AITO is now members only! [Archive]

Lembas Eater

11-10-2004, 07:10 AM

Well, I have followed their site enthusiastically but never actually got to ordering. I guess this means I am not going to be a customer of theirs. Since they apparently have too many customers, I am sure they do not care about whatever I say or feel about this.

I am very disappointed, they seemed like a reliable vendor with a good rapport with this board and its members.

big al

11-10-2004, 07:44 AM

I have refrained from posting on angels site, as i dont feel i can add or take mcuh away,
But lembas eater, please do not put htem in the same category as Duston, he took everyones money, and ran,
I have dealt with shannon,received swords, hell, even some free bookends, and keep in good contact with her re. orders,
She is not, and has never been in this to scam people like Dustin, many people here have had very positive experiences with shannon, i know JS and Peter have spent a lot of money with her and have received all intact, no scams there.
Im gonna leave it at that, she is legit and was in it for us!
Im not going to argue as everyone here is entitled to an opinion,this is just mine!
:b

Shannon7112

11-10-2004, 07:49 AM

After yesterday you all should be lucky that I am even in here posting to this thread!

OH DARE any of you still question me???????????????????

My store at the moment is going through a major over haul to accomodate ME and the growth so "I" will not ever have to endure and put up with what I had to yesterday.

The customer that started the thread failed to even mention that the card in which was used to buy from my store which is on file WITH THE MERCAHNT BANK NOT ME. Is cancelled has been for awhile so the merchandise in which he ordered I have no idea if it has even been charged.

NOW as far as you all's credit cards, I HAVE NOTHING ON FILE the bank does I NEVER SEE CREDIT CARD NUMBERS when you order online. AGAIN you people need to stop crying victim and educate yourselves. Stop slandering busiuness get the facts straight. I have heard it till I am blue in the face felt sorry for you all for a few but now "NO" I have never ever seen the such. Smaug worried about your order?? all the other posts worried about your order?? then stop freaking whinning in here and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! goooooooooooooood god!

As stated in the post yesterday I am here not going anywhere. I will though pick and choose who I will accomodate and who I will not. I am here for the collectors, now I will choose who I will do business with from here on out. Who is the blood hungry money maker or who is the TRUE COLLECTOR??? It is now my call. You all do not like look of homepage right now??? Made your beds now lay in it! I said I would not be bullied and YOU all will not have your personal fun at the expense of me or my business that I work my ass off for!

Nessasita

11-10-2004, 07:54 AM

:cry this is no fun at all... :cry

Smaugs Fury

11-10-2004, 07:57 AM

Reverse handstand triple Lindy off the deepend...:rolleyes

warp core breach in process, eject the core, eject the core...

mrichards2002

11-10-2004, 08:13 AM

Now I'm going to speak up a little.

After yesterday you all should be lucky that I am even in here posting to this thread!

First, you have to calm down. Anger clouds your judgement.

OH DARE any of you still question me???????????????????

Again, be calm.

as far as you all's credit cards, I HAVE NOTHING ON FILE the bank does I NEVER SEE CREDIT CARD NUMBERS when you order online

This is true. When we run sales on our website, we can not see the card number. It is for security reasons.

I will though pick and choose who I will accomodate and who I will not.

I am here for the collectors, now I will choose who I will do business with from here on out.

I think you said this because you were upset because it's a good way to loose customers and go out of business. rethink this one.

I said I would not be bullied

I think alot of board members were scared because of what happened with Flickshop.

Words of business advice from a man who owns multiple businesses for 2 decades and has met and dealt with alot of people.

Business is business and people always worry about being taken. Since this has happened to many board members, alot of concern followed. Alot of that stuff in the post may have been over reactions, but you are not going anywhere as per you, so don't worry about it. Take it with a grain of salt.

Other dealers knocked you on the other board. Take it with a grain of salt.

Have a cup of coffee, chill and email all of these people directly. Do not air out dirty laundry in public.

Just My Opinion. I do not want this to turn into drama posts.

It stops the harmony and fun of this board.

Things always have a way of working themselves out.

Mike
:dance

pitchin4eva

11-10-2004, 08:24 AM

I really don't know what all the fuss is about...........Shannon has proven in the past the she is a retailer who delivers goods at a fraction of the price & yet people still question her motives. Whatever happen to the term "Innocent till proven guilty?" or is this board now run by mob rule?
Personally I would not like bending over backwards to accommodate people then people still question you & your integrity.

PS. ALL PEOPLE WHO PAID ONLINE BY CREDIT CARD ARE INSURED THROUGH YOUR BANK!!!!!!

Lembas Eater

11-10-2004, 08:30 AM

I apologize for the Flickshop reference. I am not trying to bully anyone or berate them.

But you must understand, Shannon, that by limiting yourself to existing customers, you have already chosen not to accomidate a true collector just because they have not had the opportunity to purchase from you.

VandDelesor

11-10-2004, 08:33 AM

It's a shame the whole thing has been so blown out of proportion. Shannon is not going away, she's going to be by application only, which means she'll be able to decide who work with on her own terms. She's been taken advantage of time and again by resellers who buy her out of something at her low prices and, unless they are such die-hard collectors that they want to personally own 50 Darth Vader FX lightsabers :\ , they're certainly turning around and selling them for more $$. I think this is a smart move on her part and those of you who are courteous, understanding of her situation and of the shipping issues involved, and generally mind your manners (on these sorts of boards at least), she will continue to sell you collectibles as cheaply as ever. It's the abusive, selfish a$$es (you know who you are) who take, take, take and then, when the chips are down, start slinging insults and abuse her way, who are going to be left crying. I'm going to enjoy seeing that Witchking statue sitting on my bookcase, by the way. I'll post a picture of it when I get it so you can think about that next time you're inclined to start trouble.

mrichards2002

11-10-2004, 08:36 AM

Welcome to the board VandDelesor

:wave :wave :wave :wave :wave

Mike
:dance

Shannon7112

11-10-2004, 08:37 AM

Do not air out dirty laundry in public.

I did not start this I do not air out my dirty laundry. I was forced YET once again to defend myself and AITO. There was no reason or call for any of this.

I do not care anymore if some one was ripped off. I have been ripped off! We all have welcome to the real world ladies and gents! Do you see me going out whinning in public forums?? And slandering honest retailers?? I have done enough business on this board that it should not even be an issue anymore.

See this is where you all miss it. I am not in this business because I have to be in it. I am in it because I CHOOSE to be in it. I do not have rack in $25,000 on ONE month to pay my bills. And that folks if what I have done in the month of October. AGAIN you all announced me to the world you all brought the wieght of the world on my shoulders with sales. I DID not come in here and beg you all to order from me. You all announced me! Things at AITO have escualted to a point that is far beyond my wildest dreams. And when someone grows in the sense of only three months like I have you have to back up re-group and make changes to deal with the growth. And that causes delays I am honest with each and every customer. There is board in tact at AITO where information is posted daily. I shared in a private forum info with my customers that I did not have to share but I did. So that I and all my customers on the same page. Because of this crap that scammers have done. I am suffering for it with the bank I am with. Millions of dollars banks have lost. So it is a hard road to travel with banks at the moment because of the damage that scammers have done to you all. So you see you all are not the only ones that suffer. But this is LIFE DEAL WITH IT!

VandDelesor

11-10-2004, 08:41 AM

To quote the earlier poster:

"I apologize for the Flickshop reference. I am not trying to bully anyone or berate them.

But you must understand, Shannon, that by limiting yourself to existing customers, you have already chosen not to accomidate a true collector just because they have not had the opportunity to purchase from you."

That's actually not the case--my understanding is that Shannon will continue to take new customers, provided they email her first and establish an understanding of her policies and she can fairly determine if she wants to take them on. The 'true collectors' have nothing to worry about--if I know Shannon, she will give everyone the benefit of the doubt and will take customers on as she can. It's the guys who order huge amounts of merchandise (especially special order stuff, not the newest, most popular items that fly off the shelves, but older merchandise or more off-menu items) and then flake on the order, sticking her with thousands of $$ worth of merchandise. Or the guys who order something and then complain that it's taking too long to get to them when in fact it says right on her webpage that shipping may be delayed, etc. Someone on the other thread pointed out that lines of communication start to shut down when ones' email is deluged with people writing emails along the lines of 'Did it ship yet? How 'bout now? Maybe now? Let me know! Did it ship??' two or three times a day.

I am more middle of the road on this argument--I can understand people being skeptical and gunshy about independet sellers, but there are obviously a lot of satisfied, repeat customers of AITO on this board and I can't emphasize enough how honest I personally have found Shannon to be. It's the people who are determined to make trouble who are going to be shut out at the end of the day--the true collectors (as most of you certainly are) will be just fine. :rock

Revilal

11-10-2004, 08:43 AM

great posting mrichards... well said.

Shannon, Ive never been to your site because I dont know what the address is (anyone ?) but I hope u take note what mrichards has said.

But Shannon, it seems from everyone's personal opinion of their experiences with AITO that you are a very nice person to deal with, friendly and totally trustworthy.

Your postings should follow this trend and support this view of you. I dont think this has been the case so far but feel you are still incensed by that thread that was started questioning your business practices.

Give us a 'Im sorry because Im totally overwhelmed with orders at the moment but I hope you can understand. I assure you that Im a credible dealer and will come good on all your orders, I assure you.

But I hope you can realise that customers would get a little anxious in these circumstances.

Rev :wave

ps. I wanna check out your website and maybe place a order... :smokin

VandDelesor

11-10-2004, 08:49 AM

Thanks for the welcome, MrRichards--I'm glad I found this board--lots of good stuff here!

Shannon7112

11-10-2004, 08:53 AM

Rev, are any of you reading what I am saying??? This business has grown in a short amount of time. I have said a thousand times what you just said. I repeat, and repeat, and repeat to the same damn people over and over and over. The guy that posted the thread yesterday lives 2 and half hours from me! HELLO???? His orders were shipping exactly when they were suppose to. 10 days after purchase and ya know what??? That is pretty damn good consdiering the volume I am dealing with. He is lucky it is not 6 weeks!

People PLEASE I do not have a warehouse full of stock with 50 people helping me ship out like manufactures do. Take in account who you are dealing with. This is just it YOU ALL KNOW. I have been here for a while you all shoudl KNOW by now.

mrichards2002

11-10-2004, 08:53 AM

Shannon and everyone. Please calm down.

People swear by you Shannon/Aito. No need to defend yourself or prove yourself. Calm down.

You made alot of people happy.

Sometimes things have a way of getting messed up.

It will straighten itself out. It's a big misunderstanding.

All of the people here are good people. I think everyone is hung over by the Spooktacular. Too many F5's

Mike
:dance

mrichards2002

11-10-2004, 08:57 AM

Thanks VandDelesor

Alot of good people too.

Sorry you joined in the worst post I have ever seen here.

Everyone is really good and this group works together and protects each other from my past experiences.

This will blow over.

Mike
:dance

and for the record, Jeff is one of the nicest people I have ever dealt with. As is Jim, David and Jesse. I'm telling you that spooktacular threw everyone out of whack.

bigdaddyrob

11-10-2004, 08:59 AM

Should keep my mouth shut, but I can't. I checked out the site once and was really impressed. Great Forum, she seemed like a great women to work with ~ and I will, when funds become ava email her and ask to check her place out. She has seemed to do a great service to the board and many collectors...so :toast

I hope this all gets worked out and while I think things may have gotten a lil' harsh around here. To me I can honestly say I don't know if I would react any differently if I felt personally attacked or my buissness and name were the cause of so much drama.

So to everyone:grouphug and a Big Round:toast

the1ring5689

11-10-2004, 09:13 AM

food for thought. this is what i did with aito. back in late may i bought a sting sword great price free scabbard the cheapest lotr item on her page. waited got the merchandise great service. returned next month bought the strider sword in the june sale, got it. pleased with it. returned the next and bought over 700.00 worth of merchandise. and still now in november shopping at aito. so what you all need to do is (grunson) every one else do not go buy over thousands of dollars of merchandise on one sale slam her and then start complaining.
email shannon before hand ask if you can place a large order. it states this on the hompage,

We try to keep all items in stock. AITO is a small online store and we do not keep large quantities of swords and over sized merchandise or internet only items in stock. There fore it may take 3-4 weeks for you to receive merchandise from AITO even longer if you are buying internationally. Depends on high sales and volumes we are doing month to month. We will let you know if any item will take additional time for shipment.

that every one has been there for months since she got slammed with orders. so show some respect as she has shown all of us. use your common sense that the good lord above blessed you with. do not go blow up your credit card with her when there is statements outlined very clearly on a site then come here and bash them to hell and back. i think it is all your faults not hers. you all need to do what you did in grade school "read"
i am part of aito's community and i have seen the support from her customers in there and frankly i think you all do not have to worry if she ever takes on another customer she will be around for awhile with just us returning customers.

Revilal

11-10-2004, 09:15 AM

Ahh well...

Im bored here. Shannon, the thread will be dead and buried and the episode forgotten if you just sign off with a nice post, one without any SHOUTING.
If you choose not to, thats your prerogative.

Unfortunately, I do not believe you are displaying the tone you should do when responding to potential customers. Just a thought...

the1ring5689

11-10-2004, 09:19 AM

personally i think she owes this board "nothing" read my post above this one. i think all of you are getting what you deserve. fine with all of us that have stayed loyal to her and her cause and mission for collectors.

more goodies for us! :bow

Lynxje

11-10-2004, 09:28 AM

I'm completly confident Shannon will deliver her orders, she just needs some time.
I'm just wondering about something though, I've ordered an Anduril with free scabbard a while ago, does AITO wait to ship these till the scabbards are in aswell?

Smaugs Fury

11-10-2004, 09:32 AM

oh smaug we all know over at aito what your issue is.

What is that about?? please enlighten me because that statement is utterly without any reference. Be specific in your accusations. I am not even a member on those boards. So you are speaking lies and double-talk.

My arguments are not jedi mind tricks for the weak minded, they are very sound and structured arguments that your casual brushoff doesnt negate.

The AITO site is down, by choice, she's having problems meeting her orders, it sounds like there is financial solvency issues to fulfil her orders and so on. They are having issies with banks, etc, If that doesnt sound like a company in crisis then I don't know what one is then.

the1ring5689

11-10-2004, 09:33 AM

shannon stated very clearly on her site in every sale that it was upon the request of you all if you wanted it done that way.

the1ring5689

11-10-2004, 09:35 AM

lies and double talk you have got to be kidding me! you all have caused enough trouble with double talk and bs to last someone a life time. you all reap what you sow.

the1ring5689

11-10-2004, 09:42 AM

duh do you people read at all? trouble with banks? it is not trouble it because you all slammed her. i think you all should be happy with that. protection! it is not shannon or aito, it is protection in all of you and the bank and her. she has a full merchant account with a bank and the only issue the bank has is high issues with is the sales and the volumes which is a good thing! shannon has an account they are being submitted to the largest bank processor in the world. now i ask how is that a bad thing?? she can choose to stay with one bank or upgrade to a new one. see here we go double talk not getting all the facts. point finger, point finger, omg see eveeryone i was right i was right crook crook, you ^^^^^ed because she used paypal then she upgrades now you all are calling business in trouble high sales high sales. you people are unreal! no wonder this store has gone private. i would too! whine, whine, whine, anyone want some warm milk in their baby bottles??

VandDelesor

11-10-2004, 09:42 AM

And as for 'sound and structured arguments', I think the fact that the other thread had to be closed down because of your asinine comments shoots that assertion in the foot. :rolleyes

Smaugs Fury

11-10-2004, 09:46 AM

Vand,

you obviously didnt read the second to last post where the Mod specifically stated that my jab at Midol comments were not out of line (and Shannon specifically was not offended by that) and that some people are determined to be offended no matter what.

and here are her own words about troubles with the banks:

Because of this crap that scammers have done. I am suffering for it with the bank I am with. Millions of dollars banks have lost. So it is a hard road to travel with banks at the moment because of the damage that scammers have done to you all.

I seriously have reservations that with that statement that the top banking institutions are going to approve any type of applications when they are having issues like this. Banks don't lose money, ever.

Do you really think banks are going to jump over themselves to grant business loans for a company that fell susceptable to millions of dollars of scams?? That has a bare-bones profit margin? That has no storage space for inventory? I would suspect there isnt a business plan for this company that banks have to go on. (thats just a guess, and I might be wrong), but I can imagine the loan officers reaction to a business plan that bare-bones the profit margins when compared to similar type businesses.

and there is a little thing on your keyboard that allows you create paragraphs, and not just one long runon block of thoughts - the return button -

the1ring5689

11-10-2004, 09:58 AM

smaug let the other go from yesterday, i think shannon could care less at your comment about that. besides i am sure at this point she has heard worse.
you all look for pity from retailers and in here about your so called issues with past scammers. shannon is not looking for pity, be happy that shannon deals with banks it helps you all and her. she only made a statement to help you all understand that the sword cuts both ways. it is a problem out here all the way around for everyone for what people like flick shop did. she is working her fingers to the bone trying to get issues sorted out for what is the best route for aito and you all. she is not shutting down. just trying hard to get ahold of things. and make good choices that is best for everyone because she is upset that it is taking so long for you all to get things. she is trying to stay to at a point with out a lot of over head keep prices as is. so stop trying to find fault everyone and stop kicking a gift horse in the mouth.

Mr Fell Beast

11-10-2004, 10:35 AM

Now I have not posted much here, but all this drama for what???? Something you all can buy for a bit more else where as was stated at fireside w/o all of this crap?? Gezzzzzz sounds like to me these people are in WAY over there heads!!!! This is no way to treat potential customers with all of this drama, regardless of their circumstances are! Anybody with a hint of customer service would know this. I had reservations and this cemented it these guys are trouble and a volcano ready to explode all over themselves……THANKS but NO thanks….:rolleyes :rolleyes Get into a business you can handle next time…..:x Too much :cry is NEVER good......:rolleyes