What credit crunch?

[Guzzidom]

Dowlings, The Airgun Centre, Portsmouth guns, Botley Town and country, Tal shooting and fishing, have all had the same e-mail.

"I would like to buy 2 x Air Arms S400's with one 7 litre bottle and connectors"
"Please give cash price and credit terms over 12 months and advise current stock or lead time"

All emails were sent last Friday or the following Monday.

Answers, nil, naught, zero, zilch, not a bloody peep.
Obviously the companies do not wish to make the double whammy of full asking price and credit commission, I thought we were in recession too!.

[clanger]

Did you say PLEASE

[mattler]

Dowlings, The Airgun Centre, Portsmouth guns, Botley Town and country, Tal shooting and fishing, have all had the same e-mail.

"I would like to buy 2 x Air Arms S400's with one 7 litre bottle and connectors"
"Please give cash price and credit terms over 12 months and advise current stock or lead time"

All emails were sent last Friday or the following Monday.

Answers, nil, naught, zero, zilch, not a bloody peep.
Obviously the companies do not wish to make the double whammy of full asking price and credit commission, I thought we were in recession too!.

Perhaps your mail server is not working properly

[mattler]

Seriously though, I know what you mean. When I was shopping around for a new rifle just after Xmas I was phoning up a few different places. I was told by the first shop to buy and FX or Theoben as they were the only rifle which came anywhere near to the legal limit. All other makes were sent out low??
Naturally I didn`t buy from them and in fact everytime I`ve phoned since no matter what I ask for they never have it in stock!!
more on that in another thread though.
I also find the airgun center far to like any famous fast food establishment you could mention. Get you in...Card details.....Get you out....Next!!
They must make and absolute fortune.

[Aeroman]

Try giving Ford a call. 01903 726476. I don't think they do credit, but they're in your neck of the woods and I'm sure they'd sort a price out for you.

[hedgehog]

Given the current conditions for retailers (apart from AGC who are seling guns hand-over-fist with NO sign of the famous and mythical 'customer service' I expected), this might be the time to accept a small extra cost and support your local shop. How about something like this:

"Dear XXX,

I would like to buy 2x Air Arms S400's with one 7 litre bottle and connectors. I know these are items you don't normally keep in stock, but I wonder if you could inquire about ordering them on my behalf. I have seen the goods advertised in London for £XXXX.XX, but I understand that you might not be able to match this price, particularly in today's economic climate. There are several advantages for me in buying locally however, and I would like very much to develop a relationship with and support my local shop, so if you could quote your own best price and delivery time I'd be very grateful.

I look forward to hearing from you in due course. In the meantime, if you need any further information or would like to discuss my requirements, please feel free to call me on XXXXX XXXXXX.

Best regards,

Blah Blah."

I went to AGC to look at Daystates because they had stock and were apparently very good at customer service. It cost me £40 to get there, and their prices are full RRP as far as I coud see, so it's certainly not a cheap way to buy. And as others have said, the 'service' was not apparent to me. Having seen that, I'll definitely keep my business local in future even if it takes longer, save myself the petrol fare and enjoy much better service.

[rubberhubby]

Dowlings, The Airgun Centre, Portsmouth guns, Botley Town and country, Tal shooting and fishing, have all had the same e-mail.

"I would like to buy 2 x Air Arms S400's with one 7 litre bottle and connectors"
"Please give cash price and credit terms over 12 months and advise current stock or lead time"

All emails were sent last Friday or the following Monday.

Answers, nil, naught, zero, zilch, not a bloody peep.
Obviously the companies do not wish to make the double whammy of full asking price and credit commission, I thought we were in recession too!.

The biggest problem here is the credit crunch not the recession the second being caused by the first, people are taking longer to pay on account, this has the knock on effect of the suppliers not having the money to source the goods from the importer or manufacturer, the manufacturer then cannot buy the raw materials to make or assemble the goods.

I spent an hour or so in my local gun shop and the owner was telling me he is losing sales hand over fist because he cannot get the stock in fast enough.

On one day alone he was telling me he had 5 people in his shop wanting to buy guns, scopes, pellets, air bottles the whole kit and kaboodle to start shooting and he made no sale as he could not get either the correct handed stock or the right caliber gun for each customer.

When he orders 5 guns only 2 arrive etc etc.


He like you is very frustrated

[joffy]

i was in a gunshop last saturday ................... i was one of six customers he'd had in all day and i think i was the only one to buy something

[hedgehog]

i was in a gunshop last saturday ................... i was one of six customers he'd had in all day and i think i was the only one to buy something

Compared to AGS on the Saturday I visited - in the space of 20mins while I waited in a queue of customers, they sold at least 4 guns, and another two on my second visit about an hour later; on both of these visits there was never less than three customers in the shop!

They have piles of stock, for sure, and I guess that's why people buy from them, but I won't be touching them with a bargepole in future.

[Gungeek]

i was in a gunshop last saturday ................... I was one of six customers he'd had in all day and I think I was the only one to buy something.

So you'd think, they would explore and pursue every possibility to make a sale. But the facts appear to be, most gun shop owners aren't interested in (wasting time) quoting or even dealing with internet enquiries. Maybe because guns can no longer be bought & sold by mail order (except private/personal sales). Regards ... Geek

[Guzzidom]

Try giving Ford a call. 01903 726476. I don't think they do credit, but they're in your neck of the woods and I'm sure they'd sort a price out for you.

I'be been up to Ford and the prices seemed a bit....interesting, my local gunshop also wants £460 for an Air Arms S400, that can be bought from The Airgun Centre for nearly £100 less (and they deliver in person), I'm all for "support your local shop" and all that but not to the tune of £200 I'm not.

my enquiries have been very politely written and I haven't asked anyone to price match, merely quote price and delivery, this requires no more than a 1 minute e-mail back surely..
Perhaps they don't need the cash.

[clanger]

I go to C&H Weston Ltd in Brighton and they have never let me down yet
Always very helpful and usually got what you want
Kev

[uk litehammer]

I'be been up to Ford and the prices seemed a bit....interesting, my local gunshop also wants £460 for an Air Arms S400, that can be bought from The Airgun Centre for nearly £100 less (and they deliver in person), I'm all for "support your local shop" and all that but not to the tune of £200 I'm not.

my enquiries have been very politely written and I haven't asked anyone to price match, merely quote price and delivery, this requires no more than a 1 minute e-mail back surely..
Perhaps they don't need the cash.

Can't you buy it from somewhere that does listen, and does a good deal, and then have it delivered to your local dealer? At least you'd show them how it should be done.

[Doug Knapp]

I've had nothing but good service from The Airgun Centre. I kept in touch with them until they had stock of Mk4's with a nice choice of stocks, then matched the stock of my choice to the calibre I wanted.

When battery went flat after 1500-2000 pellets and I thought it was a rifle fault, they fitted a replacement battery at no charge - it was probably my fault as I believed the initial overnight charge would provide 4000-5000 shots (in practice best to charge once a month).

They fitted the Airstream silencer for me that needed an adaptor (not supplied with silencer) so they found one, fitted it and changed me standard price.

With the silencer on the rifle was tight to fit into the carrying case (supplied as a part of original purchase) so they changed it to a longer one at no cost to me.

Agree they can sound brusque when you phone them - but they carry a wide range of kit and have given me excellent service.

[spiderman]

I've had nothing but good service from The Airgun Centre. I kept in touch with them until they had stock of Mk4's with a nice choice of stocks, then matched the stock of my choice to the calibre I wanted.

When battery went flat after 1500-2000 pellets and I thought it was a rifle fault, they fitted a replacement battery at no charge - it was probably my fault as I believed the initial overnight charge would provide 4000-5000 shots (in practice best to charge once a month).

They fitted the Airstream silencer for me that needed an adaptor (not supplied with silencer) so they found one, fitted it and changed me standard price.

With the silencer on the rifle was tight to fit into the carrying case (supplied as a part of original purchase) so they changed it to a longer one at no cost to me.

Agree they can sound brusque when you phone them - but they carry a wide range of kit and have given me excellent service.

I have bought all of my rifles there,always good service