I ordered a Blue Force Gear Vickers sling, their convertable package that showed it was in stock on Feb 20th, 2014.  Their website showed shipping in 3-5 days.  I didn't receive any shipping information so on the 26th, I sent an email asking the status of the order.....nothing, no return email.  On the 28th, I called and spoke with someone and asked about my order and was told that it was right there, boxed up and ready to ship and it would be shipped that day, so OK, thanks, no problem.  

Fast forward 7 days to March 7th and still no shipping information or no package receieved.  I called Impact weapons on the 7th and told them that I wanted to cancel my order.  He asked why and I said that I had ordered a sling that was in stock 15 days ago and I still hadn't received it.  I gave him my order number and I got the "I can box it up and ship it right now" again!  I told him that this is what he told me a week prior and I got no reason why it hadn't shipped, nothing.  I told him that I wasn't going to wait 15 more days to receive a sling and to cancel my order, which he did.  I got online and ordered the same sling from Tombstone Tactical and it shipped 2 hours after I ordered it!!

I ended up having to spend more money on ordering the 3 seperate items from other places, (sling, swivels and single point adapter) but that's OK, because they have shipped in a timely manner.  Impact weapons has great prices and I was planning on ordering other items from them that I had bookmarked, but not after this.  Also, another trooper that I work with was going to order an X300 Ultra from them (AFTER I SENT HIM THE LINK SHOWING THEIR PRICES), but he chose not to after hearing about my ordering ordeal.

So, if you order from them, just because it says "In stock" doesn't mean that you'll get your item in a timely manner.  Just thought that I would share my experience with everyone.

Thanks

All your items were IN STOCK. The delay was caused by our overall backlog and lack of resources to handle it.

When you ordered, we were and continue to run a Banner at the top and on our Shipping Tab which explains our shipping time as 5 business days; the 3-5 is transit time once the order ships.We we spoke, I had let you know that there was a delay and that I could in fact ship that day and you cancelled. I didn't want to trouble you with the details, but since you posted, allow me to explain.

Being a small start-up, self-funded company (7 Associates), we're very careful to add headcount only when we need to. Based on our sustained order rate over the past two months, we made the decision to add an Associate who's dedicated to only shipping orders. We spent last week training him as he shipped a record number of orders each day. As of today, we've reduced shippable backlog by 68%, shipping some orders in a day or two after order.

The more complex orders (YOURS) required some training from our current shipping Associate, which delayed shipping your order. Nick's now trained and shipping those orders this week.

If you want to talk about personal service, ask your trooper friend with the X300Ultra questions to post up the 4 emails he received from me personally, including offering the LEO Discount, even though he didn't place an order.

We've also responded to many requests posted here on our SHIPPING TIMES thread in a timely manner over the 4 years since we've been in business. And we've got a reputation for making it right with the customer, including giving free product when necessary if we screw up. Like we obviously did on your order, to which I apologize.

Do we work to improve service, launch new products which fill customers needs AND do whet the customer needs to make it right when we make a mistake or miss the ball: YES!

Regards,

EARL

Why was I told that it was boxed up and ready to ship (AGAIN) on the 28th and it didn't?

And my coworker did explain the discount you described to me, but he didn't think it was going to be worth the hassle after me waiting 15 days for an item to ship.

"On the 28th, I called and spoke with someone and asked about my order and was told that it was right there, boxed up and ready to ship and it would be shipped that day, so OK, thanks, no problem. "

It was me you spoke to. While on the phone with you, I had gone to shipping and asked the current and our new associate if your order was ready and they had told me it was, which I relayed to you. As it turns out, they got busy in training and sat your order aside, along with a couple of other customers orders, planning to go back and make sure these went. Well, they didn't.

I've explained, in detail, the delay in shipping your order. Again, I apologize for the delay and mis-communication. We've put in place corrective actions to mitigate this issue in the future.

We plan on continuing to launch new products that resolve issues better than anyone else, at great prices, with the best lead-times. Will we make mistakes in the future, like we did with you, of course. Will we learn from them and take steps to improve... absolutely. I think our record shows that both with our continuing product development (MELONITE Finish to the QD END PLATES at NO COST) or our service by investing in American Associates, like Nick.

What else can I do for you to resolve this situation for you?

EARL

I just wanted a clear explanation as to why I was told TWICE that it would be shipped.  Good customer service would have been to offer to get it shipped 2nd day or something the SECOND time that I had to call about the order...well, that didn't happen because whoever I spoke with acted as though they didn't care that they were losing an order.  Well, that translates into losing other order's, i.e. my coworkers order.  Obviously, the situation can't be resolved because I purchased from elsewhere, which I ordered on Friday and received it today...that's good service.  Again, I just wanted an explanation and I got it, thanks for that, but you won't be getting any new orders from me or anyone that I work with, I'm going to be sure to warn guys that are ordering stuff that if they order from your company that they may have to wait WEEKS to receive the item because of poor customer service.

Thanks

"Again, I just wanted an explanation and I got it, thanks for that, but you won't be getting any new orders from me or anyone that I work with, I'm going to be sure to warn guys that are ordering stuff that if they order from your company that they may have to wait WEEKS to receive the item because of poor customer service."

I'm sorry you feel that way.

EARL

I have to offer a counterpoint, not that Earl and the IWC crew need defending.

IWC in general and Earl in particular have always given me absolute best in class customer service in addition to having a superior product.  INTrooper, I'm not doubting your order had a problem, but in my experience this is definitely not the norm for IWC.

It may not be, and as I said, they have great prices.  But the way that my ordeal was dealt with was pretty bad, no solution offered other than "I'll put it in the mail today"  for the second time 15 days after I ordered it.  I wasn't willing to wait 15 more days or more to see IF I would have received it.  I've had very few poor dealings in the firearms (or parts) industry and the one or two that I did have, I'd still do business with them because they corrected the problem immediately and went on.  Not this situation.  I hope they get the act together as Earl stated above, because it already cost them more business on our end, but maybe they're big enough now that a few people here and there doesn't matter to them, but word does travel.

OP, I cannot speak on your experience, BUT, I had one I would like to share awhile back.

I am a big fan of the flush mount QD sling mount that IWC sells and will install into a Magpul MOE handguard. Well, I bought a forend from a seperate vendor and botched up my handguard thinking I wanted to give it a try (Magpul plastic is tough stuff). I told Earl that I screwed up the handguard and I was going to have him put in the next QD mount since I was no good at it.

Earl would not have it. He wanted to trade me one for one on my dinged up handguard, for a brand new one. That is a guy thats going to get my money and he does make an outstanding product in my opinion.

I am at the point where everything I want is backordered from every site. I have accepted it as the new norm, even if the items are listed as in stock. The firearms market is growing at such an exponential rate, I don't think anyone is keeping up.

I am not saying your (OP) experience was good in your opinion, but know that IWC does stand behind what they serve and sell.

I also have to say that I have sent enough customers to IWC to represent several thousands of dollars in sales. I have not heard any complaints from any of them.

It's good to hear that people have had good experiences with them and good service, which just wasn't the case in my order.  Poor service and nothing offered to remedy the poor service, just an "I don't care" attitude.

Too bad your gonna miss out on great innovative products

One time is not a pattern.
Earl has replied to me via email on his personal cell phone. On a Saturday night. At 11pm.

Light mount didn't fit right. New one no charge free shipping at my house in 3 days, priority mail.

I'm an engineer. We analyze failure rates as mean time between failures. And apply control measures.
One in one thousand is a statistical zero. Earl seems  to have isolated the failure and implemented a correction.
That's all you can ask of any system.
IWC needs no testimony from me.

I'm sure the police department you work for has never made an error...

Innovation means taking chances. If all they did was make a square block of metal and their growth remained stagnant their MTBF would be much higher.

Great American  company, period.

I have mixed feelings about the company. But I am always willing to give someone a second chance.

I ordered the Keymod Bipod Mount and Keymod QD Sling Mount in one order. The Keymod bipod mount clearly stated 5 days to process. I very much understand the state of the industry, and as I work in manufacturing myself, am familiar with the way things go.

That being said, I placed an order on a Tuesday night. I called 10 days later, a Friday, to inquire about the current state of my order, as I had yet to receive a shipment notification. I was fully expecting to hear there was some sort of delay, and not in any way upset about it.

When I spoke to Earl, he said they had just received the Bipod mounts and were assembling them. He said they expected to ship on the following day, Saturday.

When I said, " Oh alright, so things are just running a few days behind schedule." He stated, "No, It stated on the website when you ordered, that it would be 5 Business days."

He said this in an impatient, rather condescending tone. I then said hey I am not in any hurry and it's no big deal that they are running a few days behind. He quickly responded with, "Well it did say 5 business days."

I don't know if you can do the math, but if you start counting business days on Wednesday(Tuesday doesn't count as it was after business hours when I placed the order), I count 8 business days when I called.

I was not irritated at the delay in time, hey, thats how things go when half the country is trying to get whatever they can before you can't anymore. But the attitude was kinda shitty, especially when he was implying I can't count.

That being said, the keymod QD sling mount is awesome and a great product. I highly recommend them.

The bipod mount..... well its like you have a 95% amazing product but  the remaining 5%(snap ring) ruins the whole product. I will be detailing this in the thread regarding that particular product. The quick and dirty, if you buy it, plan on sourcing a 3/8" snap ring some where to use instead of the one supplied.

All in all, I will probably order again from them. The products seem of high quality. I ordered a new product and hopefully they will iron out the snap ring issue. If I had ordered one of there time tested and in stock products, I am sure I would have nothing but praise for them.

That's the same, "I don't give a crap" attitude that I got.  No, "Hey, we'll get this worked out" or "We'll get that to you today next day on us"  nothing!  That's why they lost my business, if they don't give a crap about their customers, then neither do I!  I ordered the same sling, ordered swivels and a Viking Tactics single point adapter from other companies, some of which shipped the items THE SAME DAY.  I ended up paying more money for all of the items, but that was fine, since I got the products in a timely manner without having to make phone calls to find out why my order hasn't shipped.  I'll give those companies that treated me well and gave service in a very timely manner my money.

BeBop0389 - Thanks for the review, with pics, showing the issues you experienced with our new KEYMOD BIPOD MOUNT-N-SLOT. I appreciate the time you took compiling it.

I'd also like to apologize if my tone came across as impatient and condescending during our conversation, it was not my intent.

We take all feedback seriously. Getting both positive and negative feedback via posts like yours, regarding everything about the company and it's products, is the reason we joined ARFCOM when we started the company almost 4 years ago, as it helps us improve both the company's performance and products. Posts are out there permanently for everyone to see and research.

Your Suggestion: We started shipping this product about a week ago. Your review is the first negative customer feedback we've received.

I'll explain our New Product Development Process that launched the KeyMod Bipod Mount. When we develop a product, we design with the goal of making the simplest design possible to do the job. We select materials and components, then run some prototypes, test them internally and give them to a few select customers, or to one of the other Companies in the industry we do work for to evaluate. Based on feedback, we make changes and then start production with a small lot size and start shipping to customers. Then we'll ask for or wait for feedback from customers via ARFCOM. M4Carbine or other forums we don't sponsor and via our direct line to the IWC Partners; [email protected].  Based on feedback, which we collect and review internally, we'll make changes to the product as necessary. We'll contact those who did the original testing and share the new design with them, collect their feedback and look at product sales, general product acceptance. If the improved product is accepted, we'll increase the run lot size and continue shipping. We also send the new product for free to those who've had an issue with the original design.

The Snap Ring. We looked at the design you switched to, as well as a Spirolock (Siimilar to the one used on our best selling QD MICRO MOUNT) and the split-ring version we selected and shipped with the product. We chose the split-ring design we are shipping because it's designed to hold a shaft in place, in testing it held during our push test, customers found it easy to install with some mentioning it's like servicing the Gas Rings on the AR Bolt and no one experienced a field failure.

A couple of days ago, while reading a thread about KeyMod Accessories on another Forum, I saw a post by SilverBullet432 showing a pic of our KeyMod Bipod Mount installed on a Noveske NSR. I asked how he liked it and he loved it. Then I posted an offer to send up to 15 KeyMod Bipod Mounts to customers for free in exchange for a review they'd post on that Forum about the product, just to get some feedback, because as I stated, to that point everything we had heard the product was GTG. We're sending the samples to these customers today.

Please send me an email with your Invoice Number so we can issue you a refund to your credit card for the KeyMod Bipod MOUNT-N-SLOT you purchased and a replacement snap ring if we change the design, as anything we select will be plated black in color.

Thanks again for the feedback, we'll use it to continue to make improvements.

EARL

Are customers still waiting 2 + weeks to even get an IN STOCK item shipped??

The new Associate has helped us make a 48% improvement in orders shipped within five business days, with new orders placed last week for in stock items shipping with in three business days.

I just came back from Shipping, and every order placed yesterday and today will be packaged and shipped today.

As for remaining past-due orders in backlog for our products like our TMC Light Mounts we just got back in stock Thursday afternoon and the more complex orders like QD Micro installs and some light mounts and kits requiring assembly and kitting, we're working four shifts this weekend and shipping those orders via Priority, at no extra cost.

We do remain on back order for a few popular products, like SMC Light Mounts, SCAR Charger Charging Handles, some resale items which are due back in stock next week.

MOUNT-N-SLOT

INTrooper.

As I attempted to convey in my post, I am not angry with the company over one small issue.

One item in my order did say that it was not instock. I expected to be waiting, and was not surprised that it took longer than the estimate. Thats the nature of the industry currently. If you expect same day or next day shipping, you will not be happy with most gun shops right now. Try ordering from palmetto state armory.

Earl has apologized, and in my situation, has made every attempt to rectify the situation, in a better way than most companies do.

I habe no doubt that he was just having a bad day or something, or mabye just got off the phone with someone unreasonable.

I know its a bummer your order got lost track of and did not ship when it should have. And it doesn't sound like he was overtly rude to you over the phone.

That being said, I never got the vibe that he did not care as you stated.

I would do business with them again. Repeat offenses are what close my wallet to a company. A Quick apolgie on  Saturday with every attempt to make the situation right is what I would call good customer service.

If that was what I had gotten when I called to cancel my order the second time, I would still be a customer.  I will have to say that I did receive a PM today, which is fine.  But I won't be placing any orders.