Centre Com Reviews 177

⭐ Review: Serious concerns about transparency and “open box” practices – proceed with caution

I am posting this review so other consumers can make an informed decision before purchasing from Centre Com.

I attended the Centre Com Nunawading store intending to purchase a new laptop. I was advised by staff that it would be quicker to order the same model online rather than wait in store, so I followed that advice. At the time of purchase, the laptop was presented as a normal product listing. It did not state that it was “open box” or second-hand.

After the purchase was completed, the situation changed. My receipt later showed the item as “open box”, and the product link was removed entirely rather than remaining live as “sold out” or “no longer available”, which is the usual retail practice. That alone raised serious concerns about transparency.

When the laptop arrived, it was clearly not new. The internal seal was broken, protective packaging was missing, and there were visible scratches on both the casing and the screen. This is not consistent with what most consumers would reasonably understand as a simple “open box” item. A scratched display indicates prior use or handling beyond inspection.

I contacted Centre Com immediately with photos and requested an exchange. Instead of addressing the condition of the product, I was repeatedly told that scratches and visible damage were “consistent with open box”. This position was maintained despite the fact that “open box” was not clearly disclosed at the time of purchase.

By the time a refund was eventually offered, sales events had ended, leaving me financially worse off. The handling of the matter, the shifting description of the product after purchase, and the refusal to provide a like-for-like replacement have left me with serious concerns about Centre Com’s practices.

I am now pursuing the matter through formal consumer channels.

Advice to other buyers:

Do not assume products are new unless it is explicitly stated at checkout.

Be cautious with any listing that later changes description or disappears.

Get written confirmation of condition before purchasing, or consider alternative retailers.

This review reflects my personal experience and is shared to help others avoid a similar situation.

My experience with centrecom online was over all 9.9/10

I bought two items at the same time. Ram 64GB DDR5 6000 Kingston Fury (expensive or what lol) as it was advertised at a great price. No problemo, item arrived next day. Awesome work Centrecom. 5 out of 5 stars.

My second item .. RX9070XT OC .. my experience was with a refund.

Showing online as 'in stock' at both Brisbane stores, I rang to double check both items were in 'stock-on shelf', and available for immediate delivery (as I had previously been shafted by another company on pre order ram back in late nov).

I purchased online, after that pH call ended. Both items $2200.

I received shipment details for ram within 30 mins of purchase, I did not receive one for Graphics Card.

Another check online, showed pre order only. It had changed from in-stock only mins earlier.

Another call .. they tried to say it was not on pre order. I asked if it was on shelf. Answer was "it will take 7 days to arrive at store".

Effectively that makes it PRE ORDER ONLY and the deception was not appreciated.

Centrecom stated a full refund will be given (as payed). ( Centrecom took responsibility for their mistake.)

Three business days and money had been credited back to my account !!

Centrecom was awesome ..

4.9 out of 5 stars. Well done guys 😎

I would strongly advise against using this company.

The customer support process was abysmal, characterized by constant delays, conflicting information, and staff who appeared completely unable to resolve a simple issue. I was repeatedly moved between staff, told they had to "speak to a manager," and received multiple contradictory replies about which store to return the items to.

I have decided to source all future components elsewhere. Save yourself the headache and avoid Centre Com. I would not recommend this company.

Purchased an internal Harddrive last year and had it for about 6 months and went back too get it fixed because it suddenly stopped working I sent it back on the 3 of the 11 2025 it took 2 months for it be fixed nothing happened did not even get a phone call too let me what is happening in 2 months. So I got credited the difference and had too pay an Extra $ 60 for something that was under warranty and on top of that I was not aware about a price rise on the product. I have written a letter too consumer affair and will be letting people know about not too be using Centercom in bundoora and I will be leaving feedback on the bundoora center review page. I feel that the the owners have no customers skills or people skills in general they are just their too build fix and sell the computers too general public.🤔

Thank You 😞

I ordered a CPU and PSU (for pretty fair prices) and the day before and both of the deliveries had arrived despite going with the free shipping (AUS post)

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 start.

Sell a faulty product. they ask you to spend 4 hours doing their diagnosis. Once they agree to take the item back for "assessment" it takes 3-4 weeks to try and delay and deny a claim.

One of the worst Australian retailers I've ever dealt with which is an absolutely insane statement. Nobody knows what they're doing, returns department is an absolute mess as well, will take your item and give you no communication for weeks. Just stick to other places for your tech needs.

Wasn't given any shipping updates or notice before my order arrived. Was sent email on the day it was arriving but I wasn't home to receive it. I called up to ask if they couldn't deliver on a day I would be home. They said it was fine on the phone but then ignored my request and attempted to deliver it again the next day when I wasn't home. The order wasn't sent back to them and now they want to deduct $20 from my refund even though the failed delivery was entirely their fault. They also have terrible support and ignore my support requests for multiple days. Don't order from them online as they have a terrible delivery system and horrible support and customer service.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5 – Outstanding Service from Jason and Daniel!
I Love MSI PRODUCTS esp their PSU and AIO COOLER! I want to give a huge shoutout to Jason and Daniel from the Auburn Store for turning a frustrating experience into an amazing one. Despite the delays with my custom PC build, they absolutely stepped up and made things right. Their professionalism, communication, and dedication completely changed what could have been a bad review into the best review.
Thank you both for your hard work and for going above and beyond to ensure I received the build I was hoping for. Truly appreciate the effort—well done, team!
Highly recommended! 🙌💻

Staff don't communicate with each other.
Orders lost in the system.
Absolute have no idea on how to run a business.

We have spent tens of thousands of dollars with them.

Yet their customer service is appalling. It would be better talking to an AI.

When there's missing items they don't notify you and the rest of the order doesn't get shipped out.

When there's defective products shipped, they take a few months to organise a solution but it takes me about 30 emails back and forth to explain the issue before they understand.

One of the most pugnacious left winged companies I've ever dealt with. I Purchased a curved monitor a couple of weeks ago and a separate usb-c display port cables as suggested by my staff member. Total cost $224.78. Got home and opened the box and found all the cables I needed to get me going. The new separate usb - c cable purchased turned out to be superfluous. Took it back in its original sealed pack to seek a refund - $22.73. After explaining my oversight I was told that they don't have change of mind policy. Wish I knew that the new monitor came with its own cable. After much deliberation and after speaking to the store manager (draconian). They accepted and gave me a refund. Later discussion with him to seek further clarification revealed his true obnoxious behaviour towards me a customer centre come for over 15 years. He kept throwing the book at me saying that he won’t accept change of mind (COM) - return/refund. Well this was not change of mind. My issue was not COM - but a genuine oversight but this fellow continued to be rude to me. Besides there was no mention on the invoice around CC policy at all period. Regardless, later I called the clayton and sunshine branch managers to seek refund policy based on my scenario and BOTH said if the package in sealed / unopened and invoice provided they will give me a refund. Both these gentlemen were very respectful towards me the customer. I've recorded both conversations and if nothing is done I will lodge a formal complaint with the ACCC. And I will in my capacity ensure that our bendigo community are aware of the draconian behaviours demonstrated at the CC bendigo store and to avoid dealing with them or get ripped off. Personally I’ve seen a rapid decline of customer care/service from this pathetic store – they need to be investigated or else they will decline – HARVEY NORMAN/JB HiFI / Myers etc are far superior to this pathetic organisation
Disgusted customer
Richard (0484337507)

Honestly, just stick with the bigger retailers where post-purchase support actually exists.

Spent over $3.5k here, including a $49 mouse that stopped working. Was told I have to send it back for “assessment” and could be charged a minimum $45 fee if they decide it’s not faulty — on a $49 product.

The person I dealt with didn’t even pretend to be helpful or interested — just quoted policy and moved on. For the money I’ve spent, that’s a joke. Buy here at your own risk.

Very deceptive advertising. I ordered 1x (small) security camera from them, product page advertised free shipping if your order is over $79 and you register an account.

I did both of these but was still charged shipping, after querying with customer support I was sent a generic email saying my item is probably too bulky or I live in a remote or regional area.

I then advised them that the item is NOT bulky (I could likely fit it in a pocket) and that I live in the capital city of Western Australia (Perth) which definitely isn't remote or regional.

Once again I received an email saying that my location is classified as remote as per Australia Post. However after finding Australia Post main metropolitan area maps on infrastructure.gov.au which defines my location as a 'main metropolitan area' and sending those details through to them. I am still awaiting a reply, but due to prior correspondence I have no hope that they will refund the postage.

My next steps will involve posting more reviews where I can and then contacting the ACCC and any other local watchdogs that are relevant.

*****
EDIT (9/11/25): Even after escalating to head office, I received an email that regurgitated the same as all prior emails - that I'm in a remote or rural area, despite the fact that I am not.
After my last reply asking how they can call Perth a remote, regional area, I have not received any communications from them.
I can understand why.. Because they can't explain how Perth is remote / regional..

On a positive note, the security camera I ordered did arrive - postage speed was ok, but after they scammed me into paying for postage, I would expect much quicker delivery.

However after the false advertising and dealing with a few different customer service reps, who all just said the same thing over and over without actually answering my question - which was; how they can determine that Perth (largest population centre in the state, also the capital city of W.A) is remote/regional

My recommendation to people considering buying from CentreCom IS DON'T. Choose a local pc shop or your trustworthy online store, it'll even be worth it if it costs more

Bought from them multiple times, in-person they are great and they’re fine product-wise but horrible customer service. If multiple banks are blocking transactions to you, including a brand new card, maybe advise that on the website instead of customers being frustrated about it. They also don’t know their own policies, requesting information because it’s a significant risk to their company but sending out the product anyway. No apology for the waste of time to gather and redact the information. They’ve updated their refund policy but it’s not prominent on the product pages. A waste of time and a shitty experience.

Used paypal to pay for my order. They accused me of fraud and requested highly personal info to continue with the order. When I refused to give them that personal info they told me they would never send the order, then made it hard to cancel and get a refund.

EDIT: I'm now picking up all the parts I need from a physical store, it seems to only be the online store that has these problems.

very surprised with all the bad reviews. Have been getting all of my pc gear from them for a few years now ,always fast delivery and best prices cheap or no delivery charge. Right now i have just got a new video card that did not work correctly from the start. They asked me to trouble shoot and then send it back once that did not work and im now getting a refund or exchange .Always pleasant to deal with .. update my new card has just been ordered now problems at all

GREAT SERVICE! Fast Delivery and helpful staff!

Great service, fair prices, and much better experience than Umart or Scorptec!