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birdsong

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 16, 2006
26
0
I made the decision to purchase an OptiBay from MCE Technologies so I could install an SSD for my boot drive in my MacBook Pro, and move my existing drive to the OptiBay. I opted to go with MCE Tech because they offered a free external enclosure for the SuperDrive I was removing. Apparently, the offer generated some sales, because the external enclosure ended up getting backordered. It would be nice if someone told me that, or returned emails when I sent them, but apparently that's too difficult for MCE Tech. Here is the last email I just sent them after a useless phone conversation with them. Buyer beware.

Mr. XXX YYY,

Today, for the third time, I spoke with someone at MCE Tech regarding
my order. This is after my numerous emails having received no
response, and the responses to my phone calls have only been empty
promises. A quick summary of events:

On 2009-12-02, I received a shipment. I quickly noticed I was missing
the external enclosure that was supposed to come with my item (hard
drive enclosure for the optical bay in my MacBook Pro). There was no
explanation on the invoice or in any emails as to why the item was
missing. I promptly called your company to ask what happened. I was
informed the item was backordered, that someone should have told me
that, and the item was expected to ship the next day (2009-12-03). I
inquired if the item would be shipped 2nd day air since that's what I
paid for, and I was told it would. If the item was shipped as
promised, I should have received it on Monday, 2009-12-07. I did not.
Of course, I emailed asking where it was and if there was a tracking
number, and no one responded to me. I followed up with another email
on 2009-12-09. Naturally, no one responded to that either. I called
yesterday, 2009-12-10 and spoke with ZZZ. He said the item was
shipped and gave me the tracking number. Upon looking it up, I saw it
shipped on 2009-12-09 (6 days later than promised) and it was shipped
ground. I told him this was unacceptable and my shipping costs needed
to be refunded for the entire order. He informed me that this should
be possible, but the accounting department had left for the day. He
promised that the accounting department would call me today,
2009-12-11 by noon pacific time. Not surprisingly, no one called or
emailed me. When I spoke to ZZZ today, it was as if he had never
spoken to me yesterday. He briefly consulted with accounting and told
me the best you could do is refund half my shipping costs because half
of my order came on time.

I found this to be most comical. I haven't been able to use the part
of the order that came because I had no way of installing my operating
system once I replaced my hard drive. So, your product has been
useless to me thus far. It's evident that no one at your company cares
one bit about customer service, as you, ZZZ, and
orders@mcetech.com have been recipients of all my emails, and not one
of them has ever been replied to. You are a joke of a company, and by
now you probably can guess I will never be ordering anything from you
ever again. In addition, I will make sure many people hear about your
complete lack of customer service and inability to fulfill even the
simplest order in a proper manner.

Furthermore, since part of my order was not shipped in the method I
paid for and the part I received is unusable until I receive the
entire order, I will be filing a complaint with my credit card company
and reporting your fraud.
 

bblboy54

macrumors newbie
Dec 11, 2009
4
0
I recently placed an order with this company for an OptiBay expansion for my MacBook. My confirmation email said that I would receive an email with tracking number when my order shipped. A few days later I hadn't received anything so I emailed them but never heard back from them. A couple of days later my package arrived, however, it was missing the external enclosure that was listed on my order. I emailed them again and still have no response. The issue got worse when I opened up the OptiBay and put the CD in with the documentation only to find out that the CD doesn't contain the documentation for the MacBook that I ordered it for (and yes, I specified it at checkout like it asked). To make matters even worse they do not list ANY information on their website about these products which is quite a frustration.‎
 

oneshin

macrumors newbie
Dec 17, 2009
1
0
MCE Tech

I ordered a Blu-Ray device over a year ago -- first it took about 4 months to leave the factory.

Then it didn't work -- so I sent it back, they sent me another broken one. Then I took it down there -- they said it needed firmware. So I installed boot camp put in the firmware -- still broken.

Then I dropped it off -- and they said they'd test it. They said it worked - but they put a new ATA controller on it. They gave it to me - but forgot a cable.

so they send me the cable a week later, still doesn't work !

they are either completely incompetent or are scamsters.

anybody interested in some joint legal action against them contact me.
 

amethyst15

macrumors newbie
Oct 5, 2009
2
0
I purchased an external slim DVD burner along with the OptiBay Enclosure for my laptop. (That was before they offered the free carrier option.) It never worked right from the start so I requested an RMA. It seems that none of their emails actually work because I sent several messages to various emails with no response. I seriously am beginning to think that either their email servers are badly configured or that they just ignore emails. As a last resort I responded to the yahoo email where the invoice was sent from and finally got a response. I was given RMA instructions and sent the item in but haven't gotten any status update or an item back. Their customer service seems to be almost nonexistent. I'm going to have to call them up on the phone and waste more time to find out what is going on. Buyer beware. If you have a problem with a purchase, you will have a hard time getting anything resolved. I don't want others to have to go through what I've gone through so far.
 

gkarris

macrumors G3
Dec 31, 2004
8,301
1,061
"No escape from Reality...”
I ordered a portable FW DVD burner from them and it's been awesome and the service was great - but that was probably at least 4 years ago...

Looks like things have changed - I clicked on some product links and the page is empty...
 

Severisth

macrumors newbie
May 8, 2006
6
0
I purchased an Optibay for my 2008 MacBook Pro, along with an enclosure for the SuperDrive which was being removed. I also did not receive a confirmation that the order was shipped untli I emailed them. At that point, they responded with the confirmation and the delivery arrived the same day (on time). The SuperDrive enclosure was not backordered for me.

Looks like I'm one of the lucky ones.
 

jba256

macrumors newbie
Mar 8, 2010
9
0
Same deal.

Just received my MCE Optibay. No superdrive enclosure (which was the reason i went with the more expensive MCE chassis).

The build quality is also sub-par. The drive mounting screws (two on my model) are designed for tapered screw holes, but the holes on the optibay are not tapered, leaving the screws sticking out like an upside-down pyramid.

I'm likely going to have to send it back unless i machine the optibay myself (in order to flush the screws properly).

Wish i had read this thread earlier.
 

bionicmedia

macrumors newbie
Jul 6, 2011
1
0
Yes! Listen to these comments! Do not buy from mcetech!!!

I also found the "great deal" on the website and ordered an internal Blu Ray burner for my Mac Pro. I received it eventually but then found out it was missing the IDE adaptor. I emailed, several times, with no replies. I even emailed from different accounts in case they were going into a spam folder. After calling and expressing my concern the gentleman on the phone explained that he would quickly ship out the adaptor and apologized. I figured they were just really busy due to a great product.

Well, several weeks later, still nothing. I called back, assuming there was a mix up or something. He again assured me that they had been back ordered and he would send one out immediately. I asked him to confirm with a tracking number in an email. After several days, and no confirmation email, I called AGAIN. He was very apologetic still, but now I was realizing that he was just telling me what I wanted to hear to get me off the phone.

Now months, yes MONTHS, have gone buy and still no adaptor. The drive is essentially useless to me. I called back again very upset with the service. This time he had the audacity to tell me that since it had been more than 90 days he was no longer able to offer me service on my product!

Do not give these guys your money. I gave them SEVERAL chances to redeem themselves and they screwed me over.
 

tripcat

macrumors newbie
May 22, 2012
2
0
Agree - STAY AWAY FROM MCE TECHNOLOGIES

I bought an OptiBay. Was very dissapointed after I received the product. It was cheap and flimsy and difficult to install because of the construction it is tough to reset the drive screws on the DVD slot side. And the external case - forget it, cheap, falls apart just really, poor construction. After going through that it would NOT recognize my drive no matter what I did. Sent it back, they replaced it...same thing. So far customer service as been OK. "Arnie" seemed responsive, however, I was assured no restocking fee (I have the emails). Everything made it back - both drives, parts accessories took pictures just in case etc. Confirmed everything made it back - no refund. It has been a month and still no refund (100$ down the drain). Subsequent emails no response, so now customer service is crap.

Want an example of a good company - OWC - they are awesome. Solid construction great help wonderful experience. Should have gone with my gut..but a friend recommended them and I trusted his opinion since I"m new to Apple.:mad:
 

el residente

macrumors newbie
Oct 14, 2012
1
0
Strange atmosphere at MCE

At least you guys managed to actually receive something from MCE. I ordered the XCaret drive expansion for the Wallstreet at a bargain price (yes, I do still use a Wallstreet!). An email with an order number came back.

After waiting a month, I went through the above-mentioned process of trying to raise a response on e-mail, gave up and telephoned them. It was a somewhat surreal experience. The guy who answered sounded a bit sleepy and told me that I would not be getting this unit since there had been a burglary, as a result of which the units had disappeared!

Had this deal succeeded I would have been quite interested in an Optibay G4 for my Tibook, but I think it would be a waste of time asking. Oh well.
 

kevink2

macrumors 68000
Nov 2, 2008
1,842
294
I received my BD drive about as fast as I expected. I didn't realize that the difference between the drive for the 2008 model and the 2009 model was an PATA adapter until I read it on this thread. I just thought it was a different model for $20 more, so I ordered the SATA version, and an adapter from another site (since I don't want to buy any additional PATA drives at this time :)

I am requesting my activation code for the player software. I'll see how this works. If it works, then it gives me the ability to watch BD movies on my MacBook Pro (and external drive). I have no need to watch BD movies on my Mac Pro (for which I bought the drive from MCETech) since I have a BD player on my TV.
 

Ojisan

macrumors newbie
Mar 9, 2015
20
2
I ordered a Bluray Superdrive from them on the 4th. Said they would email me when it ships. I received no emails from them and they don't respond to my emails. Never dealt with a company like this before,
 

Ojisan

macrumors newbie
Mar 9, 2015
20
2
Update to my situation with MCE Tech. I called them up on 19th asking about my item. They said the drive I ordered is held up in customs and that they would send me the next model up and upgrade my shipping to priority mail and send me a tracking number. Well they lied about all of that. And evidently they lie about the stock status of items on their website. MCE and I are both located in the USA. Why would my in stock item be held up by customs? I notified Paypal and MCE sent me an email response in less than 24 hours. Lol. They said they would look into why my order hadn't shipped out yet. That was Tuesday. Today I told them to just cancel the order and give me my money back or I will dispute with Paypal.
 
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venom600

macrumors 65816
Mar 23, 2003
1,296
1,099
Los Angeles, CA
Just my $.02, but I ordered a Bluray burner for my Macbook pro from them last year without issue. They even included an external drive case for the superdrive I removed. Of course, I live minutes from their offices, so perhaps I got better service because they were afraid I'd show up in person.
 

mbpjedi

macrumors newbie
May 17, 2014
12
1
I've been buying stuff from MCE for years with no problems whatsoever. In fact I found out about them because a genius at the Genius Bar in an Apple Store recommended them to me when I asked him how I could use Blu-ray on my Macs. I run a small video production department in a school and their stuff has been solid for us.
 

Ojisan

macrumors newbie
Mar 9, 2015
20
2
The conclusion of my story with MCETech. Well they refunded my money and sent me the drive anyways. It was the original model I ordered not the updated model that they had offered as an apology. I don't care since I have no interest burning Blu-rays. They told me to try the drive out and if I like it they will send me a bill for it and if I don't like it they will pay to ship it back to them. Well I'm keeping it since the drive works and I like it. They also claimed that the post office return the original drive they had sent me back to them because the post office damaged it during shipping.
 

tenaciouskat

macrumors newbie
Nov 6, 2015
1
0
I ordered an external optical drive from MCE almost a month ago. Aside from my PayPal receipt, they didn't confirm my order. So after 2 weeks of hearing nothing I emailed - trying a couple of the different email addresses they provided. No response from MCE. So then I completed a contact form on the website. No response from MCE. So then I called a few times. No response from MCE. As they don't answer their phones, I left a voicemail. No response from MCE. Then I filled in a PayPal dispute. No response from MCE.

Seriously have NEVER dealt with a company like this before. Up until this point, all I wanted was confirmation of my order and a shipping confirmation. I just wanted the device. Finally gave up today after calling again (you guessed it - No response from MCE) and escalated it to a claim with PayPal so I can get my money back. Kind of disbelieving that this is a company that is un-contactable...oh well, I know now: don't buy from MCE!
 

doc.jeff

macrumors newbie
Dec 29, 2015
1
0
Allow me to add to the chorus of complaints about MCE. Here is the email that I just sent them:

I’ve given it some thought and I don’t want the MCE Complement that I ordered from your company. The order was placed on 12/21 and, as of yesterday (12/28), it still had not gone out (according to the employee I spoke to). A shipping label was printed on the 22nd and the post office still has no record of having received it. I paid for expedited shipping and reasonably assumed that I would get the package by Monday at the very latest due to the Christmas holiday. The fact that it hadn’t even gone out by then is bad business.

Today, when I spoke with someone there, I was told that there was a problem with customs. Frankly, I don’t believe you folks. I don’t trust your company to stand by the product after this experience. I’ll order from OWC, a company that offers a similar drive and has always provided excellent service.

If you still have the package there (as I suspect you do since USPS doesn’t have it), keep it and cancel the order and refund my purchase price of $217.75 to my card. If it comes here, I’ll refuse the package.
 

mitnick

macrumors newbie
Mar 6, 2017
1
0
Pittsburgh, PA
Allow me to add to the chorus of complaints about MCE. Here is the email that I just sent them:

I’ve given it some thought and I don’t want the MCE Complement that I ordered from your company. The order was placed on 12/21 and, as of yesterday (12/28), it still had not gone out (according to the employee I spoke to). A shipping label was printed on the 22nd and the post office still has no record of having received it. I paid for expedited shipping and reasonably assumed that I would get the package by Monday at the very latest due to the Christmas holiday. The fact that it hadn’t even gone out by then is bad business.

Today, when I spoke with someone there, I was told that there was a problem with customs. Frankly, I don’t believe you folks. I don’t trust your company to stand by the product after this experience. I’ll order from OWC, a company that offers a similar drive and has always provided excellent service.

If you still have the package there (as I suspect you do since USPS doesn’t have it), keep it and cancel the order and refund my purchase price of $217.75 to my card. If it comes here, I’ll refuse the package.



MCE Technologies shipped a defective Complement Drive to me in January, and also failed to include necessary software. They promised to replace it, but after two months, nothing. They cannot be reached by phone or email -- I've tried numerous times. Any suggestions? This appears to be a company to avoid.
 

Synchromystic137

macrumors newbie
Jun 2, 2017
3
0
Feeling the burn here as well: Ordered an external blu ray drive on 5-20, here I am two weeks later with nothing... I finally check the order status, and it says it's still processing (elsewhere it says "picking"). I just sent an email and dropped a 1-star review on their Facebook page, but after seeing some of the posts on this page I guess I'll have to give em a call soon. Wish me luck on that, sounds like I'm gonna need it.
 

junkmail509

macrumors member
Jun 2, 2017
38
32
I've been buying stuff from MCE for years with no problems whatsoever. In fact I found out about them because a genius at the Genius Bar in an Apple Store recommended them to me when I asked him how I could use Blu-ray on my Macs. I run a small video production department in a school and their stuff has been solid for us.

I previously bought a number of items from MCE and always had a good experience, including an OptiBay for 2010 MacBook Pro. So this is surprising to read the recent negatives.
 

Synchromystic137

macrumors newbie
Jun 2, 2017
3
0
Update: I ended up sending a complaint email to them through PayPal, gave them about 10 days to respond and JUST as I was about to file a claim against them, I received an email saying it would be here the next day. Well, I finally received my Compliment today (6-19-17), and it doesn't work. No software registration code, doesn't read or recognize discs, just gives me the loading pinwheel icon while making a lot of noise. I'm going ahead with that claim, my interaction with this company has left me thoroughly disgusted.
 

Synchromystic137

macrumors newbie
Jun 2, 2017
3
0
Okay, it turns out they actually DID send me the registration code, but the optical drive on the unit does not work; The very first time I plugged it in and inserted a DVD, it made a lot of noise and acted like it was trying to play, but I got an error message saying it was skipping over some "damaged" areas on the disc, and then stopped... Since then, it doesn't make a sound or even attempt to read or acknowledge any kind of disc I put in it. After 10 hours of back and forth messages with a representative through PayPal in an attempt to troubleshoot the problem, he finally admitted defeat:
==========
It sounds like the optical drive died for some reason on the way to you. It was tested here before shipping and it played a Blu-ray movie with no problem. Let me see what we can do here. We may just need to give you a refund and get that unit back because that was our last Complement so I don't think we have a way to cross ship you a new one. We've run out and we're not getting more anytime in the immediate future. As you can see on our web site we show them as out of stock:
http://store.mcetech.com/mm/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=COMPLEMENT
I'll check and let you know in the morning. Best Regards, MCE Technologies
==========
All that after they've wasted a month of my time... And now I'm not even sure if I can count on them to uphold their end of a refund deal after seeing some of the other comments in this forum thread... Also a bit suspicious that I just happened to order their last one and they won't be getting anymore.
 
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