Bored With Your Board Games? Kick It Up A Notch With Board Games Express!
Written: Jan 21 '04
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| Full Review |
Over the past few years the boys have gotten into playing board games, not normal ones like Monopoly, Life or Risk – no, these eggheads go for trivia ones. Some might dismiss these games as a waste of time but to me, it’s entertaining and can be educational if you pick the right ones. We’ve tried out the Brain Quest series and they weren’t all that interested in them so I told them to check out what the site offered to see if there were any that they were interested in. Sadly, they only found a few that they were even mildly interested in so I had to cruise the rest of the site by myself looking to see if there were any games that I could pick up for them. After about an hour I came up with a pretty solid list and called in my oldest to have him look it over. With a few nods, a couple of chuckles and his stamp of approval on three of the seven games I was well on my way to picking up some fun and educational games for the holiday season. They even offer gift wrapping [$3.50 fee], shipping overseas and blind shipments [no invoice] if it is to be delivered as a gift.
Selection
If board games are your thing then this site is one that you have to check out. They have everything from preschool games right up to the stuff for hard-core gamers. The site is set up nicely with all the main section on the left side, some of them have sub directories that break down the listings even further. You also have the option to see all the games within a section listed alphabetically; this was a real help when I found myself trying to back track and find a game because there are a lot of different places that it could be listed … finding it without the alphabetical listing would have been a real chore. Some of the main listings include trivia games [Austin Powers, Elvis, The Simpsons, Pop Smarts], junior versions of popular games [Pictionary Junior, Cranium Cadoo, Toy Story Monopoly Junior], strategy games [Stratego, Axis and Allies, Lionheart] and a ton of family games like Jenga, Connect Four, Pass The Pigs and Scooby Doo Clue. These are just a few of the listings and games that are available at the site; if you’ve never been there you might want to wait until you have an hour or so on your hands to check it out because you will need it.
Purchases
As I mentioned, my little geeks are into the stranger things when it comes to board games. Sure they’ll play Monopoly to humor me but they’d rather play something that involves science, math or space. Oh if they’d only put out a NASA version of Monopoly, I think they’d fall over. I picked up Mineral Hunter, EVO and Polygon. I was so tempted to pick up the Mahjong game but I wasn’t willing to spend over $100.00 for a set unless I could check it out first. When they arrived I gave them the once over and saw that they were all in pristine condition and packed perfectly. I am always a little leery about ordering games or things that are going to be given as gift because all it takes is a ticked off delivery person kicking around your boxes to ruin a gift. For the price of the games, shipping fees and off the wall titles I never came across anywhere else, I was pretty impressed with what the site had to offer as well as their delivery time.
Gift Certificates
If you need a gift for the board game junkie in your life, you can select one from $10.00 to $150.00 and have it sent to whom ever you desire. I wish I would have known about this option this past holiday season, it would have saved me a lot of running around looking for things on peoples wish lists. I’ve never ordered any gift certificates from the site but they do mention that there’s no fee to have them delivered and it can be customized once you add it to your shopping cart.
Customer Service
Board Games Express
2460 Marshall Drive
Quakertown, PA 18951
www.boardgamesexpress.com
sales@BoardGamesExpress.com
info@BoardGamesExpress.com
[215] 529-1866
[800] 233-1720
Shipping Fees
Shipping fees are calculated on how far away you are from the store and the weight of your order. It’s impossible for me to list the shipping fees since each and every order will differ as well as the delivery point. If you want to know the shipping fee you can add an item to your cart and view it that way or call the customer service center and they’ll look it up for you. My order cost about $7.00 to ship to me – not bad when you consider that it is shipping from one coast to the other. Most games are shipped UPS Ground unless otherwise specified and you do have to option to expedite your order by choosing two or three day service or next day delivery. If you pick one of these options you will have to pay more for it but you will get it when you need it. I was pretty happy with the delivery time considering it was shipping ground service and when I looked at the expedited rates, they weren’t obscene – a great example would have been if I would have picked the three day delivery option, that would have only cost me about $15.00. Not bad for three games.
Payment Options
You can pay for your order using your Visa, MasterCard, Discover Card or American Express. You will need to supply your three digit CVV / CVV2 code when making a purchase so if you are using a debit card that carries the MasterCard or Visa logo, make sure that you can still read the back of the strip. If your card does not have this code, contact your bank or card provider to get an updated card [most will issue you one at no charge providing that you specify that the reason you want a new card is to get the CVV / CVV2 number]. I used my MasterCard and had no problems making the purchase or being billed an amount other than what was shown at the time of check out or in the confirmation email.
Return Policy
This is probably one of the most open ended return policies I have ever seen. They claim that you can return a game at any time if you aren’t happy with it and they will refund the purchase price. To me this is pretty vague so if you are a little hesitant about placing an order for an item that may need to be returned, you may want to call them. This isn’t something that I checked out before I made the purchase because I knew that the games would get some action and if the brood didn’t like them, they’d make up their own games with them. If it’s the least bit fun or educational, they’ll recycle a game over and over. Most sites offer you a 30 or 60 day window to return an item, not here! The skeptic in me couldn’t resist calling after I received my order and there is indeed an open ended return policy. Don’t believe me? Give them a call at [800] 233-1720 and ask them about it.
The Bottom Line
I was pretty impressed with the selection that they offered, the prices, shipping fees and delivery time. If I had to voice one complaint it would be that there are some lags when the pages are loading and if you start clicking on an item before it loads, it does tend to get a little frustrating when it flips to another page. Outside of that, this is a great site that I look forward to shopping at in the future. While Target, Wal-Mart and K-Mart may carry the more popular games, Board Games Express carries the off the wall titles, hard to find games and all those Monopoly editions! If you are looking to expand your board game selection, looking for a gift or just want to pick up some games for the kiddies, this is a great site to use. You won’t get killed with the shipping fees, the games are packed well and arrive pretty quick for ground delivery. Two freaky thumbs up for Board Games Express!
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2004 Freak369
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Recommended:
Yes
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