Rouser
Proud Eastern Shoreman
I just wanted to share this story about Brownells with the rest of the community here. I have always had a pretty good experience with them until now, even though they are a little slow on shipping.
A couple of weeks ago on Febrary 13, I got an email from Brownells about a sale on ammo. I didn't see the email until the next morning, Valentine's Day. One of the items on sale in the email for that day only was some Federal XM855 Green Tip ammo. It was a good sale at 40 cents a round so I got online and placed an order for 600 rounds and two other items. Everything went fine and the ammo was shown as "In Stock". A little while later I got a confirmation email that confirmed all of my items, including the ammo, was waiting for shipment.
The next day I saw an item on the internet that said the ATF had issued a memo Friday night (the 13th) stating they were looking at the possiblity of banning the XM855 ammo and was seeking input. Ok, I thought I'll bet there's gonna be a rush to buy this ammo, but I was good cause I had already placed my order and all was good. WRONG!!
On Monday, the 16th, I got a shipment email from Brownells telling me my order was about to ship that day. The only problem was that Brownells email showed one of my items had been CANCELLED by the company. The other two minor items were still good but the ammo was cancelled. It's important to note they cancellled the ammo, they did not backorder it. I called Brownells and spoke to their customer service. They told me that it was out of stock. I questioned how that could be since the company confirmed to me the ammo was in stock, twice! Customer Service said their order computer sometimes does not communicate with their warehouse computer. Ok, then backorder the ammo since I didn't need it at a specific date. No, they would not do that and offered no explanation why not. So the ammo order was simply cancelled even though they made an offer to sell, I accepted the offer and provided payment. So I cancelled the rest of the order as well.
I can't help believe they saw the ATF news and decided that there would be a buying frenzy and that supply and demand would allow them to push the price of their existing stock up by a good bit, thereby giving them a good windfall of profit. I think any well known supplier with integrity would have said Ok, we screwed up and the ammo went out of stock before we could stop the orders, but we will put it on backorder until we can get some in stock and send it to you at that time, whenever that is. But no, the order was just cancelled. Even if ATF does eventually ban this ammo it will take some time and there is a good bit in the supply lines now. They will eventually get more, almost every one else has it for sale but at almost twice the price before the ATF memo. I just think they screwed me for the extra money.
Based on this action on their part, Brownells has lost integrity in my eyes. I wonder how many other people got the same story.
Rant Over.
A couple of weeks ago on Febrary 13, I got an email from Brownells about a sale on ammo. I didn't see the email until the next morning, Valentine's Day. One of the items on sale in the email for that day only was some Federal XM855 Green Tip ammo. It was a good sale at 40 cents a round so I got online and placed an order for 600 rounds and two other items. Everything went fine and the ammo was shown as "In Stock". A little while later I got a confirmation email that confirmed all of my items, including the ammo, was waiting for shipment.
The next day I saw an item on the internet that said the ATF had issued a memo Friday night (the 13th) stating they were looking at the possiblity of banning the XM855 ammo and was seeking input. Ok, I thought I'll bet there's gonna be a rush to buy this ammo, but I was good cause I had already placed my order and all was good. WRONG!!
On Monday, the 16th, I got a shipment email from Brownells telling me my order was about to ship that day. The only problem was that Brownells email showed one of my items had been CANCELLED by the company. The other two minor items were still good but the ammo was cancelled. It's important to note they cancellled the ammo, they did not backorder it. I called Brownells and spoke to their customer service. They told me that it was out of stock. I questioned how that could be since the company confirmed to me the ammo was in stock, twice! Customer Service said their order computer sometimes does not communicate with their warehouse computer. Ok, then backorder the ammo since I didn't need it at a specific date. No, they would not do that and offered no explanation why not. So the ammo order was simply cancelled even though they made an offer to sell, I accepted the offer and provided payment. So I cancelled the rest of the order as well.
I can't help believe they saw the ATF news and decided that there would be a buying frenzy and that supply and demand would allow them to push the price of their existing stock up by a good bit, thereby giving them a good windfall of profit. I think any well known supplier with integrity would have said Ok, we screwed up and the ammo went out of stock before we could stop the orders, but we will put it on backorder until we can get some in stock and send it to you at that time, whenever that is. But no, the order was just cancelled. Even if ATF does eventually ban this ammo it will take some time and there is a good bit in the supply lines now. They will eventually get more, almost every one else has it for sale but at almost twice the price before the ATF memo. I just think they screwed me for the extra money.
Based on this action on their part, Brownells has lost integrity in my eyes. I wonder how many other people got the same story.
Rant Over.
The first sentence says it all.
