HELP! RE:A&A Airsoft, Miss-advertised Tanaka M700 AICS sale

[silent_lemon]

Well, history first. After reading everything and anything I could get my hands on regarding Tanaka's line of m700's, I decided to find a Tanaka m700 AICS PCS. As hard as it might seem to find a PCS version, I decided to do a lot of searching, and through that effort, I discovered A&A Airsoft had 1 remaining in stock. I hurredly slammed down 900 plus shipping, came out to roughly 950 if memory serves me.

So, for the record, in early January I put down an order for a Tanaka M700 AICS PCS through A&A airsoft; the article looks as follows:

Tanaka M700 A.I.C.S.(OD)
[TNK-SNP-M700] $899.95



Click to enlarge


Tanaka M700 A.I.C.S.(OD)

One of the most tactical sniper rifles, full metal outer barrel and soft rubber stock make itself the ultimate rifle for comfortable and accurate shooting. Extremely heavy, weighs more than 4.5kg! Zero resistance bolt action. Gas operated and takes HFC134 gas for 395fps of stock power! Integrated power control system (PCS) allows tuning down of power for safer velocities during skirmishing. Cocking indicator on the rear of the bolt tells you whether the rifle is cocked. Solid cocking motion with full metal mechanism. Removable metal full size magazine is realistically finished and holds 27 rounds. Built-in quick release ball-joint type bipod receptor in the front allows quick attach / detach of a bipod for steadier aiming. Front and rear sling mount. A simply beautiful gun and beats Maruzen's APS Type 96 (already a really good rifle) in heft, realism, and realistic finishing.

Didnt seem too good to be true, it seemed accurate. A&A airsoft, whom I had read had good customer service, prompt shipping time, and decent prices advertised PCS, smack dab in the middle of the article. I probably read that article over three or four times because I simply couldnt believe it had PCS, but with it saying 1 remaining in stock, I wanted to get on it ASAP.

So, i received it promptly, opened the box, cool, big green gun, content with my new m700 AICS PCS, I propped it up in a corner not 2 feet from the original box, and decided to relieve myself from the nearing 2 year airsoft hiatus when it gets warmer.

Well now it's nearing that time of the year, and I actually need to sell it - I'm in quite the bind, and could really use that 900 back. I packed it up, original papers still in the box, styrofoam included, never fired, (magazine doesnt even KNOW what a BB looks like...) So I put it up for sale advertising Tanaka M700 AICS PCS, for sale for the amount I paid for the gun, 900. Several emails/PMs later from a fine local chap, and we met, traded and it was done. The next day I received a PM stating the bad news - It really wasnt a Tanaka M700 AICS PCS. It is the restricted one, (not even the for-america version and because im a stand up fellow i gladly honored our deal and gave the money back)

I sent an email to Mark Anderson of A&A Airsoft a few days ago, asking for either a refund or an exchange to be made for what is advertised. I received an email back telling me I should ask Tanaka why their advertisement states PCS when it really isnt (When it's on his website that the incorrectly labelled advertisement is posted...confused)

Usually this sort of mistake wouldnt bother me. I would swallow the misadvertisement, buy a bigger bolt and keep the rifle as is. BUT 2007 isnt 2002 for me, I dont have a copious airsoft wallet now, and thinking id get back into airsoft was a mistake; I think it's unfair for me to swallow both A&A airsoft's misprint mistake and my own. I simply want either what was advertised, OR a full return. (which isnt as bad as it sounds, ive never even cocked it until yesterday...just resell it to some other sucker.)

what am I to do?

[Tankdude]

How much does the non-pcs version go for? You could still sell it.

[Cortexburn]

A&A IMO should just take it back and put it back up for sale. Stand behind the product you sell. It's easier and better buisness to do this then put up a fuss and smear your replutation.

This instance should be a no-brainer for someone in retail.

[BBS]

Originally Posted by Cortexburn

A&A IMO should just take it back and put it back up for sale. Stand behind the product you sell. It's easier and better buisness to do this then put up a fuss and smear your replutation.

This instance should be a no-brainer for someone in retail.

+1
its called standard customer service, you find that in all retail stores in Canada unless stated by the retailer "no refund/ exxhange"

i suspect you won't get your full amount back because you had the AICS for quite a while. Maybe you'll get most of the money back (or in-store credit) + some of their store's products. but anyhow, A&A should make up for their mis-advertisment.

Good luck, hope it goes well for you silent_lemon and keep us posted!

[Freedom Fighter]

A&A should take it back. You did not get what you paid for ... seems pretty simple to me. Just because some time went by doesn't make them less responsible. I don't really care for Mark's response. You bought it from them, not Tanaka. That is passing the buck. They should refund your money and THEY can ASK TANAKA why their site says one thing and not another.

[Hedonism Bot]

I've never ordered from A&A and after reading this I doubt I ever will.

One negative experiance is worth 20 positive ones. I guess no one told them.

[Drake]

+1 on that. I'm considering getting a M249 this summer, and was thinking about A&A, but reading stuff like this just screams "shop elsewhere."

That's plainly false advertising.

No one forced them to copy & paste Tanaka's text, and if they don't know what they're selling there's a serious problem on several levels (or does their supplier sell them PCS and non-PCS M700s for the same price?)

[swatt13]

edited by myself, as i agree this shouldnt be a thread to air any dirty laundry. mark has been overall good to my club and i appreciate that.

edit* id like to clarify that he doesnt owe you a cash refund, but rather in store credit.

[thephenom]

Not the first time Mark has made a mistake on product description.

There was M14 on sale at AA without trades in-tact, someone ordered it and found the trades were missing. Not sure if Mark offered a full refund, but he since changed the description to notify about missing trades.

I say, keep pushing your case, you'll probably lose shipping cost, and Mark should be reasonable about it.

[Armyissue]

Hmmm. You bought rifle, because it had a specialized feature, you did take it out of the box when you received it and didn't look at it for 3 months. Then sold it again after having PM's & emails with the buyer. The Buyer gets it and tells you the next day its not a PCS. Is it and invisible upgrade? I dunno these things. Dude, I sell Pants.
Mark doesn't have any obligations here. You are relatively unknown to him thousands of Km away and on your word he has to give you a thousand dollar refund.
And no retailers do not have an automatic refund return or exchange whenever you feel like it policy. Major cor-pirate retailers have specific policies on conditions and receipts on returns or exchanges. I don't think anyone would give you a $1000 back after 3 months. If you find some one let me know. I'd bet my left nut it wouldn't be an Army Navy store, and you'd be hard pressed to find a retailer that would.

[swatt13]

Originally Posted by Armyissue

Hmmm. You bought rifle, because it had a specialized feature, you did take it out of the box when you received it and didn't look at it for 3 months. Then sold it again after having PM's & emails with the buyer. The Buyer gets it and tells you the next day its not a PCS. Is it and invisible upgrade? I dunno these things. Dude, I sell Pants.
Mark doesn't have any obligations here. You are relatively unknown to him thousands of Km away and on your word he has to give you a thousand dollar refund.
And no retailers do not have an automatic refund return or exchange whenever you feel like it policy. Major cor-pirate retailers have specific policies on conditions and receipts on returns or exchanges. I don't think anyone would give you a $1000 back after 3 months. If you find some one let me know. I'd bet my left nut it wouldn't be an Army Navy store, and you'd be hard pressed to find a retailer that would.

i dont entirly agree with you jeroon, you being a business owner yourself, can attest to someones friend/ mother/ relative buying an item as a gift, then the person returning once recieved (sometimes a month or more from origional purchase date) wanting a refund. although a refund is rediculous to ask for, you would almost certianly offer in store credit to satisfy the customer and keep his business. whats to say he doesnt return a $45 item, and then turn around and buy a $30 item, than he also spends $145 on accessories for.

[silent_lemon]

Originally Posted by Armyissue

Hmmm. You bought rifle, because it had a specialized feature, you did take it out of the box when you received it and didn't look at it for 3 months. Then sold it again after having PM's & emails with the buyer. The Buyer gets it and tells you the next day its not a PCS. Is it and invisible upgrade? I dunno these things. Dude, I sell Pants.
Mark doesn't have any obligations here. You are relatively unknown to him thousands of Km away and on your word he has to give you a thousand dollar refund.
And no retailers do not have an automatic refund return or exchange whenever you feel like it policy. Major cor-pirate retailers have specific policies on conditions and receipts on returns or exchanges. I don't think anyone would give you a $1000 back after 3 months. If you find some one let me know. I'd bet my left nut it wouldn't be an Army Navy store, and you'd be hard pressed to find a retailer that would.

well what id like to address is really the fact that im a decent person, im all grown up now, i started collecting and playing airsoft when i was 15, have quite a few transactions under my belt and my fair share of disappointments on me and of other people. Been around lurking ASC since 16, now im 21, and have a sense of humility. If this happened to me, id take strides to help them out, so asking for a small bit of credit here is not unreasonable.

from what i understand, there were PCSs available first, they came with a manual that states how to adjust it in the manual, then the restricted ones came out leaving the pcs adjustment out(i have one of these and one of the manuals without the adjustment pictures) then the americanized ones came out, with a larger diameter nozzle for upwards of 500fps etc...that he now carries.

[silent_lemon]

Hi,
That's how I buy them and that's the information Tanaka sends me. I would contact Tanaka and see what they have to say.

Regards,

mark

..............hmm

[Freedom Fighter]

Originally Posted by silent_lemon

Hi,
That's how I buy them and that's the information Tanaka sends me. I would contact Tanaka and see what they have to say.

Regards,

mark

..............hmm

That's what adults in the business world call passing the buck.

In Jeroon's (armyissue) defense he's a great fellow but I disagree with him on this point although I understand his reasoning being that there are a ton of scammers out there in the world, and many find there way into our beloved sport.

I'm with Jeroon on this one. Sucks, but I'd think if you'd gotten back to Mark with this problem much sooner it wouldn't have been a big deal to rectify. 3 months later...well, different story. Likely the manufacturer wouldn't reimburse Mark either after that amount of time.

See what I'm saying here? What did the BOX say? Was it mis-labelled?