Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Lancaster Arms Continues to Struggle with Quality Control and Customer Service Issues

Well, here we are, solidly into spring. The grass is once again growing, the birds are chirping...and Lancaster Arms is still the epitome of how NOT to run a business.

Rather than review Lancaster's problems, I'll let you read for yourself.

Here is a thread from AR15.com (the largest firearms-related website in America), where over a period of almost two months various issues with poor Lancaster Arms quality and poor Lancaster Arms customer service are discussed. This 10-page long thread is an insightful read, and should give you a good idea as to why Lancaster Arms has developed such a poor reputation in the AK-owning firearms world:

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=4&f=64&t=126813 (Sorry, Google's hot-linking mechanism isn't working at the moment. Just cut-and-paste these links into a new browser window))

Likewise, here is another thread on TheHighRoad.org (another well-known and popular firearms-related website) detailing extensive problems with poor Lancaster Arms quality and customer service:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=491989

Read up, folks. And if after reading all of that you STILL want to do business with Lancaster Arms...well, don't complain that you weren't warned! Lancaster Arms is bad news.

7 comments:

  1. Add me to the list of Lancaster suckers. I ordered one several weeks ago on the recommendation of my uncle, without checking around for internet feedback on the company. If I had, I would have found my own story long before I had to live it.

    The first time I called, an older, gruff guy using colorful language (Chet himself?) told me it was a 5-10 day turnaround, but the "damned" dealers usually don't get off their ass and send in their FFL info, which delays things. I took a day to think it over.

    The next day I ordered, and the 5-10 day turnaround turned into 3-4 weeks. Excuse: milled receivers are made on-demand. Funny, I'd told the first guy I wanted a milled receiver, so he should have known.

    2 weeks later, my receiver was "in heat treating", and would ship in a week. From there, every week held a different excuse and reason it would take "one more week". Including a re-run of the original "heat treating" line!

    The next week I was told they had all the parts, and it would be one more week. That's when I asked to cancel my order. Oddly enough, the guy was all too happy to do so. Now I know why. It's over a week later with no refund on my card, and now that my order is cancelled, they don't have a deadline to meet.

    I called and left a voicemail today, and sent an e-mail as well about my refund. If I don't hear back within 24 hours (fuck the 72-hour response window they ask for on their site) I'm calling my credit card company for a chargeback.

    BTW, the original order guy (Chet?) said they don't do card payments, but the younger guy I actually ordered from *did* take my card payment. So I guess I was lucky enough to use a payment method that can be disputed.

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  2. I have been waiting 2 months,for them to change the falty barrel,man they really suck!!!!!

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  3. ordered from them 4 months ago,,no gun,called them and heard everything you can imagine.
    i ordered in russian red,they told me there russian red die was not in,i said fine,go with blonde,,they said all blonde wood was spoken for.
    i said take my plain wood and stain it,they didnt know what to say.
    i still never got it,called back,was given a tracking number over a weeg ago,and it NEVER showed it moving anywhere,just said it was intered there...never shipped.
    thank god i never actualy sent them my money,the dealer i did business with sent them a check.
    i think ill pull my deposit,and use it on something elce.....maby as a dealer,they can get there money back better then i could.

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  4. Hi, well be sensible, well-all described

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  5. I wish I had found this site before sending Chet a check for $600. I have been told on 4 different occasions that my rifle would ship that day (as recently as yesterday). I was given a UPS # to track it over a week ago and still hasn't been shipped. Business as usual for Chet and Company I guess. I have heard every excuse under the sun including " we didn't get your check" (which cleared 2 days after I sent it) which they found later that day, "we are out of blond wood", which is hard to believe since they use original wood, and "our supplier hasn't sent the gun-kote". Asked for my $ back today which I probably wont get either. Next step call the Goodyear Police and Maricopa County DA. AVOID LANCASTER AT ALL COST!!!

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  6. I was one of the early AK 74 buyers. It looked great... it shot awesome... from the hip. There was one problem... as you started shooting the front sight post started drifting to the right. I moved it back and started another Mag... and in 5 rounds the front sight drum shifted all the way to one side... you could not use the sights.

    I was REALLY UNCOMFORTABLE with the company having both my money and gun after I sent it in for repair. I traded up.... got a BEAUTIFUL milled and felt OK.

    Luckily I traded out. I figured I did not want to risk eating shoddy workmanship.

    The flash hider would also not lock on... it could not be threaded to where the dimple met the pin.

    Good god I feel lucky after hearing these stories...


    Lots of threads instruct others to call the sherif... not what you need to do. If you believe you have been defrauded... contact the Attorney General of YOUR state, and send a copy to the Atty General of the company's state. You can also hit the Better Biz journal...

    Send letters to the company CERTIFIED MAIL and provide this info to the Atty General. You might hit the BATF as well. I am sure they are interested in how manufacturers are performing in business and checking their records...

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  7. Anon 9:12, thanks for the post.

    However, in this case, calling the Goodyear, Arizona Police Dept. IS the correct thing to do. They are aware of the situation with Lancaster, and have been far more helpful than any of the other agencies you list in resolving issues with Lancaster.

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You are welcome, and in fact encouraged, to leave your comments about experiences with Lancaster Arms. The only requirement is that you stick to facts, or well-documented opinions.

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About Me

But quite willing to "help" Lancaster Arms fully understand why the way they run their business, is completely unacceptable.

Welcome to LancasterArmsSucks.blogspot.com

This site exist to help police a firearms manufacturer that has decided to run its business using questionable ethics. Too often, there is not enough complete, accurate information on the Internet about companies engaged in the manufature of firearms. It is my hope that this blog shall serve as a useful tool to help guide potential customers of Lancaster Arms to a fully-informed decision. As of the start date of this blog, many, many people feel as though Lancaster Arms does not run an honest business. We'll let the chips fall where they may...