Optics Planet lost a customer....

Longrifle

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
My brother ordered an AR from PSA and he found a scope he wanted for it, a Vortex, and mounts on Optics Planet. I've ordered from them before, I was well satisfied, and it looked like a decent deal. My brother is one of those that even at his age absolutely refuses to open a checking account. Doesn't want the world to know his business, doesn't want to pay the fess, blah blah blah. Yeah, I know. Total of his order was $388. When it gets to the cart it's now $407 which now mysteriously includes a $25 OP gift certificate. Ok, ok, he's a good brother and if I like the scope I can use the gift certificate for one like it for the 6.5 Creedmoor I'm thinking about...

I'm a cash-oriented person, I use my bank account primarily for household bills, and if I see something I want to order online I deposit the funds to my account and order when they've cleared. I don't like overdraft fees, don't see any reason to have them. I deposited his money to my account the next morning and ordered the scope for him in the afternoon after checking to see that it had been posted. This is the 21st.

I go to my bank's website on Christmas day, check my balance, and find not one but two charges from OP. There's the agreed upon $407, another for an additional $404, and my account is now $131 in the RED! Christmas day, I know I can't do anything, but you can cool believe I'm on the phone when they open yesterday morning. I'm on hold for 20 minutes before someone from customer service finally picks up and explains it as a pre-authorization charge! I kid you not, like they can't determine that there are sufficient funds in my account on the 21st, the day I ordered it. Seriously? Either a charge clears or it doesn't! You weren't sure so you deducted the full amount from my bank account, not once but twice? By this point in the stupidity of their explanation I had gotten a tad hot and asked for a supervisor. They put me on ignore and I hung up after 20 minutes with no response.

Long story short they credited the extra charge back to my account sometime after lunch yesterday and NOW I have to wait for the bank to do the same. In the meantime all my debit card is good for is picking my teeth. The story should end here...but it doesn't.
Curiosity and latent hostility got the best of me this afternoon so I called and asked the representative to point me to somewhere, anywhere on their website that showed that policy in print. They couldn't, it doesn't exist..... but they were sorry...that I apparently had a problem with them using $400 of my money....for 5 days....for free.
Funny thing is I could have gotten the exact same scope and mounts for him for $19 less from Amazon. Never again.....
 

Longrifle

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
^^^^^^^I know.....but I don't do credit cards anymore buddy. There's just too many guns out there.....and bows...and kayaks...and....

I don't remember the last time I had a problem with a debit card and I was around when they first came out. This one pissed me off....
 

JBGrizzley

Eight Pointer
Ive never had much luck with optics planet. Always gave me the runaround. MidwayUSA is my go to place with SWFA being backup
 

Longrifle

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
They had it all straightened out and funds back in my account this morning. That's why I like to small town banks, and having someone I can call or walk in and talk face to face...
 

LanceR

Six Pointer
Contributor
May I suggest going to the Better Business Bureau website and filing a complaint? The BBB will make your complaint public on their website and reach out to Optics Planet. The 3-4 times I've been frustrated enough to use the BBB the company involved reacted very quickly to make me happy. They know that my complaint and their response and the remediation results will be a public record on the BBB site for a long time.


Lance
 

41magnum

Twelve Pointer
May I suggest going to the Better Business Bureau website and filing a complaint?

^^THIS...……...and nowdays, OP planet COULD have a FB page where you can let them REALLY have it publicly.
Another thing that gets their attn is to write the CEO of the company. ..find him at thomasregister or just Google.

I've gotten many free "gifts" after letting a CEO know what an unhappy customer I was. And always ask them "if you were me, would you shop at Optics Planet again?"

My buddy that is a CEO, says this 1 question, gets their attn more than any!

I DON'T mean the "Contact Us" button on their website, either.

Amazon is the way to go nowadays, as you now know.

And a credit card, as mentioned, gives us more protection, but they MUST be used wisely.
 

Mr.Gadget

Old Mossy Horns
^^^^^^^I know.....but I don't do credit cards anymore buddy. There's just too many guns out there.....and bows...and kayaks...and....

I don't remember the last time I had a problem with a debit card and I was around when they first came out. This one pissed me off....
It is your money.
But there is no way on gods green earth you will ever see me or anyone in my family with a debit card they are bad news.

If you do not trust yourself with a CC then work with the bank to get a prepaid CC or one that is backed by your checking account or just have a low limit on it.

Seen way to many people deal with the troubles of using a debit.
 
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Packfan

Eight Pointer
eBay. They are hard to beat 99% of the time on optics. No tax. Free shipping. 50% of the time my stuff shows up from there in an Amazon box anyway. Amazon charges tax and they charge shipping unless you pay the annual prime fee (unless you buy one one of the couple of designated free shipping days).

On a side note, there is no way I’d ever use a debit card for anything but an atm. CC’s aren’t tied back to my checking or savings. Seen too many people get their accounts wiped out. It takes the same discipline to use a CC as it does to use a debit card.
 

Longrifle

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Nor do I. I've been a Prime member for years....the UPS guy, the FEDEX guy, and the postal carrier and I are on a first name basis. All done with a debit card. Never a problem before.
I use a debit card instead of a credit card 'cause if I ain't got it, I ain't got it....and putting off paying for it ain't gonna make the money appear.....
 

Mr.Gadget

Old Mossy Horns
Nor do I. I've been a Prime member for years....the UPS guy, the FEDEX guy, and the postal carrier and I are on a first name basis. All done with a debit card. Never a problem before.
I use a debit card instead of a credit card 'cause if I ain't got it, I ain't got it....and putting off paying for it ain't gonna make the money appear.....
But in the case of business and other needs it is always better to use someone else's money for free.

Just because you have or use a CC has nothing to do with the amount of money you have or don't have.
 

Longrifle

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
But in the case of business and other needs it is always better to use someone else's money for free.

Just because you have or use a CC has nothing to do with the amount of money you have or don't have.

I understand Mr. G, and totally agree with using other people's money when you have to, I do understand the business aspect. And it's not that I don't understand credit, it's just that I don't see the need for it myself. It could be that my goals just haven't been that lofty, lol, but I haven't had a mortgage or paid rent in 30 years and financed one vehicle in that time. Paid it off 3 years early and I still drive it.

I was the business manager for three stores owned by one of the top two yacht and sportboat manufacturers in Florida. I've also driven a dump truck at the Volusia County landfill for $8.50 an hour. I've lived in an 11th floor condo overlooking Daytona Beach and I've lived in a tent on 50 acres of palmettos, swamp, and scrub oak and bathed in the lake. When I saw what I had to give up of myself to pay for the condo, that tent was an easy decision. And while I don't have a lot these days by some scales, the coffee can is in pretty good shape and the ground, every building, every vehicle, and every stick on it belongs to me.

I tell you that to say this: I've learned to be pretty doggone careful with my money. When someone deprives me the use of it and I didn't give them approval to do so it's not that it's a crippler. But it's mine, you're gonna give it back, and then I'm going to tell everybody I know to watch their dealings with you.
 
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