I purchased a gun via phone with a gent named "Ed" at Buds I asked him if the gun was in stock before purchasing and he stated yes. He said I was protected by this transaction so the gun would not be sold to someone else. Later that night I read my "online" order info from Buds, It said there was an "issue" with the order. I called and I was told it was not in stock. I spoke to the guy "Ed" and he denied (bold faced LIED) ever promising my order was secure. He then admitted that he was looking at an inventory sheet and was not aware that it was physically gone from the warehouse. I requested a Manager but was told he was busy so the usual transfer call to the "dead end" voice mail. They are still dragging their feet with my money still in their bank earning interest. BUYER BEWARE!

Whatever you think you were told is superseded by the documented terms of purchase.

Got this email yesterday.

This notice is being sent to all customers who recently placed an order with www.budsgunshop.com and may not necessarily apply to your order.

If you are not already aware of what is going on in the firearms industry, there is no doubt you soon will be via the media. Our sales in the month of February were over FIVE TIMES what they were back in February 2009 following the last presidential election...and you may recall those were some pretty crazy times ! We did plan for 2012 to be another challenging election year...but we admittedly did not plan for this level of volume, and definitely not this early in the year !

Although your order may not have experienced a delay, we would like to apologize to anyone who has, or is currently, experiencing a delay in shipping. Our order volume unexpectedly skyrocketed in February, far beyond our capacity to process and ship. We immediately began the process of expanding our facilities, adding additional staff, and working extended hours...but those efforts are just now starting to pay off.

The good news is that we are starting to get back on top of things. We are currently shipping out more orders each day that what we are taking in, so it is now just a matter of clearing the backlog that was created in February. Since Monday we have been able to ship out 300 more guns than what we sold during that same time...so the backlog should be cleared shortly at this rate. We are shipping oldest orders first (first in - first out) so clearing this backlog will cause some newer orders to ship closer to the "7" in our advertised "3 to 7 business days" terms. Many repeat customers were so use to us shipping in 3 days they started to get concerned when their order had not shipped in 5 days...even though we were well within our "3 to 7 business days" terms. Also, "business days" refers to Monday-Friday only, as neither UPS or USPS pick up packages at our warehouse on weekends.

We sincerely apologize if you experienced a delay and assure you we are continuing to do everything we possibly can to prevent future delays. We have also suspended all cancellation fees for any delayed orders. If you order has been delayed, and you prefer to cancel your order at this time...we will be glad to accommodate that request with absolutely no fees...we need more guns anyway !

We appreciate the business and commit to do a better job next time if given the opportunity.

Kind Regards,

Team Buds

BUDSGUNSHOP.COM
I received my first Internet-purchased gun today, four days after placing my order at budsgunshop.com. The gun was correct, as advertised, the order process and email followup service was regular and seamless. The speed was greased lightning. The rest is up to Smith & Wesson. My wife and I WILL buy from budsgunshop.com again.

Good luck on your next purchase. I echoed your sentiments the first time too.

Had the same thing happen. First purchase - great product, great service. Second purchase - good product, poor service (processing for 11 days). Left reviews of both experiences on the same day. One glowing, one identifying the issue and questioning about the long delay. Guess which review was edited... Thing is, their explanation of the editing was that the service portion was not considered relevant???? Too bad that didn't apply to the review in which I gave them high marks for their service...that was mysteriously left in the review. They will be my absolute last consideration because of what I see as a MAJOR ethical flaw.

After leaving a negative but helpful and polite review on Buds my review was deleted the next day and my customer account terminated by the "webmaster." Bud's customer service is nonexistent - if you have any issues with your order good luck getting someone on the phone. On the other hand, I would guess that the vast majority of transactions go smoothly and hence the large purported customer base. Low prices, large stock and apparently fast shipping mean most buyers will be happy. Bud's is simply playing the numbers game. Personally, I'd rather deal with companies that actually care if you have a problem even if their prices are higher. You get what you pay for.

Posted two reviews today. One a very positive review about my first order and the service I received. The second was mostly positive, but questioned a very long delay in product delivery and lack of communication. I also questioned if the poor service was in any way related to their push to get customers to join their VIP program which promises faster service among other things. The website edited out my comments regarding the long processing time for the one purchase, with a message to me explaining that only comments regarding the actual product were left in the review while other comments were edited out as the were not related to the product. Funny thing is, they left the very positive comments regarding the service I received with my previous order. Guess the reviews you read on their site are not to be trusted.