MidwayUSA COMES THROUGH AGAIN

[murf205]

I received my MidwayUSA order today and it was a disaster. It consisted of 2 boxes of 70gr Speer .224, a 22 cal jag, a can of Ballistol and a 6oz bottle of Montana Extreme bore solvent. I knew something was amiss when I looked in the mailbox and the smell almost knocked me down. The bore solvent had a dent in the can and the contents were spilled al inside the box, even inside the bullet boxes. The 22 cal jag was black as soot and the Ballistol was 1/2 empty. 3 of the packing pillows were flat which allowed (I guess) the contents to ramble around for 500 miles in heaven knows what kind of environment. I called MidwayUSA and the customer service guy (Keith) asked for some pics which I sent and he immediately reordered the entire order. Not many companies like this around anymore and I am thankful they serve our interest. Thanks Mr Potterfield.296069296070296071

[Gtek]

Yes they do seem to handle the situation after call is made. That said, who eats the losses? Between the one STRIP of tape over top of the box, the carriers banging, tossing, dropping of package contest of mutilation between the humans and machines it is a wonder we get anything usable. Sorry a little to soon, just received a mess myself. 1K of x39 in twenty round boxes in the 1K factory box. It was placed alone in a box several inches larger in width, length and height. Well it looked to have been dropped from a roof and almost two hundred rounds floating around inside the larger. Counted out and amazingly all there and somehow none escaped the split ends of outer. I am sure the projectiles are all still straight as an arrow in neck. :rolleyes:

[TNsailorman]

Yes, I have received a damaged package or two in the last year. The trouble seems to be those almost useless plastic bags. They do not do well at holding the contents in place to keep them from battering around in the package. The old bubble wrap or foam kernel's were much better at that. And Midway is not the only one quilty of this kind of faulty packaging. james

[murf205]

Heck, I ordered a recoil pad and it came in with a broken plastic backer that fits next to the stock. A RECOIL PAD of all things! I guess if it gets cold enough and you throw the package enough you can break anything.

[Baltimoreed]

Bought a used Ruger mini 14 and they managed to break the black plastic handguard that was on the rifle, luckily not the stock. The rifle looked fine otherwise. Didn’t think it was poorly packaged but.. The seller reimbursed me 50.00.

[Froogal]

The problem seems to lie with the shipping department. Those folks need some lessons on how to pack a box. Packing pillows, bubble wrap, packing peanuts, etc. are all good products but ONLY if used properly. A product placed in the bottom of a box with pillows on top is not the way to do it. The product needs to be packed so it is cushioned on all sides, and tight enough that it cannot move around.

[Walks]

I got nothing good to say about midway.

[imashooter2]

The problem seems to lie with the shipping department. Those folks need some lessons on how to pack a box. Packing pillows, bubble wrap, packing peanuts, etc. are all good products but ONLY if used properly. A product placed in the bottom of a box with pillows on top is not the way to do it. The product needs to be packed so it is cushioned on all sides, and tight enough that it cannot move around.

1 employee packs 500 slipshod boxes a day. If 2 get damaged they are money ahead of hiring another packer.

[Outer Rondacker]

I read the title of the thread and said no way. I was correct. No way Midway did good. Sorry this happened to you. Around these parts we call that getting Midwayed.

[Mal Paso]

Amazon shipped me an 1 1/8x16" chisel point jackhammer steel in a cardboard box with air pillows. I received the box with a hole and nothing inside but flattened air bags.

TNG You are never safe from The New Guy. LOL

I just got 200 170g bullets from Midway and the packaging was pristine. I hope they showed the OP's photos to the packer and add it to their training.

[murf205]

[QUOTE=Outer Rondacker;5353912]I read the title of the thread and said no way. I was correct. No way Midway did good. Sorry this happened to you. Around these parts we call that getting Midwayed.[/QUOTE


I was just giving Midway credit for doing the right thing for not blaming the rough handling in shipping. I don't particularly care for the green pillows but the guys in shipping have to use what is available to them. At least they maned up for the loss.

[Froogal]

Amazon shipped me an 1 1/8x16" chisel point jackhammer steel in a cardboard box with air pillows. I received the box with a hole and nothing inside but flattened air bags.

TNG You are never safe from The New Guy. LOL

I just got 200 170g bullets from Midway and the packaging was pristine. I hope they showed the OP's photos to the packer and add it to their training.

Exactly. I've received only one messed up package from Midway, and they made it right. Everything else has been very well packed and shipped very quickly.

[rintinglen]

I have shopped with Midway for over 35 years now, IIRC. Are they flawless? No, but they stand behind their sales and are quick to make amends when there is a problem. It irks me when I hear somebody denigrate them because of a shipping problem, often the problem of the shipping companies reckless handling. I had a $200.00 order disappear some years back (when 200 dollars was a lot of money to me) and they replaced the order on my say so.

I do share the poor opinion to the plastic air bags though. They are not the thing to use when packing weighty objects like bullets, or large bottles, steel tools etc. I have to believe that they would be much better served by relegating them to lightweight objects like holsters, empty cartridge cases and the like. And a bit more generosity with the packing tape wouldn't hurt

[almar]

It depends on who to put the blame. Maybe midway can use better packing but maybe the shipping company can be more careful too. I received a set of dies that were so badly damaged that i had to return them, the package looked like it was in a plane crash. Midway sent me another with identical packaging and it was fine. My father in law has a buisness and often deals with UPS, he has to deal with the delivery guys chucking the packages off the truck. Some of the things are heavy like treager grills and gas powered tools and good luck getting any customer service from UPS. This is in front of the customer too, imagine in the warehouses. Its true, The bigger the company gets, the less each individual customer matters. I would argue that midway is quite big but so are these shipping companies.

[wyowillys46]

Sealing bottled liquids in a heavy bag would solve this sort of thing.

[barnabus]

I got nothing good to say about midway.

me either

[sharps4590]

I used to buy a lot from Midway, especially since they were only about 50 miles from me. Then they got a bit too expensive for my blood and their shipping costs gut just ridiculous for a while. Never had any packing difficulties or needed their customer service so, that was a good thing.

[Wooserco]

Midway has been my go-to supplier for at least 30 years. Never a problem with them.

That being said: a customer of the company that I work for in the material handling business ships motorcycle, snowmobile and lawn tractor engine parts nationwide. The loading process for the UPS trailer is this: a telescoping conveyor that starts at the nose of the trailer. As packages drop off the end of the conveyor, it is retracted. The drop is approximately 42 inches. EVERYTHING shipped from this facility is handled this way. Motorcycle batteries, glass headlamps, boxes marked "fragile, handle with care", "ship this end up" all drop off the end of the conveyor. It's not always the shipping carrier, sometimes it's the shipper.

Another customer (shoes, so not a fragile item) does something similar, but has two employees at the end of the conveyor hand stacking each and every package. Guess what shoes I buy :).

[Shawlerbrook]

Yes, the companies should package things much better, but the carriers have gotten way worse and Fedex tops the list.

[Wooserco]

Say what you want about the US Postal Service, but our rural carrier asked my wife if it was OK if he set packages on the front steps rather than walking around to the back door. That's service.

We punish the terrible UPS drivers, the one that just dropped the package in the puddle of water next to the concrete steps. We order two 35 lb. bins of cat litter at a time. I like the fact that I don't have to hoist the things into the grocery cart and pay back for dropping my package (expensive camera gear) in the puddle. Still haven't gotten a settlement from them on that.

[35 Rem]

I've not had any trouble with Midway shipping other one order that must have been packaged by a 10 year old kid. I bought 20 of the Remington 22LR cartons with 500 rounds per carton. They put this bunch of ammo boxes in one large box that was about twice as large as it needed to be so there was A LOT of room for everything to roll and flop around. Then they put a minimum of the green air bags on top of the ammo and taped it shut. If I recall correctly total weight was somewhere around 50 lbs and anybody should know that requires some significant packaging to stand up to all the handling. And you certainly can't leave an object that heavy loose to shift around inside a cardboard box. When I found it on my front porch the whole corner was gone and had been sort of patched with shipping tape by someone in UPS I'm assuming. Several boxes of ammo inside had burst open and ammo was rolling all around loose. I have no idea how many spilled out along the way. I should have called and complained but for some reason I didn't. Other than that I've been happy with Midway over the years.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Got this from Midway today. Can’t remember the last time I got such detailed information from a CEO. I’ve ordered from them probably a dozen times over the years with nary a problem. Hope they keep it up!

Dear Valued Customer,
Thanks to you, we’ve experienced tremendous growth in our business volume and number of products we offer. A couple of years ago, we projected we’d soon be out of space, so we started the largest project in company history. We’re now in the final stages of moving our Distribution Center about 5-miles down the road to a new facility, just west of Columbia, MO.

Our new Distribution Center is 400,000 square feet, with plenty of room for expansion. The unique new NITRO Express® Shipping System we’re installing consists of brand-new state-of-the-art equipment. This new system will be faster, more accurate and more efficient than our previous system.

The conveyor and product storage/retrieval speed will allow us to receive and ship products faster, meaning we’ll get products in stock quicker and your orders will arrive sooner. Increased accuracy comes from precisely picking every order and verifying the correct weight with a high-tech scale to ensure no mistakes were made. Increased efficiency comes from custom building precisely sized cartons for each order, reducing the average box size by over 30%, meaning there is less room for products to shift in transit and become damaged. The remaining area (void) in the cartons is filled with one of three different types of materials, depending on the characteristics of each order, resulting in intact deliveries. We’re building the best package possible – extremely accurate, efficient, and durable!

We’ll be completely done with our inventory and operational transition in about 2-weeks. During that time, your order may take a few days longer than normal and we’re sorry for any inconvenience this causes.

I hope you enjoy the results of our new NITRO Express® Shipping System. Thanks so much for being a valued MidwayUSA Customer!

Matt Fleming,
President & CEO

[Gtek]

I emailed Mr. Matt over a recent order and was replied to by a lackey explaining how he was helping out Mr. Matt in him answering the reply. In my correspondence I even stated I know if I have a problem and that I can call and a new extremely poorly packaged duplicate will be sent as fast as you can, because Larry's a stickler for fast ship. So here I will sit waiting hopefully just another week or so and becoming more irritated by the situation. I have ran and operated a few things in my sixty years and I also asked a question. I asked that not knowing your numbers I was curious if anyone at the big oval table had seen a cost run of man hour, item replacement cost, shipping material and a transportation cost duplication metric with all cost and where it was absorbed? That one appears to have been ignored! Understanding that ALL forms of item transport has become a sport of how hard and fast can we throw it but it seems to this layman the losses could be drastically reduced with a little more stuffing and tape.

[RKJ]

I used Midway a lot over the years and have been very pleased with them. I've got pretty much all I need (and most of what I want) so don't use them much now but I wouldn't hesitate to if needed.

[hc18flyer]

I have had very good luck with Midway over the years. However I have had heavy items loose with plastic cases that didn't have any packing material. So the plastic cartridge cases were badly damaged.

[beagle]

That might be a blessing at my house. My mailbox is mounted in a field stone pedestal. In the summer, a garter snake moves in. Substitute mail lady opened it one day and got a surprise. Came to the house in a panic. "You got a snake in your box". Sprayed it with diesel and he left. Solven might do the trick too./beagle

[LarryM]

I've been doing business with MidwayUSA for close to 20 years. I've never had a problem with an order from them.
I have had a few problems with Fedex, UPS and USPS mishandling and even misdelivering orders, and not just stuff from Midway.
Got one driver that tends to leave packages on the hood of my Jeep or tossed into the bed of my pickup. I've found packages leaned up in front of a shed beside my shop building. It would have been closer to walk to the front door.
Last Spring I had ordered some marine anti-fouling paint for my sailboat. First box showed up on the front porch, I could smell the paint 10' away, I was amazed it didn't leak out of the box. I was finally able to get two intact gallon cans of paint on the third shipping attempt, the second try never even got to the house.

[Outer Rondacker]

Well I just gave then another chance. Hope it goes well.

[murf205]

[QUOTE=Outer Rondacker;5373755]Well I just gave then another chance. Hope it goes well.[/QUOT

I hope it does too. I've been giving them 1 more chance for 30 + yrs and have the empty pockets to prove it!!

[Gtek]

Order arrival last Friday, white plastic envelope pouch with little tiny bubbles again. Two of the four items had factory packaging squish but lucky I guess no internal damage. I like to keep some items in original packaging for identification, is that a bad thing? I think I am going to spend a little more time shopping around next time!

[armoredman]

I have another order from MidwayUSA coming two days from now, and I expect it will be like the others - in good condition. In 20+ years of ordering from there I had one case where a bottle of Hoppes broke open and soaked come contents. Midway made it right.

[Outer Rondacker]

My Midway order showed its ugly face today. Came in a white plastic envelope pouch and that was it. I had ordered two six banger Lee molds. One had popped out of the box and come came apart. The one that stayed in the box was a return and had been messed with. Looks fine so whatever. I called them and they gave me a line about having to move to a new place and not having what they needed to pack stuff up. I asked why they shipped that way and they told me to save money. It is what it is. I guess I should be happy it even showed up.

[flint45]

I have been buying from Midway sense the news paper catalog days never had a problem with them. Most problems are the shippers and the 500 pound gorillas they have working for them. I don’t like the stupid little air bags though.

[Rickf1985]

I have always gotten my orders from Midway, granted some took a few weeks to get here a couple years ago. I have had many issues with the huge boxes with no packaging inside and the contents self destroying itself. They have always made good on it. I figure they have had to replace as much in money as I have paid over the years due to poor shipping. But now, The prices have jumped a lot more drastically then most of their competitors. I don't know if Larry has retired and someone else is running the show and all of a sudden they decided it is time to get rich quick but the prices have gone up so much so quick that I now go elsewhere for everything that I do not need right away. They still have decent prices on primers and powder but the kicker is the one unit limit. And they will not hold the one unit until the next day or week for you to buy more so you can save on shipping and hazmat, I did ask. So what I am seeing there is they are getting a kickback from the hazmat charges on this. Ever wonder why some people only charge 16.00 for hazmat while others charge 50.00 but they all say it is mandated by the government? The price is not set by anyone, the shipping company charges the hazmat fee to the shipper and if one company is charging 16.00 I will bet that is about the price everyone is paying, regardless of what they are charging us.