+bf2k+ Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 AtariMax - best B&C - excellent Best - never used due to minimum order $$ Video 61 - never used due to his attitude in this forum. Bravo Sierra (arg!!!) Others I have bought from who are not "dealers" in the sense that the above are: Metalguy66 - excellent kjmann - excellent Mr Atari - excellent Gr8 - excellent candle - excellent Having bought from many people, I am sure I have left someone out - I apologize for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qix_maniac Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 AtariMax - best B&C - excellent Best - never used due to minimum order $$ Video 61 - never used due to his attitude in this forum. Bravo Sierra (arg!!!) Others I have bought from who are not "dealers" in the sense that the above are: Metalguy66 - excellent kjmann - excellent Mr Atari - excellent Gr8 - excellent candle - excellent Having bought from many people, I am sure I have left someone out - I apologize for that. I gotta give kudos to GR8 software as well! Very cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thgill Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 I have also received great service from Best and AtariMax. Been several years since I last ordered through Best though. Also received really great service from Pigula in Poland. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Surprised nobody has mentioned the guy responsible for killing comp.sys.atari.8bit, the king of the 20% off sale, Ben Smith 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox-1 / mnx Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Surprised nobody has mentioned the guy responsible for killing comp.sys.atari.8bit Check post #26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 I love buying from Best Electronics, great personal assistance, great packaging and quick delivery. B+C, great products, but the guy is so busy it can take a while for him to ship Atari2600.com, no problems, shipped quickly Atarishop.nl, great service and delivery, a real joy to deal with 16/32 systems, great service although a pretty small range of 8it stuff now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastRobPlus Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Surprised nobody has mentioned the guy responsible for killing comp.sys.atari.8bit Check post #26 I forgot about that guy. His web site reads like a bottle of Dr. Bronner's Castle Soap. I'll have to visit again and see if he's created any new content. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wood_jl Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Surprised nobody has mentioned the guy responsible for killing comp.sys.atari.8bit, the king of the 20% off sale, Ben Smith Frankly, I'm shocked that he's not HERE, of all places. I had thought he refused to move to a "modern" computing platform - hence his absence here - but then again, he has a web page up, so he must be web-capable? I wonder why he never posts here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloopy Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 he gets online from a ST of some sort... so that would make sense, you can browse his site in lynx/links... but not places like here... oh and i am on the lam... took him 15 years, but he found me... speaking of it... and search usenet for the several posts of him looking for me... and i cant recommend buying or SELLING to BS... err ben smith... i have bought from best, and B&C, both excellent... bf2k+: buy from me and you can add me to that second list ;') sloopy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianC Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 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: Those disk games in the odd boxes are legitimate releases. Best Electronics has those pictured on their Atari 8 bit page and I used to see them in computer stores. I have the manual for the Gateway to Apshai (but not the disk, oddly enough. Came in an ebay bundle). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Surprised nobody has mentioned the guy responsible for killing comp.sys.atari.8bit Check post #26 I forgot about that guy. His web site reads like a bottle of Dr. Bronner's Castle Soap. I'll have to visit again and see if he's created any new content. Gawd, I'd forgotten about him as well. Whattaguy! Edited to add: That made me go back and do a search for my old posts from the mid-nineties. Yep, still there. Back when I was accessing the Internet through Delphi and using Flickerterm. Ah, those were the days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wood_jl Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 he gets online from a ST of some sort... so that would make sense, you can browse his site in lynx/links... but not places like here... Aha! That figures! oh and i am on the lam... took him 15 years, but he found me... speaking of it... and search usenet for the several posts of him looking for me... Gee, I forgot about that thread, and missed the end of it. Thanks for pointing to it. I'm going to install Firefox on a $10 Pentium 3 laptop and send it to him, and tell him that he can find you here!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloopy Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 he gets online from a ST of some sort... so that would make sense, you can browse his site in lynx/links... but not places like here... Aha! That figures! oh and i am on the lam... took him 15 years, but he found me... speaking of it... and search usenet for the several posts of him looking for me... Gee, I forgot about that thread, and missed the end of it. Thanks for pointing to it. I'm going to install Firefox on a $10 Pentium 3 laptop and send it to him, and tell him that he can find you here!! like he could find me... and if your not careful, i will give him your phone number... ever talked to him on the phone? maybe you should... :'D sloopy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marsupilami Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Those disk games in the odd boxes are legitimate releases. Best Electronics has those pictured on their Atari 8 bit page and I used to see them in computer stores. I have the manual for the Gateway to Apshai (but not the disk, oddly enough. Came in an ebay bundle). Indeed. But it's not what i was expecting. Adding pictures or a simple note saying that it's not the "Official" box release to prevent any customers disappointment is easy...This behavior is (IMHO) really "border line". ...And BTW, the "strip poker" cover looks like it's being printed with a modern inkjet printer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bf2k+ Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 like he could find me... and if your not careful, i will give him your phone number... ever talked to him on the phone? maybe you should... OMG... BS got my number one time. Wouldn't stop calling here when I declined to buy something from him. I can't remember why I decided not to buy... maybe it was price. But for whatever reason, he felt the need to keep calling me. I think I finally had to get nasty with him in order to stop the calls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacobus Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 I've had excellent dealings with B&C, AtariMax and Candle I've tried dealing with Best Electronics twice - both times were disappointing. The first time the item I was interested in (64K mem upgrade for the 600xl) just "happened" to double in price as soon as I ordered it. The second time I got some Bradely attitude when I tried to order something that was no longer in stock (although the website listed it as available). I was told I should have checked stock! My worst experience was with Legacy Engineering. Like many others I waited almost a year for a couple of joysticks - the really annoying part were the numerous (5) false shipping promises - I didn't mind the wait nearly as much as all the BS! Regarding UK's Royal Mail - it works much better in the other direction. I can get packages shipped cheaper and faster from the UK than I can from the other side of Canada! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari8guy Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 I'll second that Royal Mail experience. I often get things from the UK twice as fast as from Eastern Canada....I have no idea why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svenski Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Regarding UK's Royal Mail - it works much better in the other direction. I can get packages shipped cheaper and faster from the UK than I can from the other side of Canada! Royal Mail is overall excellent and it is time successive governments stop meddling with it and keep it as what it should be, a national institution that generally provides a very high level of service when compared to mail services in other countries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S1500 Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 I was wondering when Bravo Sierra Computers would be mentioned. I remember he spammed rgvc religiously. Great way to get customers. His website is hilarious. Stuck in yesteryear, just like he is. I love the 80s & 80s nostalgia, but this guy takes it way too far. Yeah, emulators will cost you more in the long run. Doesn't he also take donations of Atari equipment so he can turn around & sell it? I'm glad he never made it on here. He wouldn't last 2 minutes. He never quite understood the concept of how annoying posting the same ads every week on a forum is in fact..spamming. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 He's dug his own hole. I used to hit the Newsgroup a couple of times a week because it actually was worthwhile keeping up. Now it's just a cesspit of the same rubbish spam and maybe 10% of the messages are actually worthwhile content, so now it's probably a monthly view if not less. I think the best business model for someone selling A8 stuff would be to just keep a couple of eBay auctions going. Then have a link to your site, and any sales you make there you could just slip in a half-A4 sized promo flyer for your site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 (edited) I was wondering when Bravo Sierra Computers would be mentioned. I remember he spammed rgvc religiously. Great way to get customers. His website is hilarious. Stuck in yesteryear, just like he is. I love the 80s & 80s nostalgia, but this guy takes it way too far. Yeah, emulators will cost you more in the long run. I didn't know who this was and I know nothing of the background. However, I just checked out that website... sweet! Bravo Sierra forms an unfortunate pair of initial letters... Edited March 2, 2011 by flashjazzcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloopy Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 I was wondering when Bravo Sierra Computers would be mentioned. I remember he spammed rgvc religiously. Great way to get customers. His website is hilarious. Stuck in yesteryear, just like he is. I love the 80s & 80s nostalgia, but this guy takes it way too far. Yeah, emulators will cost you more in the long run. I didn't know who this was and I know nothing of the background. However, I just checked out that website... sweet! Bravo Sierra forms an unfortunate pair of initial letters... i was thinking it formed a descriptive pair of initial letters... sloopy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tickled_Pink Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 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). That's odd. I've never been charged VAT or duty on anything I've imported. I don't place large orders but I'm pretty sure I have spent £40 on a couple of orders in the past. It may well be that I was lucky and managed to get the vendor to undervalue the items on the customs declaration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilsner73 Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 (edited) I was wondering when Bravo Sierra Computers would be mentioned. I remember he spammed rgvc religiously. Great way to get customers. His website is hilarious. Stuck in yesteryear, just like he is. I love the 80s & 80s nostalgia, but this guy takes it way too far. Yeah, emulators will cost you more in the long run. I didn't know who this was and I know nothing of the background. However, I just checked out that website... sweet! Bravo Sierra forms an unfortunate pair of initial letters... I'd like to request that we keep this thread objective especially since the Atari reseller community is so small. As to Ben I see in other posts people didn't like him for spamming and possibly repeated contact of said people on the phone but others defended him. Let's try to keep this thread about business dealings with the person/company. I have never ordered from him so have no point of reference to go on and his website could be better but at least it's there and some of the other Atari dealer websites aren't Amazon/Ebay either. I like that he lists other Atari dealers on his website and though he may be stuck in the eighties aren't we all a bit? BTW - This thread looks like it could be a good resource for people to use to determine who they can buy from and what type or service to expect. Edited March 2, 2011 by Pilsner73 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 (edited) That's odd. I've never been charged VAT or duty on anything I've imported. I don't place large orders but I'm pretty sure I have spent £40 on a couple of orders in the past. It may well be that I was lucky and managed to get the vendor to undervalue the items on the customs declaration. I think luck has a lot to do with it. I've also been able to negotiate careful parcel valuation with vendors (who are just about universally co-orperative and understanding, I've got to say), to get around this VAT malarkey. But sometimes I think it's got a lot to do with the size of the package or the side of the bed some Customs officer got out of on the day. As for VAT: it's a sore point in the UK anyway, since it's now of course at an eye-watering twenty percent. Edited March 3, 2011 by flashjazzcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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