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

[Blues76]

SYSOP, would it be a good idea to "Pinned" this thread?

 

This gave me a chuckle; we're not on a BBS anymore...

 

Hahaha... I know, but how do I call the forum admin? SysAdmin? Forum Admin? I wasn't sure... SysOP seems to apply to all , at least in my vintage brain... hahahaha

 

So, is it good idea or not?

I see no problem with it. From here on out, we will refer to him as "SYSOP ALBERT".

 

No. I meant if is a good idea to have this thread "pinned" ?

[Havok69]

Let's shorten it to Salbert.

 

 

 

 

(That is so going to get me banned...)

 

 

[w1k]

one guy tells me today:

"lol, do not be angry but not, it is ridiculous sum:) I have atari, magazine and cartridges, original literature brush to clean the KEY TONE & All times and all these cool things .... just like everything new:) by € 800 seriously not going"

Edited March 8, 2011 by w1k

[atarian63]

B&C Very good

AtariMax - Just fine!

Best - good for hard to find items

Video 61 - Like these guys,all good experiences

Bravo Sierra Never tried,Arent they gone?

[sloopy]

B&C Very good

AtariMax - Just fine!

Best - good for hard to find items

Video 61 - Like these guys,all good experiences

Bravo Sierra Never tried,Arent they gone?

 

call him and find out, and let us know...

 

'24 hours at my number (503)256-9974'

 

 

sloopy.

[littleman jack]

I've ordered from three, and all went very well:

Video 61

B & C

4Jays

 

They each have a different personality, and they all have good inventories.

[Blues76]

one guy tells me today:

"lol, do not be angry but not, it is ridiculous sum:) I have atari, magazine and cartridges, original literature brush to clean the KEY TONE & All times and all these cool things .... just like everything new:) by € 800 seriously not going"

W1k, I'm been reading your post for a while... Im not sure if I'm missing something, but I think what you were trying to say that someone told you that the amount he was asking was ok but you thin it was too expensive...

 

Well, if that is the case, 800 pounds is too much money for me... so I have to agree with you ...

[19Echo]

I haven't scanned the threads yet, so I don't know if anyone has listed what I am about to list...

 

But I will say FEDERATED.

 

It was a store somewhat similar to a current day BEST BUY, only thing was, it was owned by ATARI so there were always ST's and 8bits laying around and a lot of them live connected to a BBS or at least a phone line that would allow you to dial out.

 

I think most of my rememberence of this store was the fact that it was so close to me and also that I purchased my first modem there - which I can still remember the silica gel insert smell of..

 

Anyone else remember federated?

 

A little late on this, but i remember that store very well. Whenever I came back home on leave I would go there. If memory serves me correctly its the same location that Fry's is at now?

 

On a side note, anyone heard from Steve from atarimax? Sent him my myide last monday and never heard back from him. Leaving tomorrow for a couple of weeks of army stuff and was hoping to take it with me during my down time.

Oh well.....

 

Cya Later

[OldAtarian]

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).

 

 

Was the item sent with insurance? I believe the least amount of insurance you can buy covers up to $100 replacement value, so that's probably why that value was declared.

[YoshiMatt]

Steve @ AtariMax gets my top vote for being super helpful and all-around pleasure to deal with. As far as actual 'dealers' go, Best Electronics definitely seems to be best stocked (no pun intended;), very professionally packed (you gotta love the Atari-branded packing tape!) if you can tolerate a bit of hyperbole from the proprietor (just for the heck of it, I'll drive by the "warehouse" on my next trip to San Jose to check the true scale of the operation B&C wasn't very responsive or accommodating when answering questions (in my experience).. but honestly, given the varied and diminishing stock of remaining A8 merchandise, it's not like we have all that much choice, no?

[+orpheuswaking]

Recently everything I've asked fro from B&C has been responded to as "We have them but I don't know where it is in the warehouse"... Personally I think he's just clearing stuff out on Ebay and doesn't care about his website anymore.

[+wood_jl]

Recently everything I've asked fro from B&C has been responded to as "We have them but I don't know where it is in the warehouse"... Personally I think he's just clearing stuff out on Ebay and doesn't care about his website anymore.

 

Does anybody know how much "new" Atari stuff there is left? Between Best and B&C, where the hell did they get the capital to buy hundreds of thousands (millions?) of $$$$$ of hardware. I just never knew they were THAT big. Are we talking warehouses too large to inventory, big enough to fly airplanes through and have rodeos in? Pallets stacked to the ceiling by forklift, still shrinkwrapped?

 

Eventually a Cali earthquake/tsunami will take it all out.

[svenski]

Well they had tons of stuff. One of those being in the right place at the right time moments which makes me green with envy. I bet they didn't pay much (in the scheme of things) for what they offloaded from Atari and there were literally rows and rows of boxes crammed with stuff.

 

I get the impression from B&C that they are ticking along quite nicely with their ebay listings and don't want or need to make an effort and start breaking down boxes of stuff. Maybe in a year or two they'll open a new box, discover 5000 XF-551 drives and start selling them a few at a time on ebay!

Edited March 30, 2011 by svenski

[Blues76]

Well they had tons of stuff. One of those being in the right place at the right time moments which makes me green with envy. I bet they didn't pay much (in the scheme of things) for what they offloaded from Atari and there were literally rows and rows of boxes crammed with stuff.

 

I get the impression from B&C that they are ticking along quite nicely with their ebay listings and don't want or need to make an effort and start breaking down boxes of stuff. Maybe in a year or two they'll open a new box, discover 5000 XF-551 drives and start selling them a few at a time on ebay!

 

I have to agree with svenski about B & C. I think he is doing well with Ebay Listing. Maybe he is happier that way.

 

Also, is true that Best seem to be one of the best stock probably with B & C as second. It is also true that Best has good communications compare to B & C. However, I still think that Best guy can have a bit of an attitude. It is probably due to the amount of work he has to do by himself with the amount of crazy atari fans like me that want to buy stuff that he has to go dig for. Also Best catalog is great, I love it. With this said, I have to draw a line between my hobby of collecting Atari 8 bit computers and the amount of stuff I'm willing to deal with. However, I do plan to make peace with Best at some point and see if I can start purchasing again. I just didn't like his responses like "The accounting people" or "The warehouse people" when is probably him the only person working. He only answers the phone between 1 to 5 pst. Which I think is great given that they are not that many vendors that can do that. Only time will tell.

 

To me, AtariMax (Steve) is the best by Far in terms of services. The guy is really nice. Also, he has things that are adding power to our atari, like the sio2usb and so on. Of course, without forgetting Candle.

 

One person that is not a vendor, but does incredible work and if we had a Year Atari Award is flashjazzcat

[svenski]

One person that is not a vendor, but does incredible work and if we had a Year Atari Award is flashjazzcat

 

The Last Word did win the first Atari User Awards for best software last month, as voted for by readers. That reminds me, I need to send him his shiny virtual logo.

[BrianC]

I get the impression from B&C that they are ticking along quite nicely with their ebay listings and don't want or need to make an effort and start breaking down boxes of stuff. Maybe in a year or two they'll open a new box, discover 5000 XF-551 drives and start selling them a few at a time on ebay!

 

I don't know, their ebay disclaimer page gives me the impression that B&C doesn't want to stay on ebay and made it sound like they rather do business from the store. I had no problem ordering Galahad along with an ebay item, though.

Edited March 30, 2011 by BrianC

[littleman jack]

I get the impression from B&C that they are ticking along quite nicely with their ebay listings and don't want or need to make an effort and start breaking down boxes of stuff. Maybe in a year or two they'll open a new box, discover 5000 XF-551 drives and start selling them a few at a time on ebay!

 

I don't know, their ebay disclaimer page gives me the impression that B&C doesn't want to stay on ebay and made it sound like they rather do business from the store. I had no problem ordering Galahad along with an ebay item, though.

 

They (B & C) do seem to make it known that they have another shop (their site). But on the other hand, they often sell their items cheaper on ebay. So I can't figure out if they like selling on ebay better or selling from their own site better. I've also called them and ordered over the phone. I've always had a good experience with them. I like calling them, and Video 61, and ordering over the phone, on a land line even. I'm a bit old fashioned I guess.

[BillC]

I get the impression from B&C that they are ticking along quite nicely with their ebay listings and don't want or need to make an effort and start breaking down boxes of stuff. Maybe in a year or two they'll open a new box, discover 5000 XF-551 drives and start selling them a few at a time on ebay!

 

I don't know, their ebay disclaimer page gives me the impression that B&C doesn't want to stay on ebay and made it sound like they rather do business from the store. I had no problem ordering Galahad along with an ebay item, though.

 

They (B & C) do seem to make it known that they have another shop (their site). But on the other hand, they often sell their items cheaper on ebay. So I can't figure out if they like selling on ebay better or selling from their own site better. I've also called them and ordered over the phone. I've always had a good experience with them. I like calling them, and Video 61, and ordering over the phone, on a land line even. I'm a bit old fashioned I guess.

I have also ordered items from B&C eBay listings, then sent them a message requesting additional items which weren't listed on eBay. Had no problem, Bruce sent me an updated list of my order with the new total, and also refunded excess shipping costs charged afterwards.

[+wood_jl]

I have also ordered items from B&C eBay listings, then sent them a message requesting additional items which weren't listed on eBay. Had no problem, Bruce sent me an updated list of my order with the new total, and also refunded excess shipping costs charged afterwards.

Yup - that's how I got my PAL 130XE (with bad GTIA) and a GTIA and socket. They were very cool about it all.

 

They've been quite friendly to me in discussion, and yeah, sometimes the Ebay system makes enormous shipping charges and they've been quite fair each time about it.

 

I think they're semi-retired, and they have a ton of stuff that's somewhat-inaccessible. So rather than list a bunch of stuff and not know where in the packed warehouse it is, as they uncover stuff, they list it on Ebay, and then they can sell what is accessible and manageable. At least, that would make sense.

 

One time I ordered a new-in-box computer and some power supplies and he power supplies had bubble-wrap with clear tape around it, and the tape stuck to the new computer box and tore the printing in a spot. That's the only issue I've had, and I've made many orders with them.

 

I'm just glad they're still there!

 

I am somewhat surprised that neither B&C or Best are on a site like this. I suppose it's not necessary, and they'd suffer from Atari Overload, whereas it's recreation for us that we can't get enough of.

[BillC]

I'm just glad they're still there!

 

I am somewhat surprised that neither B&C or Best are on a site like this. I suppose it's not necessary, and they'd suffer from Atari Overload, whereas it's recreation for us that we can't get enough of.

It was combining shipping on multiple items that reduced the shipping charges. Rather than attempting to figure out actual shipping in advance they charged whatever was calculated for each item, then refunded the difference once everything was packed and shipped. I had asked about combined shipping in advance and that was their response and what happened.

 

I visited the retail store in the early 90's before it closed, IIRC I purchased about $150.00 to $200.00 worth at that time figuring that since I was there I might as well purchase without shipping costs. It was nice to be able to walk around a store with all the Atari goodies on display. I remember seeing a Mosaic 64K RAM upgrade in a display case, which I think was fairly rare even then.