Gun Genie and Mike's Country Store- question for dealers

[tmccorkel]

I purchased a handgun from Mike's Country Store through the Gun Genie and was curious about the whole process. Does Davidson's contact the dealer before shipping?

The reason I ask is because I ordered a Kahr CW9 on Sunday, Feb. 5th, was informed that it shipped Thursday night and it was delivered yesterday afternoon. Normally, the wait wouldn't bother me too much, but I feel like the people at Mike's aren't too interested in making the sale. I've called at least a half-dozen times throughout the week, but only talked to Eric, the gun guy, once. He's been in and out lately (supposedly sick), then today he was busy plowing somewhere, and when I called ~10 mins ago, they said he went to his kid's game and apologized, saying that his father has been ill. He never even called to tell me that my firearm had arrived. I had to find out through Fed-EX tracking.

I'm half-tempted to go to Blythes right now, buy the firearm at a higher price, and cancel the sale through Mike's. Either that, or I wait it out, get my pistol and NEVER buy from Mike's again. Nice people, but terrible customer service.

 

[citizenkane]

I'm confused by your story. So you the pistol from Mikes or from Davidsons and they shipped it to Mikes? It only arrived yesterday and they dot have any control on how long it takes Davidson's to ship. Have you already paid for this? If so you are along for the ride as most places won't refund your money.

 

[tmccorkel]

Sorry for the confusion. I purchased online through Davidson's Gun Genie. I had to put $$ down, then pay the rest in store.

Does Davidson's have to contact the dealer before they will ship a gun? With the frequency that this guy has been out, I can imagine they would have had a hard time contacting him, delaying shipment.

I get the impression that this place doesn't care if they make a sale or not and if that's the case, I will take my patronage elsewhere.

 

[wetidlerjr]

Sorry for the confusion. I purchased online through Davidson's Gun Genie. I had to put $$ down, then pay the rest in store.
Does Davidson's have to contact the dealer before they will ship a gun? With the frequency that this guy has been out, I can imagine they would have had a hard time contacting him, delaying shipment.
I get the impression that this place doesn't care if they make a sale or not and if that's the case, I will take my patronage elsewhere.

You would have to call your credit card company to contest the charge, of course, but until you do the 4473 and the NICS check, the pistol isn't yours. Also, I don't know but they might try to get a "re-stocking fee" out of you.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[cbop]

Tim,

I don't know the guy at Mike's but until Davidson's got the gun to him, he was as much in the dark as you. They finally shipped it Thursday and he got it Friday but if he has been out, either to his own illness or his father's, he may have a week's worth of guns that he needs to log into his book before he can begin to transfer them to the buyers. Yes, I realize you want your gun but depending on whether the Country Store is busy enough to support him, he may have to have another job and not have the time to fully commit to the gun business.

The gun I got through the Gun Genie went to a FFL in Logansport who told me that he gets a lot of sales through Davidson's Gun Genie but apparently not enough since he is now closed up

 

[tmccorkel]

Thanks, guys...

Thanks for answering my question, Cbop. I had no idea that the dealers were in the dark about the whole Gun Genie thing, which makes me feel better about everything. With the discounts offered by Davidson on their site, I bet the shop that was doing all of the business was getting hurt by the mark-up (or lack thereof).

Like I said, I know that things happen and I hate being like this, but there are a lot of small details that left me thinking this place is pretty darn unprofessional. It's only been a week, which really isn't a bad turn-around for a firearm order. I do want my gun, but for such a small shop, CS should be high up on their priority list- heck, if they had given me a call (or even returned my calls) to let me know that the shipment had arrived, but they needed a few days to check it in, I would have been satisfied.

 

[2cool9031]

I have been to Mikes once...and won't go again. They have a sign there that says No Guns and something to the effect that any guns will be conficated.
At least the sign was there about a year ago. I was CC so I didn't care about any signs.

 

[cbop]

Tim, you know as well as I do, not everyone does what they are suppose to do

 

[Classic]

I don't know how much Mike's charges for a transfer but it likely isn't enough to create a crisis over-riding everything else that's going on. You might want to consider actually purchasing the weapon from a "brick and mortar" dealer if you can't take the few days wait.

 

[tmccorkel]

Today when I called, I was told to check back tomorrow morning around 7a (apparently he opens), so I'll postpone my ultimate opinion.

I usually do buy from a "brick and mortar" dealer, but this time I figured why not save a few bucks and try out the Gun Genie. I researched it, like everything else, and a lot of people were reporting extremely fast turn-around times (2-3 days), so I expected mine would be similar. Plus, it's hard to beat the price.

I'm not saying I can't wait a few days- all I'm asking for is a little professionalism and some common courtesy. I usually have something on Layaway at the LGS, so I'm no stranger to waiting.


2cool, I read your post about that sign in another thread (while researching).. That's quite a bold statement for any store, let alone a gun shop.

 

[Sig-Bandit]

I use Davidsons a lot and when someone purchases a gun thru Gun Genie I will get an email confirmation of the sale along with the amount to collect from the buyer. The gun will ship next day overnight to my store. For example if you ordered a gun on Monday night your firearm would ship Tuesday and be at my store Wednesday for pick up along with contact info to let you know when it arrives. Hope this helps.

 

[tmccorkel]

I use Davidsons a lot and when someone purchases a gun thru Gun Genie I will get an email confirmation of the sale along with the amount to collect from the buyer. The gun will ship next day overnight to my store. For example if you ordered a gun on Monday night your firearm would ship Tuesday and be at my store Wednesday for pick up along with contact info to let you know when it arrives. Hope this helps.

In that email confirmation from Davidson's, do you have to accept or approve the sale before they ship?

 

[jotto]

I've used Davidson's once to order a firearm and went through Kempf's Gun Shop in Michigan City. Was quick and issue free transaction.

I have stopped into Mike's Country Store a few times, have only tried once to purchase a firearm there. Asked about getting a Glock ordered, gave him my contact information and he said he's call the next day to get a price and ship date. Never heard back from him.

It would be a little bit of a drive from Chesterton but consider Midwest gun Exchange as well for future purchases. I've had nothing but great service and competitive prices from them. Definitely my favorite store and definitely cheaper than Blythe's.

 

[2cool9031]

I think the problem with Mike's is he is not really a gun store...sure he has a small area devoted to gun sales but his focus is selling a lot of other stuff.
For me it was like walking into Harbor Freight with much higher prices.

 

[tmccorkel]

Update:

So, I received my gun today. Eric, the dealer was very friendly, very apologetic, and the transaction went very smoothly. They don't carry much in-house, but I did find a Galco IWB holster that fit and it was on sale for %50 off ($15).

In the future, I will probably give him one more chance.

By the way, I think he's taken that sign down. I looked around and didn't see it..

 

[JBI812]

Buying on-line without involvement of a real person is just asking for problems. You're better off shopping on line and then calling the retailer to make your purchase and demand a Shipping Tracking number so you can tell when you merchandise arrives and becomes ready for your pick-up. Nothing worst than calling a dealer again and again to find out what the status is of a firearm that he didn't sale. Some folks are chaging higher fees for transfers due to problems like you are talking about. And, buying on-line from Private individuals is very risky. You're better off staying with a business with a Ff license.

 

[Enforcer831]

I recently did a Gun Genie purchase. The FFL ran an auction house and did guns on the side. I will say that it was a very fast turn around and nearly $70 cheaper that any dealer near me that I talked to. I ordered on Wednesday night, Davidson's shipped on Thursday. Dealer had an auction Friday, so he missed the delivery. Called me on Monday about 7 minutes after FedEx delivered to pick it up. I would definitely do it again.

 

[tmccorkel]

Buying on-line without involvement of a real person is just asking for problems. You're better off shopping on line and then calling the retailer to make your purchase and demand a Shipping Tracking number so you can tell when you merchandise arrives and becomes ready for your pick-up. Nothing worst than calling a dealer again and again to find out what the status is of a firearm that he didn't sale. Some folks are chaging higher fees for transfers due to problems like you are talking about. And, buying on-line from Private individuals is very risky. You're better off staying with a business with a Ff license.

What are you talking about? If the dealer had a problem with internet sales, they shouldn't have accepted the terms of the contract with Davidson's- a distributor, not an online store or a private seller. There was no transfer fee, so no, my situation would NOT force them to raise their transfer prices. I put a deposit down on my pistol, just like you would have to do in the store. I ordered the gun as stock for the store and paid a deposit. It was then shipped to the store, where I paid the remainder of the purchase price. The store made a profit from the sale, not from a transfer.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I'd never checked out Davidson's before, but I just looked and maybe it's just my luck, but every single gun I looked at said "out of stock"? And the prices didn't seem like anything special, at least on the guns I looked at... Maybe I'm misunderstanding how it's used, but all the prices were MSRP. Is that just a guide, and then when you enter your search criteria they go out and find the best price?

*edit* Okay, went back and looked some more and I see how it works now. I suppose it might be convenient for folks that don't have gun shops readily available nearby, or don't have the time or inclination to do the legwork themselves. Probably not something I would ever use personally.

 

[tmccorkel]

I'd never checked out Davidson's before, but I just looked and maybe it's just my luck, but every single gun I looked at said "out of stock"? And the prices didn't seem like anything special, at least on the guns I looked at... Maybe I'm misunderstanding how it's used, but all the prices were MSRP. Is that just a guide, and then when you enter your search criteria they go out and find the best price?

*edit* Okay, went back and looked some more and I see how it works now. I suppose it might be convenient for folks that don't have gun shops readily available nearby, or don't have the time or inclination to do the legwork themselves. Probably not something I would ever use personally.

If you enter the search criteria, it will take you to a screen. From there, you select choose and it will show all of the local dealers who use the service. The deals are usually pretty decent and price does vary from shop to shop.