Beware of Friendswood Bullet Company!!!!

[concretus]

Hello,
I wanted to pass this along to all who reload; especially w/ lead bullets of the very very poor trade habits of Friendswood Bullet company. Here's the story:
I heard of Friendswood from a fellow member of mine at the Titusville Rifle and Pistol club in Titusville Florida. I had mentioned that I was looking for a good hard cast bullet and was given a flyer with a price list from Friendswood. Their prices seemed reasonable and on top of that offered a discount code for TRPC members. I decided to give them a try. On 17 Oct 2013 I place an order (#6355) from their web site. There was a notice on the site that stated due to high volume of orders being placed to expect a 4 week lead time. I had no problem with the wait. When 6 weeks went by, I decided to call and inquire about the order. I left a voice mail... no response. at 8 weeks I called again and then emailed them..... No response. Not even to say we haven't go to you or it will be xxxx longer...Nothing, zip, nil nada....
So now I call and email weekly hoping to get a response. I'm tired of waiting; I just want my credit card refunded. They didn't have a problem taking my money. I would have been understanding if I had gotten some kind of reply. I don't know of any other business that operates like that and still be open. Seems they need to seriously work on their business ediquette and customer relations. I hope this may help anybody planning to do business with them; will read this and re-consider. I don't want anybody else to have to deal with what I had to. In all may years of online/mail-order purchasing; I've never encountered this. All; Please Be Careful

 

[gmartinnc]

I have bought them before but they came from Powder Valley.
Be glad you used a credit card.

 

[Luckyducker]

My son bought 380acp brass and bullets from an on-line store called firstclassbrassandbullets.com, which he heard about through a co-worker that had had a good transaction with this company. He used his debit card to pay for his order and the same scenario played out as in your situation. After about 9-10 months he went to his bank and asked if they could do anything, and I don't know what action they took but he had his full order a short time later. I agree with you concretus, I don't know why they operate this way as this behavior causes negative opinion to be spread. Contact your CC issuer and lodge a complaint against this seller and you will probably get satisfaction.

 

[RalphS]

I've bought lots of bullets from Friendswood. They are a very good company, but they are also a small operation. Sometimes you have to be patient with them.

 

[Jim Puke]

I've bought lots of bullets from Friendswood. They are a very good company, but they are also a small operation. Sometimes you have to be patient with them.

It seems that the OP has been patient with them.

 

[contender]

I agree with Jim. No response to calls & emails is poor business.

 

[GasGuzzler]

More than patient. Agree with most above. That's too long for no product AND no answer with several different types of correspondence.

 

[6gun]

I alway email a company and ask questions about the product before buying on line just to test their customer service and see if they respond to emails, no responce no sale and I shop else where.

 

[concretus]

The credit card company said I waited too long to attempt to cancel. I filed a complaint with the greater Houston BBB. The BBB will deliver the complaint to them and they have 30 days to respond.... :roll:

 

[mr surveyor]

The credit card company said I waited too long to attempt to cancel. I filed a complaint with the greater Houston BBB. The BBB will deliver the complaint to them and they have 30 days to respond.... :roll:

30 days to respond ... or what? I don't think the BBB has a whole lot of teeth

 

[concretus]

The credit card company said I waited too long to attempt to cancel. I filed a complaint with the greater Houston BBB. The BBB will deliver the complaint to them and they have 30 days to respond.... :roll:

30 days to respond ... or what? I don't think the BBB has a whole lot of teeth

I know but I'm trying to do things the right way and make others aware......

 

[LAH]

I know but I'm trying to do things the right way and make others aware......

I commend you for this even though it's hard sometimes. I'll not comment on FWBC.

I will say this is surely a busy time for the bullet makers but part of doing what we do is communication with the customer. I normally don't cash checks from members of this board till I get their order shipped. If I break something & it's a while getting fixed I contact those waiting for bullets & give them the choice of a refund should they want to go somewhere else. But that's just me. I'm a one man operation.

 

[JD2]

I placed an order with Friendswood Bullet Co. on September 19 for 2000 bullets. I had heard good things about their bullets so I thought I would give them a try. I too saw the "allow 4 weeks for delivery" and didn't have a problem with that. After 13 weeks and no bullets, I tried contacting the company. I left voicemail messages and sent emails, and got absolutely no response from them. Now, I can understand if they are running behind in shipping, and that's OK, but to not respond at all to a customer who has waited a reasonable length of time, that just doesn't fly with me and is EXTREMELY poor business!!!!!

I contacted my credit card company and contested the charge. After about 3 weeks my credit card company refunded the charge to me, and I promptly placed an order with Missouri Bullet Company for the same bullets, and a week and a half later I had the bullets on my doorstep.

Friendswood Bullet Company - worst customer service in the world...

Missouri Bullet Company - Great service and products, and a really happy repeat customer!!!!!

 

[PaulTX]

I've read about problems with Friendswood for several years now - not just during the latest rush. It is a small operation that appears to be clueless and takes more business than they can handle.

 

[concretus]

UPDATE:
I called my credit card company and they said I was too late to file the complaint. I did file a complaint to the greater Houston BBB. The notified him and he has 30 days to respond. he will probably take the whole time by the way this thing has gone so far. The BBB told me to stay in contact so I send emails daily. I'm considering contacting the local law enforcement bureau over there and / or the State's Attorney's off ice here and file a computer fraud complaint. I just can't understand why this has to be as it is......Isn't there any good business practiced anymore?????

 

[JD2]

Concretus,

My credit card company had no problem with me filing a complaint more than 3 months after the original charge. The product that I ordered wasn't delivered, so they reversed the charges. Perhaps you should try elevating your problem to someone higher up at your credit card company.... Just a thought...

Friendswood Bullet Co. poor customer service is just unbelieveable to me....

Hope it works out eventually for you!!!!

 

[Blackhawk47]

I buy cast from Friendswood Bullet all the time never have had a problem like this.
I just order from his WEB page then he calls me when they are ready I go pick them up (this business is about 4 miles from my house). Friendswood Bullet is a one man operation run out of his garage and he keeps very little inventory on hand most orders are cast when the order is placed. I have been in his garage where the casting is done there is one large lead melter lubricator sizer and one or two metal shelves with some inventory, In other words its a very small operation. I just might check Friendswood Bullet out before I order again.