Watch out for Botachtachtical
Their website (and on-line ordering) lists all the stuff they dream of selling.
Their "inventory" IN NO WAY WHATSOEVER matches their website. I ordered about 10 items from them recently - after 4 days of no response, I started calling - after 3 days of calling I found someone who could look into it - after that they only had 1 item and had to order the rest.
I've spent over 2 hours on the phone trying to get a straight answer from them - everyone I talk to (customer dis-service, shipping, etc) has a different story about what they have and what they can ship.
(to their credit - they said that they had already ordered the stuff on my order and it should be arriving shortly).
Overall - their prices are very very good on surefire equipment. But dealing with these people really leaves a sour taste in your mouth - something you shouldn't have to deal with when buying a top of the line produt.
I bought my 911 from Leach as part of a big order with a group - he gave us pretty heavy discounts due to the volume of the order.
I wish there was one **GOOD** sure fire outlet - by that I mean :
1 - prices - forget retail, OK? (no that doesn't mean mark it up higher!!) Botach is doing fine here!
2 - Inventory most everything (It's ok to custom order a turbo head for a 3P... But the M2 should be in stock)
3 - stock spare parts (all bulbs, tail caps, etc) (Botach is pretty good here too!)
4 - have a website (Leach still doesn't have a website) (botach's website is a mess)
5 - ship no later than 1 bus. day after payment (i.e. don't use the customer's money to pay for the next order)
6 - email/phone the customer to confirm shipment and provide tracking info.
7 - Finally - be in cohoots with surefire so your loyal customers can get the M2000 on the day it shows up (kinda like the lines outside of Sony to buy PS2 - only we're just a tad more civilized than that)
Notice that I don't even care if they have a retail store. Someone could do this out of their garage for all I care. So long as they move product it makes no difference to me since I buy mail order (You're never going to go down to the mall and find a SureFire at Macy's -- there's one retail store here that sells them - it's a police supply store that marks the price up well past retail to pay for their storefront)
Actually - if brightguy lowered his prices just a little, and carried the whole surefire product line (instead of the fast movers) - he'd be the place to deal with. Last I checked - he didn't have the M2 or the E1. If Brightguy had the product, I'd gladly deal with his more professional operation than botach's "try back tomorrow" sales approach.
