Customer Service Observation

I ordered a barrel for the XM177E2 project on December 2, 2008. Bushmaster said, at the time, that deliveries were running 6-8 weeks. That put delivery (at worst I thought) not later than January 27, 2009. When I called on the 29th they said that because of the panic that orders were really taking 8-12 weeks, sorry. Grumble. That put the delivery about February 24, 2009. I called then and they said, "about a month" left and I had read that five months was the actual wait, so I waited until today to call.

Guy on the phone says that deliveries are taking 18 weeks from time of order. I said, "Great, then it got here last week! Um, except it hasn't shipped yet, has it?"

"Well, sir, we've been swamped."

"I understand and you have my sympathies, but if you don't know, you should say so."

"It changes everyday because of cancellations and..."

"If you CANNOT know you should say so."

"It would take an hour per customer to..."

"You've spent more than an hour with me total now in four separate calls and I am thinking I am being lied to."

"We can cancel the order..."

"I want the barrel I ordered. I want you guys to be honest about it. I appreciate that you are swamped by the mass of orders since the election but the internet is telling on you. You've dedicated all your barrel production to M4 profiles and you're letting people who want something else dangle. Delivery time on an M4 is 6 weeks. I've read it over and over on the forums. I suggest you open up some non-M4 production before someone sues you. You're listing things on your catalog and website you don't have any intention of making in the timeframe you are promising. A clever lawyer could get me a free barrel that would cost you my (and your) legal fees. At the present rate, I am not sure that going to court would actually delay delivery!"

"We, uh, can cancel the order, we... I'm pretty sure we can get you your order by the end if the month. We're back-ordered on rifles by 180 thousand units."

"I totally understand that your system is overloaded. What I wanted was for you to say so and admit you have no way of knowing when you can fill my order."

"We don't have any way of knowing, with the volume, huge back-orders on our orders, back-orders from suppliers and cancellations how long an individual order will take. It appears that you should have your order by the end of the month."

"Thanks!"