This is my experience with Wild West Gun of Anchorage AK.
Client talks to Wild West at one of the safari club shows and comes to me to place the order.
Client understood gun would be made and shipped out in a couple of months.
My invoice from WWG dated 2/16/05
Order is for Marlin Co-Pilot, 30-30 w/ grey laminated stock, stainless steel, 16 .5 " bbl. and standard length of pull.
Deposit pd. by cc.
I call about rifle on 7/14.
I call about rifle on 8/22
I call about rifle on 10/18 and am told "Rifle is in progress."
I get back from Thanksgiving and there is a call rifle is ready. I call, give cc # for balance and fax current copy of FFL.
I am told rifle will ship UPS overnight. (11/29)
I call 12/2 to find WWG was busy and could not get all guns out that day but it was shipped overnight (12/1) for which I paid $45 for. (2 day overnight???...no offer to refund any of my overnight money.)
Gun received 12/2 with no grey laminated stock.
I call WWG. They say they have no grey lam stocks but are expecting some soon and that they are a direct drop in once they have them. That I was not charged for grey lam stock. I mention that I was never told there were no grey lam stocks available and only discovered the problem when the client opened the box.
With every call to WWG I got the biz of how they are a custom shop, how busy they were, how they hardly do any 30/30's (then why offer them?) and how they never told the client a delivery time. No phone call was ever quick...paperwork always seemed hard to find even thought I would give the invoice number and date of order and what the order was for.
While the rifle may be a really neat rifle I would say the customer service and the deliver time was DAMN POOR and that is being kind. This is the second rifle client has ordered from WWG but he said he was through with them.
In the meantime I ordered for the same client a Les Baer Ultimate AR 204 Ruger Super Match Model.
Order placed on 8/23/05 and received on 10/31/05.
The Les Baer order came in ahead of promised delivery date.

I stopped in there this past summer when I was visiting Anchorage. I hadn't been to their new shop before which is a great deal bigger than the old shop. I found the people at the counter to be downright unfriendly. Treated me as if I was bothering them to be there.

Fact is, the attitudes and perceptions of the leader permeate down to the lowest level of the organization and Jim West is the leader there. I first met Jim in '96 and did business with him several times over the years I was in Anchorage. He's not friendly and doesn't treat customers well at all. I think he stays in business because he's come up with some clever, very marketable ideas but he's not going to win any popularity contests.

FWIW

I doubt I'll ever get to Alaska, but if I do I know for damned sure I will not visit Wild West Guns. Thanks for the heads-up; tell one, tell all.

Worst customer service for walk-in customers on the planet. I'll never go back in there...

Too bad, they weren't always like that. They used to have a girl that shot IPSC that worked the counter. Pretty, smart, and seemed to know a great deal about guns, WWG services and products. I think her name was Lara or Lana. Since then they've got some Harley Davidson reject whose sole job is to run customers off.

Let's hope their CS counter person runs off enough of them to put WWG out of business so a truly customer-oriented outfit can replace them.

Let's let this thread grow to about a dozen posts, then somebody with the savvy can email it to them.

Nice to know that it is not just my perception.

I don't have any experience with WWG, but as a small manufacturer in the firearms business I can assure you that visitors are a disruption to business and not encouraged. This is nothing personal. It's about paying bills, meeting commitments to other customers, and protecting propietary technology.

Very few manufacturers in any line of work welcome visitors. Intel isn't going to show you around just because you bought a PC. Toyota isn't going to usher you into their plant just because you're thinking about buying a car. Monsanto doesn't let you stroll into their chemical plant just because you bought a pint of weed killer.

When I lived a few blocks away from the Speer/CCI plant, I tried repeatedly to get a plant tour to no avail. At the time I came to the conclusion that the "good ole boys" at CCI were a bunch of a-holes. Now that I am a manufacturer myself, I can understand their point of view.

This is different from the Toyota dealer whose job it is to sell you a car, or the computer store whose job it is to sell you a PC, or the gun store whose job it is to sell you a gun. That's their job. That's how they make a living. That's what they get paid to do.

The line is blurred for small manufacturers who choose to sell directly to the public. This is becoming more popular thanks to the internet. Direct marketing saves the customer money by eliminating the middle man, but don't expect the direct marketer to spend a lot of time holding your hand, especially if he has more work than he can handle -- which seems to be the situation at WWG. Too much growth is worse than too little, because it creates exactly the kind of problems mentioned on this thread.

As for the lead time, long lead times are common in the custom firearms business. The business should be up front about the lead time, but that isn't always possible because it requires predicting the future. If the businessman could predict the future accurately, he could quickly make a fortune in the stock market and then he wouldn't need to work for a living.

quote:

Originally posted by popenmann:
I don't have any experience with WWG, but as a small manufacturer in the firearms business I can assure you that visitors are a disruption to business and not encouraged. This is nothing personal. It's about paying bills, meeting commitments to other customers, and protecting propietary technology.

Very few manufacturers in any line of work welcome visitors. Intel isn't going to show you around just because you bought a PC. Toyota isn't going to usher you into their plant just because you're thinking about buying a car. Monsanto doesn't let you stroll into their chemical plant just because you bought a pint of weed killer.

When I lived a few blocks away from the Speer/CCI plant, I tried repeatedly to get a plant tour to no avail. At the time I came to the conclusion that the "good ole boys" at CCI were a bunch of a-holes. Now that I am a manufacturer myself, I can understand their point of view.

This is different from the Toyota dealer whose job it is to sell you a car, or the computer store whose job it is to sell you a PC, or the gun store whose job it is to sell you a gun. That's their job. That's how they make a living. That's what they get paid to do.

The line is blurred for small manufacturers who choose to sell directly to the public. This is becoming more popular thanks to the internet. Direct marketing saves the customer money by eliminating the middle man, but don't expect the direct marketer to spend a lot of time holding your hand, especially if he has more work than he can handle -- which seems to be the situation at WWG. Too much growth is worse than too little, because it creates exactly the kind of problems mentioned on this thread.

As for the lead time, long lead times are common in the custom firearms business. The business should be up front about the lead time, but that isn't always possible because it requires predicting the future. If the businessman could predict the future accurately, he could quickly make a fortune in the stock market and then he wouldn't need to work for a living.

Popenmann, what is the name of your company? With your attitude which obvioulsy stinks and I havent even did any business with you. I doubt that I will do any business with you unless I wanted your product very badly.
There is a place about an hour up the road here called the corvette manufacturing plant. They will give you a tour and you dont have to buy a corvette either.

He's no different than any other decent gunsmith.

None of them want to talk about BS stuff.

I met them at the booth in RMEF in 2002. Nice stuff, no problems.

I have had similar experiences and heard a number of more horror storries about them. To thier credit though I am really impressed by their aftermarket parts for the marlin guide guns and the only work I have ever had them done was done well. I even took my guide gun to them one time because it was jamming, and they found a loose screw was the problem and didn't even charge me for looking at it. THey have some really good gunsmiths working for them but the one office guy is a POS. He is the one with a new york accent.

Last Feb., I was wandering through France, and encountered a glorious gunshop in Romorantin (central France). I think it (name of shop) was "Lechtine". The stock of long guns was mythically beautiful. The owner was an encyclopaedia of gun knowledge....but one of their gunsmiths (Pironin) was a happy genius, and a gracious guy. He dragged me across a back alley and into the gunsmithy, where he showed me what was being built, and how, and with what. I will never forget that encounter.
It was uniquely delightful.

Lawndart and I have a standing invitation to visit the Sako plant any time we´re in the vicinity. My gunsmith coaches me on reloading and if he is in a hurry he tells me to call back later. The guy at my gunstore and I chew the fat whenever I drop by even if I´m not looking for anything.

Yes there are assholes in the Finnish gun business but they don´t see any of my money.

quote:

Originally posted by Jarrod:

quote:

Originally posted by popenmann:
I don't have any experience with WWG, but as a small manufacturer in the firearms business I can assure you that visitors are a disruption to business and not encouraged. This is nothing personal. It's about paying bills, meeting commitments to other customers, and protecting propietary technology.

Very few manufacturers in any line of work welcome visitors. Intel isn't going to show you around just because you bought a PC. Toyota isn't going to usher you into their plant just because you're thinking about buying a car. Monsanto doesn't let you stroll into their chemical plant just because you bought a pint of weed killer.

When I lived a few blocks away from the Speer/CCI plant, I tried repeatedly to get a plant tour to no avail. At the time I came to the conclusion that the "good ole boys" at CCI were a bunch of a-holes. Now that I am a manufacturer myself, I can understand their point of view.

This is different from the Toyota dealer whose job it is to sell you a car, or the computer store whose job it is to sell you a PC, or the gun store whose job it is to sell you a gun. That's their job. That's how they make a living. That's what they get paid to do.

The line is blurred for small manufacturers who choose to sell directly to the public. This is becoming more popular thanks to the internet. Direct marketing saves the customer money by eliminating the middle man, but don't expect the direct marketer to spend a lot of time holding your hand, especially if he has more work than he can handle -- which seems to be the situation at WWG. Too much growth is worse than too little, because it creates exactly the kind of problems mentioned on this thread.

As for the lead time, long lead times are common in the custom firearms business. The business should be up front about the lead time, but that isn't always possible because it requires predicting the future. If the businessman could predict the future accurately, he could quickly make a fortune in the stock market and then he wouldn't need to work for a living.

Popenmann, what is the name of your company? With your attitude which obvioulsy stinks and I havent even did any business with you. I doubt that I will do any business with you unless I wanted your product very badly.
There is a place about an hour up the road here called the corvette manufacturing plant. They will give you a tour and you dont have to buy a corvette either.

Oh yeah I also forgot Mr Manufacturer did you ever stop to think that some of those visitors might posibbly become very good customers. From they way your attitude sounds I would doubt it though.

I find this intriguing, always have. My experiences with them have been positive in regards to the smithing required. I ordered a small lot of .457 brass and gave them my credit card and as well my p.o. box number 81082- he attepted to mail it out but the postal service said there is not such a number. He called me back up a day later fuming pretty bad about how hard it was for him to send it and the time it took to get no where- told him to try the last two numbers and I WILL be danged, my brass got here. What a attitude he has -just? maybe, but he needs a lesson in courtesy. If I did not need their brass I personally would not do business ever with them again. Brass length is 2.210" for this --can I get longer brass and trim to length instead of buying theirs?

The world is full of jackoff's.You would think that sooner or later it would come back on them and they would learn.

The great thing about the internet and forums like this is you can spread the word around very fast.

Customers are what make service industies.I was always taught in my line of work that if you piss off one person you end up pissing off hundreds.Most times people just wont say anything to the jack ass that pissed them off in the first place,but they damm well tell lots of others who in turn tell other people.

Its kind of like my experiances with Steiner optik.Steiner in Germany blew me off untill I sent them a link to the thread on A.R..

Popenmann
If you read my post it says I called several times. These calls were to see when about when the gun would be delivered. Each time I gave Invoice #, caliber etc. Each time I was given bull shit answers but never a date as to when to expect the gun. I failed to mention in my post that the client finally E mailed WWG and spoke to someone about the matter and he too got a BS answer.
Most times I wound up speaking to several people when all I wanted was a progress report and approx delivery date.
I am in a service business and have been for over 40 years so I think I have some idea about customer service.
DGG
I was not interested in BS'ing with them, a factory tour, trade secrets...I wanted a progress report and approx. delivery date.
I never got a firm answer to either.
Now both of the WWG Co Pilot rifles this client has ordered have been good rifles. It is not the product I am writing about. I am writing about the customer service.
I was never given a real progress report, an expected delivery date, I paid for overnight UPS and got 2 day service from the date I paid, when I called about the two day overnight I was told they had a computer qlich and that they just could not get every item out in one days time even though it was supposedly overnight ($45), the stock ordered was not on the rifle upon delivery nor was the client or myself notified at any time that the stock was not available.
What part of this do you find unreasonable?
What type of service do you expect?
I made no negative comments about the product in my posting. I just stated the facts and in the order in which they happened.

Now, Steiner they do suck.

I will never own another one of their products.

At least WWG makes a good gun.

WWG are assholes, this I agree with and believe.

Still not sure how to take this.

Your guy has a verbal contract or a written one?

Is all this on the order form, laminate stock, etc?

Is the delivery date quoted on the order form/contract?

This is a Spring order?

Dakota, HS Precision, McMillan, Weatherby, and even my beloved Blaser are the same way. Steiner is the worst of them all. I bought a pair of 25x80s from SWFA (the optics were bright as could be but my eyes weren't looking at the same point, this was super evident when looking at the moon).

Steiner wouldn't take them back, so I gave them away as a tip.

SO THE BOTTOM LINE IS, WHILE WWG MAKES GREAT GUNS THEY ARE ASSHOLES. WHO HAVE SUPER SHITTY CUSTOMER SERVICE!



Good thread, eating some crow good job.

quote:

POPENMANN - I don't have any experience with WWG, but as a small manufacturer in the firearms business I can assure you that visitors are a disruption to business and not encouraged.

If WWG has a "retail" counter, or is open for walk in business, then being "interrupted" is part of doing business. The "counter person" should be polite and helpful, no matter what.

If there is no retail counter, then I would agree that unannouced vistors are a disruption. A customer should call before arriving to see if the visit were convenient.

Popenmann, I see you're in Idaho, although I don't know where. I'm in Boise. You are probably familiar with Chris Reeves Knives, located in Meridian.

I've gone in there twice with a friend of mine. There is a tiny retail counter with a few available knives there. Neither time did I buy a CRK, but both times, Chris Reeve himself came out and took us through his mfg. shop.

No person could ever have been more pleasant and informative. Seeing the mfg. of a CRK from a piece of bar steel, to the finished product, was indeed, a very interesting experience, especially as it was explained to us by the man who was the creator of it all. He also showed us exactly how his famous Sebenza was made, start to finish. (A few months later, I bought one and love it!)

Did he have to take his time to show us the operation? Nope, but the good will he created certainly spilled over to us. Later we bought CRK knives and could not be more pleased with them. We also have turned other people onto his knives... and those around here have also been ushered through his mfg. shop, by Reeves.

I kinda doubt that WWG does more $$$ business than CRK, but it seems to me that there is a daylight-dark difference between the goodwill experienced by their respective customers.

Just my take on it.

L.W.

I have lived in Alaska for thirty-eight years and in Anchorage for fifteen years. I have been in WWG one time and I will never make that mistake again. I don’t believe that I have ever dealt with any business were I was talked down to or treated as poorly as they did. I’m sure that I spend a lot more money in gunshops than the normal person, WWG will never get one cent of it.

There was a thread here about 2 years ago about WWG. An employee got on here to apologize for some treatment a customer recieved. It was quite long if I remember.

Here it is.

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tp.../r/81310977#81310977

Even if WWG's were giving away free weapons I would never ever walk into there store again.

I was told that Jim West is not allowed to own firearms due to some incident where he shot up his wife's car. Having met the man on a couple of occasions, I can believe this.

I'm pleased to hear that I'm not the only one who has had bad experiences with WWG.

Harry, my experience was tghe same as yours. I gave them a new 45-70 guide gun in just after April 1st 2003 and was told it would take 2 months. At the end of June I called to check, and was given a song and dance about how pres Clinton downsized out military in the 90s, and now with the war barrel manufactures and reborers (badger in this case), are backlogged, but it should be done "soon." Each month I called I got the exact same line. I pointed out that Clinton had been out of office for over 2 years when they quoted me 2 months but it was pointless. I finally got the gun back in 11 months. If they'd told me that up front I wouldn't have had an issue, as I usually double whatever a smith or taxidermists tells me, but being lied to each month pisses me off. Not worth my time to deal with them anymore.

Bob

Wow.

There are a lot of great gunsmiths out there who become overwhelmed with the business side of things, such as accounting, finance, inventory control, customer service, etc.

Overwhelmed makes no excuse for being an asshole.

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
Wow.

There are a lot of great gunsmiths out there who become overwhelmed with the business side of things, such as accounting, finance, inventory control, customer service, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by popenmann:
I don't have any experience with WWG, but as a small manufacturer in the firearms business I can assure you that visitors are a disruption to business and not encouraged. This is nothing personal. It's about paying bills, meeting commitments to other customers, and protecting propietary technology.

Very few manufacturers in any line of work welcome visitors. Intel isn't going to show you around just because you bought a PC. Toyota isn't going to usher you into their plant just because you're thinking about buying a car. Monsanto doesn't let you stroll into their chemical plant just because you bought a pint of weed killer.

When I lived a few blocks away from the Speer/CCI plant, I tried repeatedly to get a plant tour to no avail. At the time I came to the conclusion that the "good ole boys" at CCI were a bunch of a-holes. Now that I am a manufacturer myself, I can understand their point of view.

This is different from the Toyota dealer whose job it is to sell you a car, or the computer store whose job it is to sell you a PC, or the gun store whose job it is to sell you a gun. That's their job. That's how they make a living. That's what they get paid to do.

The line is blurred for small manufacturers who choose to sell directly to the public. This is becoming more popular thanks to the internet. Direct marketing saves the customer money by eliminating the middle man, but don't expect the direct marketer to spend a lot of time holding your hand, especially if he has more work than he can handle -- which seems to be the situation at WWG. Too much growth is worse than too little, because it creates exactly the kind of problems mentioned on this thread.

As for the lead time, long lead times are common in the custom firearms business. The business should be up front about the lead time, but that isn't always possible because it requires predicting the future. If the businessman could predict the future accurately, he could quickly make a fortune in the stock market and then he wouldn't need to work for a living.

Popenman,
I see that you have never been to WWG. They have a retail counter. I was there once when I first moved to Alaska several years ago. Having seen their advertisements (WWG's) I had to check out the store. I, like others here, was made unwelcome. I have not been back since. Alaskans, in my observations are very loyal to anything that is "Alaskan". For Harry, who is from Texas, to make a negative post about an Alaskan gunstore and get supported by a bunch of Alaskans, there is definitely something wrong about WWG.

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
Wow.

There are a lot of great gunsmiths out there who become overwhelmed with the business side of things, such as accounting, finance, inventory control, customer service, etc.

Well did you ever stop to think that maybe this is where you either hire someone to to help or if you cant do it find another line of work.
Cause if you don't have customers you dont have a business.

How can Wild West afford to pay the arrogant idiot with the long grey hair? One interaction with him was enough for me. Only a masochist would do repeat business with them.

I have no experiences to draw from in dealing with WWG or any other custom gun maker, but I thought the "Golden Rule" applied to everyone.

As for successful businesses: They thrive on the addage " Without sacrifice, there is no success." Sounds like WWG needs to make the sacrifice needed to get the right "up-front" person at the counter. But each person that works at that business takes some responsibility in being an ambassador for the company. No matter, capitalism has a way of making dinosaurs out of companies that serve their customers poorly.

I've been in WWG several times, yet have never had them do any work on my guns. For some reason, I have no desire to go in that shop again

It is my understanding that the gunsmith who developed the co-pilot left WWG several years ago. I also believe many of the guys in the shops are machinists, and not trained gunsmiths.

My perception isn't that they got popular an overwelmed with work, rather they developed a name, and are living off the name. Having handled guns they've worked over in their shop, I'd say you could get work of the same quality for much less from a decent gunsmith, and for the same money, get much better work done.

Popenmann, point taken for a small shop that doesn't have a retail counter, but that's not the case with WWG. They have a full time sales guy, and it's amazing they get any business with his people skills, or rather lack therof.

ROBINB - "I was told that Jim West is not allowed to own firearms due to some incident where he shot up his wife's car."
_______________________________________________

RobinB, I have no idea if that is true or not, but IF it is true, I say again, "IF" it is true, then that would mean Mr. West would have a Felony conviction on his record. If so, then not only would he be forbidden to own a firearm, he'd also be prohibited from handling them, have them in his possession, or own a business dealing in firearms.

I believe that Domestic Violence conviction is the same.

I'd think that if he had a Felony conviction, the BATF people would be on him like a hawk on a June bug.

(?????????)

L.W.

I have done business with Wild West only once. I purchased a winchester model 70 take-off barrel from them through the net. They shipped a different barrel than advertised (wrong caliber.) Acted like it was my fault. They eventually refunded my purchase price, but refused to refund my return shipping cost. Only a few bucks, but it told me about the (lack of) ethics and quality of the outfit. I have driven by their store many times since, but have always kept going.

Bill

quote:

Originally posted by popenmann:
I don't have any experience with WWG, but as a small manufacturer in the firearms business I can assure you that visitors are a disruption to business and not encouraged. This is nothing personal. It's about paying bills, meeting commitments to other customers, and protecting propietary technology.

Very few manufacturers in any line of work welcome visitors. Intel isn't going to show you around just because you bought a PC. Toyota isn't going to usher you into their plant just because you're thinking about buying a car. Monsanto doesn't let you stroll into their chemical plant just because you bought a pint of weed killer.

When I lived a few blocks away from the Speer/CCI plant, I tried repeatedly to get a plant tour to no avail. At the time I came to the conclusion that the "good ole boys" at CCI were a bunch of a-holes. Now that I am a manufacturer myself, I can understand their point of view.

This is different from the Toyota dealer whose job it is to sell you a car, or the computer store whose job it is to sell you a PC, or the gun store whose job it is to sell you a gun. That's their job. That's how they make a living. That's what they get paid to do.

The line is blurred for small manufacturers who choose to sell directly to the public. This is becoming more popular thanks to the internet. Direct marketing saves the customer money by eliminating the middle man, but don't expect the direct marketer to spend a lot of time holding your hand, especially if he has more work than he can handle -- which seems to be the situation at WWG. Too much growth is worse than too little, because it creates exactly the kind of problems mentioned on this thread.

As for the lead time, long lead times are common in the custom firearms business. The business should be up front about the lead time, but that isn't always possible because it requires predicting the future. If the businessman could predict the future accurately, he could quickly make a fortune in the stock market and then he wouldn't need to work for a living.

Poppenmann is absolutely correct. I have a friend who has a small gunsmithing shop. He is swamped with work and a friendly fellow. But walk-ins [and time wasting phone calls from people who have no intention of buying, but want free advise] are a serious detraction from productivity. Often they just want to shoot the bull about guns as if the proprietor has all day. Because my friend does not have a secretary he has to answer his own phone and maintain productivity while often having his time wasted by people who don't appreciate the value of his time.

We have talked about this problem many times. He recognizes the trade-off, but there are days he is ready to pull his hair hout because he has spent hours trying to be polite to people who do little more than waste his time. It is truly a dilemma for the small operator.

Jarrod, your attack on Poppenmann's post does not respond in the least to the issues he raises. Before criticizing, try walking a mile in his shoes.


Jordan

quote:

Originally posted by popenmann:
I don't have any experience with WWG, but as a small manufacturer in the firearms business I can assure you that visitors are a disruption to business and not encouraged. This is nothing personal. It's about paying bills, meeting commitments to other customers, and protecting propietary technology.

Very few manufacturers in any line of work welcome visitors. Intel isn't going to show you around just because you bought a PC. Toyota isn't going to usher you into their plant just because you're thinking about buying a car. Monsanto doesn't let you stroll into their chemical plant just because you bought a pint of weed killer.

When I lived a few blocks away from the Speer/CCI plant, I tried repeatedly to get a plant tour to no avail. At the time I came to the conclusion that the "good ole boys" at CCI were a bunch of a-holes. Now that I am a manufacturer myself, I can understand their point of view.

This is different from the Toyota dealer whose job it is to sell you a car, or the computer store whose job it is to sell you a PC, or the gun store whose job it is to sell you a gun. That's their job. That's how they make a living. That's what they get paid to do.

The line is blurred for small manufacturers who choose to sell directly to the public. This is becoming more popular thanks to the internet. Direct marketing saves the customer money by eliminating the middle man, but don't expect the direct marketer to spend a lot of time holding your hand, especially if he has more work than he can handle -- which seems to be the situation at WWG. Too much growth is worse than too little, because it creates exactly the kind of problems mentioned on this thread.

As for the lead time, long lead times are common in the custom firearms business. The business should be up front about the lead time, but that isn't always possible because it requires predicting the future. If the businessman could predict the future accurately, he could quickly make a fortune in the stock market and then he wouldn't need to work for a living.

Problem is WWG has a store front where they sell products to customers, as well as take items in for custom work. If they don't want walk in customers, turn the place into a gunshop not a gunstore and gunshop.

If you have never been there, you don't know the situation there.

Once again, WWG is not a one man shop hole in the wall and comments related to those sort of shops don't apply here.

To the complaints from small shops, and the problems related, I'd like to add a few points. Most gunsmiths have piss poor business skills, and improving them would do wonders for their outlook on life, and their customers outlook on them.

A few pointers. Meeting a delivery date does not require seeing the future, it simply requires scheduling your work. A delivery date should be considered one of the requirements of the work being done, ie the customer orders A 338 wizzum, 22" barrel, #2 contour etc, the deliver date is also one the items to be met.

Delays do occur, the proper way to deal with those delays is to inform the customer immediately upon the problem being discovered. Honest prompt communication will do wonders for making happy clients, and it doesn't take much effort to spend the last hour or two at the end of the week to e-mail clients the status of their work. There is a differnce between a prompt response and being rude.

When a gun is expected to be delivered on certain date, the gun doesn't show, the customer calls to find out why, and is given the gunsmith 101 answer, I'll send it out this friday, the customer will 100% of the time be p/o'd.

Too much work is again not a problem with a properly run business. You inform clients that due to workload you are running a long backlog, 6 months, 12 months whatever. If the client is still willing to send in an action and a deposit, great, but whatever you do, don't spend the deposit money, as you haven't earned that money yet. This is one of the classic killers of small businesses, but again, proper business practices will prevent this pitfall. If you are tight on $, get an operating loan, don't spend $ you haven't earned.