Avoid Palmetto State Armory

[SniperFan78]

I'd pass this along to save everyone else the hassle I went through.

I bought almost $20,000 worth of gear from PSA in the last few months. Now it took me a few months to get all of the gear together from other companies to start building these rifles.

When I opened all of the PSA boxed and inventoried what I have, 2 complete kits were missing. Additionally, 2 of the lower parts kits that were there, were also missing parts.

Now that isn't that bad by itself, because this was a large order and I'm an understanding person. What is bad is that they wouldn't replace the missing parts. I felt like they believed I was lying to scam some free parts or something. I tried to explain that this was only a little over $200 to them on a very large order and they explained to me that I needed to read the "policies" page. Since the order is older than 30 days, there is "nothing they can do."

There is, in fact, something they can do, they just choose not to.

Anywho, I wanted to post this to help others avoid the same experience. Open your package immediately or buy from someone else. I recommend the latter.

 

[Eli17L]

20k? Thats alot of freedom rifles...
They sent me the wrong pistol once but being an addict I just kept it.

 

[SniperFan78]

20k? Thats alot of freedom rifles...

Exactly lol

 

[1911hombre]

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

 

[jb0311]

It’s wise to check your order for errors as soon as you possibly can. While they could have replaced the items, their policy is in place for a reason. I can’t imagine too many people let their orders sit without checking for over a month. Sucks, but I don’t see this as a valid reason for the average consumer to stop giving PSA business.

 

[jb0311]

And I don’t say that without empathy, and I’m sure you had your reasons.

 

[W54/XM-388]

Sorry but a lot of that is on YOU!
It's your responsibility to open up the packages within a reasonable time and let them know of any problems or shortages.
Most sellers all have a similar policy that any missing or damaged items must be reported to them within a limited time frame (almost uniformly 30 days or less).

Answer this:
Exactly how long had transpired from the time the packages were delivered until you contacted them about a shortage / missing items?

I don't think your attempt at slamming them on here as a new user is going to come out as you hope.
If you hope this is going to somehow blackmail them into doing what you want, it's probably going to blow up in your face.

Plenty of folks here have used them for years with good success.

The chances of folks trying to get free stuff or get free replacements for things that they messed up, go way up when such calls are months after delivery, we see it all the time. I'm not saying anything negative about you, but it is what it is and is why policies are in place.
In addition, it makes it much harder to track down and verify if anything was actually missing when you wait months.

Now what you might do is after taking lots of care to inspect the boxes and all the packing material and the folded flaps inside the box, is take everything out, lay it all out beside each box, take lots of pictures, and then see if you can't, very politely, very courteously ask if they can let you e-mail the details over to their customer service department and see if one of the supervisors can flag it for review & follow up.

 

[wade2big]

30 days seems like a fair enough time to check over your order. If you didn’t open the box and check until months later, that’s on you.

 

[SniperFan78]

It’s wise to check your order for errors as soon as you possibly can.

Apparently so. Doesn't mean they shouldn't have done the right thing and send the missing parts. 1% of the order.

 

[jb0311]

Apparently so. Doesn't mean they shouldn't have done the right thing and send the missing parts. 1% of the order.

No, and I said as much I think, but I still don’t see that as a valid reason for the rest of us to move our business elsewhere. Now if you got your order, looked at it in a reasonable time frame (according to PSA that is 30 days) and they still didn’t refund or replace missing or damaged items, then I could see you having a point. Again, I get your frustration but they are running a business here. They have to have a line drawn somewhere with the amount of traffic they get.

 

[redbullitt]

Theyve been plenty good in my dealings with them, but timescale for contact and correction was different. Sorry to hear about that though, annoying for sure, but it sounds like youll be able to still finish the builds with a little inconvenience sprinkled in.

 

[PBWalsh]

Their policies are clearly stated. I’m not sure why you expected them to go outside of that.

 

[msgriff]

I'd pass this along to save everyone else the hassle I went through.

I bought almost $20,000 worth of gear from PSA in the last few months. Now it took me a few months to get all of the gear together from other companies to start building these rifles.

When I opened all of the PSA boxed and inventoried what I have, 2 complete kits were missing. Additionally, 2 of the lower parts kits that were there, were also missing parts.

Now that isn't that bad by itself, because this was a large order and I'm an understanding person. What is bad is that they wouldn't replace the missing parts. I felt like they believed I was lying to scam some free parts or something. I tried to explain that this was only a little over $200 to them on a very large order and they explained to me that I needed to read the "policies" page. Since the order is older than 30 days, there is "nothing they can do."

There is, in fact, something they can do, they just choose not to.

Anywho, I wanted to post this to help others avoid the same experience. Open your package immediately or buy from someone else. I recommend the latter.

How many months/years would you consider as reasonable for reporting issues with an order?

 

[buffalowinter]

I like PSA. But, if nothing else, it is bad business practice to piss someone off on a $200 discrepancy on a $20K order. Sort of like buying a 10K gun and they want you to pay for shipping. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

 

[RUTGERS95]

I can't fathom why anyone buys psa, why? there is so much better, so many more, and more robust out there so WHY!

you couldn't give me anything from them.

Build your own before going psa

 

[IronSkillet]

Honestly think some of PSA associates are illiterate or just plain stupid and the company relies on customer service staff to clean up the
warehouse shipping dept mistakes. Fortunately I must of been within the 30 day period for discovery, problem fixed but still was 45+ days before my card was credited for the return, ordered 2x cases of .38 SPL ammo and received two boxes of dove & quail shot. With my previous schedule away from home a package could easily sit around for a minute...or two. Hopefully with the money you spent someone from management will be able to review the order along with the weight of the package and see it was a little light. Something the customer service person mentioned to me with the wrong ammo being shipped for my order.

 

[jb0311]

I can't fathom why anyone buys psa, why? there is so much better, so many more, and more robust out there so WHY!

you couldn't give anything from them.

Build your own before going psa

Agree on their branded items but they sell way more than just PSA uppers and lowers. I’ve gotten a couple H&Ks at decent deals from them in the past.

 

[CaptArab]

Dude you're a jackass.

PSA is one of the most patriotic countries companies in America. Spend $300-400, build an AR with half-rate tools in the garage, become a gun guy, repeat.

Why you'd buy 20k worth just blows my mind

 

[Im2bent]

Dude you're a jackass.

PSA is one of the most patriotic countries in America. Spend $300-400, build an AR with half-rate tools in the garage, become a gun guy, repeat.

Why you'd buy 20k worth just blows my mind

Uhh are there some typos in there?

 

[Holliday]

As a person who runs an e-commerce, this sucks for everyone. We tell our customers to immediately inventory their orders. After 10 days all bets are off.

Recently, I have had such a rash of people losing, throwing away or otherwise misplacing product that every order is now photographed as it is packed. I don’t know how many calls I’ve gotten more somebody said they haven’t gotten something and I look up the photographs and sure enough it was put in there and I tell a customer “Hey, you lost it or threw it away or whatever”. The photos cover me.

I have one motorcycle fuel solution/air intake kit I have been selling for 21 years worldwide. Almost all that time the 4 pages of detailed color instructions have been placed under the shrink-wrap on the back of the package. Well, something happened during Covid because suddenly I’ve gotten a rash of people calling me, saying they didn’t get any instructions with their kit. I nicely tell them to flip the package over.

So along with the photos that show the instructions, we now fold a corner up so it visible from the front of the package, to help them out.

 

[CaptArab]

Uhh are there some typos in there?

Countries/companies who's counting?
Rage troll typing keeps no score we're all losers in this game.

 

[SniperFan78]

Theyve been plenty good in my dealings with them, but timescale for contact and correction was different. Sorry to hear about that though, annoying for sure, but it sounds like youll be able to still finish the builds with a little inconvenience sprinkled in.

Agreed. Annoying, but won't slow me down. I'll just get more parts from someone else.

 

[RUTGERS95]

Agree on their branded items but they sell way more than just PSA uppers and lowers. I’ve gotten a couple H&Ks at decent deals from them in the past.

yes, you are correct. I should have specified

 

[MadDuner]

Go hire some employees.
They will screw up.
That's what employees do.
PSA is not immune to it any more than Walmart or FedEx or Amazon or Summit Racing is.
That's life as we know it.

 

[SniperFan78]

Why you'd buy 20k worth just blows my mind

If you remember, at the end of the last congress, there was a bill floating around to ban anything with adjustable stocks, vertical grips, etc.

I wanted a supply of cheap parts quickly to "grandfather in" just in case. I'm not complaining about the quality of their gear. It's not anything I would run on my personal rifle, but it's cheap and it works.

 

[DocRDS]

Spends 20k, doesn't check the order


A fool and their money...

Meanwhile I get pissed off for unexplained 3.50 charges by my wife at school for lunch....

 

[RUTGERS95]

Go hire some employees.
They will screw up.
That's what employees do.
PSA is not immune to it any more than Walmart or FedEx or Amazon or Summit Racing is.
That's life as we know it.

c'mon, PSA is seemingly FAR more likely to fk something up than FedEx or Amazon. it's not even close how bad they are

 

[db2000]

Their policies are clearly stated. I’m not sure why you expected them to go outside of that.

Because he spent $20,000! Jesus.
All the people on their high horses quoting “policy”. I would expect they’d cut some slack also. Policies like this are typically to avoid fraud. Usually someone dropping this kind of coin, if true, is potentially a great repeat customer and not trying to recoup 1% of what they spent.

 

[db2000]

I can't fathom why anyone buys psa, why? there is so much better, so many more, and more robust out there so WHY!

you couldn't give anything from them.

Build your own before going psa

Also, there’s this

 

[Austan]

As a person who runs an e-commerce, this sucks for everyone. We tell our customers to immediately inventory their orders. After 10 days all bets are off.

Recently, I have had such a rash of people losing, throwing away or otherwise misplacing product that every order is now photographed as it is packed...

I worked for a company that did the same thing. Owner was so sick of the he said she said between the customers and the floor guys that did the packing, that all orders were laid out to see every part and photographed. In the years that followed it was discovered that less than 1 out of 100 were actual packing mistakes. Customers flat out lost parts or threw them away and then called to bitch. Then they'd get an email with a photo of their order sheet atop the product as proof. Most were apologetic, others doubled down on their stupidity and continued to deny fault.

What really reduced the complaints was sending the photo along with the tracking information so they knew before it arrived what they were getting.

It's difficult to read a thread like this, especially from a new member and not wonder if they destroyed product figuring out how to assemble them and then complain to cover their ass. Not saying that's what happened, but there is always some doubt.

 

[021411]

Nothing to do with ordering but PSA deleted my critical review of their AAC ammo line 77gr OTM. That was pretty shitty of them.

 

[SniperFan78]

What really reduced the complaints was sending the photo along with the tracking information so they knew before it arrived what they were getting.

I've worked as a manager in a shipping department as well. I can tell you that adding a stamp with the qc persons initials eliminated 90+% of qc errors. I can only imagine how much better the effect of a picture would be. When he/she knows that complaints will land on them, they care a lot more to get the order right.

It's difficult to read a thread like this, especially from a new member and not wonder if they destroyed product figuring out how to assemble them and then complain to cover their ass. Not saying that's what happened, but there is always some doubt.

Good theory, but I didn't destroy anything. I know what I'm doing. I can build a lower in 9 minutes.

 

[SniperFan78]

Nothing to do with ordering but PSA deleted my critical review of their AAC ammo line 77gr OTM. That was pretty shitty of them.

Typical. I noticed their review are often in the 1-2.5 stars on various sites.

 

[Austan]

I've worked as a manager in a shipping department as well. I can tell you that adding a stamp with the qc persons initials eliminated 90+% of qc errors. I can only imagine how much better the effect of a picture would be. When he/she knows that complaints will land on them, they care a lot more to get the order right.

Good theory, but I didn't destroy anything. I know what I'm doing. I can build a lower in 9 minutes.

Yeah yeah I get it, but here's the thing. A guy says he knows what he's doing, but then also says he gave 20k to PSA, which is really contradictory for those who know what they're doing.

I'm going to take your word for it. Just understand, we've seen this play out a hundred times only to find out OP messed something up and tried to use social media to get the company to cover it.

 

[Precision Underground]

The missing parts are irrelevant at this point. We need the story on how the hell you spend $20k at PSA. The only thing I can imagine is you’re starting a gun shop or a cartel.

 

[TheGerman]

20k at PSA?

That's like 10,000 rifles.

 

[jb0311]

As a person who runs an e-commerce, this sucks for everyone. We tell our customers to immediately inventory their orders. After 10 days all bets are off.

Recently, I have had such a rash of people losing, throwing away or otherwise misplacing product that every order is now photographed as it is packed. I don’t know how many calls I’ve gotten more somebody said they haven’t gotten something and I look up the photographs and sure enough it was put in there and I tell a customer “Hey, you lost it or threw it away or whatever”. The photos cover me.

I have one motorcycle fuel solution/air intake kit I have been selling for 21 years worldwide. Almost all that time the 4 pages of detailed color instructions have been placed under the shrink-wrap on the back of the package. Well, something happened during Covid because suddenly I’ve gotten a rash of people calling me, saying they didn’t get any instructions with their kit. I nicely tell them to flip the package over.

So along with the photos that show the instructions, we now fold a corner up so it visible from the front of the package, to help them out.

A lot of larger companies have cameras overhead of the packing assembly line because of this as well.

 

[cypriss32]

Must be building rifles to resell.

 

[Holliday]

Because he spent $20,000! Jesus.
All the people on their high horses quoting “policy”. I would expect they’d cut some slack also. Policies like this are typically to avoid fraud. Usually someone dropping this kind of coin, if true, is potentially a great repeat customer and not trying to recoup 1% of what they spent.

I’m curious do you run an e-commerce ?

One thing to remember here is often times the first response will be no. At that point it is really up to the consumer to make his case for an exception. This is often done to weed out the people trying to pull something. The first line of defense, if you will.

I had one guy that emailed me complaining that he was missing parts. I looked his up his order and it was 2 years old ( he failed to mention). Somehow I also learn that in that time he had moved from Colorado to Arizona. In my response I quoted our policy and the 2 years telling him there was really nothing I could do.

He was not happy and responded with threats to inform the internet of my bad customer service. I responded by saying “ You have a kit for 2 years, move to another State and when I tell you I can’t replace missing parts after two years, your next move is to threaten me???”

He responded by telling me I was right and apologizing. Floored me. I emailed back and said now I believe you, send me your new address so I can get the parts to you. I told him, I don’t care if it’s been 10 years, if you paid for something I want you to have it. I want you to have what you paid for.

So exceptions do get made but sometimes you need to make your case.

 

[msgriff]

I've worked as a manager in a shipping department as well. ...snip

I guess we now know why you weren't the manager in the receiving department.

 

[BAMCIS]

$20,000? I would've checked the order within 4hours.
Sounds very fishy.

 

[TheGerman]

Now for the real questions.

Did you send dick pics to PSA?

 

[smoothy8500]

When I opened all of the PSA boxed and inventoried what I have, 2 complete kits were missing.

That guy who messed up your order at PSA? Yeah, he works at Carl's Jr now. How do I know? He just messed up my order in the drive-thru...

 

[smoothy8500]

I wish I had read this post before going out for lunch....

 

[Lug Nut]

Hey OP, thanks for the reminder to open packages before the deadline. I’ve been guilty of not doing so.

I think overall, PSA provides a good service to Americans.

 

[Jsp556]

I can’t think of anything positive to post…. What the heck did you order? Lol

 

[ssc45]

PSA is a no go for me. However, I would suggest going to AR15.com, under the industry area and ask for some help. There is a representative from PSA who seems to be able to help folks. I think his name is Joseph or Josiah. Just a thought.

Cheers, Steve

 

[Gohring65]

So you’re the reason nothing is ever in stock there!

 

[SniperFan78]

I can’t think of anything positive to post…. What the heck did you order? Lol

Mostly lower build kits and magazines.

 

[SniperFan78]

So you’re the reason nothing is ever in stock there!

I was when I ordered. Ha! It was hard finding the kits that had enough in stock to fill my order. I wanted everything to match.