New shipping policy from Missouri Bullet Company

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MissouriBullet

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Nov 2, 2008
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Western Missouri, on rural property
Jo Ann and I had to do something about improving our shipping policy and decided how to do it today. Following is the verbiage that is going up on the website tomorrow, so I thought I would share it with our THR friends a little bit early so that you're not surprised when you order.
*****

Why didn't we think of this sooner??

We have modified our shipping policy. Flat-rate shipping is now $13.00 per carton, and covers both the postage and our Delivery Assurance Guarantee. As you probably know, previously we strongly emphasized the purchase of USPS insurance. We suggested this both on the main page of our site (in a bold font) and at bullet selection time and also, in the form of a strongly-worded rant in our "News" section. Well, a lot of people bought the insurance but a lot of folks didn't and when their shipments got lost or damaged in transit, well, guess what? Some of these folks who craftily saved the $2.00 had the idea that we owed them a replacement shipment even though they refused to spring for the two bucks for the insurance that we strongly recommended (NB - None of these were THR people, naturally.)

This is bad for everyone, causing hard feelings and a fair degree, I will admit, of a seething and boiling rage that is hard on my circulatory system.

Here is how it works now: If USPS tracking shows that you have not received your shipment 14 days from the date we shipped, we will replace it immediately. No questions asked. No muss. No fuss. Win/Win for everybody. The USPS insurance program makes you wait 30 days before a claim can even be initiated and who knows how long after that before anything gets done? Meanwhile, you're out the bullets and we're upset that one of our customers got screwed by the government.

The Delivery Assurance Guarantee is the answer. We are the first to do this. We believe that it is the answer to the not-worth-a-hoot-anyhow USPS insurance program and are confident that it will better serve our customers, whom we really do try to make happy.
 
I imagine you probably have already checked into private insurance. We don't like making our customers wait 30 days either so we use a private insurance company. We don't wait 4 to 6 months to get claims processed either like you do if you have to file one through the PO. Funny, once we started using private insurance our claims dropped to about 2 per year compared to 10 or 11 when we insured through the postal service.

Chuck (retired postal employee and retired Navy Chief Postal Clerk).
 
Dangit.

I've seen the warning a couple of times, but never seem to click on that drop-down box and select the insurance option (although I think I did on my very first order).

Why don't you just make the insurance selection the default? That way if stoopid people like me don't bother to look at what they're not clicking on, they'll get the insurance anyway. And if they actively change it to the un-insured option, you've got a leg to stand on when you deny them a refund/replacement shipment.

Most other on-line retailers have something other than the cheapest shipping method as the default.
 
Dodge DeBoulet said:
Dangit.

I've seen the warning a couple of times, but never seem to click on that drop-down box and select the insurance option (although I think I did on my very first order).

Why don't you just make the insurance selection the default? That way if stoopid people like me don't bother to look at what they're not clicking on, they'll get the insurance anyway. And if they actively change it to the un-insured option, you've got a leg to stand on when you deny them a refund/replacement shipment.

Most other on-line retailers have something other than the cheapest shipping method as the default.
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Because I want to liberate myself from the post office's insurance system. I would rather self-insure. Better for me, better for you. Why would I want to pay them for worthless insurance?

And believe me, some people would select no insurance and then demand replacement of their lost or damaged order. Believe it. I am not going to deal with that situation anymore and this is the solution.
 
parker51 said:
I imagine you probably have already checked into private insurance. We don't like making our customers wait 30 days either so we use a private insurance company. We don't wait 4 to 6 months to get claims processed either like you do if you have to file one through the PO. Funny, once we started using private insurance our claims dropped to about 2 per year compared to 10 or 11 when we insured through the postal service.

Chuck (retired postal employee and retired Navy Chief Postal Clerk).
Click to expand...
But two a year is two too many, Chuck. This system is like no-fault auto insurance. Clean and efficient. It is one less thing we have to worry about now that we're shipping 30-50 cartons a day. It's a standard system and it will flow.
 
USPS insurance is a waste of money and a waste of time should you ever have to try to make a claim. What you are proposing is a good idea. You'll be self insured, so to speak. I never got the insurance because of personal experience trying to get the post office to make good on the insurance. From my perspective, an extra couple of bucks to help you to avoid a coronary is money well spent. I need my bullets.
 
Well, a lot of people bought the insurance but a lot of folks didn't and when their shipments got lost or damaged in transit, well, guess what? Some of these folks who craftily saved the $2.00 had the idea that we owed them a replacement shipment even though they refused to spring for the two bucks for the insurance that we strongly recommended (NB - None of these were THR people, naturally.)
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I thought sellers are responsible for getting the goods to the buyer. If, for example, the seller put the wrong address on the package or not enough postage and the goods goes into the USPS black hole, why should the buyer be responsible for the cost and/or filing a claim with USPS?
 
TY MB first time I forgot the ins. second time I purchased it. Great bullets I have talked well and have developed reloading info on your 380 and 10mm. Thanks for everything and helping me cut my reloading costs.
 
I thought sellers are responsible for getting the goods to the buyer. If, for example, the seller put the wrong address on the package or not enough postage and the goods goes into the USPS black hole, why should the buyer be responsible for the cost and/or filing a claim with USPS?
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Not unless specifically stated somewhere in a purchase agreement. Most of the time its the same as "FOB-shipping point". When you order online and specify to ship it or its understood its to be shipped; once the vendor delivers the product to the shipper he's performed. Its now the buyer's responsibility.

But most vendors that rely heavily on "catalog" sales step up because their very business depends upon satisfied customers. Their pricing carries this cost provision of course. High volume covers a lot of ills. Its why Cabela's is such a great place to order from - they see to it you get your order. (Atleast that has been my experience)

Regards,

TB
 
MissouriBullet said:
Because I want to liberate myself from the post office's insurance system. I would rather self-insure. Better for me, better for you. Why would I want to pay them for worthless insurance?

And believe me, some people would select no insurance and then demand replacement of their lost or damaged order. Believe it. I am not going to deal with that situation anymore and this is the solution.
Click to expand...

Well, you can do whatever you want, Brad; I'll still buy your bullets :).

I think customers like to have choices, though. Allowing them to select their method of shipment, along with a checkbox/disclaimer stating that the customer assumes all liability for the safe arrival of their order would give the cheapskates what they want and stoopid people like me that additional nudge necessary to select the worthless* insurance. And unless I misunderstand the purchase process, the customer actually pays for the insurance, not you, so it's really his decision as to its worthlessness.

You're the best judge of the potential impact your decision will make on your P&L, though.


* I've never had to place an insurance claim with the USPS (and not because I'm too stoopid to click on the right shipping selection), so I don't have any direct experience as to its worthlessness.
 
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I can't speak for others regarding the value of USPS insurance option, but I think Missouri Bullet Company is on to something.

We all had bad experience with vendors (bad product, damaged product, wrong product, no product, rude/poor/slow customer service, no product guarantee, etc.). But often it's the company's response (even if the consumer was at fault) that drives the repeat business.

It's Brad's company and he gets to make all the business decision he wants to. My experience has been that his focus is on CUSTOMER SATISFACTION and he's continuously striving to do better as a company FOR HIS CUSTOMERS. Awesome CEO material.

Missouri Bullet Company is behaving like a great national company in the making.
 
Having shipped with every major carrier out there (UPS FED EX, and now the USPS) Lost or damaged packages are a fact of life in the shipping world.
In defense of the USPS system I have had far less damages claims with them since I started with them than the others (3 in the last 4 years.)
I have always insured every package with every carrier I have ever used (NO INSURANCE IS NOT AN OPTION) and I ship out a replacement as soon as possible and I take care of the insurance claim. USPS has always paid every claim I have submitted. Dry Creek also had good results on payment of claims.
With our new packing process I have eliminated damaged packages down to zero so far. Some packages have broken internally and the outer box has held so no product was lost but did cause some issues with the customers that made us make the new changes. I have always felt that the order is not complete untill the order is in the customers hand.
The one area that USPS has been weak on is that sometimes they won't or can't deliver some packages to some addresses and want the customer to pick up at their local post office. This has been fine with most customers but USPS is supposed to leave a pick up tag inyour mail box telling you this and many times they have failed to do this and packages have sat at the local post office for some time.
To avoid this I have been using the e- mail notification thru the USPS site and that has worked out well for the customers.
Overall I still give USPS high marks for their delivery service.
 
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I'm sure most of you know that I sell bullets as well. I also offer and strongly recommend insurance on the stuff that I sell. I too stopped paying the insurance to the post office and started keeping it for myself simply because trying to get a claim through the post office was a time consuming process that caused more frustration between me and my customer. Though I often lose money because of this it is beneficial to me because my customer gets his bullets sooner and is pleased with how I deal with a crappy situation. The reward is hopefully a repeat customer that returns enough times to make up for the loss.

The problem that both Brad and I have is that we really like to make all our customers happy and often times that requires sending more bullets to the dude that was too cheap to buy insurance but feels like somehow it is our fault that the post office misdelivered or lost a package. Its unfair to those that purchase insurance and its unfair to us. I don't know about brad, but every time I have to pay for a mistake that the post office makes it comes directly out of my pocket.

I think customers like to have choices, though. Allowing them to select their method of shipment, along with a checkbox/disclaimer stating that the customer assumes all liability for the safe arrival of their order would give the cheapskates what they want and stoopid people like me that additional nudge necessary to select the worthless* insurance.
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One thing that you will notice when you start a business is that cheap customers very rarely assume liability for anything no matter how many options you give or how easy and clear you make it.

Brad,
the only problem I see with this policy is that the post office sometimes doesn't scan the delivery confirmation like they should. It happens to me atleast once a week. Sometimes I'll get an email from a customer that they got their bullets but the post office never scanned the package so it looks like it was never delivered. However, it will probably happen much less than a customer that didn't pay for insurance that expects to get more bullets sent to him.
 
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Keep up the great work! :D http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=414816

December 2008 - January 2009:
Customer satisfaction

We will do what it takes to satisfy our customers ...

Know this - any customer who has a problem with our bullets will learn from other forums that we will cheerfully take care of problems to the customer's satisfaction, because we are in this for the long haul and are aware that that a happy customer is a future customer.

Brad
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Email from customer:
I received my order, and have a couple of quality control comments.

First, the USPS Priority mail package was relatively undamaged, however the internal Missouri Bullet Co. bullet pack was split open and a number of the bullets were loose in the plastic bag.

I believe this is due to the packaging method. Bullets in one corner of the USPS box, and light filler in the other three fourths of the box. That makes it unwieldy to pick up and probably caused the box to be dropped several times. The mass should be in the center of the box.

Second, 58 of the bullets have varying degrees of lubrication loss. Most have lost lube on at least one fourth of their circumference. Since I have no way to lube these bullets, I guess they are \"throw aways\".

Your literature packed with the bullets indicates that you\'ve experienced a significant increase in business lately, and I wonder if you are hurrying the casting/lubrication process in order to speed up production. I certainly expected the bullets to arrive in better shape than these.
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Reply to email from customer:
I have refunded your entire purchase price.

I am sorry that you are dissatisfied both with the quality of our bullets and our having caused the post office to drop the shipping carton, rupturing the bullet box and the 3-inch tape we wrapped it with. Because the cardboard structural components we use to strengthen the integrity do require that a single box be sited in one corner of the carton, there will be a weight imbalance and evidently, this justifies the USPS to abuse the cartons they provide us for our shipments.

The Thompson Blue Angel lube we use is the best in the business, very expensive, hard, and sticky. We apply it at 80 PSI at 135 degrees F. It stays on bullets very well unless the bullets are subjected to a rapid temperature delta (like, from the 10 degree weather here and then to the 75 degree post office) and then dropped from the back of a truck. But I guess that since we caused them to drop it several times, I shouldn't be surprised that your bullets arrived in bad shape.

Mr. Customer, I am providing three URL's (below) for you. These are fine, upstanding bullet companies whose prices aren't much higher than ours and I am certain that they will happily re-engineer their shipping procedure to ensure that your single box of bullets is centered in the shipping carton, thus not causing the post office personnel to drop it several times. I wouldn't recommend your buying insurance for your order from them, either, as I'm sure they'll happily refund your purchase price if they screw up and cause the post office to drop your carton, as we did.

Sincerely,

Brad Alpert
Click to expand...
 
I always got the shipping insurance and have loaded 3500 of your bullets and have no problems with any of the packaging and out of the thousands i have recieved i have only had one box broken and it happend at my front door when I watched the mail lady struggle to carry the box of 1000 to the door. Before I got a chance to open the door I watched her just roll it out of here hands right on the step and it was over. I opened the door and she just looked at me and said are you trying to break my back lol? I told her from then on she could just leave them by the mail box and no problems since
 
Brad,

I was in the business sector for 24 years. I understand fully what you are doing. I support it 100%. A very good call on your part.

Keep doing what you're doing, and keep in mind you will be copied, criticized, and nit-picked to the n'th degree. That's just business.

I will only buy my bullets from you, period. We've been needing someone like you in the cast bullet biz' for a long time, i.e., super fast shipping, customer oriented, taking crap when you didn't deserve it and not complaining, etc.

Where's my cap or tee shirt? :rolleyes: (Just kidding).

Will be placing an order in the next week or two for 9's, 40's, and 45's.
 
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