Avoid Best Electronics

[Cebus Capucinis]

1 hour ago, x=usr(1536) said:

What If Atari Sold the NES Instead of Nintendo

Holy crap, can you imagine if Brad had a giant listing and a cornered market on NES parts as well? WHOA, IT'S LIKE A CROSSOVER

 

[+Gemintronic]

It seems like people have a vested interest in his wares.  It's too bad he couldn't designate someone to be his volunteer liason.  Maybe give them some discounts or in store credit.  He seems to have enough fans that it can happen.  But, if he would it, er, would already be a thing.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

46 minutes ago, Sinjinhawke said:

I was lucky.  Back in May I ordered 8 items from him.  They all arrived.  Though the shipping price did give me pause but knowing the stories of Brad I remained calm and followed through not wanting to burn that bridge.

Was that 8 separate unique items or 8 in total with quantities of more than one? Because he will allow you to order quantities of an item provided they are the same item and it isn't something he places a limit on.

 

 

[Cebus Capucinis]

If I recall, several people throughout the years have offered to help, whether it be help Brad update the site, create an automated store process, or just help fill orders. At least a portion of those people volunteered with no expectation of payment or discount, and just wanted the experience of seeing it all.

 

Brad turned them all down, if I remember, stating that he can't trust anyone else to do it. (Which, fair enough, it's his stuff, after all.)

[+Gemintronic]

Maybe we could set up a disposable list of temporary customers.  When one gets banned we'll cross it off our list.  I'll start:

 

Joe Mumma

Dee B Nyne

Wong Parte

Lee Furbbed

Bradley Paked

Lemmy Oardar

Al A Cartman

Noah Refrunds

Dustin Kover

Cy Heer

Wendy Livered

Bobbie Rapp

Newman Oldstoc

[+MrFish]

Navigating a Best Electronics purchase...

 

 

[+MrFish]

40 minutes ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

Was that 8 separate unique items or 8 in total with quantities of more than one? Because he will allow you to order quantities of an item provided they are the same item and it isn't something he places a limit on.

 

 

[+-^CrossBow^-]

7 minutes ago, MrFish said:

 

 

Is there something I'm missing here? I thought it was a valid question and the poster didn't state hence my asking?

 

[+MrFish]

2 minutes ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

Is there something I'm missing here? I thought it was a valid question and the poster didn't state hence my asking?

 

No problem with ur statement/response; I'm just throwing in some grammar rules for clarification (or additional confusion).

 

[+DarkLord]

Ah, I see the "Bash Brad and Best Electronics" thread has been resurrected yet again. 

 

Not attacking or defending his rules, but it is his business. If anyone doesn't

want to play by his rules then buy somewhere else. It's a free market after all.

 

Personally, I've never had a problem with getting what I wanted from him, in

a timely manner. On what few occasions I've needed more than 3 items in an

order, I simply placed 2 orders... Not a big deal for me.

 

I'm just glad he does have all that inventory and is still supporting the Atari

community. 

 

[Wayler]

Sigh... guess I'll have to settle with adequate electronics then.

[Dropcheck]

So far (cross my fingers and toes) I've not had any problems with Brad.  He does limit the number sold of certain items per order and I can understand that.  Two reasons that come to mine is yes the possibility that you will resell them and also that someone else has a chance to get their share.  Also this last time I was wanting to buy parts of, but not the whole drive since I already had the drive I/O board.  He was real reluctant about that, preferring to sell me a complete drive.   His reasoning to me made sense, it would not be economical for me, but was probably not the real reason, it was probably easier for him.   He probably doesn't have many loose individual parts left.  Most would have to be parted out from a complete unit.  More time and effort for him, leaving excess partial inventory that is harder to sell.  

 

I've never gotten a bad part from him, that he indicated had been tested.  He packs shipping very well and quickly ships.  Lately I have been calling him to finalize an order as he seems to do better than with email.   I do wish he still did paypal, but I understand that decision not too. 

 

I have had enough experience with trying to sell to the public and I can put myself in his place.  He gets orders from all over the world, from all different kinds of personalities and some language and mannerisms are not easily translated.  That anyone is doing what he is doing for any price is a wonder.  I don't believe it's just for the money or just a job for him.  And I seriously doubt he has any employees to help him.  Maybe family every now and then.  So expecting him to be Walmart or Mouser or Digikey is not realistic. 

 

I don't want to bash him.  After so long I don't think anyone of us would be doing any better.  And some of us would probably be doing worse.   We are all human.  The reality is that he still is the most dependable( or only) source for original equipment for our hobby, and we play by his rules.  Else we suck it up and go without or look elsewhere. 

 

 

[José Pereira]

Think is (and said by some times ago) that has he parts that others don't have and will never appear again so limiting number per each buyer is a way to have to others.

Things will never be atari producing again so when he sells all no-one will ever get new ones at reasonable prices.

[flashjazzcat]

1 hour ago, DarkLord said:

If anyone doesn't want to play by his rules then buy somewhere else.

Which is the exact sentiment already expressed by the thread subject.

[Jfcatari]

I have ordered from Brad (at Best Electronics) many times and I have always had the best of luck with him and the service he provides to the Atari community.

The parts I have ordered are perfect, packing is excellent, and speed of delivery is great.   I also enjoy talking Atari history when we are on the phone completing an order too.

[cwilbar]

1 hour ago, DarkLord said:

Ah, I see the "Bash Brad and Best Electronics" thread has been resurrected yet again. 

 

Not attacking or defending his rules, but it is his business. If anyone doesn't

want to play by his rules then buy somewhere else. It's a free market after all.

rules ?  What rules .....  3 item minimum.... qty met (I had 4), beyond that, I just couldn't get him to tell me what was wrong or how to close the deal.

1 hour ago, DarkLord said:

 

Personally, I've never had a problem with getting what I wanted from him, in

a timely manner. On what few occasions I've needed more than 3 items in an

order, I simply placed 2 orders... Not a big deal for me.

 

I'm just glad he does have all that inventory and is still supporting the Atari

community. 

 

I've ordered in the past no problem.... 

 

I'm glad he has the inventory and "wants" to provide for the community, but frankly, he sucks at it.

 

If I treated customers that way, I'd fully expect them tel tell me to f#@% off.

 

Just because you are one of a few or sole supplier of something, doesn't give you the right to be a prick.

 

I'm angry and saddened, and I'm no longer looking to do repairs/etc if I have to depend on him for parts.  Let someone else deal with the hassle, or let that repairable item become parts so people don't have to deal with him.

 

Now that I know I'm not alone in this, this will serve as a warning.  If you can get your parts elsewhere than Best, do it, you'll thank your patience, and sanity for it.

 

[+MrFish]

1 hour ago, José Pereira said:

...so limiting number per each buyer is a way to have to others.

Maybe... but he told the OP "3-part minimum". Can't blame the OP for being pissed that Brad tells him to read the email more carefully, when Brad is the one needing to examine what it is he wrote more carefully. Instead the customer gets ignored.

 

1 hour ago, DarkLord said:

"Bash Brad and Best Electronics"

It's not like some of it isn't deserved. These are real instances of what appears to be noteworthy business concerns. Helpful for people not wanting to put their time and (apparently in some cases) money at risk.

 

I've spoke on the other side of the issue in these threads before: that Brad has the right to run his business as he pleases, and people can always go elsewhere if they don't like it. I'm all for him running his business as he chooses; but that doesn't make him immune to legitimate complaints -- which is what this thread is based on.

 

[+orpheuswaking]

16 minutes ago, cwilbar said:

rules ?  What rules .....  3 item minimum....

 

Are you sure it said minimum? Because he's had a 3 part maximum for some time. 

[Sinjinhawke]

3 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

Was that 8 separate unique items or 8 in total with quantities of more than one? Because he will allow you to order quantities of an item provided they are the same item and it isn't something he places a limit on.

 

 

It was 8 separate items.  I only needed the Pokey and the mylar.  Shipping is so expensive and those parts are so cheap.  I just added them to have on hand since they didn't impact shipping price.

 

1  Atari Pokey chip CO12294   

1  Atari PIA chip CO14795              

1  Atari Custom CPU chip CO14806     

1  Atari Antic chip CO21697                   

1  Atari MMU chip CO61618                  

1  Atari Freddie chip CO61991              

1  Atari XL Time delay CO60472         

1  Best 2nd Gen. XL Keyboard mylar

[mickster]

23 hours ago, cwilbar said:

 

Just as a general warning.... avoid Best Electronics.

 

I appreciate the fact that they have served the Atari community for so long, but Bradley is just too difficult to deal with.

 

I requested to purchase 4 parts and received a response that they are so busy that there is a 3 part minimum.  Yet I was trying to buy 4 parts.

 

Instead of helping clear up the confusion, the last response I received was to have me re-read over his last e-mail carefully.

 

I have reread it several times, and unless I lost an e-mail it doesn't clear anything up for me.

 

Three of four subsequent e-mails have resulted in him simply ghosting me.  I did my best to keep it professional as I'm truly thankful that someone out there is there for the community, but when the interactions go this way, that isn't really 'being there' for the community.

 

Be warned, they are no longer easy to deal with, and your interactions and success may vary greatly.

 

Just a warning for those desiring to do business with them.

 

It is a sad day for me, and while I do not do many side jobs repairing Ataris, I will be eliminating my side repair of Atari systems.

 

My repair that started this all is an 822 printer for a fellow forum member that I am trying to fix.  There is limited (and in many cases; one) place(s) to get parts, and I no longer want to deal with their bullshit attitude and ghosting.  It is a bad way to treat the customers that are keeping them alive in business.

 

Sadly,

 

-- Curt

 

He has a 3 part maximum order.   He does not bother with big orders anymore.  So that is one of the reasons he was asking you to re-read the email.

 

 

[+x=usr(1536)]

1 hour ago, Sinjinhawke said:

It was 8 separate items.

An understandable mistake; 3 and 8 do look fairly similar.  Mystery solved!

[Rledo]

I also have never had a problem with him.  In fact he just answered a flurry of questions from me, in typical Koda fashion, just last week.  Now I’m scared!

 

Brad the Atari Soup Nazi? 

[mickster]

1 hour ago, cwilbar said:

rules ?  What rules .....  3 item minimum.... qty met (I had 4), beyond that, I just couldn't get him to tell me what was wrong or how to close the deal.

I've ordered in the past no problem.... 

 

 

It was 3 items maximum.   If you go back and re-read the emails, it most likely what started you down the path to 'no soup for you'

1 hour ago, cwilbar said:

 

 

[mickster]

This is always an interesting topic because of the frustration it causes customers 'not in the know' about Brad.

 

The thing is, the reason he has the parts that the customer needs is from not doing what some customers want.

 

If he had a good online website, most of the good stuff would be gone.

If he sold in any quantity desired, most of the good stuff would be gone.

If he sold out to someone, most of the good stuff would be gone.

If he sold his stuff on ebay, most of the good stuff would be gone or sold at a price higher than collectors want to pay.

 

He has chosen a path in life to live the way that he wants.  The way that he lives, actually benefits the atari collector in 2023 because he does still have inventory.

 

 

Just to show a comparison.

 

I work on a small family farm.

 

The family would make more money if we either sold the land or rented it out to big corporations to farm.

 

If we take the money and asked the family what we would like to do with our time, it would be to run a small farm.

 

So you see, sometimes the logical answer is not really the right answer to living a life.  

 

Not everyone is trying to be 'walmart' .   Some times selling the most quantity to as many customers as fast as possible is not the right answer.

[+bf2k+]

I've ordered from Brad probably 10 times in the last 20 years or so and never had an issue.