Shady Sales Practice Alert - GunBuyer.com

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Jlr2267

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I apologize if this isn’t the correct forum for this, but I wanted to share in hopes of helping others avoid the same problem. Mods please move if it fits better in another forum:

I recently ordered a rifle from gunbuyer.com at a VERY good price. I was skeptical because I’d never even heard of them before but ordered anyway. My card was charged immediately. Later that night, I was browsing their site and found another fantastic deal, and ordered that one too...card charged.

Today, I get a call from them saying the rifle I ordered is not available from “Warehouse C”, which had the excellent price, but that it was available from “Warehouse A” for $200 more. She assured me that this was a rare issue and that there had been an “inventory problem” and again pushed me to buy at the higher price.

So I mentioned that I had a 2nd order and ask if she could first check on that one. She looks it up and says the exact same thing...not available from the warehouse from which I ordered but, of course, available at another warehouse for a few hundred more.

I checked their website today and the same firearms are still showing “In Stock” at the same low prices.

Buyer beware.
 
Jlr2267

So like MedWheeler, I'm kind of curious too...what did you end up doing? Did you cancel both orders or did you pay the extra money for the guns?

I see you cancelled the order. Good to hear. Hope there's no problems with getting your credit card refunded.
 
response from GunBuyer

Dear Ross,

We ship from multiple warehouses and at times run specials independently depending on a number of factors such as freight costs, special one-time purchases, overstocks, etc. We are not able to match prices from other warehouses since the price is based on the cost of the item. You can sign up for back in stock notification and once it comes back in to the warehouse you will get an email letting you know.

Thanks

Erika

---------------------------------------------------
On Wed, Oct 10, 2018 at 5:11 PM, GunBuyer <xxxxx> wrote:
Name: Ross
Email: xxxxx
Phone Number:

Comment: Do you honor sale prices across all your warehouses...ie if an item on sale at a lower price is out of stock at one warehouse will you ship from another warehouse that has it in stock at the same sale price?



.
 
Sounds like the old "bait and switch" scam. I wonder if the fact they say it is only available from another warehouse is a means around the law. I don't know, I'm not a lawyer and am not versed in that sort of thing.
But it is certainly highly suspicious!:uhoh:
 
And, as I suspected, the rifle that had an “inventory problem” at warehouse C just yesterday is back in stock at 8:00AM the very next day...but at a much higher price.

https://www.gunbuyer.com/catalog/pr...th-carbine-223rem-18-5-walnut-5rd-cz-03068-c/

They did refund my card, but this was a classic attempt at “bait/switch”. I’ll never attempt to do business there again. Too many legit customer oriented businesses out there to chose from.
 
Sounds like a 'Cheaper Than Dirt' kind of setup. I wonder if this is the new 'norm' for online retailers - becoming a virtualized web presence linked to multiple suppliers.
 
Don't count on it --- our state has long been known for every kind of fraud and shady practice - on a wholesale basis... Not 30 minutes from me, Ft. Lauderdale has long been known for it's boiler room and other carefully constructed fraudulent operations that run the full span of financial and other kinds of rips... As one gets taken down or comes under scrutiny they fold up shop then jump up again with another set of licenses, corporations, etc. Most of those outfits have the same personnel with a few addtions as they go through operation after operation until they're finally shut down. Wish I were wrong about it....

On more than one occasion someone I've had contact with on the street with a heavy felony past (rough stuff like robberies when young then moving into fraud stuff after having done time....) claimed to be legit .... When you asked what line of work they were in they'd say "telemarketing" , etc. - this was long before the rise of the internet - and I'm pretty sure the 'net just provided many more opportunities... Another favorite, back then, were crimes involving checks and credit cards -where the profits were bigger and the penalties were smaller.... I'm betting that the 'net has just really expanded those kind of "opportunities" as well...

Never a dull moment down here in "paradise".... That might be why I long ago took up guiding anglers down in the salt and brackish portions of the Everglades. At least with crocodiles, alligators, and sharks you know where you stand...
 
That's not even bait and switch. They're just ratcheting up the prices on something you've already decided to buy. That's just plain old fraud.
 
reddog81 said:
That's not even bait and switch. They're just ratcheting up the prices on something you've already decided to buy. That's just plain old fraud.
Click to expand...
Well, no. It's a classic example of bait & switch.
There is no fraud because he didn't buy the gun.

I've done hundreds of transfers for Gunbuyer.com and this is the first complaint I've read about.
 
If you don't get refunded promptly, call your credit card company, explain the circumstances, and contest the transactions. That starts the ball rolling with force on the offending company.
I had to do this once and the response from the offensive company was less than 24 hours. Refund!!!!
 
I bet they buy guns in bulk at a discount. They probably had the count on inventory wrong. Their specials sell out fast. I am on their email list and get alerts right away

I bought several things from them and never had a problem
 
dogtown tom said:
Well, no. It's a classic example of bait & switch.
There is no fraud because he didn't buy the gun.

I've done hundreds of transfers for Gunbuyer.com and this is the first complaint I've read about.
Click to expand...

He did buy at the original price and there was no switch. They just wanted more money. Bait and switch is having a sale on an item but not having any available so the seller up-sells to a more expensive model or an inferior product for the same price.

Read the OP - he bought 2 rifles and paid for them on a credit card.
 
In effect they did not have the product to sell. He purchased those rifles at a certain warehouse where there were none to be had. I'd call it bait and switch but I am betting if it isn't that then it's something else that is illegal.
I found it very odd that two different rifles were out of stock. If it were one I'd not be suspicious but with two rifles not being there I'd be concerned. Also he stated those same guns were still on the site for the same price he thought they could be purchased for.
 
I would have told the rep that it’s not my problem that there was an alleged pricing issue and that I expect the guns at the price ordered.

Similarly, Cheaper Than Dirt’s warehouses irritate me. The customer wants to go online, see one price, know the total cost, buy the item, and have it delivered. The customer has already searched different websites for a good deal. He shouldn’t have to do a science experiment to determine which warehouse/shipping from a site offers the best deal. Furthermore, companies should never have to contact customers because sites and ordering should be fully automated. Walmart, Target, Cabela’s, etc... I find what I want, I order it, and it arrives. Super easy and hassle free.
 
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