Mixed feelings about my ordering experience. Several orders placed, starting last year. So far ZERO items shipped. See review for details...
It's too bad, as I have read elsewhere that they have a good reputation. Because of what I had read, I have ordered several different items from them, from graphics cards to desktop CPUs. I haven't made any huge orders. Just one of each item (minus the 3400G, which I ordered two of). One of the items I ordered had very few orders placed on it. I considered myself lucky, as I had got my order in very close to when the product was listed. Sadly, the manufacturer's estimated ship date was delayed. I was informed in an email. Then it happened again. And again. And again. AND AGAIN. You get the idea. Here we are, approaching EIGHT MONTHS of waiting. Every single item I have ordered from them, starting last year, has been perpetually delayed. It is hard to believe that "manufacturers" are giving them these fake estimates that keep changing, month after month. If that's the case, why would ShopBLT even provide any kind of estimate at all? Take the 3400G for example - I was able to order one off Newegg long since I placed the preorder from ShopBLT. There's a microcenter about two hours from me with a stack of them in stock. These restock frequently nowadays, and you can finally order one without scalper markups. But ShopBLT? NOPE. "Estimated" ship date is pushed back again and again. REVIEW UPDATE: They have shipped 0% of what I have ordered from them. 100% of my orders with ShopBLT have been either canceled, or endlessly delayed. Perhaps other products ship in a timely manner, but I think that they should change the term "Pre-order" to "wish list" or "queue". Otherwise, you are preordering items that have NO ACCURATE ESTIMATE on when they will ship. You will wait for months, often while other retailers re-stock and sell out of those same items you "preordered". This is very frustrating, and this is my biggest frustration with ShopBLT. My recommendation is that they eliminate the "preorder" button, as a preorder still implies that you are ordering something that will be released or restocked SOON. Wait times on current hot products still appear indefinite, and often they are simply getting cancelled. Even EVGA, who goes down their list meticulously and sends an individualized buy link to each person on the list, in order, calls their system a "queue". The button says "auto-notify", not preorder, and this is a more accurate term. The word preorder still carries a strong implication that you'll get a product, and the ETA implies an estimated time. BLT's store even goes so far as to show how many are ordered and how many are incoming. Normally, I would shower them with high praise for such transparency, but how can you have an actual number of "incoming" at all for a product that gets cancelled entirely? ShopBLT needs to be more up-front about this. Yes, they have the disclaimers that the ETAs are not from ShopBLT, but the manufacturers, but these numbers are turning out to be ENTIRELY FALLS, and BLT should warn customers of this alarming trend and practice. It would greatly reduce the feelings of frustration or disappointment, or at least make it easier to direct such sentiment towards the manufacturers/distributors rather than toward ShopBLT. If they actually ship SOMETHING that I've ordered over the last several months, I'll be happy to update my review. Until then, buyer beware. Full disclosure: I have been in direct contact with ShopBLT, and due to our correspondence, I have updated my review wording, and also changed the rating from 1 star to 3 stars. That level of communication alone is impressive, and I am VERY grateful they reached out. I want to give them 5 stars, and there are two ways they can earn those two stars back from me: 1. They could be TRANSPARENT on these high demand items. Don't call it a "preorder" anymore. If you insist on calling it a preorder, be totally transparent on high demand items that there is a very high likelihood that your order will be cancelled or indefinitely delayed regardless of the "ordered", "incoming", and "ETA" reports on ShopBLT's website. or 2. They could actually ship me something that I have preordered. Either way will earn them back two stars. ShopBLT has been in the business for a long time, and I appreciate them reaching out to me personally to try to resolve my frustration with this situation. They are also frustrated with this situation, and their willingness to communicate speaks volumes about their company and their care of their customers.