AtariMax?

[Gunstar]

 

Common!. no need to be a drama Queen...Atarimax is a business. He has week-end sales for crying out loud (although that never ends...lol)...

 

 

 

Really!, you need to chill-down buddy.

I'm not being a drama Queen, I'm serious, anything can happen in life at any time. I've been in the middle of sudden medical emergencies out of the blue that took a week and a half out of my normal life, and it wasn't even me as the sick party! And I'm perfectly chill, as always, I just shoot straight and don't believe in the lie of political correctness. He's a punk if he thinks "modern" companies are going to care about anything more than his money. I'm a nice guy who is defending a man and his company who has been a man of character.

 

Oh, and by the way, the times I've dealt with him was always via e-mail, and often I didn't hear back from him for more than a week, but if yo are patient, because he has a real life, he will treat you right and his products are A1.

Edited April 20, 2017 by Gunstar

[gargoyle]

That's ok, yes anything can happen in life like medical emergencies, but this is a regular thing with Steve, he is not fast to respond, he doesn't update his website or answer questions on his support forum. He may be the nicest guy in the world and his products may be the best. None of these however is an excuse for poor support. He runs a business, and I am sure you will be pissed when you purchase a product and don't hear from the vendor for a whole week and be kept wondering.

wk1 (?) has the right to know what is happening with his order in a timely manner. He may have language barriers or may be just as "politically incorrect" as you are, but that doesn't mean he deserves demeaning remarks.

Edited April 20, 2017 by gargoyle

[Tillek]

W1K, I have never seen anything shipped from the USA to Slovakia ever arrive in the time frame your wishing for.... I would stress that whenever it ships, (at longest a week or so) That it will take at least that long plus Slovakian post to sort inspect deliver. I know there is a language barrier and also some forcefulness involved. Realize also that sometimes they return ship if the slightest thing is incorrect on the paperwork and then it's doubly long. Sometimes it requires the recipient to see(photo) the reason why it was refused to translate and help redo the shipment/document to get it there. This is the case often with overseas shipments coming and going. This has and always will be the case. Please offer help to your hobbyist vendor, he is trying to help you but may not know how to respond. This is a communications break down compounded by frustration on both parties as strongly worded emails tend to cause ill will among men.

 

Any Slovak want to help W1K? He can use some effort on translation of thought to word. It starts out unintentional but ends up in spiral as both sides travel down that bumpy road.

Jookie is Slovak. (Well, technically I'm Slovak, but my great grandparents came from "the old country" so that's probably not what you mean). But I can say my CosmosEx spent a lot of time sight seeing in Bratislava before taking the slow boat to America (and it WAS a LONG boat ride). I never once questioned Jookie or his commitment or his value to the community.

 

People here are confusing businesses with hobbyists who charge for their time and materials because while they want to help the Atari community, don't have the financial resources to foot he bill for it and their families want to see some benefit for the time their loved one can't spend with them (like maybe a trip to the zoo with the kids and dinner out for the family).

 

I don't know about Lotharek and whether this is a primary source of income, a "second job" that provides meaningful income, or "a hobby he enjoys but can't afford to give it all away for free".

 

I know a few things....

 

1) I do want to get into doing Atari related projects for the community (probably software development more than hardware but someone is convincing me to look into driver development and how that can be more valuable.

2) I will not foot he bill for your hobbies. My time is valuable and I will expect something for my efforts for the enjoyment I provide.

3) I ran a business once. I no longer do. I have a job... A full time job. While I do not have a family to speak of, I still have things that have to be done in the few hours from when I get home from work to when I go to bed. I will not run what I do as a business. I will run it as a hobby, which I will do for fun and enjoyment.

3a) (Unless my income from the hobby exceeds the IRS limits for such activities, at which point, I will make a decision to stop the hobby, or quit my job and pursue this as a business....)

4) I currently make the equivalent of $25/hr. That's what my time is worth. If you buy something from me, minus the material cost, the remainder is how much time you get. Once that is exceeded, I help at my discretion, when the time is free, motivated only by the values my parents instilled in my to do a good job and do right by others.... but if I have a week like I did this week, where I had to put in a few extra hours each night, which meant I had to go to bed almost right after I got home so I could catch the early bus the next morning from Akron to Cleveland.... well... I'm not going to sweat not getting back to your email right away because I don't think you're using your Atari for mission critical business stuff or that your children are starving because you won't go to the grocery store until you beat level 38 of the game I wrote.

5) If you block w1k and gargoyle and read this thread again, it becomes REALLY funny (and you don't have to deal with negativity like that again).

Edited April 20, 2017 by Tillek

[+Stephen]

Any Slovak want to help W1K? He can use some effort on translation of thought to word. It starts out unintentional but ends up in spiral as both sides travel down that bumpy road.

Nope - I thought that for almost 5 years. Eventually, you grow tired of trying to help someone, as you realize they are just a rude asshole and don't want help, or it is not a translation issue. MANY people on this board don't have English as a 1st language, and nobody else has this problem. He doesn't need a Slovak translator, He needs someone to teach him manners.

[+Stephen]

wk1 (?) has the right to know what is happening with his order in a timely manner. He may have language barriers or may be just as "politically incorrect" as you are, but that doesn't mean he deserves demeaning remarks.

When someone is consistently rude, he doesn't deserve blind statements from newcomers defending his actions as innocent questions. Not trying to be snooty, but go do some research Mr. 114 posts, some of us have been here probably since you were in diapers.

[Tillek]

My problem started on the lantronix BBS threads. We had just finished discussing the UDS vs. the MSS 100 AT LENGTH with a lot of opinions on the differences and why people think one is better and he asks (in the very next reply) if he can use an MSS 100 (which was well established that it was possible since the discussion was about the pros and cons of one over the other). Mind you the discussion involved a lot of people relaying a lot of experience with carefully thought out and researched posts.... one of my replies took nearly an hour of thinking it out, looking things up so I was relaying information of value and not just talking out my butt or relying on my bad memory.

 

But why read that. I'll just ask the question again and of course everyone will drop what they are doing and cater to me.

 

I started to lose interest after that. Partly because I didn't see the point of taking the care to answer questions when people didn't care to read them....and... I didn't want him to get his stuff running and be calling my BBS and have to deal with him where I enjoy my hobbies.

[+DrVenkman]

That was a GREAT thread, for the most part, and I for one appreciated all your help. I haven't had much (read = "ANY") time for BBS'ing in the last week but hope to remedy that this weekend. So ... thanks again, Tillek.

[Tillek]

And for the record,if you think we're being harsh by bashing a fellow hobbiest and calling him out on his flaws, take a step back, look carefully at what we're upset about and why, and rethink if you're about to criticize us for the doing the same thing you're about to do by criticizing us for criticizing another who was criticizing another.

 

Bonus points if you followed that line of thought. Double bonus if it made you think.

[_The Doctor__]

Nah, just trying to help someone see we're here to help and make it all good. I work tirelessly to recall from my mind what answers I can to help out. If it were an issue on one of my old BBS's and it became a larger problem... I would lock the account with no privilege... add the all the info I could to the black lister and be done with it...

Back in the old days that would also exclude such a nudge from a bunch of very good BBS's

 

By your command,

_C A__

Edited April 21, 2017 by _The Doctor__

[Marius]

The reason I stand behind Tucker (although I can understand some critical points), is because he has proven me a lot of good service in the past. He has done wonderful things and his product quality has been excellent from day one. His e-mails were always kind and very supportive. He was always willing to take back goods and do refunds or exchanges. He has build so much good reputation in my eyes, that I won't say bad things about atarimax soon. When a good friend doesn't show up for a while, and when we meet again it's still a good friend.

[Gunstar]

When someone is consistently rude, he doesn't deserve blind statements from newcomers defending his actions as innocent questions. Not trying to be snooty, but go do some research Mr. 114 posts, some of us have been here probably since you were in diapers.

Certainly you can't mean me, in "some of us have been here probably since you were in diapers." I've got only a mere 8,200 posts. Is membership since May 2001 that long ago...?

Edited April 21, 2017 by Gunstar

[+Stephen]

Certainly you can't mean me, in "some of us have been here probably since you were in diapers." I've got only a mere 8,200 posts. Is membership since May 2001 that long ago...?

Ah man - you've got me by several months.

[gargoyle]

When someone is consistently rude, he doesn't deserve blind statements from newcomers defending his actions as innocent questions. Not trying to be snooty, but go do some research Mr. 114 posts, some of us have been here probably since you were in diapers.

 

I better go change my diapers cause I am peeing my pants from laughter

[gargoyle]

The reason I stand behind Tucker (although I can understand some critical points), is because he has proven me a lot of good service in the past. He has done wonderful things and his product quality has been excellent from day one. His e-mails were always kind and very supportive. He was always willing to take back goods and do refunds or exchanges. He has build so much good reputation in my eyes, that I won't say bad things about atarimax soon. When a good friend doesn't show up for a while, and when we meet again it's still a good friend.

 

I think most people here is missing the whole point. Noone is criticizing Steve's personality, only his business practices, but i guess no matter what i say, fanboys won't be satisfied, so "Il est temps de dire au revoir à ce fil"

Edited April 21, 2017 by gargoyle

[_The Doctor__]

While it may be time to say goodbye to this thread... you miss the point. Most here are not of fanboi lineage. We do not quote exceptions to the rule as the rule. Atarimax has an established track record. An isolated incident or two does not break that record on average. The complainant did not provide time for a shipment to arrive based on norms for shipping to his region. I have enjoyed better care and service from Atarimax hobby products than most big box and online merchants as a whole. To state this does not constitute fanboi status, it is my personal EXPERIENCE with this transactor. As so many other have the same experience I can conclude statistically that the establishment is operating properly and in good faith, and indeed above average where online commerce is concerned. I contrast that against the complainants track record and posts. I conclude that while history does not indicate I will be able to help the individual, as for some reason the threads pretty much across the board he participates in go badly, I will try to shed light and reason on both sides and hope for the best.

[atariactionman]

I honestly cannot fault my atarimax cart. I have renewed fun on my xegs with it. Highly recommended.

[Gunstar]

While it may be time to say goodbye to this thread... you miss the point. Most here are not of fanboi lineage. We do not quote exceptions to the rule as the rule. Atarimax has an established track record. An isolated incident or two does not break that record on average. The complainant did not provide time for a shipment to arrive based on norms for shipping to his region. I have enjoyed better care and service from Atarimax hobby products than most big box and online merchants as a whole. To state this does not constitute fanboi status, it is my personal EXPERIENCE with this transactor. As so many other have the same experience I can conclude statistically that the establishment is operating properly and in good faith, and indeed above average where online commerce is concerned. I contrast that against the complainants track record and posts. I conclude that while history does not indicate I will be able to help the individual, as for some reason the threads pretty much across the board he participates in go badly, I will try to shed light and reason on both sides and hope for the best.

Agreed. If I was a fanboi, I wouldn't be recommending THE CART! over Atarimax products in the 'which cart (and why)' thread right now.

[Nebulon]

 

Why?, are we not supposed to express our opinion, what has this anything to do with the hunting season. The web is full of vendor reviews and not all of them are glorifying, that's life and we have to accept it as is, otherwise if one's skin is too thin, they shouldn't be in business in the first place. Funny thing is, it is not the vendor who is objecting to criticism, it is the "other" people who have no financial, business, or legal ties to him

Your statement is a pretty strange one. First, why should the vendor be expected to give an answer to your impatient and unrealistic attitude to a niche hobby business? Do you actually think he's just raking in the cash and has tons of money to hire support staff? And the idea that people who have no financial, business, or legal ties to him being supporters of his work is totally normal. They're called customers.

 

Satisfied customers.

[flashjazzcat]

We must live in an impatient age. I received an enquiry for someone who emailed AtariMax and because they received no reply (I am not sure how long they waited), they question the legitimacy of the whole operation. Seems to be a thing at the moment...

[Bikerbob]

Guys, I am a fan myself, but honestly. I am also in business, and hobby or no.. school or no, I can even setup an autoreply to let people know that the business is on hold for a little bit while I resolve some things.

 

It has now been over a month.. and in that time I have sent him over 8 emails, all very nicely worded and asking if I could get a response and just let me know when I might be able to get something going on this.

 

Nothing.

 

Even as someone who loves his APE software, and think his hardware works great.. to just disappear (IF truely everything is ok) for over a month, with not even a sorry very busy get back to you later when I can???

 

Kind of inconsiderate. I am a paying customer.(and have paid)

 

James

[w1k]

still no reply to my emails.. i paid 60$

[_The Doctor__]

victor,

if you ordered on 4-13 time difference and all at best he would see your order on a Friday... seven or eight shipping business days have passed...

you could easily have 11 more days for it to arrive

[_The Doctor__]

bikerbob,

sio2pc rs232 or usb version?

[+tf_hh]

Hi,

 

I don´t want to discuss such silly things... Steven always provided good service and friendly answers to me - since years.

 

The people talking "bad" here... ever thought about the possibility of technical problems? I searched the AtariMax forum and found within 45 seconds (!) threads regarding the same "problem" and Steven answers quickly with an alternative email address: atarimax@gmail.com

 

So maybe trying there...

 

Jurgen

[w1k]

i use that email - no reply... - 0% support