[sleepergun]

What did you get from Tozando? I've had the opposite experience -- great stuff and practically immediate shipping from Tozando, and, as I've said, such atrocious experience from Aoi that I'll never buy from them again. I'm curious if there are particular things one store is good for versus another.

I've ordered a number of things from them, including custom iaito, Sankei madake shinai, etc. The common thread in my orders, if you're looking for one, is that all of these items were listed as requiring a crafting time; i.e., no "in stock" or immediate-availability items. Unfortunately, the actual crafting times never matched the times listed on their website. I have no complaint with the quality of their items (well, the tsuka-ito is getting loose on my iaito ...), and they offer things you can't seem to get elsewhere online.

The short of it is, with Aoi make sure whatever you want is in stock. Confirm it by phone or e-mail, don't trust their web site accounting. Then, no problems.

Well, as I said, I've actually ordered custom and out-of-stock items from them, and they've always contacted me promptly to confirm shipping times, offer replacements, etc., and even on custom orders their shipping was timely. I'm not trying to defend them in the face of the poor experiences people have had here, but my personal experiences have not yet suggested to me anything but good service and reliability.

It's unlikely that I'll ever order an iaito from them, however