That's not good. I was of the understanding that they were already shipping EPR rets, that's are mil. I paid 4-17 for mine. I'm beginning to wonder if they are really shipping scopes.
Rifle Scopes The Arken Optics Thread (merged)
- Thread starter Banango
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Does Arken offer any kind of AD mil discount? Wouldn't mind trying one, but with all the shills kind of seems sketchy? Are there any actual owners who can compare them with equivalent scopes?
I've discussed it with the owner personally, about the dealers who were going gung-ho on the forums and various other things, he seems like a very stand-up guy to me, and I was comfortable after discussing with him the situation in letting them keep my payment and waiting for the scope.
After playing with the Athlon Argos last weekend, I wasn't overly impressed (I know, it's their lower line) with the turrets AT ALL, the glass was fair, but not spectacular. Personally, I wouldn't pay for it - it's borrowed. Based on the reviews from folks who have them, I thought it was worth waiting, personally. So... I wait a while longer. I'm not going to wait forever, no, but I don't expect that once the supply chain issues are fixed there will be any more major problems, long term.
Let's face it, folks, these guys had what looks/looked to be a solid, good product at a new lower price point than a lot of the market, and they got reamed in the ass by the COVID-19 pandemic when the worst economic slowdown in modern human history hit the global market. FFS, people, even AMAZON has been taking weeks and months to deliver normal goods to people... and who has a better supply and distribution network than Jeff Freaking Bezos??? And everyone's worried because some small new company got their supply chain shattered?
Personally, I'm not ready (yet) to drop $1-2k+ on a scope for my new rifle, so I thought this was a decent option. And WHY am I such a f***ing cheapskate right now???? Oh, I don't know, maybe because I just dropped $6k+ on a new rifle in this project/hobby and THEN got my income cut in HALF for the last 4 months? And at least another 2-3 months more, looking like?
Yeah, I could request a refund and buy something else, but I'd have to double what I'm spending to get what I'm hoping to get, at LEAST. So... I'll wait a bit. If that's not for you, then cool, it's not for you. I'm willing to take the risk.
After playing with the Athlon Argos last weekend, I wasn't overly impressed (I know, it's their lower line) with the turrets AT ALL, the glass was fair, but not spectacular. Personally, I wouldn't pay for it - it's borrowed. Based on the reviews from folks who have them, I thought it was worth waiting, personally. So... I wait a while longer. I'm not going to wait forever, no, but I don't expect that once the supply chain issues are fixed there will be any more major problems, long term.
Let's face it, folks, these guys had what looks/looked to be a solid, good product at a new lower price point than a lot of the market, and they got reamed in the ass by the COVID-19 pandemic when the worst economic slowdown in modern human history hit the global market. FFS, people, even AMAZON has been taking weeks and months to deliver normal goods to people... and who has a better supply and distribution network than Jeff Freaking Bezos??? And everyone's worried because some small new company got their supply chain shattered?
Personally, I'm not ready (yet) to drop $1-2k+ on a scope for my new rifle, so I thought this was a decent option. And WHY am I such a f***ing cheapskate right now???? Oh, I don't know, maybe because I just dropped $6k+ on a new rifle in this project/hobby and THEN got my income cut in HALF for the last 4 months? And at least another 2-3 months more, looking like?
Yeah, I could request a refund and buy something else, but I'd have to double what I'm spending to get what I'm hoping to get, at LEAST. So... I'll wait a bit. If that's not for you, then cool, it's not for you. I'm willing to take the risk.
I'm in the same boat. I'll give them one more month. I have waited 8 weeks. I'll wait till 12 then I'm getting a refund and getting a strike eagle or another viper gen 2. I keep hearing on FB they have the scopes but I dont see people receiving them.
There are 2 pages one is arken optics USA info. That is a page of a guy that is in with Arken. That has more info. Arken never updates there page.
. Your post is well said. I believe these guys deserve a chance to succeed. I have been waiting since January 21st (approximate order date) and for the same reasons you mentioned (value) I'm willing to wait. While I've only personally handled an sh4 and I've order an ep4, the evidence points to the fact that there just isn't another scope that offers the feature set and quality that these offer (based on the preponderance of evidence. Who knows, I might hate it, but I'm not giving up now! I'm guessing that I should be one of the first to receive a scope from the order that is said to have arrived at Arken in Texas. Since they test, for quality, every scope that they receive, I'd expect another short delay. I will post when my scope arrives.
As far as Facebook is concerned. I've always hated it for the gossip rag it is! I don't get why anyone would want to be part of it(?)! To each his own. I did, finally, in search of information, go looking. Like you I found nothing until I google searched "Arken Optics groups". There you'll get erratic updates.
months and months later and still no word on when I could be on its way being left in the dark feels swell .
I think a brief message from Arken on one or all of their social media channels would probably help restore some confidence for those who have purchased (myself included) and those who might be thinking about it. I got an email from them on the 25th of March and the 25th of April, but since then, it's been silence and that's not the best look.
I agree, but for those of us who detest social media( I know I'm not alone), posting updates on their website, as a starting point, would be best!
I have no doubt that they are working their tails off right now but a quick update from time to time would surely help those in doubt, hang on for a while longer.
I agree and would include their website as part of the social media channels, if not THE channel with which to connect to your audience. Heck, I'd be willing to help them out on it while they focus on the product.
Good idea! Go for it!
That's all fine and dandy but I just went looking and can't find that post. I'm sure that it is my ignorance about how facebook works but I am not interested in figuring out, nor will I ever be interested in figuring it out. You can say that I'm just being bull headed, fine, but ignoring a sizable portion of a customer base by only posting updates on social media isn't very business savy!!!
Whats crazy they keep taking peoples money and no product delivery.
Agree, just giving people the update I saw.
Email response from around midnight:
" We are now starting to receive EP4's in June with the MIL version EPR reticles, next coming soon the MOA's and later in June for the SHR reticles as they start coming in weekly. But with the past demand and virus impacts they will go out based on the date of your purchase as we do have some folks that have waited a very long time. We hope to send out most in June and into July for later orders and SHR reticles. "
Sounds ok to me, I should be pretty close. I placed my order for the EP4 with the MIL EPR on Feb 3rd. I would 'expect' based on that, I should be one of the ones to be coming up to ship in the next few weeks. I sure hope so.
<Edit> If I like what I get, and they get their supply line worked out to where the wait isn't a month or more, or if they are in stock anywhere, I might order more. I most certainly won't if I know there is a possibility of waiting 2 months or more. I think they'll get it worked out, and if they are as nice as some people have said, I think they will have a great following and business will take off.
Lots of "ifs" there, though.
" We are now starting to receive EP4's in June with the MIL version EPR reticles, next coming soon the MOA's and later in June for the SHR reticles as they start coming in weekly. But with the past demand and virus impacts they will go out based on the date of your purchase as we do have some folks that have waited a very long time. We hope to send out most in June and into July for later orders and SHR reticles. "
Sounds ok to me, I should be pretty close. I placed my order for the EP4 with the MIL EPR on Feb 3rd. I would 'expect' based on that, I should be one of the ones to be coming up to ship in the next few weeks. I sure hope so.
<Edit> If I like what I get, and they get their supply line worked out to where the wait isn't a month or more, or if they are in stock anywhere, I might order more. I most certainly won't if I know there is a possibility of waiting 2 months or more. I think they'll get it worked out, and if they are as nice as some people have said, I think they will have a great following and business will take off.
Lots of "ifs" there, though.
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Lots of ifs. But from what I've seen and experienced the company, provided it's managed properly, will become a player in the budget scope market. They appear to be a company that is a victim of it's own success. Decent product at a decent price with higher than expected demand caught up in a shipping nightmare because of the timing of a pandemic that no one could predict. As for taking money, as long as they can ship in the 10 weeks they expect since posting that then it's on the customer if they feel like waiting. Having played with one of their scopes, I don't mind waiting. I'm sure there will be kinks to work out and changes to be made like increasing the size of the center dot on the EP4 reticle and such but it seems like they are listening and making changes. The hard part for them will be dealing with the growing pains and coming out the other side unscathed. I hope for nothing but the best for them. But, lots of ifs.
I reached out to Arken to see if they could give me some sort of update on my order and got nearly the same response that ep1985 posted earlier. While it is nice that they responded quickly, I found the response a little tone deaf. Here's the most relevant part:
Why is it tone deaf? For starters, the "we do have some customers that have older orders from late Jan/Feb" line is not helpful to me since I am one of those individuals and I included my order number in my inquiry. I don't know if the CS rep is able to look up order information but trust me, I know people have been waiting a long time. I think I speak for a lot of us when what I wanted to know was when will the wait be over. I guess June and into July is the best guess.
The response just left a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe I'm being a bit selfish but I wanted to vent somewhere.
So to recap, I asked about my order and got a generic response which did not give me much assurance.
Why is it tone deaf? For starters, the "we do have some customers that have older orders from late Jan/Feb" line is not helpful to me since I am one of those individuals and I included my order number in my inquiry. I don't know if the CS rep is able to look up order information but trust me, I know people have been waiting a long time. I think I speak for a lot of us when what I wanted to know was when will the wait be over. I guess June and into July is the best guess.
The response just left a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe I'm being a bit selfish but I wanted to vent somewhere.
So to recap, I asked about my order and got a generic response which did not give me much assurance.
As posted on another Arken thread, I ordered an EP4 6-24 EPR January 21st and received it on 6/15. Based on the other received scopes it appears they certainly are shipping by order date. Variable shipping distances will make it imperfect. I thought this might alleviate some stress. We were/are just wanting information. Hope this helps!
Thanks for the update and it is helpful. I guess I was looking for something more like this from their customer service comms (i.e. we are currently processing Jan. orders and expect to get to Feb orders in a week or two). Glad to hear you got what you ordered.
My guess is based on my experience running a one man business. If Arken consists of 2 or 3 total employees or just the owners, then taking time to deal with the flood of emails concerning shipping dates could be a nightmare. There may be no customer service department. From what I can see the response answers the question. To have to stop what you are doing (packing io scopes for shipment, talking to shipping reps, dealers etc) to research an order date and then estimate a ship date based on product shipments that may or may not have arrived yet takes time.
For what it's worth I've been dealing with a return/exchange. Each of my 4 emails was answered within 24 hours by Mike the owner. This leads me to believe that there is no customer service. Just a few guys trying to build a company. He also explained my preferred scope (SHR) would not be here til the end of the month to early July. My answer was no problem. It arrives when it arrives. Simply the growing pains of a small company that appears to be doing something right with it's product. I like the scope enough that I'm fine with the wait. Try got caught up in a nightmare and I'm willing to give them a shot. For the price how could I not.
For what it's worth I've been dealing with a return/exchange. Each of my 4 emails was answered within 24 hours by Mike the owner. This leads me to believe that there is no customer service. Just a few guys trying to build a company. He also explained my preferred scope (SHR) would not be here til the end of the month to early July. My answer was no problem. It arrives when it arrives. Simply the growing pains of a small company that appears to be doing something right with it's product. I like the scope enough that I'm fine with the wait. Try got caught up in a nightmare and I'm willing to give them a shot. For the price how could I not.
I'm really trying to wait. I know there are alot of people that have waited alot longer. I hit my 8 week mark yesterday and I will wait the 10 weeks promised. At the 10 day mark I'm getting my money back and buying another viper gen 2. I really feel like shipping is going crazy slow and they are putting out no info. They have 600 from all of us and know they have scopes incoming or in house and are not putting out anything. I'm trying hard to be patient but come on put some effort in this and give us info. I also got the generic reply a couple weeks ago with no time frame at all. I was told on facebook 2 weeks ago that the scopes are in, and between FB and snipers hide I have seen 2 delivered scopes. Come on they have a bunch to deliver and it dont seem like many going out.
Being on the "order phofild" side of this, having experienced nearly five months of wait and also being frustrated by all the excrement that hit the fan - I'd wait if I was you!
I should have checked my spelling on my previous post. At first I thought it wouldn't matter (I'm probably not the only redneck on here) then I realized somebody just might think I did not receive my scope. Just to be clear - I did get it! Testing in progress.
I guess I am wanting to vent also. I have had 2 EPR 6-24 SHR MOA scopes ordered since Feb. 26 and being told a date, having it extended(twice), and now reading posts on here and the Arken Optics info page on Facebook...…. it is frustrating. I was told the EPR line was coming in "any day now" on May 12 and the moderator on the Facebook page said "Elvis was in the building " on June 12! If that was "any day now", then SHR's coming in at the end of June is male bovine excrement. Since they have had my money for almost 4 months and I am a dealer, I believe that information should be more available. You can't sell a
product that you can't get and asking for money for a product that takes 5 months to deliver would get me tarred and feathered. I'm sure the ChiComs are giving the guys at Arken the same run around as we are getting, but it doesn't change the fact that I don't have my money and I don't have the scopes after 4 months. Sorry this was so long for my first post. Being an Arken dealer is like being a mushroom...….kept in the dark and fed male bovine excrement!
product that you can't get and asking for money for a product that takes 5 months to deliver would get me tarred and feathered. I'm sure the ChiComs are giving the guys at Arken the same run around as we are getting, but it doesn't change the fact that I don't have my money and I don't have the scopes after 4 months. Sorry this was so long for my first post. Being an Arken dealer is like being a mushroom...….kept in the dark and fed male bovine excrement!
Still waiting on my scope, I didnt purchase until April 30th. So I'm sure I have alot longer. The good thing I will say about Arken is they seem to ship fast when they do have items in stock. I ordered some rings a week or so ago and got them within 3 to 4 days. So maybe when everything gets back to normal worldwide they will start getting scopes in and shipping fast. At least that's what I'm telling myself.
Wow. You were actually given dates? I can see why you're upset. I think the thing that set me into negative territory is when they started telling people to order EP4's again and to hurry because and I quote 'history'. Again, I admit I'm selfish here, but it is not a good look in my opinion to try and sell more of the product that you have been unable to produce for those who have already bought it. OK. I'm done complaining until at least July, I promise. Hope they ship soon.
You guys should have been Seals. There is no quit in you no matter what. I'm impressed.
Get butt hurt much buddy. I was perfectly calm in my post, but man you sure got your feelings hurt. I'm sorry you are so emotionally invested in this company. I do not argue with people online and that seems to be what u want so have a good day you seem like you need one.
I'm trying to just havent seen much flow in 2 weeks but well see how things go. I hope they get this figured out because they seem to have a good thing going.
Southern custom over his little rant towards me. I tried to put his quote with it 2 times but it never came up. He seems to just want to argue with someone guess I was the target today.
I don't understand why people are getting frustrated an angry, really. If you want your money back to go buy something else, it seems like everyone that has requested this has gotten it in a reasonably quick timeframe (a week or so, I think I read). If you want to buy something else because you're tired of waiting, then no one is stopping you, and no one is trying to tell you you won't get this opportunity again.
If this is a legitimate company with plans and the ability to put out a good product at this pricepoint, they will still be around 6 months from now if/when you are in the market for another optic. This isn't some single-run "better get it now before it disappears forever" kind of deal. If it turns out the company screws everyone, you'll be happy you jumped ship and can say, "I told you so." If not and they get back on the reliable production/delivery train, you'll be able to get them later, or the newer model when they come out as an upgrade.
Relax, people... if you're tired of waiting, then get your money back, I haven't heard any reports of anyone requesting a refund who got the run-around, have any of you? Maybe they're out there and I just don't know about them.
If this is a legitimate company with plans and the ability to put out a good product at this pricepoint, they will still be around 6 months from now if/when you are in the market for another optic. This isn't some single-run "better get it now before it disappears forever" kind of deal. If it turns out the company screws everyone, you'll be happy you jumped ship and can say, "I told you so." If not and they get back on the reliable production/delivery train, you'll be able to get them later, or the newer model when they come out as an upgrade.
Relax, people... if you're tired of waiting, then get your money back, I haven't heard any reports of anyone requesting a refund who got the run-around, have any of you? Maybe they're out there and I just don't know about them.
If you don't understand why people are unhappy may I suggest you expand your understanding. I can only speak for me, but I don't really want my money back (at least not yet). I want the product I purchased. Now, nowhere in the agreement to purchase an item from Arken is the requirement that I or anyone else has to be happy about waiting for it, especially when said company has already accepted payment. The obligation is on them to deliver.
My issue isn't so much with Arken as it is with the de facto official Facebook group. The admin wants to be a reseller for Arken. Nothing wrong with that. In his zeal to promote and sell Arken products he's given what essentially amounts to false hope. In May "They're on the boat". Early June "Elvis is in the building" and such. People told that the product would ship late May early June are still waiting. I can understand why people might be upset. If there is a run on Arken for refunds, it might have something to do with people making promises that Arken the company can't deliver. There's only so many times you can say "they're coming" before people stop believing you.
I'm attaching a screenshot of the most recent example. He posted a copy of what he claims is an actual post from the Arken that was made June 21st. I can't find it on Arken's actual FB page but that could just be FB being stupid. However, the copy of the post the guy included, it shows a timestamp of two weeks ago. Again, people generally get upset when they're being lied to or feel like they're being lied to. It's never a good sign when you have to qualify things with "if they're a legit company" mostly because of someone else well intentioned or otherwise is running bad PR. Again, the burden is on Arken to prove us all wrong and deliver.
I have my own deadline for when I will request a refund. Should that time come, these will be the reasons I give.
Same here. I was fine with waiting till I got it. But then here come all these post saying there on the way. Then that Arken has the scopes and 3 weeks later not one person that is in the groups that has bought one in Feb has got a scope. From what I'm seeing they havent covered all the Jan. Orders but they have been shipping for 3 weeks. Come on, this is a little crazy and they have even said that there aren't that many Jan orders left when covid hit. I will wait till the middle of July which will be well over my 10 weeks that was promised on the high side. That point I will no longer be a Arken customer. I'll just buy another Viper gen 2 and be happy with my 3 day shipping. I like to support a new company but I can only take so many failed promises and there coming post before I'm out. Right or wrong I feel that's fair.
EPR
They finally got to Feb. Hope they are starting to speed up.
I'm shocked. SHOCKED, I tell you!
FYI, I placed my order in Feb and just got mine in the mail today.
Mine came today unexpectedly. The shipping notice apparently went to my junk mail and I didn't see it.
As noted above, this thing is a tank. I am super impressed with the feel and build quality so far, just a quick look.
Rest easy people, they ARE delivering.
Just looking though the optic looking out my back door, the glass looks extremely nice to me. Quite nice. I don't have any experience with super high-end stuff, so that's all I can say, but I like it. A lot.
I gotta buy some rings or a mount, now. Dangit, I wish I'd have noticed the shipping email so I could have gotten a mount in by now.
As noted above, this thing is a tank. I am super impressed with the feel and build quality so far, just a quick look.
Rest easy people, they ARE delivering.
Just looking though the optic looking out my back door, the glass looks extremely nice to me. Quite nice. I don't have any experience with super high-end stuff, so that's all I can say, but I like it. A lot.
I gotta buy some rings or a mount, now. Dangit, I wish I'd have noticed the shipping email so I could have gotten a mount in by now.
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