A Paintballers Paradise! Guns, Clothing, Accessories & More At "The Paintball Store"!
Written: Jan 18 '05
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| Full Review |
If I said it once, I'll say it a thousand times, my kids are just plain weird. When we lived in San Diego, a stones throw from the beach they elected to spend their free time in the basement working on experiments. When we would go on vacation the first thing they wanted to check out were the local museums and historic places, not the amusement parks, shops and usual attractions. When two of them got into paintball thanks to a neighbor that loved to show off his three and four hundred dollar guns I rolled my eyes and indulged them. Several thousand dollars later I am one of those weird people that dons a numbered vest, signs up for a team and goes into the woods to paintball. I got sucked into this when I had to go with my son since he wasn't tall enough to meet the field requirements. Just like crack cocaine, you will never be able to get the same high after the first hit. I'm not all that great at the game and most times I am the first person that gets knocked out but seeing the boys having fun while playing makes it all worth while.
In San Diego there were a few nicely stocked paintball stores that sold most of the usual items but to get the stuff that I really wanted, I had to go online. Through a Google search I came across The Paintball Store and let's just put it like this, it was love at first sight. You won't get any fancy graphics or elaborate details about the products that they carry but in all honesty, most of that is hype that ends up giving up slow loading pages and filler content. If you are a person that has a little knowledge of the game and components then this is the site for you. For the person just starting out, other sites might offer you more information about what they sell but the prices will be a little higher and they might not have the variety that you are looking for.
The Paintball Store
If you are looking for paintball related items like clothing, guns, paintballs, gloves and protective gear then this is a great site to check out. Some of the big names that they carry are Mongoose, Draxxus, JT, Empire, Nexed, Psychoballistics, 32 Degrees, Tippmann, Avalon, Smart Parts, Raven and more.. But that's just a small selection of the brand names that they carry. Site navigation is a little sloppy in my opinions; when you hit the site everything that you might need to shop for is located in main sections on the left hand side. Once you start rooting through things it is a little hard to get back to the front of the section without starting all over again at the main page. While this is a small site flaw it does get a little frustrating when you are looking to compare items or want to go back and forth between pages. The prices are pretty good, most of the items that I purchased from the site were the cheapest around and were a lot less than what the retail stores wanted.
Purchases
My biggest purchase was the Diablo Mongoose II, the local paintball store wanted about $280.00 for this gun and accessories and The Paintball Store had it listed for $224.95. Even if they spanked you on shipping fees [which they don’t] you are still ahead of the game ordering it online. A case of 2,000 Draxxus Inferno Paintballs was about twenty dollar less here with the current price being a very cool $59.95. The latest thing that I picked up was the Dye Invision Mask for $79.95 [a few dollars more than what a local store wanted] but the replacement lenses were about fifteen dollars cheaper than anyplace I checked [$23.95] so I opted to order both the mask and replacement lens at the same time and still came out ahead. For the boys I picked up some smaller things like paintballs, clothing and protective gear that didn't need to fit exactly to their body size [jerseys, hats etc]. All my purchases, regardless of size, were handled quickly and billing was accurate and to the penny.
Customer Service
ThePaintballStore.com
PO Box 8434
Amarillo, TX 79114-8434
www.thepaintballstore.com
Payment Options
The site accepts MasterCard, Visa, American Express and The Discover Card. If you don’t have a major credit card then you may want to call them to see if they will accept a money order or cashiers check. I've used my Visa card for all the purchases through the site and have never had a problem with approval, billing or over charges. If you are leery about making a purchase online you can call them to see if they will take your information over the phone.
Return Policy
The site is pretty strict about their return policy so make sure you read over it before you place an order. To make a return you must contact them to get an RMA [Return Merchandise Authorization] number and put this number on the invoice that you received with your order as well as on the outside of the box. If you fail to put the number on the box they will refuse to accept it and you will have to ship it back to them again. No used equipment will be accepted for return unless it is defective, if you do receive something that is defective make sure you call them to see what can be done about it. Some orders may be subject to a 20% restocking fee so make sure you are ordering what you really want. Paintballs aren't covered under the return policy; if you have a problem with them you have to contact the manufacturer to get an exchange or replacement. You only have 14 days to make a return so if you are going to do this, call or email them to get the RMA and get it on it's way back to them. I highly suggest sending it insured or with a delivery confirmation so you have proof that it was received.
Shipping Fees
Everything the site sells gets shipped via UPS Ground. Since almost all of my orders have been over $200.00 I got free shipping but when I did have to pay to have things shipped it wasn't overpriced and pretty much fell within what the UPS site quotes for Ground shipments. You can call them in advance to see what shipping fees will be or use the UPS site to get a price but remember there may be other fees added on by UPS for home or rural delivery. You can opt to get your order faster by choosing two or three day delivery but you will have to pay the extra fee that's associated with it. Most of my orders arrived within a week of having placed them so if you aren't in a rush to get your stuff; this is a great site to deal with. That doesn't mean that they are slow to ship but UPS Ground isn't exactly known for their speedy delivery methods. It's almost impossible to give rates for shipping because everything is divided into zones, call them or check the UPS website to get a ballpark price.
The Bottom Line
I'm not sure how long the paintball frenzy will be around in this household but I know that until it dies down, most of the items that I purchase will be from this site. They ship fast, offer great prices and the selection is well above average. The only real beef I have with this site would be how things are presented and the small navigation snafu but those are minor things that could easily be fixed by the webmaster. If you are someone that has a little knowledge of the game, what items you want or need and don’t need the item in your hands that very minute then this is a great site to check out. I've shopped at other paintball stores but none of them, so far, have offered me these types of prices along with a sales staff that knows about the products that they sell. Any time I had to call them to ask about a gun or paintball the person that took the call answered all my questions, regardless of how strange they may have been.
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2004 Freak369
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Paintball guns, markers, protective gear.
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