I'm getting together the parts for an AR build, and this has been quite amusing. Of all of my suppliers, only one managed to ship stuff without error, and I even made myself a nice big error, too. Let's take a look at what happened.
Upper receiver
I ordered this from Coleman Tyler. It's a Mega upper and associated hardware. I placed this order after midnight one sunday night (Monday morning), and the thing was in my possession on Tuesday. Outstanding part, outstanding service.
Barrel
I ordered this from CMMG, along with a second FSB for another project. The barrel is a 16" midlength gas, 1/7twist lightweight. My credit card was billed right away, but the thing didn't ship until 14 days later. When it did, it arrived without the second FSB. I emailed them, they sent out a second one the next day.
Stock and various small parts
I ordered from AIM. I got the stock (Magpul CTR, very nice!), didn't get the small parts. Again, I emailed them, and they made it right.
Rails, back-up iron sights, bolt carrier group
I ordered from Bravo Company. I got the Troy Folding Battle Sight and BCG just fine. I also got a Troy free float rail. The only problem was I ordered a DD Lite rail. I emailed them, and they sent out the RMA for the Troy rail, the correct DD rail, and a free hat, that day. Very nice, very quick response.
My error
When I ordered from CMMG, I ordered the complete barrel, forgetting that I was also putting on a DD FF rail. Yeah. I need to either change out the barrel for a stripped one, or remove the FH and FSB from the one I have and then re-install. I'll probably do the latter, I guess...no real reason not to, right?
Conclusion
Basically, I wanted to take a moment to make a few observations:
1. The best laid plans will still go awry. I have rarely had to email suppliers about my order, and in this single purchase spree I had to email 3/4ths of the vendors.
2. These companies are good companies to do business with. Anyone can screw up an order- it takes good customer service to fix it. My hat (literally!) is off to Bravo Company. They went out on a limb shipping me the correct rail before I returned the other one. Many companies would send out an RMA and ship the correct part once they got the incorrect one back. The hat was merely a nice touch. Thumbs up.
Mike
Upper receiver
I ordered this from Coleman Tyler. It's a Mega upper and associated hardware. I placed this order after midnight one sunday night (Monday morning), and the thing was in my possession on Tuesday. Outstanding part, outstanding service.
Barrel
I ordered this from CMMG, along with a second FSB for another project. The barrel is a 16" midlength gas, 1/7twist lightweight. My credit card was billed right away, but the thing didn't ship until 14 days later. When it did, it arrived without the second FSB. I emailed them, they sent out a second one the next day.
Stock and various small parts
I ordered from AIM. I got the stock (Magpul CTR, very nice!), didn't get the small parts. Again, I emailed them, and they made it right.
Rails, back-up iron sights, bolt carrier group
I ordered from Bravo Company. I got the Troy Folding Battle Sight and BCG just fine. I also got a Troy free float rail. The only problem was I ordered a DD Lite rail. I emailed them, and they sent out the RMA for the Troy rail, the correct DD rail, and a free hat, that day. Very nice, very quick response.
My error
When I ordered from CMMG, I ordered the complete barrel, forgetting that I was also putting on a DD FF rail. Yeah. I need to either change out the barrel for a stripped one, or remove the FH and FSB from the one I have and then re-install. I'll probably do the latter, I guess...no real reason not to, right?
Conclusion
Basically, I wanted to take a moment to make a few observations:
1. The best laid plans will still go awry. I have rarely had to email suppliers about my order, and in this single purchase spree I had to email 3/4ths of the vendors.
2. These companies are good companies to do business with. Anyone can screw up an order- it takes good customer service to fix it. My hat (literally!) is off to Bravo Company. They went out on a limb shipping me the correct rail before I returned the other one. Many companies would send out an RMA and ship the correct part once they got the incorrect one back. The hat was merely a nice touch. Thumbs up.
Mike
