Midway USA

[WAB]

It is not easily resolved with a couple of phone calls. I tried that as did my gunsmith buddy. In fact, if you are Canadian do NOT phone and tell them that or you are flagged forever. Been there. Phone calls work fine with other vendors.

Here's the thing: I get a US card with US billing and shipping address and the purchase goes through their online purchase system just fine. Then a few days later I get an email saying the transaction was canceled. I called them up. "Oh, we know your Canadian because you tried to use a Canadian card years ago." So they're keeping track?

I'm sure Midway does not care about losing our business. And I'm not hesitant to tell everyone I don't care for their attitude.

Try living in Alaska and being treated like a red headed stepchild by US vendors (not Midway by the way).

 

[Rez Exelon]

I've ordered through Midway a great deal and their service has always been excellent.

However... your point about dies is the only area where I've had issues with Midway. In the past on more than one occasion I've gotten a gently opened box correctly labeled for the die set I ordered, and inside the box were dies for another caliber - often (badly) used. I suspect another person either mistakenly returned the wrong dies, or more likely intentionally returned an old unwanted die and kept the new one, counting on Midway not noticing the substitution. Though eventually this got sorted out, the fact that it happened more than once has made me seek out other sources for dies.

Oh, and then there was the time they Midway sent me a $500 pair of Kenetrek boots that I never ordered and was never charged for... Since I had never ordered the boots, customer service initially said I had to pay for the return shipping... Though they did laugh when I used the term "honesty tax" and gave me store credit for the shipping cost.

I 100% believe the situation is people intentionally buying and returning. I'm a big floozy for bin/pallet stores and find some amazing crap at them every week for pennies. However, I see alllllllllllll the time where I find something to discover it's something else. All of these pallet/bin stores are stocked by Amazon and other major retailer returns. For the most part people are starting to believe (with some accuracy no less) that returns online will not be checked in the least and they take advantage of it.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I've ordered through Midway a great deal and their service has always been excellent.

However... your point about dies is the only area where I've had issues with Midway. In the past on more than one occasion I've gotten a gently opened box correctly labeled for the die set I ordered, and inside the box were dies for another caliber - often (badly) used. I suspect another person either mistakenly returned the wrong dies, or more likely intentionally returned an old unwanted die and kept the new one, counting on Midway not noticing the substitution. Though eventually this got sorted out, the fact that it happened more than once has made me seek out other sources for dies.

Oh, and then there was the time they Midway sent me a $500 pair of Kenetrek boots that I never ordered and was never charged for... Since I had never ordered the boots, customer service initially said I had to pay for the return shipping... Though they did laugh when I used the term "honesty tax" and gave me store credit for the shipping cost.

"Honesty tax." Good on you for doing the right thing. During the pandemic I had to drive to Minneapolis Veterans Hospital for hernia surgery because hospital here was closed to elective surgery. After return I was of course stuck with 2 week quarantine for crossing the border. Okay with that. At least I would be able to walk in time for safari. But after getting home I discovered water heater leaking. Phone ordered a new one from Home Depot but delivery guy only showed up with solder flux. Phoned them and they said the heater was sitting there for curb delivery. Online glitche apparently. My water heater was delivered a half hour later. I pulled the old one up from the basement, slid new one down in its box, and replumbed. Following week the surgeon called for followup. "Guess I must be okay if I could replace water heater during recovery." No one else could come do it during quarantine and I didn't feel like waiting two weeks for a shower. He was not happy. "Put it down as xtreme physiotherapy." A couple weeks later the credit card bill comes and no water heater! I tried several times calling Home Depot but they were swamped with phone orders. The first morning the store opened after restrictions were lifted, I was there to pay my bill. The manager was called up. I explained that I didn't want anyone to get in trouble when accounts and inventory were reconciled. He said no one would get in trouble because HE had done the transaction. Oops. It would have been a free water heater. We had a laugh. He gave me fifty bucks off. I said that wasn't necessary. But he insisted on paying the "honesty tax" himself. First time I heard that phrase.

 

[SFRanger7GP]

Likely because they don't want to have to deal with ITAR among other things. They aren't the only ones.

Nobody is special when it comes to ITAR. I remember when it went into effect and it not only shut down my orders to an APO, but became a total pain for the foreign military sales I was managing. I “adapted and overcame” immediately.

Midway has always been great to me. I bought some Leica binos years ago and they went on a huge sale later in the same day that I ordered. I called and they credited me the difference.

Safe shooting

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

I lived in Nigeria for six years and never had a problem ordering from Midway, Amazon, etc and having stuff delivered to a US address. The trick was you needed to have an established account with the provider or service you were try to deal with. When I knew I was traveling back to the US, I would make several orders. Midway's shipping is so fast, I occasionally would receive my order the day before I ordered it. Nitro Express fast shipping!

 

[sgt_zim]

Nobody is special when it comes to ITAR. I remember when it went into effect and it not only shut down my orders to an APO, but became a total pain for the foreign military sales I was managing. I “adapted and overcame” immediately.

Midway has always been great to me. I bought some Leica binos years ago and they went on a huge sale later in the same day that I ordered. I called and they credited me the difference.

Safe shooting

Yeah, my employer does a lot of ITAR business. Part of my team's job is to ensure the ITAR/CUI data stays under our ITAR/CUI controls. The USN and NASA are both pretty big customers.

 

[JoninCO]

Most firearms parts moved to EAR control a couple years ago and out of ITAR. It’s no less restrictive as an individual but it is easier to get licenses from Dept of Commerce versus the State Dept.

I have a friend that is a convicted felon now, solely for selling the wrong thing internationally on eBay.

 

[cwpayton]

I've ordered through Midway a great deal and their service has always been excellent.

However... your point about dies is the only area where I've had issues with Midway. In the past on more than one occasion I've gotten a gently opened box correctly labeled for the die set I ordered, and inside the box were dies for another caliber - often (badly) used. I suspect another person either mistakenly returned the wrong dies, or more likely intentionally returned an old unwanted die and kept the new one, counting on Midway not noticing the substitution. Though eventually this got sorted out, the fact that it happened more than once has made me seek out other sources for dies.

Oh, and then there was the time they Midway sent me a $500 pair of Kenetrek boots that I never ordered and was never charged for... Since I had never ordered the boots, customer service initially said I had to pay for the return shipping... Though they did laugh when I used the term "honesty tax" and gave me store credit for the shipping cost.

what did you order to get the 500$ boots Id like to give it a try.

 

[Rez Exelon]

Yeah, my employer does a lot of ITAR business. Part of my team's job is to ensure the ITAR/CUI data stays under our ITAR/CUI controls. The USN and NASA are both pretty big customers.

My company just had visitors from out of the country that wanted to go shooting. Just to be on the absolute safe end of compliance I politely suggested some ranges to go to rather than taking them out with personal stuff. While I'm near certain there wouldn't be a compliance issue with that I didn't want to mix home and work so closely either.

 

[JohnD29]

what did you order to get the 500$ boots Id like to give it a try.

I wish I knew! I think they just figured I’d gotten one of everything else…

 

[Captain David newlin]

Yesterday I placed an order with Midway USA, for a total of $51.37. Order went through with no problem and received a confirmation e-mail. For some reason I checked my bank account and noticed 11 charges of $51.37 from Midway USA. I checked their website and noticed that they were already closed. So, I called my bank to dispute 10 of those charges. I had no issues with my bank helping me dispute the charges.

Has anyone had anything remotely similar happened? I've been shopping at Midway for many years, and this has never happened. Not sure what went wrong but I don't like being charged 10 times for one order.

Never had a problem with hundreds of orders. They will fix your problem

 

[Safari Dave]

Our Atlanta based, consumer advocate, Clark Howard, calls debit cards "Fake VISAS".

He says to never even get a debit card, because the money comes directly out of your bank account. If someone screws up or there is a glitch, which can lead to overdraw fees, non-payment fees, interest, etc., then you have to suffer the consequences until everything gets straightened out.

(I don't have a debit card)

I "play games" with credit card reward programs, just for fun.

One year, I made nearly $5,000!

 

[Rez Exelon]

Our Atlanta based, consumer advocate, Clark Howard, calls debit cards "Fake VISAS".

He says to never even get a debit card, because the money comes directly out of your bank account. If someone screws up or there is a glitch, which can lead to overdraw fees, non-payment fees, interest, etc., then you have to suffer the consequences until everything gets straightened out.

(I don't have a debit card)

I "play games" with credit card reward programs, just for fun.

One year, I made nearly $5,000!

Considering we're at tax time that system is easy peazy lemon squeezy. Just structure your withholdings so that you owe about 6-8k at the end of the year. Yes, this means you better be putting that 6-8k in a CD or interest bearing account through the year rather than spending it.

When the tax man cometh, find out how much you owe. Then you open 1-2 credit cards to pay. Assuming the cards you get have a sign up bonus when you spend 3k, you split the tax bill across the two cards using a service like pay1040. Then you pay off the cards from savings. Wait 6-8 weeks and the sign up bonus is in your account and you spent precisely ZERO dollars that weren't already going out from your account. AND you made interest on the money before it departed.

 

[Inline6]

It ain't about you, sparky. That's kind of an exalted opinion of yourself. Potterfield doesn't give a crap about you. He doesn't give a crap about me, either.

Graf's doesn't do small orders outside of the US, either. As nearly as I can tell, Powder Valley doesn't ship international at all.

Powder Valley just relieved me of a chunk of change. They had Varget and H4350 in stock. They also had SRPs in stock. It hurts to pay for a brick what you are used to paying for a case.

 

[double rifle newbie]

I probably make more than 15 orders a year from Midway and have never had a problem except a scope had been put in the wrong box and they corrected in immediately.

ive made dozens of orders and never had a problem

 

[gearguywb]

I order from them regularly (have an order processing as I type this). Never an issue.

 

[fourfive8]

"Honesty tax." Good on you for doing the right thing. During the pandemic I had to drive to Minneapolis Veterans Hospital for hernia surgery because hospital here was closed to elective surgery. After return I was of course stuck with 2 week quarantine for crossing the border. Okay with that. At least I would be able to walk in time for safari. But after getting home I discovered water heater leaking. Phone ordered a new one from Home Depot but delivery guy only showed up with solder flux. Phoned them and they said the heater was sitting there for curb delivery. Online glitche apparently. My water heater was delivered a half hour later. I pulled the old one up from the basement, slid new one down in its box, and replumbed. Following week the surgeon called for followup. "Guess I must be okay if I could replace water heater during recovery." No one else could come do it during quarantine and I didn't feel like waiting two weeks for a shower. He was not happy. "Put it down as xtreme physiotherapy." A couple weeks later the credit card bill comes and no water heater! I tried several times calling Home Depot but they were swamped with phone orders. The first morning the store opened after restrictions were lifted, I was there to pay my bill. The manager was called up. I explained that I didn't want anyone to get in trouble when accounts and inventory were reconciled. He said no one would get in trouble because HE had done the transaction. Oops. It would have been a free water heater. We had a laugh. He gave me fifty bucks off. I said that wasn't necessary. But he insisted on paying the "honesty tax" himself. First time I heard that phrase.

Good on you- both counts! I think many workers still think were are in full pandemic- where everyone should act helpless and dependent. Sometime I also think "no good deed goes unpunished". Nice to hear a positive story.