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Ron Crumley Elite user 1950 - 2012 448 Posts |
Knowing the brick & mortar vs: the on-line debate will always be with us, I can recommend an on-line resource for those of us who don't have a shop outside our backdoor.
Their name could be "small with great service". Instead they are "Circle City Magic", working out of Indianapolis, Indiana. I have placed three orders with them and have been impressed with their prompt service in getting shipments into the mail amazingly quick. For those of us in the midwest, Circle City represents a time saver on shipping as well as competitive pricing. (Plus, if you the item you're looking for isn't listed at their site, contact them and they'll probably be able to get it quickly and at a good price) Here's their non-glitzy, but effective web site: http://www.circlecitymagic.com/ I found the owners, Chris and Heather Wilcox personalble and responsive to questions. If you're in the midwest and can't visit any of the B&M shops, give Circle City Magic a try. |
Brian S. Tanner Regular user 161 Posts |
I have purchased from Cicle City Magic as well. They're evrything that Ron says they are. Super service, and ultra fast shipping. Good folks !
Judge:How do you plead?
<BR>Defendant:I plead insanity. <BR>Judge:Insanity? <BR>Defendant:Yep. I'm just crazy about that stuff! |
greatchach New user Texas 82 Posts |
Agree with both of you. Great service and can even be found on ebay running specials once in a while.
If you want to support a brick and mortar store that also has an incredibly user friendly website - check out The Trick Shop (trickshopmagic). Some of the best prices and incredible service as well as low shipping prices. (Had great luck with their online customer service chat too.) Five stars all around. |
geemack Loyal user Greg McNeil Peoria,Illinois 296 Posts |
I have been waiting for over a year for a resolution to an order I placed with Circle City Magic in June of 2009. The item was out of stock, but when I placed the order I got the usual confirmation notice in my email saying the order had been processed. It didn't include any notation that the item was unavailable, so I assumed all was well. I waited a few months without worrying about making contact because (a) I wasn't in a hurry to obtain the item,(b) the item might be hard to obtain and it seemed possible that Chris would have been waiting on a back order, and (c) I was under the impression that Chris was having some health issues that prevented him from making a prompt reply.
When I did contact Chris, he informed me that the item I ordered was unavailable and offered an alternative which was somewhat comparable, but not the same thing. Sometimes we want certain things because they need to match our existing equipment, so I wasn't too keen on accepting the substitution. I decided to wait and see if the original item would eventually become available. Finally in June of 2010 I emailed Chris to say that I would accept the substitute item. After several weeks now with no response, I sent a message through the contact form on their web site. Now it's been several days and I still haven't received any response to that attempt at communication. Today I called their phone number, 317-502-1075. The call went to an answering machine so I left a message that I would like to resolve this long standing unfulfilled order and just get my money back. I am hoping for a return call and a speedy refund to my PayPal account. It's only $26.95 so it's not cutting into my budget, but obviously I don't care to have this unresolved issue hanging for any longer. I have found, however, through doing some research, that it seems unlikely I'll ever get my money back. Apparently all communication and feedback from/to Circle City Magic (circlecitymagic) on eBay ceased as of about May 9, 2010. And there have been a dozen negative feedbacks posted since September of 2009 and as recently as May of 2010. These feedbacks are pretty much all comments about having paid for merchandise but not received the orders and problems with communication. Unfortunately this history of failing to ship orders and neglecting to communicate with customers will ruin a business more certainly than just about anything else. The lessons to be learned here are twofold. First, if you're a customer, never let up on a dealer. If you order something and it doesn't arrive in a reasonable period of time, stay on it. Don't be patient. It's your money, and if the dealer can't/won't send the item in a timely manner, he should send your money back, no questions asked, no excuses, right now. Stay on it. A good business can turn into a bad one very quickly. And PayPal, your bank, or your credit card company can't help you after a certain time has passed. And second, if you're a dealer, you need to understand that the magic business is a very small world. If you don't communicate with your customers, if you neglect to fill your orders, and if you don't provide refunds instantly when there is a problem with your part of a transaction, you won't last long. Word gets around. And in this day and age when there are a hundred dealers on the Internet who would be happy to accept the money and send the goods, nobody is so special that they're immune to going out of business. Greg McNeil Peoria, Illinois USA |
rklew64 Inner circle 1265 Posts |
Sorry for the unfortunate experience Greg. You got away cheap. I've paid $50 for a crappy dinner plus a bacterial gift that kept on giving. I've been very lucky and never had any issues with my orders because I deal with:
Misdirections in San Francisco and visit a Houdini shop at Pier 39 that makes me appreciate Misdirections, not to mention Joe presents lectures, most recent was Joshua Jay, We're lucky in the San Francisco Bay Area. Can never beat interfacing with a person (professional magician and who knows your level of skill and development! Online Go To Guys (not in any order): Hocus Pocus Vanishing Inc Magic Management Outlaw Effects Doug Higley And 4 other sites that I do not wish to disclose, sorry. Only because these sites are a resource for books and older classic props therefore not paying hundreds of dollars to ebay or amazon third party vendors for my out of print books and paying original retail! |
rklew64 Inner circle 1265 Posts |
Just to mention, Magic magazine always has 2 pages of listed dealers/retailers covering the nation. You just might find your "go to" resource that is off the beaten path instead of the overly shopped top 3-4 websites.
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geemack Loyal user Greg McNeil Peoria,Illinois 296 Posts |
As a follow-up to my comments above, Chris has provided a full refund and a sincere apology for the problem we had with my order. Life moves in one direction... forward.
Greg |
Donal Chayce Inner circle 1770 Posts |
I, too, had a recent problem with Circle City Magic. In mid-March of this year I placed an online order for a single item (a little more than $200), received a confirmation email indicating that the order was being processed, and that was the last time I ever heard from them.
When after two weeks my order hadn't arrived, I sent them an email inquiry but received no reply. I sent another email a week later that also went unanswered. I finally filed a dispute with PayPal a week after that and, eventually, got a full refund. More galling than being ignored was the fact that, in the "about us" section of their website, is the following (emphasis mine): Q: What made you decide to start this business? A: Chris decided to take the plunge and start his own magic business for a few reasons: First, there aren't too many brick-and-mortar magic stores around in general, let alone stores that sell specialized items that go beyond the basics. Second, he was often dissatisfied with the level of customer service he experienced with various dealers over the years, so he decided to become part of the solution instead of part of the problem by working to create the type of magic store he himself would like to patronize. Heather's role in the building of the empire is to take Chris's ideas and help make them a reality by handling all the mundane details that an idea-man might overlook. |
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