Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Gun Woes . . .

Nothing says MERRY CHRISTMAS to a true sportsman like a new firearm for the holidays. I was fortunate enough this season to receive a present from my Dad and Brother in that oh so familiar rectangular "gun shaped" package. Tearing through the wrapping paper like a rabid coyote and throwing aside the red bow I forcefully ripped back the top of the cardboard container! Inside was revealed that greatest of blue steeled beauties, a firearm built with care and precision, with a compass in the stock and this thing which tells time (err sorry wait a minute wrong Christmas Story) I breathed in heavily and my nasal cavities were immediately filled with the luscious aroma of that delicious new gun smell.

I removed the plastic wrapping, opened the chamber release button (hmm that's funny no clicking sound) and lifted the agile and quick gun to my shoulder . . . it was love at first site. Now with my mind racing, I hoped against hope that the absence of the "click" in my new little single shot was not a defect but instead a new advancement in New England Firearms stealth technologies. Unfortunately I was wrong.

I placed an expended shell in the chamber and it is still stuck there . . . the gun now won't even close.

Well, considering this is a NEW firearm and purchased at the world famous Cabela's I have nothing to fear right? WRONG! Cabela's no longer accepts returns of any firearm. Instead they will mail it back to the company for you! For me this means two (one delivery and one pickup) 2 hour trips to the southern part of the state . . . and a level of customer frustration that will never again have me purchasing a firearm at Cabela's. BTW, I called L.L. Bean and they have a 100% satisfaction guarantee on new AND used firearms!

Heading down to Cabela's on Wednesday next week and BEG them to refund my money or provide me immediately with a replacement. Wish me luck!

9 comments:

  1. The trick to keeping a gift like this a secret is to wrap a picture of it in a box. ;-)

    Good luck with Cabelas. I think you'll need it.

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  2. UPDATE: Called the gun manager at the Maine store and he informed me that I could in fact mail my firearm to him and he would mail it back to me repaired. The previous sales person on the phone had told me I had to drop off and pickup in person. Get your facts straight boys!!

    So, I have to pay $20 bucks to mail my NEW and defective firearm into Cabelas and probably not see it again for weeks . . . what fun. I swear if anyone ever buys me another gun at Cabelas I am going to use it as a boat anchor!

    GO LLBEAN at least someone out there still believes in the 100% customer satisfaction guarantee.

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  3. Jodi,

    Wrap a picture in a box . . . sneaky . . . VERY sneaky!

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  4. Well, in my case, it didn't help. I had the gun hidden at my parents under THEIR bed so there would be absolutely no way he could find it. And I was planning on doing just that (wrapping a picture). But, about 2 weeks before Christmas that year, he looked at me and said "You bought me that gun I wanted, didn't you?" as sure as could be.
    He's horrible to buy for because he always manages to figure it out. lol

    I'm glad they're letting you ship it and hope they get things taken care of quickly!

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  5. Wow, that is shocking about Cabelas. I'm glad they are at least doing something, imagine making you drive all that way!

    Anyway, the first half of you story reminded me of our christmas. Sunshine asked for her first BB gun. Santa hid it behind the TV hutch and we just waited for her to find it. It came with the message "Ho, Ho, Ho... Don't shoot your eye out kid"! Even Santa has a sense of humor!!

    She loves it and is so flattered Santa thought she was responsible enough to own one!!! Lucky for us her blue steeled beauty fires ;) No compass in the stock or thing which tell time though... guess Santa can't be perfect ;)

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  6. SAHMFM, How old is Sunshine? Just getting a feel for how long it will be before I pull the old BB gun out of the closet and take the oldest (2.5) our hunting rabbits. :)

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  7. Jodi, My wife and I don't even exchange gifts anymore we just each buy our own thing . . . to me from me presents are the BEST . . . you always get exactly what you want!

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  8. Sunshine is 9 so you have a few years ;) The box says it's for 10 and up.

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  9. Update to my Update!

    Made it to Cabelas yesterday and they stated that Jack Dudley had provided me with incorrect information. They can NOT mail firearms to me at my home address. So my options:
    Drive another 3 hours round trip to Cabelas to pick-up the gun in 4 to 6 WEEKS!
    OR they can mail it to a local gun dealer and I pay the processing fee.

    After a little "wrangling" I talked the gun dudes into covering the cost of processing through a local gun dealer (most likely Dicks).

    So now I wait, wait and wait the WEEKS to get my firearm that was purchased NEW!

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