Special Orders - how long do they take to get here?

[Brian McIlmoyle]

Originally Posted by GrieverX

So you are advocating crapass customer service and bad business practice?
Wow, I certainly hope thats not how you run things with your business.

Not at all, however... If I was the only person selling something... and I could get 10 a month and I had 100 people who wanted them... I would not be too fussed if people have to wait, fact is .. you have to wait...because you can only get want you want from me.

Now... If I tell you when you order and pay, I will contact you when the item arrives and is ready to ship.. I have given you an expectation of what will happen( I know for a fact that this is exactly how A&A operates )
If you subsequently e-mail me asking if it is in yet... YOU are the one who is now going outside of our agreement and bugging me so I feel quite ok about Ignoring you until I get a moment to let you know that I will contact you when the item arrives and is ready to ship just like I told you when you purchased the item. If you subsequently contact me again asking " how bout now? is it in yet?" well now you are just wasting my time... of which I have little...Again... if I get time I will contact you and remind you of our deal..
Otherwise.. our original deal holds... you pay me.. I order what you want.. and I let you know when it comes in and I am shipping it.

It is not bad customer service to meet the obligations of a deal as established at the time of purchase.. Neither is it bad business to do exactly as you promised to do.. despite the fact that your customers feel things are taking too long.. and they need to be "petted" to make them feel better about waiting.

The one thing that sours someone to even continue in a retail by mail business is the inordinate amount of time that you waste hand holding customers who can't seem to remember what the original deal was and somehow want you to make a process that you have no control over move faster...

[Colin_S]

Err just another quick note, the Escort MP5 is an extremely rare piece, it's been sold out at Redwolf for ages. I've been looking on and off for about half a year as I've been getting accessories for my CA MP5 and every time I do a "MP5" search, it's out.

Perhaps you should email Redwolf to get an ETA on their availability, at least then you know what Mark has to deal with. Unfortunately then you have to tack on the regular importation time period, it's certainly going to try your patience. Oh ya, if emails don't work, call Mark. A few $ in long D can save you a lot of headaches.

[Mr. G36!]

People forget that sending an email doesn't necessarily mean he gets it. He told me himself that he gets so many emails every day that it's impossible to keep track of them. Furthermore, if half of them are emails asking "where's the fucking gun I ordered, bitch!?", whereas the other half are actually important, he has twice the work, and so he'll probably prioritize which ones to answer first, and thus, lose track. That aside, he probably doesn't know any better than you when the guns will reach him, and sending out a thousand "Sorry, I don't know for sure" emails cuts into his Ordering and other duties.

If you have an issue with this, I suggest you email him (around noon, heh) and offer to volunteer yourself so that he does have the time to send out a thousand "Sorry, I don't know for sure" emails.