REVISED,I hope McGowen barrels are better than their customer service. REVISED

Southernfryedyankee

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Feb 8, 2009
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433
Location
SC
I wasn't sure if this was the right place to put this but I didnt want anyone else to get ripped off

I am very big on customer service especially when dealing with a company as a first time buyer. I feel I was ripped off by Mcgowen barrel and I am not happy about it. I placed an order for a barrel approx 2 months ago and I called after about a month to see if Mcgowen was ready for payment, I was told that someone would get back to me when they found out where my barrel was in the barrel making process, no one ever got back to me. I called again 2 weeks later and was told that the person would have to go to the shop and yet again find out where in the process my barrel was and they would get back to me in 10-15 minutes, I asked if someone was actually going to get back to me this time, I was told yes, give me 10-15 minutes. I finally received a call the next day in the late afternoon, with the person asking me if someone ever contacted me back yesterday I said NOPE.

The gentlemen then stated that during the process the barrel suffered some kind of flaw and had to be remade. I was bothered by the fact that no one took the time to update me on this set back. Finally on March 31,2009 I was called and told that my barrel was ready and that Mcgowen was ready for payment. I said ok, I then stated I wanted the barrel shipped USPS priority mail. I was told by Dan that would NOT be a problem but I would have to pay extra and a handling fee and we discussed the difference in price between Fedex and USPS PER THEIR WEBSITES to find the better shipping rate. I said ok gave Dan my CC# and got off the phone on a good note. 4 days went by and I received nothing so I called and I don't know who I spoke with but they said they were not in the office right now and they would get back to me as soon as they were, it must have been a cell phone, this was on Friday april 3, 2009. As of today april 6th the barrel still has not arrived so I called to get my signature authorization # to have a trace put on it. The girl who aanswered the phone tells me that the package was shipped Fedex, I was like huh it was supposed to be shipped priority mail and she gave me the tracking # for Fedex. She then told me the guy (I do not know his name, NOT Dan would call me back)

The other Gentlemen who runs things called me back after 2 hours and said that USPS does NOT offer priority mail shipping but the package actually WAS shipped USPS, I was absolutely appauled and told him I have shipped MANY items USPS Priority and that was the service that I payed extra for, his response was I do not handle the shipping so I don't know what to tell you. WHAT??? I told him that I was not happy and this was rediculous. He told me the gentlemen I spoke to handles all the shipping and if I had any problems I should take it up with him. He then proceeded to tell me that Dan who is in charge of shipping told him (the guy I was on the phone with) that USPS does NOT offer priority mail. Now MAYBE I was wrong for this but I told him that Dan was full of crap, I did NOT curse, get loud or aggressive and he started telling me that he doesnt appreciate the way I was speaking to him and we just need to get this resolved so we can part ways. So here I am NO BARREL, paid extra $$$ for a service that I did NOT receive and the lack of making things right wasnt even in Mcgowen mindset. I DO NOT CARE if this barrel shoots clover leafs at 1000000000yds I will NEVER deal with them again. BUYERS BEWARE
 
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Re: I hope Mcgowen's barrels are better than their customer service, BUYERS BEWARE

I just called to speak to Dan and he JUST told me that the barrel didnt even get picked up until today. He also accused me of "wanting something" I just said I want them to have better customer service for their future buyers as I will NOT be 1 of them. From the 31'st till now I couldnt even get a phone call stating that it hasnt even been mailed yet. Thats BAD BUSINESS
 
Re: I hope Mcgowen's barrels are better than their customer service, BUYERS BEWARE

Now that I am thinking about it if the package JUST got picked up 2day how did Jon or the girl behind the desk not know that when I spoke to them earlier today. What kind of business do they run there?
 
Re: I hope Mcgowen's barrels are better than their customer service, BUYERS BEWARE

SFY,
Sorry to hear you are so upset.
I have bought several barrels from McGowen with no problems.
In fact, I recommend them to others, and I know a number of guys who use them and have been pleased.
Timeframes are not set in stone and sometimes things do not work out right and have to be remade or replaced-That is true in the gun world.
I have found that the companies that make gun, and gun related products to be some of the best people in the world. I am convinced that if one treats another person with respect that in the end it will work out.
IF McGowen treats customers terribly and or intentionally decieves their customers then that will come out and they will be out of business in short order. I personally do not beleive that to be the case.
I hope it gets worked out for everyones sake.
 
Re: I hope Mcgowen's barrels are better than their customer service, BUYERS BEWARE

I have never delt with them but sounds like they have some issues. Sorry to here you had such a hard time. I hope when you do get the barrel it is what you wanted.

I have only delt with Brux and that guy was great so I can recomend them.
 
Re: I hope Mcgowen's barrels are better than their customer service, BUYERS BEWARE

My good man the timeframe didnt bother me in the least it was the **** poor customer service. I had EVERY intent to be bragging on their barrel left and right but I feel I was mistreated. When I pay for a service and someone tells me oh USPS doesnt offer that, it bothers me. If a company says they will call me back and doesnt that bothers me. If I am told that my barrel is shipping on the 31'st and here I am 7 days later JUST finding out it hasnt even been picked up by the mail courier till today with NO phone call saying I dont know what happened they didnt pick up your barrel, were going to run it over right now to ship it THAT bothers me. Especially when my payment goes through instantly. MY CC didnt need 7 days to clear but my barrel was just sitting in a mailbox chillin while im home waiting for it expecting it a week+ ago.

SFY,
Sorry to hear you are so upset.
I have bought several barrels from McGowen with no problems.
In fact, I recommend them to others, and I know a number of guys who use them and have been pleased.
Timeframes are not set in stone and sometimes things do not work out right and have to be remade or replaced-That is true in the gun world.
I have found that the companies that make gun, and gun related products to be some of the best people in the world. I am convinced that if one treats another person with respect that in the end it will work out.
IF McGowen treats customers terribly and or intentionally decieves their customers then that will come out and they will be out of business in short order. I personally do not beleive that to be the case.
I hope it gets worked out for everyones sake.
 
Re: I hope Mcgowen's barrels are better than their customer service, BUYERS BEWARE

I have a barrel from them and everything went smooth. sorry to hear about your bad experience
 
Re: I hope Mcgowen's barrels are better than their customer service, BUYERS BEWARE

I am sure the barrel will be of the quality it is supposed to be. The **** poor CS is what set me off
 
Re: I hope Mcgowen's barrels are better than their customer service, BUYERS BEWARE

Although it should NOT be this way, one problem I have found in this industry is if you are a solo order, buying just one item, maybe 2, you fall WAAAAAAYYYYYY down on the totem pole of importance. That's just the way it is, and your one bbl order is probably not going to sway them to improve their customer service.

I will tell you that when it comes to bbls, I have never had a problem getting one or a problem with customer service. I have seen some delays with stocks and actions, however, and some not-so-favorable customer service, but then again, these guys are usually so busy, there's just not enough time in the day to get back to every customer on every item.

Good luck with your barrel. I would send a polite demand letter, certified mail, to McGowen requesting the difference in shipping costs. Quite frankly, they are mistaken regarding USPS and priority mail as I have had many barrels shipped to me that way.
 
Re: I hope Mcgowen's barrels are better than their customer service, BUYERS BEWARE

They said that priorty mail was put on my barrel it just didnt get picked up until today. 7 days later when I was expecting it a week ago and didnt even know that it wasnt in the mail yet.
 
Re: I hope McGowen barrels are better than their customer service, BUYERS BEWARE

That sounds a lot like my experience with them, especially this part:

The gentlemen then stated that during the process the barrel suffered some kind of flaw and had to be remade.

I was quoted exactly the same thing. There is definitely a communication issue there between Jon and Dan and whoever else is in the building. However, they made it right with me and waived some of the charges, shipped for free and were very apologetic. The gun shoots great too. I'm only four hours away from them though...
 
Re: I hope McGowen barrels are better than their customer service, BUYERS BEWARE

I have dealt with them quite a bit, and over all it has been very good. I have seen their pile of cull barrels, and know from that, that things go wrong in the process of building and they have to start over. I have met the guys there personally and think they are good guys.

They are in the process of moving the operation to a bigger location. Things may be more hectic than usual. Not trying trying to make excuses, just trying to understand why. Lack of communication is always how a business transaction between good people goes bad. I don't think that there was deceit in the deal.

I hope that it all works out well, and the quality of the barrel out weighs the problems that happened during this transaction. I personally will continue to business with McGowen.

Steve
 
Re: I hope McGowen barrels are better than their customer service, BUYERS BEWARE

Sometimes we all have bad days, and evidently yesterday was mine. This is obviously not an excuse for what southernfryd or Mr Cohen feels was bad customer service. We actually pride ourselves on our customer service and even the best companies slip up now and then. Mr Cohen had every reason to be upset because he felt he didn't get the customer service that he felt he deserved. I'm not going to point any fingers nor am I going to start some "he said/she said" thing because in my opinion that would lead us to nowhere. I've realized over the years in this business that things tend to get ugly really quick, especially on these boards, someone comes in and makes a complaint and all of a sudden we have a witch hunt. While there is no excuse for what he felt was bad customer service, there are also hundreds, if not thousands of people out there that don't frequent these boards that can say that their experience with McGowen was flawless. Those individuals in this conversation don't matter because as the saying goes, "you can have 10 guys who are thrilled with you, but it only takes one to bring you down".

Hopefully Mr. Cohen gets his barrel very quickly and it is as accurate as every barrel we have produced is.

I received a forwarded email from our salesman this morning from Mr. Cohen concerning the total cost. He was concerned about the shipping cost, but as was explained when he changed his order from being shipped Fedex to USPS I personally gave him the costs that my USPS screen was giving me. I was going to post the response but feel that once he sees the receipt that I sent him that this will be a dead issue (costs).

I ask that Mr. Cohen please let us know how the barrel works for him and whether he feels he wants to order from us again is his personal choice, I think that if the barrel shoots as well as we believe it will, he may or may not change his mind. He can call me personally at any time to discuss anything that he would like.

Regards,

Dan
 
Re: I hope McGowen barrels are better than their customer service, BUYERS BEWARE

A very reasonable response to a very tough issue.

Good luck to all parties!!
 
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