How could we of handled this better?

[bjl333]

I would agree if he actually got the barrel that was intended for this particular customer...but he didn't. He simply misidentified a barrel which was a different customer's barrel. The delay would be the same no matter what...it does suck telling someone their stuff is in, then having to call them back and say "oops"...but it's a learning experience...as seems all the rage in the media these days...it's a "teachable moment"

We know the barrel belongs to a different customer. Sometimes a faux happy is worst then just waiting it out.

YOU'VE WON THE LOTTO !!! Ooopss, Sorry I had you mixed up with another guy !!

[tenpercentfirearms]

If you don't back order items, then customers will complain as well. They don't want to have to keep checking to see when some item is available.

The bottom line is that you can't win.

If customers complain about not back ordering, I never hear it. I have guys ask me here and there if something I put on my Acusport wish list came in yet or not. That is not bad at all and that is why I don't take their money.

And that is another good point. You can always back order an item, but don't take the customer's money. Just tell them they have a no obligation hold on it when it comes in. If they find it somewhere else while waiting, no big deal, sell it to someone else.

I think the key is not getting pinned down to something you have zero control over. That is where you are setting yourself up for failure when the inevitable delay occurs.

[Capt. Speirs]

If customers complain about not back ordering, I never hear it. I have guys ask me here and there if something I put on my Acusport wish list came in yet or not. That is not bad at all and that is why I don't take their money.

And that is another good point. You can always back order an item, but don't take the customer's money. Just tell them they have a no obligation hold on it when it comes in. If they find it somewhere else while waiting, no big deal, sell it to someone else.

I think the key is not getting pinned down to something you have zero control over. That is where you are setting yourself up for failure when the inevitable delay occurs.

I agree with back ordering and not taking the money till it arrives. If you take too many deposits on credit cards and the customers complain to the credit card company, you could loose your merchant account.

[Rekrab]

I'm not an FFL, but from a customer's perspective a full refund plus interest wouldn't make me happy. It would satisfy me, but I wouldn't be recommending you to my friends or anyone I talked to online. If you're already committed to refunding him +10% then I'd just eat the cost of a replacement barrel that you can get immediately of equal or greater value. Finally, if he has to re-DROS you should eat that as well. Chalk it all up as a learning experience for you, don't punish your customer. You might make little or no money on the build, but you shouldn't punish the customer for that.

In sales it's always a good idea to make sure you're not held liable if things go wrong. Next time you do a custom build make sure you give an estimated time of delivery with the caveat that build times may be greater than initially quoted because of problems with your suppliers. Make sure they sign something in writing agreeing to this. After that, make sure you give regular status updates to your customers. Good communication can, in my opinion, turn a good FFL into an excellent FFL that I will recommend to everyone.

[ParallaxTactical.com]

Thanks for all your comments, it has really proved insightful.

The reason we took a deposit on his build because it was one of the first AR-308 style builds that we did because we did not stock AR-308 anything. Otherwise we would have just taken a half deposit like we normally do. I think we learned our lesson and have started ordering barrels from multiple suppliers and even might be going into our own designs/barrels to prevent this from happening in the future.

The main problem was our barrel maker telling us that the delay was shorter than it actually is/not calling us back, etc.

As said earlier, it's pretty tough to call customers about their orders when it's busy in-store only to tell them nothing has changed.

[ParallaxTactical.com]

I will be calling the customer today to give him four resolutions:

1) Wait a little bit longer for a different barrel from DPMS (closest to his custom order)

2) Refund of the barrel, give his other parts at cost

3) Refund of his order and free re-DROS of the receiver

4) Order a different barrel from a local vendor (<1 day wait) and I eat the cost difference

I forgot to add the reason for the delay in the barrel is because it is a custom order.

[bombadillo]

Its a hard thing to do in retail. I have worked sales for the last 10 years or so and calling somebody to say you screwed up is the right thing, however one of the hardest you can do. A token percentage off or a freebie usually clears things up but if YOU offer it first, then it typically will work. If the customer has to ask for it, they won't be happy 99% of the time no matter what you do so don't bother eating money on something you don't have to. Take it one at a time and remember you just CAN'T please some people no matter how hard you try, but at least TRY. Good luck with whatever you do and you sound like a very reasonable place to do business with and being honest and upfront like you are is your best resource.

[Rekrab]

As said earlier, it's pretty tough to call customers about their orders when it's busy in-store only to tell them nothing has changed.

Personally I would consider making this someone's official job. Pick a day that you're typically slow and have this person call up your customers waiting on custom orders. Alternatively, setup an e-mail system that automatically sends out an e-mail whenever their order is updated, and once a week if nothing is changed.

I'm reasonably certain such systems are available since I'm accustomed to receiving shipping notifications and status updates from online retailers when I place orders. You would need to probably tie this into whatever ordering, billing, or inventory system you're currently using.

I don't know what your e-mail is like right now, but make sure it's checked and responded to daily. Nothing frustrates me, and I'm sure other gun owners, than a shop that isn't up on their e-mails.

Again, I don't know anything about your shop, so these are all just suggestions being tossed out there.

[ParallaxTactical.com]

Called the customer and ended the conversation on a positive note.

We explained what happened, why it happened and how we would fix it.

The customer is keeping the build as is, and is waiting on a DPMS barrel which they said was in-stock, so when that arrives we can get it done!

Please consider this thread closed.

[tenpercentfirearms]

Personally I would consider making this someone's official job. Pick a day that you're typically slow and have this person call up your customers waiting on custom orders. Alternatively, setup an e-mail system that automatically sends out an e-mail whenever their order is updated, and once a week if nothing is changed.

I'm reasonably certain such systems are available since I'm accustomed to receiving shipping notifications and status updates from online retailers when I place orders. You would need to probably tie this into whatever ordering, billing, or inventory system you're currently using.

I don't know what your e-mail is like right now, but make sure it's checked and responded to daily. Nothing frustrates me, and I'm sure other gun owners, than a shop that isn't up on their e-mails.

Again, I don't know anything about your shop, so these are all just suggestions being tossed out there.

Do a little research on the cost and availability on such a system and get back to us what you find. Then do an analysis of how much profit this system will generate after costs.

Or just don't back order.

[Rekrab]

Do a little research on the cost and availability on such a system and get back to us what you find. Then do an analysis of how much profit this system will generate after costs.

Or just don't back order.

*shrug*

I don't backorder stuff. I was just trying to be helpful with my suggestion.

[NewFrontierArmory]

We've been going through the same stuff with our custom uppers. Its been a hassle to get all the parts there at one time. It seems when we have parts 1, 2, and 3 we're missing 4, 5, and 6. By the time they come in, we're out of the other parts again.

My solution was to say "F" it and post a longer than normal lead time on the website when they order, and to dump a bunch of money into parts so I have a much better flow of what I need to build them.

It sucks hearing "You'll have your bbls in a week" and then relaying that to a customer, and then in 2 weeks when you don't have them, you're the idiot that "lied" to the customer.

[winnre]

The customer sees you as the barrier between him and his barrel. Have him come into the store and call the barrelmaker with him there listening on speakerphone. That way he can see your predicament and know that you and him are on the same side.

[d4v0s]

Communication is key, The dealer i use locally makes you sign saying that special order are just that, special, and 2 weeks is the normal time, but it can be more. I ran into this with my Sig i just special ordered, and i understand completely that orders depend on factories not the dealer.

I would say letting him know the status weekly would be good, by email or phone. that takes the waiting game out of the loop, although this guy sounds like he is just looking to complain, if im curious on an order i call in, because gun store workers are only human, and simply cannot be on top of every ball. i hate people who wait just to complain.