Minifree Reviews 69

Just bought an X200. It took longer than I thought, but at last it arrived. Because of this long time, I wrote an email asking if everything was alright, and got no answer except later to confirm the good news of the ready-to-be-shipped computer. Apart from this lack of prompt on-request feedback, which can be reasonably explained in several ways (even if it can in fact be annoying), I am quite happy with this purchase. Of course if you're in hurry and have no patience, ...
Surely feedbacks can soothe impatient customers and make Minifree's business look better to them; I surely suggest they work on this.

At the time of writing this, there's only one other review for the company here (and it's pretty much the only one I could find on the web in general), giving it one star and a lot of hate, and I just wanted to point out that it is extremely unfair. If you want to get a used thinkpad and expect excellent customer service, reports on every detail of the transaction, and several layers of protection and guarantees on top of that, then go to ebay or amazon and complain as much as you want there, if your standards are not met. By choosing Minifree, you are choosing to support it and the libreboot project, and you just got to manage your expectations instead of badmouthing an honest small company, trying their best.

I myself ordered a T400, and while there were some hiccups in the communication, I received it in reasonable time and am very happy using it. They do ship internationally (it's not just a claim), and there is nothing wrong with wire transfers, especially if you trust the entity you transfer to, which I believe you should in this case.

Minifree Ltd trading as Ministry of Freedom (formerly trading as Gluglug) sell modified Thinkpad laptops pre-installed with a Linux operating system.
I saw them mentioned favourably in an online IT blog, and it piqued my interest. I wanted a second-hand Thinkpad, and this seemed to fit my needs. As the company only accept payments by bank transfer I was very dubious, and checked into them as far as I could. They are a registered company, and some of their products are endorsed by a well known IT software organisation, so it seemed to be OK and trustworthy. How wrong could I be?
I placed an order for a T400 Thinkpad laptop. Including VAT & one day courier delivery the price was about £280. The website is based in Essex but prices its goods in euros, as it claims to sell internationally. You can however pay in other currencies.
I immediately received an invoice email explaining how to carry out the bank transfer, and providing lots of information. I had queried in my order whether my currency conversion was correct, and received a brief email back confirming it was. All seemed above board, and I transferred £280 to Minifree's bank account.
That's the last I've heard of my money or Minifree. They have ignored all follow-up emails. There was a phone number provided in the first invoice email, but that number turned out not to exist. I have not been sent a laptop, and have had no further contact from Minifree Ltd.

I have emailed Minifree and now cancelled my order. I am legally entitled to a full refund, but so far nothing has been heard from Minifree.

Obviously further action is required, and moves are in place regarding that, but this isn't the time or place to discuss it.

You can read all about Minifree on their website.

The registered address of the company is 19 Hilton Road, Canvey Island, Essex SS8 9QA, UK.

I would strongly advise everyone to give this company a wide berth.

EDIT.... Within 90 minutes of my review Minifree emailed me, and said that they had received my bank transfer (although they had never sent an email receipt as they should have done), and said that delays were due to ongoing work on ordered items. They said that if I cancelled my request for a refund they would be able to send me a laptop early the following week. I declined this offer, and requested that my refund be sent to me. I received the refund by bank transfer about six hours after my review had been posted on Trustpilot.

Whatever the reasons for the delays, the customer service provided by Minifree was appalling. I did not get sent a receipt for my money; the laptop should have been dispatched the day after the order was placed. It wasn't, and at best it looks like I would have got a laptop sent about 7-8 days late. Pretty bad considering I was paying for a 1-day courier delivery. Three emails I sent were left unanswered until after my review was posted. And there's the matter of the provided telephone contact number which doesn't appear to be connected. I had no idea what was happening with my money and feared the worst.

I've got my money back, but I personally wouldn't touch Minifree with a barge pole. I certainly won't be entrusting them with my money again.