Avoid Best Electronics

[Zonie]

On 7/27/2023 at 5:26 PM, Fletch said:

I know this is going to sound weird, but Fax your orders to him. I navigate the website, find his part numbers, type up an old school letter that includes all of my particulars, include a credit card number and Fax away.

 

I have never been limited on the number of items I purchase, nor had any issue whatsoever. 

 

I realize that not everyone has access to a Fax machine these days, but there are plenty of free fax services like https://faxzero.com.

 

 

Fax? What's that? LOL. My wife had a Dr. office requiring something be faxed. No emails allowed. I printed it and dropped it off. Jeez...

 

On 7/28/2023 at 7:20 AM, Atari Nut said:

Trying to keep your identity a secret is slightly on the shady side.

Yeah, that is a bit strange, unless they work from home and have had people knocking on their door at dinner time or 7 am on a Saturday morning? Some people don't understand privacy.

I advertised a yard sale ONCE starting at 8 AM. Had people knocking on my door just after sunup (5AM).

 

On 7/28/2023 at 7:33 AM, Atari Nut said:

Let me re-phrase that comment.  Advertising a no "BS" experience but taking these measures to keep themselves a secret is introducing another form of "BS".  They should have to reason to fear Best or that they are selling Atari parts.  They should be proud.  

That they should.

 

On 7/31/2023 at 4:46 AM, cwilbar said:

Well, damn....  I misread... though his language could have been clearer....

his exact wording was "we now have a 3 Atari item limit on all orders". 

It neither states maximum or minimum.  So, re-reading this, it is technically right,

but depending on your mindset could be read wrong 🙂

 

I presumed that this meant you need 3 items or more for an order to be worth their valuable time since they are so busy.  Larger orders are more efficient, so this was my presumption.

 

He should have used language like "we now have a maximum of 3 Atari items per order" or such. 

 

Still, why ghost someone, why not clear up the misunderstanding.  I guess alienating customers helps shed that load of theirs ?

 

-- Curt

I can understand this. Filling a 3-item order is painless, but an order with 9+ items, for example, actually takes more effort than three 3-item orders, for example, due to more double checking to make sure its all there. With his age, I can appreciate that, and besides, Not to be a jerk here, but the extra shipping costs for three smaller packages instead of one large one are borne by the buyer, and I'm sure that does bother some, I'd certainly rather have it all in one box for less, but it is what it is, and he does provide a service nobody else does, so we really should support that. This is a cottage/lifestyle business.

 

On 7/31/2023 at 6:41 AM, cwilbar said:

Custom service (apathy) is apparently an international pandemic, not just a U.S. one 🙂

 

When I get good customer service these days, I make sure to thank them for their time and attention, as it is a pleasant surprise when I find those that truly do want to help.

 

You ain't kidding. Me too. The only crappy thing is when you do reachout with a heartfelt thank you, you rarely if never get a you're welcome back.

 

On 8/1/2023 at 7:05 PM, doubledown said:

There is at least 1 other person working with Brad now...when I called my cc info the other week, Brad wasn't available, so I talked with this other guy...can't remember his name.  

That's good.

 

On 8/2/2023 at 12:52 PM, Flyindrew said:

I wish Best would modernize and clean up their web site. Its like walking into a hoarders house.

Well, it actually sort of is, it's just a warehouse with no workers, so it is what it is.

[BillC]

5 hours ago, Zonie said:

Fax? What's that? LOL. My wife had a Dr. office requiring something be faxed. No emails allowed. I printed it and dropped it off. Jeez...

I believe the medical field, at least where I live in Canada, still faxes prescriptions to pharmacies. Fairly sure faxes were given status as legal documents a long time ago.

[+x=usr(1536)]

18 hours ago, Zonie said:

Fax? What's that? LOL.

Totally understood re: the sentiment, but I recently had to explain what a fax is to a hotel clerk at check-in.  Apparently my employer's corporate travel department still uses them to provide credit card details to the hotels we stay at.  Amusingly, they use an email-to-fax gateway for this - and most hotels are using a fax-to-email gateway to actually deliver the fax 

12 hours ago, BillC said:

I believe the medical field, at least where I live in Canada, still faxes prescriptions to pharmacies.

They're also still used extensively in the shipping industry, particularly maritime.

[+MrFish]

Weather fax (WeFax) is still used extensively by seagoing vessels. I've received them myself: WeFax Images; and (as mentioned in this topic) an Atari application exists to receive them: VisiFax

 

[Zonie]

On 8/8/2023 at 5:24 AM, x=usr(1536) said:

Totally understood re: the sentiment, but I recently had to explain what a fax is to a hotel clerk at check-in.  Apparently my employer's corporate travel department still uses them to provide credit card details to the hotels we stay at.  Amusingly, they use an email-to-fax gateway for this - and most hotels are using a fax-to-email gateway to actually deliver the fax 

They're also still used extensively in the shipping industry, particularly maritime.

I can see that in the maritime industry. It replaced the old Telex (remember that?). better than an email sometimes because all of a sudden the machine beeps and there is a printout for anyone to be able to deal with asap.

[oracle_jedi]

Not to dispute anyone who's had challenges, but I wanted add to this thread to report another smooth transaction with Best Electronics.

 

Back in 2018 I bought a discounted damaged Jaguar motherboard from Eight Bit Fix.  It worked, but the video was corrupted.  Well thanks to some info on AtariAge I managed to fix it - yay!

 

But buying a scrap Jag from Ebay for the case plastics alone was going to cost over $200 if I was lucky, and closer to $250 if I wasn't.

 

I got a complete set of Jag case plastics, plus the RF shield and power button from Best for under $100 + shipping.

 

 

• I've found using their catalog helps.  Quote the part numbers you want in your email.  Ask what the current prices and availability are - the catalog pricing is out of date of course.  And ask for a total with tax and shipping.
• If you have a customer number use it!
• Respect the 3-item order limit if you are a new customer.  Once you've completed a few transactions there's some flexibility there. 
• And once you have your total, call and place the order.  Don't shop that price somewhere else.

Brad said he was out of new Jag case parts, but could sell me recycled one.  Damn they look brand new!  And now my newly fully-working Jag motherboard is sitting in the case and running Downfall.  

 

And apparently I need to clean my den floor - will get on to that - soon as I've played a few rounds!

 

 

Edited November 3, 2023 by oracle_jedi