Hope that I am about to vent in the proper place…here goes.
I recently attended a Remington/Bushmaster Armorer school in NY (NYTOA conference to be exact), whereat I was told about a “VIP Purchasing” program. The instructor, Ken Nickerson (seems like a nice guy), told us all that once we completed the course, we would have the opportunity to purchase a Remingto/Bushmaster product at a greatly reduced rate (46% off of MSRP is what I was told). Sounds like a great deal, no?
So after not hearing from Remington/Bushmaster for a couple of months, I sent an email to inquire about the program. Spoke with a guy there, Ed O’Malley, who called me and gave me all the ins and outs, and it sounded as advertised…which was good.
I then received a call back from Ed, who regretfully told me that I was not eligible for the VIP program because I attended a “Free” course. I say, “huh, I paid $300 for the course”. He was very apologetic, and directed me to call Ken Nickerson, which I did. Ken explained to me that the course I attended was a “free, write off” course…what that meant was that they donated a course to the NYTOA in return for…something I guess. And, that although he had explained that I (and everyone else in the course) was eligible for the VIP program, that since my course was this caliber, sorry no cheap gun for you.
Not an offer to make good, not an offer for anything to replace my feeling of having just gotten screwed.
It does suck that they wouldn’t honor their verbal commitment - It’s not as though Bushington can’t absorb a discount on a rifle. I think that, were I Ed or Ken, I would have sucked it up and offered to make good on it, because they said they would offer it to people in the class. But hey, look on the bright side - at least this way, you don’t end up chasing the systemic issues that come free with every Bushmaster AR15.:rolleyes:
I don’t know if the deal applied to the higher end Remingtons or if only to the lower-end 700’s and Bushmaster products, but if it’s the former, I’d be pretty pissed if that’s what was promised.
If it was for a Bushmaster AR-15 or similar, yeah, maybe it’s all for the best. But even right now I wouldn’t pass up a ~$450 Bushmaster for a loaner rifle. So there’s still good reason to be upset.
Oh it’s not mine; just a picture from the internet. But I did carry an XM2010 on Uncle Sam’s dime and it is a phenomenal system, as was the M24 for many many years. I don’t even come close to being able to afford one of the newer Remington chassis rifles personally.
As explained to me, the deal was for ANY Remington/Bushmaster gun…I’m not a hater on these rifles, but I do understand that there are better guns. That being said, I definitely wanted to buy one simply because the deal was really good…too good to be true I guess.
I already own a DPMS AP4, which I have no issue with; shoots fine, was reasonably priced. Now I have to get rid of it because Remington/Bushmaster/DPMS/Advanced Armament are all owned by Freedom Group.
that sucks that they didn’t make good. Hard to believe that they cut corners on their rifles (exception for the higher end Remingtons) and have shit service too. Great way to run a company. :rolleyes:
You are better off anyway. I’ve been to 2 Remington schools, and everytime they offer you this great deal, but in the end (unless its a high demand product) you could have found it just as cheap at your local Gun store.
Years ago I purchased an 11-87 police and once the check was in the mail I start seeing them for similar prices in Shotgun New and other advertisements.
Just goes to show you how marked up those MSRP’s are.
The point isn’t that I missed out on a product that’s good, or not good, but that there was a breakdown in integrity…their representative offered me a deal, and then told me to go scratch when I tried to take them up on it.
Sorry, but I think that’s a lousy way to run a company like Remington (Bushmaster, DPMS, Freedom Group…). Glad to see that I’m not the only one!
