Where to order a US GC from?

[Omitrace]

I'm looking to order a US GC.

I would automatically choose Tronix, but they're out of stock apparently. Where's the best place to get one from? I don't want to pay a fortune for shipping.

[morleyian]

www.ncsx.com as i'm sure everyone will let ya know ;)

[Sarai]

www.totalactionuniverse.com hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Note: this is a joke, if you value your sanity do not order from here

sorry Roy but your company sucks ass!

[lycanthrope on the loose]

you'll proberly struggle to get a US GC off the net, unless you choose TAU, which may have sorted themselves out ordering wise now (wish).

If you want a modded JPN -> JPN/US cube then places like ncsx/lik-sang will do ya one

[JamesK]

yeah, for a Jap modded one also try www.goblingames.co.uk

pricey but excellent service.

[achtung]

I didn't think NCSX sold US cubes.

The only customs friendly, well regarded importer that I can think of is:

www.videogameadvantage.com

Accepting a modded JAP cube would open up considerably more options.

achtung

[Boink!]

Originally posted by achtung
I didn't think NCSX sold US cubes.

The only customs friendly, well regarded importer that I can think of is:
www.videogameadvantage.com
Accepting a modded JAP cube would open up considerably more options.

achtung

How so? Does this mean lik-sang (http://www.lik-sang.com) would be the easiest [nay, cheapest] way to go?
[apologies for being dense, but this is my first foray into sourceing a GC].

Ta

Boink!:cool:

[achtung]

Boink,

I'm not sure which part of my last post your "How so?" comment applies to.

So, with apologies in advance for being patronising, I'll address each part of my previous post in turn:

"I didn't think NCSX sold US cubes."

Small independants like NCSX have had exteme difficulty in getting allocated machines from Nintendo, who have favoured large chains like Walmart (who won't ship to the UK). Therefore suppliers like NCSX have tended to offer modded JAP units. If you look at Tronixweb.com you will see that they have completely sold out of US machines and offer import machines instead. It's pretty much the same story all over the internet with a couple of notable exceptions:

1) DVD Box Office (who, it seems, didn't get allocated any machines. There are people who pre-ordered from these guys months before the cube's release and are still waiting. I was one of many people who cancelled their cube pre-order from DVD Box Office. I've only seen 1 person claiming to have actually received a cube from them).

2) Total Action Universe (Avoid these like the plague. There is a thread complaining about these people elsewhere on the Supplier forum. The thread is well over 1200 posts long now, about 100 of those are mine).

3) Buyritegames.com (Some people have said these are OK, but most of the feedback I've seen on these people has been extremely negative. Frankly, their reputation stinks. I would avoid them)

4) www.videogameadvantage.com (Like I said, these guys are well regarded).

By the time I had been screwed around by DVD Box Office and Total Action Universe, the Panasonic Q was out and I have now ordered one of those instead - otherwise, I would have gone for www.videogameadvantage.com

==================================

"Does this mean lik-sang would be the easiest [nay, cheapest] way to go?"

Liksang are well regarded, but I must admit I have had a very bad experience with them and it is now in the hands of my credit card company. They are not the cheapest supplier of modded units, and in my opinion they are certainly not the best.

Although they only take credit card payments via Pay Pal (which involves a surcharge), I would suggest going with www.lan-kwei.com

Lan Kwei is run by the co-founder of Liksang. There is a lot of feedback on them on the IGN Import board (most of it from me). I have ordered my Q from them.

Hope this helps.

achtung

[verypricey]

I was looking at pcconnection.com and last night they had some in stock for 199 dollars but now their showing 4-6 days lead, don't know if they ship International. To find their Nintendo stock just search on their main page for Gamecube.

Also you can try sites like techbargains.com which has listings for bargin gamecubes, or a international supplier samgoody.com.

[tpr007]

what about newageconsoles.com ?

[lycanthrope on the loose]

achtung, won't lik-sang refund the stuff UPS nicked ?

[achtung]

Verypricey,

With respect to internation shipping, this is from the terms and conditions of www.pcconnection.com:

"Non-U.S. Net Users
Sales of our products must follow U.S. Commerce Department Regulations and State Department restrictions. Certain hardware products may not be exported to certain countries, or may be exported only with individual licenses; and software that contains DES data and/or encryption technology may not be exported outside the U.S"

Thanks for the link to techbargains.com - it looks like it might come in handy.

I have mailed samgoody.com re: international shipping because I couldn't see any mention of it, not that I was looking very hard.

achtung

[achtung]

tpr007,

I haven't used newageconsoles and haven't seen any feedback on them so can't comment...sorry

achtung

[achtung]

Originally posted by lycanthrope on the loose
achtung, won't lik-sang refund the stuff UPS nicked ?

At the risk of boring everyone, the story goes like this.....

* I placed an order with Liksang at the end of November

* The order was scanned in Luton (a tantalisingly small number of miles up the M1 from here).

* A second (subsequent) order from Liksang overtook the original order and arrived successfully. This made me concerned about the original order.

* I waited a couple of days, but nothing happened.

* I called UPS. They said they would put a trace on it and call me with updates.

* A week came and went, with no updates from UPS.

* I called UPS. Even though there was no suggestion that they had never had possession of the package (it was on their system after all) and even though their trace had failed to locate the package, they wanted another 7-10 days to complete a full investigation. They would not declare the item as lost until that investigation was concluded.

* At the end of the 10 days, I called UPS (after the promised updates failed to materialise) and they said they had lost the package. Fair enough, these things happen, although it was very disappointing because Christmas was fast approaching and the chances of getting it resolved in time were diminishing with each passing day. UPS then washed their hands of me and said they would arrange a credit with Liksang. That's also fair enough, because technically, their customer was Liksang, not me. UPS said they would initiate the paperwork immediately.

* I contacted Liksang who (understandably) were not willing to refund or re-ship until they had finalised the claim paperwork with UPS. That's fair enough. Liksang were very non-committal about how long it would take to turn 'round the claim paperwork, which is also fair enough, if a little frustrating.

* More time passed and I heard nothing. I contacted Liksang who said that they had not received any paperwork from UPS.

* I called UPS who said that they had passed the matter over to UPS Hong Kong and that it was no longer a matter for them. I asked them to double check that UPS Hong Kong were aware of the situation and they agreed to do that, although I don't know whether they did.

* More time came and went. I contacted Liksang again who had still not heard anything and what's more, they showed no interest in chasing UPS Hong Kong. To my mind, this is not fair enough. I paid Liksang to courier the goods to me and *their* subcontractor screwed it up. I might also add that around the same time, various other people were saying they had had Liksang orders go missing at Luton. Liksang showed no inclination to pursue *their* subcontractor who had screwed up. So I was left in a situation where UPS had washed their hands of me (bearing in mind I am not technically their customer) and Liksang clearly didn't care either.

* I waited until the new year and then called my credit card provider. I put the details in writing and they said they would resolve it but they warned me that there was a 3 week backlog of cases for them to deal with. They also deferred the Liksang payment (interest free) until the matter is resolved.

So, in summary, my package was lost which was unfortunate, no more no less. What upset me, was that Liksang, having taken the money, showed no interest in chasing a resolution to *their* subcontractor's screw up, in a situation where, contractually, I had no redress against the courier.

I'm sure it will be resolved eventually, but I was not impressed.

Furthermore, when UPS first confirmed that the package was lost, it was my intention to get another shipment from Liksang. When I suggested that they might waive the brokerage fee on the replacement shipment, the basically told me to get lost. I was not impressed with them at all.

achtung

[achtung]

I double checked with samgoody re: international shipments and this was the response:

=========================

Richard,

Thank you for contacting SamGoody.com about shipping to the UK. I'm Robert with the Customer Service Team.

We appreciate your interest in ordering from our web site. We accept international orders. However, there are some countries with which commerce is prohibited. All countries we ship to are listed in the drop-down menus provided during checkout.

APO and FPO (military addresses) are not considered "international".

For more information on international orders, visit our Help page. From the home page, click "Help" in the upper-right corner, then click "Shipping Information".

We currently accept payment in the form of credit cards (Visa,
MasterCard, Discover and American Express) and the Musicland Gift Card. Credit cards issued outside the United States and Canada are not accepted at this time. We've taken this precaution because we are not able to verify international
addresses through the US Banking system.

We look forward to your next visit to one of our stores or
www.SamGoody.com. Please do not hesitate to contact us with additional questions or concerns.

Best wishes from SamGoody.com,
Robert and the Customer Service Team

=====================

Seems like if you're in the UK, you would need to wire the money over. I would want to use my credit card so I'll have to give these guys a miss unless or until their policy changes.

achtung

[RES999]

I agree with Sarai, get one from TAU.:nuts: :nuts: :nuts: :D