Valley Gunsmithing
- Thread starter 730win94
- Start date
punkrockboy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Eastern Bantario!
Not sure,but you can call him.613-687-2352
hes open tuesday to friday,10-3(pretty sure)
hes open tuesday to friday,10-3(pretty sure)
punkrockboy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Eastern Bantario!
pretty sure he only answers the phone when he's open(tuesday to friday,10-3)
Dude in G.P.
CGN Regular
- Location
- Having Fun on The Firing Line
Jeff is just really busy right now, it took him almost 4 weeks to get back to me.
Why excuses?
Why is it that when a company gives bad service, they are is always an excuse. If it is a small company, it is always "really busy", or "out of town on business", ect.. It doesn't matter, it does not take a tonne of time to simply send a quick e-mail stating when to expect a response back, or a message on the their answering machine stating when they can expect a call back. Simply not returning calls or emails is bad business. Small business must rely of word of mouth and their reputation, I dunno why they take the chance and potentially lose a customer. With the advances in technology it does not cost much to have the same systems the big guys have.
Just my .02 cents
/cl
Why is it that when a company gives bad service, they are is always an excuse. If it is a small company, it is always "really busy", or "out of town on business", ect.. It doesn't matter, it does not take a tonne of time to simply send a quick e-mail stating when to expect a response back, or a message on the their answering machine stating when they can expect a call back. Simply not returning calls or emails is bad business. Small business must rely of word of mouth and their reputation, I dunno why they take the chance and potentially lose a customer. With the advances in technology it does not cost much to have the same systems the big guys have.
Just my .02 cents
/cl
In a sence you are right, but it just doesn't apply in this case.
I will go out of my way to buy from VGS, I will wait as long as it takes and I will pay whatever price and never argue about it. And no one will hear me complain about it.
Some things you can't put a price on.
I was quoted 2-3 weeks for my SOCOM conversion... it took 4-5 months. Was I pissed? HELL NO! Well worth the wait. Keep trying, you will get through eventually. Give him the time he needs and the price he wants, you will be happy in the end. He may seem like he is ignoring correspondence but that just means he is dedicated and putting all his attention into his customer’s firearms. You will appreciate that when your time comes.
I think you may have misinterpreted my comments, don't confuse qualify of workmanship vs. customer service. With the state of things in the gun community we are getting fewer and fewer choices where to purchase items. By not supporting the smaller shops we will only be left with only the larger chains. We all know the customer service, advice etc. in these chains can be hit or miss. (just read the countless threads about this very topic!)
The small shops can't compete on price, so they must depend on qualify of work and customer service. If they start treating their customer like the larger chains, then what is the advantage of keep our business with the smaller shops? As I said before, it does not take much to reply to people's inquires - it is just plain common courtesy to take the time and respond to people. My time is not worthless and I expect to at least get an acknowledgment to my inquires in a reasonable time. Small shops who provide both great customer service and quality of workmanship will survive in the long run, the others most likely will not.
He is my most recent run-in with bad business - I was looking for a left-hand bolt, I called the 2 local shops inquiring about ordering in a rifle (nothing in stock). I gave them a list of makes and models I was interested in (I thought giving them a few choices so that my chances on locating what I wanted would be easier). I waited a week, nothing, so I went in to see them. The one shop, the guy I needed to talk to wasn't in that day, no problem, I told the clerk that I would be in the next day @ 12:30 - showed up the next day, he was too busy to talk to me waited around for 30 mins. - nothing, so I left. The other store, I went in, talked to the person who does the ordering, they said they would get back to me the next day. So I waited - 2 weeks later - nothing. I was going to Jasper on business, I made a point to stop in to a few stores in Kelowna (No not the WSS - it was not open at that time) I ended up buying what I wanted at a small shop called Power Keg - great customer service, they even stayed open a past closing to finish the sale. I knew the price was a few dollars more then what I would have ordered from SIR or WSS, but I got some good advice, and I was able to pick up and look at the rifles I was interested in. I ended up getting what I wanted at a small shop. I did finally got a call back from 1 of the local shops 6 weeks later.
Just my personal experience....
/cl
The small shops can't compete on price, so they must depend on qualify of work and customer service. If they start treating their customer like the larger chains, then what is the advantage of keep our business with the smaller shops? As I said before, it does not take much to reply to people's inquires - it is just plain common courtesy to take the time and respond to people. My time is not worthless and I expect to at least get an acknowledgment to my inquires in a reasonable time. Small shops who provide both great customer service and quality of workmanship will survive in the long run, the others most likely will not.
He is my most recent run-in with bad business - I was looking for a left-hand bolt, I called the 2 local shops inquiring about ordering in a rifle (nothing in stock). I gave them a list of makes and models I was interested in (I thought giving them a few choices so that my chances on locating what I wanted would be easier). I waited a week, nothing, so I went in to see them. The one shop, the guy I needed to talk to wasn't in that day, no problem, I told the clerk that I would be in the next day @ 12:30 - showed up the next day, he was too busy to talk to me waited around for 30 mins. - nothing, so I left. The other store, I went in, talked to the person who does the ordering, they said they would get back to me the next day. So I waited - 2 weeks later - nothing. I was going to Jasper on business, I made a point to stop in to a few stores in Kelowna (No not the WSS - it was not open at that time) I ended up buying what I wanted at a small shop called Power Keg - great customer service, they even stayed open a past closing to finish the sale. I knew the price was a few dollars more then what I would have ordered from SIR or WSS, but I got some good advice, and I was able to pick up and look at the rifles I was interested in. I ended up getting what I wanted at a small shop. I did finally got a call back from 1 of the local shops 6 weeks later.
Just my personal experience....
/cl
I have to agree witht the above positive comments, tried for several weeks to get in touch for a sight for a project, finally did touch base, was all positive and worth the wait and the price. support the boys that meet our needs there are not enough of em' around.
If trying for several weeks meets your needs....your nuts....what other service would you try that long to get in touch with and then be happy that they talked to you.....getting your car fixed ? getting a dentist appt ?, getting a plumber ?....only in the gun service industry are people willing to take it up the ass for weeks on end and then say they are happy.....
Unbelievable..........
a pleasure to talk with, when he says he has the the parts it means he has the parts, not i can get the parts in 1 day, or 1 week, or 1month, or 1 year. service counts for a lot, when a guy is busy what else do you do, you can't shut down the lathe every time the phone rings, good things take time.
When " a guy " gets that busy, he needs to hire someone to man the phones, answer e-mails and return faxes...and maybe someone to run the lathe, milling machine.....
Well Jeff is pretty much a one man shop which keeps the quality high of course however the downside is as noticed sometimes spotty communication. Also in his defence he has 3 small kids and his wife is deployed overseas right now so you can imagine his workload is a little high.
Knowing Jeff, Jeff is busy right now with other stuff, His other company Smith Tactical is right now in something big ( so that been eating up most of his time ) Hes a one man shop like someone said. But does nice work from what Ive seen by being in his shop.
I had put in a FN 98 308 HBAR in before I deployed in Nov 2006. But hes been real busy, that he hasn't had the time to work on it, I respect that, Knowing what else is on his plate. My gun was suppose to been 10th on the list, After a some Socom Mods, Another M98 for a friend, Then Mine.
Also gotta remember hunting season is soon, so usually custom work stops to suit hunters...
Also some people don't realize that Jeff is some what injured (retired military and suffers from some medical problems ) that requires taking meds to cope, sometimes those meds don't agree with him and he doesn't feel that well to do work.
Give him time... I'll be visiting him next month. See hows he doing.
"Good things comes to those who wait"
I had put in a FN 98 308 HBAR in before I deployed in Nov 2006. But hes been real busy, that he hasn't had the time to work on it, I respect that, Knowing what else is on his plate. My gun was suppose to been 10th on the list, After a some Socom Mods, Another M98 for a friend, Then Mine.
Also gotta remember hunting season is soon, so usually custom work stops to suit hunters...
Also some people don't realize that Jeff is some what injured (retired military and suffers from some medical problems ) that requires taking meds to cope, sometimes those meds don't agree with him and he doesn't feel that well to do work.
Give him time... I'll be visiting him next month. See hows he doing.
"Good things comes to those who wait"
I am not knocking Jeff as I have never dealt with him at all, although I probably will in the future.
But I will say that I am sure sick of dealing with people who don't communicate adequately. I have a few projects on the go at the moment, and every single person I have to go to for information pretty much has to have it beaten out of them. I am an easy guy to get along with, but I don't like being out of the loop. If you have something of mine and it's not getting worked on for whatever reason, okay, but man, I better know about it, and why it's been shelved, and what you're doing to fix the problem.
Unfortunately that's not always the case. Which makes me angry. Really angry.
But I will say that I am sure sick of dealing with people who don't communicate adequately. I have a few projects on the go at the moment, and every single person I have to go to for information pretty much has to have it beaten out of them. I am an easy guy to get along with, but I don't like being out of the loop. If you have something of mine and it's not getting worked on for whatever reason, okay, but man, I better know about it, and why it's been shelved, and what you're doing to fix the problem.
Unfortunately that's not always the case. Which makes me angry. Really angry.
