 4 months to fulfill an order even though I expressed this concern well before they expired. Maybe it was the perfect storm, but they should at least try to make it right.

PC arrived after a long wait, but given the GPU market atm that's a given. Had problems from day one, but by day 2 it quit posting all together. PSU was put in upside down, fan pointed right at a sectional of the case making it useless. Customer service takes days to respond to calls/emails, then pretends they don't know what you want to do with it when you specifically request repair and return. Honestly felt like they were just trying to run out the clock on the return window.

BUYER BEWARE: AVA Direct customer service is nonexistent. I ordered a PC and attempted to cancel the order 4 days later but was unable to reach them via phone (busy signal all the time), live chat (no live agent came on the line), and online form (no response). By the time I got ahold of them, they wanted to charge me $100 to cancel an order they hadn't built or shipped yet claiming they had "allocated parts for my order" by putting the parts in a bin. I filed a dispute with my credit card and received my money back but I highly recommend you steer clear of this company. If necessary, play hardball and file a chargeback.

They also have very suspicious online reviews (ResellerRatings.com) where they have 100% positive reviews in 1 year (they don't even have a SINGLE bad review in 365 days-- absolutely shady!). There are tons of negative reviews about them on social media forums where reviews can't be removed/manipulated so search on computer forums, Reddit, etc. Steer clear and don't buy from them!

I ordered on the 6th. It is now the 17th, and I have no update on delivery. I noticed that about 3 days after I ordered that I had a message from them about my shipping address not being on my credit card, so I asked them to ship to my billing address. 8 days later, and the status of my order is on step 2 of 5.
Something to note - after they approved my order, a 10% fee (or more) for order cancellation takes effect.
I ordered a bare bones with a mother board, CPU and RAM. That's it, and I still have not heard anything on shipment. I was going to cancel the order, but was not willing to pay the fee.
Beware.
You would be better off using their quote tool to build your machine, and order the parts through Amazon than waiting on these guys.

My experience with your company started off great. Then it went all down hill. The sales staff was very helpful and got a uncommonly large payment processed, through all the troubles. I was happy and was told my system would ship out after a 2 week period. I also received an email (which I still have) letting me know my system would ship in that period. This is a line taken from that email "Your order has been approved by our Accounting Department. Please allow 10-14 business days for us to process and ship your order. If you have any questions regarding your order prior to shipment, please feel free to let us know at any time." So you can imagine my surprise when I called after 2 and a half weeks to find out my system wasn't even being built yet. So I was obviously upset because I had made plans for my new PC and sold my old one. Just to be stuck with nothing now. I was informed then that it would probably be 3 additional weeks! (due to "extensive testing of the system and quality checks." Okay so I finally choke that bullet down. (PC still didn't ship until after 6 weeks...) Then the PC arrives and I'm totally happy! Then the first remote for the LED light controls didn't worked. (Tried 3 new batteries so I knew it was the remote) So I'm stuck with a rainbow color PC, flashing like crazy. They send out a new remote and it works! BUT! The LED strip is two different colors when you pick any solid color and half turns off when you pick blue... (not to mention the remote only works from 8 inches away.) I also noticed at this point because I have the side case off and am trying to check all the connections that there is some black substance all over the glass tubes. (It did wipe right off) But still where was the testing and quality checks? Obviously NOT done! I paid 6,120 so I would getting taken care of, not to get my money taken and get thrown aside. Now that you are paid you don't give a damn that I've gone through hell and the problem still isn't fixed and support stopped responding to my emails and picture evidence. Yes I've been complaining this transaction should of been smooth for such a company. (So I thought.)