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Ranger55 · May 21, 2008, 02:33 PM

Don H

The purpose of my forum post was to use the power of the internet to express my frustration at the attitude Ed Brown's manager took towards me. Informing others of my bad experience may cause them to choose a different company to buy rifles from, or at least be extra specific and clear, and save themselves trouble and expense.

I did my best to repeat the conversation as carefully and fairly as possible.
No doubt I share some of the responsibilty because I was half of the transaction. I handle all of the burden of the expense and now have a $3500 target rifle that is useless to me instead of the hunting rifle I thought I was ordering.

There was a detailed discussion with the sales person about the intended use. And still I managed to get something I did not want. She felt that it would "be no problem to get the rifle I wanted instead, but just needed to check with the manager". I offered to buy an additional rifle on top of exchanging the incorrect one. She came back to say "sorry I cannot take it back" I asked to speak with manager personally. I pointed out the website had the weight incorrectly listed. As you read the original post, you know how it went from there.

It just seems bad business and I'm sorely disappointed to say the least.

The few friends I have in the sports writing community and shooting industry were not surprised at how things turned out either (they had colorful words and stories of their own) convincing me my experience is not unusual there.

There is a cost to poor service... a bad reputation. If someone at Ed Brown Custom wants to reply the other side, I'd be interested in hearing.

At most, my mistake was to misread the website. With a total of more than $14,000 invested in Ed Brown products, a few minutes of their time making sure we were discussing the same rifle is not too much to ask.

As for returning within a few days an unfired rifle for the proper one, there should be no issue. If there was a legal problem then ok. They didn't mention one.
But there is no cost to treating customers with respect even if they are not "experts".

To look at the bright side, I paid $3500 for a business class... with a free target rifle thrown in.

May 21, 2008, 02:33 PM	#3
Ranger55 Junior Member Join Date: May 21, 2008 Posts: 6	Do Not Buy Ed Brown Don H The purpose of my forum post was to use the power of the internet to express my frustration at the attitude Ed Brown's manager took towards me. Informing others of my bad experience may cause them to choose a different company to buy rifles from, or at least be extra specific and clear, and save themselves trouble and expense. I did my best to repeat the conversation as carefully and fairly as possible. No doubt I share some of the responsibilty because I was half of the transaction. I handle all of the burden of the expense and now have a $3500 target rifle that is useless to me instead of the hunting rifle I thought I was ordering. There was a detailed discussion with the sales person about the intended use. And still I managed to get something I did not want. She felt that it would "be no problem to get the rifle I wanted instead, but just needed to check with the manager". I offered to buy an additional rifle on top of exchanging the incorrect one. She came back to say "sorry I cannot take it back" I asked to speak with manager personally. I pointed out the website had the weight incorrectly listed. As you read the original post, you know how it went from there. It just seems bad business and I'm sorely disappointed to say the least. The few friends I have in the sports writing community and shooting industry were not surprised at how things turned out either (they had colorful words and stories of their own) convincing me my experience is not unusual there. There is a cost to poor service... a bad reputation. If someone at Ed Brown Custom wants to reply the other side, I'd be interested in hearing. At most, my mistake was to misread the website. With a total of more than $14,000 invested in Ed Brown products, a few minutes of their time making sure we were discussing the same rifle is not too much to ask. As for returning within a few days an unfired rifle for the proper one, there should be no issue. If there was a legal problem then ok. They didn't mention one. But there is no cost to treating customers with respect even if they are not "experts". To look at the bright side, I paid $3500 for a business class... with a free target rifle thrown in. Last edited by Ranger55; May 22, 2008 at 01:21 AM.