I recently ordered a base for a Remington M700 SA from Midway. They sent a package that said Remington 700SA but the base was inscribed Savage
SA LH. Naturally is wouldn't fit.

So I e-mailed Midway requesting a return shipping label. I expected them to ship the correct item and enclose a return shipping label for the one that they incorrectly sent. Instead I get an e-mail telling me to ship it back at my expense as they don't send out return shipping labels!


Whose fricking fault was this? Now after probably 20 years of doing business with them I may just get my stuff else where.

And that's the way is is.

I am constantly amazed that Midway continues to thrive. They do everything possible to be a pain in the ass to their customers.

Midway sucks in every facet of there business.
I would like to see them survive on the same markup that they expect dealers to.

James

They absolutely refuse to sell a Canadian so much as a paper clip, and won't and can't explain themselves when they refuse to do so.

Pretty easy fix really. Just contest the charges on the credit card and wait to see what Midway tells you to do.
When I get a incorrect or damaged item and the company will not pay return charges I always conterst, and have always won.

What Snowwolfe said, plus one!!

Then ask them what your time is worth to repack, take the item to the PO and return it.

After the dust settles, then tell them you posted the initial conversation on every hunting/shooting website you know.

Rich
nothing wrong with spreading a wee bit of hate and discontent when it's warranted.

I would send Larry Potterfield an e-mail as well, I have a couple of times, and he actually responded both times....they piss me off sometimes too, but I think they are a long way from sucking in every aspect of their business. They have a hell of an inventory, and they ship quickly with well packaged merchandise IME. They are often a few bucks higher than other folks, but sometimes cheaper too...I use others, but nobody ships quicker for me than them, and their website is pretty darn good.

Their decision on how to manage your situation is BS, and you need to let someone further up the line know about it, their FU should not cost you a penny!

Sorry to hear about your trouble.

As for me, I've never had any problems out of Midway, and I've bought a lot of stuff from them, and returned or exchanged some stuff too.

KB

quote:

Originally posted by Fish30114:
I would send Larry Potterfield an e-mail as well, I have a couple of times, and he actually responded both times....they piss me off sometimes too, but I think they are a long way from sucking in every aspect of their business. They have a hell of an inventory, and they ship quickly with well packaged merchandise IME. They are often a few bucks higher than other folks, but sometimes cheaper too...I use others, but nobody ships quicker for me than them, and their website is pretty darn good.

Their decision on how to manage your situation is BS, and you need to let someone further up the line know about it, their FU should not cost you a penny!

Have you tried ordering anything from Natchez Shooters Supply now thats fast shipping.

James

I like they're A&B barrels for the money. Most of they're other "In-House" brand stuff is just junk. I bought a Wheeler sight pusher a while back and after using it a couple of times it bent. It's made out of aluminum and they no longer list it. When I called Midway about it they referred me to Wheeler. Ended up paying a few more dollars for a Williams from Brownell's. Midway does have a large inventory but too often the stuff is out of stock. They even have their monthly flyers come out with sale items out of stock. They do ship fast but I think they rape you for the shipping charges. Paul.

Remember when they didn't even charge any shipping? The price in the paper used to be what you paid.

"That is the way it should be"
Louis

quote:

Originally posted by weaveman:

Have you tried ordering anything from Natchez Shooters Supply now thats fast shipping.

James

James, I have, and they were qbout the same as getting out as Midway, at least according to their e-mail ship notification, but for some reason took longer to get to me in GA--but boy oh boy, I tried to return something once, unopened, just not to my liking when I saw it in person, and they gave me a great big FU I tried very patiently, and calmly talking to several different folks, and finally was told no too many times, and I just took it to a local retailer, told him the story, and he gave me a credit for it in his shop. He gets all the business I can give him for stuff he carries! Hadn't tried Natchez since--almost did when I saw some small rifle primers there about 3 months ago, but when I got to the computer, they were sold out already

Use Midway only as a last resort!

Diff'rent strokes I guess. I buy almost exclusively from Midway and never have a gripe. If I need components in volume I'll take advantage of lower prices from other vendors. But I'm usually ordering a mishmash of dies, mounts, bushings, bullets etc. I take a few weeks adding to my 'cart' piece by piece, then will buy when I get a coupon email.
Optics I most always buy 2nd hand on the various forums, or dirt cheap through the local online adverts.

The key with Midway is not accepting the first answer if you don't like it. Midway has been very accommodating with me when I have had troubles with anything. Emailing Larry gets you excellent treatment. I had a tumbler take a crap. I emailed and they sent me really small tumbler not even close to what I had as they no longer made the tumbler that died. I emailed Larry within a day I had a response to keep the tumbler and a refund was issued for the full retail price of the original tumbler. Not bad considering I had the tumbler for nearly ten years. I have received damaged or incorrect merchandise and I have always been reimbursed for shipping. So just stay on them til they make things right. Sure they should make things right without having to bitch. But unlike a lot of companies bitching will still get you somewhere with Midway.

quote:

I had a tumbler take a crap. I emailed and they sent me really small tumbler not even close to what I had as they no longer made the tumbler that died. I emailed Larry within a day I had a response to keep the tumbler and a refund was issued for the full retail price of the original tumbler. Not bad considering I had the tumbler for nearly ten years.

Let me get this straight, you had a tumbler for 10 FRIGGING years and it goes tits up and you go back to the retailer? Give me a break. Did it carry a lifetime warranty?

10 years is nothing.

40 year old set of Craftsman wrenches and sockets, rusted out do to years of neglect...took them back to Sears and got a brand new tool set.

30 year old set of RCBS dies, sent them back to RCBS for polishing and they sent me a new set.

25 year old LL Bean boots went back for new soles...they don't make those soles any more so they sent me new boots.

20 year old scope went back to Leupold for repair and they sent me a new and improved version.

15 year old Sage rod, broke it and sent it back for a free replacement (more than once I might add). Loomis does the same thing (more than once I might add).

15 year old Swarovski Binos...beat to cr#p...sent them in for repair and got a replacement pair for $200.

Sporting goods makers generally treat their customers more than fairly. I surely can't say that about appliance and auto makers.

quote:

Originally posted by Gatogordo:

quote:

I had a tumbler take a crap. I emailed and they sent me really small tumbler not even close to what I had as they no longer made the tumbler that died. I emailed Larry within a day I had a response to keep the tumbler and a refund was issued for the full retail price of the original tumbler. Not bad considering I had the tumbler for nearly ten years.

Let me get this straight, you had a tumbler for 10 FRIGGING years and it goes tits up and you go back to the retailer? Give me a break. Did it carry a lifetime warranty?

It was an original Midway brand tumbler. Midway brand products had a lifetime guarantee. Midway no longer brands anything midway. It is now frankford arsenal. The tumbler they sent me was the smallest frankford arsenal they make. They very easily could of blown off the lifetime warranty since the Midway brand is no more.

Zappos, not that they carry gun stuff, but customer service is NO 1 with them, look into their philosophies and their hiring practices sometimes. amazing. I think all companies should follow their example.

My local shop same way, if they fix your gun and years later the same thing is the problem, they take care of it for you.

for any of you that like car stuff, Summit Racing has been fantastic with me in this regard as well. And I make sure when somebody treats me fair they get enough business from me to compensate them.

Red

Just an update. I did send an e-mail to Mr. Potterfield. I got an e-mail back saying he is busy and doesn't have time to respond personally. They will reimburse me for the return shipping. So in the meantime I still don't have my mount. Maybe Brownell's has one in stock.

Dear M16:

You are making the right move.

I shifted most of my purchases from Midway USA to Brownells over the past 2-3 years.

Brownells customer service is delightful.

Sincerely,

Chris Bemis

quote:

10 years is nothing.

40 year old set of Craftsman wrenches and sockets, rusted out do to years of neglect...took them back to Sears and got a brand new tool set.

30 year old set of RCBS dies, sent them back to RCBS for polishing and they sent me a new set.

25 year old LL Bean boots went back for new soles...they don't make those soles any more so they sent me new boots.

20 year old scope went back to Leupold for repair and they sent me a new and improved version.

15 year old Sage rod, broke it and sent it back for a free replacement (more than once I might add). Loomis does the same thing (more than once I might add).

15 year old Swarovski Binos...beat to cr#p...sent them in for repair and got a replacement pair for $200.

In the future do you intend to try this with the wife?

I'm Larry Potterfield, and that's the way it is..........beotch.

Larry doesn't have time to listen to his customers. The response from Midway.


Dear Larry,

Thank you for your recent correspondence with Larry. I am sorry it has taken a while to respond-Larry's been swamped with emails since the election results and typically has several hundreds of emails waiting for responses. Between his other obligations (like the SHOT show) and his daily duties producing the TV vignettes it takes him a while to get through them. He has personally asked me to follow up with you.

We apologize, you received the incorrect base in the correct packaging. Unfortunately, we no longer have this product in stock to be able to check to see if all of our bases were packaged the same way or if one just slipped through QC at EGW. We do not have a way to send call tags for packages, we apologize for this inconvenience. We do refund the return shipping charge back to your card once the item is received. We do not expect you to pay for the expense without being reimbursed. We would be happy to accept this return for credit, refund or exchange. Once received back the shipping cost will automatically be refunded back to your credit card you used to place the order. We apologize for any confusion and inconvenience.

I was pretty much done with Midway after I received a 'new' set of RCBS dies with the threads bunged up on the sizer die.

Their response?

I needed to contact RCBS and get it taken care of.

Grafs and Brownells for me from now on......

quote:

We do not have a way to send call tags for packages, we apologize for this inconvenience. We do refund the return shipping charge back to your card once the item is received. We do not expect you to pay for the expense without being reimbursed. We would be happy to accept this return for credit, refund or exchange. Once received back the shipping cost will automatically be refunded back to your credit card you used to place the order. We apologize for any confusion and inconvenience.

I'm not apologizing for Midway, but what else do you expect them to do? They said they'd refund your return shipping costs and cost of item. You can always vote with you money and not do business there again, but in this case, I think they're being pretty fair. We all make mistakes and when you've got as many items as they do, I'm sure it is not uncommon.

Dear Gatogordo,

I run a service business and we make mistakes. When something happens that is our fault I make sure it gets taken care of even if it costs me money. If I don't have an item in stock I will provide them with one at a higher cost for the same price. I wouldn't dream of having my customers ship something back to me on their own dime. Why don't they have a way to send a call tag?

Here's my beef. I had to pack and ship at my expense due to their mistake when they could have shipped the correct or similar product with a call tag to return the incorrect one. Now I have to pay shipping on another order that wouldn't have been necessary. Did they offer to send the correct product and ship for free? Hopefully you can see where the added expense comes in.

I am still out the $12 or so dollars from the original shipment of a part I couldn't use.

As far as some of the other "return" posts above goes, I guess I'm not as hard core as some are in enforcing guarantees. IF a company uses it as a major selling point, such as Sear's Craftsman tools or Leupold's scopes then I have no problem with people using those guarantees. OTOH, personally I subscribe to sentiments of the Rotarian (I am not a Rotarian just to be clear)

Four Way Test of the things we Think, Say or Do:

First, Is it the TRUTH?
Second, Is it FAIR to ALL Concerned?
Third, Will it Build GOODWILL and Better Friendships?
Fourth, Will it be BENEFICIAL to ALL Concerned?

(Thinking on it, I might fall a bit short in the "say" area, especially in the ARPF. )

I want to be quite clear that I'm not being critical of anyone who has posted in this thread, everyone has their own set of values. I use the "fairness" pricipal in most of what I do. I try to always ask myself, "Is it fair?", regardless of what my actual remedies might be. If I've gotten good service out of something for 10 years, which is probably a reasonable expectation of its usable life, then I wouldn't send it back if it quit working, but, to repeat, that's me. Same thing with fishing rods, if I break them, through some stupidity on my part, I'm not sending them back. I don't think that's what I would call fair, even if it is part of the selling point of the item. OTOH, if a rod broke due to a flaw in construction, then sending it back is perfectly reasonable. Some companies and some representatives of those companies go out of their way to be fair or way beyond fair to the customers as well, so it works both ways. As mentioned above, LL Bean is a fine example of the latter.

quote:

Originally posted by M16:
Dear Gatogordo,

I run a service business and we make mistakes. When something happens that is our fault I make sure it gets taken care of even if it costs me money. If I don't have an item in stock I will provide them with one at a higher cost for the same price. I wouldn't dream of having my customers ship something back to me on their own dime. Why don't they have a way to send a call tag?

Here's my beef. I had to pack and ship at my expense due to their mistake when they could have shipped the correct or similar product with a call tag to return the incorrect one. Now I have to pay shipping on another order that wouldn't have been necessary. Did they offer to send the correct product and ship for free? Hopefully you can see where the added expense comes in.

I am still out the $12 or so dollars from the original shipment of a part I couldn't use.

Again, I'm not apologizing for Midway, nor do I care if you ever use them again, I personally have a VERY LOW opinion of Potterfield and his ethics, but doesn't this part of the reply you posted from Midway answer all of your complaints? Just because they don't have a system (return call tag) that would suit you doesn't mean they are not being reasonable AND they clearly state they no longer have the item in stock. The only added expense that I see you have is the actual packing and shipping or the item to be returned, not costs of shipping.

quote:

We apologize, you received the incorrect base in the correct packaging. Unfortunately, we no longer have this product in stock to be able to check to see if all of our bases were packaged the same way or if one just slipped through QC at EGW. We do not have a way to send call tags for packages, we apologize for this inconvenience. We do refund the return shipping charge back to your card once the item is received. We do not expect you to pay for the expense without being reimbursed. We would be happy to accept this return for credit, refund or exchange. Once received back the shipping cost will automatically be refunded back to your credit card you used to place the order. We apologize for any confusion and inconvenience.

Years ago I was a very frequent Midway shopper. This was the days when the shipping price was already figured in. Not free shipping. Then with no notice, shipping fee became separate. People grumbled and Larry Potterfield responded it was his business and he could do as he chooses. All well and good. I think a customer oriented business would have given advance notice. But here is what made me decide to NEVER buy there again. Those people that had items on backorder would now be charged shipping. They had an agreement--they had purchased at the price and now would be charged more. I have no idea how many customers were ripped off--but this expense should have been Larry Potterfields. Shortly after this, Potterfield's flyer showed him preparing for his safari. Rip off customers and go on vacation. I decided yes it's Potterfield and he can do whatever---but it's my money and I can spend wherever and not one penny to Midway since.

Never had a problem with midway. always quick delivery, service, and pricing seems pretty fair when comparing to others.

I will use them again.

Gato,

Let me try this one more time.

You order an item and shipping is $12.
The item sent is the wrong one.
You return the item.
The company credits you for the return shipping
cost but not the orginal shipping cost.

Bottom line is you are still out the original shipping cost of $12 and the cost of packing and taking the item to the shipping place.

Now if you can't understand that I'll just have to give up trying to explain where the bitch is.

I understand it perfectly. I agree.

I deal with returns for products I've purchased here at work, computer related items. vendors always send me boxes with tags, I put the item in their packaging, seal it, and put the tag on. all I'm out is the cost of a little tape. that's how it should be.

Red

Ok, now I see what you're saying, but I'm not sure they won't refund your total order cost. Where does it say that? BTW if it cost $12 to ship a base, then I wouldn't have ordered it from them to start with, seems kind of outrageous to me.

quote:

Originally posted by M16:
I run a service business and we make mistakes.

You have every right to spend your $$$ wherever you see fit.

However, and I'm not sticking up for Potterfield or his business, but I don't think his returns policy hides the fact that you need to pack up wrong or damaged goods and ship them back on your dime until they get around to credit you. That's the way it is. You'd still have to pack it up even if they sent a return shipping label. So that point is moot.

Midway didn't manufacture the part; they're just the distribution hub for, I'm going out on a limb here and say, tens of thousands of individual parts. They don't inspect every piece to make sure it's made, marked and packaged correctly. Perhaps a business of your size can do that but Midway's way too big to do it.

Midway claims that 99% of orders are shipped the same day. I've had orders take longer for them to email me with the tracking number. Did I grumble about it? You bet! Did I call their customer service to find out why? You bet! When you do the amount of daily business as Midway does, some orders are bound to fall between the cracks...I once ordered 1000 bulk 44 caliber pistol bullets for my revolver...what showed up were for a 45 ACP...that box, and I was informed later, hundreds of other boxes were mis-labeled. Midway relied on their vendor to mark the contents properly. I couldn't blame Midway. And that was a heavy box to lug to the post office and ship back to Missouri. But I finally got things straightened out and got reimbursed. But not for the gasoline and wear and tear on my vehicle, nor my time. That's the way it is.

Over the years, ~6 other problems cropped up; none being my fault. They all got rectified in my favor. So I bite my lip and keep doing business with them cause their good attributes outweigh their faults.

I know I've thought this before. I might have even said it before on this forum: MidwayUSA won't go out of business because they lost you (or me) as a customer. They'll always be someone else to take your place.

Regards the change away from free shipping: you must know it was included in the price. Those that live far from Columbia, Missouri made out like a bandit...those that live much closer subsidized your shipping costs. It wasn't that fair for them, now was it? About the only thing Midway could do is have multiple shipping points like Summit Racing. And I like Summit's website better than Jeg's. We make choices every day. That's the way it is.

I never tire of hearing Larry say, "Thanks for your business."

I've never had problems with Midway.

I think the last response from customer service is fair.

I've met Potterfield at the Tulsa Gun Show several years ago - he's a great guy.

Anybody that thinks there is such a thing as free shipping is dreaming. There are no free lunches.

In this particular case, I am wondering if Midway completely understands the reason for the return. I can see where they would require a person to pay for return shipping if the person just wanted to return the part. I believe they should definitely have to pay the cost of return shipping if they sent the wrong part.

I would make absolutely sure they know that they sent the wrong part, which is why they should have to pay for its return.

A friend called me today and said his package he ordered from midway was shipped out using ups. now he gets a card in the mail and he has to go to the post office to pick it up. Some new deal midway has with ups and the post office. So not only is he going to get the card in the mail the day after it gets to the post office he has to drive to the post office to pick it up in person, and he has to drive 20 miles to do all this on top of what he paid for shipping. All that for one set of reloading dies.

I think ol Larry Potterfield is on the pipe again!

Midway has always been and will continue to be my supplier of choice. They have consistenly done a good job for me over many years. Don't get pissed at Larry just because he's living the American dream the American way, thru free enterprise.

I have never had a problem with Midway or Midsouth shooters supply. They have always been prompt in shipping, although too damn high on the prices like the rest of the world.