ATTN! MidwayUSA NO LONGER WANTS OUR BUSINESS ?

[Land_Owner]

Truthful discourse is healthy.  Consumer feedback is the only true assessment a business needs to abide.  What is posted here is the truth.  If there are business lessons to learn, some of them may be learned here.

We all feel the pinch of the poor economy.  I have stated to Midway Sales Associates that this economy must assuredly be hurting their bottom line as the products that we demand are not available in supply for Midway to sell. 

I spend money at Midway and try to make my purchases to take advantage of sale items, larger orders, and the associated price break of shipping costs.  There are times when a back ordered product is in supply but my back order is not being filled.  I would like to be contacted when a partial order could be shipped - even for an additional fee and not because I "signed up" every time the computer notified me to go back to that site's item again and again.  If you get it in, and I am banked for it on back order, contact me.  Let me decide on my own needs basis whether additional shipping is OK.  Don't let the Sales Associates tell me that they can't fill and ship a partial back order when the order got that way in the first place due to partial shipping by Midway.

We thank you for your standing up to be counted Winchester67.  Take note that on-line shopping and catalog sales form a lot of the responder comments.  We're all plagued with shipping costs and the shippers have gun enthusiasts bent over the proverbial barell.  That stinks.

[Graybeard]

Donating money to the NRA doesn't buy anyone points with me. Contrary to popular belief I don't believe they are friends of gun owners, just the opposite really.

Give it a rest already Graybeard. Your story is getting old! Stick to the topic!

At that moment that was the topic. DO NOT redress me on this site again. You and I have an agreement to agree to disagree and not address this subject directly to each other. DO NOT again violate that agreement.

[30-30man]

It's great that Reed is allowed to continue business, but the practices at CTD have been and continue to be ignored.

Until Potterfield changes the way he allows his business at CTD to run, I will not buy from him.  There is just no excuse for the way he took advantage of customers during the Obama scare....Wolf 7.62x39 $17 a box on the web but listed at $3.99 in four months of catalogs....No thanks nobodys printer is that bad.

[texagun]

I'm not certain we can blame Larry Potterfield for the business practices at Cheaper Than Dirt.  Has it been confirmed who owns CTD?  Another net says the store operation and the internet operation are 2 separate businesses and have different owners.  As of November, 2008 the store operation was owned by DeWayne Irwin.  Their prices are ridiculous on guns and ammunition and have been for several years.  You can do better elsewhere.  I have no experience with the internet operation and I can't find any confirmation that Midway USA owns it.  Does anyone know for sure?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Edited to add:

After some further investigation, the following has been published in public documents:

Irwin, Dewayne    Owner    
Turner, John    Chief Financial Officer    
Wilson, Roberta    Chief Operating Officer    
Tenny, Michael    Chief Executive Officer    
Irwin, Dewayne    President

[Winchester67]

I will pass on the word to Larry...he really is the guy you see on TV. He started in a little gunshop that I used to go into when I was a kid, and managed to build up the business to what you see now. But he is the same guy he always was. He and his wife Brenda have been married forever. They still live in the house they built in the 80's, he drives a Suburban...he is a regular guy and has not let the money go to his head. And working here is something else. A couple of years ago, Larry called a bunch of us into a meeting room, issued us a beat up Winchester 67 single shot and told us he was going to teach us some gunsmithing. We refinished them, fabricated missing parts, he taught us to checker...everything. We don't golf here, as you might imagine. We do have a weekly sporting clays league. Company trips to gun shows, company hunts...this is about the coolest place to work on the planet.

[Winchester67]

Oh, I forgot. Larry has NEVER owned Cheaper then Dirt or been associated with them in any way.

[texagun]

Oh, I forgot. Larry has NEVER owned Cheaper then Dirt or been associated with them in any way.

Well, that settles that!  Thanks Eric.  I'm glad they are not associated.  Midway has a great selection of products and I can always find stuff there that other companies don't stock.  My only beef is the shipping charges for small orders or items.  I simply can't justify buying a $10 item when the shipping charges, special handling charges, etc. cost more than the product.  Especially when the $10 item is so small and light it will reasonably ship for $2 or $3 dollars.  That's just not economically feasible from my end.

[Winchester67]

At the risk of this turning into a commercial for MidwayUSA, we have done a couple of things over the last year to help with the spiraling cost of shipping. We offer Flat Rate boxes from the Postal Service now in addition to regular US mail, and UPS Basic in addition to regular UPS. UPS Basic is usually 2-3 bucks cheaper than regular UPS, which is still available, but final delivery may be made by the post office. Instead of the UPS driver going to every house on his route delivering packages, he makes one stop at the Post Office and the mailman makes the final delivery. This lowers the package cost for UPS, and we pass the savings on to the customer that chooses UPS Basic. It usually adds a day or two to the delivery, but it is cheaper.

Also, we have a pick up service where there is no charge for shipping at all for any of you local guys or anyone that travels thru Missouri on I-70. I have a lot of over the road truckers that stop in to pick up their orders!

[LaOtto222]

"Hopefully Eric will stick around and make friends here. His insights and help may prove advantageous in helping members here with any issues that may arise from MidwayUSA." - Reed 1911

[Graybeard]

Winchester67 You may rest assure that if I feel you're turning it into a advertisement I will cut that short really fast. MidwayUSA has stated they do not wish to advertise here and you can bet they will not be allowed to.

When the company stops charging a HANDLING charge to handle merchandise I'll take them a bit more seriously as a potential supplier. I believe it is inherent in the process of doing business that you must "handle" your products. If you are in the business of selling via mail order it is inherent that you must pack and package for shipment.

Charging a separate fee for doing what ALL businesses must do if they wish to be in business is an underhanded way to jack up prices. I have no respect for any company doing that.

You build those things into your pricing as it's a standard part of doing business it is just one more part of the overhead all businesses incur.

[LONGTOM]

Very well put GB!
You either absorb it or you include it in the initial price.

What they are doing is like selling me gas for my car and then charging me extra to use their pump to dispense it.
Not good for business.



LONGTOM

[kctibs]

I thought I seen a Midway ad just the other day on the site.  Am I mistaken?

[30-30man]

Thank  for clearing that up.  I have read that in a number of places and took it for the truth.... and now I must eat crow.  Apologies Sir...I stand corrected!

[Winchester67]

To me personally, it is underhanded to "build the handling charge in". When a company does that, they are getting that built in money on EVERY order they take...if they are up front about it and charge a small order fee of three bucks only on orders under 25 dollars, that means every time you place an order OVER 25 bucks, which is most of the time I would bet, you are actually saving money. Yet people harp about seeing that 3.00 charge so they think its a ripoff when in fact every other company that does not charge the fee is the ripoff! I am amazed when people don't see that...

[jumpsteady]

...if they are up front about it and charge a small order fee of three bucks only on orders under 25 dollars, that means every time you place an order OVER 25 bucks, which is most of the time I would bet, you are actually saving money...

Yes, it is only $3.00. But its $3.00 plus the, lets say, $7.95 S&H on an order that costs $24.48. But if the order would have been $25.00 the total charge would have been $7.95. I just went through this a month ago.

[Graybeard]

OK that's enough Midway BS for me for a life time I think. This one is over.