Problem with Midway
I have always liked Midway for reloading and shooting products but they recently pulled something that was unprofessional and not up to their regular standards.
What makes this worse is that I wrote a letter to Larry Potterfield explaining the problem and he/they has not even bothered to respond.
I have often made positive comments here about companies that have done right by me and others and so I thought I would let you folks know when one doesn't treat us well also.
Midway offered a stock and barrel combo on sale in their catalog for a very good price. They put a limit of one per customer but did not say limited quantity or anything like that. I waited until I could get an order together and called in to get the deal. They told me that they had sold more than they anticipated and were out of them. I asked them to back order the item. They told me the manufacturer asked them not to allow any more back orders so they were discontinuing the sale on them even though the month had not ended.
I then wrote a letter to the owner, Larry Potterfield on the 28th of February. He has not responded to me yet.
What made matters worse is that they were offering what looked like the same product a month later at a higher price so they must not have been truthful about getting the parts in.
Here is a copy of the letter I sent to Mr Potterfield...
Mr. Larry Potterfield 02/28/07
Midway USA
5875 W Van Horn Tavern Rd
Columbia MO 65203
Dear Mr. Potterfield,
I just wanted to let you know that I was disappointed with your company today. I have been dealing with your company for many years and have generally received great products at reasonable prices. I wanted to order one of the specials from your February Flyer and was told that it was no longer being offered.
The item was the Adams and Bennett Ruger 10/22 barrel and Fagen Stock for the advertised price of $84.99 on page 4.
In the advertisement, here was no mention of limited quantity or no back order available. I would have ordered this combo much earlier in the month if I had known it would not be available when I went to order it, but I was waiting to have time to put together a larger order to minimize my shipping costs.
I was told that there would be no more back orders or rain checks on this order but it became apparent that it had been done for other customers in the past. Normally, companies offer a rain check or back order on an item when it sold out faster than anticipated.
My further understanding is that these items were not being discontinued but rather just selling at a rate that was greater than anticipated. I know that you were probably not making a lot of money on these items at that price but I doubt that you were actually losing money by offering them or you would not have made the offer in the first place.
Even if the items were no longer available, most companies tend to at least offer a "like kind and quality" substitute at a similar price and discount if they are no longer able to get the items and your company did not even offer that.
I still placed my order for the rest of the items because I believe that you want to run a good business but I thought you should be aware of the disappointment of a long term customer.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
...I think these forums are a good place to voice these type of things to make each other aware of companies that are and are not acting in the best interest of fellow shooters. What do you folks think?
What makes this worse is that I wrote a letter to Larry Potterfield explaining the problem and he/they has not even bothered to respond.
I have often made positive comments here about companies that have done right by me and others and so I thought I would let you folks know when one doesn't treat us well also.
Midway offered a stock and barrel combo on sale in their catalog for a very good price. They put a limit of one per customer but did not say limited quantity or anything like that. I waited until I could get an order together and called in to get the deal. They told me that they had sold more than they anticipated and were out of them. I asked them to back order the item. They told me the manufacturer asked them not to allow any more back orders so they were discontinuing the sale on them even though the month had not ended.
I then wrote a letter to the owner, Larry Potterfield on the 28th of February. He has not responded to me yet.
What made matters worse is that they were offering what looked like the same product a month later at a higher price so they must not have been truthful about getting the parts in.
Here is a copy of the letter I sent to Mr Potterfield...
Mr. Larry Potterfield 02/28/07
Midway USA
5875 W Van Horn Tavern Rd
Columbia MO 65203
Dear Mr. Potterfield,
I just wanted to let you know that I was disappointed with your company today. I have been dealing with your company for many years and have generally received great products at reasonable prices. I wanted to order one of the specials from your February Flyer and was told that it was no longer being offered.
The item was the Adams and Bennett Ruger 10/22 barrel and Fagen Stock for the advertised price of $84.99 on page 4.
In the advertisement, here was no mention of limited quantity or no back order available. I would have ordered this combo much earlier in the month if I had known it would not be available when I went to order it, but I was waiting to have time to put together a larger order to minimize my shipping costs.
I was told that there would be no more back orders or rain checks on this order but it became apparent that it had been done for other customers in the past. Normally, companies offer a rain check or back order on an item when it sold out faster than anticipated.
My further understanding is that these items were not being discontinued but rather just selling at a rate that was greater than anticipated. I know that you were probably not making a lot of money on these items at that price but I doubt that you were actually losing money by offering them or you would not have made the offer in the first place.
Even if the items were no longer available, most companies tend to at least offer a "like kind and quality" substitute at a similar price and discount if they are no longer able to get the items and your company did not even offer that.
I still placed my order for the rest of the items because I believe that you want to run a good business but I thought you should be aware of the disappointment of a long term customer.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
...I think these forums are a good place to voice these type of things to make each other aware of companies that are and are not acting in the best interest of fellow shooters. What do you folks think?
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Ask Zumbo.
Doug0 -
Sounds to me like you pissed around too long before ordering. 0 -
I'm a huge proponent of customer service, and forgetting the fact that they should or shouldn't have honored your order, they broke the Cardinal Rule of Customer Service.
You wrote to them. You deserve at least an acknowlegement, if not more.
Were it me, I would write them again. I would then state in my letter the following:
Dear Sir,
On __________, I wrote you regarding Midway USA's unwillingness to fulfill my order placed on _________, which included __________.
I have been a faithful and loyal customer of Midway USA for ____ years, but due to my apparent lack of importance to your firm, I will not be doing business any longer. It has now been ____ weeks since I have written you and I have yet to receive a response, positive or negative, to my letter.
Please note that I will be sharing my experience with my family and friends so that they are aware of how Midway USA values its customers.
Sincerely,
XXXX
I'm willing to lay down money that you'll get a response in no-time flat. Don't be surprised if, along with the apology, you get the barrel/stock kit you ordered along with some sort of freebie (coupon, minor store credit, extra box of bullets, etc.). This is how a great company would handle the situation at this point.
Jeff/spanielsells0 -
Sounds unethical to pull a product because you find you've misjudged demand only to relist it at a higher price. 0 -
Spaniel-
Thanks for the idea. I will try that. I was going to order some other things and have not because of this so I guess I should let them know that.
Rosie-
I apparently did wait too long but it was still in the time that it was being offered, in fact the day I wrote the letter, the flyer price was still valid.
Thanks again folks.0 -
im just curious, arent businesses allowed to make mistakes or allowed to regroup?
i mean, if the mistake is going to cost them a lot of money, which will force them to recoop it in other ways, isnt your selfishness causing other customers to have to suffer for your demand? great, you get a deal, but of all the other products must be increased across the board to recoop the error, how is that ethical on the part of the customer? your couple of bucks might be costing someone his job. put yourself in their shoes and it might help shed some light.
im sure you werent the only one caught in this mix up. let it go.
its not like a good deal will never come around again, and with time, one deal somewhere else will make up for a lost deal today.
sad, capitalizm thrives on greed and all business teaches that greed is good. this is an example of it. look what youre willing to do to get a few bucks off. if i was a business, and if i had to pay off my customers who were holding a knife to my throat, i would rather go out of business than to deal with them.
its one thing to cry over spilt milk, but to fight over milk not even owned yet really puzzles me.
and dont forget, youre dealing with numerous forms of advertising media that tends to cross pathes. in this age of computers, and e-business, whenever you deal with old fashioned advertising that involves print on paper, both sides are taking a chance that business moves faster than one is able to keep up with changes.
in some cases, mail outs are obsolete before they even reach the clients and web pages are being revised as one is being posted.
funny how people would be willing to punish someone who has been a faithfull friend at the drop of a hat.
before you bite their heads off, try to remember all the other times midway came thru for you.[;)]
and try this golden rule instead...."do unto others as youd have them do unto you."[^]0 -
Here is what I wrote...
Mr. Larry Potterfield 04/24/07
Midway USA
5875 W Van Horn Tavern Rd
Columbia MO 65203
Dear Mr. Potterfield,
On 02/28/07, I wrote you regarding Midway USA's unwillingness to fulfill my order placed on February 28th, 2007, where I was told that you would not be honoring your posted sale price in your February monthly flyer because you had oversold the product. This was sent by US Mail.
I was further angered when I noticed that in April that you again were offering both the barrel and stock and both were available but not as a combination, so you could have obviously honored your sale price.
I have been a Midway customer for over 20 years but due to my lack of importance to your firm, I will not be doing any further business with your firm. It has been 8 weeks since I have written to you and I have yet to receive a response, either negative or positive, from you.
Please note that I will be sharing my experience with family and friends regarding this matter so they are aware of how Midway USA values its customers.
Sincerely,0 -
Bobski-
You may have a point but I doubt that they were losing money or why would they have offered it in the first place. And since the items were available again a short time later, why not honor your price.
Several years ago, I made up some t-shirts to offer to other officers in my department. The logo was in an iron-on form. I purchased quality heavy cotton t-shirts to have them applied to. A friend was starting in the graphics business and gave me a very reasonable price which I passed on, since I wasn't in this to make money. I just wanted to cover my expenses. The first batch of shirts were not applied correctly and started coming off in the wash. Because my friend had not been given the proper instructions to apply the decal, the application failed, resulting in the logos coming off.
I gave free replacements or offered to let them keep the shirt and I would give them a free hat instead (which cost slighly less to make). I even sought out those who did not get in touch with me to offer a replacement.
I wasn't going to go after my friend who applied them because he made them up with a very small profit margin, so I was forced to take the loss overall. (I did have lots of t-shirts for me and my family to wear for knocking around in.)
My friend got the application process down and I started selling the shirts again, (after I took a few and repeatedly washed them with no problems).
When people found out that I was willing to back up what I sold and do what it took to make them happy, I had no problems when I went to sell more. In the end , I never lost money because people knew I would treat them well and back up what I sold. My stuff sold well when I offered it and they were willing to pay my asking price.
I write all of this to stress the importance of customer satisfaction. That is why places like Dillon Precision, RCBS, Cabelas and LL Bean do so well. People are willing to spend a little more if they know the seller will stand behind their products and keep their customers happy. And it was frustrating that Midway did not even bother to respond to my letter.0 -
[8D]-Sorry GUNFUNCO-I've been buying from Midway for over 10 yrs and Have had GREAT service and GREAT customer and IMMEDIATE product replacement, I've never had your type of trouble, but I wouldn't let one incident like that SOUR my patronage of Midway products--
--NOBODY is perfect and YOU are not their ONLY customer !!!
JIMBO0 -
In a similar frustrating vein, last summer I sent Sears Customer Service an email about an in-store situation on an item multiple times with no response whatsoever. And so, they no longer have any of my business and life without them has gone on very well for me since.
I'll bet some flunkie or underling or "assistant" has the letters you sent sitting in a pile along with a whole lot of other ones on his or her desk. And that person will eventually get around to answering you with a form letter, assuming he or she is drinking lots of Goji juice and lives to be at least 150.[;)]0 -
quote:Originally posted by bobski
im just curious, arent businesses allowed to make mistakes or allowed to regroup?
Yes, that is why you put up a notice on your website and as an introduction to your telephone sales line that says, "There was an error in the recent sales flyer advertising ______ ..."
People DO understand that and do accept that.
Bobski, the mistake here was NOT failing to honor the advertised price. The mistake here was telling the customer that he is unimportant.0 -
By the way, they never indicated that it was an error. I could have easily accepted that. The girl taking the order indicated that they had sold more than they anticipated and were no longer accepting back orders-which means they did accept back orders for some. 0 -
Not taking sides but. If I had ten barrels, priced them at $50.00, twelve people responded and I found I could now get extras at $75.00 my cost I would not sell you one for $50.00 either.
Not saying that happened in this case but I have seen prices go higher per day this year as normal on everything so I suggest if you see a deal and want it do not wait and expect it to be there in an hour.
It is how things are right now, get use to it or not but that is how it is.
Wulfmann0 -
It's always about the MONEY 0 -
I thought that the Potterfield family sold the company a few years ago? Even if they are still the owners, Larry Potterfield does not receive any mail out on his 200 foot long yacht. [;)] 0
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