Posted: 8/4/2008 5:44:45 PM EDT
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Not to stir up a hornet's nest, but what is everyone's opinion of CMMG's recent customer service? I know that I could look in the feedback forum (and I have), but I wanted to get the local MO forum's opinion. It seems that their customer service has been "spotty" over the last six months. There seem to be more and more unhappy customers, especially in regards to communication and excessive wait times. I wonder if they have been too busy based on the current political climate or if they are just not first-rate in the customer service department. OTOH, I understand that they did wonderful things for our suppressor situation. Kudos to them for all their hard work. I hope it pays off for them, atleast in regards to reaping the benefits of new suppressor purchases. |
We have been absolutely swamped over the past 12 months and have added quite a few employees and phone lines. I keep up a bit on the threads online, but can guarantee this: there is no way we are having all of the 'issues' that posters place online. That being said, individuals all have bad days; customers and employees alike. I still fully stand behind our company and all of our products. We have some new and innovative items in the works now and always juggle being progressive with new products and keeping up with backorders. Production is tripled what it was last year and we are over 8000 rifles backorderd at this time. We are moving way ahead and have been very focused on keeping up quality and getting enough product out the door. Jeff |
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Simple numbers. If 3% of your customers bitch and moan, and your business increases that much, your gonna have that many more complaints show up on the boards. I remember when Kimber first got big, they were suppossedly the shit. They were suppossed to be top notch customer service, best 1911 you could buy, I mean even LAPD SWAT carried them. Wow. They grew, and grew. You hear people complain about them now on the boards just due to sheer number of sales. |
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Yeah, that's kind of what I figured. When I first started to become active in the "shooting sports" and started to buy EBR's, CMMG was newer on the scene and was starting to build as a company. Now they are one of the top companies in the ar15 community. It's good to hear the owner speak up and stand behind their products. I am thinking about buying a new upper and was curious as to why some of the ar15 posters were having problems (albeit that these problems are probably from a small segment of their customers, it is just magnified on these boards). Let's face it: the arfcom community as a whole can be a whiny bunch at times. I have spoke with a few other dealers on the boards and I know that it is a struggle dealing with some of their customers (bitch about the tiniest scratch, etc.). Thanks for speaking up about the issue. It puts some of my questions to rest. 8,000 rifles!! I don't think I can fathom what a room full of 8,000 ar15's would look like! |
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I've been hearing an increasing number of complaints of lost orders, late orders ect. An increase in sales volume will increase your number of complaints, but it seems to be growing faster than the sales volume. I've heard more than one "order gone bad" from friends and aquaintances lately. Hopefully cmmg's customer service can keep up with their growth. Maybe they jsut got slammed with all the "vote for me" checks people got this year, or maybe they need to have a little shake down and try a different system, I don't know, I'm really just an armchair quarterback right now so my opinion probably doesn't mean much. If you want to buy something from cmmg and don't want to gamble with an order, buy from the show, then all you have to do is wait till the show and you get your stuff right then and now. I do know that in the age of the internet if backorders become the norm people will quickly go to those who have it in stock and probably a few of them will talk about it on the internet. BUT I'm on the outside looking in, so take it for what its worth Polytech |
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I see a lot of people who don't really understand business bitching on this forum about CMMG. It seems that these people think that the firearms business is like Walmart, and that they should be able to get what they want with a click of the mouse. These people don't really understand what is involved in such a detailed business. I deal with these same kinds of people in the Automotive business everyday. I also deal with individuals that understand how supply and demand works. Those people that pay me more, and are more understanding are the people that usually are the happiest. Strange how that works. The people that bitch, and shop me against every dealer in town are never happy even when they get what they want. The same holds true for the firearms industry, I'm sure. With that being said, I'm sure CMMG is going through some growing pains, but I still support their efforts. They still have quality parts. The quality of the assembly of their complete uppers, and AR15's should improve as they continue to grow. I'm sure their customer service should improve as they continue to grow as well. They have established themselves in the AR15 market, and I'm sure that they will continue to strive to meet the markets expectations. I'm sure it's not easy, but I'm confident that they will be successful with the majority. DBAR |
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Well when you add more employees to handle the sales load, that is a good thing for the biz, BUT it also adds another potential link in the chain where a mistake can be made, or a number kicked. It happens but customers rarely understand. Like WATMAN said if you triple your business and the complaints ONLY triple then you are lucky! Usually it gets worse than that.  I have never had an issue with the boys in Fayette, Since I first started dealing with them YEARS ago when they just had a few uppers on a table at the gun shows, They have ALWAYS stood behind their work. No questions asked! |
| When I bought my rifle from them at a gun show probably a year and a half ago, they were great with helping me out and showing me all sorts of different things. I will absolutely be buying more CMMG rifles when I get to it (probably going to be getting an FNH shotgun through them eventually as well). I also went to their place about a year ago when I was still in columbia and they were over the top helpful again. |
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I've had nothing but great service from CMMG. Granted it helps being able to buy directly from the storefront during the shoots. Regarding 'excessive' waiting periods, that's just the nature of the gun business. Most gun manufacturers will have waits for certain products. The wait is likely to increase given the level of popularity of an item, or the level of custom work involved in the product. It's simple supply and demand. Like someone else said, this isn't walmart. They aren't going to have every item in stock at every moment. If you order a custom build with all the bells and whistles, you're likely to wait a bit, no matter who the builder is. Same thing if you order the lastest and greatest new gun or gadget that everyone rushing to buy. I'd buy a CMMG with confidence. And I wouldn't cry on the internet if I had to wait a bit for the product. |
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i don't have extensive experience with them, but have been impressed so far. * great prices * very good quality * best AR tables/selection at the KC gun shows * my CMMG pistol has been a pleasure to own * always been polite, friendly, and helpful at the gun shows the only thing i can think of to complain about is that i wanted to buy an Infidel engraved lower at the last show, and they didn't have any, and told me they weren't going to be making any more. no biggie, i'll just buy one from Spike's. overall, i'm very impressed with the company and product, and think CMMG is a huge asset to the AR and gun industries. |
Yeah, and theys gots funny eyes too... sumptin jes ain't right with dem boys...... Yeah yeah yeah, I am just kidding too. Their business has exploded over the last couple of years and they have a tiger by the tail just trying to keep up but they are doing their honest best and a damn fine job of it too. |
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this is just my two cents, and granted it doesn't mean much. i Call Jeff and John Friends, now coming from me that means something, if you know me you know what that means, i dont use that term lightly and i can count on one hand how many people i put in that group. CMMG as a whole has went from a small rented place to one of the top tear manufactures of AR and Ar parts. there designs and stuff are top shelf and there the only AR i still own. other than my colt. but there the first Ar i grab, and the ar i have with me every day and full time. i would go into combat with there weapon and not think nothing of it. Jeff and John both, take each one of these threads to heart and it hurts them. they feel the pain, its not some big fortune 500 company that doesn't care, they care. they have grown 10 fold and are doing every thing i bet they cant to keep up with the demand and the customers. things still happen. we need to remember they are one of the few companies you can still get it the way you want it when you want it. this means delays not of there doing for parts and every thing else. people don't seem to understand this. i can give you a long list of gun makers i have had to wait for over a year to get what i orderd. Uberti and Beneli being the main ones. i have wait 8 months for both of my last guns from them, one of them being a simple 1873 short rifle. so its across the industry, i mean some time junk gets out, i have a Trijicon reflex that was that way. does that mean i go bad mouth Trijicon? thats the trend. go on line and be big and bad and bad mouth the company. thats what we do now. i guess it gives people a taste of power. i guess everybody should have a taste of that once in there life. i say its simple, if you want a top of the line Ar with good customers service and people will take care of you. Go with CMMG. i have owend them all and the only one i have got close customer service to what CMMG does was DPMS, try getting colt, or the others to even talk to you. also, if you have problems call, and hold on the line and make sure you get to somebody in management, this is common seance. Ronald |
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I know Jeff and John from the CMMG shoots, and they're both good guys. A couple of years ago, I experienced their first-rate customer service myself. That's why my most recent rifle order was placed with CMMG despite some of the things I've read here at ARFCOM. My FFL friends ordered a complete rifle for me, a complete rifle for himself, and another complete lower that is going to be a gift to my Dad. That order was placed a little over 8 weeks ago now, and we haven't heard anything about it since. Erik (one of the FFL members) has sent several status inquiry emails over the last several weeks, but not a single one of them has been answered. Now, I understand that people get busy and I might have to wait a while due to parts availability, etc., but it would be nice if you could get a response to an email. All we want is an estimate on when our order will be available. I'm hoping CMMG is just really busy and Erik's emails got lost in the pile, but that gets harder to believe with every email that doesn't get answered. Anyway, I'm sure John and Jeff are just busy because I know they're both good guys and make quality products. The people they have answering email for them though could probably do a better job though. Hopefully our order shows up soon. |
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Don't do transfers anymore? Since when? I have two suppressors paid for waiting out of state and had previously contacted them to do the transfers. Looks like a phone call to Mr subMG is in line then. I'm gonna go hit their Industry link right now and officially ask. ~Ed ETA: Asked them in their Industry Forum. |
I love me some CMMG  Jeff and John are great people, I love their family and I love the CMMG brand. I operate a company in the Electronic environment and can tell you it doesn’t matter how stellar 98% of the transactions are that you complete , its the 2% that are bad that people hear about. The public’s patience is at an all time low, when I sell an item online at 11pm Sunday night I will have a customer calling me Monday morning for a tracking number. Its like they envision little robots working 24 hours a day moving inventory from my shelf to FedEx. They act extremely put out when I cant produce a tracking number because FedEx isn’t shipping on Sunday. I can’t stand these people, but they are my customers and I take care of them the best I can. I think that CMMG runs into the same type of customer. I will have a manufacturer who has his raw materials supply interrupted and suddenly I get called a swindler, cheat, liar, and receive the brunt of all the bad press the web forum environment can bring. It wont matter that the product doesn’t exist anywhere in the country and my supplier has my order at the top of the list to be filled, my customers blame me not the manufacturer for the delay. I can sympathize with the predicament the web poses to the instant bitching "feedback" that people like to post. Again I love CMMG and believe they will always try their best to do right by their customers. |
| could be just me, I did AK receiver transfers through them on a couple of occastions, wanted to transfer a RPK through them but it was a no go. Maybe too busy and I wouldn't blame them. Having a retail store close where I can go in and browse isn't goign to be good on my pocketbook. |
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A long time ago I ordered a parts kit and stock from Rock River Arms. Took over three months (and several phone calls) from the dealer I went through to get the parts. Later on, the same dealer ordered a Rock River AR15 for another customer. It took 6 months (and several phone calls). The customer got so upset he ended buying a different rifle and the Rock River went to someone else when it finally came in. The same dealer ordered a stripped lower from Rock River in January of this year and it arrived a week ago. The customer he ordered it from canceled the order long ago, but the dealer decided to keep it for himself when it came in. Way before it arrived he decided to stop selling RRA rifles due to the wait time. I have a CMMG stripped lower I bought for an SBR and I decided to go with CMMG for the rest of the build. I asked the same dealer to order a parts kit and stock from CMMG. They were ordered mid to late June. I dropped by today and they haven't come in yet. He then showed me the rifle he built with his RRA stripped lower. I asked him where he bought the stock and parts kit and he told me he got them from RRA. I was shocked because he had just received the lower a week ago. He told me the order from RRA took 3 days to arrive. When I was done cussing we discussed how to proceed. I told him I was willing to wait on CMMG. Now, what's the point of my rambling? RRA went from taking several months, to taking a few days. I have faith that CMMG will get in the groove and things will get better. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the reason the wait time gets so long is because everyone wants one. Why does everyone want one? Because they make good stuff. I'm more than willing to wait for CMMG because it will be a quality product, I'll be supporting a local business, and I'll be giving back to the guys that got some cool new legislation passed. As soon as my Form 1 gets approved, I'll be dropping by the same dealer to order an upper. |