Well, just got off the phone with Gander Mountain and I'd have to say I'm a little bit disappointed. The lowers arrived at their place on Wednesday, which was a little longer than what I expected when I placed the order. On top of that, Gander Mountain didn't explain the purchase procedure correctly the first time so now it's looking like I might have to wait even longer until I can take delivery. The first time I spoke with them, they basically said that when the part arrives, I come in, fill out the paperwork for the background check, then take the lowers home. Now they're saying I have to come in and sign some paperwork stating they ordered the parts for me, then wait two days while that enters the system, and then come back in, fill out the federal paperwork, and pick them up. That'd be fine if I was in the area all the time but I frequently travel and usually fly home on the weekends, which doesn't leave me enough time to go in, sign the paperwork, and come back two days later. Hopefully they'll allow my wife to sign for me....
So, for the update, I'd have to say that I'm disappointed with the shipping times of Ameetec. In addition, I sent them an email and a phone call to change the order and I never received any communication back from them. My wife called to confirm the order change for me while I was out of town and even then, there was still a bit of confusion on their end. I'm also disappointed with the fact that Gander Mountain didn't make more of an effort to inform me of the purchase problem before the lowers arrived, why couldn't I have signed their store paperwork earlier?
Although I haven't had a chance to check the quality yet, I would say that I'll avoid Ameetec in the future unless I don't need the product in a hurry. With so many other vendors out there, I'm looking to find a lower receiver supplier with the same type of shipping times and communication skills that I received from Model1. This isn't to say that Ameetec was rude or anything because that's not true at all. I'm just picky with who I spend my money and I'd like to see the service stepped up a notch. Plus, with the $77 Essential Arms lower, why not try them out and see if they can do better? Price wise they certainly have them beat, quality wise and customer service wise will be answered in the future.
I fly back next week to visit family and pick up the lowers, I'll give a quality report then. After that, I should be ready to assemble the parts and see how she turns out!