OpticsPlanet CS

[Steve S.]

Long and short, I ordered a Leupold scope last Wednesday (8/18) from this organization. The item showed shipping from Baton Rouge to Bloomington, IL then onto me (outskirts of St. Louis (MO) this Saturday (8/21) past by end of day. Then later Saturday when it was not arriving, I checked again and there was an update posted that arrival would be delayed to a Sunday arrival - the scope was now at Memphis, TN and in route. The scope has now been in route since Saturday for what is a five hour drive - it is still showing in route from Memphis as I type this.
No problem, it is probably lost. I will call OpticsPlanet CS and get this corrected. I was told that the item is in transit from Memphis - yes sir I know, it has been in transit from Memphis since Saturday; a five hour drive. I am then told that it is probably lost and I will have to put in a claim after 15 days, may take up to a month to resolve. Hold it right there pard, I am not waiting a month for a status of something I had no control over while you keep my money - I got it! - cancel that order and send me another scope. I am told, “It is not that easy sir - we have to resolve this loss before we can credit and ship you another unit.” I started to respond with ….”I will just order another one now on my dime” but I did not get to finish - he hung up on me.
I was very pleasant throughout the conversation but I could tell that this gentleman was not very happy with his day. Anyway, FYI those future scope purchasers.

 

[JCooperfan1911]

They are just terrible.

I’ve dealt with them and never again. Also, their website is an unnavigable mess.

 

[earlthegoat2]

Poor CSR probably didn’t realize he had signed up for a job where the phone would never stop ringing from miffed customers that made the mistake of buying anything from OP.

 

[troy fairweather]

Op was great years ago, for reasons said and others I've not used them in years now. There in the cheaper then dirt category for me.

 

[Legionnaire]

Have to agree with others. My early experiences with Optics Planet were positive, but that was years ago. Same with CTD and Botach Tactical. Won't even look at them now.

 

[Thomasss]

I think you are being unfair with them. They are a business of selling products. They are not in the shipping business and as such must work with shippers that have their own set of warranty policies. I'm sure when the shipper determines your product is lost, they will reimburse Optics Planet and they in turn will either ship another one or refund your money.
You also have to remember Covid-19 rules are still in effect in many areas and are playing havoc especially with deliveries.
If it were me, I would call Optics Planet back and politely ask them to put a trace on your package. They may have already done that and a trace easily takes10 days to 2 weeks. And again the shipper than has to get back to Optics Planet and they have to get back to you.

 

[toivo]

You have my sympathy. I should have known better, but I got stung by them again. I've been looking at the aluminum frame for the SIG P320 X-Carry for a while, but SIG wants way too much money for them. When I saw it for about 25% less on Optics Planet, I clicked on AVAILABILITY like a smart shopper. It said "3 to 6 months," so I forgot about it. One day last week I checked again, and it said "Expected so ship in 1 to 4 days," so I got excited and ordered one.

Now comes the sad part -- I got a purchase confirmation, and when I clicked the "status" link, it said "Expected to ship 10/3." That ain't "1 to 4 days." It's six frickin' weeks. So I called. The "service" rep said his info says "Expected to ship in 1 to 3 months." Cancel my order, please.

Sure enough, when I went back to the product page, it says "1 to 3 months" now. I wish I had screen-shotted the earlier page. This happens way too often for it to be accidental with them. So I filled out their customer-service survey and said I would never buy from them again or recommend them to anybody. In the space for how they can improve their service, I wrote "Don't lie about availability." Not that they care.

 

[airlooped]

Optics Planet will accept backorders even when there is no possibility of filling them. Other online retailers like MidwayUSA and Brownells will just show the items as out of stock. In my opinion, OP rates a four on a scale of ten. I prefer Midsouth, MidwayUSA, Brownells, PSA, Natchez, Grafs, and Powder Valley.

 

[Swing]

That is really abysmal customer service, even by Optics Planet standards. (My experience with them has been mixed; sometimes great, others terrible. I won't buy again, though, due to their current business practices.)

 

[Demi-human]

I received great service from them just six years ago. Great deals when calling with questions, good service otherwise.
Then, as if someone shot their dog, they turned into a distrustful, short tempered curmudgeon.

A place called OpticsPlanet without good deals on said optics? When they could be had at all. I too waited two months for a scope to never be shipped.
(Though in retrospect, they saved my $400 in a cheap brand.)

It seems they went from an actual store to a gearfire drop shipper.

I no longer see google ads for them, nor CTD.

 

[Dale Alan]

I ordered a scope , received a press stand . Had to jump through hoops to get a refund which included me paying for return shipment . Took there sweet time releasing my money after they got back their mistake . I don't usually post in these threads, but seeing so many others with bad experiences as well makes it a duty in my book . My nightmare lasted quite some time while I waited for a scope the supposedly backordered for me.

 

[CapnMac]

I ordered a Leupold scope last Wednesday (8/18) from this organization. The item showed shipping from Baton Rouge to Bloomington, IL then onto me (outskirts of St. Louis (MO) this Saturday

For OP that's Warp Speed.
Most folks in the last couple of years have been lucky to even get shipping acknowledgement in under 4-6 weeks.

Now, of late, logistical tracking has resembled a 50's jitterbug of late, bouncing around all over the place. And, in all likelihood just sitting on roller conveyors, and the software is being bounced from one device download to another. Which generates "false" locations, that are valid to the tracking system. And, that's all the programmers were paid to do; no one paid them to provide "accurate" locations.

OP appears to have mastered "servicing" customers. And little else.

 

[Captcurt]

I ordered 5 or 6 scopes from them on one order. They had 4 in stock and it took over 2 weeks to get them. They are not the only ones slow though. My Cabela's order took 3 days longer than projected, but I lay that on UPS.

 

[Pat Riot]

Optics Planet does not need my money.
A couple of years ago I ordered some Remington RM380 magazines. The magazines never arrived. I was pretty much told the same thing that the OP said.
It took a while to refund my credit card.

I June of 2020 I called OP to ask about a Choate stock for a Mossberg 500 and whether or not it came with mounting hardware. I was told to post my question online. Customer Service couldn’t answer it. I did post it online. I have never received an answer.

It’s just as well. Like I said, Optics Planet does not need my money.

 

[Steve S.]

I do agree that OpticsPlanet is in the sales business and not the logistics business; they are subject to poor logistics performance just like I am. My understanding and sympathy tends to wane when I am told that my product is probably lost and I may have to wait a month for a refund - if you are in the product sales business, when did the headache, wait and responsibility of the arrival of the sold product fall to the purchasing customer - I am not quite sure that I agreed to the lost product wait and terms when I purchased the scope, maybe I unknowingly did.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

I wouldn't spend anyone's money with OP. They shafted my team on a holster buy as we were going out the door to OEF (sort of needed them). They lie and deceive. Never again.

 

[Riomouse911]

I placed an order for a couple of small things and a gun vise they listed as on sale.

At least 8 weeks went by before I called, but I couldn’t find my order number so CS was of no help. About three weeks after that I got the package.

Glacial shipping from OP is the norm.

I remember buying from Botach and picking the stuff up at will call the next day. Good stuff and good pricing. Since they’ve moved to Nevada, it’s a soup sandwich there.

I’ll pass on ever ordering again from OP and Botach as well.

I hope you get it resolved!

Stay safe.

 

[Steve S.]

Well - lots of horror stories here - I will consider myself educated.
I take comfort in that I made the purchase with a CC; I can contest the charge if I do not receive the product - I simply will not pay for an item that I did not receive and I am quite positive that the CC company will agree - a simple phone call to the CC company will address any continuing mess - no biggie.

 

[Insignificant bill]

My last purchase from them was before the virus, shipped on time and arrived in a reasonable amount of time.

 

[BigAlShooter]

Well, I've only placed one order this year with OP. Yes, they allowed me to place a back order on some 223 ammo in January and it said expected to ship in a month or two. I knew that wouldn't happen, but what did I have to lose? They never charged my credit card. I waited...and waited...until about May, they emailed me and asked if I still wanted the order. I replied that I did and they then charged me the agreed amount, about $10 a box of PMC 223, free shipping as agreed, with another item that was in stock that they held for all of that time. It was delivered in a few days. I guess I got lucky.

 

[twarr1]

They are a business of selling products. They are not in the shipping business

I respectfully but adamantly disagree. If you’re in the Mail order business you’re in the shipping business. At least you’re partnered with a shipper as an integral part of your business.
Too many wannabe online retailers use the excuse “it’s the shipping company’s problem”

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Before covid came along. I had good service from OP. I made one order after it came. OP drops ships a lot of their items. What i ordered was out of stock. They made an error listing it as available. I did receive my order in about 10 days. So not to bad. I'll wait until things get back to normal before i order again.

 

[Steve S.]

UPDATE: “No scheduled delivery date available at this time “ - 1/2 hour ago, it was out for delivery to my residence. I guess I have no idea when it will show or if it will show at all - I will contest the charge with my CC company - I will purchase the same scope from Midway USA for the same price (but with a state tax load) - lesson learned.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Yeah midway has been awesome through these times. Yeah they did some gouging. I did not buy the gouged priced stuff. But the C.S is outstanding from them.

Is the shipper Fedex Steve? I get the rescheduled delivery from them often. One time i had stuff out for delivery for 3 days. No show rescheduled for the next day. So i hung outside about the time they come by. Here comes the truck down the road. Goes right on by. I shouted hey stop! My packages were on the truck. That driver has been since fired.

 

[Walkalong]

My buddy has some Diamondback 15x56 binoculars that are quite nice, especially at the price point, I have some Diamondback 8x32 binoculars that are also very nice. I ordered some Diamondback 10x50 binoculars from Optics Planet and they are crap, very dark, not clear, so I went to the Optics Planet website, did the return thing, they emailed me an RMA shipping label a few seconds later, I packed it up and dropped it off with UPS. I don't know how much easier it could get.

But that's different, this is a lost package, and my experience with that is the same as OP told you, it simply hasn't made it to you yet, and it's too early to declare it lost forever and ship another on.

I have had Fedex & USPS "lose" packages recently (Status changes from a delivery date to "in transit", only to "show back up" in the system again 2/3/4 days later.. All have gotten to me.........so far.