A different type of Gouging

[shortcircuit]

These days when demand is bigger than usual, have you encountered vendors that have some of the merchandise marked as in stock, they charge your CC the moment the order is placed, and than you find out that the delivery is weeks from now "in case everything runs as it should be"?

I had this happen twice up to this point.

Palmetto and Mako group.

Any other out there, that are sitting on your money while you wait for them to deliver the goods?
And btw, I really do believe that the amount of orders is out of ordinary, and I'm really wondering what are the shipping when almost everything is OOS

[Eric]

Just be aware that many vendors will send the charge to the CC and it will show up as "processing" or something similar, which confirms for them that the funds are available. I have a couple of those showing right now. If the item does not ship or is unavailable, the charge drops off. However, if you have an issue it's fairly easy to file a dispute with the CC company. I had to do that with Botach.

Also, topic moved as this does not belong in the AR15 discussion.

[shortcircuit]

I know what you are saying. It is not the case. The money are gone, and debit cards operate differently, it is not easy to put a stop 10 days after the initial charge.

[UWone77]

PSA charges your card the minute you order for the full amount. They are only one of few that I can think of that does this.... but the last time I ordered from them, they managed to ship within 30 days, which is *good* for them.

[Stickman]

I am continually dumbfounded that people will throw money at some companies that have shown over and over that they are nothing but problems. Due to the ties I have in the industry, I'm not going to start naming them, but there are companies that flat out lie over and over, and people continue to make excuses for them. Typically people make apologies because they are embarrassed to tied to garbage.

There are plenty of dealers and distributors that are honest, priced decent, ship quickly and are truthful about what they have and when you can expect to get it.

[todd.k]

1) You should not go by delivery date, because it will vary by how far away you are and how fast of shipping you chose.

2) You should expect your order to ship in a reasonable time frame. Most reputable online sellers have a disclaimer on the time to process and ship with the current demand, as long as they are upfront about it a week or two is not unreasonable right now.

3) Places that charge for backordered items without telling you they are backordered should be avoided.

[UWone77]

1) You should not go by delivery date, because it will vary by how far away you are and how fast of shipping you chose.

2) You should expect your order to ship in a reasonable time frame. Most reputable online sellers have a disclaimer on the time to process and ship with the current demand, as long as they are upfront about it a week or two is not unreasonable right now.

3) Places that charge for backordered items without telling you they are backordered should be avoided.

Todd,

I almost wish you guys took backorders, because John is a guy I'd let hold my money for 9 months before I saw a 13" NSR :)

[csmith]

I am continually dumbfounded that people will throw money at some companies that have shown over and over that they are nothing but problems. Due to the ties I have in the industry, I'm not going to start naming them, but there are companies that flat out lie over and over, and people continue to make excuses for them. Typically people make apologies because they are embarrassed to tied to garbage.

There are plenty of dealers and distributors that are honest, priced decent, ship quickly and are truthful about what they have and when you can expect to get it.

Not everyone knows those companies you're referring to (though I can reasonably assume Palmetto State is one), and because people tend to be hesitant to discuss how poorly a business treated them the rest of us don't have a clue. I have been shopping at Cheaper Than Dirt for the better part of a year. I didn't know until this most recent magazine debacle they had a running history of similar behavior.

[Rodman24]

Public Service Announcement

It's clear that some choose to grow their business on a low margin, high volume sales basis. And when you're committed to growing at break-neck speed it takes a bit of courage to let off the gas to solve CS and QC problems. Low prices will generate sales, but good service and solid practices will build a solid business. Simply placing a few orders from Rainier, G&R, Brownell's, BCM, etc. would show them how it's done.