Air Gun Home :: View topic - What are online airgun sellers in the US not doing?

AirGunEric · Site Admin

Just curious what people in the US's opinions are on what online airgun sellers (i.e. Pyramyd/Cobra/whoever) are either not doing right, or could be doing that they're not doing currently?

rsterne · Moderator

I'm not in the US, but I have a couple of things that bug me.... When something isn't in stock at PA, they always seem have a date out 2 weeks.... When the date comes up, they move it out 2 more weeks.... They may do this 4-5 times, always moving it another 2 weeks.... Obviously, they either don't have a clue when they will have it, or if the first guess (or date given by the manufacturer) is wrong and they don't get it, they just move it out another 2 weeks.... sometimes for months....

If you have specified that you don't want part of the order shipped and to wait for everything to be in stock, and one of the items WAS in stock while they were waiting for the balance.... they WILL NOT hold the item for you.... More than once, I have had an order delayed further because item 1 was out of stock when item 2 finally got there.... so the order still didn't ship.... The item 2 was out of stock when item 1 came in again.... I have waited over 3 months on one occasion.... This was just for pellets, BTW....

In addition, but this is only important for Canadians, they refuse to ship via USPS, they will only use UPS or FedEx, which charge ridiculous brokerage fees.... IMO, this part of their customer service SUCKS.... Consequently, I only order from them when I can't get it elsewhere....

Bob

dobiman · Veteran Member

There seems to be a lack of references to airgun servicing on some PCP airguns they sell.

AirGunEric · Site Admin

OK- so what I'm hearing is; poor inventory management, unclear shipping policies (for international shipments) and lack of support on products.

Any other funky things that people have experienced?

toadmyster223 · Senior Member

I have only had positive experiences with them; When I make an order I somehow always manage to include a back-ordered item. They usually email me, but this time after I responded to half their email (regarding what to do with one backordered item but not the other,) a very pleasant lady named Ruth called and helped me replace the back-ordered pellets with an identical pellet sold under another name. I'm not international, so no comment on that- but I agree their stock forecasts are a little dishonest.

AirGunEric · Site Admin

This is not a specific thread on Pyramyd or anyone else- I would like to know where the shortcomings are with different vendors.

No offense to anyone- but I really don't care what peoples positive interactions are/were with vendors or hear debates on one vendor- that is not the question.

The question, just to state it again is: Where are online airgun vendors falling short?

redlock · Member

Since you only want the short comings here is one I find common with new sites run by older folks who want to start a home type business; and that is to set up a web site and email address to it and then ignore the damn thing. They either don't update their site for price/inventory or don't service the email account, i.e. don't answer messages quickly enough (once a week maybe). This is not common overall, but typical of a certain type of business owner.
Red.

rsterne · Moderator

I don't think that age has anything to do with it.... but I agree, a lot of smaller online vendors who are trying to expand their hobby into a business don't have a clue how to run a business or what customer service is....

Bob

toadmyster223 · Senior Member

Don't worry, I don't take offense to anything :P

rsterne · Moderator

Here is another gripe for you, Eric....

http://airgunhome.com/agforum/viewtopic.php?p=78522

Bob

AirGunEric · Site Admin

I saw that- and I think about the only thing I can suggest is that anyone with a "monopoly" or at least a perceived monopoly (i.e. they are perceived to be the only one with a specific product) may tend to be more flexible (for lack of a better term) in respect to ethics.

redlock · Member

rsterne · Moderator

Ohhhhhhhhh... I get it!.... Old = dumb.... and young = impatient....

When I was 15 I used to think my old man didn't know much either.... By the time I was 45 I was surprised how much he had learned in the past 30 years.... *wink*....

The above is my old, feeble attempt at humour, BTW....

Bob

SMP · Silver Status Member

AirGunEric · Site Admin

That must mean all of us middle-aged types must be perfect!

Razz

In respect to the "old timer business"- in my experience I believe it is a certain mindset on the vendor, as in "I want to do only x and y" but they don't communicate this as effectively as possible, so when people ask questions, they either unintentionally provide feeble replies, or ignore them as a result of it being outside their area of interest or business which is then perceived as a failure by potential customers. Then, the (most likely retired) person says- "you know, I really don't need this kind of hostility, so 'ef it, I'll just stop and do my own thing." The only real failure here is the person was perhaps not totally clear on their objectives when communicating to customers. Of course, some potential 'customers' just don't "get it" either- the number of people who go to webstores in other countries, look at a list of where the store will ship, don't find their country, so they write an email stating something like "your website is defective, it doesn't list my country" or "yer a dick 'cause you won't ship to me".