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Monarch Computer Bites the Dust?

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At least Monarch can't rip anyone else off... But I'm still fighting with my bank for the $4000 that they stole from me.

Just to highlight the problem here: $4000 is about eight months rent for me, and those computers weren't mine: They were purchased for clients, so now I owe my clients a serious chunk of money with little chance of recouping it, and I've lost good clients too.
Anyone who defends Monarch, and anyone who thinks such actions are no big deal, or doubts that they've seriously hurt people should pull the golden dildo out of their ass and take notice. If someone had walked in to my house and taken these systems, they would go to jail for a long time. I think the same should be true for the owners of Monarch, as the effect is exactly the same. More to the point: They've done this to more than one person. This is the commitment of Grand Theft in a serial fashion.
 
We_are_theBorg said:
At least Monarch can't rip anyone else off... But I'm still fighting with my bank for the $4000 that they stole from me.

Just to highlight the problem here: $4000 is about eight months rent for me, and those computers weren't mine: They were purchased for clients, so now I owe my clients a serious chunk of money with little chance of recouping it, and I've lost good clients too.
Anyone who defends Monarch, and anyone who thinks such actions are no big deal, or doubts that they've seriously hurt people should pull the golden dildo out of their ass and take notice. If someone had walked in to my house and taken these systems, they would go to jail for a long time. I think the same should be true for the owners of Monarch, as the effect is exactly the same. More to the point: They've done this to more than one person. This is the commitment of Grand Theft in a serial fashion.
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If you've lost $4000 and your reputation has been tarnished, I'd contact an attorney. It's worth doing so to recoup your losses. I'd take care of this quickly, before they enter bankruptcy or dissolve the corporation.
 
I was shocked, as we all were I suppose, to learn around the end of 2006 that things weren't working out for Monarch the, especially after years of excellent service, support, build quality. It amazes me how fast a company can go belly-up.

I'm visiting these forums because I wanted to ask/discuss a few things:

1. What is the real reason that monarch was shut down--is it really because they had been evading local income taxes? I noticed that on their site (which used to work) it said that Monarch was one of the first businesses in georgia to take advantage of some tax-exempt startup thing for new businesses. Similar to stuff that Wal-mart does all the time. Was it that after 10 years or so the tax-exempt status was up and they weren't paying local taxes for years?

2. I would seriously like to discuss the possibility of Monarch's demise being due to AMD's fall from performance grace at the hands if Intel Core 2 Duo products. My hair-brain theory is that Monarch was getting sweet deals from AMD as an " AMD platinum solutions provider" Any computer enthusiast knows that from about 2003 to July 2006 AMD was clearly the better choice, and Monarch computer pushed AMD systems heavily. I'm sure they made a bundle by combination of great deals (kickbacks?) from AMD and enthusiasts/system integrators flocking to their site to build the cheapest/best PCs/Servers. This changed when Core 2 duo launced, and if you look at when people started having problems with Monarch, it was in the immediate months following Core 2 duo launch. Anyone who knows anything knows that Core 2 duo is better, (or at least those who care about mid to top-end performance. So now no one wants AMD, every knowledgable person flocks to core 2 duo, and Monarch is stuck building Intel systems, has a surplus of AMD processors/motherboards that no one wants, and over months they get screwed because no one is buying.

What do you guys think?
 
rifleman said:
I was shocked, as we all were I suppose, to learn around the end of 2006 that things weren't working out for Monarch the, especially after years of excellent service, support, build quality. It amazes me how fast a company can go belly-up.

I'm visiting these forums because I wanted to ask/discuss a few things:

1. What is the real reason that monarch was shut down--is it really because they had been evading local income taxes? I noticed that on their site (which used to work) it said that Monarch was one of the first businesses in georgia to take advantage of some tax-exempt startup thing for new businesses. Similar to stuff that Wal-mart does all the time. Was it that after 10 years or so the tax-exempt status was up and they weren't paying local taxes for years?

2. I would seriously like to discuss the possibility of Monarch's demise being due to AMD's fall from performance grace at the hands if Intel Core 2 Duo products. My hair-brain theory is that Monarch was getting sweet deals from AMD as an " AMD platinum solutions provider" Any computer enthusiast knows that from about 2003 to July 2006 AMD was clearly the better choice, and Monarch computer pushed AMD systems heavily. I'm sure they made a bundle by combination of great deals (kickbacks?) from AMD and enthusiasts/system integrators flocking to their site to build the cheapest/best PCs/Servers. This changed when Core 2 duo launced, and if you look at when people started having problems with Monarch, it was in the immediate months following Core 2 duo launch. Anyone who knows anything knows that Core 2 duo is better, (or at least those who care about mid to top-end performance. So now no one wants AMD, every knowledgable person flocks to core 2 duo, and Monarch is stuck building Intel systems, has a surplus of AMD processors/motherboards that no one wants, and over months they get screwed because no one is buying.

What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

The sins of the owners caught up with them... nothing more. Now they are have the systemax deep pockets to play with. Scary stuff.
 
Every major supplier had to know well ahead of consumers how good the Core 2's were and had time to plan accordingly.I can't see that as being a big factor,as long as Monarch
was in business they had to know better than to put all their eggs in one manufacturers basket in this industry.Todays hot product can end up in the bargain bin overnite.
 
Rifleman, you’re doing some good thinking, and your ideas maybe contributing factors. First off they didn’t evade local income taxes, we have a state tax for that but the business licensing fees, sales tax, inventory tax and personal corporate taxes are very aggressive here by state and county. I know because I took the time to check on it – the personal property tax was paid before Christmas and was something like $70,000. Also the business is/was 16 years old so there would be no exemptions or credits left had there been any in place for a new business. These perks are to draw business to a location (it improves the tax base).

As far as your second theory, since the inventory tax is so “outrageous” any company here use virtual inventory as much as possible, meaning Atlanta is the distribution hub for the entire south-east so any part is only a phone call/e-mail away and less than 24 hours. So if Intel was good this week or AMD, it wouldn’t matter, don’t feel slighted – it was my first thought as well. As far as discounts well I just don’t know but MC has been a distributor for both for years!

Now I ran both Dekalb and Gwinnett county courts today, and there are NO cases in Dekalb, and 4-5 vendors are in Gwinnett civil, other than that there is no other activity – as in none.

My theory based on real facts is MC had customer service problems, probably internal, and the web light up like a Roman candle, and slurred them killing sales, with lower sales it made it impossible for them to meet responsibilities and obligations.

Just a theory but with no consumer court cases it’s illogical to think 1,000’s or even 100’s of customers would have been “taken” for 100’s or 10 of thousands of dollars and there is not one court case.

I don’t know if it was the chicken or egg - customer service/ web rant, and I don’t know what other bad business decisions were involved, what I do know it’s a damn shame they had the problems – for years they were the best.

Use local vendors/builders
Always use a credit card to buy on-line
Never use a debit card or paypal – ever!
And you-all will never lose a skinny dime.
 
Not to throw wood on the fire, but maybe this information will be of some use. I bought my Monarch Core 2 Duo based system in August. They said up front it wouldn't ship until September. It shipped close to when I expected but a little late (5 weeks). Trying to get ANY support out of Monarch was HORRIBLE. They wouldn't reply to emails or answer the phone. I had a minor problem (they shipped the wrong DVD burner) and it took weeks to get it resolved. In the end I paid for it, because they went out of business before I got my money back. The computer is well built, but I doubt I'd buy from them again because of their really terrible support. It's too bad. They did a nice job putting it all together and offered good component choices.
 
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