Dillon Precision - not what it used to be

[LostintheOzone]

I can never understand why people sell reloading presses or associated bric-a-brac.

I paid for a thousand dollars worth of coated bullets from a well known bullet maker, have been waiting 18 weeks no bullets. I have been a loyal customer for years. The dies for a SDB being exclusive to that particular press is one thing but there are many coated lead bullet makers out there. There seems to be no sense of shame in the firearms industry right now.

Coated lead bullets.

I use coated bullets and I know about 4 companies that specialize in coated lead bullets. I've used them all and they all work just fine. All those companies are making bullets at 100% capacity and have been for months. The nice thing about those companies is they're small and not owned by ammo mfr's who divert their production to ammo.

I need some bullets now but why would I pay someone for bullets that might come in 4 months. Any of these companies might catch up on their backlog in a few months and I would have bullets 2 months sooner. Just set up an email notice and buy them when they become available.

These mfr's are using your money to buy huge quantities of lead, which they will eventually use over the course of a year. One mfr. told me over the phone that he just dropped 100 thousand dollars on lead. That's a lot of bullets coming down the pike.

If you have a favorite business you want to support, that's one thing, if you just want bullets, that's something else.

 

[Revoman]

You expect a company to repair/replace a 30 year-old electronic instrument on their own dime?

Their original electronic scales came with the lifetime no BS warranty. I still own one. The digital display has some black spots that is definitely a problem but the scale is accurate and the display is still legible.

If you send one back they will still replace it with a new one with a one year warranty. Some people think that's unfair? But if your 550B was replaced because of a defect and the new press came with a one year warranty there would probably be backlash and upset people.

I know that wasn't the OP's original complaint. But he was correct about the original scales that was Dillons policy back in the Eighties.

I also don't like paying in advance for a six month wait or till who knows when for a item on a backorder. Take my order and my credit card when the product comes in charge and ship. Imagine trying to get your money back if a company folds in the mean time? I doubt Dillon will fold but others may and it's not the correct way to do business.

The scale warranty is a fact the rest is just my humble opinion.

 

[gmarshall99]

I flipped thru the Dillon catalog when it came yesterday. It says explicitly " your credit card will be charged when your order is placed, including back-orders.

 

[chief38]

Dillon is going through the same tough times we all are. They were shut down for a long time (due to Covid-19) and so were their suppliers! They can't ship product if they don't have it - doesn't get any simpler than that.

Many of their employees have been working from their homes as they are not allowed in the main facility due to quarantines and restrictions on number of employees allowed in at one time. When working remotely, systems do not work as fast or efficiently and more errors occur - they can't just get up from their desk and ask their supervisor because their supervisor is in his home.

Some customers are in panic mode and therefore don't want to understand that there is just not much Dillon can do at this point. I am sure they are shipping products as fast as they can and are probably just as frustrated as we are. As a businessman my whole life I can't tell you just how frustrating it was when I had more orders than I could handle but not enough raw materials to make product from. An avalanche of orders also creates an employee shortage - remember, this all happened so fast!

I've spoken to Dillon recently and while it is true the wait times are longer than usual, shipping is way longer than usual, they were polite, helpful and honored their NO BS policy just as they always have. Took time - but done!

Not that any Company can't screw up - but this is the time to cut "our own" a little slack. I doubt anyone, including Dillon thought it would get this bad, this fast! Not purposely trying to rain on anyone's parade, but I don't think we've seen the worst of it yet either!

I've called many Company's in different industries over the last year and they are all behind the eight ball!! I just received a tiny safety part for my Kershaw knife that I ordered 3 months ago (under warranty) and had to send 3 emails to prod the part out of their facility. Kind of hard to prod someone to ship something when they are not in the facility themselves. Now I know they normally have much better customer service, but again, these are the times we now live in. Hang in there!

 

[Hairtrigger]

I think we all understand the wait and supply issues.
Charging the customer on the spot for something that is a long wait is wrong and completely under dillons control....

 

[chief38]

I think we all understand the wait and supply issues.
Charging the customer on the spot for something that is a long wait is wrong and completely under dillons control....

Yes, I agree with you on that !

 

[cowboy4evr]

I don't agree . Go read post 44 again . Seems pretty self explanatory to me . Dillon is a very good company , always has been and still is . If you don't like their policy , then go buy brand X . Regards Paul

 

[Krogen]

I think we all understand the wait and supply issues.
Charging the customer on the spot for something that is a long wait is wrong and completely under dillons control....

Another viewpoint: I agree with your point if they're not upfront about it. As an example, RMR Bullets is severely overloaded. They're great folks and produce a great product. They will let you create a backorder and tell you clearly they charge your card at the time of order. Fine with me. I put in my order and just got in line. Ten weeks later it arrived. I much prefer that approach instead of spending my time searching high and low for an item and then pouncing on it before it sells out.

 

[Goldstar225]

.38Superman I get where you're coming from. I really do. You're aggravated about your funds being tied up for a product that may not come in for six months.

I don't see Dillon as being unethical. They are letting you know up front about their policy. If they didn't make a customer aware of the policy and the anticipated wait time, that IMO would be unethical.

Knowing the policy you as the customer have the choice of paying and waiting or withdrawing the order and placing it when the product is available. The choice is yours to make.

 

[Eddietruett]

Let me start by saying I’ve been a loyal customer of Dillon for close to 30 years now. Their customer service and policies were second to none. I at one time had 2 Square Deal B presses, one setup for small primers and one for large. Regrettably I sold one but still have one.

In the sale of one I let the 38/357 dies go with it and have since gotten back into 38/357. In early February this year I placed an order for another set of SQ D 38 dies and tool head. The tool head arrived but the dies were back ordered. Now a month later still no dies. So today I gave them a call and was on hold for nearly 30 minutes. No problem I understand companies are understaffed. Anyway I enquirer and asked when they might expect to ship. To my surprise the person said 6 months. I was almost speechless but did manage to ask why. His response was that they can’t get the carbide for the dies and they’re over their head in backorders. The customer service person said people panicked and that’s the way it is.

Ok but the disturbing part is, Dillon charged the full amount to my credit card. I asked why and the clerk said that’s what they do. My response was that’s not very ethical and he responded “that’s the time we live in”. My final response was that Dillon Precision isn’t the company it used to be and was basically told that’s life.

I’ve read some other comments lately about Dillon going back on their no BS warranty. I had a little experience with that last year. I bought one of their original digital scales thirty years ago. It started getting erratic last year so called about a replacement. The short story, they reluctantly replaced it but said if the new one fails there’s no warranty. No BS?

Anybody have similar experiences?

I ordered some parts and ammo boxes several months ago. Didn't even ask to get the parts on warranty. Dillon has been so good to me over the years, the few springs I needed was less than $10, so I have a credit card and was told it would ship either the next day or second day. After about 10 days with no delivery, I started calling. Got through on the 2nd day. I was told there was no record of my order. How could this be since my credit card was charged? Sales person said he couldn't answer the question. Reordered the springs which now I ask for under warranty and also since I had already paid for anyway. Told them not to ship ammo boxes. Got the parts in 3 days like normal, but so far I have talked to 2 different people and no one can answer why my credit card was charged and there is no record of an order in their system. Its only about $25 so no big deal dollar wise, but what gets me is they see where my card was charged but its not connected to any order. So far, no one has offered to credit my card. When I suggested it, I was told it would be researched.

 

[Hairtrigger]

I think we can all agree that no one reads the fine print when you are placing an order.

The company I work for has the courtesy of calling a customer and providing them with a lead time and giving them an option of keeping the order or canceling the order and notifying the customer when the item is back in stock

 

[moralem]

It’s called capitalism......you have choices. Take your business where your values align with the company......you ain’t going to change their policies or practices, but you can change yours and vote with your dollars.

 

[glenwolde]

If it was me, I'd do the same. What about the ethics of people placing orders? If there's not a cost to placing a back-order, the profiteers will place orders everywhere. When one ships, they cancel the rest. Having to shell out the cash upfront gets rid of most of those.

That actually happens. I can tell you it makes it impossible to gauge the real demand and plan your production. You go from a mountain of backorders to warehouse full of product you can't move very quickly when the shortage eases.

I'm sure that's not what you are doing.

 

[kreuzlover]

I have been reloading since 1965, and I never fell for the Dillon kool-aid. There are other progressive reloader makes that are just as good as Dillon's, and you can usually go to your local gun store and get parts there for them. When you make a product that you can only buy from them, mail order, well that pisses off the gun stores, because they are cutting them out of the business. I've never felt the need for a Dillon because my old Hornady Projector press that I've had since 1988 still works great.

 

[Skeet 028]

Yeah...how about the people who make an order from multiple places and whoever gets the product first the customer buys from and never even bother to cancel the unpaid order. And there you are stuck with a product that may sit on the shelf for quite a while. That is why when I was in business I had a policy something like the old protitute had..money on the table....^%& in well y'all know that one I guess. Anfd as far as Dillon...Well tell me what company is anything resembling their origins. Most of those companies were started by "shooting gun guys" All are corporations now. I talked with more thn one of the founders over the yeats and they were usually enthusiastic about their products. Now you get to talk to a sales person. Even ol Mike Dillon manned the phones at times and he WAS easy to talk with. And yep there are other machines out ther. I've owned most of 'em...Sad to say many have disappeared No more Star No more CH Mark anything. RCBS really doesn't make a competitive progressive(IMO). The Hornady works...but not well for me. Sold the Stars because of not many parts and the makers that did have them were very expensive. I've used most of 'em...even a RDP. Dillons were a copy of the Star design and they do work...as well as they helped by backing many of he shooters and shooting games with their own money. Dillpn may not be like they used to be...but kool aid or not they are still a good company to deal with with great products

 

[Model 15-4ever]

I think it is unethical of You to expect a free replacement of a thirty year old electronic scale.

A warranty is a warranty. There was no time limit on it, when it was offered. So it's still in force if the company exits.

I had a similar issue at Midway USA. Purchased one of their case tumblers, and and one point there was a recall on it for a fire hazard. I didn't see the recall until several years had passed. I called for a replacement and got an attitude from customer service about the time delay. I asked him if the unsafe original tumbler became miraculously safer with the passage of time.

I received a replacement.

In contrast, RCBS used to advertise their Inertia Bullet Puller - the green plastic one - as "unbreakable", with a full warranty. I bought one. Probably after they replaced hundreds of them, they stopped calling them "unbreakable" and warranting them. Mine broke. I called them and explained I had purchased the unbreakable bullet puller.

RCBS sent me a new replacement, with a "have a nice day". But this was before they were bought by Vista Outdoor and became part of the corporate conglomerate forget-the-customer mindset.

 

[.38SuperMan]

I thought I'd post an update on my order. I'm sure many of you are experiencing the same issue but thought it might give others a warning.

If you've ordered anything from Dillon, it could take a long time to receive it. When I ordered my 38 conversion kit for my Square Deal B I was told 6 months for delivery. It will be 6 months in a few days and I have yet to receive the kit. Today I called Dillon and asked when I might receive them and was told 12-14 months from my original order date. Thats 6-8 months more.

Dillon equipment is great and I've certainly have had great service in the past but given this knowledge I would probably not buy Dillon equipment again. I would look for a company that can service their customers needs in a more timely fashion. Yes it's unusual times but!!

 

[oysterer]

The American consumer is not what they used to be. They use stuff for extended periods and send half the sh.. back when its beat up. There is no limit to the unethical behavior of many abusive consumers. Because of that retail prices of overseas made garbage is so high because of unsellable returns.

You get an order and I promise many will change their mind a day later and back out.

Cant do business that way, thats why pre-pay or go elsewhere.

I order blue bullets, pay in full and get them 3-4 months later and I am glad when I do.

 

[max]

My LGS has a lot of Dillon equipment. No 38 conversion kit, but he does have one for .45 Colt should you be interested.

I thought I'd post an update on my order. I'm sure many of you are experiencing the same issue but thought it might give others a warning.

If you've ordered anything from Dillon, it could take a long time to receive it. When I ordered my 38 conversion kit for my Square Deal B I was told 6 months for delivery. It will be 6 months in a few days and I have yet to receive the kit. Today I called Dillon and asked when I might receive them and was told 12-14 months from my original order date. Thats 6-8 months more.

Dillon equipment is great and I've certainly have had great service in the past but given this knowledge I would probably not buy Dillon equipment again. I would look for a company that can service their customers needs in a more timely fashion. Yes it's unusual times but!!

 

[Kiwi cop]

Looking to buy a second hand RL550C with 9mm and .38 Special plates. It comes with only three #1 pins.

I went online to Dillon last night to order four #2 (.38 special) and four #3 (9mm) pins( a spare pin for each caliber just in case..) Was told I would receive an e-mail with shipping costs to complete my order.

This morning received an e-mail from Dillon with a link to my order. The link showed that my order has been closed. No reason given.

Have e-mailed Dillon but the auto response says could be several weeks before they get back to me. ????