Before I start sounding like a whiner (especially after my midway thread) I would like to say that just like midway I have been doing business with buds gunshop for years and they have always been great to me. I spend thousands of dollars a year with them and have 3 glocks shipping out that I paid for on friday. I like their prices, the fact they do layaways and don't charge, and just overall how they treated their customers (until now).
The problem has stemmed from the "team buds" crap. When they started it I got an email offering a free year membership (just like everybody who had ordered from buds prior) but I didn't agree with the whole pay a royalty bullshit so I didn't sign up. I never needed anything that was team buds until late summer when they had a glock gen 4 27 in OD green which I had never seen before and I had OD gen 4 40's in the other three sizes and wanted it. It was used for $450 shipped but team buds so I said no brainer, paid for the membership and ordered it. A few days goes by and a supervisor calls apologizing saying they sold it in the store before I bought it online and hadn't yet taken it off the website. I was a bit disappointed as I really wanted it but I understood and said ok. There were no others in stock even new so without even asking the representative said I'm going to refund you in full for the gun and membership, let you keep the membership for a year, and give you a $25 gift certificate to use on your next purchase. I would have rather had the gun but I was happy with that and the way they handled it.
Fast forward to last week and today. Last week I was wanting to purchase a Winchester Featherweight 264 win mag and they had it in stock as of tuesday for anybody to purchase. I hesitated and went back wednesday to order it and all of a sudden its "team buds only". I say WTF and figure I'll wait it out. This morning its still "team buds" so I call and get a nice lady in customer service who I explain everything to and says there's nothing she can do but will have a supervisor call me. The supervisor called me about 30 minutes later which was very prompt and right from the beginning I could tell she gave no fucks. I explained several times that I don't agree with the team buds thing but I understand it if thats the way they want to run their business and that I'm not paying a royalty tax for an oddball rifle thats been in stock and is in stock other places for the same price. She goes back and forth with "its the system, we can't do anything". More like won't do anything. I explain again I shouldn't have to pay a royalty and that a business should earn their business not a customer should have to earn the right to buy from the company. Once again she does not care if I take my business somewhere else and actually says this. This goes on for 30 minutes and several times I ask why can't they over ride the system and explain that I'm surely not the first person thats had this issue. She doesn't care and isn't even willing to do a damn thing except apologize or offer me a sweet $30 team membership to have the honor of buying from them.
I told her fine, and asked to be refunded for the layaway and deposit I put on an AK47 a little over a week ago. She said ok and we will go our separate ways and they are closing my account.
Then I get a call from a guy there shortly later to whom I explain whats going on and more beating my head against a wall ensues. Another 15 minutes of a pointless call. I ask him why he called if its the same thing. He says "to come to a resolution", I asked what resolution, you have offered none except for me paying an additional $30 to have the privilege of buying from them to which he says "that is the resolution". I told him thats not going to happen and he asked what I would like to do and I said once again "all I want to do is buy a product from you". Then he goes on a rant about sams club and costco to which I answered I don't shop there and he tries to say its no different even after I said I've been a customer long before "team buds". I explained the impression I got is that buds doesn't care about my business and he said nobody said that or would ever say that. Well no shit but at the end of the day thats what happened whether they come forward and say it or not. He kept threatening to close my account which again gave the same impression.
So at the end of all this they told me they're closing my account, refunding my ACH for the AK47 on layaway, and refunding my ACH's for the three glocks in the shipping department. Whatever, with business practices like this I don't want to deal with them anyway.
The problem has stemmed from the "team buds" crap. When they started it I got an email offering a free year membership (just like everybody who had ordered from buds prior) but I didn't agree with the whole pay a royalty bullshit so I didn't sign up. I never needed anything that was team buds until late summer when they had a glock gen 4 27 in OD green which I had never seen before and I had OD gen 4 40's in the other three sizes and wanted it. It was used for $450 shipped but team buds so I said no brainer, paid for the membership and ordered it. A few days goes by and a supervisor calls apologizing saying they sold it in the store before I bought it online and hadn't yet taken it off the website. I was a bit disappointed as I really wanted it but I understood and said ok. There were no others in stock even new so without even asking the representative said I'm going to refund you in full for the gun and membership, let you keep the membership for a year, and give you a $25 gift certificate to use on your next purchase. I would have rather had the gun but I was happy with that and the way they handled it.
Fast forward to last week and today. Last week I was wanting to purchase a Winchester Featherweight 264 win mag and they had it in stock as of tuesday for anybody to purchase. I hesitated and went back wednesday to order it and all of a sudden its "team buds only". I say WTF and figure I'll wait it out. This morning its still "team buds" so I call and get a nice lady in customer service who I explain everything to and says there's nothing she can do but will have a supervisor call me. The supervisor called me about 30 minutes later which was very prompt and right from the beginning I could tell she gave no fucks. I explained several times that I don't agree with the team buds thing but I understand it if thats the way they want to run their business and that I'm not paying a royalty tax for an oddball rifle thats been in stock and is in stock other places for the same price. She goes back and forth with "its the system, we can't do anything". More like won't do anything. I explain again I shouldn't have to pay a royalty and that a business should earn their business not a customer should have to earn the right to buy from the company. Once again she does not care if I take my business somewhere else and actually says this. This goes on for 30 minutes and several times I ask why can't they over ride the system and explain that I'm surely not the first person thats had this issue. She doesn't care and isn't even willing to do a damn thing except apologize or offer me a sweet $30 team membership to have the honor of buying from them.
I told her fine, and asked to be refunded for the layaway and deposit I put on an AK47 a little over a week ago. She said ok and we will go our separate ways and they are closing my account.
Then I get a call from a guy there shortly later to whom I explain whats going on and more beating my head against a wall ensues. Another 15 minutes of a pointless call. I ask him why he called if its the same thing. He says "to come to a resolution", I asked what resolution, you have offered none except for me paying an additional $30 to have the privilege of buying from them to which he says "that is the resolution". I told him thats not going to happen and he asked what I would like to do and I said once again "all I want to do is buy a product from you". Then he goes on a rant about sams club and costco to which I answered I don't shop there and he tries to say its no different even after I said I've been a customer long before "team buds". I explained the impression I got is that buds doesn't care about my business and he said nobody said that or would ever say that. Well no shit but at the end of the day thats what happened whether they come forward and say it or not. He kept threatening to close my account which again gave the same impression.
So at the end of all this they told me they're closing my account, refunding my ACH for the AK47 on layaway, and refunding my ACH's for the three glocks in the shipping department. Whatever, with business practices like this I don't want to deal with them anyway.
