Recently I had to, again, get in the middle of an issue between members of this site, and the gunsmiths they use, or in some cases abuse.
I understand people having an issue with a rifle, there is nothing wrong with it, as it can happen to anyone, especially if you shoot a lot. The problems comes from members who take the time to buy a rifle, or spec out some work from a Gunsmith on this site and then don't give them the opportunity first to correct the issue or at least explain a problem.
What happens is, someone comes on this board with a rifle that,<span style="font-style: italic"> "so & so"</span> worked on, and then giving the readers only one side of the story, usually full of incomplete details, they ask for <span style="font-style: italic">"help"</span> because they feel the original gunsmith screwed them or possibly did a poor job. Then people start to speculate and of course the original poster doesn't want to <span style="font-style: italic"> "mention names"</span> but every one knows because they crowed about their rifle in a dozen other posts so it is not hard to put 2 & 2 together which then brings out the <span style="font-weight: bold">bottom feeders</span> - who may or may not even be on this site but take pleasure what they feel is vindication of their opinion of their least favorite gun plumber.
Now in the rare cases where a gunsmith actually does poor work and than will not stand behind it, I completely understand warning the members of this board. However, I feel that every Gunsmith on this board should be given a fair chance <span style="text-decoration: underline">to be the first to be made aware of the problem</span> so they have an opportunity to support their work and their business without the assault that usually follows when this happens. It seems every time this happens, no one wins, and everyone ends up looking bad for their effort.
So, if you have a problem, how about picking up the phone, you can even send an email at the same time, and see what the response is, because I know they all have problems from time to time and usually will pay for shipping and fix it at no cost or at least fix it even if its not their issue that is the problem. We have to also take responsibility for operator errors with their equipment, and understand not all operator errors are covered, so trying to sway public opinion in order to bully someone to cover your mistakes is not a good idea.
The general atmosphere when this stuff happens is too toxic and really hurts a lot of small business men that are only trying to do the best job they can. Mistakes happen in every industry, how they handle these mistakes should be the measure of the men, and not the mistakes themselves. It amazes me how people on this site will scream from the rafters about customer service in the scope industry but then except none of it from a gunsmith. It helps everyone to have these guys on this site answering questions, when you attack them endless and look for reasons to be abusive you hurt every member on here and not just the gunsmiths but others in the gun industry who read it and don't want any part of a community who engage in these attacks.
Its easy to solicit a negative response, people do it every minute online, and negative opinions are less than a dime a dozen. Instead people should try suggesting the posters take the correct action like calling the gunsmith first, because that always seems to be left out of the equation.
I am not looking to out any single individual with this, I am looking to bring attention to an obvious problem as well as offer a solution. I think in the long run it is worth it for all involved.
Thanks
I understand people having an issue with a rifle, there is nothing wrong with it, as it can happen to anyone, especially if you shoot a lot. The problems comes from members who take the time to buy a rifle, or spec out some work from a Gunsmith on this site and then don't give them the opportunity first to correct the issue or at least explain a problem.
What happens is, someone comes on this board with a rifle that,<span style="font-style: italic"> "so & so"</span> worked on, and then giving the readers only one side of the story, usually full of incomplete details, they ask for <span style="font-style: italic">"help"</span> because they feel the original gunsmith screwed them or possibly did a poor job. Then people start to speculate and of course the original poster doesn't want to <span style="font-style: italic"> "mention names"</span> but every one knows because they crowed about their rifle in a dozen other posts so it is not hard to put 2 & 2 together which then brings out the <span style="font-weight: bold">bottom feeders</span> - who may or may not even be on this site but take pleasure what they feel is vindication of their opinion of their least favorite gun plumber.
Now in the rare cases where a gunsmith actually does poor work and than will not stand behind it, I completely understand warning the members of this board. However, I feel that every Gunsmith on this board should be given a fair chance <span style="text-decoration: underline">to be the first to be made aware of the problem</span> so they have an opportunity to support their work and their business without the assault that usually follows when this happens. It seems every time this happens, no one wins, and everyone ends up looking bad for their effort.
So, if you have a problem, how about picking up the phone, you can even send an email at the same time, and see what the response is, because I know they all have problems from time to time and usually will pay for shipping and fix it at no cost or at least fix it even if its not their issue that is the problem. We have to also take responsibility for operator errors with their equipment, and understand not all operator errors are covered, so trying to sway public opinion in order to bully someone to cover your mistakes is not a good idea.
The general atmosphere when this stuff happens is too toxic and really hurts a lot of small business men that are only trying to do the best job they can. Mistakes happen in every industry, how they handle these mistakes should be the measure of the men, and not the mistakes themselves. It amazes me how people on this site will scream from the rafters about customer service in the scope industry but then except none of it from a gunsmith. It helps everyone to have these guys on this site answering questions, when you attack them endless and look for reasons to be abusive you hurt every member on here and not just the gunsmiths but others in the gun industry who read it and don't want any part of a community who engage in these attacks.
Its easy to solicit a negative response, people do it every minute online, and negative opinions are less than a dime a dozen. Instead people should try suggesting the posters take the correct action like calling the gunsmith first, because that always seems to be left out of the equation.
I am not looking to out any single individual with this, I am looking to bring attention to an obvious problem as well as offer a solution. I think in the long run it is worth it for all involved.
Thanks
