Novatech Computers

the novatech manager is shocking and a dissgrace to any company. today i took a faulty £20 optical drive back but was picking up five more but the manager seen the one i was taking back was £20 and the others £15 so he charged me for four and a straight swap for number 5 mmmmmmm i ask where is my £5 change and he says i dont get any, well in my case and past within the law thats theft.
i also had an issue with NOVATECH brand flash pens a 4gb and a 16gb, on windows 7 sp1 ultimate they run ok NTFS but on windows xp sp3 all updates and drivers they show exFAT or FAT32 so no good, the manager tried them in two windows 7 pc’s so i asked to try it in xp as thats where the problem lay but his reply NO XP IS OLD AND NO ONE USES IT AND I HAVE NOT FOR YEARS thou the store sells it, im left £5 down and two no good flash pens and this after spending £100s instore the last few months, the manager did not offer to have them looked at or anything
the staff instore have always helped and friendly but when you are meant to learn from the manager well it do not look good for the stores future

This store gave me one of my worst consumer experiences ever. Just read the reviews on dooyoo and you’ll see what I mean.
The expensive Pc arrived not built to spec, without a power lead, and then gave me continual problems e.g. regularly crashing. After a final return to Novatech for 3 weeks, they had still completely failed to either fix the problem or even allow a LAN/​modem cable to connect.
Trying to get my money back was extremely difficult and I had to threaten legal action in the end.
I found the Cardiff store manager extremely rude and unhelpful.
This is just a summary of a long experience, there were many more problems. I have full documentation of all this. I’m only giving one star because you can’t leave it blank.

After the power supply to my boyfriend’s computer started emitting a burning smell, we made an emergency trip to Novatech before the item in question burned his office to the ground.
I feel out of place in stores like these, as I have no idea what I’m looking at because my technophobia means I can barely turn on a computer. Novatech was unlike any computer store I’ve been in — it’s more like a geek boutique, with glass display cases replacing the usual stock you find crammed on the seemingly endless rows of shelving units. The motherboards on exhibit were arranged more like Chanel bags than computer equipment.
We found the staff here to be knowledgeable and helpful; I’m unfamiliar with Novatech’s technical support or range of stock, but I can report that my beloved walked out of this fine store with a suitable replacement for his power supply. Mission accomplished.

Blah. Imagine all the worst things about PC World, then magnify them so they’re twice as bad, and then remove all the carefully cultivated, cynically corporate spit-​polish layer that tries to hide the PC World flaws from the populace. Ok. Got that in your head? Fantastic. Now make it twice as awful and we’re there.
Alright, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but Novatech ain’t no great shakes. As I said, they are as expensive as PC World, charging an obscene price for what is, essentially, 20 minutes of work after buying the parts. Their store is limited in their stock as well, which is unfortunate. I was quite excited upon entering, being a big tech geek, only to find a sparse, computer-​vacant wasteland.
Anything you need from Novatech, you can get online anyway. Pay £20 to get the parts fitted from a specialist and you’ll have a computer as effective as a Novatech or PC World deal for well under the advertised price.

Although it’s on a road apparently full of nothing but car dealerships and mechanics, this is a neat little computer shop on Penarth Road, at the Sloper Junction. They have a good range of desktop computers and laptops, as well as smaller hardware to coincide.
So many of these computer shops are full to the brim with salespeople; it become a chore just walking in an out the door without buying a warranty. Novatech computers, however, are different in this respect. Perhaps they’re not paid on commission, but something is different. You feel like they are speaking to you because they genuinely want to help.
With parking on site, this is a handy place you might want to pop into for computer advice or to compare prices. The assistant there did tell me that their busy spells come in periods; inexplicably they will be packed one hour and dead the next, so don’t let either state when you arrive put you off!