I think this is important enough to share with the community since many people purchase with Bud's.

When I bought my MOE last month, Bud's wasn't the cheapest vendor but they showed the item "in stock" and they had a stellar reputation with everyone I spoke with. So, I decided to spend a bit more and order with them. Bad idea.

First, some minor annoyances. The 3% BS credit surcharge annoyed me - but what the heck I fork over the credit card, I'm going to get great customer service . Then the "in stock" item took a full 7 business days to even go to shipping status (but they did say it could take as long as 7 days to ship).

At that point, Bud's has earned about a C- as far as service IMO. But the following took them to a solid F.

Yesterday I get an email from my credit card company saying that there is fraudulent activity on my account. This morning Bud's sends an email fessing up that their security had been compromised and customer credit card info was stolen.

Failing to properly secure personal banking info, especially at a gun shop is an unacceptable failure IMO. No more Bud's for me. I hope others will take this into consideration when choosing where to order their 15-22.

wow that sucks, I hope you get everything sorted and without too much money gone.

The web provides for an easy facade, can only imagine what goes on behind the scene.

Not to defend Bud's...

But they do tell you the listed price is the "cash" price (ie... check, money order, cash, etc...) and that there will be 3% added for CC.

Businesses get hacked every day, but losing customer vitals is a big no-no in my book.

I wouldn't be opposed to buying from Bud's again, but long ago, I did away with credit cards.

Easy credit makes for impulse buying decisions, and compounding it is the experience you endured.

I would keep careful documentation of the incident and fradulent charges and keep that info in a safety deposit box... just my three cents.

I decided to go with a CC payment rather than an e-check (good for cash discount and no downtime in snail mail) because of security concerns. I'd much prefer a criminal get my CC number (which has now been cancelled) than my checking account info which would have been a long, drawn out nightmare.

Apparently that was 3% well spent.

I've also bought from Bud's several times, and I wouldn't hesitate to do so again.
BUT, I have gotten away from credit card payments online more than several years ago. If I can't trust an online company enough to send them a money order, then I don't do business with them, and there is NO possible way that a money order can lead to a compromised account.
Yes, there is the added "risk" of a money order being stolen in the mail, but there are procedures in place where you can recover that money if necessary, and those procedures are less involved than trying to recover one's identity.


But back to Bud's...
They have been around long enough and have offered reasonable discounts on new guns so long that my local dealer will pretty much meet their pricing. By the time the deal is done, I end up at really close to the Bud's price, even factoring in tax, with my local dealer.
Just last week, I bought a brand new 617 that I checked with my local gun guy about handling the FFL transfer from Bud's, and he shot me a price on the same pistol that only cost me $5 more (ALL costs included including tax) than it would have cost total from Buds, and I didn't have to mess with ordering and sending a MO, etc. Plus I had it the next day when it was shipped from the distributor to my gun shop.
Additionally, my local gun guy said that most of the time when an order is placed through Bud's, the pistol comes drop-shipped from the same distributor that my local dealer uses, so in the end, I would end up with the exact same pistol no matter where I bought it from. When Bud's says "In Stock", that doesn't necessarily mean that they have it on hand, but often that it's simply shown in stock at various distributors that Bud's does business with.

Just pointing out some possibilities other than putting one's CC info online...

Hate to hear about credit stuff being compromised. Seems to be happening more and more these days. That said, if you gave Bud's a C- for all the stuff you knew up front before ordering, I'm guessing everyone else you were considering was a D or worse?

I have purchased all of my guns (5 in the past year) from Davidson's Gallery of Guns and have had excellent service. The site gives you quotes from local shops and you see all costs up front. Plus, Davidson's gives you a lifetime guarantee on all gun purchases when you register. All of my purchases have shipped next day with overnight shipping so I am picking up my weapon in 5 days max.

When I order over the internet, I use a pre-loaded card, that way, they cannot steal anything.

It's surprising that your credit card company sent you an email. Ours (Citibank) will call us right away if anything is suspect. A few years ago when we moved from California to Nevada, we still had the Ca address, but bought new appliances in Nv. The cc company was suspicious since we were 200 miles from home and called our cell as we were leaving the Sears in Nv. They called us within minutes of the purchase.

How I love living less than a mile away from Bud's retail store

And like Decker said, they don't actually have the "in stock" stuff on-hand. The only things they have on-hand (AFAIK) are the things labeled "In Lex" with the little eye before the text. Everything else is ordered from the manufacturer or a distributor, and shipping times will depend on the distributor. When I bought my Springfield XD40 a few months back, they had sold the last one at the retail store the day I went in to buy. I had them order me one, they told me 3-5 business days, and I got a call two days later saying it was in.

Honestly, I'd rate their retail store at around an A-, and the only reason it doesn't get an A+ is because they don't seem to have enough sales associates for how many customers are usually in the store.

I just purchased an M&P40c from them and it arrived four business days from order as promised. Bud's just put out a Fraud Alert stating several customer's had charges put on their CC (not from Bud's) after purchasing a firearm. They are looking into this now.

I had fraudulent charges on my card a week after purchasing from Bud's two weeks ago. My son-in-law was notified by his card company yesterday that he had fraudulent charges on his, after his Bud's purchase last week.

This is really a shame. Bud's is a great place, but it looks like there may be a problem with their credit card processing vendor. I received a fraud alert from Bud's this morning. Looks like they are trying hard to plug the hole.

C- is a passing grade but Bud's didn't excel or impress me in any way.

For comparison, many other online vendors have similar verbiage (in stock items ship 3 - 7 days blah blah) but consistently exceed those minimum standards.

Plus, many of Bud's competitors provide outstanding service which makes Bud's look worse by comparison. I ordered a similar gun in a similar timeframe from Jet Guns and it was on a truck that same day and in my hands two days later - better prices than Bud's and no 3% credit upcharge. 44mag.com and Brownell's had my merchandise on my doorstep 2 days later. Amazon consistently ships same day. And none of these vendors let criminals get my CC info.

I dealt with Buds one time after trying another online shop that took a cashiers check from me and then informed me that they had sold the item already, actually before I even contacted them to purchase it.
Buds had what I wanted at a better price.
I really disagree with the adding of 3%, since most credit card companies forbid a business doing that. Call the issuing bank or credit card company and let them know there is a vendor out there that is charging to use a credit card. The vendors can loose the ability to deal with that card company.

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Have Canon, Will Travel

Buds may have good prices but they need to improve there service they changed my review that i left on the website from 2 starts to 5 stars and edited out most of my actual review. called customer service was told a manager would contact me never happened. just about to write a letter to BBB.

What'd you write? My experience with Bud's was very positive. I went the money order route so I could get the cash discount

I have ordered many guns from buds but have stop, because of the wait time it takes to just get it shipped out 7-12 days and then you wait for it to get to the dealer 5-7 days, fill out the paper work and wait another 10days (CA) no Thank you.

my local dealer goes through Davidson's Gallery of Guns and can get S# so we can do the paper work rite then so the 10day wait is included with the shipping and not have to wait for it to come in then wait another 10 days. plus for $25 extra they will give you a lifetime warranty on the gun, if they cant fix it they will give you another one no questions asked.

Mine shipped perdy dang fast. Was a 2 day ups shipment

I learned very recently it doesn't pay to procrastinate when it comes to your bank or credit card statement. I received a Fraud alert email from Bud's on 4/2/11 but didn't pay much attention to it as I had just received some supplies I needed for casting and hastened to get into that. some days later on 4/10/11(this past Sunday) I received yet another email from them basically stating that their fears were true about the fraud they discovered with those that used a credit card to purchase items from them. Still, no bell was going off in my head as I had always sent a money order.

I had gotten my credit card statement in the mail last Thursday but didn't open it until Sunday and notices no less than about 15 different charges to it. One was for an airline ticket for $732 for Air Canada, several uses to purchase iTunes, more for "fortiestoys", whatever that is, and some Microsoft games. It all totaled about $1200. I called Visa and had the card cancelled and went into my bank, which is my credit union who administered the card and showed them my find. The statement only went up through the end of last month, 3/31/11. they discovered more charges after that and some more recent ones made prior to me calling Visa Sunday were in pending status.

I don't have to tell anyone how hacked off I was. then I remembered the last pistol I bought from Bud's this past February had to be secured with a credit card even though I was buying if with a money order. They must have changed their policy regarding sales for some reason as in 2010 this didn't happen and they didn't request at the time of buying that a credit card was needed if you were sending a money order. This one time of putting my number on their website was enough for me to get my number stolen and my account compromised. Whether it was bud's fault or some third party matters not to me. The fact remained my identity was stolen, my card compromised and a lot of unnecessary paper work had to be filed at the bank as a result. Either way, Bub's will never get another nickle from me after this. Don't tell me you're getting a system upgrade, better firewall, etc. after the fact. It does no good to the no doubt, thousands who were hit by this fraudulent use of credit cards.

I too had fraudulent charges on my credit card after I received the e-mail from Bud's. Over $1200 dollars worth. I e-mailed several times and didn't receive one apology from them. I posted on their Facebook page, which didn't surprise me to find many other people had posted complaining about the same problem. I was very upset and still am. I told them how I felt about it since no one responded to my e-mails. I have bought over 10 weapons from them, a very loyal customer. If I was Bud's I would offer their loyal customers a small discount on their next purchase, say 5 or 10 % discount. I think that is only fair and they would still make money anyway ( since a majority of the purchases are via credit card anyway and they add 3% ). A person earlier posted to use a pre-loaded credit card, sounds like a great idea. Well I'm done with my rant, lol.

Haven't read the whole thread, someone may have mentioned this already. I have a couple of CC's, Discover & Mastercard, that will generate a one-time use card number. It's good for only one purchase, & can't be used again. I use these for about all my online purchases. Takes a lot of the worry out of using a CC online.

I purchased from Bud's a couple of months ago with CC and there were two fraudulant purchases on my March statement. We already contacted our CC company and canceled them, but there still will be more inconveniences and possibly will cost me some money. I was blaming a company my kid ordered some stuff from a few days prior, but this changes things.

I had the same thing happened before with other internet orders. I have sinced learned to created a supplement account along side the primary account for internet purchase only.

The way I did it was to create another account with a debit/visa card and use it to buy stuff on the internet. When I paid for a purchase I went to primary and trasnfer the exact amount to the supplement account. This way, even if the account id gets stolen, they cannot charge anything to it . Just make sure to set it up where there's no automatic transfer or charged fee between accounts.

I should start doing that. I usually use Paypal as much as I can but I know you can't with most gun-related products. Where exactly can you find these types of cards?

Jav, they're the company's regular cards, you just go on the CC website, & sign up for their "Virtual Card Numbers". You can then create a new card number either with a desktop based software from your home computer, or a browser based (CC company website) from any computer. Actually works great, very secure.

Oh wow...this is the first I've heard of "virtual card numbers". I was thinking it was like a physical pre-paid card that I see sometimes. Thanks! I'm going to check it out

Jav
you can get a pay pal debit/cc card through them, and use it anywhere. and when you use it for high amounts (300+) they will call you to make sure that it was u making that payment.

Every time a vendor excepts a credit card it cost him 3% to do the deal, which comes from his bottom line. This would normally be passed on to the consumer in the cost of the goods. Bud’s is offering a very discounted price, why shouldn’t he add it back in if a person chooses to use a CC?

I used an e-check transaction this past week, the only down side was that it left my account the next day, I had to wait 5 more days for it to post in their account. Once it cleared they shipped the gun 2 day to my FFL.

When you do an e-check transaction you provide your account number and routing number for your account, both of these elements are found on every check you write, down on the bottom of the check. I would like to know why anyone would view this e-check process as unsafe…

By the way this was my 1st purchase and I was very pleased at the savings, and in the manner in which the gun shipped to my FFL in a timely manner.

Well, it depends. I actually prefer to use a credit card from a company I trust, have a long term relationship with, and have other assets with; because then when stuff like this happens, they help me.

I've never bought anything from Bud's. I am really disappointed to read what has happened here.

Credit card fraud seems too have run rampant in recent years. I've had several incidents in the past year.

In the following, I intend to indorse no one. Just listing some events from my life over the last year.

Bank of America - called my cell phone at work one day. Said my CC has been compromised. I had looked at that account the night before, and all was normal, so I was quite surprised. They had blocked several transaction that day, as they did not fit "my spending pattern". They listed them to me, and I said that I didn't even know that those things were. They canceled that card, and I had to wait 2 days to get a new one. I was impressed. They have also put a stop on the card when I've been traveling, called me at 6:00 AM in the morning (because I am in different time zone) to ask me about charges on my card. I told them that was me. The apologized for waking me up, and being mistaken. I told them I love that kind of mistake, keep waking me up, and doing exactly what they were.

BB&T - local bank. I ordered a LOT of 9mm from a online vendor last year. I did not know this vendor, but everyone else was out of stock, and they said they had it in stock (both on their web site, and I called them to make sure). I ordered, they billed CC. Well 2 weeks later, no bullets. I called them and they said that they were out of stock. When would ship?, they had no idea. I want to cancel, they say they do not allow orders to be canceled. After another month going by, no bullets, I call - they still say they have no idea when they will get them, I call my bank and explain everything (I keep detailed documentation on all transactions). My bank reversed the charge, put a block on that vendor. I was done. Bank pressed fraud charges against the vendor. I was impressed.

BB&T - again. Another site I did not know had .22 LR CCI Mini Mags (or so they said) about 1 1/2 year ago. So I ordered 3000. They billed my card then send me 3000 CCI .22 LONG (not LR, not Mini Mag). When I called them, they said they were similar, and they did not take returns for ammo. I said that’s fine, but they did not ship me what I ordered, and I have very little use for .22 LONG. They said too bad, no returns. So I talked to my bank, who then called the vendor. After that the vendor was glad to accept return.

And there are more. I've learned to only deal with online vendors I trust, even if I have to go without bullets for some of our guns for a while. But I don't ever go without because I now buy in large bulk, and store in Mil-ammo boxes massive amounts of ammo (ex: >8000 rounds Mini Mag in box right now, >2000 9mm).

So, I guess all I'm trying to say is it depends. If I had send money order to either of the above scum, it would have been much harder to get my money back. I do like the idea mentioned here of a 2nd debit card attached to a very limited account (that you transfer into prior to each transaction). That way you can both limit your exposure, and get the help of a powerful institution when things go wrong.

Sorry for such a long post.

Add one more to the list guys! Just found out this morning. $350+ in charges for an XBOX Live subscription. This blows.
I don't think i'll be shopping at Buds anymore. Plus there shipping times suck anyways so i'm not losing out on anything.

You have good banks there haha. I'd be soo mad receiving .22 long!

I was soo mad. And I was very worried because I had to call the bank and explain I got the wrong BULLETS (bank => Bullets! OMG he must have a gun!, ...). I was thinking this is not going to go well. SHE (the lady at the bank when I called) understood what I was talking about, and knew, of course .22 longs weren't going to work in most modern semi-auto .22, and were not the same as long rifle, and were not Mini Mags (she liked those also!!). I didn't even have to explain all of this to her. I think I got so lucky on that. Or, having a bank based in Wilson NC has it's advantages.

Sorry, don't mean to hijack the thread.

That is freakin' lucky hahah. There is no way a lady or gentlesir would understand me. I accidentally ordered .22 long from an online site but I only ordered 3 or 4 little cases. Still mad, though! No returns =/ Sold it a month later

Bank of America is REALLY good at catching weird charges on your accounts. After work one day, I realized that my debit card wasn't working. Went to the bank and found out that someone had tried to use my card number to make some charges. They make a small, under five dollar test charge, and if that works, blast out one for hundreds. Bank of America immediately shut down my card number and put the money right back into my account and ordered me a new card with a different number on it.

Great customer service when it comes to fraud. Thanks for the heads up, I'll steer clear of Bud's.

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Jeeps are my other addiction

After a couple of years of swearing off credit cards, I stupidly signed up for one at Bass Pro Shops to get 10% off a gun purchase.

It felt real weird filling out the app and letting the guy walk off with my info to wherever, to put it in a computer.

I thought... real stupid.

We have company cards for business expenses, but life is soooo much simpler just using cash for everyday needs.

I have gotten hooked on the Dave Ramsey envelope system.

Though I have a ATM card with a low balance, for purchases at a Canadian Pharmacy, strictly living on a daily cash budget eliminates rash purchases and frivoulous spending on junk food.

This thread reminds me to pay off the BPS card tommorrow and cancel it... it might get used once a month.

So is the Boeing Credit Union people. I once had them call me when someone charged my BECU CC $.02. They said that that usually was a "precurser" charge to see if the card number was good. They immediately canceled the card and issued me a new one.

Nowadays, I hardly ever use a credit card; chalk me up as another Dave Ramsey fan.

When I buy my 329PD, I'll probably use Bud's Gun Shop, but I'll probably also call BECU and cancel the card as soon as the BGS charge comes through.

Thanks,

ALL retail vendors get hit with a 2-5% charge when customers use a c.c.
In fact they just passed a law allowing companies to add the surcharge on to customers who pay with a credit card for everything now...

As far as online purchases...
I get a cheap GreenDot money card...
I only put enough on there for what I am going to spend online and that is it...

The first time I ever used a bankcard card online was on Amazon and sure enough, my info was stolen, the bank caught it in time though...

If you use the Pre Paid, No worries about extra charges or long term fraud...

Tried to order from Buds last year, item would not ship, hassled with customer service, wound up canceling my order. Much easier to just deal with my local gun shop. They can order me whatever I could ever want. can inspect and even test fire if there are any concerns.

Capital one Visa will catch any charges within minutes and freeze your account; removing all the charges. They'll also next day you a replacement card.. no problem.. Ron

I see someone kicked a sleeping dog for no purpose...

(This is an 18 month old thread.)

No issues with Buds for me but I deal with Buds Police Supply (same store, different discount).

-- Chuck

I try to buy local when possible but do do a fair amount of online shopping. I have one credit card devoted to online purchases only and it has a $400 limit on it so if the account gets compromised it won't break the bank. This card is not affiliated with any other accounts I have. If I am purchasing someing more then my limit allows I simply go to my bank and preload a visa gift card with the amount I need to complete the purchase. I never use my checking account debit card or higher limit CC for anything online.

Sorry this happened to you...I do hope you get things worked out.

The credit card charges merchants around 3% for every transaction. Who should be paying for that? The merchant? Or do you want the merchant to raise their prices across the board so that even cash-paying customers get hit? It's strictly business.

I'm not sure how Bud's runs their business internally but many online gun stores shows InStock but the stock is kept at the distributors, Those are the stock allocated for that gun dealer by the Distributor. When you order, the Distributor sends it to gun-store and they ship it to you. Sometimes, you get lucky, it may be faster, some times not. I've not heard of drop-shipment in the retail gun industry yet, may be it's due to Federal regulations.

Online store security is an ongoing issue and even large brand names have faced this problem publicly.

I'm not trying to back up Bud's, just stating the facts here.

I've used Bud's a few times, without any problems. Thanks for the heads up! Hope all turns out well.....

As a small business man myself, I think that most businesses these days expect people to pay by cash, so the credit card charges are already included in the price. So yes, the person paying with cash gets nothing for that. Also, businesses don't have to pay anywhere near 3%; if they shop around, they can get it for close to half of that. Shopping around is just part of good business, just as it is good shopping.

I use a Chase CC for online purchases. With their email alerts I get an email verifying any online purchase.

I'm one of the few folks who pay cash much of the time at a storefront.

When I pay cash I expect a 3% discount as merchants have their prices inflated by that amount to handle the credit card transactions. They all have those Visa/MasterCard signs on the door. If I ain't getting the 3% discount I'll just charge it. Doesn't cost me any more.

Local gun stores are the most arrogant shops I've dealt with, they act like they're doing us a favor to charge high prices. Bud's delivered prices can be over $100 less and a kitchen table FFL will usually charge no more than $20 for his 5 minutes of work.

-- Chuck

I have bought from Bud's 3 times before (2 with CC and 1 with a check), no issues and fast delivery.

My CC has been compromised in the last 5 years about 6 times, with all different kind of companies. They all have stepped up to give me a 2 year FREE monitor for credit at all 3 Credit reporting agencies. It's the new kind of crime in the rise, hacking for CC info.
So, it's not a matter of "IF", it's a matter of "WHEN".
How the company deals with the issue, is the important thing here.
I would ask BUD's to pay for the monitor service plan, go from there and report back to us how they handled this matter.
Good Luck

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It's a celebration!!!

Tried using Bud's one time. They ignored my instructions to ship to a local FFL holder that I know and have done several transactions with. They shipped my gun to another town- Santa Fe- to a FFL holder that I didn't know and had never contacted.
Got kind of a neutral response from them when I called kind of pissed off. Like "we didn't do nothing wrong." "Why are you so sensitive?" I am not sensitive! I can get statements from women in 15-20 states and 5-6 foreign countries to the contrary!

For active-duty or veterans, the gun sections at PX\PXtras can order pretty much any firearm you want. It's my usual choice.