Best Atari Dealer - The good - the bad and the ugly

[Blues76]

I notice a thread about an atari dealer which I'm sure most of you read that has gone bad. I'm not getting into that discussion at all, but this prompted this topic.

 

I had the idea to poll for the best one, but I'm sure there are more vendors that I know. As we may want to include the ones that makes mod.

 

For example, I have done biz with : B & C , Best Electroncis, AtariMax (Steve) , 8-Bit Classics...

 

Who is your favorite? and why? Do you have any bad experiences with some Atari dealers...

 

It's great that we have Atari dealers but they are not untouchable. If someone had a bad experience or more than one, I believe they have all the right to express it. It just helps everyone. It helps the dealer to see what they are doing right or wrong and it help us by having even better dealers...

 

For me, the best Atari dealer is AtariMAX. Why? His service is the best, everything comes packaged really nice and his add-ons are essential to the use of Atari in 2011. I love his product, his support to any question and the guidance. Actually, it was him who refer me to 8-Bit classic for some cables.

 

What's your story? The good , the bad and the ugly?

I'm saving my bad experience for now....

Edited February 28, 2011 by Blues76

[olavese@online.no]

I notice a thread about an atari dealer which I'm sure most of you read that has gone bad. I'm not getting into that discussion at all, but this prompted this topic.

 

I had the idea to poll for the best one, but I'm sure there are more vendors that I know. As we may want to include the ones that makes mod.

 

For example, I have done biz with : B & C , Best Electroncis, AtariMax (Steve) , 8-Bit Classics...

 

Who is your favorite? and why? Do you have any bad experiences with some Atari dealers...

 

It's great that we have Atari dealers but they are not untouchable. If someone had a bad experience or more than one, I believe they have all the right to express it. It just helps everyone. It helps the dealer to see what they are doing right or wrong and it help us by having even better dealers...

 

For me, the best Atari dealer is AtariMAX. Why? His service is the best, everything comes packaged really nice and his add-ons are essential to the use of Atari in 2011. I love his product, his support to any question and the guidance. Actually, it was him who refer me to 8-Bit classic for some cables.

 

What's your story? The good , the bad and the ugly?

I'm saving my bad experience for now....

 

B&C are great, have never had any troubles with them. Atari Max too, excellent service and very helpful. No stories really, just got my goods nice and clean. B&C have good prices for the PSU's for 1050's too, just bought 5

[tep392]

I've purchased flash carts from Atarimax and they have worked flawlessly. Steve also provides excellent support. I was working on an 8mbit project and needed some code to write too the flash cart. Steve had some 1mbit code, updated it for the 8mbit and sent it to me in under 24hrs. He also has a great forum to support his products.

 

I've also made a number of purchases from Best Electronics for s/w and repair parts. Always shipped quickly and provided good phone support. Very knowledgeable on Atari products.

 

Perry

[Pilsner73]

I have bought from Atarimax, Best, B&C and of course various ebay and forum sales. Overall all of them have been good to work with with some being better on prompt shipping and others on communicating.

[Ransom]

BEST Electronics has been my favorite Atari dealer since I first found them in 1991. B&C was a close second when I was going to college within easy driving distance from their storefront. Toad was also good (RIP).

 

These days, when I need something I look to BEST, then B&C, and then the resellers such as Atari2600.com, 4Jays, and so on.

[flashjazzcat]

I've dealt extensively with Best Electronics, and enjoyed great service from Bradley. I've also made some purchases from AtariMax and found Steve to be extremely kind and helpful.

 

In addition, I've dealt with various "bespoke" retailers in Europe, although the only one with an online "store" as such was Lotharek, and I found him to be exceptionally generous. He sent me a number of prototype boards, and went out of his way to help when I had problems. Needless to say, while he may not class as a "dealer" as such, Candle is an exemplary equipment vendor.

 

So much for the good, and I don't know about the ugly since I'm not aware what some of these guys look like. As for the bad, they mostly live on eBay and mysteriously drop NIB 65XEs from the loft hatch just after you've paid them. I've also had "indirect" dealings with one US vendor who might as well wear spurs from what I can gather.

Edited February 28, 2011 by flashjazzcat

[Marius]

I have bought a lot atari stuff from different resources. The brightest star on the Atari Sky is Atarimax. I have bought several items from him, in the past, and now again. He is so kind, and fast, and really supportive. Yes I like Atarimax.

 

As a kid I brought all my pocketmoney to "GOTO 66" a store located in Gouda (Zeugstraat 66, that's why it was called GOTO 66). This was a very nice Atari Store. Everybody was very kind there (except the lady, that was really a pain in the ass). As a kid I wanted to buy a 65XE in stead of my 800xl. The people there told me: don't give up your XL. What you will get back for it (the 65XE) will not please you more than your 800XL. Well... what a store is that eh??? Where they do NOT encourage you to BUY! Yes I love it.

 

I had one bad experience with them too. But that was especially the fault of the stupid lady. I had a second hand 1050 diskdrive. It was a bad production one, it had trouble each 2 or 3 month. I brought it back... it took AGES before they fixed it, and then it was a lot of money too.

 

The last time it was broke... they keep telling me: it is Atari that is not rushing... it is a common problem with 1050... be patient. When I visited the store for nothing for the 4th time, I brought my dad with me. Haha. You should have seen the face of that lady. In no time I got a REPLACEMENT 1050! And now I had a GOOD one. Never had issue again.

 

Yes that lady was really bad for the store. The older guy there... he was so kind.

 

I'm really curious of someone else here knows that store too. They also had a store in Alphen ad Rijn. There it was called Goto 10.

 

They did some import too ... on Panasonic equipment, and they brought Page 6 to the Netherlands.

 

Greetz

M.

[Blues76]

I've dealt extensively with Best Electronics, and enjoyed great service from Bradley. I've also made some purchases from AtariMax and found Steve to be extremely kind and helpful.

 

In addition, I've dealt with various "bespoke" retailers in Europe, although the only one with an online "store" as such was Lotharek, and I found him to be exceptionally generous. He sent me a number of prototype boards, and went out of his way to help when I had problems. Needless to say, while he may not class as a "dealer" as such, Candle is an exemplary equipment vendor.

 

So much for the good, and I don't know about the ugly since I'm not aware what some of these guys look like. As for the bad, they mostly live on eBay and mysteriously drop NIB 65XEs from the loft hatch just after you've paid them. I've also had "indirect" dealings with one US vendor who might as well wear spurs from what I can gather.

 

I think Candle qualifiers as an add-on vendor... He is a nice person. I purchased one item which I'm waiting for (vbxe) I think what he does for the community is great!

 

My favorite as already mention is AtariMax.

 

Now, I had very few problems in ebay. most of them ok, but I can qualify them as good vendor either, since some of the stuff I received was not always in the best shape

 

I have also dealt with B & C. I like them... the guy is always very busy but is a good place to find some parts.

 

As far as Best Electronics, I bought a few things from him and it has been always fine. However, Best Electronics while trying to be helpful, at times turned out to be "delicate" if I can say it... I mean that he would tell me that the people in the "warehouse" were mad because I was asking for too many quotes so I had been banned for 3 months and things like that. So I decided not to buy from him anymore. At first, I was a bit worry but it turned out that I can find everything without needed best electroncis. Now, to be str8 , the guy was helpful but a bit prima donna. I'm sure lots of people buy from him, but I never found myself to be wrong to ask for prices when ordering more than 400 dollars. I needed to be sure. Now, his catalog is great.

 

Anyways, most of the dealer have their plusses and minus and I'm glad we have different ones to choose from

[Pilsner73]

I've dealt extensively with Best Electronics, and enjoyed great service from Bradley. I've also made some purchases from AtariMax and found Steve to be extremely kind and helpful.

 

In addition, I've dealt with various "bespoke" retailers in Europe, although the only one with an online "store" as such was Lotharek, and I found him to be exceptionally generous. He sent me a number of prototype boards, and went out of his way to help when I had problems. Needless to say, while he may not class as a "dealer" as such, Candle is an exemplary equipment vendor.

 

So much for the good, and I don't know about the ugly since I'm not aware what some of these guys look like. As for the bad, they mostly live on eBay and mysteriously drop NIB 65XEs from the loft hatch just after you've paid them. I've also had "indirect" dealings with one US vendor who might as well wear spurs from what I can gather.

 

I think Candle qualifiers as an add-on vendor... He is a nice person. I purchased one item which I'm waiting for (vbxe) I think what he does for the community is great!

 

My favorite as already mention is AtariMax.

 

Now, I had very few problems in ebay. most of them ok, but I can qualify them as good vendor either, since some of the stuff I received was not always in the best shape

 

I have also dealt with B & C. I like them... the guy is always very busy but is a good place to find some parts.

 

As far as Best Electronics, I bought a few things from him and it has been always fine. However, Best Electronics while trying to be helpful, at times turned out to be "delicate" if I can say it... I mean that he would tell me that the people in the "warehouse" were mad because I was asking for too many quotes so I had been banned for 3 months and things like that. So I decided not to buy from him anymore. At first, I was a bit worry but it turned out that I can find everything without needed best electroncis. Now, to be str8 , the guy was helpful but a bit prima donna. I'm sure lots of people buy from him, but I never found myself to be wrong to ask for prices when ordering more than 400 dollars. I needed to be sure. Now, his catalog is great.

 

Anyways, most of the dealer have their plusses and minus and I'm glad we have different ones to choose from

 

Not sure why Best would ban anyone just for asking for items/prices since the way the Best website is setup is for users to email/call in to see what's available and for how much. I could see them stating that unless the request was serious they weren't going to take the time for another quote. Now I'm not doubting your story just odd to ban someone.

[FastRobPlus]

I've dealt extensively with Best Electronics, and enjoyed great service from Bradley. I've also made some purchases from AtariMax and found Steve to be extremely kind and helpful.

 

In addition, I've dealt with various "bespoke" retailers in Europe, although the only one with an online "store" as such was Lotharek, and I found him to be exceptionally generous. He sent me a number of prototype boards, and went out of his way to help when I had problems. Needless to say, while he may not class as a "dealer" as such, Candle is an exemplary equipment vendor.

 

 

BEST really is probably best.

B&C is great too. Though I have gotten a defective and crushed items from them from time to time. Likely from the long years in the warehouse.

 

Lothartek is great for an individual seller. In fact, all of the Czech and Poland based sellers have been great.

Atarimax is very responsive.

[flashjazzcat]

What's really gaulling for us Europeans when buying from the US, by the way, are VAT and import duty, which tends to be levied on "gift" items of 40 GBP and over, and on commercially purchased items of 18 GBP or more. I have a parcel right here in front of me from one seller which cost $4.80 to post, weighs slightly less than a Snickers bar, contains a minute, virtually wightless add-on part, and incurred 18.99 GBP in VAT and handling fees on its arrival at UK customs. The sender - apparently unaware of this - had given the parcel a nominal value of 100 USD, assured by the staff at the US Mail depot that this was the thing to do.

 

The first item I ordered from Best Electronics was a replacement keyboard for a 130XE. The item was reasonably priced, arrived in perfect condition, and was NOT over valued in the way the item from the other vendor had been. However, even its accurate postal valuation incurred an eye-watering 25 GBP in customs charges on its arrival.

 

My point is that were it not for these crazy customs charges, I would be ordering (finances permitting) freely and liberally from Best Electronics, AtariMax, et al. As it stands, I daren't order another keyboard, and the value of any orders I do place must be carefully situated just above Best's minimum order point, and below 18 GBP (which is just possible if you work it right).

Edited February 28, 2011 by flashjazzcat

[Blues76]

Not sure why Best would ban anyone just for asking for items/prices since the way the Best website is setup is for users to email/call in to see what's available and for how much. I could see them stating that unless the request was serious they weren't going to take the time for another quote. Now I'm not doubting your story just odd to ban someone.

 

 

Here is a an email exchange that we had. There are different occasions, but I was buying from him. I'll quote the part of the email. If anyone wants, I'll post the entire email exchange

 

Talked to the guys in shipping Francisco. In the future, if you only put in one Atari order and do not change it, they should be able to get a shipping quote to you faster. When you keep changing your Atari orders, adding or taking out new Atari items, the guys in the shipping department put your quote aside and wait (a week or more) to see if you will put thru any more changes before they will finally get to pull your Atari items and get me a shipping quote. Accounting gives then a hard time if the do to many Atari quotes Vs Atari orders shipped out Francisco.

 

One thing that bother me, that he never told me: It bothers me, it is too much work for me... now, it was always the "people" from the warehouse or "accounting"

 

This email was before, I was "suspended" for like 3 months... Because of that, I told him to just forget about the order then.

 

So anyways, I have to say he has been nice, but I'm sure he didn't like some of my comments when he would come out with stuff like this. I did purchase 2 times from him. Everything was fine. Maybe I wasn't a big purchaser, but I purchased in total like 500 dollars.

 

Anyways, this is past. He did not banned me for good, but I made the choice that if I was being suspended because the ratio of quotes/orders " Accounting gives then a hard time if the do to many Atari quotes Vs Atari orders shipped out"

 

 

Now, like I said, I'm glad that there are many great dealers.

[BrianC]

I first bought from B&C when they had a booth at the Classic Gaming Expo in Vegas. They had a new DK Jr. Atari 8-bit in a beat up box for about 10 dollars (very nice version of the game too). I got Rescue on Fractalus, Robotron, and Lode Runner from them recently. The first one was NIB and the latter two were cart only (but came with the manuals, especially good for Lode Runner). I have been satisifed with them and I just ordered a repro of Berzerk from them.

 

I recieved a cart only Defender from ebay seller topol777 not to long ago and it worked out great. Nice port. A bit easy compared to the arcade, but much better than the 2600 one (which I actually like).

Edited February 28, 2011 by BrianC

[svenski]

My point is that were it not for these crazy customs charges, I would be ordering (finances permitting) freely and liberally from Best Electronics, AtariMax, et al. As it stands, I daren't order another keyboard, and the value of any orders I do place must be carefully situated just above Best's minimum order point, and below 18 GBP (which is just possible if you work it right).

 

I think that (most) goods under £135 in value don't attract duty just VAT if they are above the £18 threshold. One thing to take into consideration is shipping. If your package is liable for VAT and/or duty then you can get charged VAT on the value including shipping especially if you've used anything but basic mail.

 

Problem is Royal Mail and courier companies charge a fee as you know to collect the VAT and duty which also bumps up the cost even more. Anything shipped by courier will get checked for value whilst with postal shipments there is the odd chance something might get through without the label being checked.

Edited March 1, 2011 by svenski

[Kjmann]

What's really gaulling for us Europeans when buying from the US, by the way, are VAT and import duty, which tends to be levied on "gift" items of 40 GBP and over, and on commercially purchased items of 18 GBP or more. I have a parcel right here in front of me from one seller which cost $4.80 to post, weighs slightly less than a Snickers bar, contains a minute, virtually wightless add-on part, and incurred 18.99 GBP in VAT and handling fees on its arrival at UK customs. The sender - apparently unaware of this - had given the parcel a nominal value of 100 USD, assured by the staff at the US Mail depot that this was the thing to do.

 

 

Just For the Record, This incident that Flash is talking about was from my store and was My Stupid Mistake. To try and make up for it, I refunded the entire Purchase amount of the item to attempt to offset the amount he had to pay for the VAT.

 

Sorry again for the trouble Flash. I have since started putting exact amounts on the customs forms Not Including Shipping Charges (In my opinion those don't count as part of the item value).

[flashjazzcat]

I think that (most) goods under £135 in value don't attract duty just VAT if they are above the £18 threshold. One thing to take into consideration is shipping. If your package is liable for VAT and/or duty then you can get charged VAT on the value including shipping especially if you've used anything but basic mail.

 

Problem is Royal Mail and courier companies charge a fee as you know to collect the VAT and duty which also bumps up the cost even more. Anything shipped by courier will get checked for value whilst with postal shipments there is the odd chance something might get through without the label being checked.

That's correct - it's mostly VAT, not duty, but the VAT plus the Royal Mail handling charge is often bad enough, and parcels destined for my address seem to contain VAT magnets. Plenty of others have experienced similar misfortune, however.

 

I've occasionally managed to avoid - or at least guard against - this kind of inconvenience by forewarning the vendor to place a "realistic" fiscal valuation on the package contents, on the understanding that this is of particular significance with regard to UK Customs.

 

But, off the top of my head:

 

XE keyboard: £25 in charges

IDEa HDD interface: £25 in charges

KJMann s-video mod (for which I fortunately wasn't liable): £18.99 in charges

 

And then, from Canada, a 1200XL... no charges at all. You win some, you lose some!

 

Just For the Record, This incident that Flash is talking about was from my store and was My Stupid Mistake. To try and make up for it, I refunded the entire Purchase amount of the item to attempt to offset the amount he had to pay for the VAT.

 

Sorry again for the trouble Flash. I have since started putting exact amounts on the customs forms Not Including Shipping Charges (In my opinion those don't count as part of the item value).

Simultaneous post there... yes, I got there before you.

 

This is quite correct, and I'm happy to accept it was a genuine mistake (as I explained earlier up the thread).

 

EDIT: Apologies Sal; scrub that. I checked my mails and Phil did get your full refund. Thanks again.

Edited March 1, 2011 by flashjazzcat

[Atari8guy]

I've dealt with quite a few vendors/hobbyists too and outside of one bad Ebay experience, everyone has been great...

 

B&C - Where I've easily spent the most, never an issue and they refund differences in shipping costs from quoted costs.

Best - Very helpful and friendly.

Video 61 - Speedy replies to emails and very friendly.

Atarimax - Fast and friendly.

 

FlashJazzCat - positive experience

Metal Guy - ridiculously positive experience

Candle - positive experience

Lotharek - positive experience

 

 

In all that I've had two minor shipping errors, both of which the vendors went above and beyond to fix (therefore I won't say who they were, as mistakes happen).

 

I'd happily recommend any of the above.

 

I'm hoping to try out KJMann's site soon (I'm drooling over Space Harrier).

[Shawn Jefferson]

Atarimax++;

Best_Electronics++;

Candle++;

MegaHz++;

KJMann++;

 

Video61 = NULL;

 

Atarimax: All Steve's products are awesome, and this guy has done tons for the Atari community. Go buy one of everything he sells now!

 

Best Electronics: Good experiences overall, and some of this stuff you just can't get anywhere else. Go buy his catalog!

 

Candle: excellently engineered upgrades... I pre-paid ahead of time for VBXE2 with some reluctance, but Candle delivered an excellent product with great support.

 

MegaHz: excellent product and great support!

 

KJMann's Atari Sales and Services, I haven't purchased anything from him, but he puts some effort into his packaging and has done some nice work with the Atari community writing songs, adding to products and developing some nice packaging. To be honest I was somewhat shocked that he is reselling flashcart images from the Atarimax forums, but he really has put some effort into packaging, labels, etc... and I have changed my mind about that.

 

Video61: I don't deal with them, based on reputation alone, and on observing behaviour towards, and in the Atari community over many years (google some of the dealings and you'll know what I mean.) Obviously, that's just my opinion, and I know some people do deal with them and have had good experiences.

Edited March 1, 2011 by Shawn Jefferson

[19Echo]

Atarmax has given me great customer support. I still need to contact Steve about a small problem with the myide, but i'm sure he will make good on things

 

Flashjazz: great job and turn around on the sio2sd he built for me with the xm301 modem shell. (still waiting for a pm though, I gave up)

 

Metalguy66: dude rocks on technical support and on fixing stuff. internal sio2pc inside the 130xe, a few sio2pc cables, and some other badly needed repairs.

great personality and loves to talk atari

[flashjazzcat]

Flashjazz: great job and turn around on the sio2sd he built for me with the xm301 modem shell. (still waiting for a pm though, I gave up)

PM'd!

[Marsupilami]

Best Electronics- I love the catalog. Very good communication, very clear, very good advices and services, very...everything The "Best" ever.

 

Atarimax - Smart & friendly, always available, always answer to questions even months after selling. I still don't kwow if/how Steve has a personnal life after taking so much great care of its users

 

atari-shop.nl - Not a big catalog but kind, pleasant, good and clear communication.

 

B&C - Strictly professional. They always refund shipping costs without the need to ask. We had some issues in the past but always solved in the end so i still buy from them.

 

Video 61 - Friendly but VERY unclear: Adverts "ALL GAMES ARE NEW IN THE BOX UNLESS NOTED". Yeah well: Bought some very expensive XE cartdriges/floppies and received sh.... homebrews in handmade boxes or strange flat plastic boxes I said nothing, assuming I should have asked before. But won't buy there again...

 

Some samples:

 

atari-sales.com - Haven't tried yet. Not sure if it's originals or home made cartdriges...

[Mclaneinc]

Wow, that's pretty awful service from Video61, surely against some trading standards issue, I would have blown a gasket if that sort of stuff turned up.

[spookt]

 

Some samples:

 

 

 

Hmm, I would have been pretty disappointed with that 1st one. I don't actually mind the packaging on the others but I think the key is that Lance needs to be explicitly clear on what you're getting for your money. Pictures would help I guess but so would good clear descriptions.

[Marsupilami]

Hmm, I would have been pretty disappointed with that 1st one.

Indeed, i was pretty upset since it was a 400$ order ! Moreover i can't even try to sell that stuff on ebay as no one would buy it

[bandit]

B&C computer visions. I have ordered Over 20 times Starting in 1985 and last was about 6 months ago. never a problem . FIVE STARS

 

AtariMax (steve) No problems there Ordered 3 times solo and a few times with a local friend (shipping savings)

 

Usenet comp.sys.atari.8bit Sold a Bunch (I bet some of you users here bought from me) Traded and bought a few things 1995 to 1997.

 

Never bought from Lance.

 

Best OK service 2 orders Received what I ordered .