Meridian or T.A.D gear for Oz buyer?

Hey all, i know theres been plenty of post about dealers shipping to australia and that, but i want to hear from those that have used either of these stores. Im after a SureFire A2 which both sell, but TAD is cheaper then Meridian. Has anyone bought from either of these? how was there service and delivier time etc?. Also i noted that TAD gear is insured as Meridian is not, is this an important factor for someone shipping overseas? last of all, which would be in peoples views best to deal through, im open to suggestions

cheers mate /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Welcome to the CPF.

Both are reputable sellers. Depends on what services you are after.

never bought from Meridian.....so i can't comment on them.
but i have delt with TAD Gear.....the Best! just my 2cents

hmm just thought i would add something else i seen on TAD site... "Notice: later in 2004 Surefire will be implementing an affiliate program where ALL internet sales will be re-routed to their web server and shipped directly from their factory. Since TAD GEAR is an authorized dealer with a physical store location, Surefire products may be continued to be purchased thru TAD GEAR by visiting our store or simply giving us a Toll FREE call at 888-432-7227"
from there website

so i guess TAD gear website is out leaving me just mer... oh well meridian sounds good so why not thanks for ya help all

G'day Lovecraft,

I haven't bought from either, but both dealers aren't allow to send Surefires outside the US.

Geoff

Hi Lovecraft /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink2.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif

Welcome to CPF /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I am a loyal customer of Meridian Tactical, I have purchased a number of items from them before, and each time I receive absolutely excellent customer service. I was a little nervous initially from ordering from abroad, however my experience with Chris at Meridian has put me at ease with buying internationally. I can't comment on T.A.D. Gear as I have not had any experience with them.

Onto Surefires... As has been said, Surefires are restricted in the United States (US) to US only sales, which is bad for us Aussies. There are two Aussie distributors, Pacific Rim, and Kenmax. Their contact details can be found on the Surefire website, www.surefire.com I have dealt with the Ken at Pacific Rim before regarding a warranty issue, and they also get an A1 rating in my book /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif. You will of course have to buy through a shop in order to get things from the distributors...

If however, you have a friend in the US, other arrangements can be made if they were to purchase an item and on-send it to you. There are a number of cpfers (members of the candlepower forums) who offer this service at little or no cost to fellow cpfers...

In regard to the amount of time packages take, it depends entirely on the specific postage arrangements (and whether or not the item is in stock). For all the packages I get from the US it usually takes between 3 and 10 days (depending on postage type) etc...

Cam

Chris at Meridian is a great guy to deal with, ordering from him was a great pleasure. Not sure about Tad tho, cos I haven't ordered from them before. Anyway, you could probably do a search for either of the dealers on Cheers & Jeers, you'll get many favourable responses for both the mentioned dealers, I think! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I had the pleasure of dealing with them at least twice. TADGear ships via TNTExpress and you can even track them via GSM-SMS. Meridian ships via USPS, so your option for an insured mail, will be thru Express Mail (about $5.00 more than the faster, but your-risk Global Priority Mail). Try to email them both for availability and shipping, ask and compare, both accepts credit card...

Evan at Tadgear ( [email protected] ) is very responsive to email, even late at night, although his answers are quite consise.
Chris at Meridian ( [email protected] ) is also very good.

[ QUOTE ]
LoveCraft said:
..."Notice: later in 2004 Surefire will be implementing an affiliate program where ALL internet sales will be re-routed to their web server and shipped directly from their factory...

[/ QUOTE ]

Why not buy direct from Surefire? Same price and one less step.

Brightnorm

From www.surefire.com

"Due to contractual arrangements with our Authorized Distributors in Australia, SureFire is not currently accepting retail orders over the Internet for delivery to Australia."

I prefer Silverfox and Tactical Warehouse.

Geoff

WELL it sounds GeoffChan is right and both TAD and mer wont sell to Oz, i havnt looked at Tact warehouse or SilverFox... what is the website of silverfox?? ive searched but couldnt find anything, but ill check tac in the meantime

[ QUOTE ]
LoveCraft said:
WELL it sounds GeoffChan is right and both TAD and mer wont sell to Oz, i havnt looked at Tact warehouse or SilverFox... what is the website of silverfox?? ive searched but couldnt find anything, but ill check tac in the meantime

[/ QUOTE ]

Tom "Silverfox" Poast offers a service of purchasing lights and sending them on. PM me for further info.

Geoff

hah well that explains why i couldnt find the shop LOL... anyway im going to consider my options and work out what to do next, there are a few other lights in interested in, streamlight tl3, pelican m6 and those lupin lights, boy those lupin lights are sweet lol. thats for the reply

[email protected] + USPS, never a missing package, always best customer service. Check out his other goods like pocket knives and etc most are pretty good price.

Vince.