"After calling AValive and confirming my needs for overnight shipping I was very pleased that they not only got my order out past their shipping deadline but one a step further and handled a tech issue in which I made a mistake in my configuration and made sure that the corrected pieces arrived the following day. They have my business since their pricing was very good and customer service was top notch. Thanks"
"AV alive; lowest price for some parts, high shipping cost, not a 24/7 site, still waiting for the parts! this store, had the lowest price for the crimp tool that I wanted. So I ordered it on 04/23/10. AV alive sent me an email on 04/30/10 with a tracking no. I placed the order around 23:47, four days later AV alive emailed me with the shipping costs, I had to OK the amount, then I emailed back to see if this was the lowest rate, AV alive said it was and the parts will ship. so close but, AV alive emails me 04/29/10, to say some of the parts come 25 to a bag, not 20 or 40. so I had to change my order. the web site said that you could order 1 to xxx parts, not any more! if you want connectors, RG59C-F's, you start @ 25. I had to call AV alive on 04/30/10 to find out WTF was going on! AV alive said they would up-date the web site, and my order was on it's way. Also the ladies I talked with, were very nice. "
"Ordered on 4/19 via their Web site. Within a few minutes, received notification from PayPal that my account had been charged.
On 4/21, I had still received no order confirmation from AValive (double-checked junk mail and trash folders), so I called them. Was told that my order would ship later that day and would receive an email at that time.
On 4/26, still had received no email from them, so I called again. Was now told that the estimated delivery was 4/29, but they could not provide me with a tracking number. After I hung up, they called back and informed me that 4/29 was when *they* would receive the items, and they would ship them to me at that time.
Received email from them on 4/28 containing the billing and shipping information.
Received shipment on 4/30, but it did not contain exactly what I had ordered (I had ordered Audix ADX10-FLP microphone with APS-910 phantom power adapter, plus an APS-911 battery-powered phantom power adapter; received ADX10-FLP and two APS-911 units, no APS-910). Microphone also did not include the foam windscreen, which according to Audix's spec sheet should have been included.
Terrible experience; I do not plan on doing business with them again.
Update: AValive informs me that they shipped what they received from Audix, and are contacting Audix about the issue.
Update: AValive indicated that Audix now ships the ADX10-FLP with the APS-911 rather than APS-910 (though Audix's own site still indicates it ships with the 910). They could not explain why I got no order confirmation email, but said I was not the only one who had had that problem. They blamed the confusion regarding delivery dates on "the new girls in training". They did have Audix ship me the parts I needed, and provided me with a UPS shipping label to return the second APS-911."
"AValive had the best price I could find on the internet for the product I wanted. I received it through FedEx within a week. I would definitely use them again."
"I ordered on Monday morning and the items shipped on Thursday despite the fact that the vendor's website says same day shipping. I would have been happy if the items had shipped within 24 hours. I wouldn't complain if they had been shipped within 48 hours. Four days to ship an item is entirely too long.
In addition to that, I didn't receive the shipping notification email until Friday. So my impression is that it takes AVAlive four days to put 4 items in a box and tape it up and 24 hours to send an email.
The email, when I finally received it, didn't have a linked tracking number. Instead of simply linking a tracking number to the tracking information on the UPS website, I had to open a PDF document (?!), copy the tracking number, browse to the UPS website in my internet browser, and paste the tracking number into the field. All this to find out that my items aren't going to get here when I need them due to the inertia of an inept shipping department.
I bought these items from AVAlive because they had the lowest prices. Next time, I'll buy elsewhere and gladly pay a little more.
UPDATE: Shortly after posting this review, I received a rude email from someone at AVAlive. This person stated that their website does not say same day shipping. Their website does say same day shipping before 3:00 pm. My order was placed before noon central time. I encourage anyone to look at a product on their website to see that it does say that.
This person also stated that, "anybody know that you can right click tracking #'s and they show up in Google Automatically." I didn't bother trying that because I know better. You can copy and paste tracking numbers into Google, but if you're going to do that you might as well just go on to the UPS website and paste there. The point is, it would be simple to actually include the tracking number in the body of the email and link it to the UPS tracking information. I don't know why I would need a PDF attachment, one more document that I have to open, just to get my tracking number.
UPDATE 2: I have since received voice mail messages and a response here on this site from someone at AValive. It may say that you ship in 3 days at most, sir, but it took you 4 days to ship these items. Let me break it down so that you can understand it. I ordered Monday morning, you shipped on Thursday. Monday is 1 day, Tuesday is 2 days, Wednesday is 3 days, Thursday is 4 days. You can argue this all you want, you're simply wrong. Any company that can't ship their orders within 48 hours (barring unforeseen circumstances or special situations) doesn't deserve to be in business anyway.
Concerning the PDF attachment, viruses are also sent as attachments to emails, so your lame excuse about links doesn't fly. Nobody, NOBODY sends tracking information this way, except AValive. I will admit having to open a browser and copy and paste isn't that big a deal, but it is an unnecessary annoyance, especially when you add that to your lousy shipping department and your shoddy customer service.
This business about right-clicking the tracking number and it automatically opening in Google is a lot of bunk. It's so stupid I don't know why you would even try to sell that to me.
I'm done with this review and I'm done with AValive. I just wish I had known about this site BEFORE I purchased anything from this pitiful excuse for a company."
"Although AValive is not a large internet powerhouse, their website made it very easy to find what I wanted (something from Mid-Atlantic), and even compare multiple items from the same vendor. You see, this vendor cannot be ordered from directly, and most Internet vendors do a very poor job of surfing for M/A products really HARD (and M/A makes a hundreds of thousands of parts). The pricing is very competitive as well. Checkout was pleasantly straight and shipping reasonable. Emails have been quick to come, and quick to be answered. 5 out of 5 if you ask me."
"The worst! DO NOT BUY FROM THESE PEOPLE. 3+ days to answer emails Call them and you'll get "Let me check on that, I'll call you back." Never once received a call from them. Ordered 16 days before my trip so I could have it in time, Still not enough time for them to get their act together. Now I have to take an overseas trip without a bag. Definitely will NOT be visiting them againi!"
"The day I called in to check on my product happened to be the day I received it. 9 days after purchase.
wrote this review 15 minutes before the product showed up.
*** EDIT ***
STILL WAITING FOR MY PRODUCT!
Had to call customer service twice for them to tell me that the warehouse is usually slow.
I wish they would have told me earlier so I could have bought this product somewhere else."
"Ordering online was as simple as possible. Standard "add to cart" and then checkout. Confirmation email with final invoice arrived roughly 48 hours later. Will update when product arrives.
Product arrived on time, well packaged, undamaged. Great experience, would recommend and order from again."
"I recommend AV Alive. I ordered two Atlona AV cables. I decided to call my order in, since the website asked for credit card info before giving a total shipping quote, which made me somewhat uneasy. I found out later that the reason for that is that one of the items I was ordering did not have a listed shipping weight, so they had to look it up.
Although their shipping rates may be somewhat higher than others, they make up for it with very low merchandise prices and good customer service. They even refunded a $4 difference that they did not have to, which arose due to a misunderstanding on my part.
"
"AV Alive is like the second coming of Christ!!! Order products from them, then order some more. Their customer service is second to none. In fact, you will be begging them to leave you alone. "
"I purchased a Mack warranty from AV Alive. Their price was very competitive. It was delivered electronicly, which was a relief due to the time restrictions on warranties. I checked the Mack website, and they are also an authorized reseller. I did take a day to arrive, which I thought was strange. Customer service could have been better and more thorough over email, but telephone service was much better."
"This was my first order with AValive, and I was very satisfied. Low price, on-schedule delivery. Merchandise was packaged protectively and arrived in perfect condition. I'll be back."
"I was very pleased with my purchase from AValive. I ordered brand new Crestron items, and they were delivered exactly as promised!
Thank You!
Jeff Ervin "
"I own a small, specialty business that sells technical equipment to police departments. I try whenever possible to deal with privately owned American or Canadian businesses.
Avalive presented a very professional presence and concluded my transaction in a time appropriate fashion. I would have liked a bit more communication ( let me know whats happening at every step of my transaction please ). I will deal with AValive again and hope to develop a long term relationship with this company. "