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Bravo Sierra Computers and Ben's status


Justin Payne

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23 hours ago, Mclaneinc said:

"Getting" ?

 

Ordered 2 things last week, both UK stock, both actually in China...Guy writes to me as asks me to do a positive feedback.

 

When I found out the hair trimmer set was both in China and almost certainly not going to have any valid safety, I write back to him saying I was expecting stuff from a London address so that he had liedl but its going to take ages and told him I didn't trust the safety of the electrical item. I also said that if I have to return it I will only send to a london address. He wrote back and refunded me and told me to keep the clippers as a gift.

 

But the item before that was yet again Chinese and broken on delivery..

 

Its already a very bad place..

 

Also the quality of stuff is awful at best...Silver conductive paint that had zero conductivity but sold at a not knock off price. And from the state of some of the computer equipment seen in advert its clear its just a turd sale.

 

How has eBay, once a pioneer in the business of marrying up people that needed things (at first they were used items you'd find at a garage sale) to sellers wanting to get rid of their excess stuff (junk to them), become this din of unethical purveyors, wolves, preying on honest folks?  It is a sad statement.  It does always go back to, you get what you pay for.   If you want qualify items, Ebay may not be the best place (Chinese Drop-shipped items). I wouldn't trust anything electrical from Chinese.  Hell, they have destroyed the world's economy.   

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Well part of that was why I moaned re the electrical trimmer obviously..

 

Small bonus from it, its a USB charged trimmer and metered out what should be happening and its safe (so far) but I also got an email for Ebay (apparently) saying someone had been using his account...yeah right..

 

The second item turned up as well (a set of pots and pan hooks), cheap as chips quality but ok for the pans...

 

I also see the S.A.M. software noted in another thread at $150.00 has again not sold as no one will bid on it from the shill history of similar (same item) sales..

 

Ebay, not fit for purpose in most cases..

Edited by Mclaneinc
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What's worse... ebay started selling, exporting, partnering with other sites to fix prices... people fall for it.... ebay and terapeek rolled into one and propagated to other sites.... all to convince you a 3000.00 lint pocket is truely worth it...   so let's all check worthless point...  for worthless pricing provided by ebay....   wooo hoooo, and you can pay for it if you like, become a member for xxx and get this extra xxxx for xxxx     sadly people are already using it to try to back up their ebay pricing....   Nobody reads the fine print.....

 

very circular, sort of like spreading false stories and having people repeat and report those falsehoods, then siting the reports and stories told to say it's all true.   ah it's all the same these days...

Edited by _The Doctor__
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  • 2 weeks later...

Just wanted to report that Ben is still in business and seems to be doing well. 

He's still providing the great service and attention to detail I remember from way back.

Yes, you do have to be patient and go along with his limited ways to receive payment, but I think its worth it. 

Overall, I am very satisfied with my little box of Atari loot I received today from him.

 

 

IMG_20200601_145138.jpg

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Power without the price, 1050, and any of the upgrades (there are a multitude of cost effective and very capable duplicator, archivers, double density upgrades, roll your own even! for little scratch!) ....

 

If you want to use the Atari a keyboard/Terminal for CP/M, then shell out the bucks for an indus and tear it open, install additional memory...

Edited by _The Doctor__
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  • 1 month later...

I live close to him but with covid  his arrangements keep changing on me so it's rather frustrating. First he wants money order so I buy one then he leaves me a message he wants hand delivered cash. Then his caretaker says no and the whole deal flip flops again. Aaaagh...

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/9/2020 at 4:46 PM, gilsaluki said:

Well I have finally placed my order with Bravo Sierra.  We shall see how it goes. 

Received everything in fine order from Ben Smith (Bravo Sierra).  Sent him a US Postal Money order.  So, yeah.  All is well with Ben.  We did all this via his email.  Be patient with him.  It may take a few days (or a week) for him to respond.  

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Glad he is doing OK. I don't mind any of Ben's quikiness except it's a pain trying to figure out what he actually still has. He hasn't updated his list in a long time so you have to go back and forth with him in trying to see what he actually has. He did give me some really good deals. If I go back to work soon I will try to order some more stuff from him.

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3 hours ago, Allan said:

Glad he is doing OK. I don't mind any of Ben's quikiness except it's a pain trying to figure out what he actually still has. He hasn't updated his list in a long time so you have to go back and forth with him in trying to see what he actually has. He did give me some really good deals. If I go back to work soon I will try to order some more stuff from him.

Bottom line is this:  Here is a guy that has a passion for Atari.  That's a great thing that all of have in common.  He has been supporting us for decades now.  He has some product in stock at fairly descent prices.  He uses is own living quarters to stock and store them.  I am sure it is because he, like a lot of us, hate to see this stuff end up in the dumpster and the landfill.  Given that Atari is not the hottest computer on the block, never has been for that matter, we are lucky to have this resource 40 plus years after the 8-bits hit the scene.  I really did not NEED any of his stuff. I went through his list and picked a few things that would be nice to own, but certainly nothing I could live without.  I picked up B=Graph by Batteries Included.  Now do I NEED it?  Certainly not. I can use Powerpoint and Excel to make much more detailed graphs.  But for the price, I though, why not?  I like to still explore the programs for the Atari.  I might use it to chart my decline in stocks, mutual funds as this freakin' pandemic continues to 'F'-up our lives.  No politics will be mentioned in this post.  Anyway, I thought Ole Ben deserved a chance.  I have known about BS for many years, but never ordered from him.  Be patent with him, you don't need these items that fast anyway.  He will come through.  Throw the guy a bone.  Order from him if you like something he has. 

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I'm making my first order with Ben (after a back and forth ordeal of confirming what he has a few times). He originally asked for a postal money order, fine I know that's how these old mail order guys work sometimes. Now he said change of plans, make it a Western Union money order, unaddressed, sent to someone who is not Ben (Darrell P?). I have no plans on doing this. Has anyone seen him do something like this? I've honestly never heard anyone use Western Union for anything but fraud, but maybe I'm just not familiar with the Bravo Sierra life. Is this at all normal?

 

Edit: Looks like Darrell is just Ben’s caretaker and he can’t cash his own moneyorders due to COVID.

Edited by DefaultGen
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Can't blame people for not wanting to send stuff to other named people, just has alarm bells ringing. None of us want Ben to be taken advantage of and sadly people who have carers are so much at risk of being financially abused. My old friend Bob who passed recently had carers in as well as me looking after his money and his daily needs, I'd noticed money that was in his wallet suddenly going down yet he had gone nowhere and had only had a few quid of groceries delivered. I instantly made it clear to the care HQ that I was monitoring his money and receipts HAD to be provided. And as Bob was paying for the care himself they knew I could have it stopped dead..

 

The sudden loss of money stopped..

 

No one wants that for Ben..

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6 hours ago, JagChris said:

Yeah he did that to me. Postal money order then cash which I refused. I eventually went him a postal money order.

 

western union is a new one on me

Did you receive your items correctly from BS?  I got all and more.  Ordered to Flip & Files and they came full of disks.  Some were blanks, but some had programs on them. So, I actually got MORE than I ordered.  Totally satisfied.  I sent him Postal M.O. and the transaction went smoothly.  

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  • 2 months later...

Hi Guys

 

I got in touch with Ben regarding some stuff I want to buy that he has currently listed.

He answered and asked me to send him a Postal Money Order and once he receives it, he will send my stuff.

 

Anyways, since I am located outside the US, I need the help from somebody within the US who I can send a Paypal Payment and he or she can buy a Postal Money Order and send it to Ben.

 

Any volunteers?

 

Kind regards,

 

Luis.

 

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