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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Bad Vector Experience (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 2/8/2007 5:41:00 PM EDT
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When I decided to get my first AK I went with Vector as I had heard they do quality work. I ordered one and when I received it I noticed it had a canted front sight base. I was disappointed but figured it must have slipped out on accident. I call Vector and they say send it back. I mail it back at great expense. I called Vector, the office manager was apologetic and offered to reimburse me any expense so I sent her the shipping invoice. A few days later they called back and said they would not reimburse the shipping cost as it was too expensive. I knew it was expensive because I paid to send their defective rifle back. At this point I decided that Vector was trouble and asked for a refund. A company that does not stand behind their product is no use to me and they lost my business. Overall a bad experience. 
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Just curious what the "great expense" equaled? Did you send it through an FFL at your end or something (which you don't need to do)? Are we talking $25.00, $50.00? Who did you buy the rifle through? Vector or a distributor? Were you able to see the rifle before you purchased it? Why will they not pay for the shipping? Did they actually find the sight canted? |
Any reputable builder or company should NOT let an AK with can't leave the factory. Regardless of this... Did you ship UPS for $15-$20 or did you use FedEx next day shipping for $60-$80? |
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I would also like to know how much it cost you to ship. If it was under $20, they should have reimbursed you without problems. If you shipped via next day or 2nd day and spent $30+ or whatever, then they should just have reimbursed you for a portion of the cost. I have had a really good experience with my Vector so far and I love it! |
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I got the rifle directly from Vector through an FFL. The shipping was FedEx , not next day and it was a shocking $115 and change. It was really a hassle as well because the teenagers working there were not sure how to ship a GUN. I will not use their names, but the person at Vector who I called immediately when I got home from mailing it, said I would be reimbursed and I faxed her the shipping invoice. At that point I was impressed with Vector. They then reneged and I got my purchase money back. This was my first ever AK so I did not know the canted FSB can be a common problem.Vector certainly should know how to inspect for one and not mail it out. Instead of sending me $115 they sent me $589. Bad business, bad rifle. My experience with Vector. |
I recently shipped a rifle - US Postal Service - Priority mail - Insured, cost was UNDER $25  Maybe you should subscribe to Consumer Reports.  |
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Sorry to hear about your experience. Did $115 sound reasonable to you at the time you shipped it? It shouldn't have. You should have been able to ship the rifle back for no more than $25. Did $115 seem reasonable as long as someone else was paying it? I'm sure the people at Vector found your $115 shipping charge rather unreasonable. I not surprised that they refused to pay it. I can't think of many businesses that would accept such a ridiculous shipping charge. Look at it from their perspective - Vector ship rifles all day long, and they know that it doesn't cost $115 to ship a rifle. I'm sure they thought there was some sort of bait-and-switch being pulled on them. "You pay shipping? OK - it cost me eleventy-billion dollars to ship it to you - how about that!" In short - $115 to ship a rifle is wrong, whether you are paying it or someone else is paying it. A red flag should have gone up when you were told how much it was to ship the rifle. |
Dude Fedex sucks...ship USPS or, if you have to, UPS. Shipping on a Rem 700 police (10 pound rifle) with a Starlight double rifle case (another 15lbs or so) for $40 through USPS. That was an oversized box weighing over 25-30lbs. A AK in a cardboard box shouldn't be more than $20. Anything more than that and you got suckered. Sorry to hear but experience can be the best teacher sometimes...you probably won't ever make that mistake ever again... CMS |
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Ain't Vector's fault you got hosed on shipping. Do some research next time. You need to be the informed on when shipping something through a carrier. I have never paid more than $12 to ship a rifle(AK) with insurance. How much was the shipping to your FFL? Should have been a clue right there. |
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Yes, the amount of money to ship back the defective rifle was outrageous. I know because I paid it. The accusation that I paid that, because Vector would pay for it, is ridiculous. As I posted, twice, I called Vector after I shipped it back and they said they would pay it. They knew the amount it cost before they agreed to pay it. The bottom line is that Vector sent me an obviously defective rifle. That's why it was sent back. Their mistake cost me $115, their cutomer service cost them $589. I blame Vector. |
1) Did the rifle function (go bang repeatedly without a jam) ? Could the sights be adjusted to hit the target ? To me, if an AK functions reliably and hits the target with acceptable precision and accuracy, its not defective. Who cares if the FSB is slightly canted, so long as the sights can be adjusted sufficiently for accuracy - its an assault rifle, not a work of art. Aparently you care more about form than function, but I suppose you are not alone on ARFCOM in this respect. 2) Like others said, common sense should have triggered a great big warning alarm when you were asked to pay $115 for shipping. If I was Vector, I would have refused to pay it too, though I probably would have offered to refund you the standard ground rate (say $20). It sounds like Vector gave you a refund to make you go away... probably figured you would never be happy. Go buy an Arsenal for twice the price, and be happy. Better still, buy an AR and get a rifle that actually is well made... crappy cosmetics are part of the AK experience. |
You gout nailed by Fed Ex not Vector on that one. Like every body said it should have been $20ish. I would be going down to fedex with an invoive and complaining. It sounds like they charged you for overnight anyway. I just shipped a handgun insured over night for $49 and the woman at the counter even told me that if it was a rifle it would be a lot cheaper. I would say if Vector fixed it that I would be OK with thm but a little urked that they sent it to me that way even though it does happen with every brand. I had a Bushmaster AR that came with a goofed gas tube but Bushmaster hooked me up just fine and I would buy another one anyday. Sorry about your problems though. Now if Vector sends it back still screwed up I would be very unhappy. |
I dont understandhinking.gif |
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Why would you even consider shipping it at that price. You could have taken it back to your FFL and he would have told you how to ship it cheaper. I bet he would have even returned it for you at 1/3 of the cost or less. I can't sympathize with you on your screw up. A day of research here would have filled you in on problems associated with buying AKs online, questions asked would have given you some clues and would have told you what to expect to pay for the return shipping. I won't point out the many threads where I have warned people not to buy their first AK through the internet. If you don't know how to fix a problem you want to make sure that the rifle doesn't have the problems to begin with (i.e. hands on checking the rifle in my opinion is best). |
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I think he is implying that Vector is an assembly line company. Not a custom rifle builder... Uh... they aren't custom rifle builders. They do assebly a lot of rifles so I guess they are an assembly line company. You got hosed by FedEx. I am sure the person who agreed to pay the shipping fee was the receptionist or phone operator, not a decision maker. They probably didn't know the difference or that it was excessive... Vector are good people. I will keep buying stuff from them. They have always shipped promptly and regularly ship USPS to keep my shipping costs down. That is a huge +1 from me. |
I mean when he says assembly line company, that is opposed to what? A manufacturer? |
As opposed to a custom builder. As in someone who takes your parts kit and builds AKs one or a few at a time paying special attention to each build to make it a work of art. |
That's funny I had the firing pin on my Vector Uzi bend and gouge out the firing pin hole of the bolt causing the gun to stop working. Called Vector, sent in the whole bolt assebly and they shipped me out a new one. Maybe next time you have a problem you should look into I don't know calling the company? |
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You can't ship a handgun USPS. I ship handguns and rifles UPS. "I NEVER tell the person at the counter what is in the box anymore. For content description I list something that has nothing to do with guns. There's nothing illegal about this because it's totally legal to ship UPS, the only thing telling them you have a gun will do is make them act a bit odd (usually). I used to let the UPS guy who usually works there know it's a gun and he would want the FFL and act all weird like I was a terrorist, so after a couple times doing this I decided to just list the guns as something else and ZERO hassle, took 1 minute to ship." |
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Can't say I blame Vector for not paying your shipping invoice. I'm sure they would have been willing had you presented a reasonable amount. $115 is just nuts, and I'm sure you knew that. They aren't out anything on that gun, BTW. It will be resold, so the only big loser here is you, both for paying $115 to ship a ten pound package, then expecting them to reimburse for that then posting it like it's vectors fault the shipping company ripped you off. Your beef is with fedex, not vector. |
Sounds like they gave you bad info on the shipping reimbursement, but YOUR mistake cost you $115. I just shipped a Kimber 82G - an 10 - 11 pound rifle before packaging - through the USPS for just under $30, insured. I don't care if they said they'd pay or not, you should have shopped around a bit. |
| ok guys.....when you ship your rifles out...if asked what is in the box....what are your responses?? do you come out right and just tell them hey I am shipping a rifle to a FFL or to have work done....or do you give them some excuse like it is machined parts.... |
If Vector didn't buy your B.S. what makes you think we will? |
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| exactly the point that I was trying to get at MAK....everyone states shipping things off but nobody wants to tell if they let the carrier know that they have a firearm inside....thats the reason you get it shipped for so cheap.....NO it is not illegal to ship firearms and if you do it the right way the legal way they usually tell you that the firearms have to be shipped overnight...costing a whole hell of alot more than $20..................best thing to do..take your firearm to your local FFL and have them ship it off for you no muss no fuss |
I shipped a Rifle US Postal service - Priority Mail - Insured for $400 and the cost was under $25.00 - And I DID tell them it was a FIREARM 
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| very cool yes I am not saying that it cant be done...I know it is perfectly legal to ship firearms off, but I have gone from one place to another UPS, FED EX, USPS.....some say $20 to $30 others have told me they need to go overnight wanting $50 to $75...obviously I did not go that route....my point is this, if you do it the right way there maybe more of a cost because they may tell you that a firearm has to go over night, ok I dont have a problem with this...if this is the way they do things not an issue.......but if you take a rifle in as stated above, someone asks and you lie about whats in the box...its on you if they find out other wise....and I would rather pay a little more then go cheap and possibly get busted |
| I did contact Vector and they said "were not aware of that problem, Maybe its your ammo?" It was not the ammo it was the use of Cheap south African firing pins that had a very rough surface and hung up on the firing pin bore, Maybe this is all acceptable to you but I like to know when I pull the trigger on two new weapons that I just paid 650.00 each for they go-BANG, Not click. But thats just me... |
| dirkinoff dont know what to tell you....Vectors have a great name ...I never have heard a bad thing about Vectors and I researched months before buying....you are new here so I dont know what to tell ya.....I have owned VEPRS, KREBS, and so on all high priced AKs and believe you me when I tell you that VECTOR AKs are the best bang for the buck.....they will continue to have my business......now if there is something wrong with your rifle, just give them a call...you have a 5 year warranty, I am not saying that a lemon cant get out there...of COURSE it can......but let me ask you this, how many times have you guys heard that Vector Arms puts out shit before dirkinoff signed on here....and he has two rifles that are crap? ....fishy |
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It is not Vector's fault that you did not reserach the proper way to ship a firearm and got boned with unreasonable shipping. They should not have shipped you a rifle taht had a canted front site base, but it is unreasonable to expect them to pay $115 in shipping. You can ship a firearm USPS Priority for $20 or so, you do not have to tell the post office what is inside (in fact regulations state thet you cannot list it as a firearm in any way on the box) and they have an affidavit you can print out, sign, and carry a copy with you and insert one into the box stating taht everything is legal. the moment they told you it was $115 in shipping you should have left and gone home and done some reserach. |
| Survivorman I said I had problems with Uzi's from Vector not an Ak, and if you would read this whole post you would see someone else had problems with their Uzi also. So beleive what you want I really dont care. Both the Uzi and the AK are incredibly simple weapons to manufacture and to maintain and to make operate correctly, They should work out of the box! Enough said. |
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My vector is the nicest AK I have ever shot. I really like it. I dont know if vector makes good uzis or not, but I do know they make great AKs To all you who are having issues with your Vector Uzis: Did you send them back to vector? Because thats what this whole thread is about, their repair and return service. Really the heart of the issue is the 115 bucks he paid to ship his rifle. While it sucks that he paid that much, I cant say thats vectors fault. He is asking them to fork out 1/5th the price of the rifle because he got burned by his shipping service. I cant say the shipping issue really matters for me, If I ever need warranty work on my rifle, I'll just drive 20 minutes and drop it off at the factory.  Did vector refuse to honor their warranty or did they just say check your ammo first? Did you even attempt to use their warranty ? |
I know what you mean. My vector uzi shot everything I could find to feed it before the firing pin bent. They replaced the the bent pin and bolt @ no charge. What more could I ask for. I went a fired it at the range to make sure it worked then sold it for $900.
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| I always disclose the contents; if you do not, then your insurance is void, and I always get insurance. It's not THAT expensive or difficult to follow USPS, FedEx and UPS rules. I also always carry a print out of their rules from their website so if someone gives me a hard time I can show them their error. Haven't had to do that in a long time, since I've been shipping using the UPS and FedEx online tools. I fill out the info on the website; put in my credit card, print out the shipping label and tape it to the box, and then give it to the driver. No questions, no issues, no sweat. |
[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Bad Vector Experience (Page 1 of 2)
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