Well, I’d say it’s pretty much official. The transformation is almost entirely complete: Lancaster Arms is now widely regarded as a bottom-of-the-barrel AK manufacturer that should be avoided at all costs. And how do we know this? Simple. Nowadays, when the subject of Lancaster comes up on forums, there isn’t a whole lot of debate or drama anymore. Just several people responding with some variation of, “You don’t want to do business with Lancaster. They’ve dicked over too many people, and at this point you’d be foolish to take your chances with them.” This thread is a great example of what I’m talking about. Simple, direct, and straight to the unfortunate point.
It would be nice to think that the Lancaster fiasco of the last year would have caused the people who run Lancaster to re-think how they do business. But as I’ve stated several times now, a leopard doesn’t change its spots. Once it has been established that the owner of a company is prone to committing frequent dishonest acts, the idea that the owner is going to suddenly stop being dishonest is enticing…but ultimately elusive. Sure enough, reports are still coming in that “Lancaster told me weeks ago that they were going to do XXX, and they still haven’t done it. You guys were right. I should have steered clear of Lancaster.”
And BTW, I’ve gotten two emails from people asking, “Why did you start this blog? What did Lancaster do to you?” Well, if you read the first two posts on this blog, you’ll see why it was necessary to create it. Towards the end of last year, literally dozens of people came out of the woodwork to complain that they had somehow been wronged by Lancaster. Most of these complaints revolved around simple dishonesty, and Lancaster’s almost comical inability to actually do what they tell customers they’re going to do. Lancaster talks a good game, but ultimately, talk is cheap. It’s how a company executes that matters, and in this regard Lancaster is a disaster of epic proportions. It was only right and fair to warn others before they were lulled into a false sense of security by Lancaster’s owner, Chet “I make used car salesmen look good in comparison” Durda.
With regard to me personally, I was a victim of Lancaster’s fraud. Durda told me on two separate occasions that a rifle I had ordered was being shipped “tomorrow”. He once even told me the rifle was sitting right there in front of him. But on my last call about the rifle that never showed up “tomorrow”, a Lancaster employee informed me that not only had the rifle never shipped, but Lancaster didn’t even have the parts to build the rifle. Good ol’ Chet Durda had just flat-out lied to me, and was holding onto funds for a rifle he knew he didn’t even have the parts to build. I don’t know about you, but I call that “fraud”. A less despicable human would have called and said “Sorry, we can’t build the rifle you paid for. We’re sending your money back.” But Durda decided to play the “let’s see how long this sucker will let me hold his funds” game because…well…the guy is a scumbag like that.
Stay tuned. Much more to come…
P.S. Thanks for all the backlinks! This blog is quickly climbing in relevant search rankings for "Lancaster Arms", and is now ranked #18 for that phrase! That would certainly explain why traffic to this blog is exploding!
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I purchased a sidefold AK from Lancaster last April (2009), and after calling them every two weeks since ordering and still no rifle I finally told them to give me my money back...that was April 2010. Its now June 2010 and I still don't have my money back. If you have a problem beware....Shane at Lancaster won't even talk to me now. I am going to post a complaint with the AZ attorney general. Has anyone gotten their money back??
ReplyDeleteAnon, sorry to hear about your experience with Lancaster. If you used a credit card, call the credit card company and let them know you never received the goods you ordered. And in any regard, yes...contact the authorities. Waiting over a YEAR for a rifle is flat-out fraud as far as I'm concerned. They have evidently pegged you as someone who can be pushed around.
ReplyDeleteTeach them otherwise.
I also purchased a sidefolder around november 2009, from atlantic firearms (which apparently no longer reps lancaster and I understand why), and I am having problems with quality more so than payment problems. First time I received the firearm, the folding stock wasnt secure and a gap between the top cover and trunion was present. Sent it to lancaster to repair, and they didnt return it with the handguards or pistol grip. Two months later the same problem comes up with the gap on the top cover-need to send it back again. Nothing but problems with my lancaster built rifle-not impressed. If I did it over again, I would have paid the extra cash to get an arsenal.
ReplyDeleteYes Anon 6:50, as too many people are finding out, Lancaster's problems are not simply related to customer service. At this point, Lancaster is just in this business for the money, and they don't care what kind of rifle they ship out. Even though their rifles have a lifetime warranty, their philosophy seems to be that once they ship a rifle to you, they are done with you. I wouldn't send a Lancaster rifle back to them for any warranty work, simply because you never know when or if you'll get it back.
ReplyDeleteI would not be surprised if Lancaster just went belly-up one day (actually, I'm surprised they haven't already), and anyone who is waiting on a new gun or warranty repair will be out of luck at the time.
Fortunately, word has spread across the Internet that Lancaster is bad news. The only people buying their products these days are uninformed consumers who don't bother to do any research before buying. Anyone who spends even 20 minutes on the Internet researching Lancaster, will read enough to know they should steer well clear of them.