Ordering from SureFire.com

Ordered an executive spares carrier and 1 box of batteries a week ago Tuesday, and they still haven't shipped. You'd think an order this small would ship out pretty fast. Heck, I ordered a Nuwai TM-301X-3 from amondotech.com on the same Tuesday and had it by Friday. What gives?

I think many people dont understand that they shouldnt order from SureFire.com. I always see posts where people tell about how long it has taken for SureFire to ship, and all the backorders, and delays. If I were to order a SF, I would buy from another online retailer. Good luck with the orders, hope it all works out.

I called Surefire the other day to order a Beast and was told that they were all out. Probably a blessing. But the exact words of the customer service guy was "With the current situation in the middle east we are selling everything but the dust on the floor pretty much as fast as we can make it." They are more geared towards selling directly to dealers and government agencies than individuals. I buy for a law enforcement agency and get a substantial discount from them (25% off MSRP). However I find it faster to buy what I personally want from sellers on CPF or ebay.

My experiences have been relatively good with two exceptions. Several months ago, I ordered some batteries on line. The order just didn't "take," as I found out months later when ordering the Beast via phone. Sales rep could "see" my limbo order, but limbo it remains. (I ordered more batts with the Beast.) I was told I would be called when it was ready for pick-up. (They're local to me.) Three days later, I called them and was told "yeah, it's ready." Many other orders have been very satisfactory.

Yesterday, I ordered a bunch of batteries via phone. I'll post back when they arrive via UPS.

Larry

Whenever I order anything the first thing I do is check that they have stock. I'll pay more to have it now from somebody who has it ready to ship.

Smaller, Brighter, Backordered.

My advice is to find a CPF Supporting SureFire Dealer who has stock and buy from them. If you building a good relationship with them they may be able to get things from SureFire that SureFire don't even realise they have... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Nearly every flashlight order from Surefire the last month has shipped within 2 days. Zero backorders, except on MN 01 bulbs. I guess I've been lucky so far.

Never order from SF. this only my opinion but it obviously
is not the only one.

In the fall i ordered two KL-1 head's and I was sent only one. Despite the fact i had ordered batteries,(that sucked and failed)and received catalog's when I called to find out why, i was told I was not in there system and they had no record of me buying anything.

Long story short after going round with them for 3 mth's, and giving them my card # to search for the sale, I received
an E-mail to call stewart who kept refering to me a "Robert"
and i needed to send my CC info to him which cost's me $7.50to obtain from my bank to show it went through. I asked stew if i would then receive 7.50 in credit, and he said no, but you'll receive an apology.

That did it...

After all this then not even knowing who the credit card # belonged to
(not robert i am sure /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif ) I told him I would never buy light's from SF direct again and most likely sue in indiana small claim's, for non delivery but in spirit mostly out of a breach of trust and possible
identity theft if that CC # had got in the wrong hand's.

As of now i have not done so, but i am still giving it thought.

Aside from HDS there my favorite light maker and it's a poor
sight to see there disregard for CS (my time between mail or phone call's on this matter was usually 3 wk's)

Many friends have said to me, why don't you just show them the statement's, my answer is that it the principal, and ethical short coming's that are well noted. And maybe in the future after the owner get's paper in the mail it will get addressed and help other's. VDG

I find that for small specialty companies who run both a distributor-based AND an online store, they ALWAYS give the store the lowest priority, backordered or not, customer waiting, or not.

I got so fed up with ordering from Apple direct that I cancelled and went directly to a store. Got my Mac in minutes, SAME price, INSTANT pickup ("Here, this box is yours").

Would highly recommend cancelling your direct order and ordering from a good reseller with known stock, great communication and ready to ship immediately. There are two that I can think of right now.

Perhaps in a way SF did me a favor by forcing me to look for resellers, because they don't take online orders from international folks, whereas there are some really great folks who do. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Thanks for the info guys, I won't order directly from SureFire anymore. Too bad they can't keep up with their website (what's the advantage of allowing direct ordering if it's so unreliable?). One wonders about all the casual SureFire buyers who see their full page ads in a magazine, go to order a flashlight, and have experiences like these. You have to think it gives a bad first impression to a lot of new buyers like me. I guess they can rely on the quality of their products, because they're hardly number one in price or service.

I just received the batteries I ordered by phone monday. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Larry

Larry,

No fair 'cuz your on the freeway at Bristol, N on the 405 and and by the time your engine thermostat reaches 'Normal' you're at Brookhurst and in the SF parking lot.

Everyone should ask larry to order SF products for them /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif at an extra payment of course....

Here's two CPFers that can get you almost any SF light or accessory at a good price and with good service:

[email protected] (brightflashlites)

[email protected] (jcciv)

[ QUOTE ]
Flashlightboy said:
Larry,

No fair 'cuz your on the freeway at Bristol, N on the 405 and and by the time your engine thermostat reaches 'Normal' you're at Brookhurst and in the SF parking lot.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nah, it's N on the 405 to Euclid and very close to a Fry's. From home, it's 10 mi of surface streets. I had them sent UPS ground to the Irvine work addy. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Larry