FX Airguns - Notice

... I am a small businessman myself and I cannot imagine people calling me to spend thousands and thousands of dollars and letting them sit on hold for a couple hours! We will never know how many people got tired of sitting on hold and hung up the phone and called airguns of Utah or airgun Depot or Pyramyd Air ... but I'll bet you one thing by God there's going to be a day when airguns of Arizona wishes they had answered the damn telephone and treated customers like the very important people they are!

Click to expand...

... I am a small businessman myself and I cannot imagine people calling me to spend thousands and thousands of dollars and letting them sit on hold for a couple hours! We will never know how many people got tired of sitting on hold and hung up the phone and called airguns of Utah or airgun Depot or Pyramyd Air ... but I'll bet you one thing by God there's going to be a day when airguns of Arizona wishes they had answered the damn telephone and treated customers like the very important people they are!

Click to expand...

See, that is what I don't understand? I am not saying I don't believe that happened to you. If you say it did, well it did. But not once and I mean NOT ONCE, have I called AoA and they have either answered directly or called me back within one day after leaving a message. And I have called a lot. I have bought 7 high-end guns from them in the past 7 years, an Omega Super Compressor, Hawke Sidewinder scopes and countless pellets and little things. So that is a lot of phone calls. I just don't understand how there can be such a discrepancy in experiences with the same company? And I mean that sincerely, with no bad intent towards anyone.

Click to expand...

I just read this thread , so I went to aoa and I still see FX guns for sale ??????? what do you mean , I understood they moved to NC to stock guns and parts and do repair as other stores sold FX and only AOA was importer , and it wouldn't be fair for AOA t fix say Airgun depots guns , I believe USA market is Huge for them and they Get all kinds of marketing from shooters and are trying to grow more in USA , Why are you saying they split up ? I think it just means other dealers can buy guns directly from FX USA in NC now .

Click to expand...

... I am a small businessman myself and I cannot imagine people calling me to spend thousands and thousands of dollars and letting them sit on hold for a couple hours! We will never know how many people got tired of sitting on hold and hung up the phone and called airguns of Utah or airgun Depot or Pyramyd Air ... but I'll bet you one thing by God there's going to be a day when airguns of Arizona wishes they had answered the damn telephone and treated customers like the very important people they are!

Click to expand...

See, that is what I don't understand? I am not saying I don't believe that happened to you. If you say it did, well it did. But not once and I mean NOT ONCE, have I called AoA and they have either answered directly or called me back within one day after leaving a message. And I have called a lot. I have bought 7 high-end guns from them in the past 7 years, an Omega Super Compressor, Hawke Sidewinder scopes and countless pellets and little things. So that is a lot of phone calls. I just don't understand how there can be such a discrepancy in experiences with the same company? And I mean that sincerely, with no bad intent towards anyone.

Click to expand...

I too have found it difficult to reach them by phone. There has never been one single occasion when I got through without waiting on hold for an extended period of time. If I am not in a hurry I'll just send an email or leave a message and they usually respond, though not always on the same day. I am fortunate to live within 30 minutes of AOA so many times I've driven to the store versus waiting. In the store you can also encounter a long wait times. It would be nice if they had a few stools available at the counter so people could sit while waiting. It always pays to make your customers comfortable.


Complaints aside, I've always received pretty good service overall.

Click to expand...

PerkyVal,

I don't see the mystery. AoA was the sole importer of FX airguns. They were also the sole warranty and repair center for FX. Everybody knows that the FX Impact had lots of issues early on, and many of those guns had to be sent back to AoA for warranty repairs. According to many of those Impact owners (I read the forums), AoA found reasons why many of those repairs should not be covered under warranty because of owner error and/or owner tampering. Let's face it. Many owners fouled up their regulators by turning them down under pressure and not degassing them first. Some turned their regulators too high and blew o-rings. So AoA was charging the owners for those parts and repairs. The owners paid for the parts and the repairs and for shipping both ways. All of a sudden a $2000 gun became a $2500 gun, and Impact sales started to slump, and FX was losing customer confidence. FX was ultimately taking the rap for AoA's unwillingness to do the repairs under warranty for free. All of a sudden it began to look like AoA was double-dipping, and FX owners were absorbing all the costs plus, in many cases, nearly $100 shipping both ways for each occurrence, not to mention being without their guns for weeks or months. What was FX to do but open their own warranty and repair center in order to rebuild customer confidence and to regain lost sales. 

In my book, FX did the right and responsible thing by opening their own shop, FX USA. And FX owners have benefited by leaps and bounds since it opened. The way we get treated by FX USA has healed many a wound. Now we even have the Master Class video series that makes us all capable of doing our own repairs. Not only that, but, FX USA ships us the parts we need for free and doesn't even charge us for shipping. Further, FX USA doesn't charge us for warranty work if we can't do the repairs ourselves, and neither do they void our warranties for working on our own guns. Our warranties have now even been extended to 3 years transferable. FX has literally bent over backwards to right all the wrongs. And when you begin to calculate all the savings that FX owners have gained since the opening of FX USA, then you begin to comprehend the outrageous windfall that AoA was reaping at OUR EXPENSE, not to mention the damage that AoA was doing to FX!!!

Before anybody accuses me of being an FX fanboy, I'm on record right here on AGN of being one of FX's worst and most outspoken critics. Despite all the criticism, I own a Wildcat, a Boss, and an Impact. Why? Because I love their guns. I just got sick and damned tired of the runaround from AoA. Guess what? Since FX USA opened its doors, I am a PERFECTLY SATISFIED FX OWNER, praise God!

I paid $2000 for a USED FX Impact not long ago. Yes, I've had to make repairs. Guess how much I now have invested in my USED FX Impact? Exactly $2000 and not a penny more. Not even shipping charges. And what is more, thanks to FX, Ernest Rowe, and all the staff at FX USA, the Master Class video series has me ripping this thing down and repairing anything that breaks and putting it all back together and tuning it with the same success and talent as Ernest Rowe himself. Now I ask you all, who could put a price on that?

I'm 63 years old and have grown unbelievably and justifiably cynical of "Corporate America". But FX Sweden and FX USA have restored my hope. And if "Corporate America" copied FX's business morality, there would still be hope for this country.

Best of luck to Utah Airguns. I only hope nobody has to ever be reminded of the lessons we've learned.

Disclaimer: These are my own personal, free, and outspoken opinions. Everyone is free and encouraged to have their own opinions; different as they may be.

BeemanR7

Click to expand...

I wonder if the EBR will change this year as a result of the split. The event catered to FX which must of been a major sponsor. A couple of ways I can think of are the targets for the finals were as far as the range would allow. 107 and 108 yards to two times I attended. Most barrels have a faster twist rate than the FX guns and their pellets usually become unstable after about 75 yards, so the further the better for FX barrels.

Also I found it strange they didn't allow slugs. I believe that's because regular FX barrels were terrible at shooting them.

Click to expand...

I wonder if the EBR will change this year as a result of the split. The event catered to FX which must of been a major sponsor. A couple of ways I can think of are the targets for the finals were as far as the range would allow. 107 and 108 yards to two times I attended. Most barrels have a faster twist rate than the FX guns and their pellets usually become unstable after about 75 yards, so the further the better for FX barrels.

Also I found it strange they didn't allow slugs. I believe that's because regular FX barrels were terrible at shooting them.

Click to expand...

I'm just adding some conspiracy to this whole thing but isn't it crazy that a Brocock won much to everyone's surprise? Not taking anything away from the guy that won but It did seem to happen out of the blue and I'm sure it shocked everyone else too.

Click to expand...

How many entrants were there for each of the manufacturers at EBR this year? Yes, it sure would be nice to have an even playing field for all of the different brands at EBR. Can that happen???

kzz1kraw - please do not use the term "cronies" anymore. I and possibly others find it disrespectful. Yes, I own an FX airgun (among a couple others) and yes I like as I also like my other AG's. It is the term "cronies" - does not matter which manufacturer you put in front of it.

Click to expand...