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Night Vision Kosher Surplus GTG? / Contact here?

gthirteen

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Minuteman
Jul 24, 2009
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I believe I’ve seen enough here to know that these guys are solid.

if anyone has hide-specific comms please pm me.

I need to reach out to these guys.

thanks
 
Worst customer service I've encountered anywhere in the industry. "Returns will be handled on a case-by-case basis" means "tough luck pal, we've got your money."
My buddy won't buy anything from them going forward due to how they handled his repair. I wont be buying anything from that site either after seeing his encounter.
 
Word of mouth gets around.
Caveat emptor.
Treat your customers right and don't push newly purchased,clearly defective items off for the customer to deal with Steiner for repairs....Replace it and YOU send it back to Steiner.
 
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If i were buying something today, i would use skyscrapin and wig. They BOTH have spent hours talking to my ignorant ass and were spot on. Not sure what you are buying, maybe they can’t help, but i would go to them first. They have a company, so not just a dude on sh selling.
 
If i were buying something today, i would use skyscrapin and wig. They BOTH have spent hours talking to my ignorant ass and were spot on. Not sure what you are buying, maybe they can’t help, but i would go to them first. They have a company, so not just a dude on sh selling.
Spot on.

Real users that know their stuff and care about giving real expert opinions as users of the equipment and care about their reputations in this small niche community. Hard to find these days.

Jay Crymes (Sureshot) & Robert Henry (Lowdown) are both in that class as well.
 
Worst customer service I've encountered anywhere in the industry. "Returns will be handled on a case-by-case basis" means "tough luck pal, we've got your money."
Thats not at all what that means. Im sorry if you have had a bad experience but id like to resolve any issues you may have if possible.
 
Spot on.

Real users that know their stuff and care about giving real expert opinions as users of the equipment and care about their reputations in this small niche community. Hard to find these days.

Jay Crymes (Sureshot) & Robert Henry (Lowdown) are both in that class as well.
We are a store, Its called Kosher Surplus.
 
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If i were buying something today, i would use skyscrapin and wig. They BOTH have spent hours talking to my ignorant ass and were spot on. Not sure what you are buying, maybe they can’t help, but i would go to them first. They have a company, so not just a dude on sh selling.
We are a store, Kosher Surplus. We are based out of Houston and we only sell items that are in stock, Rather than take your money and have the customer wait. If anyone has any questions about anything we sell they can contact me directly. 832-621-5832
 
We are a store, Its called Kosher Surplus.
Not trying to slight you. Just have not done business with you yet. I have with the others and can personally attest.

I have heard good things about you for quite a while. So there are some very pleased customers. (y)
 
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One thing I have noticed is this. I have dealt with some of the best dealers out there.

Guys that would give you the shirt off their back to make you satisfied.

However, once in a while they run into a "unique customer" and well there just is no satisfying that customer, no matter what.

That is the way of the world unfortunately.

On top of that now, we all got to deal with "Karen" and "Ken" now :rolleyes:

Go Brandon.
 
One thing I have noticed is this. I have dealt with some of the best dealers out there.

Guys that would give you the shirt off their back to make you satisfied.

However, once in a while they run into a "unique customer" and well there just is no satisfying that customer, no matter what.

That is the way of the world unfortunately.

On top of that now, we all got to deal with "Karen" and "Ken" now :rolleyes:

Go Brandon.
Couldn't say it better myself.
 
Newly purchased products should perform to spec. If they don't, out of the box, then sending the customer to the manufacturer deal with an issue should be a secondary course of action- secondary to replacing that new item with another out of your inventory.
You do business the way you see fit.
Caveat emptor.
 
Thats not at all what that means. Im sorry if you have had a bad experience but id like to resolve any issues you may have if possible.
If your initials are BH, you can review my email to you (initials jl) on 12/13 for the purpose of reviewing what you did with your opportunity to resolve my issue in a manner consistent with the practices of every other vendor I've ever dealt with in this industry. That's why you're getting dragged in a public forum.
 
I picked up a scope from him last week. Everything went as it should, shipped same day. Ben even called to confirm my shipping address. Based on my experience, GTG.
 
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I picked up a scope from him last week. Everything went as it should, shipped same day. Ben even called to confirm my shipping address. Based on my experience, GTG.

Yes, credit where credit is due. My order was also processed and shipped, AKA "the bare minimum." If that plus the gentle reassurance of empty words like:

"Our goal is to assure every customer is satisfied and wants to order from us again," or "id like to resolve any issues you may have if possible."

is satisfactory, by all means trade with these folks. If you'd rather do business with an outfit that understands that every transaction is an opportunity to secure a customer for life, look elsewhere. They're in the overwhelming majority in the firearms industry.
 
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I've ordered from them and had no issues, but honestly the proof in the pudding is how issues are handled and from stories in many areas, including screen grabs of emails, they do not handle issues very well.

They do go the extra mile to make you aware what you're buying in terms of NV tho, I just wouldn't buy from them again based on what I've seen others go through.
 
Newly purchased products should perform to spec. If they don't, out of the box, then sending the customer to the manufacturer deal with an issue should be a secondary course of action- secondary to replacing that new item with another out of your inventory.
You do business the way you see fit.
Caveat emptor.
^^THIS^^

I recently picked up a set of higher end NV Bino's from a smaller authorized dealer of NVD (NVdevices.com), one side would not fully focus, contacted the company and instead of mailing them in for warranty repair (which I fully expected would be the case) the manager said: "...since warranty lead times are weeks if not months out, I don't want you to be without the equipment you just paid for, I've got a new unit sitting right here I will swap you out with."

No pushback, no BS, just solved the problem and understood the idea that a NEW item should work and if it doesn't you make good on your promised transaction. Took less than 12 minutes on the phone and it was in process.
 
Edit.....No pushback, no BS, just solved the problem and understood the idea that a NEW item should work and if it doesn't you make good on your promised transaction. Took less than 12 minutes on the phone and it was in process.
This. It's nice to hear that some vendors still give a shit and don't have to be reminded of really simple business ethics.
 
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^^THIS^^

I recently picked up a set of higher end NV Bino's from a smaller authorized dealer of NVD (NVdevices.com), one side would not fully focus, contacted the company and instead of mailing them in for warranty repair (which I fully expected would be the case) the manager said: "...since warranty lead times are weeks if not months out, I don't want you to be without the equipment you just paid for, I've got a new unit sitting right here I will swap you out with."

No pushback, no BS, just solved the problem and understood the idea that a NEW item should work and if it doesn't you make good on your promised transaction. Took less than 12 minutes on the phone and it was in process.
Yes, I've had a loaner scope literally cross paths en route with a warranty return with a documented tracking issue. Kosher Surplus exists on the far other end of the CS spectrum.

So here's my tale of woe. The TLDR version is that Kosher Surplus is the worst e-merchant I have ever dealt with, cat food to carbines, by at least an order of magnitude.

I got a heads up from a friend for a good deal (or so it seemed at the time) on a Steiner DBAL. I had never heard of Kosher Surplus, checked around, including this thread in its infancy, assumed at least a baseline level of integrity absent any negative feedback that I could find, and pulled the trigger.

The unit was defective right out of the box. It happens; just a minor annoyance at this stage. I contacted Kosher Surplus:

Comment or Message
I'll need to return the DBAL-I2 for exchange, order # #### The IR laser cannot be boresighted. The unit arrived with the elevation adjustment at the full clockwise extent of its travel rather than the factory neutral position. When I attempted the manufacturer's factory neutral reset procedure for the elevation adjustment I noted that there were no tactile clicks, and that the index mark on the adjustment knob was not present. I confirmed through my PVS 14 that moving the elevation knob produced no discernible change in the POI at 10 yards. Visible laser function is nominal.

and an entity that identified itself as"Benny Harrens" responded. No idea if such a person actually exists; could very well just be a sock puppet for the registered owner of Kosher Surplus, Benjamin Danziger.

Kosher Surplus just threw up its hands and said "not our problem."

On Dec 13, 2021, at 3:08 PM, Benny Harrens <[email protected]> wrote:

Sorry for the issue.

Please fill out a rma repair form on steiner USA website. Once they reply with a RMA NUMBER send it to me and I will have them send you a label and expedite the repair.

I responded:

Steiner is quoting 8-10 weeks to even look at a product that was defective right out of the box. Here’s the deal. Either you stand by the products you sell or you don’t. What’s it going to be?

Kosher Surplus:

They will send you a label and do a two week turn around. We have a special arrangement for these units.

Keep that two-week/"special arrangement" thing in mind. It comes up again. Needless to say this wasn't satisfactory to me:

Sorry, not interested in a nebulous promise of performance. What would be acceptable to me would be you accepting the return of the defective merchandise, exchanging it with an item from stock. Then you can use your special relationship with the manufacturer to resolve the issue.

Kosher Surplus:

We can’t accept returns once it’s been opened. We have no way to verify or fix the issue. Steiner will send you a label and have it fixed in 2 weeks. Everyone has gotten their unit back quickly that has had issues.

Send me the RMA number when you have it and we will make sure Steiner sends you a label promptly and gets any issues fixed.

Thank you

Ben
At this point I had to concede that Kosher Surplus had defeated me. I had initiated a return with the manufacturer as a contingency. The turnaround time they quoted was appalling, but the cherry on top of this shit sundae was the following exchange.

Moi:

the vendor claims to have a "special arrangement" with you. Can you please resolve the difference between their claim of a 2 week turnaround:

"They will send you a label and do a two week turn around. We have a special arrangement for these units. "

and the stated 8-10 weeks on your website?

Steiner:

LOL, no such thing as a two week turn around. Please tell me who said that at Kosher so I can yell at them.

So there you have it. The best case scenario here is that Kosher Surplus has a personnel problem in that the public face of the company is a lying POS. If that is indeed the case and someone with the juice to make this right reads this and wants to do so I will gladly make a public acknowledgement of same. Otherwise unless you need something like <checks notes> .45 ACP tracers, avoid Kosher Surplus like the plague. There's nothing else that you need that they sell that you can't get from far better people.
 
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As someone who has had multiple 6 figure months with Steiner, they don't do special agreements. The only time there is wiggle room is if it's a bulk order for LEO/MIL. I wasn't going to say anything about this company as I've never done business but anyone who lies to there customers about something small like a $1400 DBAL-D2, probably won't be around for much longer.
 
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Wow, just wow. You said it was bad but I didn’t think it would be THAT bad.

Steiner’s response sums it up nicely.

Hopefully they make right on the transaction, although based on the communication so far, I won’t bet money on that. It appears Kosher is on the ‘Never recommend and try to discourage any of my friends or students to purchase from going forward’ list.
 
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I'm local and met Kohser in a parking lot here in Houston.

Was pretty nice as it was same day delivery and a really solid deal.

I still have my favorite dealers just because I've been using them for years and am quite loyal however if they have it in stock for a price you like...they support the hide.
 
iu
Guess that juice wasn’t worth the squeeze
 
<snip>...but anyone who lies to there customers about something small like a $1400 DBAL-D2, probably won't be around for much longer.

Actually it was just an I2 so yeah, even dumber. Look, I get it; bottom feeders gonna feed. That doesn't mean that anyone on the Hide who does a bit of diligence needs to end up as food. Outfits like this have to be a tiny minority in an industry full of stand-up people doing it the right way. There's just no reason to deal with rodents skittering around in the shadows with so many great merchants out there wanting to earn your business.

I'll add that the crazy lead time notwithstanding, the folks at Steiner have been top-notch; responsive and honest about what they can deliver. There's absolutely no reason for any of the Kosher Surplus stink to rub off on them.
 
Lets clear a few things up

1) John Little - We sold clearance lasers at 50% off retail and offered expedited repairs from Steiner and prepaid labels. We sold over 2000 lasers. We had 99%+ happy customers. We have no way to verify your boresite issue and immediately offered you an expedited RMA and a prepaid label. This is the best solution we can offer.

2) We have multiple special arrangements with Steiner. In Fact, Steiner called us just about you - Hebrew Hammer - because they thought you were associated with us. They noticed you selling full power lasers to civilians and wanted to be sure we were not related to you :)

This is the last time we will posting about this issue. We have a phone number on our home page if you would like to talk more!
 
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Lets clear a few things up

1) John Little - We sold clearance lasers at 50% off retail and offered expedited repairs from Steiner and prepaid labels. We sold over 2000 lasers. We had 99%+ happy customers. We have no way to verify your boresite issue and immediately offered you an expedited RMA and a prepaid label. This is the best solution we can offer.

Oh man, where to start? Oh wait...how about the offer of "special arrangement, 2 week turnaround?" Nothing I could say about your lack of integrity could top that. Steiner's handled the entire return from soup to nuts. They've been honest. That's all I ask of any man.

2) We have multiple special arrangements with Steiner. In Fact, Steiner called us just about you - Hebrew Hammer - because they thought you were associated with us. They noticed you selling full power lasers to civilians and wanted to be sure we were not related to you :)

What the Actual Fuck? I wouldn't know who Hebrew Hammer was if he walked up and bit me on the ass. Selling full power lasers to civilians? I am apparently in the laser business, but my niche seems to be buying them from dipshit gypsy dildo outfits. You are apparently self-aware to know that being exposed as a lying SOS is a bad thing, but not bright enough to understand that attempting to muddy the waters with this pathetic line of bullshit isn't helping. I'm not normally in the habit of giving sound advice to people I don't particularly care for but here it is: Dude, just tap. I'm not enjoying this any more than you are.

This is the last time we will posting about this issue. We have a phone number on our home page if you would like to talk more!

That's a wise course of action. You're not making much headway at the keyboard.

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They way a lot of us see it, you didn't stand behind a new product which was defective out-of-the-box....any decent retailer, myself included, would've exchanged that unit for a new one and handled the interaction w/Steiner on our own.
You don't work that way and that's clear.
Caveat emptor
 
@Fly_True Chief I know you are angry but slow your roll there as you are getting things confused. I have never done business with Kosher and therefore have no opinion on the business. They were referencing to when I posted an ad on here for some LEO buyback FP DBALs a while ago, which is legal but against Steiner Policiy so they start calling people asking who I was. This listing seems like it has gotten hysterical and realistically the majority of happy customers never leave a review so having any true concept of a business reviews is hard to do.
 
I also have refused to exchange a product for another new one before. I stand behind my products but if I'm in a situation where I cannot exchange one I have to let the manufacture handle it.
 
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@Fly_True Chief I know you are angry but slow your roll there as you are getting things confused. I have never done business with Kosher and therefore have no opinion on the business. They were referencing to when I posted an ad on here for some LEO buyback FP DBALs a while ago, which is legal but against Steiner Policiy so they start calling people asking who I was. This listing seems like it has gotten hysterical and realistically the majority of happy customers never leave a review so having any true concept of a business reviews is hard to do
Ah, yes, I missed that Kosher mentioned you and thought they were accusing the OP of selling them... Definitely my mistake. Thanks!