You’re welcome 2ToneTommy. Hopefully Joe will get the message and modernize. Though a bit on the high side, his products look good. For now, I think I’m going with Airhog or Air Venturi.
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Recommendations for Airtank Sellers
- Thread starter 2ToneTommy
- Start date
Adding my experience and $0.02
Joe is pretty straight forward about the suckie website, somewhere he says it pretty straight up. Just call me. I have read from a lot of folk how he’s fantastic guy and great customer service.
When I called, I felt extremely rushed. He was almost annoyed that all I wanted was a filter and not an Alpha Carrette. I purchased the filter, but almost regretted doing so just because of the interaction.
Joe is pretty straight forward about the suckie website, somewhere he says it pretty straight up. Just call me. I have read from a lot of folk how he’s fantastic guy and great customer service.
When I called, I felt extremely rushed. He was almost annoyed that all I wanted was a filter and not an Alpha Carrette. I purchased the filter, but almost regretted doing so just because of the interaction.
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I think the air tanks for sale website is purposely confusing so then you are encouraged to "call" where Joe believes he has a better chance of not only selling you what you are looking for but other "must haves" to go along with what you are looking for, all at a cost above what others are charging. This is the impression I got from talking to him.
Seems everything from him comes with a top dollar cost and no matter how much you buy there is going to be shipping charged along with charging extra for credit cards (who does this any more?). Just like the Carette compressor, it was originally shipped with a perfectly usable filter/dryer with it, it mysteriously quit coming with it so Joe could then pimp his alpha filter to buyers. A compressor that he lists for $1299, depending on which of his sites you look, suddenly becomes closer to $2000 once you add the "must haves" plus shipping. No thanks.
Seems everything from him comes with a top dollar cost and no matter how much you buy there is going to be shipping charged along with charging extra for credit cards (who does this any more?). Just like the Carette compressor, it was originally shipped with a perfectly usable filter/dryer with it, it mysteriously quit coming with it so Joe could then pimp his alpha filter to buyers. A compressor that he lists for $1299, depending on which of his sites you look, suddenly becomes closer to $2000 once you add the "must haves" plus shipping. No thanks.
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I'm glad it's not just me seeing it. He acts like he's got a monopoly on the sale of airgun equipment. I'm a vet in my 60's and it seems to be that I see more and more places are beginning to get onboard with the policy of offering perks to vets discounts etc.. He didn't seem to care and the bottom line was to pass along any of his business costs to the customer. I won't give the guy a penny after this treatment. I'm just starting this hobby since October of 2017 and have already dumped about 4 grand. I see many thousands more being spent over the years. What I will return to the guy for is to share my receipts to other airgun suppliers.
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Utah airguns has omega and air venturi tanks. They have never charged me some weird taxes or any taxes. Always been nice on answering my questions. I even got free shipping because of a promo they had. Regardless, their shipping has been cheaper than aoa, airtanks, and precision.
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It seems that you can't order anything on Joe's website and you have to wade through all that disjointed info to figure out what you want. You have to call to order and each time I did, I felt hurried. Once, there were a bunch of screaming kids in the background. My hearing is bad and I couldn't understand anything.
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I'm really glad I joined this forum and asked this question concerning recommendations on airtank/airgun vendors from you more seasoned gunners than myself. You're all saving me a lot of future grief.
The issue of Airtanksforsale.com charging a fee for using a credit card to make purchases really took me by surprise and in the back of my mind there was something rolling around about the legality of that practice. Here's some good info. https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-convenience-fees-cost-surcharges-1280.php.
According to Visa's policy, certain criteria must be met in order for a merchant to charge a convenience fee:1) The payment must take place across an alternative payment channel, such as online or by phone.2) Customers must be told about the fee in advance, or it must be clearly disclosed.3) The fee must be a flat or fixed price rather than a percentage of the sale.I don't see that Airtanksforsale advertises that customers will be charged to make credit card purchases and it seems the topic isn't made apparent until the sale is almost finalized. That hardly defines disclosure appropriate in my opinion. And where are all these offers of guaranteed lowest price that JB advertises on his website. My experience showed he wasn't willing to offer any lower prices to competitive retailers.
Personally I don't like giving a credit card number over the phone and I know other folks feel that way due to security concerns. The vendor might be the most trustworthy but CC numbers written down somewhere can be compromised in many other ways. Plus there are so many alternatives of safeguarding our security with HTTPS// websites that it is simply incredulous to me that any business online (airtanksforsale) would even attempt to do sales otherwise. Seems JB could invest in the security of his customer's welfare by joining the age of https. Not only that but most of us use CC's online to insulate ourselves from security problems and because the CC company and places like PayPal will go to bat for us in the event of a breach. I'm not sure those rules apply once you've given out your number over the phone as well as your security number for the card. Not your pin code but the 3 to 4 digit number every card has in addition to the account number. Many thanks to all of you providing your insights as to who to do business with. In Joe's words he had tanks flying out the door so why should he give me any discount. Okay if the tanks are flying out the door that means healthy profit so why not invest in an internet secure web site with some of that extra cash?
The issue of Airtanksforsale.com charging a fee for using a credit card to make purchases really took me by surprise and in the back of my mind there was something rolling around about the legality of that practice. Here's some good info. https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-convenience-fees-cost-surcharges-1280.php.
According to Visa's policy, certain criteria must be met in order for a merchant to charge a convenience fee:1) The payment must take place across an alternative payment channel, such as online or by phone.2) Customers must be told about the fee in advance, or it must be clearly disclosed.3) The fee must be a flat or fixed price rather than a percentage of the sale.I don't see that Airtanksforsale advertises that customers will be charged to make credit card purchases and it seems the topic isn't made apparent until the sale is almost finalized. That hardly defines disclosure appropriate in my opinion. And where are all these offers of guaranteed lowest price that JB advertises on his website. My experience showed he wasn't willing to offer any lower prices to competitive retailers.
Personally I don't like giving a credit card number over the phone and I know other folks feel that way due to security concerns. The vendor might be the most trustworthy but CC numbers written down somewhere can be compromised in many other ways. Plus there are so many alternatives of safeguarding our security with HTTPS// websites that it is simply incredulous to me that any business online (airtanksforsale) would even attempt to do sales otherwise. Seems JB could invest in the security of his customer's welfare by joining the age of https. Not only that but most of us use CC's online to insulate ourselves from security problems and because the CC company and places like PayPal will go to bat for us in the event of a breach. I'm not sure those rules apply once you've given out your number over the phone as well as your security number for the card. Not your pin code but the 3 to 4 digit number every card has in addition to the account number. Many thanks to all of you providing your insights as to who to do business with. In Joe's words he had tanks flying out the door so why should he give me any discount. Okay if the tanks are flying out the door that means healthy profit so why not invest in an internet secure web site with some of that extra cash?
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mmhh .. if the tanks are indeed "flying out the door" I guess he has no interest in providing a better customer experience.
As for giving a discount, well, maybe because he has actually said so in other postings - something along the lines of "mention you are a member of this or that forum/group to get my special discount".
I did call to get some technical answers and asked about using CC or Paypal on the site. Joe did answer the phone but the interaction was rushed and short. It amounted to a quick yes or no to a couple of questions, a statement that they did accept CC (I guess over the phone only since the website does not show that), and a handover to some other guy who was "right here" and "ready to take my order". This other guy gave me a statement about "the site was having problems" when I mentioned no SSL security.
More and more I'm leaning to my impression that while the product may be good, the "caring" for the customer is minimal and more superficial than real. The goal seems to be "get the most money out of the suckers" then move on. Granted, that may be the goal of any business, but, as a customer, it is nicer to get a little warm fuzzies from time to time. I think I'll drop my grand on tank, gauges and hoses elsewhere.
As for giving a discount, well, maybe because he has actually said so in other postings - something along the lines of "mention you are a member of this or that forum/group to get my special discount".
I did call to get some technical answers and asked about using CC or Paypal on the site. Joe did answer the phone but the interaction was rushed and short. It amounted to a quick yes or no to a couple of questions, a statement that they did accept CC (I guess over the phone only since the website does not show that), and a handover to some other guy who was "right here" and "ready to take my order". This other guy gave me a statement about "the site was having problems" when I mentioned no SSL security.
More and more I'm leaning to my impression that while the product may be good, the "caring" for the customer is minimal and more superficial than real. The goal seems to be "get the most money out of the suckers" then move on. Granted, that may be the goal of any business, but, as a customer, it is nicer to get a little warm fuzzies from time to time. I think I'll drop my grand on tank, gauges and hoses elsewhere.
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I'm with you CBT69. Dropping a grand for a tank and regulater should get a customer some damn good treatment. Guess that's two of us looking for better service.
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Joe sells some decent tanks and he charges top dollar for them . He does give decent service but he is extremely egotistical and i doubt that will change in how he does business as in his mind we are all stupid and he is the scientist he will never stop being obnoxious. He will be content having a big piece of a very small pie. Too bad if he treated people better with sincerity he would do a lot more business. i only buy from him when he is the only source of something i need.
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I bought mine a few weeks ago from Utah Airguns. I got the one with HP3 valve. I needed to also buy a firehouse adapter (Pyramyd Air has them) to connect to the SCBA fitting at the supply and the male foster fitting on the tank.
UA shipped the tank mostly filled. After several outings and top offs of my rifles, I just got the tank topped off two days ago. Oh, I bought the Omega 74 cu.ft. tank.......it's a thing of beauty!!
UA shipped the tank mostly filled. After several outings and top offs of my rifles, I just got the tank topped off two days ago. Oh, I bought the Omega 74 cu.ft. tank.......it's a thing of beauty!!
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In the last six weeks, I have purchased an FX Streamline; an FX Impact an Omega Tank, an AV compressor, scopes, etc. I started with trying to buy with Joe, but he chapped me off with the CC fee in addition to the price changing a couple of times when I questioned some charges about a special he was running. He is off my purchase list, and he lost out on a lot of sales.
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I don’t know how you turn down the bait and switch king of California. What’s wrong with covering the operating expenses of a vendor why should he care , if you want to know, he doesn’t care if you were too dumb to make a deal with Joe you probably weren’t classy enough as Joe only like to do business with people who bow when he enters the room. The really sad part is he doesn’t care if you go elsewhere he wants to sell 1 tank at $950 and make $500 profit over selling it for $750 making $300 . He doesn’t think that he will sell 3 versus 1 if it priced fairly. he love a big piece of a little pie.
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I don’t know how you turn down the bait and switch king of California. What’s wrong with covering the operating expenses of a vendor why should he care , if you want to know, he doesn’t care if you were too dumb to make a deal with Joe you probably weren’t classy enough as Joe only like to do business with people who bow when he enters the room. The really sad part is he doesn’t care if you go elsewhere he wants to sell 1 tank at $950 and make $500 profit over selling it for $750 making $300 . He doesn’t think that he will sell 3 versus 1 if it priced fairly. he love a big piece of a little pie.
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Amen brother this is kind of what I was looking for from my post. I too have gone to other airtank suppliers. I will make sure this guy never gets a dime of my business. He was arrogant, passing his business expenses on to customers and believing he's the only guy out there selling quality merchandise. That is an insult to other businesses as well as customers. I plan on emailing him receipts every time I buy so he knows just what he lost. The cost of one customer amounts to lots more than a single individual. I've found so many nice people in this hobby and this guy is neither welcoming or nice.
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It’s only been a little over a year that I began getting heavy into to Air from powder. I spent $2700 with joe for my tiger shark and Carette. I will say that I’m happy with the quality of the merchandise but a bad taste was left as I have always believed I was screwed over a little bit with the nickel dime selling practices of Joe. With other vendors since I got my tank I’ve probably spent another $14,000.00 on rifles and accessories at Utah Air guns, AOA, edgunwest, pyramid, airgundepot, and others. A majority of what I bought was also available at Joes but why pay the CC sir charge and higher shipping. Joes says call me and I’ll give you the best deal that the first and not the last lie he will tell you. His other employees are just as bad.
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Yeah I see JB has "17" ratings on his FB page and 1 of those is a 1 star out of 5 and 1 is a 4 out of 5. These are the kinds of percentages that steer me clear of certain vendors. 17 posting reviews for that long in business doesn't say much for the company.
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I don't understand why some are bashing the AofA website. I don't think it's anywhere near bad, not even close. I think it's great! It's easy to navigate and safe to use. AofA also has a great inventory, the staff is awesome, great reviews, the prices are good and so are the shipping costs and...they ship fast compared to many other shops, especially Pyramyd who's shipping prices for 4 day ground are very steep and even though UPS has it for 4 days, because it isn't shipped for 3-6 days, Pyramyd orders take 11 days to get to me. For us here in Northern California, AofA is a great option! No, I'm not affiliated, I just don't think the website is bad and I've always had great dealings with them. Now that other website you guys are talking about...whoa, now that's a different story! Lol Kevin
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