Gripe about Sinclair/Brownells purchasing policy

P

P. Octo

Member
I have been a Sinclair Customer for many years, and helping other Bench Rest shooters order when they couldn't understand English; so, I was quite surprised when I wanted to order 3 carbide pocket uniformers on behalf of a French shooter to be asked to deal with the French Brownells franchise. You see, what costs $29.99 online at Sinclair's costs over $56 here. After contacting the international order Dpt, I received this:

"There’s a Brownells website dedicated to each country and a local representative that speaks the local languages and keeps local business hours. Other advantages:
• Turn-around time for orders will be faster, especially orders that would normally need a license
• No licenses needed – and no license fees
• Costs are known up-front – no hidden VAT or freight costs."

All this is true, but, in the case of small items not requiring a license, such as the pocket uniformers, patches, brushes, all the paraphernalia of cleaning stuff etc., I and all the other shooters here don't agree to pay twice the price. Just throwing the uniformers in a padded envelope, for instance, wouldn't have come anywhere near the French Brownells price, and that before shipping...

Just picture somebody wanting to get into the Bench Rest game from scratch: the cost has nearly doubled since Feb. the 1st. I can tell you that everyone is mightilly p....d off.
I have also been told that even if I order online to be shipped to a US address, that would count as a foreign order and not be acceptable. My IP address setting off the red lights at Sinclair, I presume. So, what If I want to order something as a present to an american friend? I guess, they'll tell me to give him vouchers...

I used to really like Sinclair before they were aborbed by Brownells: friendly, competent, always ready to help. I am sure they're still the same over in the US but that's definitely not the image over here: too bad.
 
Forgein Sales

Before you publicly bad mouth a U.S. company for it`s international trade policies.... why not ask the customer service dept. of company for reasons.many times home countries require high tariffs to discourage imports.....many U.S. companies cannot compete on an international level because of the importee`s trade policies...... I have dealt with each company you are complaining about for more than 40 yrs... and they are not into price gouging...further they guarantee their goods for lifetime.......
I would have to guess the countries importing goods have a much better trade policy than the United States...... at the present time.
bill larson
 
B.Larson said:
Before you publicly bad mouth a U.S. company for it`s international trade policies.... why not ask the customer service dept. of company for reasons.many times home countries require high tariffs to discourage imports.....many U.S. companies cannot compete on an international level because of the importee`s trade policies...... I have dealt with each company you are complaining about for more than 40 yrs... and they are not into price gouging...further they guarantee their goods for lifetime.......
I would have to guess the countries importing goods have a much better trade policy than the United States...... at the present time.
bill larson
Click to expand...

I did ask the dept. involved as clearly stated in my mail (read the quote from Sinclair); furthermore, I stated their reasons are true. They are not in price gouging...in the States; I am just saying that I, and all of us here, regret the disappearance of our choice to deal with these companies directly as we've been doing for as long as you, without complaint and with much praise, as stated, again, in my mail.
 
Ain't technology grand. But it has it's good features and it's bad features (or more good features depending on which side of the transaction you are on)
Frankly Brownells has a pretty hot shot internet sales dept if they charge you by your IP address.

Dick
 
I don't know about hot shot tech department. That's pretty standard for web commerce. We know what country an order is placed from regardless of where the billing and shipping addresses are.

I have heard about this international customers issues in the last several weeks from our customers overseas. There is a lot of grumbling.
 
GPat said:
I don't know about hot shot tech department. That's pretty standard for web commerce.
Click to expand...

For an ancient person like myself, who can remember when we got the new fangled dial telephones, tracking by IP address for something as mundane as a Brownells order is pretty high tech.
 
What are dial telephones?

Just kidding, I remember. My 9y.o. daughter saw one for the first time a couple of weeks ago and was fascinated by the dial, and the CORD.
 
GPat said:
What are dial telephones?

Just kidding, I remember. My 9y.o. daughter saw one for the first time a couple of weeks ago and was fascinated by the dial, and the CORD.
Click to expand...

I personally never had a phone with the crank on the side, but my Grandmother did. You cranked it and the operator answered. One day we went down to the phone office (located over the dime store) and I saw the lady operators answering and plugging wires in to connect you to your party.,
 
Dick Grosbier said:
I personally never had a phone with the crank on the side, but my Grandmother did. You cranked it and the operator answered. One day we went down to the phone office (located over the dime store) and I saw the lady operators answering and plugging wires in to connect you to your party.,
Click to expand...

Those were the days! We were connected to a "party line" that had seven houses on it. I think you knew that a call was for your house by the ring. Didn't matter much because everybody listened to what everybody said. Mae Bailey was on our party line and if you said something she didn't agree with she'd tell you so...right then. Looking back, I think that was an OK thing to do....if you were listening in and everybody knew it.

I never saw one of those crank phones in use but had a few layin' around. I guess my parents figured they would need them someday....
 
I hate like hell to say this, but I saw a crank phone, along with party lines in use. When I was a boy, a few years ago, EH!!!! I worked on a farm away in rural Ontario, I mean really rural and the farmer had a crank phone. You would pick up the receiver and crank the handle and then tell the operator the number, which at that time was normally 2 numbers and a letter, ie, 2R4, then listen as the number was connected and the party line people picked up, and then talk to whoever. Oh well!
 
I'm just on the bad side of 50, but I remember party lines

Had them growing up in rural areas outside of Tampa, FL.
I remember picking up the phone and being able to listen to other people's conversations. Used to keep me and my older brother busy on rainy afternoons.
Had a Great-Aunt in TeeterVille, Ontario that owned the post office, general store, barber shop, beauty salon, gas station and small restaurant. All of them operating from the same building attached to her house. Interesting little side business she had there.
It was a nice small farm community that would have been great for shooting BR.
Notice how I slipped that in....?
 
I remember those days, crank the handle to make a call and so many short and long rings to know if the call was for your house.
I must've been bought up right by mum and dad as we got taught we weren't allowed to pick up the phone when it was for another party line member. Have to say it didn't stop us when mum and dad weren't about though.

I even remember the party line phone exchanges as my auntie worked in one.

I remember using that crank phone to phone friends back then and also remember when it was replaced with a dial phone.

At the time even though some books had been written about Benchrest a long time prior to us getting a dial phone I knew nothing about Benchrest and almost the same about shooting.
 
I grew up poor. In the 70's we had a party line with 2 other poor folks and had rotary dial phones. If the cord wasnt a perfect spiral it drove me mad so i was constantly twisting the coils to line em back up. Of course we had a mixture of harvest gold and avocado green colored phones to match the appliances.
 
crank phones

Never road with Gene or Roy but always wanted to, back may years ago, but we did have
a dial phone and party line. Two long rings and one short. One of the first things I learned
was our phone number 3-2-0-W. Can't remember crap today but can still remember our number
I guess we are a little off the original post but I can't remember what it was about anyway.
Ray
 
FBecigneul said:
Hmm.
I can remember our first phone in Canada. The crank on the side of the box below the phone wasn't the only crank. You knew when anyone on your party line was getting a call and you had to count the rings so you'd know when you were receiving a call. We were in better shape back then because instead of calling Jimmie Gilbert, Gary Featherstone, or Rivets Rivais you had to walk or run over to their house. The number was 476 R(for ring)2-1 (that was two long- one short). Heck, I even dated the operator, Barb. And the switch board was over McVittie's Dime Store in Wheatley, Ontario. The operators knew everyone's business and who they were businessing.
Click to expand...

And you walked to school, 8 miles, uphill both ways.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top