Caveat Emptor - ADCO

Re: Caveat Emptor - ADCO

I usually dont get into these things here but this one stirred me up a bit.

To the OP,
It seems to me you are making a mountain out of a mole hill because you thought your barrel had been fired. Lets think about this for a minute...

Steve would have to install it on an upper, add gas tube, front sight if needed, sight it in, shoot the shit out of it and then pull it all apart to refinish and send back to you. Just doesnt add up to me, there is no motive for a man that works on these things daily to even want to take "your barrel" to a carbine comp ( your words ). Just an assumption ( hope mine is more accurate than yours ) but I would say that Steve has is own "toys" that he would shoot if he had time to get out of the shop and do so without ragging out your
gear.

The way I see it, you made an assumption that it had been fired when it most like had not been. You took that assumption and started the conversation off with banter and threats. Steve got offended when you accused him of something that he did not do and snapped back...Had it been me, I probably would not have made it past the firts sentence or two before I invited you to my shop for a face to face.....just sayin.

I just can not believe that someone would go through the BS that you are raising over some discoloration on a break that will look worse than that when you put the first magazine through it. It just does not make sense to me....

Then you get to the point where you threaten to contact the BATFE to report him.....sounds to me like your one of those guys that had his ass whipped on the playgrounds one too many times and always threatened to go to the principal when his feelings got hurt, maybe im wrong but it sure sounds like it.


Either way, this thread needs to die

Dont be so quick to assume someone did something wrong, it may be just what he said and had you started the conversation a little differently, it could have went a completely different direction. Dont get so butt hurt,your not gonna find any sympathy here, put your rifle together and go shoot the thing.

Take care and I hope it all works out for you.
 
Re: Caveat Emptor - ADCO

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: nly205</div><div class="ubbcode-body">. It doesn't even make sense, these guys work on high end gear for a living and all probably own high end gear themselves. Why would they go through the effort of stripping an upper and putting your barrel on it just to shoot? And be willing to tarnish their reputation to do so. . . .for a barrel? Comeon, get ovet it. </div></div>

^^ I still don't understand this part. And why someone would assume that they did this?
 
Re: Caveat Emptor - ADCO

In my limited dealings with Steve, I have found him to be abrupt and not particularly "polite". However, his service has been GREAT. I will take this over a bunch of sweet words any day. I suspect that he has a great deal of emails that he tries to reply to in a very timely fashion. Not much time for lengthy/flowery responses, and even less time to spend yakking on the phone.
 
Re: Caveat Emptor - ADCO

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: nly205</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: nly205</div><div class="ubbcode-body">. It doesn't even make sense, these guys work on high end gear for a living and all probably own high end gear themselves. Why would they go through the effort of stripping an upper and putting your barrel on it just to shoot? And be willing to tarnish their reputation to do so. . . .for a barrel? Comeon, get ovet it. </div></div>

^^ I still don't understand this part. And why someone would assume that they did this? </div></div>Well, the barrel is from an LMT with the quick change barrel, it's supposed to be quick and easy to swap barrels. But again, why would they do that?
 
Re: Caveat Emptor - ADCO

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: nly205</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: nly205</div><div class="ubbcode-body">. It doesn't even make sense, these guys work on high end gear for a living and all probably own high end gear themselves. Why would they go through the effort of stripping an upper and putting your barrel on it just to shoot? And be willing to tarnish their reputation to do so. . . .for a barrel? Comeon, get ovet it. </div></div>

^^ I still don't understand this part. And why someone would assume that they did this? </div></div>

It's beyond logical, and is almost comical. You guys should hear the voice mail he left me before sending the e-mials. It's just as eloquent. You can't please all the people all the time. Retail can be a bitch, and retail on the internet - where word spreads faster than anything else can be pretty brutal...

I've been doing this type of work for on-line and local customers for 10yrs. Its not an exaggeration to say over 10,000 barrels/uppers have passed through my doors. Do a search for ADCO in any firearm related forum from the past 10 yrs, and you'll be able to count the unhappy customers on one one hand. I'm proud as hell of that reputation, and I know it is well earned. We've flat out fucked up a few times over the years, but with every reasonable customer who gave us a chance to make it right, and send it back, we always made it right.

My biggest customer relation problem is I treat people the same way they treat me. Anyone who knows me, knows had this guy simply mentioned he was concerned with the discoloration of his brake, knows we would have done something about it. We sent the pics to the guys at BattleComp - who offered a replacement.

Oh well. Life goes one, tomorrow is supposed to be another sunny day to get in some range time.
 
Re: Caveat Emptor - ADCO

No worries with me Steve.

You have ramped a couple of bolts for me in the past and the work was top notch with turnarounds to match.

I think this deal just got blown out of proportion. I do parkerizing and anyone that has ever sprayed a parkerized or anodized part with brake clean or equivilent will immediately identify the discolor shown in his pick. It just needs some oil on it and it will look just like his first pic.

I think you just stepped on his feelings, I would have done the same thing if someone opened a conversation the way he did.
 
Re: Caveat Emptor - ADCO

Talk about a thread backfire...x4 or however many forums he posted this on.

Adco rocks! Truly one of the best people in the industry.
 
Re: Caveat Emptor - ADCO

WOW-- I only saw whining like this on AR15.com--not a good idea to complain like this here--too many real OP'S that shoot instead of collect -- oh and by the way they are among the best
Steve is GTG and you have probably never had any work done before
---u were supposed to remove said brake and didn't and did not listen to anyone's advice--there are forums out there that welcome your kind--this is not 1 of them
 
Re: Caveat Emptor - ADCO

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: bigbore</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: nly205</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: nly205</div><div class="ubbcode-body">. It doesn't even make sense, these guys work on high end gear for a living and all probably own high end gear themselves. Why would they go through the effort of stripping an upper and putting your barrel on it just to shoot? And be willing to tarnish their reputation to do so. . . .for a barrel? Comeon, get ovet it. </div></div>

^^ I still don't understand this part. And why someone would assume that they did this? </div></div>

It's beyond logical, and is almost comical. You guys should hear the voice mail he left me before sending the e-mials. It's just as eloquent. You can't please all the people all the time. Retail can be a bitch, and retail on the internet - where word spreads faster than anything else can be pretty brutal...

I've been doing this type of work for on-line and local customers for 10yrs. Its not an exaggeration to say over 10,000 barrels/uppers have passed through my doors. Do a search for ADCO in any firearm related forum from the past 10 yrs, and you'll be able to count the unhappy customers on one one hand. I'm proud as hell of that reputation, and I know it is well earned. We've flat out fucked up a few times over the years, but with every reasonable customer who gave us a chance to make it right, and send it back, we always made it right.

My biggest customer relation problem is I treat people the same way they treat me. Anyone who knows me, knows had this guy simply mentioned he was concerned with the discoloration of his brake, knows we would have done something about it. We sent the pics to the guys at BattleComp - who offered a replacement.

Oh well. Life goes one, tomorrow is supposed to be another sunny day to get in some range time.


</div></div>

no sweat, worry not, this guy got ZERO wind for his sail on this. in fact i think all he did was label himself as a shitbird for everyone to see.
 
Re: Caveat Emptor - ADCO

No, that's not all he did. He made me want to send a barrel or two in to ADCO for dimpling!
smile.gif
 
Re: Caveat Emptor - ADCO

I was watching this thread to see what would transpire. it most certainly spiraled down.
Lets recap:
Customer sends an expensive piece of kit to have some alterations done on it. Let us assume that it was very well cleaned when he sent it in.
Customer pays his money in full and rightfully expects the work to be done.
Customer receives his kit back and is stunned to see that it looks like shit.
Very irate customer gets in touch with the company that performed the work, being in a very foul mood, uses absolutely no tact and diplomacy whatsoever, launches into immediate attack mode and makes accusations that are probably not true, but under the circumstances, understandable.
The recipient of the attack does not appreciate it the attack at all and basically tells the attacker to fuck off.

In a nutshell, this is how I percieve it.

Was the work performed?
Absolutely.
Was there any agreement before hand that the item would be returned in a condition at least as good as how it arrived? Probably not.
Would a customer expect it to come back at least as good?
Fuckin' A right they would.

Lets say you took your new camaro into the service center for a routine service. The car was immaculate when you dropped it off, when you return to pick it up it is covered with grease and oil and looks like shit, would you not demand that it be made right?

There is fault on both sides here.
The OP for jumping to conclusions and making false accusations.

ADCO for sending an expensive piece of gear out the door that looks like shit.

Nobody should have to take shit from someone, customer or not. But if I paid someone that kind of scratch and got that in return, someone is hearing about it.

Whay does this say about ADCO? Did they do the work? Yes. Would not a reasonable person, paying a reasonable sum of money expect better? Yes.

I will tell you this, I think it speaks HIGHLY of the lack of proffesionalism and pride in work for ADCO.
I won't use them and I am sure the don't care (as I don't expect them too).

The OP was an asshat for the way he handled it.
ADCO was an asshat for the way they sent the damn thing out.
 
Re: Caveat Emptor - ADCO

What exactly "looks like shit"?

The ONLY thing in that photo that I see is that the suppressor was not sprayed with oil after he washed it down with CLP or whatever he used...

I cant speak for the "overclocking" as that photo is not represented and only the word of the OP.

I can tell you this, If I had been accused of firing someones weapon in a carbine class right out of the box and called a liar, I woud have told him to fuck off, customer or not.

I get tired of whiney ass people using the internet to tarnish someone's reputation becasue they got butt hurt about some discoloration on their friggin flash hider. Spray some oil on it and move on.

Even when someone offered to give him a new flash hider to stop the menstural cycle, he refused and continued posting to stir up shit about ADCO.

Could Steve have used a different tact in dealing with him....sure. Does that mean that Steve was wrong...no. If the guy does not like the response from Steve, by all means, dont do anymore business with him and move on. There is no sense in posting this crap on this forum or any other as far as Im concerned, but hey, thats just my opinion.
 
Re: Caveat Emptor - ADCO

Before this gets locked down know this. Steve is a good guy who really knows his AR shit. Steve is Steve and his personality is his just like mine is mine. I find him quiet and not very out spoken. He is easy going and very honest.

Steve is more than a guy with a store front; he's a shooter and promoter of the sport and a good one at that. I have been in his shop a few times and have trained with him in at least one very high speed school taught by Dave Harrington. Spend 30 plus hours on a range with a guy doing shit that is outside your comfort zone and you find allot out about people and their character.

There is no doubt in my mind Steve would go well out of his way to correct any situation that may have went wrong had it.

It just pisses me off to see this shit but now we all know where the problem in this case lies.

ADCO and their services are GTG
 
Re: Caveat Emptor - ADCO

back while when i was training to deploy for iraq my eotech died (big suprise) i emailed steve about purchasing a new one steve gave a replacement to my mom (who worked in the same shoping plaza as adco). and told me i could pay him "when i got back on leave or whenever" and it was a really good price too if i recall correctly (this was about 5 years ago). you dont find stuff like that happening too frequently. it left a lasting impression on me and i have been going back for any serious work now a 2.5 hour drive ever since. now i do realize that no one is perfect but steve makes every effort to be as close as posible. hell he even offered to work with rock river to do a commemoritive ar15 for the deployment for my unit with no upcharge for the engravings and whatnot. it dont get much better than that. OP i would be willing to bet the sum of my military pay for the 10 years ive been in that if you had approached things a tad more professionally things would have been different.
 
Re: Caveat Emptor - ADCO

I have had many rifles done by Steve (ADCO) I am also a shooter, I would have been happy to have ADCO shoot it after they worked on it, as for the attitude, Steve has even lent me tools, rifles are made to be shot , not just looked at and FF.