Latest Skytech purchase has me second guessing recommending the brand.
I've been buying Skytech PCs since 2018. In that time I've averaged one purchase every 18 months. I literally have two within arms reach as I sit here typing this; my gtx 1070ti build from right before covid and a 5070ti King 95 system I picked up almost exactly a year ago to the date. On top of the handful of PCs I've personally purchased, I've also strongly recommended the brand to friends, family, and clients (especially during the run-up to Microsoft discontinuing Windows 10 support). Many of whom have taken my advice and had nothing but great experiences.
Up until I took delivery of my latest 5090 build Saturday, I'd never had anything more than a minor issue where something got a bit damaged during delivery that could be easily and relatively quickly fixed by a return and replace.
I haven't spent over $5000 on a computer since the years still started with 1, so I was very excited when my packaged arrived saturday morning. I got it unboxed, opened the front panel to remove the packaging material and verify that the power connector to the 5090 was properly flush and seated. I was a little disappointed that the wires and water tubes from the AIO weren't anywhere near as nicely placed and clean looking as they'd been on my King 95 system, but I probably could have overlooked that if the system had powered up. Sadly when I got it all hooked up, the GPU wasn't getting any power. I tried powering it down and opening it back up to recheck the power connector, but no luck. Then I thought I should check to make sure it's properly connected to the actual PSU.
What I saw when I took off the back panel legitimately broke my heart. I haven't seen wire management done so poorly in close to 20 years. The way the wire harnesses were crimped, folded over themselves like someone took an iron to um, haphazardly stuffed in, and zip-tied so tightly to the point of removing all slack and putting enough pressure to actually bend the motherboard connections was nothing short of a catastrophic disaster waiting to happen. On further inspection of the GPU power harness I found that it had been allowed to be sandwiched between the GPU support bracket and the actual GPU, with one of the wires actually caught under the washer of a very tightened down screw.
I can deal with a return and replace if something gets a little damaged during shipping; I'm not unreasonable enough to expect that every 50lb box is going to make it halfway across the country without damage. But this wasn't a shipping damage issue. The PC I received yesterday was fundamentally damaged due to poor assembly in a way that never should have cleared quality control. And that has me very nervous about the state of the company that I've recommended to so many people that put their trust in me for my opinion on such matters.
Speaking of QC, the qc check-off list in the little black folder didn't even have the correct date on it! Unless JH is some sort of time traveler, because it was signed with 8/8/26 as the date, which is odd considering the package arrived on 8/8 and had been in transit for a week.
I'm praying that this is just some kind of one time fluke. I've already dropped of my return and hopefully the replacement will arrive and be up to the same standards that I've come to expect from this company. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit nervous.
Thank you for allowing me the space to vent. I hope my replacement is in much better shape when it arrives.