Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that Midway just doesn't seem to care anymore. Notably the last two years they seemed to have slipped in the customer service dept. If you have a question they cannot answer it all they do is read back the item description to you. Called them up the other day with a question on a Jewell trigger($200) I purchased. The guy answering the phone could not answer my question but respond with "Just send it back and we will refund your money". I am sure Potterfield would love to know that. Anyway I called Brownell's spoke with one of their guys and problem solved. This is not the first but the most recent and most could not careless attitude from them. I just returned a limbsaver pad for a model 70 woodstock that according to them would fit, not even close. The 5" Beretta is almost a custom fit for my gun, you would not believe the BS I received from them on this. Plus limbsaver has an excellent website you can match you gun to. I do not recall seeing this mentioned on the midway site. I only found it on the packaging with the pad.
Anyway ,I am definetly looking aroung to purchase my items from other places first before I spend anymore money with them.

Has anyone else noticed this too?
Wayne

I noticed that too, and, I noticed their pricing makes it almost cost-prohibitive to shop there.

IMHO, they've become too large and their reach exceeds their grasp. When they did the pulp catalog, their pricing was rock-bottom and you got someone knowlegable when you called.

They went through this phase of alternating catalogs, in which half their stuff was in this month's catalog, the other half will be in next month's issue. Next thing you know, they have this big, glossy book that is fully equal to Cabelas or BassPro annuals, glossy prices too, half the stuff is 'out of stock' (drop-shipped if BO'ed) and ya just can't deal with them anymore.

GunStop.com
Bruno's
Graffs
Precision Reloading
Sinclair (high too, but know their sh!t)

To name a couple other guys in the game . . .

I've only needed to contact their customer dis-service department once because of insufficient info on the product pages.

They offer replacement cylinders for Uberti and Pietta blackpowder revolvers that convert the 44 caliber cap and ball to fire 45 Colt cowboy loads. I emailed them to ask what is the diameter of the forcing cones of these cylinders, knowing that the wrong size would affect accuracy. The reply just restated the same limited info as already on their product page.

I emailed Potterfield and told him I didn't NEED to buy those $250 cylinders or any other of his products. I never got a reply so do very little business with them any more. Graf's is my first choice now.

Things seem to have changed for the worse since they lost their lawsuit with Brownells.

Also try Midsouth, decent prices at least.

I buy from Midway, perhaps every other month and have experienced no problems at all.

Free market, I buy from Midway when it suits me, usually sale items or something specific I can't find else where. The internet makes price shopping a lot easier, just start typing.

I expierence no problems either if I just boxes of bullets or other no brainer type items. But any time I have needed to call lately ( in the last year) they can not help you. Yes their prices have gone up. For most items they are just a little cheaper than Cabela's (.50) on bullets. Plus I have a Cabela's card that I run my business on I get about a hundered dollars a month in free stuff on it. Yes I pay the card off every month.

I have purchased from Midouth before good expierence. Will look into the others as things come up.

Wayne

I mostly order from Midway, Sinclair and Brownell's, and I've never had a problem though I've never asked Midway any technical questions.

I use Midsouth for most of my little stuff, and Graf's next. The only orders I give Midway is when they have closeout prices that can't be beat anywhere. I bought boxes of Woodlieghs and XLC's for less than 1/3 of shelf prices.
The shipping has gone way up and they now require a minimum order.

I'd rather use a local shop. By the time you place an order, wait for the backordered items, and pay the shipping, the local guys don't really have that bad of prices. Nate

I haven't had any problems w/ them though theire shipping seems higher than others at times.

Reloader

I've not had any problems from Midway but Sinclair certainly knows how to answer questions.

When I first started doing business with Midway, (Were there really dinosaurs still around then, Daddy?), their CS was great. They could answer technical questions for you, and if you even hinted that you had a problem with something you bought from them, there was a call tag, an apology, and a new item on its way to you. No longer.
I ordered some stuff last fall and one of the items was not up to my expectations. I wrote them a nice polite email about the item in question and my dismay at its poor quality. I'm still waiting for a response three months later. Something tells me they're not going to answer, you think?
I will still buy closeouts and specials from them on an as needed basis if and only if the prices are lower than I can find elsewhere, but as someone who has been a loyal and steady customer for many years, I feel like an old friend has gone.

I no longer order from Midway, but recently I have worked on some materials that other bought there.

They are stil bad.

I buy 90% from Midsouth now. Never have had a problem with Midway, but I find Midsouth is 5% to 7% less expensive.

I shop around and buy what I want from whoever offers the best overall deal. Sometimes its Midway, sometimes not. Never can I recall a time when I was dissatisfied with their service or their prices. When I had to make a return, I was properly treated and when I had a question, it was properly answered.

I've never had to ask anyone at Midway any questions about anything technical because I do most of my own work and understand what it is I want. Usually when I order something, its just because I need the part or material - but I already know what I'm after before hand. The only time I've had to call anyone (who wasn't a friend who did gunsmithing) to get answer about something technical, the man at Brownell's was extremely helpful. I called Brownell's because I had ordered the part from them knowing that they had gunsmiths working the product information desk. They do advertise that. Midway makes no such advertisements so I order from only when I know exactly what I need. They're no different than most other retailers in that regard.

Now what really tickles me about Midway USA is when I read someone bitching and moaning about Midway's small order charge for orders under $25. Hello? You didn't happen to read the notice about that? And yet you paid it anyway? Don't cry me about it. Shop around or don't complain...

Add me to the list of folks who are very happy with Midway.

I usually comparision shop and then compare shipping rates.

I just placed an order with Midway yesterday, and compared the prices with Graffs. Midway was about $1.75 cheaper over all. But that was just bullets and die parts.

For something more out of the ordinary, I go with Natchez, Grafs, or Midsouth.

I don't order from them anymore.

Things are not as they were at Midway, but they still provide quality service when there is a problem. When you get an automatic return offer, they must know they have problems too. I use midsouth, Graf and Sons, Natchez and Weidners too. Ya know, I was just complaining to my wife the other day about my old favorite ice cream...not as good as it used to be!!...and my pants are a little tight too...maybe it's me.

I got a bit pissed when I received a sizing die for my 44mag that had the threads bunged and when I called Midway, they pretty much told me to take it up with RCBS, and if I sent it to them, they would send it to RCBS and it would be weeks before I received anything back. Grrrrrr.....

I dropped them from my favorites, deleted it from from my mail program and have stopped taking their mail.
They never had anything in stock, or were able to help you, They had all sorts of "gimmicks" -, to get you to buy, then never had anything to sell. Crap, if I didn't have it in stock, I'd sell it for half as much....

There are to many other places that are hungry for you dollars to put up with them......

I found my last scope and base, rings, etc. for nearly $200 less as compared to Midway prices.
Sometimes I do use them as a starting point to know how much less I can find them elsewhere.

AI22-250 wrote: "They never had anything in stock..."

I've been ordering from them since the early days and don't recall a single instance when an item wasn't in stock. And now with the website, you can check to see if the product you want is actually in inventory.

True, some of their prices are NOT the best around, so for certain items, I do shop elsewhere. But some of their sales are superb.

In fact, I just bought a number of boxes of COmbined Technology .30 caliber, 150 grain Partition Gold bullets -- for the super price of $4.99 per box.

quote:

Originally posted by AI22-250:
They never had anything in stock

Funny how that has never happened to me. I can look at their website and see backorder status immediately.

If you want good prices get yourself a C&R licence, send it to midway and I can guarantee you that 80% of the time midway will be considerably cheaper than anyone else. If I see something used for sale, or a company that claims something is on sale, I check my midway dealer account, to see if the price is really that great.

quote:

Funny how that has never happened to me. I can look at their website and see backorder status immediately.

That is true but when you place an order and one item is backordered why in the hell should you pay the extra shipping for the back ordered item? I just placed an order with Graf's because Midway had one item out of stock and I wasn't going to place an order and get charged for shipping twice. I will still buy from them but is one item is not in stock I will go elsewhere.

This may be a dumb question but what is a C&R license?

Oh yeah another very happy midway customer. Although I have never asked them any techinacal questions.

quote:

Originally posted by Jarrod:
This may be a dumb question but what is a C&R license?

Oh yeah another very happy midway customer. Although I have never asked them any techinacal questions.

its a collector of curios and Relics, it allows you to have any firearm over 50 years old shipped directly to your home, there are also many other guns that are not over 50yrs old that you can have shipped, its basically an FFL that allowes you to collect, buy, sell, etc guns that are C&R eligiable. It cost $35 for 3 years, well worth the money, My first midway order saves me that alone, With my midway discount, no one can touch their prices unless its and extreme mark down closeout item. I have to laugh many times I see people selling optics on this site, I check midway and I can get the item for cheaper or about the same as they are selling it used for

after using them for 17 years I can't get them to return e-mails to customer service. finally called them, not very happy with the results, looking for good alternatives to them, I shouldn't need a c&r to get decent prices either, I still buy from them when it is convenent but trying to find other sources.

today is sunday, and i just got a call from them telling me they had received the hs precision stock i had returned to them and they would be crediting my account. no problem, and no questions asked. i am and have been quite satisfied with their service, and plan to continue to use them. great specials, and usually have what i want in stock. life is good.......

Mostly I try to know something about what I'm ordering before I order anything from anywhere on line. The only problem I've had with Midway in the last 15 years is that they don'thave any 22 cal 55 grain winchester psp bullets and don't know when they're going to get any.

Their prices are as good as anybody's and I ALWAYS get stuff in 3 days.

I've never had even one little problem with Midway. I'm extremely happy with them and they have honored warrantees for me when even manufacturer's wouldn't.

They get about 95% of my business and they have certainly earned that.

I don't know if anybody else has noticed it or not but it seems that ALL Winchester products are quietly disappearing since the notice of the closing of the New Haven plant.

I suspect that the problem is much more deeply rooted than we can see and I wouldn't be surprized to find Winchester as we know it disappearing completely.

Olin owns the Winchester name and next year it reverts back to them and I haven't heard of anyone trying to get it from them.

Brass and bullets especially are quickly disappearing and some suppliers have even stopped taking backorders. I just bought a BUNCH of Winchester brass for my hunting and varmint rifles.

$bob$

quote:

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that Midway just doesn't seem to care anymore. Notably the last two years they seemed to have slipped in the customer service dept.

As companies grow they have new employees that must go through a learning curve. Yes it’s just like the place that many of you work. There are people that care and do a good job. Then there are those that don't do much more than occupy a chair between smoke breaks. In fact your probably better of when they are on break.

Now if these folks really did have much knowledge they wouldn't be on a phone working for Midway. Go to the gun counter at any Wally World (Wal-Mart) and see what kind of expertise you find. I’ll tell you it’s pathetic but you know the bottom line is cheap and their employer pays close to minimum wage. It’s not rocket science what your going to wind up with.

I’ve been shopping at Midway since the 80’s and seems I’m getting what I pay for. I will say I don’t think their prices are as competitive as they once were. The closeout and the inventory reduction items are still more than competitively priced.

I've been buying from Midway for 16 or so years. They are not what they werre. If you are ordering products with no specificity you are OK but nobody ther seems to have any knowledge of the products. If I want a person who knows I call Grafs. Sevral years ago when I was looking for 9.3 brass I called Grafs and the lady said "We're out of Norma brass but the Lapua is better and cheaper". That is the typical answer from them. Midway says "We're out. Don't know.. (Don't care either)."
Widners is not bad either if you can get them on the phone.

I started using Midway about sixteen years ago. Tapered off when they started charging shipping as a separate charge. Tapered off further when they got in a big pissing match with Brownell's. As I tapered off from Midway I tapered up on Midsouth. I like those folks a lot, as do I Weinders and others. I did just buy six boxes of .375 bullets from Midway as a very low price, but was astounded at the amount they charge for shipping.

Regarding customer service. They have always been reliable, but I just shop for the best deal that I can get.

quote:

Originally posted by cummins cowboy:
If you want good prices get yourself a C&R licence, send it to midway and I can guarantee you that 80% of the time midway will be considerably cheaper than anyone else. If I see something used for sale, or a company that claims something is on sale, I check my midway dealer account, to see if the price is really that great.

Hey Diesel Cowboy,
What is a C&R license? How much does cost?
Thanks
Jack

Don't ask Midway questions, and don't try and return anything. Other than that, I buy "everything" from them, knowing this going in. Service is GREAT. Same day shipping 99% of the time.

I haven't had any problems with Midway, but have had excellent service with Natchez Shooting Supply. They have some reloading equipment and other accessories at decent prices. I have never had a problem with Brownells either. www.natchezss.com

My problem is with the great paper cartridge boxes they have in all the catalogs and in every single monthly sale special. But they tell me every DAMN!!! month they dont have any, try at the end of the month.

Midway... either get some more or dont list them. They are even on the web site as (IN STOCK) but are NOT!!!