A little more information

The two main activities in my life: Helping the hungry in the late hours of the night and helping guitar players sound better one amp at a time.

I always try to remember that in order to do good one has to take action and actually do something.

I was born and raised in Los Angeles. I have watched the city and Southern California change for well over half a century.

I can be found on facebook at www.facebook.com/mylesr or on twitter at www.twitter.com/myles111us

As of late 2019 the music related links and prints noted on this page which had their links to by GAB (Guitar Amplifier Blueprinting) website are no longer accessible. I grew weary of updating my GAB website and let it go away. You can contact me on Facebook. Saunders Stewart Models continues full operation but we are not accepting new clients without a referral.

Los Angeles Architectural History

Los Angeles Architectural History
1935 Art Deco at some of its finest: No. 168 - Griffith Observatory- (click on the photo for information)

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Very bad customer service - Ammoman

Ammoman - the deeper you investigate the more you are surprised that these folks are in business.

The range where I shoot does not allow shooting stuff like this after a serious
accident caused by this ammunition.

It all started when I considered ordering one of their products.

Click on "read more" below for the complete story.


I am sure that these folks have many loyal customers with good stories to tell.  No debate there from me.  I am sure they do things right quite often.  When things do not go right you have a lot of problems.  Looking at some of them they are very difficult to resolve.

Using the same tools to look into their company the number of complaints was more than complaints toward any other company in a similar business.  MANY more complaints.  It seemed less of a matter of if something could go wrong and more of a matter of when they would go wrong.  Add to their errors the fact that they are rude and have terrible customer service if one deals with them directly rather than keep things strictly online and that puts them on my no go list.

My initial issue was proof of age.

In order to have your products delivered, no signature required, they request having a copy of your drivers license on file as proof of age in their possession.  If one is not at home they will not leave the package if you are not there to sign.

I had a few issues with having my ID on file with some unknown company so I wrote them a message from their own website using their application for questions an inquiries.

I explained that I had no underage children in my home.  I gave them many ways to verify my age or to at least assure I was who I claimed to be and that I was not a minor.

I explained that I had been in the data comm / electronic security business for decades and I had issues with having my license on file.

I asked if there was another way to do business with them rather than have my identification on file for any disgruntled employee to sell or misuse.

There was no reply to my electronic message.

I wrote them again, asking them to refer to my previous message.

A reply was received via my email.  They said they could not find my first message.

Seems as if my security concerns were justified?

I called them directly and explained my concerns.

The jerk who answered the phone, yes ... I am being charitable calling him a "jerk" said that they had hundreds of customers that have no issue with having their photo ID and drivers license information on file.  I brought up the facts of stories of major corporations and government facilities mentioned in stories of ID theft.  Did he think they were more secure than those folks?

I pointed out the loss of correspondence as one of a number of indications that their accounting and security left a lot to be desired after he informed me that about 70 people answer emails under all sorts of names and perhaps that is why my original inquiry was lost.

Was this joker kidding?

Each time I asked him a question he would become more belligerent.  His personality was the type that probably would come in at the bottom of the scale in testing for the skill set and personality trait set for customer service.

He told me that he could care less about what people think of your company, after he told me that he felt that social media was pointless, after you folks could not find my initial correspondence sent through your website, after he said having a drivers license on file with you was secure even after showing him that you folks cannot even keep track of messages .... well .... there is no way I would ever consider doing business with these folks.

As a side note, www.ammotogo.com, even after adding shipping costs, are less expensive than you are and have a larger selection.  Their customer service is first rate.

Seems I am not the only one who has had issues with Ammoman:

http://www.survivalmonkey.com/forum/general-discussion/4649-ammoman-com-very-careful.html

For a few more customer complaints click on "read more"

PAshooter
February 4, 2007, 03:10 PM
I used to buy from Ammoman all the time, and really appreciated his prices, prompt shipment, up to date online inventory information, and willingness to ship without requiring an adult signature for the package (I had ID on file).

I don't buy from him any more. I'll just say that I had occasion to contact his customer service, and as a result he lost all my future business.

Ammoman is great if everything goes smoothly, but the slightest glitch will set Eric off. Do a search on various gun boards and you'll turn up a number of horror stories. There was one episode (over on AR15.com) where he misrepresented a firearm bought by a member, and refused to make good on the deal. Instead he lawyered up.

I refuse to do business with folks like that. As always, YMMV.
..........

Most complaints seem to be related to poor people skills

Agreed. That was the problem I had... rude, snide, and condescending answers to what I thought were polite inquiries about an item he had for sale.

Prior to this, I had been a happy customer for many years.

The AR15.com incident, however, had all the earmarks of deliberate fraud.
...........



BBB Accreditation

Ammoman.com is not BBB Accredited.
Businesses are under no obligation to seek BBB accreditation, and some businesses are not accredited because they have not sought BBB accreditation.
To be accredited by BBB, a business must apply for accreditation and BBB must determine that the business meets BBB accreditation standards, which include a commitment to make a good faith effort to resolve any consumer complaints. BBB Accredited Businesses must pay a fee for accreditation review/monitoring and for support of BBB services to the public.
.........
Junior Member

Join Date: February 27, 2007
Posts: 1
the ammoman is a jerk

I am going around the Internet to voice my experience to save you the aggravation. I see many of you have had bad experiences with eric at ammoman.com, some worse than mine. He screwed up the shipping and would not change it unless I paid again with a money order. He basically accused me of being a thief even though I have ordered from him in the past. SO I told him to send it to the billing address and when I told him I was unhappy with his service he told me to screw off and banned me from using his site. I complained to the BBB but thats about all I can do other than complain on all the boards. For the couple of dollars you save per case its easier and frustration free to go anywhere else online.



.....

Serious reservations about ammoman.com

This is still not over
(Sep 11) Ordered a Walther P1.
(few days later) - Asked my FFL to fax him a license.
(Sep 17) Get email from them - fax not legible.... ok
(Sep 19 - Wed) Fax again from work
(Email asking if fax ok, when shipping, tracking # ?
(Sep 20 Thursday) - email from ammoman - fax ok, shipping MONDAY

not what I am used to when buying stuff online, but ok...

(Sep 26) - email asking where is the thing, tracking etc.
(Sep 27) - nothing, call them up he says "THEY are closed - we are on eastern time" and before I finish the sentence saying its only 1pm here - he hangs up.

*** - is he so f..ng important/busy/rich/rude that will not even speak with a customer for 10 more seconds ?

I have a vague suspicion, not so vague at this point, that he does not have the item (Walther p1) ... and is simply stalling in a most impolite manner I have ever seen.

The story is not over yet.

I will update on the progress, one way or the other I am not happy with the "service".

.....

My ammoman deal

Hello, I had a deal with ammoman go very bad a while back.
I posted the whole story from start to finish. I got some flack about that.
But I sware every single detail on my "boxcar" Ammoman deal is true.
Ya he has some friends that bashed me, so what.

I had absolutely NOTHING to gain by making that whole deal up.
It took me a very long time try and warn other gun owners about "Eric",
the owner of ammoman. I can also say if I made that up he would have tried to sue me. But when it was over he knew I had all the email's, paper work,
pictures and UPS documents to back it up. That was a long time ago.
but it's worth reading it again. Be careful if you chose to buy anything from him.

Go back and have a look at all my posts "boxcar"-ammoman deal-
boxcar

.....

This is how he tried to handle it with me

ammoman.com "bad ethics"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had problems with an order I placed with ammoman.com on the internet.
Everything started out fine.

Then he sent me a box of ammunition via U.P.S.
He did not have U.P.S. sign for the delivery. I ordered 1000 rounds of. 223 rifle ammunition.
He sent 500 rounds of .45 pistol ammunition.

If he would of required a signature, I would of
Simply had it shipped back to Eric.

Eric also charged me twice, I only ordered 1 box. Even his purchase order shows a quantity of 1 box of 1000 rounds of .223. He claimed I got what I ordered, I did not.

Now he said he was going to get the police and UPS involved. And accuses me of a scam.

This is a long collection of the emails sent back and forth from the beginning to 10/21/2006.
So I've sent the following emails for proof
of this messed up deal.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, I do appreciate it

Dan 

..........

7/24: I ordered 500 rounds of Federal .38 Special +P LSWC-HP from Ammoman via his website late one night.

7/25: The next day, my credit card was debited for the correct amount and I received a verification email. The next day, I received a "UPS tracking number" from "quantumview" (a UPS tracking system name). So far so good.

Over the next few days the UPS tracking data didn't change.
8/3: Emailed them, asking if the order shipped. I get an email saying "backordered at this time" but no ETA. Offered a refund in the meantime. I emailed back asking if they had the plain LSWC in stock which was $10 cheaper. They said they did and I confirmed they could ship that instead and issue a credit for $10 to my VISA.

8/11: Product arrived but no credit to my VISA card.  Opened the box and found two $5 bills in the box. 

Opinion: I do not like doing business with companies that "kite" my money while waiting for products to arrive. Instead of informing the customer that the product was sold out & on backorder, you have to contact them to discover this fact. By now your VISA may have had a charge on it that increased the interest you pay on the balance. Plus, if Ammoman is managing their cash, they're floating your money and getting interest on it until they pay their bills.

Sorry, I won't deal with Ammoman again if I can avoid it. There are too many other businesses out there who want by patronage and my money and are more professional.
__________________
BillCA in CA (Unfortunately)

.........

Beware of ammoman

I just had to register, if only to add my complaint and warning about dealing with Eric and ammoman.

Last Saturday I placed an online order with them and within 5 minutes received an email from Eric stating they were out-of-stock and the my credit card had been debited.

Okay, that's fine - an out-of-stock flag on the product page would have been helpful, but okay...

So this a.m. I'm doing on-line banking and see a charge from "Discount Distributors NJ 856-753-2500". ??? Who the hell is this ???

[now to preface this, last October while on vacation in Florida, somebody lifted all my credit and debit card info - including security codes - and began purchasing several thousand dollars of personal computers and having them shipped to South Carolina (I'm from Washington state). So I'm *very* sensitive to credit card theft and fraud]

I did a google on the phone number and it hit 'ammoman'. hmmm, that's interesting in that the day after I was told my order was canceled, I get a credit card charge...

I sent the following email:
===============================
Good Morning,

I placed an internet order this past weekend for 500 rounds of 9X18 Makarov. I received an email within minutes informing me that you were out-of-stock and that my order had been canceled. I see today, however, that my credit card has been billed in the amount of $95 for the order.

Has the stock been shipped, have you failed to cancel/credit my VISA, or do I need to contact VISA and inform them of credit card fraud?
===============================

His response [verbatim - no sig, no nothing]:
===============================
Shipped after all but we are going to cancel and recall the shipment based on your fraud comment.
===============================

My reply [verbatim except for sig]:
===============================
I'm sorry you took offense at the comment. Please understand that I received a cancellation notice within 5 minutes of the order. I have received no further communication whatsoever since then. An order confirmation would have been courteous. The charge that showed up on my billing statement merely stated, "Discount Distributors NJ" and a phone number. I had to search the number to find out who you were.

Honestly, if the situation were reversed, you wouldn't be concerned or suspicious? I recently suffered several thousand dollars worth of credit card fraud while on vacation; I hope you'll understand if my radar is very acute in situations such as this, as I now check my on-line banking accounts on a very frequent basis.

If you do have the product, I would still appreciate purchasing and look forward to future business with your firm.
==============================

His final word:
==============================
A simple what's up would have been fine and you did get a response in 5 minutes.
We will no longer deal with you and all e-mails, orders from this address, e-mail address or IP address are now blocked.

==============================

My final word:
==============================
Okay.

By the way, I'm a certified NRA Range Officer, active in a gun club of over 600 members. I'll be posting a sign in our clubhouse telling them not to deal with you.

I never received any notice that you were shipping this order.

Have a nice day.
==============================

It must be quite a feat to have so much business and clientele that one can afford to be a rude, anger-management challenged pr!ck and to treat customers in this manner. At no time did I ever receive any notification that the order was processed. Deal at your own peril. And I *will* be posting a warning at my local gun club, as well as emailing others in our area.

Stuart
NRA RSO

..........

So I ended up sending my, "I'm posting a warning," response through a yahoo email account just to make sure he got it, what with the, "you're blocked" retort.

He replied with a one word email to my yahoo mail:

BLOCKED

This guy is definately a winner. I just spent $40 more with another merchant for the same product. And it was worth every penny! 

Now I'm off to spread the word on all the car forums I belong to! 

Stuart
RSO is offline  
..............

Had to chime in

I will not do business with this guy...ever. Even if it means going without. PLaced an order 16 days ago and received the confirmation email. Card was charged many times and them refunded. I hope. After 16 days I emailed to ask what was up. Later I received a voice mail saying my order was cancelled. Called them back and was told "tuff". It was cancelled. Dont waste your time or your money with this guy. If you do take a chance, watch your card closely.

.........

Bad Experience with Ammoman :mad:

Ordered merchandise one box of ammo (1000 rounds @ $279) on Ammoman and received an error when I submitted my form. I immediately went online to look at my credit card and found that there were two charges for my order. When I spoke to the woman at AmmoMan she said I must have pushed the submit button twice. Later that day I received a call saying they didn't have my order in stock and would I like a substitute. I didn't want a substitute and they claimed my account would be credited. No credit yet after 4 days. Would NOT recommend them at all - They handle charges immediately but not credits. 

.........

I used to recommend ammoman.com to my friends, family & co-workers. Never again. I've managed businesses and worked in customer service. These folks take the cake. You get what you pay for. In this case you are paying for a disorganized office, poorly trainined staff, and no concept of customer service. Doing business with ammoman.com is a gamble. There are better bets.

......

O-M-G!!, I WAS going to place an order with these guys today,

but I AM SO GLAD I read this thread...

I don't do nasty attitude,

I don't do crappy customer service,

I don't do credit card shenanigans,

and I ESPECIALLY don't do phone hang-ups!

HOW RUDE!!

...........



Originally Posted By motown_steve:

I thought that the consensus was that he's an asshole.

And a liar/generally dishonest businessman.


.............

By the time you pay for shipping bulk 12ga. it would seem that you could buy it locally for about the same price. 

Having said that, Cabela's may work. Their shipping is calculated by the dollar amount of the order.


..........


I talked to eric on the phone.......he was "testy" . Not at all happy to talk to a customer and I got "the bums rush" from him ....
.............

That's nothing new, testy because you had questions about this fraud!

Worst customer service ever, theres no excuse for this.


..........



Bottom line .... I think folks get the idea.  Ammoman is not somebody I would consider ever again as a business ... or as decent human beings.  

Thankfully there are many good vendors out there, and the folks below are one of them.



Many of you know that I have my favorite vendors for things such as vacuum tubes and music gear.  The folks who are number one in my book if you order ammunition online are these folks -

Please feel free to pass the link to this post to your friends and contacts.  Post it on facebook, twitter and other social media sites.   There is no reason people who do business the way Ammoman does business should be able to stay in business.


2 comments:

  1. Nice Blog, thanks for sharing the valuable information.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you. Your blog was very helpful and efficient For Me,Thanks for Sharing the information.

    ReplyDelete