Steve Tucker of Atarimax MIA?

[+MrFish]

Please lets not harass Steve, he makes some great products that if he stopped would leave a void.

 

All these threads accomplish is to harass and annoy Steve, and they also expose the impatient assholes and trolls.

 

I doubt Steve feels harassed or annoyed (and probably doesn't even read threads like this) because he knows how to take care of his business.

 

 

Personally, I feel that the Mods should immediately delete all of these anti-Steve threads on sight, and reprimand the person who starts them.

 

People have the right to start threads and ask a question. There's nothing wrong with looking for answers, and everybody hasn't seen all the past threads on the subject.

 

I doubt the mods will delete anything. People are making a bigger deal over this subject than what it is.

Edited August 10, 2017 by MrFish

[kiwilove]

Yes - Steve is one of the good guys and makes good products - which work. Should any fail - under his warranty - he'll replace it.

I had one failure - and he replaced it fairly quickly - so I have had a decent level of service from him.

I don't expect him to update his website that often - he does have a forum site up, that people do make use of.

 

If you bought something off him - I'd expect him to deliver. Vintage computing is a hobby - and it's good that Steve has provided support for it - and in turn we'll support him.

I would not expect him to be earning all that much from the numbers sold - so it's good that he's does the work, to provide them in the first place.

 

Sure, there may be others - which are produced later - that have better features/more convenience/etc - but that is what happens in this particular field - like the Atari hardware that people here so love.

 

Harvey

[Bryan]

People have the right to start threads and ask a question. There's nothing wrong with looking for answers, and everybody hasn't seen all the past threads on the subject.

Yep. If you're not prepared for dealing with Steve I can see how it might worry you. I just wish he'd chime in with the official word on his schedule and policies and we could put all this to rest.

[Gunstar]

There's a difference between instant gratification and business communication.

 

"Just wanted to let you know there will be a delay in your order".

 

How hard is that?

While I have not personally had any issues in communication from AtariMax that I can recall, in my 15+ years as a customer, I totally agree with this sentiment in general. I have dealt with many one man or very small operations for current Atari products where I make an order with payment on the site and I am waiting weeks without knowing if they know I placed an order. It seems it would be common curtasy to me for a reply just that they got my order! I can be patient and wait for weeks, as long as they acknowledge I placed an order! With no acknowledgement I am left wondering and worrying if the existance of my order is even known,if it was overlooked,

 

I totally agree that a simple confirmation email, in a timely manner, say within a week, just for confirmation, should not be beyond expectations.

Edited August 10, 2017 by Gunstar

[Marius]

There are always things that could be better. I agree with Gunstar here.

 

But Tucker is simply awesome: His products are excellent and the guy is really supportive. Have been customer since Ape for DOS and his 3 LEDS Sio2PC (RS232 version) ... he never (!) let me down, and was /always/ willing to help. One day I had an issue with one of his products and he offered refunds instantly. He also was also extremely supportive with a MyIDE 1 interface from the very first batch (which was (ab)used for several years by me): he offered to exchange it for a newer and updated one FOR FREE. Seriously, this guy is the best.

 

I see the issues with communications yes, and this 'subject' pops up many times, so I guess this is a real problem.

 

But... I do not recognize any word from what w1k writes. I can not understand that someone writes these things about Tucker. They are not true, and do more harm than that they serve this topic.

 

I wish Tucker all the best, and when I need some goods from his store, I would not hesitate a split second to order from him again.

[Mclaneinc]

To anyone, please do not take any notice of W1k's posts, he's a rude, arrogant idiot who really should not be giving any advice on business practice considering he himself is basically a bad trader for not sending a PSU and ignoring emails about it to a user on here. Steve on the other hand is a totally trustworthy dealer who gets glowing praise with only sometimes slow delivery / email response. Hopefully Steve will take 5 mins to come on here to address this matter but regardless he gets a firm vote of confidence from us lot...

 

Do yourselves a favour, put W1k on your ignore list...

[tep392]

So to summarize:

1) Atarimax products are awesome

2) Steve is awesome

3) Product support is awesome

4) Can be slow at times

I will happily accept good and the bad here. Having these products available for our ancient hardware is well worth it.

Here are few of my experiences.

- I have ordered a lot of Maxflash carts from Steve for Pac-man Arcade. A few years back I ordered a batch of 1Mb Maxflash carts. Some didn't program properly due to a bad batch of memory chips. Steve replaced them all and sent me a few extra memory chips as well.

- I recently ordered his last 7800 XBOARD. Not on his site, but I asked on a hunch since he used to sell them and he was able to find the last board. He also sent me the spare board and parts he had for free.

[Noelio]

I've had nothing but great experiences dealing with Atarimax. As a verteran user old enough to remember ordering from magazines and filling out customer response cards I can say anything less than an 8-12 week turnaround in the hobbyist market is a miracle. I'm in a different country so it's an extra 2 - 3 weeks just for customs clearance etc.

 

When you order anything related to something out of production for 20+ years, expect it not to be instantly available like a pizza from dominoes. Most items are built to order and take time!

 

Another thought, our $30 order probably might not be worth $100 of time. Don't take offence if communication is a little slow when there's no 1-800 hotline to call.

 

Hats off to Atarimax for keeping the lights on at all!

[Tillek]

I've had nothing but great experiences dealing with Atarimax. As a verteran user old enough to remember ordering from magazines and filling out customer response cards I can say anything less than an 8-12 week turnaround in the hobbyist market is a miracle. I'm in a different country so it's an extra 2 - 3 weeks just for customs clearance etc.

 

When you order anything related to something out of production for 20+ years, expect it not to be instantly available like a pizza from dominoes. Most items are built to order and take time!

 

Another thought, our $30 order probably might not be worth $100 of time. Don't take offence if communication is a little slow when there's no 1-800 hotline to call.

 

Hats off to Atarimax for keeping the lights on at all!

Actually that gives me a damn good suggestion to all the retro providers...

 

"In order to preserve the spirit of our vintage community, all orders will be deliberately delayed 5.5 weeks so that delivery is within the "allow 6-8 weeks for delivery" timeframe."

[Tillek]

 

 

I doubt Steve feels harassed or annoyed (and probably doesn't even read threads like this) because he knows how to take care of his business.

 

 

 

People have the right to start threads and ask a question. There's nothing wrong with looking for answers, and everybody hasn't seen all the past threads on the subject.

 

I doubt the mods will delete anything. People are making a bigger deal over this subject than what it is.

The "big deal" is that maybe he would actually come to this forum. Maybe others would too and the community would benefit from their participation.

 

At least one ST provider of great things has walked away from this forum because of the bullshit. Thankfully, he just chose to make his own site/blog and keep developing his projects.

 

I personally considered helping Ingio (if you're on the Facebook TT page you'd know who he is, of Thunder/Storm fame). I'm a software engineer who wants to do more with device drivers but I want a project. (At work, I currently just develop enterprise-level web apps...... not really a challenge). He's part of a group of hardware developers who have a great handle on the hardware for projects they want to make, but no one in their group can do the software drivers part of it.

 

I'm totally not interested in helping them... Not because I don't want to. I really considered it. I totally want to see their new VME Video card ideas, VME Network card ideas, and their current VME USB card.... but ... no...

 

Seeing how this "community" treats people working on stuff like this, like AtariMax, demanding instant feedback and results..... F*** that S***. Sometimes my schedule with work makes demands that are beyond my control. I won't commit to that because I know the reaction I receive if there is a bug or issue that I can't address in a manner that satisfies people like W1K.

 

I really hope they find someone willing to put up with the bullshit and people like you who think the attacks against them should be "no big deal".

[Gunstar]

Well I just ordered the USB flash programming cartridge from Atari Max and not more than a few minutes later I received the confirmation email from him saying that my order was being filled.

 

As for personal emails regarding customer service and other questions sometimes he gets back to me right away sometimes it's taken a few days but he always takes care of me and exceeds my expectations.

[Omega-TI]

I feel BLESSED to be around all the software and hardware developers here at AtariAge. These guys are hobbyists working alone or sometimes in pairs to make things that meet or exceed anything multi-million dollar companies could produce, but don't due to small market share. For these guys to do this stuff, as a hobby, sandwiched in between work, family and other obligations is truly remarkable. I look up to each and every one of them that contributes to the continued support and enjoyment of our retro hobby.

 

I'll NEVER complain that something is too expensive, after all they are not made by machines in the millions. These guys devote months, sometimes YEARS developing these things, going through multiple revisions at their own expense, paying shipping on all the parts, and sinking untold hundreds of hours into the bringing these things to us.

 

Thanks guys! You ARE appreciated!

[PhoenixMoonPatrol]

My view is that were a small community. The hardwares we play on, the games we buy, the gadgets we order from Steve Tucker, theyre all niche. This stuff takes time to order the parts, it takes time to create, it takes time to ship. I've learned that if its not a mass mainstream hobby,if its indeed retro gaming, then things take allot of time to happen. You just gotta roll with it and enjoy it. Things just move slower though. But Steve is a good guy. He's just a quiet guy that hammers out good products and if it means that it takes more time then thats fine. His work is pretty solid and speaks for itself.

[+CyranoJ]

Steve helped me with a product I purchased from him nearly a decade earlier.

 

Be patient and give him time. He will come through.

[GlowingGhoul]

The "big deal" is that maybe he would actually come to this forum. Maybe others would too and the community would benefit from their participation.

 

 

Seeing how this "community" treats people working on stuff like this, like AtariMax, demanding instant feedback and results.....

 

There's really no need to lie to make your point. The OP said nothing about "instant" anything. Your post made me realize why there's so much irrationally intense emotion around a simple issue of communication. Fear. You're all afraid any criticism, no matter how legitimate and mild, will lead to the boys with the toys packing up and going home.

[Lynxpro]

 

So to summarize:

1) Atarimax products are awesome

2) Steve is awesome

3) Product support is awesome

4) Can be slow at times

I will happily accept good and the bad here. Having these products available for our ancient hardware is well worth it.

Here are few of my experiences.

- I have ordered a lot of Maxflash carts from Steve for Pac-man Arcade. A few years back I ordered a batch of 1Mb Maxflash carts. Some didn't program properly due to a bad batch of memory chips. Steve replaced them all and sent me a few extra memory chips as well.

- I recently ordered his last 7800 XBOARD. Not on his site, but I asked on a hunch since he used to sell them and he was able to find the last board. He also sent me the spare board and parts he had for free.

 

 

I'm glad you were the one to get the last XBoard.

 

That'll lead to some interesting speculation that I won't post here about.

[+DrVenkman]

This horseshit comes up every month, almost like clockwork. It's a damn shame people value instant gratification over the simple fact that there is a guy who's been supporting this user-community for damn near a quarter of a century, making products no one else does and filling a need. I've bought two relatively small things from Steve over the last couple years (repro Action! and MAC/65 carts) and all this thread does is remind me to order something else I've been meaning to buy - a repro Happy board to stick into one of my 1050's.

 

In the immortal words of that great American poet T. Swift, "Haters gonna hate hate hate ..."

[Mathy]

Hello DrVenkman

 

We don't hate. We just don't like it when we send somebody our money and we don't hear back from that person.

 

Sincerely

 

Mathy

[+DrVenkman]

Hello DrVenkman

 

We don't hate. We just don't like it when we send somebody our money and we don't hear back from that person.

 

Sincerely

 

Mathy

 

Hmm. I sent my money at about 6:07 pm tonight. I got an email from Steve's e-commerce front-end at 6:09 pm. I've ordered from him before; I know it'll be a week or two before I should expect my order. If I don't hear in two weeks I'll shoot him an email, as I've done on one of my prior orders. He'll respond the next day or so saying the item is backordered (*). A day or three after that I'll get a shipping email and then I'll have my stuff.

​Stories like mine are universal; that's just the way it works when a guy is a one-man shop. The Facebook AtariAge group is full of the same kind of crap about Al and the AA Store. They think just because there's a customer-facing web-store to take their orders, the operation is equivalent to Amazon ... No, it's not. These are one- or two-man operations. These guys have lives, almost certainly have other jobs or career obligations and this is a freaking hobby. If Steve's customer's are running mission-critical operations and expect instant results for Atari purchases, they are vastly misunderstanding how the 21st century works. This is a hobby - the people who provide gear to us, especially custom-made hardware, are doing this to support the hobby as side-gigs.

 

If you can't accept that, well, the issue is with you, not Steve. His reputation over almost 25 years speaks for itself.

 

(*) When a modern repro device like a MAC/65 cartridge or Happy board is back-ordered, that means some parts are late from a supplier or he just hasn't had time to assemble a batch yet. No biggie; that's just the way it is.

[Mathy]

Hello DrVenkman

 

Most of us do understand that a one-(wo)man operation isn't like Amazon. We don't expect our order to be filled within days, because, as I already said, we do know that this is not Amazon. But what we do expect, and rightfully so, is that we get a message, which can be automatically generated, to tell us that our money has been received and that they do know what we ordered. That's all.

 

Sincerely

 

Mathy (who ordered a product with red and green LEDs twice, both times the same thing with blue LEDs was shipped. But still didn't get an answer to his mail. I don't want the product to be exchanged. And maybe I can never even use it on my Mac. All I want is an answer to my mail. That's at least two month old.)

 

 

[Albert]

I'd hardly call this a Steve bashing thread. There's only one person who posted anything negative that I can see, and everyone else was posting positive comments and/or, something along the lines of "You'll get your order, just be patient". I do agree that some people could be better with communication when orders aren't shipped as quickly as we may be accustomed to from stores like Amazon.com.

 

I wish I could ship homebrew games within 24 hours, but they are usually built to order, and I am working through a large pile of orders at the moment (partly due to adding many new games to the store at once, and also being away on a trip). I'd love to have shelves filled with already built games that I could quickly ship, and maybe someday I'll get there, but right now it's a pretty time consuming endeavor. I empathize with anyone in this hobby who hand builds their products. Thankfully the people who get upset that their orders aren't shipped as fast as Amazon Prime are the exception, not the norm.

 

..Al

[toddtmw]

I sent an email to Steve on August 7th reporting that I am unable to print to a real printer when my SIO2PC is hooked up. (It appears that even when I have it turned off in the software settings it still conflicts with a real printer kind of like if you have a real drive as D1 and have an ATR image loaded as drive 1 in the software.)

 

Still waiting patiently for a response.

 

Todd

[Tillek]

I'd hardly call this a Steve bashing thread. There's only one person who posted anything negative that I can see, and everyone else was posting positive comments and/or, something along the lines of "You'll get your order, just be patient". I do agree that some people could be better with communication when orders aren't shipped as quickly as we may be accustomed to from stores like Amazon.com.

As we've said time and time again... the problem isn't with any particular thread... it's because we're seeing this on an almost bi-weekly or monthly basis. No sooner does one thread drop off the first page, another seems to take its place... and when it does, the same people bring up the same issues (usually the original poster is new, but the other ones are old rehashing).

[+MrFish]

The "big deal" is that maybe he would actually come to this forum. Maybe others would too and the community would benefit from their participation.

 

At least one ST provider of great things has walked away from this forum because of the bullshit. Thankfully, he just chose to make his own site/blog and keep developing his projects.

 

I personally considered helping Ingio (if you're on the Facebook TT page you'd know who he is, of Thunder/Storm fame). I'm a software engineer who wants to do more with device drivers but I want a project. (At work, I currently just develop enterprise-level web apps...... not really a challenge). He's part of a group of hardware developers who have a great handle on the hardware for projects they want to make, but no one in their group can do the software drivers part of it.

 

I'm totally not interested in helping them... Not because I don't want to. I really considered it. I totally want to see their new VME Video card ideas, VME Network card ideas, and their current VME USB card.... but ... no...

 

Seeing how this "community" treats people working on stuff like this, like AtariMax, demanding instant feedback and results..... F*** that S***. Sometimes my schedule with work makes demands that are beyond my control. I won't commit to that because I know the reaction I receive if there is a bug or issue that I can't address in a manner that satisfies people like W1K.

 

I really hope they find someone willing to put up with the bullshit and people like you who think the attacks against them should be "no big deal".

 

That's a cute little story, but unfortunately it doesn't have much bearing on what's happening in this thread. This isn't the ST forum and Steve isn't "Ingio of Thunder/Storm fame".

 

Threads like this only seem like a big deal when "people like you" start inflating them with hot air.

[Xebec]

As we've said time and time again... the problem isn't with any particular thread... it's because we're seeing this on an almost bi-weekly or monthly basis. No sooner does one thread drop off the first page, another seems to take its place... and when it does, the same people bring up the same issues (usually the original poster is new, but the other ones are old rehashing).

 

Perhaps it's time for a FAQ or a sticky post on the Atari vendors in general. It would have to be careful not to favor one provider over another, but it might be nice to have a post that is in a format like:

 

PINNED - 2017 Atari Vendors - Read before discussing a Vendor

 

- So you want to buy a new Atari product or repair an existing product? Well, there are still vendors supporting Atari 25-40 years later. This post serves as a list for currently known sellers, and developers of Atari products. As a reminder, because Atari has not been a major source of business for anyone in quite a long time, many of these vendors are very part time and you may not hear from them immediately on orders (i.e. days or weeks) or for requests for information. Please search the threads before posting such as "Where is my stuff" for examples of service.

 

- Alphabetical List of Vendors (sell stuff), including website, location, and phone #.

 

- Alphabetical list of those who make new things / developers. Website and/or Social media links.

 

....

 

This all said I think the post should provide good ground rules for when to post about a vendor. If you have sent someone your money and haven't heard anything in 7-10 days.. I personally think that's reasonable...