Komplett shuts down UK services

Author: Kyle van der Merwe
Published: 25th June 2008
Comments (27) Stumble
Komplett has announced that it has shut all branches in the UK, Austria, Germany and France.

Komplett has announced that it has shut all branches in the UK, Austria, Germany and France.

Komplett, one of the largest online retailers of PC components and hardware, yesterday announced that it was closing all branches in France, Germany, the UK and Austria.

Vincent Hoogduijn, the European General Manager for Komplett gave an announcement saying that the reason for the closures was because those markets were undersized and Komplett had struggled to establish a large enough footprint in those territories. Though the company had started a campaign of expansion just two years ago, the state of the market has forced Komplett to focus efforts where it believes it can get the most growth.

Apparently those territories don’t include the UK – Komplett is now focusing on expanding markets in Ireland, Holland, Belgium, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

The front page of the Komplett store says, “As of 24 June 2008, Komplett.co.uk has closed down its UK operations. We regret to inform you that it is no longer possible for UK customers to make any purchases from Komplett.co.uk anymore.”

The site does however give an email address to the UK customer services who are remaining in place ‘for the time being’ to answer any enquires and warranty questions. The site also says, “We value the customers who bought products from us in the past. Therefore –for the time being, our UK customer service will remain available for enquiries and warranty questions on products bought from Komplett.co.uk.”

Komplett says that it will try and get all emails answered within two days. Similar notices have been posted on all their closing stores.

Have you used Komplett before, or do you buy your PC parts elsewhere? Let us know your preferred online retailer in the forums.
Quote sotu1 25th June 2008, 09:56
whaaaa? i've never ordered from them but they did some stock good stuff. that's a shame.
Quote liratheal 25th June 2008, 10:43
I ordered once from them.

They weren't bad, all things considered. Ahwell. Could be worse :B
Quote Cobalt 25th June 2008, 10:43
One wonders how the UK and Germany were less profitable than those places where they did stay. They are probably the two biggest markets in Europe.
Quote The Infamous Mr D 25th June 2008, 10:47
Depends how much of a slice of those big markets they had.

I'm sorry to hear they've closed their UK sales office, I used to hold Komplett in very high regard - their customer services were always fantastic.
Quote badgerz 25th June 2008, 10:58
Used them a good few times, no problems at all. A shame.
Quote Steelez 25th June 2008, 11:30
They were one of the better online retailers but it seems not so well known about.
Quote Darkedge 25th June 2008, 11:39
they were great, good value and always prompt. Real shame.
Quote Xir 25th June 2008, 12:20
...never heard of them, they didn't occur in the usual price comparison sites, so much for market share in Germany. ;-)
Quote Timmy_the_tortoise 25th June 2008, 12:26
Shame. Komplett stocked some good products with very nice prices.

Ah well.. As long as I have Ebuyer and Overclockers.
Quote johnnyboy700 25th June 2008, 12:27
I used them a few times, nothing but good things to say about their customer service and whilst they were not alweays the cheapest on the market you could still get a few bargins. They were the cheapest for my Samsung monitor a few months ago, only by a few quid but still worth it.

Sad to see them go.
Quote bowman 25th June 2008, 13:33
I used their Norwegian store until I realised that ten other shops were less expensive and had less cheeky customer service.

If yours was any similar I wouldn't call it a loss.
Quote RTT 25th June 2008, 13:37
I've never used them despite knowing about them since they opened up
Quote Dreaming 25th June 2008, 13:52
I'd argue it's probably a sign of the times. If you look at many etailers they're cutting their margins, I think the retail market just isn't booming at the moment like it was a few years ago. It's a shame, I don't think I ever used them (I might have once, actually) but they did stock good stuff.

I haven't had the money myself to buy PC bits for ages! :p and I guess if others are in the same boat....
Quote roadie 25th June 2008, 14:42
What a shame. I used Komplett a fair amount in the past, but haven't bought anything from them in a couple of years. I never had any problems with them in both sales and returns.
Quote crayfish 25th June 2008, 17:50
Can't believe it. The PC I'm typing this mesage on was bought 18 months ago using their system where you can spec it out yourself. It's never skipped a beat since I got it and I would have definitely used it again for my next PC.
Quote FIBRE+ 25th June 2008, 18:16
I've never used them before, I think they could have put a bit more effort into making themselves known. TBH they never stood out amoung the usual crowd for being any better than anyone else, and i've not had any issues with Scan\Ebuyer\Micro Direct in terms of customer service\price\products.

It's a shame to loose a reputable E-Tailer but there are plenty of others.
Quote Mr T 25th June 2008, 19:33
Its a shame. They were always one of the cheapest in the UK for intel cpu's :( It was also the first place in the uk to get my samsung monitor in stock.
Quote Shadowed_fury 26th June 2008, 00:08
Just seen this, such a shame. Ordered several parts, and some big orders to comps to be made up for people I know.
Always had good pricing, clearly labelled, good fast website too. Real shame :(
Quote bahgger 26th June 2008, 01:30
I haven't heard of these guys ever! I'm a Scan man, and used to be a KustomPCs man too.
Quote Jhonbus 26th June 2008, 01:56
I bought from komplett before, they had pretty good prices. I think more people would have used them if their website wasn't so rubbish. People with hardware sales websites need to learn a thing or two from places like overclockers and scan.
Quote Bladestorm 26th June 2008, 02:34
Both my samsung monitors came from them, since in at least one case they seemed to be the only stockist (and in the other they were the cheapest)
Quote mp3manager 26th June 2008, 08:01
Damn...I always used Komplett as they were one of the few companies to give you a choice of courier.

Parcelforce is the most convenient for me....depot is 500yds away. Most other e-tailers use Citylink...their nearest depot is a round trip of 75 miles. :^<
With the price of fuel today, it was cheaper to pay a few pounds extra at Komplett for items, rather than the cheapest deal at Scan/ebuyer/ocuk/tekheads...then have to spend £20 on fuel to collect my stuff.
Quote Mister_X 26th June 2008, 09:16
Won't miss them personally, overpriced, Scan is cheaper for everything.

Also took me over 3 months to get my money back because THEY sent me someone elses stuff.
Quote DarkReaper 26th June 2008, 11:16
I liked them because they didn't screw over NI for shipping... :(
Quote centy 3rd July 2008, 16:36
That's unfortunate, used them a few times and they where always good.
Quote cpemma 4th July 2008, 14:26
Komplett had a customer care forum at Hexus way back in 2004, worked very well too, fast effective response to any moans (STFU).

I bought my penultimate upgrade - A7N8X-E Deluxe board, along with CPU, memory and GPU - from them in 2004 and a Plextor burner in 2003, and knowing me they must have been the best prices around at the time. No complaints on service.

I always got them confused with Kustom, probably didn't help their brand awareness.
Quote korben 17th July 2008, 13:48
Shame. I used them several times, only had a little issue with shipping times, although that might also have been my own lack of patience ;)
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