Probrand/The IT Index

[Norphy]

Anybody else use this lot?

 

We started using them last year. We buy the vast majority of our computer components, printers and consumables through them. Their prices are always excellent. Their website, although not particually well designed, is intuitive enough and has a vaste range. Delivery is generally quick and they have a single fixed delivery charge. We must have bought more than £30k of stuff from them and they always been good. My contact is always quick to reply to emails and returning stuff is relatively painless. If you can't find stuff on their website email them and they'll find it for you. For example I wanted some Tyan Opteron boards. They went out and found them and they were about £30 less than the competition too!

 

I admit I've not tried their PC systems or their AV installation services but everything else from them has been excellent. Highly recommended.

 

http://www.theitindex.co.uk

[MkII]

I was a customer for many years, but the sales manager was incredibly rude to me once regarding a return. Fair enough they have to be strict but there's never an excuse for rudeness like that. Personally I can never use them again, lots of nastiness after too - and I'm known for my placid nature with suppliers, so this was really bad.

[SpuffMonkey]

Yeah - I use them too - the prices are very keen - but I've found they're a bit sluggish in sorting out cockups - oh and invoicing for little bits of big orders as they are dispatched really pisses off the finance people.

[GrumbleDook]

They have made 4 attempts to set up a site for me to get prices ... and it still doesn't work ... 2 changes in account managers and then hassled when we don't use them (call on monday and i say we are not uying anything for the next month .. then a call on Friday askign if there are any needs?)

[Guest richard]

I've just dumped Insight after a series of dodgy quotes. The main company I use at present is Kelway. http://www.kelway.co.uk been using them for a couple of years and find them very good. Also just started to use PC-Ware they seem ok but it is very early days.

[Ric_]

@richard: So it wasn't just me that Insight pissed off!!!

[Netman]

I use them too... at first did get silly phone calls every two minutes saying ' you were just on our website - did you find what you were looking for?' but after I barked at them, they soon quit that. I do like the way that their pricing is set at cost + 4% for schools. It's nice to know their margin. Have found delivery is not that fast though. Quoted at 48 hours at checkout, but averaging 72 hours +.

Overall, highly recommended though... I combine tham with ebuyer and sometimes insight and have it pretty well covered... 8)

[Rozzer]

We use them and we have had no problems with them. THey always beat quotes from anyone else.

[Face-Man]

We use them loads especally website and they are really good but are only getting 5% ... I feel a call to our rep coming on... :twisted: the delivery time is long as they seem just to ship stuff from other suppliers and not have any stock.

[MkII]

Yeah - I use them too - the prices are very keen - but I've found they're a bit sluggish in sorting out cockups - oh and invoicing for little bits of big orders as they are dispatched really pisses off the finance people.

 

Yuo can ask for single invoices - I do everywhere.

[krb548]

Yeah, I use them quite a lot.

I find that is also good to talk to the rep because you cannot always find what you are looking for, plus if you speak to them you can try and twist their arm a bit more for a better price.

 

They tend to beat Dabs now on most products.

[Simcfc73]

I use them because I hate talking to reps and I can do 99% of this without speaking to anyone

I've started using them for my consumeables too now as they seem to beat any of the prices that I've been given before.

I agree that the website is pretty awful to navigate (took me ages to find TFT montors the other day) so I end up just searching for stuff rather than browsing.

Our delivery seems okay although the delivery driver is a bit of a moron who seems to not care that he's carrying £2k worth of IT components when he throws it around.

[russdev]

been looking at there site after getting login last yesterday one thing that this site would be good ot have is some kind of api/ i hate this term web 2 interface so could intergrate it into your existing systems.

 

maybe a page that you pass your username and password to and search term and outputs results as rss feed...

 

 

Russ

[Nij.UK]

I have started to use the IT Index now, and i have to say they are very good with there prices. i did use Insight a lot before, but i am starting to move away from them are more towards Proband now

 

I would recommend them to anyone willing to move suppliers

[Simcfc73]

I fell out with them as they only use one delivery compnay and the guy who delivers treats the boxes like cr@p.

 

I've started using Dabs again. Slightly more expensive on some stuff but the delivery is miles better.

 

Still use Probrand for toner and ink though.

[thom]

theITindex are now are Catalist approved supplier so we can get even more cash off if you contact your account manager.

[plexer]

They are indeed I got a call from them yesterday and they've set me up an account.

 

Prices look pretty good but they didn't have any NEC's listed that I would buy.

 

Neovo E17-DA's were also more expensive than CCL.

 

Ben

[Norphy]

Although we still use them a lot, we've had two major causes of complaint over the last two weeks and both were packaging related.

 

The first was where they sent us six SCSI hard drives in a massive box with just a little bit of bubble wrap and nothing else. They were just lying in the bottom of the box in their antistatic bags and would have been bouncing around and almost certainly would have been knackered. It wouldn't if they'd put them in some boxes with some padding around them like they tend to do with Seagate hard drives but they didn't. However they took them back without arguement and are supposedly sending us some more.

 

The second was yesterday when our new cabinet was delivered. We had an identical one delivered last year by a specialist company. They sent two MASSIVE blokes with the proper equipment who moved it into the office and set it up for us. The one that got delivered yesterday was delivered by some poor bastard from ANC (who was about half my size) who had to be helped by us to get it down from his truck. Once we finally got it down and got it unwrapped we noticed it had been damaged in transit, one of the side panels had been bent and it was missing its clips and lock. One of the corners was smashed in too. We therefore refused delivery and we had to help the poor bastard from ANC load the thing back onto his truck

 

That all said, so far their after sales support has been top notch and despite all this our relationship with them has remained good. The amount of money that we've saved by buying from them is amazing.

[john]

Used them recently for some kit, seem good and well priced.

 

I am always dubious of the good prices though, I once used a company called Curve IT and my supposed UK spec HP machines were French YUCK! All the paperwork was french, drivers, CDs, Windows on some of them as well was French, and I got Spanish Laptops. They had at least put UK keyboards in the PCs and on the laptops, but never again. I have not had PCs from IT index yet, but I would be warey if the prices looked far to good to be true.

[SpuffMonkey]

Their prices are VERY keen - but I'm not happy with their after sales service when something goes wrong. I was b*ggered about royally when I bought a laptop trolley and they sent one with foreign electrical fittings - it took months to get it sorted. And just recently - I ordered some docking stations for tablet PCs - I checked on the phone that they came with DVD drives - but when they turned up - no drives. When I qureied it - sales man just pointed to some hyperlink included in an email sent that linked to some page that mentioned in the small print that it didn't include the drives. I guess I should've read it - but after being assured that it was kosher, I didn't - well they can swivel for my cash in the future.

[whatwherewhen]

I have used a few companies and schoolquote over the past 5 years, I have however found that Orchid UK (Simon Hulland) beats or a least matches most of the quotes and gives me free delivery which is bonus as I work on the Isle of Wight.

[ANiceEnglishman]

I've been using them quite a lot and their prices are good.

 

As others have commented, they are not so hot when things go wrong. A problem with a faulty item which they undertook to sort out has now been ongoing for three months with a string of broken promises and me being bounced between Probrand and the manufacturer.

[russdev]

We don't talk about probrand here at edugeek "least favourite company ever" as comic book guy would say. Members have had historical problems.

 

Russ

[vikpaw]

Used them for years. had some issues, but i think it depends on your account manager and what sort of relationship you have.

mine's kelly and she's hot! she was our third so hopefully they wont move her on.

i get a courtesy call once a fortnight or so, but there's no pressure.

good range of products and pretty good prices with room to negotiate. e-buyer is often cheaper but with our finance dept. it's easier to buy offline than online.

[MkII]

No, our account manager was great... that was until we had a return to organise. He was very cagey about the prospect of it, and so I deliberately tried not to involve him. As soon as I spoke to his supervisor, the situation became vile. She was defensive and aggressive, I would say outrightly rude. I wasn't given a chance to speak. This after 8 years of using them as a prefferred supplier without issue. Edited January 27, 2008 by MkII