- Location
- Southern Ontario
There were some good deals to be had in firearms world at Christmas time.
One of the retailers that I dealt with before, with mixed luck, had two rifles I was interested in at a very good price.
Even though I was somewhat uneasy about dealing with him again, I decided to give it a chance.
Everyone has a bad going once in a while, and out of several deals we had, most of them went OK.
So I went forward and ordered these rifles, hoping for the best.
But... not quite.
Two weeks went by, without any updates or order acknowledgment, and I decided to call it quits and cancel this order.
I called in, spoke to an employee, who informed me that order was not completed yet, and he is cancelling it as we speak.
Great. I avoided problems this time.
Not quite.
Day or two later, I received email from their administrator that order has been shipped, and my CC charged.
At this point, I am feeling pressured into situation I don't wanna be in, but after sleeping on it- figure I may as well
keep the rifles, and be done with it.
Deal is going sideways... but I did originally want these rifles... price is good... let's just go with it, keep it simple and make
the best of it.
Not quite.
About a week later, I received postal notice that parcel has arrived for me, and is being held at local postal outlet.
------
It was a weekend, and I decided to pick up a parcel, invite friends over and make a day of it.
We were gonna open a box, take rifles apart, give them all TLC they need, and enjoy ourselves some fine Cuban cigars.
What could possibly go wrong... it was looking like a very pleasant way to spend cold and snowy Saturday.
Well, it did go wrong.
Saturday came, friend and his wife arrived at my place.
Meal was in the oven, and buddy and me went to get a parcel, before dinner.
We went to postal outlet at a local pharmacy, where my parcel was held for pick up.
As I handed parcel notice to an employee, she looked at me with very unsettled and nervous expression on her face.
She shakily handed me a stylus pen to sign for a parcel, and I kid you not... she said to me 'here is your gun to sign with... I mean...
sign here for your gun'.
At that point, I could see that something was not right.
Couple of employees brought a box out, and just looked at me.
Two muzzles were each sticking out about an inch and half out of the box, making it obvious what was inside the box.
'Would you like to take it from the back of the store, you surely would not want to walk through the store with it?'
'Are you sure you wanna accept this box?'
I grabbed the box to take a better look at it.
When I looked at it closer, what I have seen has made me furious.
Genius who packed this parcel has forced a large and a long rifle into a small rifle box.
Rifle box was forced closed on top of the rifle, and muzzle was sticking out by about 1.5 inches.
Two rifle boxes were packed together, and thin cardboard was rolled once around them.
Part of the each barrel that were sticking out of the box, were sticking out of the cardboard packaging as well, making it
the most ridiculous packaging job I have ever seen.
------
There was no doubt in my mind whatsoever, that rifles were packed improperly, and it was not Canada Post's fault this time.
I could just imagine that it took at least two guys roaring laughing while forcing that rifle box closed and thinking how clever they were.
I took a few pictures of the parcel, and requested the clerk to return it back to sender.
On my way home, I was thinking about how this parcel will make it back to retailer.
- Will the police be called by misinformed postal clerk?
- Will the parcel be held up at postal facility for further scrutiny?
- As contents of the parcel were now well known to everyone, will someone with ill intentions attempt to steal this firearms?
This weighed upon me for several days, until parcel arrived back to retailer's local postal depot.
Meanwhile, I have called the retailer, and was informed that owner of the business was away at the Shot Show,
and no resolution could be reached until he returns.
I sent email to administrator, and have had no reply from her. None.
It appeared that they were either stonewalling me, or that this business totally hangs of one single person, and when he is not there, whole place is defunct.
So, to be fair to retailer, I have decided to make this thread once owner was back in the country.
There was another thread started while he was away, 'First and last dealing with Marstar', and again... I waited until it was dealt with.
It appears that these threads are regular events here, and would like to ask CGN'ers to refrain from unproductive postings.
Let's keep to the subject of this thread, and appreciate it for what it is.
It is a matter of public service, to let my friends and colleagues in firearms hobby know what is to be expected from this retailer.
This is not the first time I have been burned by them.
I guess besides being disappointed at what is happening right now, I am equally angry at myself for allowing myself to repeat the same mistake.It is absolutely not necessary to accept such substandard level of service, as there are excellent quality retailers on CGN for just a few pennies more.
EDIT:
By popular demand, three posts have been merged as a whole, for additional clarity.
Posts remain at their original posting positions as well.
One of the retailers that I dealt with before, with mixed luck, had two rifles I was interested in at a very good price.
Even though I was somewhat uneasy about dealing with him again, I decided to give it a chance.
Everyone has a bad going once in a while, and out of several deals we had, most of them went OK.
So I went forward and ordered these rifles, hoping for the best.
But... not quite.
Two weeks went by, without any updates or order acknowledgment, and I decided to call it quits and cancel this order.
I called in, spoke to an employee, who informed me that order was not completed yet, and he is cancelling it as we speak.
Great. I avoided problems this time.
Not quite.
Day or two later, I received email from their administrator that order has been shipped, and my CC charged.
At this point, I am feeling pressured into situation I don't wanna be in, but after sleeping on it- figure I may as well
keep the rifles, and be done with it.
Deal is going sideways... but I did originally want these rifles... price is good... let's just go with it, keep it simple and make
the best of it.
Not quite.
About a week later, I received postal notice that parcel has arrived for me, and is being held at local postal outlet.
------
It was a weekend, and I decided to pick up a parcel, invite friends over and make a day of it.
We were gonna open a box, take rifles apart, give them all TLC they need, and enjoy ourselves some fine Cuban cigars.
What could possibly go wrong... it was looking like a very pleasant way to spend cold and snowy Saturday.
Well, it did go wrong.
Saturday came, friend and his wife arrived at my place.
Meal was in the oven, and buddy and me went to get a parcel, before dinner.
We went to postal outlet at a local pharmacy, where my parcel was held for pick up.
As I handed parcel notice to an employee, she looked at me with very unsettled and nervous expression on her face.
She shakily handed me a stylus pen to sign for a parcel, and I kid you not... she said to me 'here is your gun to sign with... I mean...
sign here for your gun'.
At that point, I could see that something was not right.
Couple of employees brought a box out, and just looked at me.
Two muzzles were each sticking out about an inch and half out of the box, making it obvious what was inside the box.
'Would you like to take it from the back of the store, you surely would not want to walk through the store with it?'
'Are you sure you wanna accept this box?'
I grabbed the box to take a better look at it.
When I looked at it closer, what I have seen has made me furious.
Genius who packed this parcel has forced a large and a long rifle into a small rifle box.
Rifle box was forced closed on top of the rifle, and muzzle was sticking out by about 1.5 inches.
Two rifle boxes were packed together, and thin cardboard was rolled once around them.
Part of the each barrel that were sticking out of the box, were sticking out of the cardboard packaging as well, making it
the most ridiculous packaging job I have ever seen.
------
There was no doubt in my mind whatsoever, that rifles were packed improperly, and it was not Canada Post's fault this time.
I could just imagine that it took at least two guys roaring laughing while forcing that rifle box closed and thinking how clever they were.
I took a few pictures of the parcel, and requested the clerk to return it back to sender.
On my way home, I was thinking about how this parcel will make it back to retailer.
- Will the police be called by misinformed postal clerk?
- Will the parcel be held up at postal facility for further scrutiny?
- As contents of the parcel were now well known to everyone, will someone with ill intentions attempt to steal this firearms?
This weighed upon me for several days, until parcel arrived back to retailer's local postal depot.
Meanwhile, I have called the retailer, and was informed that owner of the business was away at the Shot Show,
and no resolution could be reached until he returns.
I sent email to administrator, and have had no reply from her. None.
It appeared that they were either stonewalling me, or that this business totally hangs of one single person, and when he is not there, whole place is defunct.
So, to be fair to retailer, I have decided to make this thread once owner was back in the country.
There was another thread started while he was away, 'First and last dealing with Marstar', and again... I waited until it was dealt with.
It appears that these threads are regular events here, and would like to ask CGN'ers to refrain from unproductive postings.
Let's keep to the subject of this thread, and appreciate it for what it is.
It is a matter of public service, to let my friends and colleagues in firearms hobby know what is to be expected from this retailer.
This is not the first time I have been burned by them.
I guess besides being disappointed at what is happening right now, I am equally angry at myself for allowing myself to repeat the same mistake.It is absolutely not necessary to accept such substandard level of service, as there are excellent quality retailers on CGN for just a few pennies more.
EDIT:
By popular demand, three posts have been merged as a whole, for additional clarity.
Posts remain at their original posting positions as well.
Last edited:
