Rock River Customer Service...terrible!!!!!

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Archangel14

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I wanted to buy a complete Rock River upper with a Wylde barrel. So I called Rock River to get an idea what the time frame was from order time to delivery. To my amazement, I got a voice message that told me that everyone was out of the office due to a major gun show. No live person to answer. No one to answer my questions.

I then sent an email to Rock River making the same inquiry. I think that was yesterday morning. No reply as of yet.

I know that we're in a unprecedented stage in private gun purchasing. But you would think Rock River, with such a great AR name, would do just a little bit better at stepping up. I'm a businessman, and when things get hot at work, and I can't keep up with my work, I HIRE PEOPLE TO HELP! It's my understanding that Rock River has a military contact, for crying out loud! Never, ever, should you get an answering machine. Never ever, should someone wait a few days for a reply. Why would I ever want to buy anything from RR after this experience?
 
Since they obviously think differently, vote with your feet.

I think they had an FBI contract years ago, and that's what put them on the radar screen... I do not think they are a DOD supplier.

They may actually be a pretty small company, and just because a company has a widely reputable name and sells a lot of product, does not mean they're profit margins can support hiring.

Just sayin'.... not sure anyone can really judge them without knowing what their books look like.
 
You're impatient because you haven't gotten an answer to the email you sent yesterday? Wow. I guess I'd consider that they likely get hundreds of emails every day.

I would either develop a little patience, or go buy something else.... but that's what I'd do.
 
Archangel14 said:
I wanted to buy a complete Rock River upper with a Wylde barrel. So I called Rock River to get an idea what the time frame was from order time to delivery. To my amazement, I got a voice message that told me that everyone was out of the office due to a major gun show. No live person to answer. No one to answer my questions.

I then sent an email to Rock River making the same inquiry. I think that was yesterday morning. No reply as of yet.

I know that we're in a unprecedented stage in private gun purchasing. But you would think Rock River, with such a great AR name, would do just a little bit better at stepping up. I'm a businessman, and when things get hot at work, and I can't keep up with my work, I HIRE PEOPLE TO HELP! It's my understanding that Rock River has a military contact, for crying out loud! Never, ever, should you get an answering machine. Never ever, should someone wait a few days for a reply. Why would I ever want to buy anything from RR after this experience?
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I agree you should get a person not a machine when you call a company, but the hard reality is times and dollars are tight and receptionist/operator is a position that can be hard to justify at times. I think it's short sighted and cost's sales often times, but thats the fact of life in these times. As to the delay in answering an email, if they're out of the office, they're out of the office. Give them a chance to respond when they're back in.

I've got a Rock River AR and it's a high quality, well built rifle, worth waiting for IMHO. But be forewarned even in regular times the wait time can stretch out, I wouldn't expect that to get better in these times.
 
I'd rather get a polite recording than an incompetent, newly hired phone operator that likely doesn't know the answer to my question anyway, personally. It would take more than a recording a day or two between email contacts before I went trashing a CS dept on the internet....but as was said above....thats just me, and how I'd handle it. You obviously feel very differently.
 
"I got a voice message that told me that everyone was out of the office due to a major gun show."

I fail to see any problem, beyond your impatience. They could of course increase their overhead by hiring a phone-answer person and then raising the price of the product.

Implicit in the voice message is that they're trying to run a lean'n'mean operation with minimum office staff. Sounds sorta wise, to me.
 
Poor customer service has become the norm rather than the exception in this country.

Some of the responses in this thread are an indication of the acceptance of this fact.
 
My experience with RRA was rather the opposite. I showed up, unannounced and was greeted by the receptionist. Due to a fresh foot of snow on the ground, staffing was at minimal level that day yet she took the time to interrupt a meeting in progress to pull a manager and assist me. Moments later, he reappeared with two rifles, expounded on features and answered all of my questions without checking brochures (which he gave me) or faultering in the least.

Having mentioned to my BIL that I was looking at buying a RRA, he called a friend who works for them, who called 4 more employees, who brought 7 rifles/pistols out to the local range and a few thousand rounds to boot. We shot up every bit of that ammo in subzero (F) temps without any problems and I have had zero failures, ammo or otherwise, with my RRA.

Just my experience, making a second call and showing a bit of patience might change your opinion. Best of luck with whichever upper you choose.
 
I live just down the road from RRA and know several folks that work there. They are not big, they are/were at the NRA convention in Houston, and one half of thier ownership died unexpectedly a couple weeks ago. A polite voice recording doesn't seem unreasonable to me at a time when demand is greater than capacity and under the circumstances.
 
Wow, the impatience of some people is astounding. They are likely out of the office for the NRA convention, and I'm sure your email is not the only one they have to answer. You're seriously complaining about an email sent yesterday?
 
Wrong.....I'm a small company, I have people answering my phones. Still no reply to my e-mail, and it's actually 3 days now, not the 2 I originally thought. No response to my voice message. I'm a potential customer who has inquired about purchasing products twice. With no response.

I'm sure RR makes a good product (that's why I inquired). I'm sure they are "good people.". And I'm also sure that in this environment they are balls to the wall with business. For you guys who want to make excuses, go take a business 101 class. Hire good people to pick up the slack. That's the correct no excuse approach.
 
Let me take a softer approach, so that everyone doesn't think I'm a total jerk. I just think it unacceptable that a potential customer can't get a response after a whole week. It's sucks because I KNOW RR makes a great product. I can't see how someone can logically disagree with my assessment.
 
Archangel14 said:
Let me take a softer approach, so that everyone doesn't think I'm a total jerk. I just think it unacceptable that a potential customer can't get a response after a whole week. It's sucks because I KNOW RR makes a great product. I can't see how someone can logically disagree with my assessment.
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Honestly it's not as great as you may think, overpriced IMO. Just look elsewhere and save yourself stress.
 
I ordered an AR trigger kit from them on 1/14. I know, when everything was really crazy. I had no idea the demand for Two Stage Varmint Trigger Kits would be so high. I didn't bother to start calling them until the beginning of April to check on the status or some kind of a lead time. I guess the craziness has crept over into trigger kits. For over a month, I've yet to get anything other than a busy signal when I call.
Their webpage has a disclaimer about lead times and specific parts, but doesn't mention trigger kits. I've yet to get a response to my email, but it's only been 2 days.

Also, too late to cancel:
"NOTE: Once submitted, all orders are final, cancellations will result in a 20% cancellation fee. "

Not answering the phone for over a month is about as acceptable as charging me $20 to do my business elsewhere. With over 15 years retail experience in multiple fields this is not good business.

***Update***
After typing this I thought I would give them a call for s&g's. A real person answered, I told them what I needed, they put me on hold for 16 minutes (XM Classic Rewind was the hold music) and then I got the real person again. After pulling my order up she said it was still on back order. Usually that's all it takes to satisfy a customer, just some form of communication. Sorry to hear about Mark, 50 isn't old.
 
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Rock River Arm's Founder Mark Larson, Died last month. This time of transition for their company is difficult not only because of the frenzy of the anti-gun panic buying, but because they are transitioning from the loss of their founder and president.

There is a reason that manufacturers go through distributors and dealers. I understand the desire go directly to the horse's mouth so to speak. But realize that Rock River is a Manufacturer.

http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2013/04/mark-larson-founder-and-president-of-rock-river-arms-has-passed-2615530.html
 
Rock River ARms is my choice for a complete AR in the $1000 range. Next to that if money is no problem i d go for a Daniel Defense for $1600. RRA is a good middle of the road AR. Dont loose hope.
 
Bare in mind they're probably just as overloaded as everybody else. God knows how many orders they have to fill, rifles they have to make ect. My experience with RRA customer service was very good before everything went stupid. Just give them time, they WILL work to get you what you want. Right now though I think you just need to afford them some more time due to demands.
 
Patience is a virtue for all of us. With the loss of their founder, the NRA conference, the panic buying, as well as the regular customers and their orders, I am sure that they are very busy adjusting things. They may have just one or two people for phones (on a regular basis) and they have to get vacation and sick days on top of that so there will be times when e-mails from all over the country may be slow to be responded to. I've been waiting since January 2013 for my LAR-8 complete upper. I only just received (April 20, 2013) my EOTech Dominator sight which I ordered in December 2012. Things will happen as they can and I'm sure RR Arms is going full-tilt to respond. In the meantime I am pretty sure there are other guns for us to shoot and clean until then. Relax.....breathe....exhale....squeeze.....
 
Ah....now I feel like the idiot I am! Totally unaware that the founder passed. And you know, we are in an unprecedented moment in gun selling history. I'll cut RR some slack.
 
I say wait for their response because the wait is worth it. Having a great product that people want and not providing good customer service is unexceptable but given the recent events at the company and family, I'd say poor customer service isn't to blame. The nicest rifle (in my opinion) I ever shot and owned was a RRA Predator in 308. Acuracy was AMAZING. Unfortunately it was stolen but I'll be replacing it with another once the panic back order is caught up. Good luck with your order and hope all works out!
 
Rock River Arms is good to go. Like the others have said, do you realize how many phone calls, emails, and orders they have gotten over the last couple of months? It's only been a day...
 
one guy said being times are tough they might have had to lay off girl answering phone. how can that be??? they are in the middle of the biggest peacetime gun boom in the history of the world
 
The owner dying is not an excuse.

They should post his passing on their website so customers and potential customers would understand.

Stop making excuses for poor service.
 
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