Hands down the best online site I've ordered from since I started collecting Transformers.
I've tried KoolToyz and BigBadToyStore, both of which were excellent in their own regards, but A3U gave me the best customer service to date (not saying the two I mentioned above provided poor service; in fact, they were terrific as well). A3U was just a step above the rest.
Often,email responses were straight from Spencer (kinda like emailing Microsoft with a tech question and having good ol' Bill send you a response.. hehe). Turnaround times were fast and they've always given me the answer I was looking for... if there were delays, I knew about them... if they accidentally messed up something I knew about it (and they outline exactly what they were going to do to fix it). I don't mind online stores having supply issues, damaged stock, or just plain forgot my box in the corner... A3U's always been honest with me about that and took steps right away to remedy the situation.
Spencer was always accommodating and had no problems combining my orders to help me save on shipping if they arrived around the same time.
A3U's prices also tended to be lower or equal to other Canadian online sites. I'm value-oriented (i.e. cheap), so if both stores provided excellent service, I'd still choose the one with lower prices.
Their online system has been revamped and so far looks very good. The interface is a lot cleaner, we still have the option of paying via PayPal, and pre-ordering is a cinch.
So far, all Transformers I've received from A3U arrived in excellent (mint/near-mint) condition, and were properly boxed and protected. Boxes were filled with those little pink Styrofoam bubbles which were easy on the toys. Much better than lining the box with newspapers or other abrasive paper materials. Shipment packaging counts big for me, seeing as the delivery pretty much determines what condition the toy arrives in. The Styrofoam bubbles work very well.... almost as well as BigBadToyStore's big plastic bubble bags used to line the interior of the box.
Great service, low prices, excellent shipment packaging, fast response times, easy-to-use website with intuitive interface.... sounds like a winner to me. And so far based on my experience, A3U is the place to go for Canadian shoppers.
killer_tofu
