My TorontoAirsoft.com review

[Rusty Lugnuts]

To everyone who posts along the lines of ' i went in bought a gun and it works flawlessly i had a great experience" -Let me let you in on something.... That happens at every retailer all the time. it's not noteworthy, it's how things go when there's a problem that defines customer service. so far the ratio of they handled the issue professionally to they were not very helpful does not favour Toronto Airsoft

[Danke]

Funny story, not particular about this location. More of a cautionary tale perhaps. This is not exclusive to airsoft either, the expert buddy is available in all walks of life.

One of the most desired retail customers is the "Expert" friend who is using a store as a classroom to share his vast knowledge with his new to the activity sidekick . You can only imagine the sheer joy brought on by a visit like this to the staff as the expert tours the facility offering detailed and colourful commentary on why everything he owns is better than the poor offerings of the establishment.

Sharing not just with his friend but with all and sundry that the WE rifles are to be avoided like herpes and the pantac gear on the racks is poser gear since he disdains the camo pattern. This kind of guy can go on for hours dispensing the knowledge he's gained in 2 months of play last summer & all in the wonderful new school snarky reviewer style as seen on TV talent shows.

Now of course everyone who's posted previously about their trip to the store with their buddy is rushing to the keyboard. You may feel that you didn't put out that vibe. The bad new is that previous expert buddy visits have fouled the creek and when the staff hears or sees you they slot you right into that category.

[EchoFourTwelve]

gruntsworthy:

Me getting miffed at a dude shaking his head wasn't the main concern. It was the fact that I was there to buy $300 dollars worth of product, and due to his poor customer service, they lost out. I worked in retail, I know what it means to have to work for barely at/over minimum. What was the reason that i stayed at that job for so long?
It sure as hell wasn't my looks, so me being nice and catering to the customers' needs was the explanation for that. The better you serve the customers, the more business will flourish. Its not just here that some people are "big headed", people who show respect simply expect respect back. Had it been any other employee that served me that day, they would've been a tiny bit richer as a company.

Now, you might say, "It's 300 bucks, they're a giant company, that's nothing to them." but think about how that 300 can turn into thousands etc.. Airsoft isn't a cheap sport, so that happens very quickly.

/rant

[BogardusFoul]

It doesn't really matter if the guy who owns the joint is awesome, the people who work for him represent HIM. If they are treating his customers poorly, it is him that loses business.

I called there once asking if they had a RS type 56 in stock, person on phone replied outright "No". No offer of any further info on when they may be restocking. No attempt to try to sell me anyhing else. No offer of any help whatsoever. I guess they don't want my money...

As Trev pointed out, repeat business depends greatly on the customers first experience, and since mine was poor, I will likely not try there again.

[BennyBoy]

I have Mondays and Tuesday off, I will never get to go to TA! LOL! They open too late in the rest of the days for me to make it before work too.

Mach1 all the way

Don't get me wrong though, I bought my VFC PDW from them and a bunch of other tidbits(online that is)

[MaciekA]

I've defended this store a lot in the past but that's becoming much harder, especially now that there are better airsoft retail experiences in the GTA. That, and I've had a string of bad experiences stemming from the same problem: the current design/flow of retail store is not working out.

It has become impossible to walk into the store and buy actually something. I used to be able to just drop by the store and pick up a couple of quick items (I always come with a list). That was well over a year ago. My last few visits ended with me leaving empty-handed because I could either not talk to an employee and ran out of time, or got a terse response and a walk-away.

They implemented a take-a-number system. I thought that would help, but it only serves to illuminate the problem more than solving it.

Typical examples of visiting the store:

Arrive with my buddy TANNER, who is looking to pick up an AK. The store is packed as usual. We take a number, wait for ages, finally our number comes up. We get a salesperson (I think his name is Kevin) calling our name. "Can we take a quick look at the such-and-such AK XYZ?". He doesn't know if it's in stock, seems uninterested in checking. "Well, do you have any brand XYZ AKs in stock?". He's not sure, looks at the wall a bit, and abandons us. We leave empty handed.

A weekend or two ago, I swing by in hopes of picking up a couple things including BBs for chrono'ing. I get to the store and it is packed with people. There are two sales people at the counter talking to a customer each, one of whom is agonizing over whether to buy the lowest-end MP5K they sell (one of the cheapest guns in the store), the other is trying to figure out whether he can use all of these american express gift cards (or whatever they were). The rest of the store is packed with confused people trying to figure out how to get the attention of the sales people. Finally someone realizes there is a take-a-number system. The number machine has no tickets in it, and it's empty. Frank's parents are standing by the cash machine watching over everything like hawks, and correct one of the salespeople's price quotes as he gives it to a customer.

I watch this circus of bottlenecks for a while, stand near the cash hoping to just get my BBs and go, but can't get anyone's attention. The take-a-number system is completely off the rails at that point and nobody seems to mind. Frank's parents stand around like they've never even considered checking if anyone wants to come over here and just cash out. Nope, it's apparently more important to stare down the customers and sales people. WTF? How hard is it to say the words "does anybody know exactly what they want and just want to pay? Line up over here!"

As a person who spends a lot of my day job optimizing processes, it is hard for me to accept that someone who is involved in the ownership of a retail operation can just idly stand by and watch $150-200 of business hold back many hundreds standing right behind it, or for that matter a quick flow of impulse / drop-by purchases. Decouple sales from cash.

As the original number one fan, I can't believe I'm finally saying this, but I am not sure I'll be going back to the store any time soon.

[H1TMAN]

I've had great service online from them under the old banner of velocity arms, but a hugely disappointing visit there in person. I want there the morning of TACCON 13 and volume of customers was not too bad.

The sales rep I got was apparently their gun doc based on a conversation I overheard. I asked for a CYMA version 3 AK gearbox and he looked at me and said I don't think we carry those. I had looked it up on their webpage about a minute prior. The rep looks its up and begins to argue with me that its not a version 3 but a version 2. I had to get him to take a closer look at the description and he finally agreed. I few minutes later the sales rep gets into an argument with older Asian lady telling him he is wrong and the the gearbox is a version 2 because it says on the box CYMA CM 002. I watched this go on for about two minutes, in complete shock that the staff have no clue what they were selling and that if this sales rep was indeed their gun doc, he should never touch an aeg ever.

On site I would rate their customer service as poor. I have no doubt TACCON was a busy day for them, but its a poor excuse for sales staff that have no clue what their talking about. I'm not sure if I will do buy from them again in the future.

[Thenooblord]

Oh, after reading some of the other comments, I should append to mine, before, i went in, I called to make sure the item was in stock that I wanted, and when i got to the desk the guy said "no" were out" and had NO interest to go check, I had to argue with him to go check his freaking stock that I know for a FACT exists
It doesnt matter what you say about us being big headed, or them being minimum wage, I dont give a shit, I want to be treated with respect as a customer and If I go in there with a goal and a handful of money and the stores crew is preventing me from buying their own items, then there's an issue
the store is to serve the customers, not the other way around

[QKLee11]

Originally Posted by Thenooblord

Oh, after reading some of the other comments, I should append to mine, before, i went in, I called to make sure the item was in stock that I wanted, and when i got to the desk the guy said "no" were out" and had NO interest to go check, I had to argue with him to go check his freaking stock that I know for a FACT exists
It doesnt matter what you say about us being big headed, or them being minimum wage, I dont give a shit, I want to be treated with respect as a customer and If I go in there with a goal and a handful of money and the stores crew is preventing me from buying their own items, then there's an issue
the store is to serve the customers, not the other way around

This is actually true, I was told they had no MP 7 MAG's in by person who worked there and the mags themselves were hanging up right behind him...I have to admit once he realized they were there he apologized to me and brought them over.

I know Frank parents were really good when they were there because they would actually look for items.

I know it isn't an excuse but they do deal with high volume retail.

All honesty I miss dealing with Frank himself...wished he was out front a little more...lack of getting back to me has had me buy product elsewhere.

Q

[MaciekA]

Originally Posted by QKLee11

All honesty I miss dealing with Frank himself...wished he was out front a little more...lack of getting back to me has had me buy product elsewhere.

Agreed, you can't run a business like this on autopilot. Or heck, who knows, maybe you can and it's all about Christmas madness and none of us matter. If the 14 year olds now run the show, then that sucks.

Either way, we now have complacent shop in our back yard which in many ways is deserving of the same kind of uproar that we normally assign to the ACM shops, the Evikes, buyairsoft, etc.

I still hold out hope that they can fix their issues, but I now have the luxury of not having to care. Welcome to a buyers market.

[HackD]

I've got an account on Toronto Airsoft - and I've seen plenty of stuff that i'd like - but they are firmly on my boycott list for now and evermore, due to piss-poor handling of a problematic purchase about a year ago. I was given the gears by several people here, about my complaint on that issue when i went public with it - and interestingly enough, there are several other posters in this review thread that have had similar experiences since, related to DOA guns and parts, and accompanying piss-poor customer support.

If they want to be Canada's Evike.. then so be it. It's better to have 1 happy customer and potential referrals from that, than 1 pissed-off customer telling everyone else to avoid them like the plague.

Over the past year, i've spent thousands of $ since.. Toronto Airsoft could have well had a sizeable portion of that, if they had just simply done the right thing with minimal $$ and effort expended by them to satisfy my issues, back when things went sideways with a POS G&P, fresh out of the box.

As MaciekA says, there are plenty of other businesses out there - foreign and domestic - eager and hungry for your business, and willing to take steps to do right, when things have gone wrong due to no fault of the customer.

[BattleForce3]

and how do i do that?

[HackD]

Start by reading and reviewing sticky'ed posts in here - "The Newbie Tank" - that should have been fairly evident as a forum section to start reading in. http://www.airsoftcanada.com/forumdisplay.php?f=203


This is where "I'm new" people should be starting at.

And stop posting here.

[localfreerider]

Bit of a necro post, but back on topic.
I recently made a purchase from TA and would like to share my personal experience.

+ Very quick shipping! (I ordered Monday morning and it was on my doorstep Wednesday afternoon)
+ Good merchandise selection and pricing
+ Simple and intuitive website layout
+ Well Packed

- I inquired a number of times about price matching a specific Canadian competitor, and a specific product, in turn I received a general copy-paste answer quoting there F.A.Q.
- When I purchase the item I thought they could refund the difference in price. When I asked again I was told they do not price match competitors who do not have a physical location, due to business costs.

It was a positive experience dealing with there online retail but I was rather disappointed that they could not honor a price match seeing as the difference was $50.

I would happily buy Canadian whenever possible but another big determining factor is price point.

I think with the ASC community being relatively small in the grand scheme of things and many members having deep pockets, it seems only logical to do everything to appease the customer short of shooting yourself in the foot, turning first time buyers into life long customers.

All in all I would do business with them again if need be but my humble advice (take it or leave it) to TA is to focus on customer service.

[Deadpool]

Originally Posted by localfreerider

I think with the ASC community being relatively small in the grand scheme of things and many members having deep pockets, it seems only logical to do everything to appease the customer short of shooting yourself in the foot, turning first time buyers into life long customers.

All in all I would do business with them again if need be but my humble advice (take it or leave it) to TA is to focus on customer service.

The thing you need to know about being in business in 2013 is that there is little to no loyalty anymore. It's not appealing for a business owner to go through hoops for a customer when you know he's going to turn tail the other way when a competitor dangles a 3$ rebate on an item. (I speak of experience, I was in sales for 15 years and got out of it because of that)