I've been dealing with Palmetto State Armory for the past 2 weeks, and had nothing but trouble.  I don't know if all the positive reviews and tales of customer service are fictitious or not, but my experience has been completely different.  They've forgot to ship parts, told me that I could not come to the store front to pick parts that I had paid for up (on 2 separate occasions), have been extremely rude and dismissive, making themselves look bad.  When I've emailed I've gotten responses from 2 different people, and when I've called I've gotten responses from 4 different people, each not having any idea where the things I've ordered are and when they would be ready to ship or for me to pick up.  They also claim they cannot check an orders status in their computer system.  This whole experience has really left me a bit sour, and I'm starting to wish I went a different route.  If I could do it again I would absolutely buy from a more reputable manufacturer/dealer even if it did cost slightly more.  The peace of mind of knowing that the company you're investing in actually backs their products and takes care of their customers (especially local ones) outweighs any financial savings you'd gain.

Anyway, this is just my personal very disappointing and extremely frustrating experience with Palmetto State Armory so far.  Maybe this can save someone else the same trouble I've been put through.  

Good luck.

Never had a problem.

I've placed a couple of orders with them for pmags, lpks, stocks and a couple of their stripped lowers over the past few months. I have no complaints.  Excellent prices on quality parts.  I've built one lower and I'm very impressed with the quality.

Never had a problem either. They've always been very helpful when I've called.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=2&f=301&t=205893

They're most likely still behind from the fathers day sale, depending what you ordered. I didn't order lower recievers during their sale, just a few parts kits and a BCG and they shipped within 3 days and arrived in a week. All my experiences with PSA have been great so far.

I've ordered from PSA twice now,and both times had issues with them making mistakes with my orders.

I know they are busy and such,but these were simple orders that a child could have followed through with better than they did

Next time I need stuff,I will give them another try.Maybe I'll have better luck.

Well, as I suspected, I appear to be in the minority.  I don't mind the delays, and would NEVER fault a company for consumers buying up all their quality goods.  More power to them!!  I anticipated my first order (a lower) would be delayed due to their Father's Day sale.  I did not anticipate multiple emails going unanswered.  I finally gave up emailing and called them to see if I could come pick the lower up.  They said they could not find my order because their internet sales guy was out of the shop, so they couldn't tell if it had been shipped or not.  This made driving to their shop pointless.  After waiting another 2 business days without receiving any sort of shipping confirmation I called again.  This time the gentleman told me that there should have been no problem with me coming to the store front to pick my order up, and that he would get it shipped out that day (which he did).  During that same call I inquired about purchasing a lower parts kit and a completed upper.  Although my gut was telling me to go with a different company after my initial dealings with PSA, I was intoxicated by their prices and the fact that they had pretty much the exact upper set up I was looking for, in stock.  I ordered a LPK and the completed upper (with notes in the 'special request' section which have yet to be answered) and called a few days later.  I was asked when my order was placed, then told that all orders placed by that date had been sent, and that my order was "obviously shipped."  I told them that I had not received any sort of confirmation of that, then they asked for my order number.  After a few minutes on hold a different person returned on the line and stated that my parts had not shipped, and that they technically weren't open today, but doing stock, so again I couldn't be helped.  

I guess working in a service industry has led me to expect higher standards.  Again, I couldn't be happier that they are so successful.  It is damn hard for a up and coming business to make it these days, I know, and I congratulate them for all their hard work.  They're customer service and communication just leave a lot to be desired.

Maybe they should be sending out a note, or the link to 'AR LOWER OVERLOAD!!!' out with every invoice/receipt they send out.  It seems that the Father's Day sale still has them really backed up, even for orders not requiring an FFL, and that "All orders usually ship within 1-2 business days" may, temporarily, need more emphasis on the 'usually' part.

Also, my lower receiver looks great.  I have no complaints about quality or craftsmanship, just communication.

My PSA lower receiver order went very smoothly.  I had to call them a couple of times to check if they had received the faxed FFL yet (my dealer kept "forgetting" to fax it), and got a quick answer from them every time.

I've never had an issue in the last 3 yrs.
I do know that they are swamped right now trying to keep up with all the sale orders.

Let them make it right.

I've ordered a few times off their website and been to the store once and never had an issue, everyone has always been professional and courteous.  I give PSA a big +1

All my orders went smooth but a buddy of mine ordered some stuff and some got mixed up and some things were wrong in the order.  He claims CS was not that helpful.  I've had good luck with them and there products I've received have been great!

A+ service with every order I've placed.  They even went out of their way to accommodate a special request on my last order.  I've only had one order that was not correct, but it was of benefit to me as they sent a few extra items of what I ordered.  Can't complain about that.

Wow...I've never got anything but great service and products from them.

I received my two lowers in about a week and a half. Yes they have been overloaded from the lowers sale.

If you followed this sale from the beginning in the industry section you would see that PSA was skeptical about offering this sale for online consumers.

They had their doubts, maybe they knew how hard it would be to supply the overwhelming demand. Many forum members, including myself, posted all the "please make it available for internet purchase" replies.

Now that we got this excellent lower at a great price some of us want to break PSA's balls about "where's my order" and "it's too slow to ship".

I for one don't have a problem waiting when the deal was so good. Hopefully PSA will not think twice the next time they offer a steal on their products.

So to all the complainers and ballbreakers out there,  LIGHTEN UP!!! Your ruining it for the rest of us.

PSA, just like any other dealer or manufacturer, is not without fail. They won't be able to please everyone. You will have upset customers that complain that they've gotten the short end of the stick. There's always two sides to every story & somewhere in the middle is the truth. We haven't heard from PSA on this issue yet.

I ordered two lowers during the Father's Day Sale and they came in last week and I picked them up from my FFL on Saturday. I even received consecutive serial numbers A+ in my books for service and shipping.

Right.  Sorry for breaking balls and ruining it for the rest of you.  Didn't realize this thread was that powerful.    Again, I'm in state and wanted to pick my parts up to save shipping and transfer fees and to purchase additional accessories at the same time.  Apparently my concern is not justified in your eyes.

+1

This thread is supposed to be in the EE feedback section not here.

I've had several problems with them....missing parts, out of spec parts, and forgetting to ship parts. I understand things happen from time to time but I had placed my orders in May and am still waiting to shoot my rifle without any failures

Sorry about that.  Mods please feel free to put this in it's proper location.

I think they're just growing quicker than they can keep up with.  They've seem to have exploded into the AR market recently with prices that can't be touched by anyone else.  Only time will tell to see how things go.

I placed an ammo order a few month ago without any problems.  I ordered an LPK from them on June 20th and haven't heard or seen anything yet.  I'm waiting on an e-mail response back.  We'll see how it goes.

Let us know when you hear back from them, if you wouldn't mind.

I've ordered a stripped lower and a lower parts kit from them.  Both were separate orders.

The lower was shipped a little slower than I expected it to, but to be fair, they were offering it in a group buy with special pricing and I wasn't in a hurry, so it didn't matter.  I didn't inquire about how fast it would ship and they didn't offer a set time that it would be, so it got here when it got here.  A growing company has growing pains just like any company would.  Good things come to those who wait.

The LPK was shipped out and received in a reasonable amount of time.  It was missing a couple of parts.  I called them to see what could be done about the missing parts and they verified my past order and then I receive the said parts in few days.

A couple of hiccups, but I'll order from them again.



DK

The thread below is turning into a "where's my stuff" thread, with people posting their order #'s.  It seems everyone who ordered around the same time I did are experiencing delays due to the 5,000 lowers they sold for $50 each.  It looks like they just got swapped with orders and couldn't keep-up.  From what I've read, it seems like they're making a genuine effort to get orders out as soon as possible.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=2&f=301&t=206060&page=3

I have placed not one, not two, but THREE orders during the "AR OVERLOAD" period, and all three orders were processed fast, went smoothly, and I got everything fast.



I can't explain how OP had such a bad experience, when mine have been so great.  I think at this point I have placed 4-5 orders and all of them have been smooth sailing.

I have placed two orders with them recently and have had no problems.

shipping was a little slow on my 14.5" 4140 upper, and I think that was due to the demand being much more than they had anticipated, and I am not upset about it

I will be doing buisness with them again

I have ordered several times without incident in the last couple of years and I will be ordering again.  They are the first place I look for parts now.

I have not yet received the 5 lowers I ordered during the Father's day sale, but I don't mind waiting a little while for such a good deal.

UPDATE:

FInally got my tracking # e-mailed to me and a response in the other thread.

Looks like my order shipped on the 27th (ordered on the 20th) and will be delivered tomorrow.  Really can't complain about that, now that I know they got hammered by the lower sell. Infact, if they had sent me a tracknig # on the 27th, I would have been fine.  I just got a little worried when I hadn't heard anything for two weeks.

With the prices and selection they're offering, they'll definetly get my business again.

I can understand your frustration and I dont think you are breaking anyones balls but you did post it in the discussion board so people are going to discuss.  Your concern is justified if you have been through the proper channels to get it fixed.  Why didn't you just drive down there in the first place if you were concerned in getting the items that quick and are close.  I drove down from Charlotte and they were more than happy to help me get what I wanted when I wanted it and with no issues.

Thank you for understanding. Their website says that their uppers are assembled when ordered, so I didn't think I could drive their and have it assembled as I waited.  On the phone, while trying to find out about the lower, I was told that if I were to order an upper it could be picked up a few days later, along with a lower parts kit.  So I ordered an upper and a lower parts kit, called back to see about picking them up and was told it had 'obviously shipped,' then they hadn't shipped and I couldn't pick them up.  This brings me up to the point of starting this thread, and as of yet I have still not heard back from them via Email, IM here on AR15.com, thread posts, or by telephone.  

Strange that I still haven't gotten any response...  I'm kicking myself for not going with JT/DSC.  This lack of communication is absolutely ridiculous.

The only thing I could really say is to try to be patient.  I realize it sucks but sometimes you'll just have to give people some time.  They are in the process of trying to get everything out and are also hiring more people, one purposely for answering emails and phone calls.  I would recommend to call a few times until you get someone.  Look through their industry forum and see who it is that has been responding to everyone and ask to speak to them.  You could also post in their industry forum where there is a specific thread for finding out if an order has shipped.  I have been very pleased with all of the services I have been provided by PSA and will continue to buy.  Good luck in getting all your items, I'm sure they will have them to you soon.

You guys are doing an amazing job, and as we all know, you cannot possibly please everyone all of the time.
 

"Unfortunately, your upper order from the 29th would have been built today, but it contained special instructions for options not offerred, and was vague as no specific part was specified. As such it was set aside for follow up and clarification. Your other order is scheduled to deliver tommorrow."

"Special Order Instructions
Would it be possible to get a railed gas block instead of the
A2 style front sight?"

A simple yes or no would have been sufficient, yet no response was given. It was a general question, I apologize for the vagueness and that I did not state a specific part number. I don't see how that would make a difference since the option is not offered anyway.


*Edit*

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=2&f=301&t=206371

As posted in the industry section.  And you're right Parabellum, it is impossible to please everyone, but it's also quite odd to portray the consumer as the one in the wrong.  I did not cause them to not respond.  They have my money, but because I questioned my order status and posted on here they'd like to make it seem as though I somehow caused them not to get back to me.  It's really kind of absurd if you think about it.  Now that they've responded it's just a matter of actually getting my parts, assembled correctly and as ordered.  I would hate to get a blem'd, factory second, out of spec, or otherwise incorrectly assembled upper, or be missing any other parts for that matter, just because I posted on this forum.  But who knows..  Nothing's impossible, and my optimism at this point has been shattered.  

If it comes down to me saying 'Yes, this delay and lack of communication is my fault.' in order to get my parts I will.  I'm honestly exhausted with this whole situation.  This is going to be my first AR, I was so completely infatuated with it, picking out parts, going to different forums,  and couldn't wait to get my hands on it to build it.  All this after shooting a PSA in my first 3 gun match just a few months ago and hearing nothing but good things about the company since.  As you could probably guess, I'm less than enthusiastic about the whole thing.  My excitement has been squashed, I never imagined I would end up begging for a response from the company.  So here I am, hanging on with just a single shred of internet dignity left, trying to get the parts I paid for while also making myself look like an ass on AR15.com.  Believe me, I didn't want this.

Unfortunately they are the victim of their "flavor of the month" popularity. It happened to CMMG, BCM and Spikes Tactical, to name a few.

Welcome to the world of gun ownership.



This is all part of the experience.  If you expect to never have a delay, or a temporary gap in communications, you need to pick a new hobby.



If you look around you will see a trend:  The people who freak out (and yes, you did freak out) and post over and over about "why is there a delay" and "why is no one returning my email???" are almost always people who are on their first build, or new to the BRD.



Its almost always the old timers who post "Well, it took a few weeks, but I was patient and sure enough the brown truck arrived today, yay!"



Its because they have done enough builds to understand that this is just how it goes.  If you want LaRue level customer service, you are going to spend $1500-$2000 on an AR.  If you want to build an AR for $700, it often comes with certain conditions...in this case the condition you experienced is that you were part of a sale that involved a small company being hit with 5000 orders in just a few weeks.



No one is suggesting that the delay is your fault, or that the temporary gap in communication is your fault, but the point here is that we ALL deal with these things from time to time.  99% of the time everything gets worked out pretty fast.



Its your first build, sit back, have a coke and a smile and lower your blood pressure.



Once its in your hands and you are putting lead downrange, you may feel a bit silly about raising multiple threads and posting multiple times the way that you have.



This is all part of the hobby, learn to roll with it.





 

I ordered a 24" upper over a month ago, my charge card was billed at once but so far no upper has been shipped. I understand PSA ran out of forends, however I discovered that reading one of the forums here, I didn't receive notification from PSA. I'd like to order another upper, but I'm leery about another very long wait. I'm patient, but a little communication would have been nice.

Thanks for the gun ownership welcome.  I've never shot before.

http://www.youtube.com/user/goodbyedarran?feature=mhee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVzUazcJcM0&feature=youtu.be&hd=1&t=3m7s  <––-PSA AR15.  Gun shared by 3 competitors, and it ran like a top.  The whole reason I wanted a PSA in the first place, it had so much more to do with this than with the price.  A good first experience goes a long way.

In your selective skimming of my posts you must've missed the part where I already made note that I look like an ass for having brought it here, but there were no other options.  Maybe the timeline I gave wasn't clear enough to properly convey my patience in waiting for a simple 'yes' or 'no' response from them.   When they did finally respond, it was here in public saying that I had vague special instructions, etc, etc...  I feel intentionally dicked around, and have provided you with all of the information (excluding actual copies of my unresponded to emails, which I'd be more than happy to post) to make your own decision about how I was treated...  And you have.  Unfortunately I can't provide actual phone calls for you, so I have been reluctant in bringing them up, but I assure you they were just as frustrating.

Because it's my first build, I've only put $700 into it, and I freaked out.... You're right, it doesn't seem like blame is being placed on this side.  


Where has all the logic gone?


*edited to add videos*

Don't want to pile on since I think I think you know all of this now, but if you post "negative" stuff about a vendor in public domain you should expect that they may respond to it, they are pretty much expected too.  Because of demand most everyone knew they were running behind, so maybe a week or two later the builder gets your order and the instructions would have been vague to me also.  If I was building your upper I would be concerned about a couple things, specifically which gas block you want, there are lots of brands at different costs, low and high (rail height) blocks, pinned, set screw, and clamp on types.  I don't think it was clear what you wanted, specifically which rail, if you are willing to pay extra for it, and if you still wanted the upper without a a railed gas block.  Most credit cards require the authorization for charges.  A more approriate note probably would have been something along the lines of "I would like gas block part #123456 listed on your website installed on my order if it is instock, otherwise standard fsb is fine, I authorize you to charge the cost difference between these parts to the card I used on this order, I can be contacted at xxx-xxx-xxx if you have further questions, thanks".

I ordered 3 lowers from them, I had a problem with the FFL on my end (was on vacation), it just took a single email to them to get them to ship to another FFL, shipping delay of about a week which was expected with the $50 lower demand.  I had a problem with one recent parts order that was there fault, a single email resolved it.  They are doing a pretty good job considering the order volume.

Did you even read the previous posts?  Really?  They said that the option would not be available.  So why would the vagueness or lack of part number have made a difference in the first place?    

It's not the shipping delay, it's the LACK OF COMMUNICATION that is the problem.

I'm not here for an argument, enjoy your rifle and have a nice day, Sir.





 

Yes.  Yes, Really.

"but it contained special instructions for options not offerred, and was vague as no specific part was specified"

I took this as implying a railed gas block may be possible (just not on the standard options list) but you never told them what railed block, gave instructions on if your willing to wait for those parts, and have not authorized them to built it this way and charge you for it.  It wasn't clear if you still wanted the upper if they couldn't do it.  You have your own communication problems.

I've not had any issues with PSA.  Me and my boys drove from Greenville  and when we got there the store was busy but the guys up front hand it covered. We drooled over the weapons behind the counter for a few minutes  while waiting our turn to be helped. We picked up my 3 consecutive serialed stripped lowers started back up the interstate. Anytime you can take a road trip with your boys is great . But when you can take a road trip with your boys to PSA and save over $100 that's priceless.

With the great prices, quality and service from PSA i can't understand why some expect custom type builds. They offer different package deals. I guess some want even more and more then complain. No way i could work in CS. Kudos to the rep!