Well, after playing tag with Fed X for a few days, i was finally able to get my new Niksan Ozark TS. After unpacking it, I gave it a complete inspection, and found all screws and bolts nice and tight, with no visual damages/blemishes. The tank had air, so considering the time and distance traveled, I considered it leak free. So far, so good. Next I ran a few patches down the bore, all seemed well there.
Next I put a couple of pellets into one of the 4 included mags, intending to test fire the gun.... but the mag would not fit into the breech....that is unless I used both hands, and all the hand power my 6'3" frame could muster! Even then a pellet could not be chambered because of misalignment. I tried ALL 4 of the included mags, both loaded, and unloaded..... none worked/fit. It was as if the slot in the breech had been milled several thousandths too small for the mags. NUTS! Felt like I'd taken a chance on a "new" brand of airgun....and got hosed.
I went online and sent a message, along with pics to the seller, and to their credit, I got a phone call within only a few minutes. After trying a few solutions/actions as directed by the seller, the mags still did not fit/work. The seller soon emailed me a return label, and said that once the gun got back to them, they would "inspect and try to fix it, and if we can't fix it, we will send you a new gun." I thanked the individual and told him I would appreciate whatever could be done to satisfy the situation.
That's admirable, and the bare minimum I would expect from any reputable seller... but inside the case with the rifle I received was a full inspection sheet....completely blank, with no check marks and no initials/signatures.... meaning to me that nothing about the gun was checked prior to shipping. And because of that, there's at least an extra unnecessary couple of weeks before I could be shooting a fully functional gun. And possibly more if we play the "tag" game of having to send the gun back multiple times.
Had I been asked, what I would have liked to have seen, is that upon being notified that the return had been shipped, a fully inspected and fully functional NEW gun be shipped to me. Had that been the case, I would be singing praises now, versus questioning motives.
As one forum member put it in a reply on another thread...
"It makes me very unhappy when this happens.. seems to me if I pay and receive a brand new gun and it don't function correctly and I have to send it back for repair I'm getting a refurb back. I didn't buy and pay refurb price originally.. Give me a new functioning gun, a refund in full or a discount for a refurb.
Fortunately it hasn't happened to me. But I'm ready to stomp my feet if it does."
My big question is...Why even have/include an "inspection sheet" with any product if it's going to be left blank, and show the customer what should have been checked/inspected....but wasn't?? Was it a fluke? An isolated incident? Does the seller even know/realize that there is an "inspection sheet" included with each of these guns? And... what is that saying to the customer who receives a non-functional gun, with a blank/unused "inspection sheet" in the case/package? To me that's saying they don't care enough about their customers, nor think highly enough about their product to take the required time to ensure the customer is getting not only what was paid for, but also a product that functions to the standards claimed within the sales site/literature.
I'm new to knowing the major players in the airgun world, and maybe not fully aware of how things are done within the community...but in this case, it seems that things could have been done a bit differently to better serve the customer.
I sincerely hope it all turns out for the best, and I receive a fully functional gun with as few hassles as possible. But at this stage, I will remain skeptical, until proven wrong... and am big enough to apologize if needs be. I've tracked the delivery, and the gun was received by the seller yesterday (29 Jan @ 2pm). We'll see what happens next.
UPDATE: The gun was delivered back to the seller as stated above..... today is 3 Feb 24.... still no contact from the seller.... I guess "I'll check it as soon as it arrives" means add several days to it? Pretty poor customer service IMO.
UPDATE: I waited until yesterday (6 Feb 25) without any contact from the seller, so I sent off an email seeking the guns status. I don't have proof, but my gut tells me that the gun had been sitting there since 29 Jan when it was delivered, and when I emailed to check the status, it suddenly became a priority for them. Now, I said earlier that if I were wrong about the mags, then I'd admit it... and according to the seller I was. So my apologies for saying the mags would not fit...with the caveat being when I get it back.... can I make them fit?? We'll see. I also got to pay for return shipping, which I get, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.
The whole instance has left a bad taste in my mouth, so I can see the Niksan gun getting sold off, and me going elsewhere for my needs.
I have been a sole proprietor for 25+ years and can tell you that customer service is all about communication. A 5 min phone call is all it takes to keep your clients happy. But if a client has to chase you down for information, you won't last long.
So, the gun is due back to me next Wed (12 Feb 25) which will end this saga one way of another.
UPDATE: Today is 11 Feb 25, and the Niksan Ozark was returned to me today via FedX. What a train wreck! The attached pics pretty much say it all. Sent an email to the seller with these same images, asking for further instructions. The gun itself seems to be OK, and I did manage to figure out how to insert the magazines....but to be honest its VERY counter-intuitive to me, and feels like I'm inserting the mags backwards. OH! and one of the mags is missing the magnet....searched what was left of the hard case, and the shipping box..... nowhere to be found. I'm beginning to think I'm not supposed to own one of these guns.
FINAL UPDATE: 20 Feb 25: After ordering a Niksan Ozark-TS on 16 Jan 25, I am considering my experience with this seller over. They did replace the broken case, however it was with an obviously used case, full of scuffs and scratches, along with a very obvious imprint in the foam from it housing a gun for an extended period. I also received two magazines, that I assume were intended to replace the one with the lost magnet, but those were obviously used too, and only one of them worked. The other gets stuck between pellets....and jams.
As for me, I regret ever doing business with this seller, and frankly will not deal with them again. Although they were very attentive to my situation, it seemed to me that they were doing whatever they could to get rid of me as quickly as possible.
The gun itself.... I would not purchase it again. The accuracy is "so-so" at best, it has horrible "hammer slap" at any plenum adjustment above "low", is VERY heavy, and is just overall awkward to handle/shoot. It also suffers severely from "barrel bump"..... meaning that leaning the floating barrel against anything, or bumping it, results in throwing off the POI, and requires it to be sighted in again. I'm struggling with the idea of constructing my own barrel band for it, and if that works keeping the gun, or just packing the whole thing up in the case and selling it off. After this experience I suspect every time I look at the gun, I'll be reminded of the bad experience.
Next I put a couple of pellets into one of the 4 included mags, intending to test fire the gun.... but the mag would not fit into the breech....that is unless I used both hands, and all the hand power my 6'3" frame could muster! Even then a pellet could not be chambered because of misalignment. I tried ALL 4 of the included mags, both loaded, and unloaded..... none worked/fit. It was as if the slot in the breech had been milled several thousandths too small for the mags. NUTS! Felt like I'd taken a chance on a "new" brand of airgun....and got hosed.
I went online and sent a message, along with pics to the seller, and to their credit, I got a phone call within only a few minutes. After trying a few solutions/actions as directed by the seller, the mags still did not fit/work. The seller soon emailed me a return label, and said that once the gun got back to them, they would "inspect and try to fix it, and if we can't fix it, we will send you a new gun." I thanked the individual and told him I would appreciate whatever could be done to satisfy the situation.
That's admirable, and the bare minimum I would expect from any reputable seller... but inside the case with the rifle I received was a full inspection sheet....completely blank, with no check marks and no initials/signatures.... meaning to me that nothing about the gun was checked prior to shipping. And because of that, there's at least an extra unnecessary couple of weeks before I could be shooting a fully functional gun. And possibly more if we play the "tag" game of having to send the gun back multiple times.
Had I been asked, what I would have liked to have seen, is that upon being notified that the return had been shipped, a fully inspected and fully functional NEW gun be shipped to me. Had that been the case, I would be singing praises now, versus questioning motives.
As one forum member put it in a reply on another thread...
"It makes me very unhappy when this happens.. seems to me if I pay and receive a brand new gun and it don't function correctly and I have to send it back for repair I'm getting a refurb back. I didn't buy and pay refurb price originally.. Give me a new functioning gun, a refund in full or a discount for a refurb.
Fortunately it hasn't happened to me. But I'm ready to stomp my feet if it does."
My big question is...Why even have/include an "inspection sheet" with any product if it's going to be left blank, and show the customer what should have been checked/inspected....but wasn't?? Was it a fluke? An isolated incident? Does the seller even know/realize that there is an "inspection sheet" included with each of these guns? And... what is that saying to the customer who receives a non-functional gun, with a blank/unused "inspection sheet" in the case/package? To me that's saying they don't care enough about their customers, nor think highly enough about their product to take the required time to ensure the customer is getting not only what was paid for, but also a product that functions to the standards claimed within the sales site/literature.
I'm new to knowing the major players in the airgun world, and maybe not fully aware of how things are done within the community...but in this case, it seems that things could have been done a bit differently to better serve the customer.
I sincerely hope it all turns out for the best, and I receive a fully functional gun with as few hassles as possible. But at this stage, I will remain skeptical, until proven wrong... and am big enough to apologize if needs be. I've tracked the delivery, and the gun was received by the seller yesterday (29 Jan @ 2pm). We'll see what happens next.
UPDATE: The gun was delivered back to the seller as stated above..... today is 3 Feb 24.... still no contact from the seller.... I guess "I'll check it as soon as it arrives" means add several days to it? Pretty poor customer service IMO.
UPDATE: I waited until yesterday (6 Feb 25) without any contact from the seller, so I sent off an email seeking the guns status. I don't have proof, but my gut tells me that the gun had been sitting there since 29 Jan when it was delivered, and when I emailed to check the status, it suddenly became a priority for them. Now, I said earlier that if I were wrong about the mags, then I'd admit it... and according to the seller I was. So my apologies for saying the mags would not fit...with the caveat being when I get it back.... can I make them fit?? We'll see. I also got to pay for return shipping, which I get, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.
The whole instance has left a bad taste in my mouth, so I can see the Niksan gun getting sold off, and me going elsewhere for my needs.
I have been a sole proprietor for 25+ years and can tell you that customer service is all about communication. A 5 min phone call is all it takes to keep your clients happy. But if a client has to chase you down for information, you won't last long.
So, the gun is due back to me next Wed (12 Feb 25) which will end this saga one way of another.
UPDATE: Today is 11 Feb 25, and the Niksan Ozark was returned to me today via FedX. What a train wreck! The attached pics pretty much say it all. Sent an email to the seller with these same images, asking for further instructions. The gun itself seems to be OK, and I did manage to figure out how to insert the magazines....but to be honest its VERY counter-intuitive to me, and feels like I'm inserting the mags backwards. OH! and one of the mags is missing the magnet....searched what was left of the hard case, and the shipping box..... nowhere to be found. I'm beginning to think I'm not supposed to own one of these guns.
FINAL UPDATE: 20 Feb 25: After ordering a Niksan Ozark-TS on 16 Jan 25, I am considering my experience with this seller over. They did replace the broken case, however it was with an obviously used case, full of scuffs and scratches, along with a very obvious imprint in the foam from it housing a gun for an extended period. I also received two magazines, that I assume were intended to replace the one with the lost magnet, but those were obviously used too, and only one of them worked. The other gets stuck between pellets....and jams.
As for me, I regret ever doing business with this seller, and frankly will not deal with them again. Although they were very attentive to my situation, it seemed to me that they were doing whatever they could to get rid of me as quickly as possible.
The gun itself.... I would not purchase it again. The accuracy is "so-so" at best, it has horrible "hammer slap" at any plenum adjustment above "low", is VERY heavy, and is just overall awkward to handle/shoot. It also suffers severely from "barrel bump"..... meaning that leaning the floating barrel against anything, or bumping it, results in throwing off the POI, and requires it to be sighted in again. I'm struggling with the idea of constructing my own barrel band for it, and if that works keeping the gun, or just packing the whole thing up in the case and selling it off. After this experience I suspect every time I look at the gun, I'll be reminded of the bad experience.
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