Let me preface this by telling you a little bit about me and my history with Brownell's.
When I was a kid, my Dad has a little shop at our house that sold stuff for archery and firearms. He got all of his stuff that was firearm related from Brownell's. I remember sitting on a stool at the shop, thumbing through the big Brownell's catalog.
When I moved out and went to college, my interest in firearms took a back seat to school.
In the mid 90's, after college and getting married, I resumed my interest in firearms. This was way before there was an internet or a Brownell's website, so I called and ordered a catalog. I started ordering a lot of parts-mostly for 1911's- from Brownell's.
I remember my first order. All Wilson Combat, flat MSH, commander hammer, beavertail safety, thumb safety, cocobolo grips and three 47D magazines.
I have always used Brownell's for my parts. Why? Price, selection, and fast shipping. It use to only take 3 days from the time I ordered the parts to the time they arrived.
Fast forward to today. What has happened to you, Brownell's?
Now we have ineffective shipping options like UPS Mail Innovations, which is hardly innovative at all and inconsistent shipping/delivery times.
I currently have 3 orders with you. One that is out for delivery today, one that was ordered right after that order that still shows processing and one that has shipped but is now stuck in the UPS Mail Innovations black hole.
There used to be a time that ordering a small part would get a lightweight shipping charge and a First Class padded envelope. It would arrive in 3 days. Now it's $7.95 and the UPS Mail Innovations slow boat from Iowa. It would have been faster to carrier pigeon it. In this case the shipping was half as much as the part.
Let's look at order #11015914. I ordered it on the 27th. A Friday. Of course I did not expect it to ship until Monday. It never did. Didn't ship on Tuesday either. Now it's Wednesday and it still shows processing. Let's look at order #11019816. Ordered on Monday, shipped on Monday. Of course it's coming UPS Mail Innovations and it says it won't be here until the 7th. It would have been faster to hand it directly to the USPS to handle it than get UPS involved in the process.
Now, in the past before you guys screwed up your shipping operation, you would have put in a padded envelope and First Class mailed it. It would have been here today.
But let's go back to order #11015914. Why does it still show processing? Why is it not shipped? It's in stock, it should have gone out.
You guys have got to get back to what you used to be. Reliable, dependable, cost effective. The Brownell's that I used to rave about. Now you are no better than Midway USA, in terms of shipping costs, shipping options and reliability, and slowly becoming more like Botach in terms of getting it right.
Brownell's used to be my go to place, my #1, one stop shop for the parts I need. Now, I have put you near the bottom, with Midway USA. The last places I will look if I cannot find it elsewhere.
I miss the old reliable Brownell's.
Edit to add-I just spoke with Tanya and was informed that my order-#11015914 that showed in stock, was not in stock at the time, but that a box with the 7" MI rails in it, is setting in the new warehouse, unopened and may possibly not be shipped until next week. Not my ideal on how to run the shipping side of your business.