PSA Customer Service...WTF?

[jackstraw001]

I've ordered from PSA on a number of occasions and have had pretty good experiences up to now, decent prices, fairly quick shipping, etc. However, my last order with them has been unexpectedly horrible.

I ordered a number of items in early January and was informed (after placing the order) that due to high order volumes, it might take up to 15 days for my items to ship. Unpleasant surprise #1 but I can deal with it. So I finally get my order on Monday of this week (3 weeks after ordering), open my new red dot scope and the battery cover falls off as I take it out of the box. I spend the next 30 minutes or so trying to get the *#%^+}*<~> battery cover to screw into place before concluding that somehow the screw threads are stripped. Unpleasant surprise #2 since I expected somebody would QC items before they go out the door. So I check the return procedures on the PSA website and learn that I need a return authorization number from PSA before I can send my item back (at my cost). I call up PSA on Mon afternoon and spend about 30 minutes on hold trying to get a return authorization before giving up with never having talked to a live person at PSA. So I send them an email requesting a return authorization number as detailed on their website. No answer. Wait a couple days and send another email Wed morning. No answer. Sent another email this afternoon (Fri). No answer so far. Very unpleasant surprise #3.

Not only am I pissed off but I'm really surprised and disappointed by how all this has gone down. I understand back ordered items, no big deal, but I've always had such good experience with PSA until now. Has something over there changed? Is this growing pains for a popular supplier? Anybody else experience similar problems? I hope I'm an outlier and not typical of PSA customer service.

***UPDATE 2/4/2015***
After 5 emails and 5 phone calls, I was finally able to get through to someone through the PSA customer service number after only about 20 min on hold. The employee I spoke to (Everett) was very friendly and apologetic for the delays I encountered. He sent me an email (while I was on the phone with him) with a UPS Return Label and told me PSA would issue a refund as soon as the item arrived to them. Happy ending...so far.

 

[righter13]

I would try to contact the manufacturer for warranty. And I've often had to wait 30+ minutes to get a human on the phone w PSA.

 

[jburton3]

You'll never hear back from the email. I emailed them over a year ago and never heard back. I called them a few weeks ago about a product on their website. Of course it took about 40 min to get someone on the phone. I asked about the email and dude told me that they only have 4 people that answer emails and there are over 7000 emails in waiting. If you ever get a chance to make it their physical store, its good to go.

 

[GlockIssue]

My guess is that it's probably growing pains. I got the impression that the holidays got pretty crazy for them and they still haven't quite caught up yet. I'm sure their order #'s were overwhelming and now they're dealing with returns. I'm not defending PSA because I'm pretty indifferent towards them, honestly. I consider this level of customer service to be unacceptable regardless of who the company is. You can always try the manufacturer, but for your own sake I would try PSA's customer service again. Try calling when they first open. You're more likely to get someone on the phone.

 

[sparked1]

Growing pains? Pffft. They're not new and they're not mom and pop. They simply have one of the ****tiest customer service offerings out there. People put up with it because the pricing is hard to beat and up until this point, they put out decent stuff. Not sure how much longer they can operate at this pace without pissing people off. I know I have stayed away recently exactly for this reason. I will only deal with them if the deal is REALLY good.

 

[Hunng]

I'm freakin sick of palmetto and their garbage customer service...no excuses...no price justifications...it's ridiculous...it doesn't take 3 weeks to put something in a box and it doesn't take an hour to answer the damm phone...sickening...good luck OP

 

[mgonza]

Why would they quality control a boxed item?

 

[Jholdbrooks]

Call them and at the time it ask you for your party's extension..enter 1300

 

[TheGman]

I had an issue emailed , no response , somehow found another email address got someone a voila my problem was resolved.
They need to step up the access and response to issues.

 

[Falcon1]

Unfortunately you are not the only one OP. My experiences with them have been hit or miss on the shipping time, but I have never had to call them because everything I have received was quality and just as described. Based on the horror stories I have read on here about their responses (or lack thereof) to emails and phone calls this is an every day occurrence.