Sinclair Service

[BenPerfected]

Sinclair is a supporter and advertiser on Accurate Shooter, and for that I really thank them. Although I have spent many $1,000's at Sinclair in 2014/15, going forward if Midway has it, that's where I am going to buy. What has changed recently at Sinclair is the ship time. On Monday evening 2/23, a $200+ order was placed online and all the products were in stock. Normally Sinclair sends an auto-response/acknowledgement within a short period...sometimes mins? On Tuesday morning I called and asked if they had received my order. They had the order, but said they have always had a 24-48hr ship policy...really? At the 48 hr. mark this morning, Sinclair did acknowledge the order. If Sinclair ships UPS today, it will not deliver until Monday....a week!
To make sure all was accurate, I just talked to a second Sinclair rep and she confirmed the 24-48 hour ship policy. IMO, fast service is a given in 2015 and is the most important part of the buying decision to many. Sinclair's competition on most products is MidwayUSA (Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award winner) and Amazon (everybody's competitor). IMO, this is an example of the new financial guys influence at Brownells/Midway...save a few headcount in the warehouse?
PO'ed in TX!
Ben

 

[Gabe22BR]

Done that last week myself. Midway usually don't have what I need in stock, I try Graf's and get the same or better service than Midway.

 

[mshelton]

It's been bad with Sinclair, recently I've been choosing next day shipping with them, most of the time it doesn't go out when it should and is shipped the next day so I call and get my shipping money refunded. So free 2nd day shipping, so far I've got about an 80% success rate.

 

[Gabe22BR]

I will keep that in mind>>>

 

[jonbearman]

Didn't Sinclair/brownells just move? If they did they are probably struggling to get back up to speed.

 

[gaboon]

Before the move they were both slow in shipping.

 

[BenPerfected]

Here is some additional service comments...I missed this.

http://forum.accurateshooter.com/index.php?topic=3858471.0

Ben

 

[chevi_guy]

It seems to me that a few years back when Sinclair was still under their name and had not switched to Brownell even thought they were owned by Brownell
The service was much better and the reps much more knowledgable.
They have good stuff but lately I always try elsewhere first. Delivery and customer service seem to be the main issues.

Ben

 

[Geronimo Jim]

What tripledeuce said.

 

[Chappy]

I've sent back the meplat trimmer I bought twice trying to get one that actually holds the bullet on the bearing surface! Finally told them to give me my money back.

 

[Joe R]

BenPerfected said:

Sinclair is a supporter and advertiser on Accurate Shooter, and for that I really thank them. Although I have spent many $1,000's at Sinclair in 2014/15, going forward if Midway has it, that's where I am going to buy. What has changed recently at Sinclair is the ship time.

I have noticed the same thing, and while I generally agree with your statement, I'm not ready to give up on Sinclair. I also noticed that a lot of stuff is on back-order and they are slow to posting credits. It may be a short term problem related to their move. If they don't get their house in order, customers will lose patience, and shooters are not a patient/passive group to start with.

Kindest regards,

Joe

 

[BenPerfected]

BenPerfected said:

Sinclair is a supporter and advertiser on Accurate Shooter, and for that I really thank them. Although I have spent many $1,000's at Sinclair in 2014/15, going forward if Midway has it, that's where I am going to buy. What has changed recently at Sinclair is the ship time.

I have noticed the same thing, and while I generally agree with your statement, I'm not ready to give up on Sinclair. I also noticed that a lot of stuff is on back-order and they are slow to posting credits. It may be a short term problem related to their move. If they don't get their house in order, customers will lose patience, and shooters are not a patient/passive group to start with.

Kindest regards,

Joe

Joe,
Well said....maybe Sinclair will post on this thread exactly when we can expect an in-stock order will be turned over to the shipper. The customer has the option to request an upgrade for expedited shipping, however, the current 24-48 hr. processing time is the only option. Would Sinclair consider a $5 option(?) to pack and ship the same day? Maybe their best customers don't pay the fee? There are plenty of business options, I just don't like the one they picked.
Ben

 

[titanxt]

I am in the same boat. I ordered several things from Sinclair a few weeks ago - the majority of it was cleaning products. Several items were on back order and trickled in in several different packages. I am still waiting on a few items...

Andy

 

[jimcasey01]

It seems that we live in an instant gratification culture. I order from Sinclair on a somewhat normal basis, understanding what their shipping policy is. I accept that as a way of life when dealing with them. Sure I would love same day shipping, but I am not paying the extra for that. When I do occasionally get 1 day shipping, I am thankful for it.

It is not like we can not see that we are running out of cleaning supplies, bullets, brass, etc days, weeks, or months in advance. Possibly a bottle of solvent could be spilled, so keep an extra botlle on hand. Just maybe a little bit of planning ahead will help.