Customer Service?

Customer Service?

Commitment to quality and customer satisfaction are paramount. These are grand sounding precepts, but are they hollow words? I mentioned on a recent blog that I had renewed my interest in target and tactical shooting. As part of that effort I decided to make the investment and buy a really good spotting scope. My old Tasco scope is good out to about 75 yards and then begins to get fuzzy. Given that it was purchased for under $40 I cannot really badmouth it. Now that I am looking to shoot out to 400 yards I needed something better.

Searching around I decided on a new "in the plastic‘ American Made spotting scope for a mere $245. Now this was a huge jump compared to the Tasco and what I consider a major investment for something used to look at bullet holes is paper. The scope is from a very renowned maker, in the business for over a hundred years. How could I go wrong? When the box arrived (undamaged, no dents, or dings) I tore it open and found inside a very nice hard shell case surrounded by styrofoam. The case was factory sealed in a clear plastic. Once I had removed the plastic and removed the scope I anxiously set it up on the tripod and removed the front lens cover. I unscrewed the rear eyepiece cover and, and, and the damned thing would not come off. It just spun around and round but would not come off. I called the customer service number and asked the man on the other end whether there was some secret to removing the hard plastic cover. I could tell by his response that he figured I was an idiot. No there was no secret. He said to send it back and they would check it out.

Off to the post office I go with the box, styrofoam packing, nice hard shell case, and my new spotting scope. Remember this is only an hour after it had arrived. No shooting today. Instead I pay the postal clerk almost $30 to insure and ship my new scope back to the maker, clear across the continent. A week goes by and I call to see if it had been received. No one had any idea what I was talking about. I had emailed a scanned copy of the postal receipt and requested reimbursement for the shipping. No scope, no one knew who I was, or what my problem was. I waited about four more days and called again. Still no sign of my scope. About two and a half weeks go by and the scope shows back up at my door with the simple notation enclosed, "repaired broken eyepiece." Now this scope was inside a soft cover, packed in the hardshell case, surrounded by closed cell foam, and packed in a cardboard box protected by styrofoam. There were no marks on the plastic protective cover. The eyepiece had to be broken before it was ever placed in the soft case. Also included was a short questionnaire about my satisfaction with the service, which I politely filled out and returned with the still new warranty card. When I sent follow-up emails about the shipping I was contacted by someone who said they had no record of this problem. Once that disconnect was resolved the company representative offered to substitute an item for my shipping expenses. Well there is almost nothing available from this company that fits in the "Under $30" category. So I finally said please just send me the money. No can do! It seems their commitment to customer satisfaction hit a major bump in the road. Cash refunds are not part of their policy. I wish I had known about their aversion to cash when I bought the scope. I might have offered a litter of kittens, several nice sized goldfish, or maybe even a polished rock that I picked up in Scotland in lieu of cash payment. You know, I could get into this barter system.

Well I do have the scope back and if it ever breaks I will probably chuck it in the river and buy a cheap Japanese or Chinese import to replace it. I am sure their customer service would be better. Sure is a nice hard shell case though. I might keep the case and keep my polished rock in there. If you want to know who provided this great service drop me an email, or better yet, offer me a litter of kittens, or a polished rock. I might be in the mood to trade. ghdave2@hotmail.com

Give a Knife, Save a Life

Give a Knife:

Those of you who read our book, The Rhythm of One, know about my bad experience in Vietnam with less than ideal combat knives. For example, I bought a Pilot’s Survival knife that was only moderately sharp and it preferred to stay that way. Then I took an M-3 bayonet and tried to make it into a fighting knife. It looked great but would not cut melted butter.

In 1968 it was inconceivable to me that an industrialized nation like the US would send its men off to war without a decent knife. Well fast forward forty years and you will find that things have not changed. The only difference is the fighting men are wading in sand not rice paddies. I have seen all sorts of organizations dedicated to sending candy, scarves, and toiletries to men in the Far East and it’s probably just a personal thing, but I would rather do without my favorite cologne than be without a fighting knife.

Tom Sotis of AMOK! http://www.edgedweaponsolutions.com/ sent an email asking for donations of fighting knives to send to Iraq. I doubt if anyone reading this blog remembers a similar WW-II request asking people to donate knives to the Brits. You see the Brits, in their infinite wisdom, listened to their liberal politicians and confiscated, or made illegal, almost all of the knives in England. When war broke out the "Home Guard" were busy making knives out of large nails, screwdrivers, and files. The slogan back then was "Give a knife, save a life," and Americans responded generously with thousands of knives.

Having personally experienced the bureaucracy of the military I am well aware of their phobias regarding men carrying personal edged weapons. However, knowing their thinking and understanding it is not the same thing. Why would they advertise that we have the best-trained and equipped fighting men in the world and not trust them to carry a fighting knife? It just boggles my mind! How can you entrust a young man or woman with operating a predator drone or a Blackhawk gunship and then confiscate their knife as an illegal weapon?

Ah well, some things never change. So, getting back to Tom’s email, I decided to answer the call. We had a few knives that were destined for our Used Knife page on the website and I decided that for the little income they would generate I would prefer to see them being carried by our brave men and women who stand in harms way. You can check on our website http://www.whiteshadowsecurity.com/ and see a photo of the knives under the "tried and true" category. If you have a few knives, or even one knife, that you want to donate please contact Tom Sotis at his email address, sotis@knifefighting.com or myself at ghdave2@hotmail.com . Come on, Give a knife, save a life.

The Way of the Sword

The Way of the Sword:

There are innumerable references in the Asian martial arts to the way of the sword, but few to firearms. One of my favorite firearms quotes comes from Kensei Musashi Miyamoto. "From within castle walls the gun is unexcelled, but once swords cross, it is of no use at all."
Another of my favorite quotes comes from Chairman Mao, who said, "Power flows from the muzzle of a gun." So you might ask, if I like these quotes why did I stop practicing with guns and their associated power. I cannot explain why I fell out of infatuation with firearms, it just happened.

Almost twenty years ago I eschewed the way of the gun for the way of the sword. It is hard for me to believe that it has been that long. Sorting through old files in our garage I came across targets marked: "40-90 @100 yards for group," "45-70 @ 200 yards, duplex load," and "28-30 breech-seated." Reading these semi-cryptic notes brought back fond memories of shooting with the ASSRA (American Single Shot Rifle Assoc.). Most of the targets are dated from 1987 to 1990.
In a more genteel era during the 1880-90s men spent Sunday afternoons at local ranges shooting guns like these. Dressed in three piece suits with tweed vests they enjoyed comparing rifles and shooting off hand at 100 and 200 yards. Schuetzen matches were popular during this renaissance of shooting sports in this great country. The shooters were not considered some lunatic fringe element, who posed a threat to our national security. They were not criminals or drug dealers. They were wealthy gentlemen and professionals, and everyday blue-collar workers. Shooting was a sport that appealed to men and boys of all ages. This was a day and age where boys 12-13 years old went out back with single shot 22 rifles and plinked at tin cans or targets and maybe shot rats in the local dump. This Golden Age of firearms manufacturing lasted from the late 1880s until WW-I. The competition for market presence was as strong as the competition on the shooting range. Firms like Remington, Sharps, Ballard, Maynard, Stevens, and Winchester built specialized off-hand and bench-rest target rifles. The designs were elegant, uniquely distinctive, and highly innovative. Many were destined to become timeless classics. Today some of these rifles have been lovingly reproduced in very small quantities.

Following the Great War, strong anti-German sentiment, and an overwhelming distaste for anything related to shooting or killing, spelled the end of what was known as the Schuetzen era. Those Schuetzen rifles, designed for and used solely in target matches, are for many gun aficionados, incomparable examples of the rifle builder’s art. No matter how precisely they shoot, modern rifles with their shapeless synthetic stocks will never satisfy the basic aesthetic needs and desire for beauty that figured woods and case colored actions fulfill. Because of my daughter’s interest in shooting I have reconnected with shooting.

Thanks Gwynne for giving back to me the pleasure that owning and shooting a finely-made rifle offers. Thank you to those long departed makers of single shot rifles for creating the best rifles possible, regardless of the cost or time it took to build them. I hope you will enjoy the photos of these classic rifles descended from a distant and golden age.