Centuriontech experience?

[Jameson]

Just wondering if anyone uses Centuriontech and, if so, what their experience has been.

I have only made a couple of orders over the past year or so but every time I find I am waiting weeks and weeks for my order to be posted and in my personal experience about one in four emails are answered, and never with any useful information as to WHY my order of items that are clearly designated as in stock is being held up. For instance, my last three emails to Pavel from 9 days ago, 6 days ago and 24 hours ago have all yielded no reply (as yet). My last response was when I emailed 12 days ago asking when my order would be posted and the reply I got was "Hello. No it has not been shipped yet.".... then radio silence.

Ironically, this was my experience previously with Amigakit, but they have totally turned their game around.... yet my last order from Centuriontech is closing in on being placed three weeks ago and I still have no idea WHEN it is likely to be posted.

Is it me? Am I expecting too much for Amiga suppliers to post orders within a week of receiving payment for items clearly shown as in stock? This is what I expect from any other supplier I purchase from.... but is there a different etiquette at play in the Amiga hardware/software field?

Is anyone else waiting on orders to be posted?

 

[grosi]

hello, I ordered on 13/03/2024 and I'm still waiting for it to be shipped

 

[Jameson]

hello, I ordered on 13/03/2024 and I'm still waiting for it to be shipped

Please don't tell me you ordered the stainless port shields too.

 

[cloverskull]

I ordered some Atari parts from them in January and they shipped same day. Bummer this is your experience

 

[Jameson]

I ordered some Atari parts from them in January and they shipped same day. Bummer this is your experience

Lol, what the hell is up with that? You place an order, it's sent the same day. I place (several) orders, I wait weeks and weeks and battle to get an email response.

I must be a jinx or something.

 

[miggymad]

A good company ships within 7 working days - I ship within 24 hours

 

[Jameson]

A good company ships within 7 working days - I ship within 24 hours

Hmmmm, I think ALL companies should ship within 7 days, a good company ships within 72 hours and a great company ships within 24 hours.

 

[Xanxi]

They take time to ship orders but they sell very useful stuff you can’t find elsewhere.
Probably they are busy with other real life jobs and occupations, people can’t make a living out of selling a few retro stuff for Amiga and Atari. You can’t expect this kind of company to be as efficient as big ones.
Besides some of their stuff is only available as back order.

 

[Jameson]

True, they sell some great products you cannot get anywhere else - such as the Goex drives.

However I do not agree that just because their shop front may or may not be their primary source of income that gives them a free pass to not respond to emails and to fail to post simple orders of products clearly shown to be in stock for literally weeks after payment has been made. If they are busy with their personal lives etc, then they should make it VERY CLEAR on their store front that "we will post your order when we feel like it, which may be anywhere between a day and a month" etc. At least you would know what kind of service you can expect BEFORE putting down your cash.

To be clear, we are not talking about products that need to be assembled after the order is taken, we are talking about simple products that are clearly shown to be in stock and ready to ship.

Would you accept an eBay seller not posting your item for three weeks after payment was made and also failing to respond to messages asking when they would post? I VERY much doubt it. This behaviour would not be tolerated at all, so why is it expected to be tolerated from an online store? I am sure most sellers on eBay also have personal lives and selling a couple of items is not their primary source of income..... what exactly is the difference?

This sloppy and unprofessional trading etiquette is exactly why Amigakit copped so much flak, so what makes Centuriontech special?

 

[Jameson]

To be clear, I am a fan of the products of Centuriontech, and many other Amiga suppliers produce, and I try and support the scene whenever possible. However I honestly do not understand why ALL online shopping services and businesses are expected to adhere to basic commercial principals such as processing and posting orders in a timely fashion and maintaining communication..... except the retro scene where it appears they get a free pass to ride roughshot over customers until the sh$^ eventually hits the fan.

I guess I just don't get it.

 

[Xanxi]

I won't tolerate this from a random Ebay seller of course, but i have dealt several times with Centuriontech and i know they are reliable so i don't worry about them.
Regarding retrostuff, even when i get the item, it can take me months if not years to have the time to use it (typically the Atari Falcon stuff i bought from them including very hard to find new replacement PSU) so i won't mind a few weeks delay.
But of course, it would be better they ship as fast as their website looks professional.
With retrocomputing, i seem to suffer from time dilatation

and what would have taken me a couple of hours in the 90's become a couple of months in the 2020's.

 

[lilwashu]

So far the only Amiga related shop that hasn’t exhibited such behaviour in my experience has been Sordan but others may have different experiences. I’ve bought via other storefronts (eBay, Tindie etc) with no trouble and am now extremely unlikely to buy from a dedicated website due to this sort of thing (I have never used icomp and am not likely to due to shipping costs so can’t comment on them).

The lack of response to queries is the worst part for me.

 

[Jameson]

So far the only Amiga related shop that hasn’t exhibited such behaviour in my experience has been Sordan but others may have different experiences. I’ve bought via other storefronts (eBay, Tindie etc) with no trouble and am now extremely unlikely to buy from a dedicated website due to this sort of thing (I have never used icomp and am not likely to due to shipping costs so can’t comment on them).

The lack of response to queries is the worst part for me.

I have made over two dozen orders fron Sordan over the past 18 months and I must say my orders have ALWAYS been posted within a few days at most, and I mean ALWAYS.

Amigastore.eu is another very postive experince for me as all my orders through them are posted within a few days also.

Amigakit went through a period of being totally awful, communication included, but they have really picked up their act over the past 8 months or so and now seem to post all my orders within a few days.

I have only placed a few orders with Centuriontech over the past year, but so far all of them have been less than positive experiences. To be clear, my previous orders have arrived, were well packaged and in good order (and great products), but the communication, or lack thereof, and the long delay in postage have now made me dread having to order from them.

 

[Xanxi]

Everyone seems to have mixed results because concerning Amigakit i don't receive anymore at all what they are supposed to ship and they always blame customs. I don't order from them anymore.
Do you have customs between UK and Australia (as part of the Commonwealth)?

 

[Jameson]

Everyone seems to have mixed results because concerning Amigakit i don't receive anymore at all what they are supposed to ship and they always blame customs. I don't order from them anymore.

I didn't have mixed results from Amigakit - I had downright terrible experiences, one after another. However I can honesly say they are now totally different to deal with, for me personally, as all my orders from them are posted quickly and arrive safely. Cannot comment on anyone elses experience, sufficed to say I would LOVE Centuriontech to be as good to deal with as Amigakit are now (for me at least).

 

[sheepz]

Currently 21 days since my Amiga kit order from the website and still sat at pending. eBay order at the same day took 10 days. Sorden are good although shipping from Ireland can be a bit slow to the UK (I mean a week so cant really complain) but agree they are the best direct retro company to deal with for delivery an communion (and I must have 10 of there pens now!) I have dealt with.

 

[Jameson]

Currently 21 days since my Amiga kit order from the website and still sat at pending. eBay order at the same day took 10 days. Sorden are good although shipping from Ireland can be a bit slow to the UK (I mean a week so cant really complain) but agree they are the best direct retro company to deal with for delivery an communion (and I must have 10 of there pens now!) I have dealt with.

I have so many of their pens I think I could open an office supplies store.

 

[lilwashu]

Amigastore sold me a badly made and untested product that damaged my computer and only decided to respond once I raised a PayPal claim against them, so I will not use them again. Sordan did accept a return of a faulty product without too much hassle and didn’t ignore me.

I understand selling stuff for 30+ year old computers in unknown state to people of unknown competence must be difficult but the least they can do is ship on time and answer emails.

 

[dodogild0]

A good company ships within 7 working days - I ship within 24 hours

IMHO It's not about how many days or hours. Actually a good (even a mediocre) company should tell how many days it would take to ship an item on the actual product page.

 

[miggymad]

@dodogild0

Agreed. Sadly, good working practice does seem to be pushed aside in favour of obtaining your money for the product(s) you order these days.

If you are lucky you will get the delivery information at the time of ordering or within the confirmation email. However, these days it's usually buried within their website's "terms & conditions" that you have to be a legal eagle to understand.