PERSEC, warranties, and the state of manufacturing

[Totem Polar]

So, the Mrs. and I are standing in line at the local coffeeshop the other day. In comes a young lady (late 20s) who we know because she and a friend used to come to our concerts a lot, back when she was in school. She’s a neat lady, but probably to the left of Susan Sarandon, if not exactly Alexandria OC. She’s wearing her Fedex uni, as she has taken on a delivery position while she raises a kid and goes back to school part time to add a masters to her degree track.

"Hey, I figured out where you live," she starts, since she delivers to our neighborhood. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, I delivered a small box to your place with your name on it; I didn’t know you lived at the place with the cool artwork..."

The deal is, we do live in a place that is a tad unique, but we don’t advertise it, because I am an insanely private person, on my own time. We talk about the art, and how we got the house, and who we bought it from (another well-known local musician). We just let the unspoken question about the box hang in the air, like breath clouds in winter, and gladly see it dissipate in similar fashion.

I have no prob with a casual friend knowing where we live. The fact is, however, she’s no dummy; she knows why a box that size would require an adult signature, and need to be returned to the FedEx hub for pick up.

It doesn’t matter who the manufacturer was; they’re all possessed of largely similar track records at this point. Regardless, they seemed to think it was a good idea to overnight air a return on dec 24th, to be delivered on the 26th, when we were out of town visiting family. To make matters more gritting, this was the second time that the same gun was returned for warranty repair.

That particular breach of PERSEC is 100 percent on the manufacturer, and their industry-wide half-assed QC, and follow up. Bad enough to open up a window on one return, to say nothing of two, and the holiday ship.

I have bought my last piece, unless it is way old at a gunshow table, or way new from Davidsons—since the dealer can handle any warranty returns for me. Seriously, I’m done buying guns that I can’t shoot first for testing.

That is all.

[Gater]

That.

I had a slide sent in to a mfg for examination erroneously delivered to a neighbor, despite a supposed signature required return shipment (and the fact that I was at home at the time...). The return address on the box definitely caught my neighbor's attention. No issues with that neighbor, but you never know what is going to happen.

[Wendell]

I think that your concern in this specific case is probably unwarranted, because one gun box doesn't equal a motive for burglary (in my mind), but I do admire your dedication.

It reminds me of that old saying: “Take care of the pence, and the pounds will take care of themselves.”

[OlongJohnson]

Delivery drivers are very familiar with the package density and rattle of ammo.

One might be able to process a warranty shipment through an FFL anyway, but then it would have to go back to the FFL and you'd have to do a 4473 to get it. In Pugetopolis, it's going to be much worse than that, sadly.

[Gater]

Not to mention ORM-D labels.

I worked for a freight carrier, and there's every reason to suspect some delivery drivers--and others in the system--are up to no good. In my case, though, the issue was that their mistake (and the manufacturer's obvious labeling) resulted in a neighbor (who at that point had no idea I owned guns) in possession of part of one of mine--and both aware of what it was and under the impression that he had been delivered a complete weapon. It resulted in a "conversation". All good, but another house might have had a different result.

[olstyn]

Delivery drivers are very familiar with the package density and rattle of ammo.

Some are more aware than others. I once had a mailman ask me if the ~70 pound box I had just received from Montana Gold was, in fact, filled with gold.

[RJ]

Not to mention ORM-D labels.

I was bemused the other day when the package with my spray can of Ballistol in it from Amazon Prime had ‘ORM-D’ on it. Guess it was the aerosol.

[olstyn]

I was bemused the other day when the package with my spray can of Ballistol in it from Amazon Prime had ‘ORM-D’ on it. Guess it was the aerosol.

I used to work in receiving for a major retail chain, so I saw a ton of boxes with that labeling over the years I worked there. ORM-D is, at least as far as I'm aware, kind of a catch all for *any* sort of hazmat. Given that Ballistol is both a solvent and an aerosol, it makes sense to me that it would have that labeling.

[Totem Polar]

The deal on my end is that we have a large property crime problem, per capita, in my city. I figure the best security is if nobody knows I own anything worth stealing. I take pains to carry any long guns out in sterile rectangles that look more like a cheap electric bass than an expensive carbine. When I buy something new (admittedly, an occurrence happening with alarming frequency as I shore up things before the next legislative session), it comes onto the property in a generic messenger bag, or in from my trunk after dark. All my ammo goes to a ups store rental box (as do my NRA print rags and Midway packages) so there is a layer of separation there.

It’s probably fine, and I’m not going to lose sleep over some existential worry that a B&E syndicate is now targeting me, because of having a gun delivered to me (twice).

But, dammit, if the maker had their QC squared away, I wouldn’t have had *any* deliveries to my porch this year, let alone 2 in 2 months.

That’s all I’m saying.

[rcbusmc24]

I have every single gun ,gear and ammo related item shipped to a buddys gunstore. It gets signed for and placed in the back with the other shipments and I can stop and pick it up later that day.... not a solution for everyone but keeps packages from chilling an my door and they only deliver to buisinesses during open hours.