In praise of arcade part suppliers

[teef two]

First off, Ultimarc. Ordered and recieved goods within 3 days (I'm in the UK). Some buttons missing (just three blue ones) about which I sent a mail to Andy (Warne). Acknowledged within the day and missing bits sent out - should arrive today. No hassle, no argument just excellent service. Goods well packaged.

Oscar Controls - Ordered spinner and control knob. Arrived within 4 working days from the States. Again well packaged.

Both these guys keep you up to date by e-mail and are more than happy to help if you have a query. I can't recommend them highly enough. When you compare this level of service with a lot of much larger companies you truly appreciate it.

All I need now is for Hantarex to complete the loop with the monitor and it's all systems go.

[Stingray]

I'll second your comments about Ultimarc and Oscar. Both have top notch products & great customer service.

-S

[LeedsFan]

I had xcellent customer service from both Ultimarc and Oscar Controls.  Also I had great dealings with The Real Bob Roberts.  He actually sent me a 3" transluscent blue TB instead of a 2.25" one...... a genuine error which he apologised for. But even allowing for this and sending the 3" ball back (I live in UK also) the 2.25" ball arrived within 3 days. He didn't wait for the 3" ball to get back to him first and he even sent some extra TB parts as a "sorry" for the mistake and extra postage incurred.

Things can go wrong somethimes.... but it's HOW that company responds to something like this that shows their real customer service.  

[MoonDog]

First of all I have to say that I have been very pleased with all my Ultimarc parts and have referred them to several friends who are just getting into this hobby like myself.

I have placed a couple orders and the first one went without a hitch.  My parts arrived in about a week and everything was as good as I could have hoped.  

The second order unfortunately didn't go so well.  I'm sure it was a rare case, but it's still a little frustrating.  It's been over a month since placing my order and I still can't mount my trackball because I'm waiting for the mounting hardware.  3 x 50mm screws are not easily found here in the US.

Here is what happened...
The first thing that went wrong was there was some paperwork problem at DHL so the shipment was delayed (not Andy's fault I'm sure).  When the order did arrive a third of the parts were missing and a microswitch was damaged in shipping.  I sent a few emails to Andy the day it arrived noting all the problems.  He sent a reply saying that he would send the missing parts and even offered to send a new mounting plate because it wasn't the color I was expecting (which I declined).  After a week nothing arrived so I checked in again.  Apparently he had sent the replacement switch and some extra pieces via air mail but hadn't sent out the other missing parts.  After realizing the mistake he sent out another DHL package.  I emailed just to confirm that everything was included and it turns out that the mounting hardware still hadn't been sent.  The DHL package arrived with the encoder and cables, but I'm anxiously awaiting another air mail envelope with my screws.

All in all not the end of the world and I'm sure I'll still order from him.  It is frustrating though to have so many problems with one order and to still be waiting for the last piece to arrive.

[skim36]

I've ordered from Andy and the stuff came quickly...even though I'm in the states.  Think it was like 5 days.  The CD that had the ipac drivers was broken by DHL but Andy told me the newest versions were available off the website anyway.  Great customer service and I'd order again in a heartbeat.

[Minwah]

I can't say enough good things about Ultimarc, Oscar & Bob Roberts either...also Dave (AKI & SJC boards) provides an excellent service

[Witchboard]

Same here.  Ultimarc, Oscar and Bob have all been great.  Todd at TNT Amusements is also a thumbs up in my book.