WARNING re: SWFA www.riflescopes.com
 

In the past I have used www.riflescopes.com as a place to research options and check prices on various scopes and scope accessories. I was impressed with their selection, website, and low prices. Yesterday I tried to place my first order, and then everything started to go wrong.

I was also placing an order with MidwayUSA yesterday. I had placed the Midway order online, and then I tried to place the SWFA order online. It said that my order was refused because of a mismatch between my Debit Card and my billing address. So I tried again -- same thing. I called SWFA customer service, and they said they would take my order over the phone. Then I was told that my card was declined. She tried a total of three times.

Yesterday afternoon Midway notifies me that my order has been suspended because of insufficient funds. I called my bank to find out what was going on. They said that SWFA had placed FIVE HOLDS on my checking account equal to the total amount of my order with them (2 scopes, 2 ring sets, Butler Creek covers), and my account had an available balance of zero.

I contacted SWFA, and got a "so what" response from customer service. They said it was the banks problem, and there was nothing they could do about it. My bank manager joined me in a conference call with them, and we were promised that the CS representative would talk to her supervisor and try to contact their credit card processing company and call us back. SHE NEVER CALLED BACK.

I called her this morning, and she put me on hold for 15 minutes. Then she gave me the same schtick. "This is between you and your bank. There is nothing I can don about it."

As of right now I cannot access any of the funds in my account, and my Midway order has been cancelled. According to my bank ALL FIVE of those holds are showing that they will go through as a charge against my account by SWFA.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. www.riflescopes.com has horrible customer service. They have not tried in the least to do anything to rectify this situation. They have abandoned me after tying up all of the money in my checking account.

Re: WARNING re: SWFA www.riflescopes.com
 

I tried to order a scope frm them a year or so ago and it never shipped... Thankfully they never charged my card and after a few months I got them to cancel my order..

Re: WARNING re: SWFA www.riflescopes.com
 

I had that happen to a hotel room
they were having a problem and kept sending it in
had 8 pending charges for 1 night room
this was on a credit card so it did not hold up checking account
all but 1 vanished a few days later as
all of yours will, but that does not help you now

but Fu*k them it there fault

Re: WARNING re: SWFA www.riflescopes.com
 

Not in the market, but info like this is appreciated nonetheless.

Re: WARNING re: SWFA www.riflescopes.com
 

Damn it! I was actually thinking of ordering another Super Sniper 20x42 scope from them soon. If their customer service is becoming questionable and there is any problem with the scope....

Thanks for the info.

Re: WARNING re: SWFA www.riflescopes.com
 

Hey .... I recommend them to you guys last week, Sorry.... I ordered my scopes about a year ago and had no problem with them. The scopes are great, I hope everything works out fine. Maybe new management?

Rich

Re: WARNING re: SWFA www.riflescopes.com
 

I'll bet that many people have smooth transactions with their online ordering system. BUT... if you ever have to call customer service I'll warn you that they are completely unfriendly and reluctant to lift a finger to help you out. It is A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE from my experiences with MidwayUSA. Probably worth the extra $20/scope to buy from Midway (no, Midway would not match the SWFA price).

Re: WARNING re: SWFA www.riflescopes.com
 

SLV,
I just contacted SWFA and spoke to one of their people for several minutes explaining the problem and what the types of responses were that you got. I also explained to the guy (David) that 'you can't FIX a problem if you don't know you have a problem'.

I did this for two reasons.

Us 'old Texas hands' have to stick together and I was raised in Texas.

As a retired gunsmith, I've used these people before and NEVER had an issue.

Having said that, I'd bet money this is PARTLY self inflicted. BUT, SWFA's customer service rep response was somewhat disconcerting.

The 'self inflicted' part is I'd bet you a silver round that you tried to place this order THROUGH SWFA five times (adding up both online and direct contact with SWFA customer service). Which is why there are five holds on your account. Every time you process a credit request, it should be placed on hold BY YOUR BANK, via the company requesting the money.

Now, I will say that ANY credit card company that see FIVE CHARGES from the same company FOR THE SAME AMOUNT within a very short period of time should have had a 'red flag' thrown up, because that shows something is NOT RIGHT.

I don't know where the overall problem lies, but I'd guess there is an issue between your bank and the credit card company. Maybe the credit card companies address validation subroutine in their programming might need to be looked at.

But that's just a guess.

HOPEFULLY SWFA will contact you and correct this error. Then you can come back on here and tell us HOW they corrected this error.

If not, hey, I tried...

Re: WARNING re: SWFA www.riflescopes.com
 

The same thing happened to me about a year ago. I was surprised at the time. The lady told me they just switched over to a new sytem. I guess they are still having trouble. I cancelled my order with them. I will not use them anymore after hearing your story.

Re: WARNING re: SWFA www.riflescopes.com
 

Re: WARNING re: SWFA www.riflescopes.com
 

I pretty much only deal with www.midwayusa.com on these kinds of items.....they are in MO.....not slam on TX.....

Midway has "rounded" up donations to the NRA to the tune of something like $10MM over the years....a lot of $ to help us keep our guns!!!!

Re: WARNING re: SWFA www.riflescopes.com
 

Thanks, Wallew. I tried to process my card twice online, and the phone rep must have done it three times, but I was unaware of that until my banker pointed it out. My banker also mentioned that the credit card company should not have placed a hold on my account if the billing address did not match the card number. It seems they got the cart in front of the horse.

I spoke to "Stephanie" in customer support this morning. She had promised to call me back after talking to her supervisor yesterday afternoon -- she did not call back. This morning she was no more helpful, and I told her that I was very disappointed in the lack of customer service. I also told her that I was going to post my experience online to warn my friends about the difficulty of dealing with SWFA.

In other words, it isn't that I didn't try to make this work out. I even told Stephanie that I was disappointed to have to resort to telling the world, but it was my only recourse to force change.

I hope your call makes a difference.

Re: WARNING re: SWFA www.riflescopes.com
 

SWFA has had problems like this for at least a year. Had a family member receive an extra scope he didnt order, but had to keep when customer service dropped the ball. I've also had order cancelled with no notification.

Tired of dealing with them, only thing I like is their Super Sniper scope and their opticstalk forum.

Re: WARNING re: SWFA www.riflescopes.com
 

SLV,
That's kind of what I thought. Hey, communications is ALWAYS the biggest problem for most companies. Hopefully you can get this sorted out to your satisfaction.

As we go forward, with good businesses struggling to stay afloat and keep their doors open, BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE will kill many of them as customers flee and look for companies who actually realize that YOU ARE THEIR PAYCHECK.

A good customer tells a few friends. A PISSED OFF CUSTOMER TELLS EVERYONE THEY KNOW. And in the age of the internet, that's a bunch of people.

Hopefully this can be resolved to everyone's satisfaction.

Re: WARNING re: SWFA www.riflescopes.com
 

Well I just placed my order for 2 - SWFA SS 20x42 tactical scopes w/basic kits and 2 sets of IOR heavy duty tactical rings. Only place I know to get the scopes.

Real friendly lady on the line. I hope all goes well because I see a bunch of stuff there to buy later.

:biggrin:

Re: WARNING re: SWFA www.riflescopes.com
 

COOL SCOPES! For my 50 BMG I looked at those, but ended up getting the Bushnell Elite 3200 10x40 tactical mil-dot. I chose the Burris Xtreme Tactical rings (1" low).

Re: WARNING re: SWFA www.riflescopes.com
 

I did look at some Bushnell Elites that they had good deals on in their sample list but I ended up with 2 more SSs.

Got a bunch of zeroing to do this summer.




:s1:

Re: WARNING re: SWFA www.riflescopes.com
 

Looks like their page is down.

Re: WARNING re: SWFA www.riflescopes.com
 

It's up now....

www.swfa.com


:emotions16:

Re: WARNING re: SWFA www.riflescopes.com
 

In retail the CC companys agreements and power end at the Point of sale very often. There are many times when the amount attempted to be used is held against your card as if it went threw.

The next day it usually clears up when the cancelations are rectified. That is all well and good until its you that is screwed up. I can't say what happened there but have seen simular things happen when a weather event has effected the cc clearing computers.

Sorry this happen but I would guess that its probebly cleared up tomorrow and its business as usual with the cc co.


The Customer Service end of things is very common and terrible unfortunately.

E-A

Re: WARNING re: SWFA www.riflescopes.com
 

Load of crap it's the banks problem. They need to reverse the ACH request by providing you with a "refund" or whatever. If they need to get on the phone and deal with VISA, then they need to do so since it was their website which screwed up the process.

Re: WARNING re: SWFA www.riflescopes.com
 

Those holds stayed on my account for one week. After payment was received SWFA had excellent communication (automated) and delivery turnaround. There were a couple mistakes with the order due to misinformation from the scope manufacturer, but SWFA has performed well after clearing up this payment issue.

Their prices are way better than any other, and their selection is thorough.

Re: WARNING re: SWFA www.riflescopes.com
 

The scopes came in today. Good service fast shipping. Great scopes.

Now just got to make sure that my bank account isn't jacked....


:biggrin:

Re: WARNING re: SWFA www.riflescopes.com
 

This is why you NEVER, EVER use a credit card linked directly to your checking account (i.e, debit card). Use a separate card and pay the damn bill when it comes. If it gets stolen or jacked up by a merchant, you can just dispute the charges in question and don't have to pay them while it gets sorted out. Like you've now learned the hard way...if your debit card gets jacked up (or stolen which happened to me years ago), you are pretty much screwed and can't eat until it gets sorted out. Plan on it taking a good 30 days to get sorted out.

I now actually have a debit card from my bank, but I've never called to activate the VISA portion of it, so I can only use it as an ATM card with the pin. Everything that I swipe to pay or order online goes through a separate credit or charge card not linked to my checking account that they send me a bill for.

EVERYONE NEEDS TO HEED THIS VALUABLE LESSON NOW!