Centre Com
ABN: 960841652931,690 reviews
AI reviews summary
Pros
Cons
Verdict
Centre Com offers a broad range of computer hardware with competitive pricing and frequently delivers fast shipping for online purchases. While many customers report positive in-store interactions and efficient service, a notable group of reviewers experienced difficulties with online order tracking, delivery timeframes, and handling returns or warranty claims. Consumers may want to weigh the potential savings against the reported customer service hurdles when resolving post-purchase issues.
All consignment should include paper receipt and invoice. Phone invoice is easy to lose and record cannot be organized effectively as in computer record. For your own convenience you throw your customers into a mess. Show details
-⭐️ Avoid if buying premium tech. Unlawful customer service and zero accountability. Extremely disappointed with Centre Com’s complete disregard for the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). I bought a flagship, top-of-the-line ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo laptop from them. Recently, the unit suffered a catastrophic motherboard failure (total loss of power).… Read more
Under the ACL, statutory consumer guarantees do not just vanish when a manufacturer’s warranty ends; they are based on reasonable durability. For a premium, flagship laptop, a dead motherboard after 4 years is a textbook "major failure."
When I approached Centre Com to remedy this, they completely tried to "fob me off" to the manufacturer to protect their own margins. First, they gave me an absurd quote of over $2,700, and then they tried to dump me onto ASUS’s third-party repair network, which resulted in another ridiculous quote of $1,562.
Under Australian law, the retailer is legally obligated to provide the remedy (repair, replacement, or refund) for a major failure. They cannot legally pass the buck or force the customer to negotiate with the manufacturer.
Despite being a loyal customer who has spent over $22,000 on PC tech across my household, Centre Com has chosen to dodge their legal responsibilities. I have formally escalated this issue and am currently preparing my filing for the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) to force compliance.
If you expect a retailer to honor consumer guarantees on high-end hardware when things go wrong, SHOP ELSEWHERE.
I have ordered from Centre Com in the past, I built my first PC back in 2020 using parts from you guys, Was overall impressed with the experience. Unfortunately today I've received my order which contains a motherboard and a PSU, Only to get home and discover the box it was shipped in has been battered so severely your able to see inside and is… Read more
left with a gaping hole in the side.
Thank god it wasn't raining during delivery as I fear the parts would have been soaked and destroyed with water damage.
I hope in future you guys can pack items/components/parts (especially fragile ones) with more care and consideration for your customers and with better quality boxes.
Reviews with attachments
A horrible experience and a substandard product – As a returning customer I couldn't be more disappointed with my experience this time around. The PC took weeks to arrive, then when it did it had multiple issues. Fan was installed backwards, the HDMI ports are faulty, and performance is generally poor for a mid-spec unit. I attempted to have the unit repaired under warranty, however their only… Read more
solution is for me to ship it back from QLD to Victoria at my expense. I'd strongly recommend you consider an alternative supplier if you don't have easy access to a store as their after sales service is appalling. Horrible.
Honest review, NOT a paid one – If you want some drama in your life, this is the place to go P.S This product is for my career, NOT for entertainment (I do A.I, so need a strong laptop) One February,2022 they have a promotion and I was hooked (~$3,000 Laptop) 2 months after getting it, I start to notice problems with the battery We all can all agreed that it’s a pain when… Read more
it come to calling customer support and hours of waiting on the phone for someone to pick it up
So after days of headache, we finally decided, it need to be send to the centre to get a look at
Pick up will be from 9am to 5pm, very specific…so I have to get a day off of work, and guess what…. No-one came
So I have to get another day off again( mind you, I lost moneys (wage + commission) for not be a able to work for those 2 days)
When the laptop is being look up, I ask them to do a total check up if there are any other problems and from the look of it, they only find the battery is dead so it got replaced
I wasn’t really happy that after only 2 months, there are already problems with it, but time was more important to me so I decide to accept that damaged laptop back
After 1 month when I got it back
The laptop start to have problem every second days (let’s not get into details since it will make this review way too long)
So I decided to ask the company to send me a new one and repeatedly ask them NOT to give a refund
Is it too much to ask, if I just want a new/ undamaged laptop like every other customers got from day one?
After 1 month of waiting (half a year from when I purchased the product)
They finally give me a reply and guess what I got ….. Exactly what I asked NOT to give me … a refund
($2,899 is what I got) ($2,933.79 is what I paid)
I assume that most of us here are in Australia, and we all can notice that price of everything’s have went up for the past few months
My ~$3,000could get me one of the best laptop 6 months ago And +with the promotion, I did get a laptop with max spec for 99% of the things (except sound and visual)
But now, with that same amount of money I can only get average laptop at best
Again if you like some drama in your life, this place can give you a minimum of 6 months of it
Faulty products and scam-y tactics to not refund me – Shopped at Centre Com for years and spent thousands from them. Recently I brought an Odyssey G9 from Centre Com turns out it had the flickering issue. Thought it was my GPU, upgraded that, changed cables, still had the same flickering issue. Macbook (M1 2021) even had issues. So decided to take it back to Centre Com, was advised to drop it off… Read more
and someone will look at it on a weekday, so dropped it off on the weekday, hoping someone would look at it in 1-2 days, turns out after dropping it off the technician, who gave no info, told me to email and let support know. Finally they advised it would take 4 weeks. Anyway, not happy about just finding about this AFTER dropping off the monitor, as I need a monitor for work this had turned to another hassle. After a few back and fourths with support. They stated that it had no issues that can be found and are returning the monitor too me, still having the same issues, which are clearly visible, and shown in the video attached.
My advice get your computing parts from a company who values it's customers. You never know, you may also get a faulty product and watch Centre Com try and weasle out of giving you a refund or fixing the product.
Bad customer service – I just order online for Airpods on 22nd August and its 30th August and did not get a simple reply that why its taking too much time. I tried to call then but their phone lines are bad as their service is. Trying to call 2 3 times and waiting one hour in the queue and phone calls ends when I reaching number 1 or 2. Then Try to call on Sunshine… Read more
number and someone pick up the call and told me that waiting for stock and when I asked for response that when I will get the product and that person put me on another line where it has queue of 13 people. What sort of business they are doing? Even they did not send a single email regarding that they do not have stock.
Last order from that company and will never return back.
I need my money back that’s it.
Note - I TRIED TO CALL THEM 3 Times but when ever I reached at no. 2 the system dropped my call. And again calling and queued at 13. So bad system by Centre com, if you are not able to handle the customer service just shut your company no need to waste our time.
Uploading the order email and video as a proof.
- +1
I bought a new custom build PC from Center Com on Sunday. By Monday, it was already freezing every couple of hours, making it unreliable to use. I called the store on Tuesday to report the issue, and they told me to bring the PC in so they could inspect it. I took it back the following Sunday, only to be told they couldn't even look at it because… Read more
it was the weekend and I would have to bring it back again on a weekday.
I asked for a refund since the PC had been faulty almost immediately after purchase, but my request was refused.
It's very disappointing to spend a significant amount of money on a brand-new PC that doesn't work properly, then have to make multiple trips just to have it inspected. I expected much better customer service and a quicker resolution for a product that was faulty from the start.
They said, put it Via warranty claim, even their PC was faulty from Day 1. And they want to sent it for Inspections, god Knows how many days they will take. And you will be without your pc and money.
Smooth and easy transaction top quality monitor and at 400$ off rrp I got a very good deal. And the postage well saying it was fast would be an understatement. I made the purchase Thursday night and have just received it Monday morning. Show details
Excellent service very quick with delivery and package was well packed. Excellent Monitor great picture getting over 150fps in games included Horizon forbidden west as proof. Show details
Non-coperarive & mis-leading. Recently bought a 27inch Acer Monitor on line for my kid's study. Once unpacked & connected with pc found out No Sound / No built in Speaker!! Straight way contacted Centre.com over phone - requested for an upgrade/ swap with another model having Built in speaker.. agreed to pay the difference of the price..… Read more
ensuring them the packages & Accessories are intect.. But they refused saying its " Change of Mind"..Which is Not the case at all! I was told to apply on Line.. I Did.. waited.. same result!! This was my first & will be the last purchase from Centre.com. very disappointing. Be aware of them!!
I placed an online order for a GPU during the December sales and confirmed availability by phone before the sale ended. Shortly after the sale period ended, I was advised the item was not in stock. While staff were polite when contacted, there was no explanation or goodwill offered. This experience highlighted poor stock transparency during promotional periods. Show details
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Centre com is a scam like company selling garbage phones. The sold me the phone claiming its was not refurbished for the full price, but the phone stopped working after 2 months of usage. The warranty replacements take more than 4 weeks. They offered its repair which is useless as its clear something fundamentally wrong with the phone at the… Read more
start. Now I will bewaiting for the phone to be 'repaired' for more time then I actually used it. They claim everything is fine. Scam
Very good keyboard high quality and good looking, very satisfied
Don't know which company you hired to deliver, they can't do their jobs and it is almost a week for my package for it to arrive and yet is still out there Show details
The online purchase has been very satisfactory. I was not happy when I received a damaged box with the item (see attached photo). I hope the item is in good condition
Latest follow-ups
Went online to Centrecom as they had a sale on, and was going to purchase among other things: - Upgrade to some New systems - Motherboards / Ram /… Read more
CPUs.
- Better Graphics cards.
- Some 24Tb Hard drives (as well as some SSDs / NVMEs ).
With still * 3 DAYS LEFT on their sale * and plenty of stock of the 24Tb hard drives in question (you can see the stock online). The Hard Drives had magically increased in price by $50 when I get home 30 minutes later and I went to order them. I ask Centrecom about this and they made up random excuses for the price increase (first implying a different model), to then take the excuse back on the next email and make another different excuse (which were all just nonsense). Trying to justify them raising the price of an on 'SALE' item during a 'SALE' period.
Centrecom WAS a good store years ago, but here are some of the (recent) problems that have convinced me want to NEVER DEAL WITH THEM AGAIN:
- Ordered a bunch of (expensive items) over the phone for pickup, only to go down and wait forever for them to actually pick the stock that they should have had ready - MULTIPLE TIMES.
- Go to order online a product which has FREE DELIVERY if you have signed up to their club, only to be charged for delivery anyway - MULTIPLE TIMES.
- The Last Straw was, them raising the prices of the 24Tb Hard Drives which seemed to be selling well at the sale price, to then sell for 'exactly' the same retail price AS EVERYONE ELSE (who were not having a sale). I went there specifically to buy these and (then) decided to upgrade some extra systems as well, so for me it seemed a dubious price increase. Since now I could then get all of the parts I needed anywhere, as NOTHING I NEEDED was actually on 'SALE'. Their Hard Drive increase nullified my reason for buying from them (specifically).
One of the initial negative experiences I had with them, which they solved back in the days when at least they actually were a competitive store (yes even when having a 'SALE'). They sent me two 3.5" Hard Drives, wrapped side by side in brown paper like a book. Of course when I fired them up they had 100% failed (the delivery driver thought it was a book he was delivering and probably just threw them in the back). At least then without excuse or argument, they replaced them immediately as packed in a ridiculous manner. So they did have an actual 'customer service' focus at one time.
Now however, with all of the problems I have had recently, and in addition, reading about all the problems other people are having with DOA and damaged items not being replaced / or failed items warranties not being honoured. I think I have given them enough chances and now they can just lose me, as well as a bunch of their customers that I advise and / or purchase for.
For any Centrecom representitive on here, it is (not only obvious but also) very bad business to make trivial excuses for problems customers encounter with your company, people or your website. Just fix them and they will return.
If you don't even have cheap prices anymore:
PEOPLE CAN BUY THE SAME COMPUTER COMPONENTS ANYWHERE FOR THE SAME PRICES.
* Just checked online and you can buy the 'exact' same Hard Drive on EBay sent from the USA which costs $67 (AUD) for them to post, and get it for cheaper than Centrecom is selling it for. How can that even be possible?
Follow-up · I checked back multiple times and the price is still the same, i.e, much more than when it was on sale. So I have been buying my items elsewhere, as others prices are at least as good anyway and the service is infinitely better than at Centrecom. Centrecom had the best prices years ago, but the pricing in general across all computer part sellers… Read more
Follow-up · Why would I bother to deal with them anymore, when I can get the same parts elsewhere. I went back to their website today and it's cluttered and tedious to use. They would have to have some good bargains to get me to go back and I checked, there are none.
I purchased an item from Centrecom, and paid $60 for the delivery. After it was shipped, in the middle of the next day the courier Direct Freight Express showed up at my doorstep with the parcel. Only I did not know about it: I received no… Read more
notification from Centrecom or from the courier that they would attempt the delivery. Nobody was at home. As a matter of fact, I received zero emails from Centrecom about the purchase: no confirmation, no tracking number, nothing. I was able to login into my account with Centrecom, and it said that it was shipped, and Auspost would deliver it. No tracking number, though.
Meanwhile, unaware, I decided to wait a week for the parcel to be delivered. Then, I called Centrecom. They told me that the parcel was with the courier, and the rep refused to tell me what courier or the tracking number. He said the number did not exist. Only after the delivery attempt fails, it would allegedly be passed onto Auspost, they generate tracking number, and it will be given to me. Hm, shady, but OK. Maybe they deliver from their local store by own means.
The rep asked me which day I wanted the re-delivery, and I said the day and the time, like "after 5 pm" or "between 9 and 11 am". The rep said he would call courier, and organise this. Little I've known that the courier delivers only between 9 am and 5 pm, and one cannot specify the time window. So, the courier attempted the redelivery on two more occasions at about 2 pm each time. There was nobody at home in the day time, and I did not know that the redelivery was attempted. I received no emails either from courier or Centrecom that the delivery would be attempted on that day. I suspected that my email provider was to aggressive at cutting the spam emails, and Centrecom got into the black list. I gave a new email address via the raised ticket or the rep over the phone, but the new email address was ignored.
Finally, two weeks after I purchased the product, I called Centrecom support, and the lady was kind enough to send me the tracking number for the courier. This is when it came out they deliver only during the day time, and I could pick the parcel up from the depot only during the business hours. Thus, I had to take the time off work. What was the point of the delivery, then ? I agreed for the dleivery for the following week. That's three weeks for the delivery of the product which is supposed to turn up the next day after the purchase ! And I paid premium for the delivery. Unacceptable. And sad.
Follow-up · I picked the item up from the depot, it works.
RAM went Faulty and was Rectified. Excellent Service Experiance – Excellent Service and Prompt Responses. 8 Months after 32gb DDR4 ram purchase. I started getting some BSOD events and after testing the ram found 1 stick to be faulty. Contacted Centre Com and after a couple of back an forth emails was sent a return… Read more
postage label. A few days later was notified that the ram was found to be faulty and a refund would be processed. Which it was a couple of days later. And as a Very Happy customer returned to purchase another 32gb of ram. This time a different brand
Follow-up · Given a refund and purchased 32g Kingston Fury. 2 Years on and flawless.
Positive reviews
Adelaide store staff very knowledgable. Purchasing online is very easy and they have great specials. Top notch company to deal with. Items have always been well packaged and arrive in a timely manner Show details
Great little 12v car charger for my phone. Packaging a bit excessive for a small product and signature on delivery a bit annoying for a low value item. I had to get it from the Post Office. Great company to deal with and very quick delivery. Have bought from them before and will do so in the future
Find out how Centre Com compares to other Electronics & Computing Shops
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Incredibly helpful staff at the Springwood store - in particular Jermaine, who basically took nearly an hour to help my 13 year old son build a PC from the parts we had bought from the store a couple of days earlier. My son ran in trouble connecting everything up and Jermaine basically finished it all off for him and wouldn't accept any money or anything. Absolute legend and so very grateful! Show details
Negative reviews
Australian Consumer Law is becoming less and less enforceable by the day. Retailers are more overtly denying warranty claims because there is no consequence to doing so. I've had hundreds of faulty in wararnty computer parts fail, but Centrecom's latest denial beggars belief. I purchased a computer monitor and it has failed within its 3 year… Read more
warranty period. I sent them a photo of the monitor showing the symptoms.
To my utter surprise and digust they were able to diagnose the fault from a photo. Their claim - customer negligence or an accident that is not covered by warranty. Yep, they don't even need to see the monitor in person to make a diagnosis these days.
Of course, they are completely wrong. The monitor sits on a desk that is surrounded making accidental damage impossible. I'm an experienced I.T person and I've handled thousands of monitors, but suddenly I'm negligent? The amount of force required to cause the sympoms I see on this product is "excessive" and would leave physical evidence of damage. There is no damage to this monitor.
With costs absurdly out of control retailers just don't want to bear the cost of warranties. Their answer is either go to the manufacturer (which accourding to the ACL is not a permitted response), or buy a new product and just landfill your old one. That's not a very "green" attitude, but with their sales down, they do anything to boost sales, even skirting the law, as appears to be the case here.
God help you if you have anything fail these days. Consumer Affairs have zero power. All they will do is tell you to write a letter of demand then take them to VCAT, which will take you at least 12 months. Consumers need to demand better, and stop retailers like Centrecom denying warranty claims sight unseen. It's just not good enough.
Don't let retailers bully you into buying new parts when existing ones fail in warranty. Stand up for your rights. Make a complaint to CAV, even if they are impotent. Let the retailer know you will not accept a denial if the fault is genuine.
Warranty claims are a cost to retailers so if they can avoid the cost, they will. That doesn't mean you don't have a legitimate claim.
If you do return parts under warranty take lots of photos before you hand over the product.
Centrecom are one of the few computer retailers open on a Sunday, but don't buy from them because of that if you prefer instore shopping. You're better off shopping around.
I bought my adult daughter a Glorious keyboard and the o key was wobbly , it was broken underneath the day it was opened , I took it back the next day and they pulled a key off a random, display, different brand, different size keyboard and said there you go fixed. How is this the right way to fix this ? Show details
Follow-up · Glorious fixed the issue no problems , no questions , Centrecom however took weeks to offer a refund begrudgingly , absolutely terrible customer service.
I bought an SD card from centre com online which stopped working unexpectedly a few weeks after I got it. I returned to the Elsternwick store and was told it needs to be sent away for assessment and that I would be contacted. I was given a receipt of warranty return with an RA number. I then went overseas on holiday and was not contacted in any… Read more
form while I was away. Not phone, not email. I got back and eventually submitted an enquiry asking as the status of my return. I received a response telling me they were waiting on a response from the supplier. No actual update, no timeframe, just kicking the can down to the road and telling me to wait longer. At this point it is nearly 7 weeks since I returned the card.
Over the course of a few emails, they first told me that the time frame is 2-3 weeks for an assessment (it's been 7 weeks), then that actually that 2-3 weeks starts from when the supplier receives the card, so it's actually some vague amount longer. But it's already been 7 weeks, even under your own timeline you're weeks late and didn't even bother to contact me at all in that time.
Refused to apologise, refused to acknowledge their legal requirements under ACL to provide a rectification in a reasonable amount of time and then refused to provide a refund when I requested one as I'm entitled to under the law.
Truly terrible customer service. And it's cost them more to pay the guy to send me emails making me angry about the whole thing than they would have made selling me the card in the first place. No wonder these stores are all going out of business. Avoid at any cost.
Recent reviews
Put our item for service under warranty. After waiting 6 weeks it was returned but crashed within 24 hours. Returned again for repair 4 weeks ago and they have just sent off now to Acer. This lack of service is appalling and would never recommend dealing with company. Show details
During order it was mentioned the device will be delivered in two days. When call after two days , device was not dispatched. They asked to come and collect at the store in Clayton, then email comes collection point as Richmond. When called they asked cancel the order. Very bad customer service. Near going back ever again.
I spent more than $6,000 on a computer from Centre Com, and it hasn't worked properly since I received it. After trying some things a sales rep asked me to do in order to narrow down an issue, the computer completely shut off without warning and was unresponsive for 10+ mins. I don't know if what the sales rep suggested is what caused it to shut… Read more
off on me or if it was already a fault with the laptop, but it didn't do that before I did what they asked me to. Now I'm supposed to send it back which I will probably have to pay for based on other reviews online. And be without a computer for 3+ weeks because of this, which isn't really possible for me since I need to use a computer for tasks. I just have to hope it doesn't decide to die again.
Excellent service.Fast delivery.Fantastic low priced speaker..Reviewed all price ranges..But,this sub is a little gem! Really surprised with the depth,great space saving design.cheapest on the market!Has brought my vinyls alive! The free mini portable speaker was a great bonus! Extremely satisfied. Show details
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