Your Website

John,
Your website is unimportant if customer service is non-existent. I've been waiting for a shipping quote since mid-August. I've sent three emails and received the same "we'll get back to you" reply on the last two.

I'm a shift worker, so communicating via email is much easier than phoning. If phoning is required for customer service, you should not accept email inquiries.

Steve
 
Marstar's website is one of the most cluttered, poorly designed pieces of garbage I have ever seen. But I love the intro page with the beaver wearing a helmet! :)
 
STEVO;
I have searched the data base, no erson by the name of "Stevo"
By some chance did you order under another name ??

John
 
CHAMELEON;

Yes our site is obsolete, we know that....
Many months ago we told veerybody that a new site is being built, two people are working on it....
We are NOT fixing the old one, the soon to arrive site will be NEW....

PATIENCE please.

John
 
STEVO;

""we'll get back to you" "

Is a system generated reply showing that your message was received and will be addressed....

John
 
Haagen_Dazs said:
I agree Marstar.ca could use some upgrading but I think the saying goes... beggars can't be choosers? I'd rather they work on brining in new Norincos than updating thier website, I might want one soon :D
Click to expand...

If an electronics store(for instance) ran a web site the way this one is run, I don't think they would be around as long as Marstar has been.

Sad but true, Canadians are beggars when it comes to the firearm industry.
And the retailers know it!

Just look at what I consider, the artificially inflated handgun prices.
Canadian dollar can be 20% above or below, the US dollar.
The mark-up is always ridiculously high.
 
TREBOR2880;
"Sad but true, Canadians are beggars when it comes to the firearm industry.
And the retailers know it!"
I would be interested in your further expanding on this conclusion ??

"The mark-up is always ridiculously high. "
I would invite you to show me some examples on our site....I seem to recall people paying much higher prices until Marstar came on the scene, Norico pistols and rifles, Pietta handguns, just to name a couple....

BTW what do you consider ridiculously high margins ??

John
 
johnone said:
TREBOR2880;
"Sad but true, Canadians are beggars when it comes to the firearm industry.
And the retailers know it!"
I would be interested in your further expanding on this conclusion ??

"The mark-up is always ridiculously high. "
I would invite you to show me some examples on our site....I seem to recall people paying much higher prices until Marstar came on the scene, Norico pistols and rifles, Pietta handguns, just to name a couple....

BTW what do you consider ridiculously high margins ??

John
Click to expand...

Why do you persist in tormenting yourself like this? ;)

Yes, your site does need to be brought up to "today's" so called standards (until the standards change) but you're an awesome retailer and do keep up the good work.
 
johnone said:
STEVO;
I have searched the data base, no erson by the name of "Stevo"
By some chance did you order under another name ??

John
Click to expand...

Obviously, that's not my name.

However, my email address is stevo@------.ca. The last two inquiries were sent to your email address, John.

And I did not place an order. I'd like to, but I'm not going to without the shipping quote I've requested.

STEVO;

""we'll get back to you" "

Is a system generated reply showing that your message was received and will be addressed....

John
Click to expand...

I understand that. What is your standard for replying? The last automated reply I received was 14 days ago. The previous unanswered automated reply was on August 15th.

You say my emails will be addressed, but they're not being replied to in a timely manner.

My point is solely that if you're going to do business via email, you better be able to do a lot better than 6 weeks without a response. I've yet to correspond with a Canadian company via email that took longer than 3 days.
 
The fact that John takes the time to respond to all the threads on here in person speaks volumes about his commitment. Good luck with your new site I am sure it will be great.
 
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I'd rather deal with a company with a shytty website and a good price than a good website and a shytty price!!!!
 
johnone said:
TREBOR2880;
"Sad but true, Canadians are beggars when it comes to the firearm industry.
And the retailers know it!"
I would be interested in your further expanding on this conclusion ??

"The mark-up is always ridiculously high. "
I would invite you to show me some examples on our site....I seem to recall people paying much higher prices until Marstar came on the scene, Norico pistols and rifles, Pietta handguns, just to name a couple....

BTW what do you consider ridiculously high margins ??

John
Click to expand...

Sorry John, I was just venting to Haagen Dazs, after reading his post.
Please don't take it personally, as I'm actually quite a good customer.
Norinco-1911, M-93, M-14. Pietta-Rem.1858, Colt 1851, and accessories.
Could probably have bought twice that amount if they were in stock.
That I don't blame you for, but having a website for years, with so many out of stock listings, is starting to get frustrating. I've lost interest, to a certain extent, at viewing your site, because of this. Yours isn't the only site. But isn't this just plain bad business conduct? There has to be a better way. I can only assume that you are too busy to take care of such a trivial matter. Sometimes it's like looking at a 1968 Gun Digest, seeing at all the cool stuff, but know it can't be had.
The reason I feel that retailers have us where they want us, is because we can't crossborder shop, like so many sportsmen can for their hobby.
As far as mark-ups go, I can never understand it when our dollar is worth 82 cents US, and a handgun sells for $700 here and $ 600 there.
Then, when our dollar is ahead of the Americans by a couple of cents, a $600 gun there is still $700 here.
While we're on the topic of constructive critisism:), when I didn't get an answer to an e-mail for shipping costs of ammo, I called and was told the cost would be "about" x dollars. Not good enough for someone as frugal as I. I need to know the exact amount. So I don't get surprises at billing time. As for the e-mail thing, I've since learned that businesses are usually too busy for a quick response.
My satisfaction with Marstar and several other businesses I've dealt with, has been favourable.
I know, "in a "perfect world" this conversation would be redundant.
Robert
P.S. My bank account shoud be thanking you for not having everything in stock, all the time.;):):D
 
TREBOR 2880;
"but having a website for years, with so many out of stock listings, is starting to get frustrating. I've lost interest, to a certain extent, at viewing your site, because of this."
In the past we left items that were sold out on the site because more were on order.... Some people like it, some did not so on the new site we will remove any item that is sold out, thereby removing any source of reference....

"you are too busy to take care of such a trivial matter"
We are busy enough, but we have a full time web master and an illustrator on staff, they are working on the new site.

"The reason I feel that retailers have us where they want us, is because we can't crossborder shop, like so many sportsmen can for their hobby."
Have you ever compared Marstar's pricing ? Are we not one of the lowest if not the lowest in Canada

"As far as mark-ups go, I can never understand it when our dollar is worth 82 cents US, and a handgun sells for $700 here and $ 600 there.
Then, when our dollar is ahead of the Americans by a couple of cents, a $600 gun there is still $700 here"

I have tried to explain this many times....There are numerous factors to consider
Do you think a large box store like Cabelas, for example , pay the same price for their firearms as say your average shop, of course they have an advantage....

Also consider that many orders are long delivery6 months, 12 months and in some cases up 18 months delivery from the factory, we have to average out the value of our dollar....

As an example last month I paid for 5 million rds of ammo when the dollar was $1.03, yesterday another identical shipment but I paid with a .97cts dollar. a 6% difference....
Because of our volume we can't change prices weekly, we try to maintain stability in the market....

"I called and was told the cost would be "about" x dollars. Not good enough for someone as frugal as I. I need to know the exact amount"
We learned long ago to always quote shipping with terms like "estimated" or "approximately" because if the charge varies by as little as a few cents we catch hell....
our NEW site will offer fixed shipping rates and access to shipping calculators, the customer will choose, however any additional charges the client may be subject to will be to his account....
We have always tried to ship at the lowest possible rate by comparing costs for our customers, we look at Canada Post, UPS, Canpar, Same Day, Day & Ross, Yellow Freight, etc, etc.... Since the delay seems to displease customers like you this will be discontinued when the new site goes on line....

" I've since learned that businesses are usually too busy for a quick response."
General queries are replied within 24-48 hours.... 300-800 daily
Shipping quotes cane be longer....

Hope I have covered the main points
John
 
johnone said:
TREBOR 2880;
"but having a website for years, with so many out of stock listings, is starting to get frustrating. I've lost interest, to a certain extent, at viewing your site, because of this."
In the past we left items that were sold out on the site because more were on order.... Some people like it, some did not so on the new site we will remove any item that is sold out, thereby removing any source of reference....

"you are too busy to take care of such a trivial matter"
We are busy enough, but we have a full time web master and an illustrator on staff, they are working on the new site.

"The reason I feel that retailers have us where they want us, is because we can't crossborder shop, like so many sportsmen can for their hobby."
Have you ever compared Marstar's pricing ? Are we not one of the lowest if not the lowest in Canada

"As far as mark-ups go, I can never understand it when our dollar is worth 82 cents US, and a handgun sells for $700 here and $ 600 there.
Then, when our dollar is ahead of the Americans by a couple of cents, a $600 gun there is still $700 here"

I have tried to explain this many times....There are numerous factors to consider
Do you think a large box store like Cabelas, for example , pay the same price for their firearms as say your average shop, of course they have an advantage....

Also consider that many orders are long delivery6 months, 12 months and in some cases up 18 months delivery from the factory, we have to average out the value of our dollar....

As an example last month I paid for 5 million rds of ammo when the dollar was $1.03, yesterday another identical shipment but I paid with a .97cts dollar. a 6% difference....
Because of our volume we can't change prices weekly, we try to maintain stability in the market....

"I called and was told the cost would be "about" x dollars. Not good enough for someone as frugal as I. I need to know the exact amount"
We learned long ago to always quote shipping with terms like "estimated" or "approximately" because if the charge varies by as little as a few cents we catch hell....
our NEW site will offer fixed shipping rates and access to shipping calculators, the customer will choose, however any additional charges the client may be subject to will be to his account....
We have always tried to ship at the lowest possible rate by comparing costs for our customers, we look at Canada Post, UPS, Canpar, Same Day, Day & Ross, Yellow Freight, etc, etc.... Since the delay seems to displease customers like you this will be discontinued when the new site goes on line....

" I've since learned that businesses are usually too busy for a quick response."
General queries are replied within 24-48 hours.... 300-800 daily
Shipping quotes cane be longer....

Hope I have covered the main points
John
Click to expand...

Just be careful not to only let the few negative posts influence you business model. These comments standout, but may not accurately represent your demographic.

What do you think about putting up poles to decide things like if “sold out” should be listed, if Marstar is reordering? - Then it’s our fault if people are unhappy and not yours. :)
 
johnone;6206400 [B said:
Hope I have covered the main points
John[/B]
Click to expand...

Thank-you with your time and patience to explain my concerns.
Looks like the changes will benifit everyone.
I am looking forward to you diminishing my bank account, in the near future.:D
 
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