A little more information

The two main activities in my life: Helping the hungry in the late hours of the night and helping guitar players sound better one amp at a time.

I always try to remember that in order to do good one has to take action and actually do something.

I was born and raised in Los Angeles. I have watched the city and Southern California change for well over half a century.

I can be found on facebook at www.facebook.com/mylesr or on twitter at www.twitter.com/myles111us

As of late 2019 the music related links and prints noted on this page which had their links to by GAB (Guitar Amplifier Blueprinting) website are no longer accessible. I grew weary of updating my GAB website and let it go away. You can contact me on Facebook. Saunders Stewart Models continues full operation but we are not accepting new clients without a referral.

Los Angeles Architectural History

Los Angeles Architectural History
1935 Art Deco at some of its finest: No. 168 - Griffith Observatory- (click on the photo for information)

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Need Glock parts? Here is a bit of a warning.


You may want to think twice before
considering doing business with these folks

I have written a number of pieces on customer service in this blog.  I have seen some of the  best and some of the worst.  I may have found the worst at this point.

These folks advertise themselves as the number one parts supplier for Glock pistols in the world.  I will venture to guess that a year from now this will not be the case if this statement is even true at this point in time.

I understand with the current firearms issues in this country that certain items are hard to keep in stock by vendors such as this one.  The issue that they, the largest of these vendors, does not note on an item by item basis, what is out of stock when one places an order.  Folks like Brownell's and dozens of other vendors do this.  In face, I cannot find ANYBODY who has online ordering that does not do this, other than these folks.

But, that is NOT the main issue.  The main issue is their lack of customer service, lack of response, phones which are never answered and the general run around.

Yes, these folks in my book are currently the #1 folks in my book but not as a parts vendor. They are #1 in the position of holding the worst customer service award.

Here is a bit of dialogue I sent to these folks .... click "read more" to continue.


I ordered a number of items on 1/1. None of them were marked as out of stock. My order has still not been processed. I sent you folks a message from your website. I have not had a reply. 

It is bad enough that I pay 9% sales tax here in CA. It is even more difficult to swallow when service is poor. Even with the holiday it would have been much more professional if you replied to messages sent from your website.

There are more Glock parts folks that I can begin to count. If I do not get some sort of update to this post (or to the things I posted on twitter), consider me a lost customer. I may write a bit about this as I follow the progress, or lack of progress.

Below are a few more comments on their facebook page:


It looks to me as if customer service means little or nothing to you folks. You need to consider writing back each of these folks that you have ignored. My confidence level in my order 7 days old was low but is now lower after seeing complaints going back long before my own complaint which you did not address.

Hello! Anyone there? You guys have my money- I have no product? No excuse for poor customer service.

Your number is always busy, and I need confirmation you got my order on 12/30/2012 please. Does anyone ever pick up the phone?

Hi GlockStore. I have been trying to get information on your custom GPM18 Race Ready firearm. I got no response from the email I sent and I have not been able to get through on the 800 number. I wanted to find out if you could give me an approximate lead time on that product in 9mm. Also, will you charge my credit card when I order or when you are about to ship? - Reply:  You may want to consider another source. Look at the growing complaints on these folks.

You charged my acct 72.74 on DEC 27th and yet to receive any of my products? No one answers the phone or email?

Seems Glockstore is a little shady. When I order some magazines the other day, they did not show up as out of stock. I haven't check my credit card balance yet, then will have to decide whether to call the credit card company about fraudulent charges.

Can you just post your "best guess" on a backorder around Christmas for 2x G19 15-round mags and 2x 33-round mags? I know an exact date is not possible for an individual order, but is is a month, 6 months, a year? or something like we have a backlog of orders for xxx magazines and are only getting yyy per day/week/month ... any information is better than a black hole.

Has anyone been able to get them to anwswer an email or phone in the past three weeks?

Why does a Big company like yours turn your phones off and not return any emails. If you are not going to send me my magazines then tell me. I ordered them 16 days ago and have heard nothing. Please answer your customers and stop posting stupid articles and pictures on your facebook.

Starting to get pissed. I ordered a magazine for my G19 12 days ago. Nothing said it was backordered or out of stock. I got the initial email, which said I would get a confirmation email shortly....12 days ago. Haven't heard anything, nothing has went to my spam folder. I try to call, but it's constantly busy. Getting really annoyed.

Why is your phone disconnected at your San Diego office. I place a order 3 weeks ago and have heard nothing from you yet. Is this your idea of good costumer service. Please get back to me and let me know what the hold up is.

Place order on Dec 14 and still nothing from the store. Glock Store is not answering emails and their phone lines are down!!! Son-in-law really needs his Christmas present to get his Glock 23 running! What gives?

Placed order on 12-18-12. No further communication despite multiple email inquires. Listed customer service # 800-601-8273 is bogus.

Placed an order on 12/19. To date no further communication from the Glock Store and nothing shipped. the items showed "in stock". Also can't reach these guys by phone. Not impressed so far. I just sent a message on your website to cancel the order.

I went to the Glock store today and realized you should post accurate store hours Mon-Friday 9am-5:45PM. Found doors locked and security gates closed at 5:45PM sharp, I just wanted to pick up an order.

....

Bottom line at this point.....  I can attempt to contact them to cancel my order or actually, just see how this plays out.  I will update this piece as there are, or if there are any updates.


Updates:

10:10 pst 1/8/12


Glockstore


There are a combination of factors affecting newly placed orders. Many of which are beyond our control including the Nationwide demand for the products we sell. Your order will be fulfilled, but presently, we are experiencing about a week delay with fulfillment.
Please understand, this is facebook, and it is not connected to our customer/order database or department. To make adjustments to, or check on the status of your order, you will need to call our customer service line at 800-601-8273
Thank you for your all of your feedback, and please understand you may need to make several attempts when calling as our phones are ringing constantly. Likewise, our customer service email is monitored my one person. Lately, she has been swamped. We appreciate your patience.
I understand you are anxious about receiveing your items. The good news is, you are in line in front of hundreds of others, but if you cancel your order you will lose your place. Gun retailers nationwide are experiencing the same shortages. I highly recommend waiting patiently for your order to be processed.
Myles Rose

I have tried calling your number. Over and over. I have tried contacting you folks in writing via writing a message on the website. No response.
I have a piece that I write with over 100,000 subscribers and over ten million reads since it was launched. AT&T follows me as do many other major companies. They follow me on twitter. When I have an issue with them now they contact me within minutes at this point. My AT&T post receives a high amount of traffic every day whether there are problem updates or not at this point.
Yesterday, 22,916 people read my blog. So far today the count is 4,816. I just wrote a bit on you folks. If I hear more I will be happy to update the blog as things progress. You can see the blog at http://la-economy.blogspot.com/2013/01/need-glock-parts-here-is-bit-of-warning.html
It will be updated shortly with this latest info.

From Facebook a moment ago:

Glockstore 
Myles, 

Please understand, this is our Facebook page, not your personal forum.

While we thank you for your your feedback, and please understand Facebook is not equipped to handle our customer support services. For questions or concerns regarding your
 order please call our supprt line at 800-601-8273.

Also, please understand you may need to make several attempts when calling as our phones are ringing constantly with residual holiday traffic. We appreciate your patience.

We understand you are anxious about receiveing your items. The good news is, you are in line in front of hundreds of others, but if you cancel your order you will lose your place. 

Orders are processed in the order they are received. Gun retailers nationwide are experiencing the same shortages. I highly recommend waiting patiently for your order to be processed.


Myles Rose
I will remain in line and monitor the outcome closely. I will also document the journey. I was just trying to get some sort of a response as seems to be the case with so many other folks. 

Also, in regard to this being my personal forum or not being my personal forum, this is social media and it is something of a duty for some of us to shine a bit of a spotlight on folks that take advantage of others or have business practices that are less than what is expected.

My suggestion? In the future keep in contact with your customer base or you may lose your customer base.
1/11/12 updates

I wish you had notified me in the order process that the magazine would be back ordered.

Just a suggestion. I've noticed a lot of complaints about lack of communication. Maybe you'd want to put a brief paragraph on your website letting us know there is a delay and maybe an approximate wait time we can expect for our orders to be processed. I'm not so concerned about the wait, but more about the lack of communication.


Glockstore.com is doing business in a very shady and unprofessional kind of way. I placed an order on their website 20 days ago after pressing a link that read "Glock Magazines In Stock" and never once during my order did it say that they were backordered. I understand that there is a huge demand right now. I also understand the reputable dealers like Brownells, etc tell you right there on the website that products are not in stock and backordered. Now heres the even bigger problem, we as customers cannot reach a customer service rep without calling 15 times, you wont reply to emails regarding order status, and when you get a comment like this one on your Facebook page, you just delete it. Whats the deal Dude? Are we asking for too much from you as a retailer? I certainly dont think so. I think you need to stop selling products that you dont have or at the very least get rid of a banner that says "Glock Magazines In Stock". Or you could just change it to "Glock Magazines In Stock - JUST KIDDING"...


How about an estimate on how much longer until my order ships? You folks must have a simple view of your own business. I don't think the question is out of line. I don't think that referring me to a number which is never answered in an option by the way.


I have called 15 times today to speak to someone about my online order that I have paid for on Jan 5th and still has not shipped!!!!!! I have gotten a busy signal every time I have called. Can someone message me or call the number that is on my account?



The occasional reply from Glockstore is a canned facebook response.  There is never a personal response or direct feedback about a specific order - 

Glockstore There are a combination of factors affecting newly placed orders. Many of which are beyond our control including the Nationwide demand for the products we sell. Your order will be fulfilled, but presently, we are experiencing a week or more delay with fulfillment.

To make adjustments to, or check on the status of your order, you will need to call our customer service line at 800-601-8273

Thank you for your your feedback, and please understand you may need to make several attempts when calling as our phones are ringing constantly with residual holiday orders and customer service questions. We appreciate your patience.

To cancel your order, you will need to call the service line mention above.

We've posted messages here on Facebook, and on the website indicating we are experiecing delays.



You would think they would have checked spelling in their canned reply above.  Look at the  last line above.



I will continue to monitor the situation.

1/11/12 10:55am

I just got off the phone with these folks.  They must have seen my caller ID because when they answered the phone they already had the status of my order.  I was concerned because my credit card had been hit with a charge that was different than my order.  I was told that my order would be shipped next week, minus one item which is on back order.  This is quite understandable.  

I was informed that when the back order item is shipped I will not be charged for additional shipping.

I would like to add that the fellow I talked to on the phone was cordial and professional.  I offered a few suggestions to improve customer service.  It was clear to me that they are swamped but their heart is in the right place and they are trying.

Bottom line ....  I will wait for my items and because the fellow I spoke to took time to explain things with a professional attitude I will continue to use these folks in the future for my Glock parts needs.

1/14/12


I was feeling a little better until I went to the posts again on facebook and saw the latest response to another in one of the comment threads for these folks.  I had to reply myself.


I had the same issue i cant get through there phones and a charge came out of my account different from my order.. this was placed dec 27. i emailed several times and still nothing till this day??? concerned!!!


Glockstore Thanks for all the feedback. As with most fulltime positions, and with a few exceptions, our staff works Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm PST. There is one fulltime person answering emails, and one on Facebook. Others are dedicated to phones. Presently, All messages receiced through Facebook are responded to within one business day.


Myles Rose You are kidding me right? While others all over the nation understand the concept of part time help over the holidays this concept was missed by you folks? Maybe it is too hard to find somebody who understands Glock parts and pistols? Sure, that can be it. How can one find a student free over the holidays... who wants to earn a few dollars ...who might even know something about a pistol where one model has sold over 2.5 million units, the most popular pistol of all time perhaps and a pistol with fewer parts and less complex than the PCs these younger folks build out of mail order parts as high power gaming computers. Your're kidding me right? The concept of part time work during the holiday crunch and political debacle actually missed your mind enough to reply to folks with the post above this one?


1/17/12

Most of my parts arrived the on the evening of the 14th.  One item is on backorder and that was expected.  I will see how long the backordered item takes to arrive although that will not be a reflection on these folks. - The part arrived about a week after this post.  



6/3/13 - Update

I just talked to Scott and he supplied great service.  I intend to be a customer once again.  They seem to have made some changes and are on top of things.  

6/14/13


Well, it seems as if I spoke too soon


My part arrived on 6/5/13.  I had paid extra for faster shipping.  This was a custom slide cover plate for a Glock.  

Upon receiving the part I tried to fit it into the slide.  It was out of spec and way too tight.  I have a number of other slide plate covers that all fit fine.  One of them was even from these folks.  In any case it seems like they have a bad batch of blanks and it also seems that nobody even checked the fit/

I called them back on 6/6/13 to tell them the part did not fit.  I asked for Scott who had helped me before but he was on vacation.  Nobody else was available but I was told that I would get a call back from them at 10am.  That did not happen.  A few hours later I was called by a nice fellow.  I explained my issue.  He apologized and said replacement parts would be sent right out to me.

It is now 6/14/13.  My replacement has not arrived at this point.

I will continue to track this issue and will update this piece if and when the replacement parts arrive.  

6/18/13 

Just an update.  I have not forgotten to post any update as there is nothing to report.  I have not forgotten them but it is pretty clear they have forgotten me. 

6/21/13

I called these folks on 6/19/13.  I was able to connect with Scott who was back from his time off.  He is going to look into who dropped the ball.  He sent out an item to replace the defective one plus an additional item to compensate me for these events.  I thank Scott but until folks post on their facebook page more good service compliments than bad ones they have lost me as a customer.  There are too many excellent vendors on eBay that put items out there for sale that are in stock and who ship quickly.  There is nothing I have needed that I have not been able to find on eBay for the same amount, usually less actually, with faster and cheaper shipping.

Thank you Scott for your help.  If you find out who dropped the ball and let me know that he has been fired and let me know what steps are being taken to make customer service a priority I would be happy to post them here.





2 comments:

  1. Hey Myles,

    I noticed your post on our page and I wanted to personally follow up with you. I apologize for the difficulties and inconveniences you were caused while doing business with Glockstore, and I can assure you we have taken appropriate steps to address these issues. While I am unable to get into specifics for the sake of privacy, we have done some re-staffing, as well as some additional staffing. At the time of your order we were simply unprepared to handle the explosion of the industry in the coming months. At this time we're happy to say we've addressed many of the issues that arose during the first half of 2013 and we're back to the standard of excellence our customers deserve and that we demand of ourselves.

    Please let me know if I can be of any help to you and thank you for your review.

    Derek Magill
    Glockstore

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Derek,

      Since my initial problems (more than in one instance and on more than one issue as a side note) I have done business with you again since dealing with Scott who was a terrific rep for you folks. I hope that parts you sell are quality checked often for size and quality more often in the future. I will continue to do business with you folks in the future and try to keep my ISO 9000 background in check (I always am seeking problems it seems) as you do have some great folks and an extensive inventory.

      As a side note, your product videos are very nice and offer a lot of help and explanation for folks not familiar with upgrading their Glock pistols. I have forwarded the links to many of your videos to many folks with questions or who are new Glock owners.

      Myles

      Delete