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Dawson Precision Shipping Problems

10K views 93 replies 41 participants last post by  Uncle Bob  
#1 ·
Is anyone else having trouble getting deliveries from Dawson Precision? DP ships the same day I order, but the package seems to flounder at the Florence, TX post office for up to a week before they move it. I ordered a front sight for a 1911, so we are talking about an envelope not a huge package. To make matters worse, I contacted DP this morning to let them know about the problem and their response was mind blowing (see below). We have experienced this problem on 3 orders now. I make a very, very good living managing Customer Service for my company and this exchange is just plain awful and unacceptable.

Good morning Dave,

I wanted to share some thoughts with you about buying from Dawson Precision. Your website is outstanding, easy to navigate and finding exactly what you need is a breeze. I have yet to find something I need out of stock and your product offerings are top shelf. The weak link however, is your shipping. My neighbor Jim and I both buy from you and your shipping method is about the worst we have encountered.

Allow me to explain, you ship very quickly after an order is placed and sometimes even the same day. Then it all falls to pieces when Stamps.com and the USPS get involved. For example, I ordered a front sight on 1/20 and it shipped the same day and then it disappeared into the postal never lands. This is not even close to a one off experience. Jim is waiting two mags he ordered and recently he ordered a sight and magwell that had to be reshipped because it never showed up.

The only thing between us and the ultimate customer experience at Dawson Precision is shipping. Fix that and you will have a couple of customers for life.
__
Sir's,

Please read.

Due to the impacts of Covid 19, the increase of online ordering, the United States Postal Service and UPS have seen an increase in packages that they must process. This has resulted in longer transit times, up to two weeks or more and incorrect tracking information. We apologize for the delay,
but we must allow time for your shipment to arrive before we can declare the package lost. You can track your USPS package here: https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction_input , UPS
shipment here: https://www.ups.com/track?loc=en_US&requester=ST/ . We appreciate your business during these times and we hope that transit times will return to normal in the near future. If you feel that your package is lost after 2 weeks with no delivery , please give us a call at 866-300-1911.
____
From:
Subject: Re: Dawson Shipments
Date:
February 2, 2022 at 9:54:14 AM EST
To: Dawson Sales <sales@dawsonprecision.com>
Cc:
Thank you for your quick response. I guess Covid 19 isn’t impacting Brownells or Midway USA as they are not experiencing the same problems. I was hoping for more than a canned response.
__
From: Dawson Sales <sales@dawsonprecision.com>
Subject: Re: Dawson Shipments
Date:
February 2, 2022 at 9:57:23 AM EST

Sir,

The fault lies with USPS and UPS. It is out of our hands once the order is processed in 24-48 hours and leaves our facility.
Please feel free to contact your Congressman or senator to complain about the United States postal service.
Thank you for contacting us.

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#2 ·
What would you like them to say if the problem is really with the USPS. I have something being sent, a flat-rate envelope with a check and it hasn't moved from the origination destination in 4 days.

I go in my local PO and it's a mess, under-staffed and down right run down and this is in North Scottsdale. You would think it would be the pinnacle of upscale and technology, It looks like 1974 in there and the people are from 1977
 
#3 ·
Agree with Azguy, not much they can say. The USPS has always been a nightmare and only worse the last two years. I normally pay the extra to ship ups/Dhl/FedEx


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#6 ·
Agree with Azguy, not much they can say. The USPS has always been a nightmare and only worse the last two years. I normally pay the extra to ship ups/Dhl/FedEx


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When my customers come to us with delivery issues we work those issues with the shipper to get them a remedy. The seller owns the sale until it's in the customers hands. How about "we have brought this to this post office's attention and are trying to seek improvements. At the same time we are exploring other possibly more dependable methods of shipping". "we shipped and it's not our problem is a very poor business model.
 
#9 ·
I guess I have become used to the companies I deal with treating me with respect and to value my business. I can see from the early responses that I'm wrong and should become used to being poor customer service moving forward. If you think that "we shipped it so it's not our problem" is okay, then I'm wrong here.
 
#10 ·
There is nothing any company can do with the USPS, they are unresponsive and uncaring about customer service to a company as they are to an individual. I am on the phone and email to my local branch at least once a month because their local carrier just decides not to even to attempt to deliver any package that they deem heavy, they dont leave a notice or anything I have to check the status online to see the note that its ready for me to pick up. Dawson or any other business would go out of business if they spent the time necessary dealing with the USPS problems - everyone is aware (unless they have been in a coma for the past few years) of the USPS problems getting worse so in my opinion at least if you choose USPS as your shipping option then caveat emptor!

As I said earlier I never choose it unless its the only option and when its the only option the results are predictably bad.
 
#13 · (Edited)
All the shipping carriers are a joke anymore , things that took 3 days now take 3 weeks it’s the new normal , when you call and finally get someone on the phone it’s a total joke . Try calling Fed Ex and trying to get someone in this country to pick up , you got a better chance of hitting the lottery . Try googling the USPS last known post office phone number and calling them . Honestly getting them on the phone hasn’t been a problem . Last couple issues I had with USPS I called the postmaster of the last destination and they have been able to help me.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Sounds like the problem is their post office, but not much he can do but complain, and that is unlikely to gain him any ground there either. Note, you can chose UPS ground when ordering from Dawson

I am lucky, I use USPS a lot, local PO is very well run, thats not to say things don't get interesting at times in transit, but my local postmaster and PO employees have bent over backwards for me many times.

*Edit to add, all carrier's have good and bad facilities and carriers, here in NW OH, Fedex is by far the worst for receiving, and has been for several years, talking drivers driving by and you get a notification that delivery was attempted, $2500 shotgun delivered by leaning it against my mailbox at the road, 75 yards from my home or shop. But in contrast local UPS runs a super tight ship, with most drivers being 20+ years in brown, and giving you their cell number in case you need anything good.
 
#18 ·
There is plenty the company can do!! Stop using USPS would be my first move!! OP is correct, I have had zero issues ordering from Brownells or Midway or many other suppliers. None of them use USPS, Hmmmmm I'm begining to see a pattern. I'm sorry, but if a company is getting complaints about shipping and all they do is ignore their customers and continue to use the same horrible shipping method, well dont be surprised when they are gone.
 
#19 ·
As you said many other companies DO NOT USE USPS for the above many listed reasons. I just double checked on the Dawson site, one has the option of using an alternate shipping method. Its the buyers choice..........
 
#22 ·
Agree 100%, ordered a few times in the last year, once they reached out to me via phone to clarify an order, once I reached out to them - every time great customer service and fast shipping.
 
#28 ·
We used to ship USPS but had all sorts of issues towards the end of 2020. We switched to UPS and have had no issues. It sometimes costs us more, but we feel it's worth it to make sure the customer receives their shipment on time.

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#30 ·
I guess my background in customer service and the expectations I put on my team have caused me to be more critical about this stuff. There are many other companies that make what we make, but none of them do white glove customer service like us.
 
#34 ·
I think I can see both sides to this issue. For one, I share in your frustration with the delayed shipping issue. Adding to the frustration, DP's response would only make matters worse. I think a more professional response, like the example you provided, would have helped alleviate some of the frustration. However, at the end of the day, the majority of the blame lies with the USPS. My guess is that this is not the first time DP has had to deal with shipping problems, and the ensuing customer frustration, created by USPS.
As a side note, I have ordered items from DP and tracked the package's progress as it took the most indirect route to my location in the DFW metroplex (Florence to San Antonio to Waco to DFW). I truly think there is a significant problem with the Florence Post Office because once it leaves that location, there is no telling which route the package is gong to take or how long it will get there.
 
#31 ·
In my experience, FedEx is the absolute worst. But USPS "mail innovations" is a very close second. I had a similar problem with Dawson, as well as Bud's, recently. They appear to ship USPS, but when they use "mail innovations," USPS hands it off to UPS or FedEx, and then it's handed back to USPS for final delivery. It's a joke. As you note, a package will sit in one location for days (or, recently with me and a package from Bud's, weeks). Standard first class mail takes 3-4 days, but FedEX or USPS "mail innovations" often takes weeks. I've gotten to the point where I refuse to do business with any company that uses it.
 
#33 · (Edited)
When did mediocre become the new norm? I have ordered from DP before and had no problems, but this is now one incident for me and two for neighbor in a 4 week period. I know it's not Dawson Precision, but the "you bought it....we shipped it and it's not our problem" attitude is mind blowing to me. If that person worked for me, they would be receiving additional training.
 
#32 ·
What bothers me about your tracking screen, the label was created on the 20th, but shows it was not accepted by the Post Office until the 27th.

We have had our issues with USPS as well. Most of ours, we ship several packages a month to the VI and they have to go USPS. We will generate the label one day and request pickup the next day. Half the time, the packages do not get picked up. I will receive an email once packages have been picked up and numerous times we will get the email, only to find packages have not been picked up. The courier blew the pickup and scanned they did pickup.

In these instances, we had to drag the packages to the Post Office to mail.

My best guess, looking at that info, either the packages were not picked up or Dawson brings to the Post Office and nobody did for a week, or as it was a small envelope, it slid out of sight out of mind until someone found it.

My gut says it was one of the first two reasons the package did not scan for the first time until a week after generating the label.