Well, I'd seen some comments here about Sportsman's Guide in the past. Now I have my own experience to relay.

My apologies for the long post, but I'm sure you'll all enjoy this.

This account of my conversation with a Sportsman's Guide Customer Dis-service rep is probably almost complete, though I naturally can't remember every word. It was relatively fresh in my head when I wrote this.

I joined their buyers club about 18 months ago, renewing earlier this year.

I placed an order a couple of days ago for some 12g and 223 ammo.

Today I receive a call from some airhead at Sportsman's Guide. She tells me that they won't be filling my order because

1 Nobody could use this much ammo for personal use (I must be a dealer)
2 I have already saved over $200 in Buyer's Club discounts this year
3 The shipping on my 100+ pound order is more than the $19-99 that their website was going to charge me.

I made the following points

1 Who is she to tell me how much ammo I can shoot
2 The reason I pay the Buyers Club fee is so that I can save money
3 The website has some items that specify additional shipping charges. The items I ordered do not fall into that category.

Her response was
1 No comment
2 I have bought too much this year, and they can no longer give me any Buyer's Club discount on anything else I purchase.
3 My order is over 100 lbs and it will cost them more than that to ship it.

My response was
1 No comment
2 The reason I joined the Buyers Club was to save money by buying everthing from one supplier. No mention of any limit on purchases was made when I originally was prompted to join the Buyer's Club at checkout.
3 The web site calculates shipping on a 'cost of goods' basis. Those who buy little effectively substidise those who buy a lot (as do their 'higher than the competition' prices)

Her response
1 no comment
2 Referred me to a paragraph in their catalog that stipulates that "large orders" may be considered as "commercial accounts" and  Buyers Club discounts MAY not be given on these orders.
3 Referred me to a paragraph in their catalog that deals with heavy bulky items and shipping costs (same paragraph as the commercial order crap)

My response
1 dead
2 I pointed out that the term "large order" was vague, ambiguous, and open to interpretation. A street dweller may consider $50 a large order, while Bill Gates may consider $50,000 a small order. The wording she was quating effectively allows them to make up the rules as they go along.
3 The website clearly states that items that require additional shipping charges are identified. The items I ordered where not. An organization the size of SG could easliy have a web site / shopping cart that calcualtes exact shipping charges on weight, if they wanted to. They choose to do it by order value. Not my problem.

Her response
1 dead
2 No rational response
3 The items will cost more to ship than the $20 charged

She is now getting agitated

My response
1 dead
2 I paid for a year of Buyer's Club. I'm not getting it, will they refund my Buyer's Club fee.
3 I don't choose the way they do business, they do. Some small buyers lose on shipping, some big buyers win. That is their choice, not mine. If they wanted to charge additional shipping for the items I ordered, they could have stipulated so on their website.

Her response
1 dead
2 I have already had more than the $30 Buyer Club fee in discounts, so I am not eligible for a refund.
3 This 100+ pound order will cost more to ship than I am paying in shipping fees.

My response
1 dead
2 The buyer's Club did not stipulate a limit to the benefits. It also is not a scheme where you pay in $30 just so that you can have $30 worth of discounts throughout the year. When I joined the Buyers Club I was not informed of these conditions (probably did not exist then) and expected to get a year's worth of discounted shopping. this seems like a bait and switch scheme to me. Would you like to refund the Buyer's Club member fee, or deal with my lawyer ?
3 Dead - what is the point.

Her response
1 dead
2 You are not getting Buyers Club discount on this order, and you will not get a refund of the Buyer's Club fee because you've already had more in benefits than you paid to join. If we refunded your $30 member fee we would have to take back the $200+ you've had in discounts this year. This is not bait and switch.
3 Do you want to pay the extra shipping, or cancel the order ?

Response
Cancel

End of conversation

It seems odd that we have a company here complaining that I buy too much from them, and could I please buy less. Wonder what the shareholders will make of that.

In addition to this latest problem, I've had trouble in recent months getting them to give my FatWallet discount too - in fact they only gave it on one small order.

Anyone want to join a class action lawsuit ?

Wow, interesting conversation. I think I am right at 200 bucks for my guide savings this year. Thanks for the post, we will see if they will cancel my 223.

height=8

Quoted: Her response 1 no comment 2 Referred me to a paragraph in their catalog that stipulates that "large orders" may be considered as "commercial accounts" and Buyers Club discounts MAY not be given on these orders. 3 Referred me to a paragraph in their catalog that stipulates that deals with heavy bulky items and shipping costs (same paragraph as the commercial order crap) My response 1 dead 2 I pointed out that the term "large order" was vague, ambiguous, and open to interpretation. A street dweller may consider $50 a large order, while Bill Gates may consider $50,000 a small order. 3 The website clearly states that items that require additional shipping charges are identified. The items I ordered where not. An organization the size of SG could easliy have a web site / shopping cart that calcualtes exact shipping charges on weight, if they wanted to. They choose to do it by order value. Not my problem. I placed an order a couple of days ago for some 12g and 223 ammo.

Sounds like they have you by the short hairs, and they have probably already had their counsel look at the issue -- thus the fine print.  It's vauge and ambigious on purpose, I'm sure.

I'm curious, what do you define as "some" ammo?  Did you order a pallet full?

My order was what I consider to be medium sized. 4 boxes of 250 12g plus 4500 223 (5x900 rnd boxes). Not a lot by any standard I would say.

At one point she suggested that with these quantities I should be dealing direct with the suppliers. Can you imagine what Winchester would say if I called and said I want to set up a commercial account because I am going to use 4500 rounds of their ammunition this year.

It's laughable.

I think SG are operating on a policy of screw the little guy, and if anyone orders a larger quantity that will cost you a little shipping money, just cancel their order.

No wonder their customer base is falling off rapidly.

I hear they are owned by some French scumbags now anyway.

someone else recently (probably w/in last 2 months) posted a very similar story with regard to bulk ammo purchases and their buyer's club membership. Sounds like SG's falling into a rut. I wonder how long til they get out of the ammo business altogether.

I'm done playing grab ass with those idiots.  Good luck with the direction you choose.  I've never had so much drama ordering ammo before.  

Step 1
order ammo (says "in-stock")
Step 2
Get order confirmation
Step 3
Ammo is Back ordered
Step 4
Ask if you want to cancel or keep back order
Step 5
Tell them to keep the back order
Step 6
Send you a letter in the mail saying $ has gone up 25%
Step 7
They cancel your backorder after 2 price increases
Step 8
Disgruntled post on Arfcom

You want some cheese with that wine?

Well, I probably spend over $10,000 per year on shooting goodies. They would have had a large prtion of that, now they get zero.

The other anoying thing about them was that a lot of stuff was never in stock. You're either in business, or your not.

I'll get my ammo at Knob Creek later this year.

Come to think of it the French don't have much use for ammo - no intention of using it, so they may as well sell it all off cheap to us.

Quoted: You want some cheese with that wine?

Nope, here is a novel idea.  If you list the ammo as IN STOCK, maybe you should have it in your warehouse. If not, ummm. I don't know, maybe list it as sold out like every other online retailer out there.

Smartass

I can't even imagine how they stay in business acting like that towards a customer,much less how they could hope to attract customers w/ principles like that.
Sounds like Swindler's Guide to me.........

I won't shop at Sportsmans anymore just because of the simple fact that they fill orders to make themselves money, but when push comes to shove they drop the bullshit on you with the backorder issue then try to raise the price on you.  Fuck them

I joined the buyers club about 2 months ago.  Before I joined the Buyers Club I could use the $20 coupon code on every order over $250 + get a 6% Fat Wallet discount.  Since I joined I used the coupon (in ammo price list) once and on the next order said I could not use it again.  Also my Fat Wallet account does not reflect my SG orders since I became a Buyers Club member.  Fat Wallet is checking that a I type.
Let see, Before I joined the Buyers Club I used to get the $20 coupon off a $250+ order and a 6% rebate from fat wallet.
Since I PAID to join the Buyers Club I get 5% off my order and no 6% Fat Wallet discount + I cannot use the $20 coupons more than once.  So now I get 1% less back and loose the $20 coupon.  I costs me $$$ to be a paying member.
I called customer service and got about the same reply as nylon.  
I will post the outcome, good or bad, to be fair to the Guide.  
If the outcome is bad I will definitely join a class action suit with you nylon.  There are plenty of honest ammo vendors out there with better prices without clubs or coupons.  SG gurarantees the lowest prices but when I emailed them that AIM had the same Radway for much less the replyed with the "sorry ammo has gone up" shit.  I am a SG member and still ordering from AIM.  OK with me.  SG is dead to me.  Since I just joined a few months ago and I think I still have time to dispute the charge for the Club membership fee through my credit card company.  Sorry to ramble but I am really pissed about this.  Seems I am not the only one.
This is BS.  

+1 on another shooter who won't be ordering ammo from SG.  Have had nothing but hassles in my few purchases from them.

AIM will get my business from now on.

Yep!

It happened to me about two months ago too.

I ordered 500 rounds of wolf 00 buck.

They were out of the 100 round flats or whatever so I ordered 100 5 round boxes.

They canceled my order saying the "shipping department raised some red flags"  Said that's more than one person could use. Well it was for my 3 gun Benelli but I guess an actual legitimate reason is none of their fucking business anyway.

I was furious, canceled my order?!!?!?!!?!? for buying too much ammo? what the FUCK!?

Coincidentally it took them about 7 days to put the money back on my CC.  I even had to talk to the billing department manager to get her ass to move on this.

in short:

FUCK SPORTSMANS GUIDE

Quoted: someone else recently (probably w/in last 2 months) posted a very similar story with regard to bulk ammo purchases and their buyer's club membership. Sounds like SG's falling into a rut. I wonder how long til they get out of the ammo business altogether.

Quoted: Yep! It happened to me about two months ago too. I ordered 500 rounds of wolf 00 buck. They were out of the 100 round flats or whatever so I ordered 100 5 round boxes. They canceled my order saying the "shipping department raised some red flags"  Said that's more than one person could use. Well it was for my 3 gun Benelli but I guess an actual legitimate reason is none of their fucking business anyway. I was furious, canceled my order?!!?!?!!?!? for buying too much ammo? what the FUCK!? Coincidentally it took them about 7 days to put the money back on my CC.  I even had to talk to the billing department manager to get her ass to move on this. in short: FUCK SPORTSMANS GUIDE Quoted: someone else recently (probably w/in last 2 months) posted a very similar story with regard to bulk ammo purchases and their buyer's club membership. Sounds like SG's falling into a rut. I wonder how long til they get out of the ammo business altogether.

They would shit a brick for sure if they see how much 12ga I purchase before dove season.

Didnt the French buy it?

Garry O

Quoted: You guys DO know that SG was SOLD, right?  SG went public a couple of years ago, and has recently been bought out by a catalog sales company.  Gary O is no longer running the show. -Troy

do you own a business nylon?

Quoted: +1 on another shooter who won't be ordering ammo from SG.  Have had nothing but hassles in my few purchases from them. AIM will get my business from now on.

Over the years I have had excellent dealings with Aim, Mirage, Outdoor Marksman, Widener's, Wholesale Hunter just to name a few.  Lots of good dealers out there.  

Edited to add Natchez.  Many orders with Natchez, all 100%.  Top shelf vendor like those above.

For the record, I do own a business, but I don't sell guns or ammo, and I'm not buying for anyone else. I just shoot a lot (too much according to SG). I average over 500 rnds per week of 9mm alone (probably closer to 1000) so that mounts up over a year. Not a big shotgun user, but still get through a few overthe course of a year.

I could shoot more in a couple of hours at Knob Creek than I was ordereing from SG.

For the record I do business consulting - I could give SG some good advice, but I would charge them a considerable fee for it. I think they are a company beyond help.

I note that AIM have the shotgun ammo I wanted at just afew cents more than SG (inc all the bogus dicounts) so I will buy form them (an American owned dedicated firearms business)

A company that tells its customers to buy much less of their products will be a good subject for a training seminar (power companies excepted). Who would believe it !

Quoted: For the record, I do own a business, but I don't sell guns or ammo, and I'm not buying for anyone else. I just shoot a lot (too much according to SG). I average over 500 rnds per week of 9mm alone (probably closer to 1000) so that mounts up over a year. Not a big shotgun user, but still get through a few overthe course of a year. I could shoot more in a couple of hours at Knob Creek than I was ordereing from SG. For the record I do business consulting - I could give SG some good advice, but I would charge them a considerable fee for it. I think they are a company beyond help. I note that AIM have the shotgun ammo I wanted at just afew cents more than SG (inc all the bogus dicounts) so I will buy form them (an American owned dedicated firearms business) A company that tells its customers to buy much less of their products will be a good subject for a training seminar (power companies excepted). Who would believe it !

I was just curious. thanks.

Quoted: Quoted: Her response 1 no comment 2 Referred me to a paragraph in their catalog that stipulates that "large orders" may be considered as "commercial accounts" and Buyers Club discounts MAY not be given on these orders. 3 Referred me to a paragraph in their catalog that stipulates that deals with heavy bulky items and shipping costs (same paragraph as the commercial order crap) My response 1 dead 2 I pointed out that the term "large order" was vague, ambiguous, and open to interpretation. A street dweller may consider $50 a large order, while Bill Gates may consider $50,000 a small order. 3 The website clearly states that items that require additional shipping charges are identified. The items I ordered where not. An organization the size of SG could easliy have a web site / shopping cart that calcualtes exact shipping charges on weight, if they wanted to. They choose to do it by order value. Not my problem. I placed an order a couple of days ago for some 12g and 223 ammo. Sounds like they have you by the short hairs, and they have probably already had their counsel look at the issue -- thus the fine print.  It's vauge and ambigious on purpose, I'm sure. I'm curious, what do you define as "some" ammo?  Did you order a pallet full?

A couple of missed fat wallet discounts won't hurt any of us but on this forum the bad publicity alone could sink them.  I personally bought over 50K rounds of ammo this year and I think we have them by the short hairs.  I just filed a dispute with my credit card company about the buyers club charge and I suggest others do as well.  The time period you have to dispute is usually when you find out you were defrauded not when you made the purchase.  Credit card company's play hardball with this kind of shit.  They can be your hired gun in cases like this.

I have noticed their service going down hill over the last year. Looks like they are more interested in selling shoes than ammo and gun related stuff.
They used to have really good deals, but now looks like their prices are about on par with everyone elses. And of course, I have gotten the infamous "sorry your item is backordered" green letter one too many times for my liking.

I will probably still order from them if the price is right, but am not planning on joining the buyers club again any time soon.

This is another in a string of posts about these guys. I joined their discount club and have used it, probably enough to break even. With top notch companies out there like AIM and Widners, I don't need


DRAMA..................

Quoted: Nylon- Give us at Outdoor Marksman Corporation a try. Reasons to shop with us: 1. Your exact shipping charges are displayed as you shop. 2. Ammo items show exact quantities in stock. 3. We have a warehouse in KY to give you fast delivery. 4. We're not publicly owned and certainly not by the French. (Not to mention we are an Industry Partner with ARFCOM) Hope to see you around the website.

hmm, can't argue with that...

Mercy!

This bum outfit now owned by the "frogs"?

Screw FRANCE and every fu***ing FRENCHMAN.

Quoted: Nylon- Give us at Outdoor Marksman Corporation a try. Reasons to shop with us: 1. Your exact shipping charges are displayed as you shop. 2. Ammo items show exact quantities in stock. 3. We have a warehouse in KY to give you fast delivery. 4. We're not publicly owned and certainly not by the French. (Not to mention we are an Industry Partner with ARFCOM) Hope to see you around the website.

I've shopped with Outdoor Marksman Corp. in the past and have had nothing but good experiences with them, will use them again, I will not ever shop with Sportsmans guide again after hearing the way they treat their customers in these instances.

MERCY!

SG now owned by the "Frogs?"

Screw FRANCE and every fuc**** FRENCHMEN.

Those bastards still don't remember who landed June 6th in Normandy to free their sorry, weak, candy asses! The'd all be speaking German but for the US of A and "the Greatest Generation."

Quoted: You want some cheese with that wine?

Do you want some hot water with your TEA BAG or do you like it dry? Smartass noob.

Yeah scr*w Sportsmans Guide. This last UMC cancellation has been one time too many for me. I'll deal with people that treat me honestly like Outdoor Marksman and Ammo To Go.

To think i about bought a couple thousand rounds of ammo from them. No big buy or anything but glad my hard earned dollar did not go to them.
Outdoor marksman thakns for letting us know your out there and joining in here.
Goodbye sportmans guide

I am going to ride out my 4000 round order and see what happens. I did just get off the phone with them and changed the credit card from my debit to my Visa card. Maybe this will help if I have to dispute charges.

I live in one of SGs "restricted" zip codes that they wont ship ammo to.
I tried to order some ammo for dad last Father's Day. It was going to be shipped to him and he doen't live in one of their "restricted" zip codes.

The assholes at SG cancelled the order. When I asked why, they said "how do we know your not buying this for yourself."

I tried to explain that ammo is not illegal here and I could go down to the local
gunstore and buy the exact same ammo.

I will never spent on dime with again.

FUCK YOU, SPORTSMAN'S GUIDE

The only reason I am a member of SG is to participate in their '4-pay plan.'  Being a college student, I can't afford to place an ammo order at a 'regular' online store.

However, if they try to pull shit like that on me, I will wipe my ass with my membership card and latest catalog...and send it back to them via USPS Express Mail with insurance, delivery confirmation, and, of course, signature required...

`45

oh my just the thought

Quoted: The only reason I am a member of SG is to participate in their '4-pay plan.'  Being a college student, I can't afford to place an ammo order at a 'regular' online store. However, if they try to pull shit like that on me, I will wipe my ass with my membership card and latest catalog...and send it back to them via USPS Express Mail with insurance, delivery confirmation, and, of course, signature required... `45

I think I've already used Outdoor Marksman (very good experience) but not Ammo To Go.

I'm just looking to purchase a quantity of 223 M855 for now. I use a lot of 9mm too (usually Fiocchi). I may just buy Win 9mm at Walmart, but I don't like giving them business either.

I may try the credit card complaint against SG too. I travel a lot and spend a lot on my card, so they are usually eager to listen to my concerns and keep me happy.

height=8

Quoted: I live in one of SGs "restricted" zip codes that they wont ship ammo to. I tried to order some ammo for dad last Father's Day. It was going to be shipped to him and he doen't live in one of their "restricted" zip codes. The assholes at SG cancelled the order. When I asked why, they said "how do we know your not buying this for yourself." I tried to explain that ammo is not illegal here and I could go down to the local gunstore and buy the exact same ammo. I will never spent on dime with again. FUCK YOU, SPORTSMAN'S GUIDE

Apparently I live in one of their "restricrted" zip code areas too.I tried to order a detachable carry handle for my AR,the lady said she could not ship to my state.What a bunch a shit that is,you can own a rifle with a carry handle in my state,but you can't order one from SG.That buyers club bullshit did not sound right to me from the start,plus if you do some real searching,local and on the web(phone orders) you can buy alot cheaper than they were selling with their discount.As of now I am taking their website out of my favorites on the computer.SG=

I wouldn't give Sportsman's Guide the time of day, let alone my money. I bought from them before and the order was screwed up....twice!  They'll never get a third chance.There is nothing that they sell that I can't buy elsewhere, they have no monopolies.....except maybe on bullshit excuses.

I wonder what would happen if everyone on this site ordered a free catalog from SG?  Anyone have any stupid email questions for them to answer

Quoted: I wonder what would happen if everyone on this site ordered a free catalog from SG?  Anyone have any stupid email questions for them to answer

They would send most of us endless 'backorder notices' until we either gave up, or agreed to pay $30 for them.

`45

Nylon:

Why don't you try Natchez Shooters Supply? (www.natchezss.com)

They are nice folks, very helpful, and if you only order from their bimonthly sale catalogs you'll save a bunch of money.  They have a great full line catalog but prices in that can be a little steep.

PLUS...and this is no bullshit, it happened to me this week....Natchez has shipping so fast It'll make your head swim.  They also had Hornady TAP .223 ammo back when nobody else did and were happy to sell it in case quantities to civilians like me.

I got a new Beretta 950 BS in .25 ACP this week.  I had no .25ACP ammo and wanted some Glaser ammo (103 foot-pounds vs. 64 foot-pounds for everything else) so Wednesday afternoon about 1PM I ordered some from Natchez.

Thursday at about 3PM my doorbell rang.  It was the UPS guy with a box from Natchez, this is regular UPS ground shipping at no extra cost to me.  Dude, that is GREAT shipping efficiency.

Screw The Sportsman's Guide.  There are other folks out there who actually WANT your business.

Quoted: Nylon: Why don't you try Natchez Shooters Supply? (www.natchezss.com) Screw The Sportsman's Guide.  There are other folks out there who actually WANT your business.

Natchez is A1

yeah I've thought about the "take me off your mailing list" but that would save them money.  I'm going to keep my free catalogs coming and just NEVER order anything from them again.

Yeah, I've ordered from Natchez before too. Never a bad experience, I just didn't like the way they charged a $4 'handling fee' for using a credit card when they did not accept any other payment method. They may have changed that now.

I was about to buy some AE223 from outdoor Marksman, but it just went up $30 per case while I was screwing around with Sportsman's Guide - so I now have 'lost opportunity' to add to my disgruntlement list !

There are so many good suppliers out there we don't really need SG. They seem to be shifting to selling junk clothing and yard items, so perhaps they just want out of the ammo business altogether. I'm sure the French owners lose sleep at the thought of all that dangerous ammo laying around their warehouse.

Never trust a guy who eats snails

Quoted: Yeah, I've ordered from Natchez before too. Never a bad experience, I just didn't like the way they charged a $4 'handling fee' for using a credit card when they did not accept any other payment method. They may have changed that now. I was about to buy some AE223 from outdoor Marksman, but it just went up $30 per case while I was screwing around with Sportsman's Guide - so I now have 'lost opportunity' to add to my disgruntlement list ! There are so many good suppliers out there we don't really need SG. They seem to be shifting to selling junk clothing and yard items, so perhaps they just want out of the ammo business altogether. I'm sure the French owners lose sleep at the thought of all that dangerous ammo laying around their warehouse. Never trust a guy who eats snails

where did you find out they were owned by the french? never heard anything of the sort before???

Google it.  Sportsmans guide redcats
You'll find out that SG is going the way of Abercrombie, Eddie Bauer etc (all of whom used to sell hunting/shooting/fishing equipment and now cater to yuppies).

Quoted: Google it.  Sportsmans guide redcats You'll find out that SG is going the way of Abercrombie, Eddie Bauer etc (all of whom used to sell hunting/shooting/fishing equipment and now cater to yuppies).

bummer.


thanks for the info.

I have 4k of WOLF 223 on backorder until damned near November. Since I got it for $99 per k, I will wait this one out. They have screwed me once, so I will let this ride and see what happens. I would much rather spend a few dollars extra and give an American company my money. I have been buying from others since SG gave me the 5 month backorder.