Concerning Palmetto State Armory

Status
Not open for further replies.

JohnhenrySTL

Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2010
Messages
489
Location
Saint Louis Missouri
A couple friends and I are considering buying some of the complete "build your own" P.S.A's from the sight.
I was wondering if anybody has advice or particular experience we should know?
 
I'll never give them my money again. Slow response time, very long lead times, charge your card before they ship, near non-responsive and downright rude customer service, all for an defective upper that they "fixed" and still could not get right. Not the kind of people I believe should stay in business.

Other people's mileage does vary. Buyer beware.
 
Some people have had bad experiences/expectations. Some people simply can't seem to read the disclaimer on every page regarding ship times. Some people say PSA sucks simply because they read someone else had a bad experience.

I, however, have had nothing but good experiences.

My first psa order was for 4 Anderson lowers for $49 each with free shipping. On the site it said they would ship in 15 days or sooner. They arrived 20 days later.

The next order was for 2 lower build kits, one complete, one not, and a complete barreled upper. It got to me in about 25 days.

I built two lowers, one had a sloppy safe/fire selector. I swapped parts and determined it was the selector itself and poor machining. I called psa ( be aware, if you call customer service, you will be on hold for at least a half an hour, put your phone on speaker, and do something else while you wait). I talked with Everett, and they sent me another selector the next day at no charge. They Did not want the old one back.

My third order was for another barreled upper, carry handle, and range bag. Shipped to my door in 20 days.

I just ordered 4 more stripped lowers for $49 with free shipping. They shipped in 10 days.

I think PSA is fantastic, they have great deals, their customer service is fine, and they ship when they say they do.

Just understand that you are trading same day shipping for low prices. Put your order in and forget about it. It will show up when it does. If you are someone who wants instant gratification of buying something, get it elsewhere.

I have heard initially there were QC issues with the PTAC stuff ( their lower line). I'd stick with the freedom or premium line.

Unless you want the fun of building an upper yourself, you can pick up a barreled built upper for less than you can buy the parts for if you catch them on sale.

Sign up for their emails and you'll get daily deals in your inbox.

They also have an industry forum over at ar15.com where they answer questions, address order concerns, etc.

Just my 2c, but as far as I am concerned they are good to go and I will continue to buy from them.
 
I have ordered a couple of things from them. Shipping was a little slow the last time but they had a banner at the top of the page stating they were running 10-15 days late. I got my stuff in 12 days.

It is hard to beat their prices and quality. I am using one of their blemished complete lowers witha DelTon Hbar 20" upper and it has been great. I will continue to shop there.
 
I live 55 miles from one of their stores, and I am treated very professionally when I am there, and I've never ordered from them.

They have competitive prices on their merchandise, and the one AR-15 I bought from them is awesome. I try to make time to stop by PSA every time I'm in Columbia.
 
All positive here. Couple of times it did take them week or two to ship, but they clearly disclaim up to 15 business days for processing. Most everything, though, has been in in 6-8 days. I've bought four uppers, 3 lower build kits, a couple of optics, bolt carriers and a bunch of other bits from them, don't have any complaints.

Quality has always been fine, too, IMO-even on the PTAC line. I also have a couple of their 16" stainless freedom uppers, which have run flawlessly and shoot <1.5 MOA.
 
Ordered a few times. Takes a fortnight to ship. Difficult to get through to coustomer service. I am happy with my rifle (16" CHF mid) I built through them.
 
I've got some GREAT deals from them over the years.

And I've had some LONG waits.

Lots of ammo, a full 6.8SPCII upper under $300 that produces tight groups, this and that, a $99 Sig Brace......I've just learned to be patient. DO NOT ORDER FROM PALMETTO STATE ARMORY if you are in a hurry. Period.
 
Long wait, quick charge, wrong item shipped, very rude customer service......but I was happy to get that rude service since getting any kind of contact or reply was a Herculean effort.

Count me in the they ain't near cheap enough and I will happily pay more elsewhere camp.

But I am only a single data point and maybe it was a bad week or something. Ymmv.
 
I have had good luck with them, although, reportedly, sometimes shipping & communication is can be a problem with them. Buy their "premium" components.
 
If you're not a need it right now kind of person PSA is great. Shipping isn't always fast, service isn't always great, and products occasionally (rarely) have issues. To me the great prices are worth waiting a bit longer. To some that's not the case.
 
My perspective is a bit different as I live 20 minutes away and I frequent the store front and gun range almost weekly. One thing is consistent with them, they are not very courteous or helpful the majority of time. The prices are really good compared to sportsman warehouse which is 500 yards away. My number one complaint about most gun stores is that they are mostly unfriendly. But we are to blame. We go in and buy at such a fever pitch that it doesnt hurt them if anything it enables them to continue with poor customer service. I bought a g20 gen4 from them this week. I knew exactly what I wanted so I can ignore the service. One thing that does not make sense they do not honor the online price in the store. They explained to me they want to become this onlin mega store.
 
I bought 2 uppers from them on 2 different occasions. great quality, no complaints. had my stuff within 10 business days.
 
25$ LPKs in the middle of the Banic of 2013, and people think they deserve to go out of business? :scrutiny: Time, quality, cost; pick two (then be quiet :D)

TCB
 
For those griping about having your card charged before the item ships: Would you prefer to be wondering for days or weeks just when those charges will hit your account? I like DSArms, but I can tell you that an 8 month wait (and you thought PSA was slow) and then suddenly nailing my card for $440 right at tax time when I had just sent a couple grand to the IRS was way worse than having written off that money when I clicked "check out" in the fall.

I'd much rather be charged when I order, because my finances could be far less accommodating weeks or months down the line.
 
I ve never tried them as i m not into ARs. But be prepared to wait for slow shipping schedule.
 
I thought is was just me.

Its not the wait times or charging your card when you order that bothers me.

Its the lack of communication. Maybe I'm just spoiled by other company’s that
take the time (auto email) to let you know that they got your order, that they
shipped your order.

I guess they don't care if I order from them again.
 
I've oredered nothing but mags and ammo from them, but my orders were shipped quickly and I would order again without hesitation
 
The shipping times they quote are unrealistic.
I'm at day 38 on a $600 order.
I called on day 30 and they said they'd check with the warehouse to see what is wrong.
I contacted them again on day 35 and again asked about my overdue order as I hadn't heard anything.
Once again they said they'd contact the warehouse. 3 days later still nothing.

The main item I ordered, a Hornady L-N-L AP press, is now showing as out of stock. The rest of the order was reloading supplies as well.
The sale was about $130 off normal price. The item was in stock when I ordered and was in stock the following day then flipped to "out of stock" more than 24 hours after my order and has been that way the last 37 days.

Problem is I already ordered hundreds of dollars worth of accessories for this press,( shellplates, LNL bushings etc.) elsewhere as they did not sell them. All that came from 4 different suppliers and showed up within 3-4 days.
So I suspect they will eventually tell me they don't have the press and since they say they don't do backorders I'm screwed. I really didn't budget coughing up $130 more to get it elsewhere, due to their incompetence.


Not to mention about 3 months ago they screwed up an order and have YET to rectify the problem. Won't respond to emails etc.

I have been a loyal customer having spent over $20,000 with them since they opened and $13,000 of that just the last 2 years. I tried to support them as they are a local company.
Depending on what they eventually do about my order, I may be done with them.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top