Atic Advance Technology International

I bought my first computer here in around 2000. I still remember it costing me $ 3050, which is ridiculous in the year 2015 for a basic build, but it was what it was. I was 15 at the time, and this was one of the few stores where most computer nerds shopped at. I remembered coming back here a few times over the years and always received next to no service. These are the type of shops where you better know what you want prior to coming. If you want product advice, you head across the street to Best Buy, as they do not seem incline to offer advice. I will never forget the long-​hair Chinese guy that worked there. He always knew what he was talking about, but never seem too enthusiastic to help. The general vibe I get from Atic is that you spend more and ask less. The shop hasn’t changed much since the hay day, the same can be said about their online website, which the layout hasn’t changed in the last 15 years (I am not kidding). How this business manages to survive against their competitors (NCIX and Memory Express) is beyond me as they have poor service, poor store layout, and an online website that can easily be mistaken as a fraudulent one. Most important of all, they do not price match their competitors. My take is, either most of their revenue is from enterprise sales, or they’re laundering money (half joking).

Haven’t been in years but I was very much less than impressed when I was last there.
Curt, unfriendly, busy, no display. And this despite me knowing my way around computers and hardly needing handholding from the staff.
Yes, those are the words that come to mind with ATIC. Prices? Weren’t that impressive, hardly anything to justify my shopping there. I suspect people who don’t know any better think that they are very competitive. They are, compared to buying parts at FutureShop, but that’s a very low bar to beat.
Oh, and there was the small item of a buddy of mine getting sold sub-​standard parts (i.e. hidden sub-​components in a PC were not the brand names advertised).
Avoid.

I used to shop here when I was in high school. I’m amazed they are still around and can afford to compete with other online alternatives while being able to keep prices low and pay the rent and salaries. Money Laundering?
I’ve never had a bad experience there, except when it came time to return something. Somehow It was always my fault for the component failure and I was trying to pull a fast one. My philosophy is a cheat will always suspect a cheat.
Putting that issue aside, I built a good number of PC’s from parts procured from ATIC and one is still running 10 years later. Yes, most of the sales people there seemed to hate the customers. There was that fat white guy who wasn’t allowed behind the counter who was always nice and helpful. Cant remember his name. Hope he’s doing well.
Have I been back in a while, nope. Lets just say I put up with your BS because I had to. But then a new beauty came into my life, NCIX. Shes sweet to me and loves me for who I am, not just my money.
Oh well, it was good while it lasted and we made some nice kids over the years.
Goodbye ATIC. I may pop in if I need a counterfeit licence of Adobe Photoshop.

Price are decent and the location is convenient but you have to be 100% sure of what you buy there as they have a nazi return policy. Even if the product they sell you is wrong you’re stuck with it after. Definitely not worth any savings with that kind of risk.

I found ATIC while on the hunt for a copy of windows 7 to partition my iMac. Every other computer store I called only had windows 8.1. When I stumbled upon the ATIC website and saw it was in stock, I called to confirm and the lady that answered the phone was very sweet and helpful. I went in the next day and I’m pretty sure it was the same woman working. I needed an external disk reader as well and she made sure I got one that was Mac compatible (as I had explained I was partitioning my computer), something I didn’t even think about when asking for one. I had some questions about the disk reader and a man working there explained it all quite thoroughly. I was very pleased with the service.
The store itself is very small and easily overlooked from the outside. Most of their stuff is in the back behind a counter so you can’t really browse around, you’d need to have an idea as to what your looking for. They also charge a small fee if you pay with credit as opposed to cash or debit.
They’re website is pretty basic but it’s easily navigated and lists all the different things they have in stock (you can also order both electronics and parts online) so if your unsure if they have something your looking for you can check there and call to confirm.
I had a very good experience here and I’ll certainly be back if I’m in the market for any computer accessories.

While it’s been a few years since I lived in Vancouver and shopped at ATIC, I still reflect fondly on the extremely amazing customer service I received on a snowy winter day in December 2008.
My husband and I were buying new parts and cases, and were helped by a very kind and attentive older gentleman, who helped us select exactly what we needed. We’re both Very computer literate, and it was great to have a salesman who didn’t talk down to us, like what you’ll get at Best Buy and the like. It was so nice to be able to outline the benchmarks we wanted in our products and be given options with exactly what we described. There was even an error in pricing on the case we got, and they surprised both of us by immediately offering the marked price. The staff was educated, jovial, and helped us with some extra packaging, knowing we were taking these shiny new parts on the bus.
The merchandise is affordable, but great quality. I’m still running that motherboard with no problems in the gorgeous Lian Li case we got the same day. The store is a little small and a little run down, but at the price and service level, it just makes it all the more quaint to me. If I still lived here I would still be shopping at ATIC.

Service isn’t what I’d call helpful — make sure you get the EXACT model number you ask for before leaving the store.

I went here for the cheap proximity, and had been recommended by a friend. The Unilocal reviews were a little off-​putting, but I thought I’d try anyway.
I ordered a Cintiq, which are pretty hard to get a hold of here in Vancouver, and they told me it would be there within the next day or 2? Huh? Wow! And sure enough, it arrived the morning of the second day, and a phone call notified me it was in. Fast!
So sure, the best doesn’t look great, sometimes you have to wait awhile, but I got what I wanted quick, and that was really all that mattered :)

I think there customer service training needs some updating. Its the place to go for parts but not a thank you.
Worn out grey carpet, wall to wall computer stuff, short emails to say a speciality part is in.
Uh… That’s it.

I agree, decent prices but standoffish service. Think «Comic Book Guy» from the Simpsons but selling technology instead of comics. Occasionally I’ll go here if they have something in stock that sold out @ Anitec or NCIX; but otherwise I’d rather price-​match to NCIX.

not a bad place for parts. used to be the very cheapest, but now a-​days ncix, newegg and anitec are known to be comparable. place looks super sketchy, but if you know what you want and you know it’s in stock then I guess you’ll be fine.

Chu-​heap. You’d be hard pressed to find cheaper computer parts anywhere in Canada (most of the time). However this comes with it’s own price because the sales staff at Atic would just as soon spit on you as look at you. I wouldn’t really call them sales staff, come to think of it. More like elitist store-​counter monkeys. There’s often a lineup at said counter, because that’s how you actually get your grubby, unworthy paws on their precious merch. Woe unto he who walks up to The Counter and does not know the precise sku he wants. He may not survive the ensuing encounter with the monkeys. After all, looking up crap on their website is what the several computer terminals set up around the shop are all about.
The consensus is to avoid like the plague unless you’re tech-​savvy, know precisely what you want (and have verified that it’s in stock before showing your ugly mug in the physical store), and are so strapped for cash that you need to save $ 5 on a video card.