eightbit Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 (edited) I am not sure if this has been posted elsewhere, but I just wanted to share my frustration with ordering from Atari.com. I placed an order for a CX-40+ joystick on November 17th. There was no indication that this was on any pre-order or any stock issue. To date my order is sitting in "unfulfilled" state. Their FAQ for ordering states: "When will my order ship? After your payment is verified, it takes up to 24 hours to process and ship your order. This does not include weekends or holidays. Purchases made after 11 am PST will not be shipped out until the next business day. If you order after 11 am PST on a Friday, your order will likely be shipped out on the following Monday. For 2600+ customers, our fulfillment partner is currently shipping all pre-orders as product arrives at their distribution center. Orders placed by December 14, 2023 are expected to arrive by December 22, 2023." Well, I didn't order a 2600+, just a controller. So It should have shipped out on the next business day, right? That would have been Monday Nov 20th (or maybe Tuesday the 21st) according to their FAQ. I waited since then and finally gave up with no order movement. I had emailed them this past Monday asking at this point to cancel the order, and this is what they replied with: Hello Bruce, Thank you for contacting Atari Support. We regret to inform you that orders are unable to be canceled once they have been queued for shipment. This is due to the fact that our fulfillment process is designed to move orders quickly and efficiently. We understand that this may be inconvenient, and we apologize for any disruption this may cause. We are happy to assist you in the return process if you would like to return your order once it has arrived. Thank you for your understanding. Best regards, Andrik Atari Support And guess what? The order is still sitting as unfulfilled. It's been nearly three weeks now and this is not designed to be "quick and efficient", sorry to tell you Andrik. Has anyone else experienced this? I will certainly NOT be ordering from Atari.com again after this. I wonder if I will have the controller by Christmas...who knows.... Edited December 7, 2023 by eightbit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KainXavier Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 (edited) My experience with ordering from Atari has not been the best either, and I would definitely be upset if I were you. That said, I've worked for an online retailer before, and cancelling orders was always a crap-shoot for us. The people customers speak with don't usually have the ability to contact the company's warehouses or business partners to cancel an order. The next level of support may, as I did, but they're at the mercy of their point of contact, and their point of contact is probably very, very busy. Some or all of the ordering process could also be automated which mucks things up further. My advice to you would be to escalate the issue if possible and/or contact the carrier (once your order ships) and refuse the shipment. Someone at Atari should be able to refund you if they can confirm the package is on its way back. Edited December 7, 2023 by KainXavier Clarified text. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted December 7, 2023 Author Share Posted December 7, 2023 You are right, I am pretty much at their mercy. The other option is to force a chargeback. I really wish it hadn't come to that. I really do need the joystick! Oh well, live and learn I suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warboss Gegguz Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 11 minutes ago, eightbit said: You are right, I am pretty much at their mercy. The other option is to force a chargeback. I really wish it hadn't come to that. I really do need the joystick! Oh well, live and learn I suppose. Theoretically it SHOULD work with any 9-pin joystick, so maybe a cheap one on amazon/ebay? My only issue has been that my delivery got delayed because of "weather" despite California (where it's shipping from) being sunny 🤷♂️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted December 7, 2023 Author Share Posted December 7, 2023 2 minutes ago, Warboss Gegguz said: Theoretically it SHOULD work with any 9-pin joystick, so maybe a cheap one on amazon/ebay? My only issue has been that my delivery got delayed because of "weather" despite California (where it's shipping from) being sunny 🤷♂️ I actually ordered the joystick for the opposite reason. The plan was to own a new CX40 and use it on my 600XL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warboss Gegguz Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 I see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xboxiso Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 3 hours ago, eightbit said: I actually ordered the joystick for the opposite reason. The plan was to own a new CX40 and use it on my 600XL The Hyperkin Trooper Premium Controller is a great joystick. Give one a try if you don't end up receiving your CX40... https://www.amazon.com/Hyperkin-Trooper-Controller-not-machine-specific/dp/B07M5HYTZL/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3FDBABGGAQ3V4&keywords=hyperkin+trooper+2+premium+controller&qid=1701969999&sprefix=hyperkin+tropper%2Caps%2C147&sr=8-2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warboss Gegguz Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 (edited) 4 minutes ago, xboxiso said: The Hyperkin Trooper Premium Controller is a great joystick. Give one a try if you don't end up receiving your CX40... https://www.amazon.com/Hyperkin-Trooper-Controller-not-machine-specific/dp/B07M5HYTZL/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3FDBABGGAQ3V4&keywords=hyperkin+trooper+2+premium+controller&qid=1701969999&sprefix=hyperkin+tropper%2Caps%2C147&sr=8-2 I thought they didn't make them for 9-Pin anymore. Or at least when I looked all they had was USB. edit: From the looks of it, you need to buy a Retron 77 to get one in 9-Pin... ugh. Shame, because it looks like it would be REALLY GOOD for 7800 games. Edited December 7, 2023 by Warboss Gegguz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xboxiso Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 (edited) 5 minutes ago, Warboss Gegguz said: I thought they didn't make them for 9-Pin anymore. Or at least when I looked all they had was USB. edit: From the looks of it, you need to buy a Retron 77 to get one in 9-Pin... ugh. Shame, because it looks like it would be REALLY GOOD for 7800 games. No you don't have to buy a Retron77 to get a 9 pin. I just recently bought two of them on Amazon... I should mention that both buttons are the same to facilitate right or left handed play. So they won't work for two button 7800 games unfortunately Edited December 7, 2023 by xboxiso Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warboss Gegguz Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 When I look into it, it says "currently unavailable" for all but the USB variants... so I guess they're sold out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xboxiso Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 (edited) 2 minutes ago, Warboss Gegguz said: When I look into it, it says "currently unavailable" for all but the USB variants... so I guess they're sold out? Must be. Again, I just purchased two of them a few weeks ago and love them. By the way, the USB variant is awesome on my pc with Stella 6.7. I really hope they eventually add compatibility for this controller to the Gamestation Pro. That would be a game changer in my opinion. Edited December 7, 2023 by xboxiso Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted December 7, 2023 Author Share Posted December 7, 2023 Yeah, I was going to just grab some Troopers but the 9-pin is OOS everywhere but ebay it seems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KainXavier Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 4 hours ago, eightbit said: You are right, I am pretty much at their mercy. The other option is to force a chargeback. I really wish it hadn't come to that. I really do need the joystick! Oh well, live and learn I suppose. From personal experience, disputing a charge will prolong the refund / cancellation process because it means more departments will have to get involved. As an alternative, you may want to reach out to a pro-consumer organization like the Better Business Bureau. It'll put extra pressure on the company to do the right thing. That said, I would only do that if you've exhausted your other options. There's probably somebody else that can either contact the warehouse for you or better explain why they're unable to cancel the order. They might even do a partial refund as an appeasement for the delay. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scifidude79 Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 Prior to now, the last time I looked at the CX40+ on Atari.com, under "Availability" on the order page, it had a paragraph about pre-orders and shipping the first week of December. It's been that way since they were added to the site. I'll agree, it's not information that was readily available, like sites that have a "Preorder" instead of an "Add to Cart" button. But, it was on there. However, now it says "Available now! Ships within 3-5 business days." So, your controller might actually be shipping soon. It's probably taken them this long to get them from the manufacturing warehouse. As for my experiences, they're more than several months old. But, when I ordered my VCS last year, it shipped pretty soon. It was in stock, so I'd say it shipped within 3-5 days. Sometime later, I ordered a modern controller. Then, after that a classic controller and a shirt. Both controllers shipped fast, 3-5 days. The shirt, however, took considerably longer to ship with no real explanation why. But, I got the shirt eventually. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tradyblix Posted December 8, 2023 Share Posted December 8, 2023 6 hours ago, KainXavier said: From personal experience, disputing a charge will prolong the refund / cancellation process because it means more departments will have to get involved. As an alternative, you may want to reach out to a pro-consumer organization like the Better Business Bureau. It'll put extra pressure on the company to do the right thing. That said, I would only do that if you've exhausted your other options. There's probably somebody else that can either contact the warehouse for you or better explain why they're unable to cancel the order. They might even do a partial refund as an appeasement for the delay. OMG dont' do ANY of that. Just be patient and wait. you've waited this long. YOU NEED IT anyway. what's 2 more weeks ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted December 8, 2023 Author Share Posted December 8, 2023 23 minutes ago, tradyblix said: OMG dont' do ANY of that. Just be patient and wait. you've waited this long. YOU NEED IT anyway. what's 2 more weeks ? Don't worry last thing I would do is contact the BBB. That would be the biggest waste of time ever...lol. I have no choice but to either wait and keep it, wait and return it, or force a charge back. I'm a patient person... anyone who knows me knows that. But what I don't like is the feeling of being fed a line. If there were going to be nearly a month delay, just say so from the start so I know what I am getting into. If I *know* that there will be a wait, that's OK. I have waited for fulfillment of items for months (and even years). But this one appeared to me at least like it was ready to go and "just order and we'll ship it in 2-5 days". But that is just not the case. And that customer service guy. How about an "I am really sorry for the delay, xyz is happening now" instead of: "We regret to inform you that orders are unable to be canceled once they have been queued for shipment. This is due to the fact that our fulfillment process is designed to move orders quickly and efficiently. You have got to be kidding me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperZapperRecharge Posted December 8, 2023 Share Posted December 8, 2023 I did get notification on Dec. 6 from Atari.com that my order for the CX40+ Joystick Controller and CX30+ Paddle Set has shipped as is on it's way via Fedex. I placed the order on Nov 2nd. I think the availability of the CX40+ was limited to start which delayed some order to early December. Hope you get your shipping notification soon! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted December 8, 2023 Author Share Posted December 8, 2023 Well, that's encouraging at least. Thanks for that. I just wish they could have been more transparent if there were delays. If I had known I would have just ebayed one of those Trooper II joysticks. I had the original Troopers a long while ago and they were quite good. I hope this one was worth the wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Brackbill Posted December 8, 2023 Share Posted December 8, 2023 It wasn’t a big deal for me, but when I ordered my 2600+ and paddles, they had the shipping label created for four days before FedEx actually picked the items up… I’ll take a small delay as long as I have it in my hands before Christmas break…. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Brackbill Posted December 14, 2023 Share Posted December 14, 2023 On 12/8/2023 at 10:29 AM, John Brackbill said: It wasn’t a big deal for me, but when I ordered my 2600+ and paddles, they had the shipping label created for four days before FedEx actually picked the items up… I’ll take a small delay as long as I have it in my hands before Christmas break…. So, the issue hasn’t been Atari.com… FedEx has delayed my delivery four times now, and I have no idea of the logic behind how they are getting it to me… frustrating… 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Intellivision Master Posted December 14, 2023 Share Posted December 14, 2023 12 minutes ago, John Brackbill said: So, the issue hasn’t been Atari.com… FedEx has delayed my delivery four times now, and I have no idea of the logic behind how they are getting it to me… frustrating… I've had issues with FedEx in the past. My Atari.com order is supposed to be coming today. I purchased the Atari 2600+ & the Berzerk enhanced game back on 11/30. Too bad it got delayed. I was hoping to have the stuff sooner. But at least it's on the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scifidude79 Posted December 14, 2023 Share Posted December 14, 2023 FedEx is the worst. I've had packages just sit in FedEx facilities for days. Of course, FedEx never tells you your stuff is going to be delayed or why, you just see it not moving and your estimated delivery date keeps getting pushed back on the tracking page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tradyblix Posted December 15, 2023 Share Posted December 15, 2023 On 12/8/2023 at 7:56 AM, eightbit said: Well, that's encouraging at least. Thanks for that. I just wish they could have been more transparent if there were delays. If I had known I would have just ebayed one of those Trooper II joysticks. I had the original Troopers a long while ago and they were quite good. I hope this one was worth the wait. So it's a been a while. Did you get it ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted December 15, 2023 Author Share Posted December 15, 2023 8 minutes ago, tradyblix said: So it's a been a while. Did you get it ? Nope! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tradyblix Posted December 15, 2023 Share Posted December 15, 2023 1 minute ago, eightbit said: Nope! That is a travesty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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