Top Guns and Wanna-Bes: Fly To AVShop For All Your Flight Needs!
THE AV Shop
Even if your cockpit experience is limited to marathon sessions of piloting your computer through Microsoft's Flight Simulator, you can still find plenty to like at The AV Shop. Frequent travelers will find the site especially helpful, especially if they travel by air.
The selection is diverse, ranging from books to sunglasses to stuff that apparently real pilots use in real planes. Prices range widely, as one might expect, from less than $20 to hundreds of dollars.
I visited the site when looking for the Bose noise-canceling headphones that seemed to sprout everywhere like mushrooms overnight. I chose a pair of Jensens the site was touting instead and paid a fraction of the price. The headphones' quality was good, although they were not as durable as I would have liked.
My order was automatically acknowledged on a Saturday via email. Customer Service phone numbers for a call center staffed weekdays were on the email — a nice touch.
I received another email Monday, presumably after the staff had returned to work. This was the shipping confirmation email, one I Had looked forward to since shipping was $7.95 at the lowest price point.
Amazon Prime has spoiled for almost any shipping cost, but nearly $8 for small package residential delivery seemed high, as if the merchant had completely unbundled the costs and passed shipping directly to the consumer. The pricing structure worked, but I doubt those specialty headphones were commoditized enough to not take another $3 or $4 each with a more standard shipping cost. Price is all perception, of course, but my perception was that this was a small merchant offering decent fulfillment and service in a niche area with little savings.
The Bottom Line, Clicks and All
AV's selection is very specialized, but don't think you have to be Tom Cruise in Top Gun to find useful items here. Using a comparison shopping site led me to the site. Visiting is worth your time, and pricing perceptions aside, there is something here for most folks, even those who don't fly the friendly skies.
Five Things To Remember From This Review
1. Easy to navigate site with good selection.
2. Shipping is unbundled and seems expensive .
3. The order acknowledgment includes customer service phone numbers!
4. Delivery was fast for an in-stock item.
5. Since my order, the site has been great about not spamming and being responsible mailers on their own sales.
