Rifle Scopes Is this the norm for the optics industry?

[NMMX]

Last week I ordered a Vortex Viper PST online and payed for 2nd shipping, hoping to get some range time this weekend.

The days went by and no scope. Checked my account and the funds had cleared. I called the company and they said it is on back order and won't ship till they get it in. This was never on the item page or checkout page or my receipt. How is anyone supposed to know?

Today I went through all but the final stage of checkout with five other online vendors and none of them indicated the item out of stock. Before finalizing I called them and at each vendor they were indeed out of stock.

Is this just the normal way of doing business for the industry? Are you really supposed to order something with no idea when you will get it?

I run a online business as well and not reflecting item stock just seems absurd to me.

 

[Opticsspecialist]

Re: Is this the norm for the optics industry?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: NMMX</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Last week I ordered a Vortex Viper PST online and payed for 2nd shipping, hoping to get some range time this weekend.

The days went by and no scope. Checked my account and the funds had cleared. I called the company and they said it is on back order and won't ship till they get it in. This was never on the item page or checkout page or my receipt. How is anyone supposed to know?

Today I went through all but the final stage of checkout with five other online vendors and none of them indicated the item out of stock. Before finalizing I called them and at each vendor they were indeed out of stock.

Is this just the normal way of doing business for the industry? Are you really supposed to order something with no idea when you will get it?

I run a online business as well and not reflecting item stock just seems absurd to me.

</div></div>

depending on the product line, it can be. it's almost impossible to keep real inventory updated on items, for instance, some lines have a couple hundred sku's. you have several product lines and it adds up. as for the optic itself, some things are hard to get, the PST scopes are a great, but they are tough to find at times, they come in batches. the ffp have been scarce lately. there seems to be back orders with most manufactures. it's always best to call and double check, even if people have real time inventory

 

[High Binder]

Re: Is this the norm for the optics industry?

Just cancel that order and call Scott and Liberty Optics. He may or may not have them in stock but at least you'll get a straight answer and no BS.

 

[Ultraman550]

Re: Is this the norm for the optics industry?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: NMMX</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Last week I ordered a Vortex Viper PST online and payed for 2nd shipping, hoping to get some range time this weekend.

The days went by and no scope. Checked my account and the funds had cleared. I called the company and they said it is on back order and won't ship till they get it in. This was never on the item page or checkout page or my receipt. How is anyone supposed to know?

Today I went through all but the final stage of checkout with five other online vendors and none of them indicated the item out of stock. Before finalizing I called them and at each vendor they were indeed out of stock.

Is this just the normal way of doing business for the industry? Are you really supposed to order something with no idea when you will get it?

I run a online business as well and not reflecting item stock just seems absurd to me.

</div></div>
I've dealt with Eurooptic and Bearbasin and both were spot on with their inventory. I've actually noticed this problem throughout the firearms industry as a whole where sites have it listed when it's not, you pay for it only to be sent an e-mail a day or two later that it's out of stock and it'll be 1-2 weeks until they get the new shipment in. Theres nothing more frustrating than that so I've started to call before I order.

 

[msrtex]

Re: Is this the norm for the optics industry?

It is a good idea to call before hand. There are a number of online companies that operate with no inventory and order from the manufacturer when they receive your order. The internet has made it all to easy to call yourself a dealer.

 

[NMMX]

Re: Is this the norm for the optics industry?

Thanks for the feedback and referrals. I wound up speaking to a couple of vendors who were really helpful and said the particular scope tends to come in and sell out the same day.

I did cancel my full order with the Co. I could have possible dealt with a delay but a hidden charge they also tried to tag on put me over the top.

EuroOptics wound up having the scope and the other items I needed and will be shipping things tomorrow.

 

[frankythefly]

Re: Is this the norm for the optics industry?

I have found that only a hand full of tactical/optic/weapon/ vendors use decent E-commerce CMS. If the company is attuned to what has been available for e-commerce they should have no problem displaying what is in stock or not in stock. The worst e-commerce vendor I have had experience with has been botactical.

To be honest there really is no excuse for your experience. With today's modern e-commerce CMS, all the vendor needs to do is when the product enters the warehouse scan the product enter how many are on hand and everything else is automated. When an order is placed, it should clear the payment through a merchant, then it should deduct it from the remaining quantity, send an e-mail to shipping, update the accounting book, send you a confirm e-mail, and when shipping prints a label it should send you another e-mail indicating tracking number. Now when a quantity gets to zero it automatically updates what is on the website and will tell potential customer that said item is out of stock and can be back ordered if wanted too.

Anyhow if any Vendors need more information on what is CMS and so forth and which ones are best suited for e-commerce pm me. Ton of options some free some not.