For parents & gift buyers
The version without the jargon
Someone has probably sent you a link to a machine on this site with a price on it. This page is for you rather than for them: what you'd actually be buying, who you'd be buying it from, what happens if it goes wrong, and whether a one-person business in a Clackmannanshire village is a sensible place to spend that much money.
Nothing below needs any technical knowledge. If a question you have isn't answered here, email me and ask it. You will get a reply from a person.
In plain terms
What you're actually paying for
A desktop computer, assembled by hand from named, off-the-shelf parts, tested, and handed over ready to switch on. It is not a subscription, there is nothing to renew, and there is no ongoing cost after you've paid.
The price covers the parts, the assembly, a Windows licence, and 8 hours of testing before it's allowed to leave. That last part is the bit that's hard to see from outside and is most of why hand-built machines are worth buying: rather than pulling a sealed box off a shelf, I run the finished machine hard for a full working day to catch a faulty part while it's still on my bench instead of in your house. You get that machine's own test results in writing when you take it away.
Everything inside is standard hardware. Nothing is locked to me, and any competent repair shop anywhere in the UK could open it up and work on it. That's deliberate.
The obvious worry
How do I know this isn't a scam?
It's the right question to ask about any small website asking for four figures, and I'd rather answer it head-on than hope you don't think of it. Here is what you can actually check, rather than what I can simply assert:
You can come and collect it in person
The workshop is in Dollar, Clackmannanshire. Collection is free and by appointment - you can meet me, see the machine, watch it boot and go through its test results before you take it away. Scams do not offer to meet you.
You don't pay until you collect it
This website takes no money at all - there's no card form on it. You pay when you pick the machine up and it's working in front of you, by bank transfer or cash. There is no deposit to lose and nothing to send in advance.
UK consumer law applies whether I like it or not
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 cover this purchase exactly as they would cover one from a high-street chain. Those rights are not something I grant you and they're not something I can take away in small print.
You can talk to a person before you spend anything
Email me first. Ask anything. Nobody will phone you, add you to a mailing list, or follow up if you go quiet - and if you'd rather not buy, that's a completely fine outcome of the conversation.
Nothing here is designed to rush you
There are no countdown timers, no 'only 2 left', no 'someone in Falkirk just bought this', and no discount that expires if you close the tab. Those exist to stop you thinking. Take as long as you want; the price will be the same tomorrow.
The reviews aren't faked, because there aren't any yet
This is a new business. Rather than buy a wall of five-star reviews - which is trivially easy and very common - there simply isn't a reviews section. When there are real customers, there'll be real reviews. A brand-new company with fifty glowing testimonials is showing you something it paid for.
What I can't offer you: a shopfront to walk into, a phone line with hold music, or a decade of trading history. Home workshop - collection and drop-off by appointment. If any of those are what you need before spending this much, that's a completely reasonable position and I'd rather you acted on it than felt talked round.
Who you'd be dealing with
One person, and here he is
My name is Fraser. I'm in sixth year at school in Clackmannanshire, and I've been building and repairing PCs for years - my own machines first, then friends' and family's. Ochil PCs is that same work, run properly as a business rather than as favours.
You should weigh that up honestly, so: being one person means the person who picks the parts, builds the machine, tests it and answers your email in a year's time is the same person, and nothing gets lost between departments. It also means I sleep, sit exams, and can't answer at three in the morning. Replies normally come the same day and always within one working day.
There's more detail about how the work is actually done on the about page.
If something goes wrong
What happens if it breaks
You email me, I diagnose it, and I fix it. There is no queue and no reference number. Here it is in full:
The guarantee, in four lines
- 2-year labour warranty
- If it develops a fault, I diagnose and repair it at no charge for 2 years. Individual parts keep their manufacturer warranties on top of that, and I deal with those claims so you don't have to phone anyone.
- 14 days to change your mind
- Collected a listed machine and it isn't right? Bring it back within 14 days of collecting it, for any reason at all, and get your money back.
- Faulty in the first 30 days? Full refund
- If something is genuinely wrong with the machine in its first 30 days, you can have all of your money back instead of a repair. That's your right under UK law and I won't argue about it.
- Nothing is taken up front
- You pay when you collect the machine - bank transfer or cash. The full price is agreed in writing before any work starts, and that's the price you pay.
Read the full returns & warranty policy - or the plain-English version for whoever's paying.
Buying it as a present
Not sure what to get them?
A lot of these are bought for a birthday or for Christmas by someone who doesn't play games and is working from a screenshot their child sent them. You do not need to decode it.
Tell me two things - the games they actually play and roughly what you want to spend - and I'll tell you which machine fits, whether the cheaper one would genuinely be enough, and whether it can be ready in time for the date you need. If the honest answer is “spend less than you were about to”, that's the answer you'll get.
It's also worth saying that a PC is not the only cost. If they're starting from nothing they'll need a monitor, keyboard and mouse too - mention it and I'll suggest sensible ones at sensible prices, including ones I don't sell.
Straight answers
Questions people ask before buying
How and when do I pay?
You don't pay anything through this website - there's no card form and nothing is taken up front. You send an enquiry, I confirm exactly what's being built or fixed and what it costs, in writing, and you pay when you collect the machine by bank transfer or cash. If the price changes for any reason, that's a conversation before the work happens, not a surprise at the end.
What if they've picked the wrong one?
Ask me before anything is built. Tell me what they play and roughly what you want to spend, and I'll tell you honestly whether the one they've picked is right - including if a cheaper machine would do the same job. Because nothing is paid up front, changing your mind at that stage costs nothing at all. Once you've collected it, you still have 14 days to bring a shop-listed build back for a full refund, no reason needed.
Can I ask questions before spending anything?
Yes, and I'd honestly rather you did. There's no obligation, no sales call and nobody will chase you afterwards. Most of my week is answering questions from people who haven't bought anything yet.
How long does it take?
Machines are built to order rather than pulled off a shelf, so allow roughly one to two weeks from the point we agree the spec: parts in, built, then 8 hours of testing before it's allowed out. If you're buying for a specific date - a birthday or Christmas - tell me the date first and I'll tell you honestly whether it's achievable before you commit to anything.
What happens when we collect it?
It's ready to switch on: Windows already installed, updated and cleaned of the junk that normally comes preloaded. There's no setup for you to do. I'll power it on with you before it leaves and go through its test results, and if something doesn't work or doesn't make sense afterwards, you email me and I answer - there's no support queue and no ticket number, because there's one of me.
What if it breaks in a year?
You email me and I fix it. Labour is free for 2 years, and the individual parts carry their own manufacturer warranties on top of that, typically two to five years - I handle those claims so you never have to phone a component manufacturer. If it breaks in the first 30 days you can simply have all your money back instead.
Do we need to know anything technical to own one?
No. It's a computer - it plugs into a monitor, a keyboard and a mouse, and it turns on. Adding more storage or memory later is easy and doesn't void anything, but nobody has to.
Is a hand-built PC really as good as one from a big retailer?
In this specific case it's better value, for a boring reason: big retailers buy the same parts I do, then add a shopfront, a warehouse, a marketing budget and a margin. What you're paying me for is the assembly and the testing. The parts themselves are the same named components you could look up yourself - which is exactly why every listing names them instead of saying 'high-performance memory'.
You're one person and a new business. What if you stop trading?
That's the fair question and it deserves a straight answer rather than a reassuring one. If I stopped trading, my labour warranty would go with me - that's true of any sole trader and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. What wouldn't disappear: the manufacturer warranties on every part inside the machine, which are held with those manufacturers and not with me; and the machine itself, which is built from standard parts that any competent repair shop in the country can work on. Nothing in it is proprietary, locked, or dependent on me still being here. It's also worth saying plainly that you don't pay until you're standing in front of the finished machine.
Still not sure? Ask before you pay
Nothing on this site is time-limited and nobody is waiting to close a sale. Send whatever question is stopping you - including “how do I know you're real” - and you'll get an honest reply from the person who'd be building it.