Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Matt Williams??? WTF?

Many things can be learned from these last few post,WGM said it best,the amount of money should not matter,the seller has the resposibility to deliver on time or communicate with the buyer a new accurate delivery date or a fast refund,thats the bottom line,there are product reviews all over the internet with the good and bad about companys and there products,and I'm glad we have them,the one's with empty promises will not make it and the one's with good business practices will!!

I thought you had communitcated with Matt exactly three days earlier and everything appeared okay on your end in what you communitcated to Matt, you made no effort to communicate to Matt, at that time, that you would go from being okay to blowing a head gasket within three days. Communication is a two way street. Also, I thought Matt had made it clear, prior to this, for all involved in the original threads both here and on LW, that he was working on correcting unexpected issues, and that he would not be available to answer the phone or email at that time as he was working on the issue in the shop. Lastly, I understood that his PM settings aparently went back to a default setting when he ran into the sponsor issue here, resulting in him losing track of his incoming personal messages.

I'm a third party observer not involved within this dispute amongst you two, and I don't follow the politics enough around here to understand why butchlambert has a bone to pick with Matt, but I am a user of Matt's past machined products. I truly doubt he is some sort of snake oil salesman trying to screw the townspeople out of their cash before heading to the next set of victims. But I truly believe that you have over reacted to this situation, that you were not trying to assist other members here, by giving a warning for our benefit, and that you were only posting to vent and to cause Matt ill, for the only reason that you had blown a head gasket within the three days of last communicating with Matt.

Take a step back and chill. Not sure the status of your refund, but I'd not be surprised if there is a delay if a credit card is involved, as most refunds I've had credited back to me took awhile to get.

Best:)

slg88,
Rifle made it pretty clear the issue as far as he is concerned is not the c-note. He is upset over the lack of knowing what was going on and the frustration of a guy with top notch machining skills not having enough customer service or people skills or at the very least being so busy trying to put out the fine product he does at an affordable price that he doesn't spend much time fielding phone calls. I don't know Matt Williams but my bet is the latter however that is not any customer or potential customer's fault it is something Matt has to deal with and might need to be more upfront about when taking orders.
I would have been a little more patient and it sounds in retrospect that Rifle if he were considering his options again would probably have too. A good thread and a good discussion followed with a few not being very nice but who knows maybe this thread helped that too.
All of this could have been avoided if in the beginning Matt had told Rifle that he would be happy to send him a set of rings and bases but that he couldn't guarantee a delivery time and told him that he doesn't have someone handling inquiries. That stuff takes time and money.
I remember growing up and somehow I always migrated to the old guys running the machine shops in our town. The guys that made everything and made it right. None of them hardly ever answered a phone and of course none of them had a computer. Back then the computer was between their ears.
If you wanted something custom or made for a project you either did it yourself or had one of those old machinists do it for you. To accomplish that you had to go ask if he could do it and had time and in some cases even had to go find the stock for him to use. Then had to sometimes stay and help and at the very least clean up the cuttings.
Today we have been so spoiled by the instant information age, the "Wal Mart" mentality, cheap sub standard eastern Asian products, and our own unreasonable expectations and consequently no or very little patience that it is almost impossible to find an old machinist to even ask to cut out a stainless bushing for an axle spacer or anything else.
My point. Give every American doing custom specialty work all of the benefit of the doubt and consideration possible or one day the only option will be we will have to call Bejing or email a blueprint to someone who will have absolutely no accountabilty at all. Try talking to a CNC machine.
I miss those old shops especially the ones with the Hurricane 4 cylinder engines running all the belts. I think we need to do all we can to make sure there are a few of them still hanging around. All the old shops over in my hometown and around have been auctioned off. Makes me sad to think that none of my sons ever had the opportunity to go watch in one of those shops. Might have kept the video game controllers use to a minimum.
Got some kind of a stomach bug and it looks like I may miss opening day and staying in deer camp tonight. Hope all of you guys enjoy your hunting this week. Encourage someone especially if you have an opportunity to have a positive influence on a young hunter.

Dave

I don't see anywhere in Butch's post's where he said he had a bone to pic with Matt,he is just conveying the same thing I am,that in the past there have been a good amount of promises and delays that have been brought up by folks doing business with those connected with Willam's Firearms,and no one said he was a snake oil salesman,and I truly doubt Matt is delaying his product delivery just to make his customers upset,but if I were in Matt's shoes I would use this as a learning experience so that my new business would prosper... My .02!

Good post Ackley. Accentuating the positive and the obvious in a nice way!!!

Dave

So, with all this being said, does Matt have a timeline for shipping? I have two sets on order, and I'm getting anxious to see them!

Don't get me wrong... I'd rather wait a little longer for something that is right, rather than having faulty right now. (Not that I think they'd be faulty.)

Matt has been kicked enough now. Everyone with a gripe to air has had a chance to piss on Matt's leg. Let this thread die, and quit trying to ruin Matt's business.

I would not hesitate for a minute to do business with Matt. Anyone who would simply does not know him that well.........

Not trying to kick him, just curious about my rings. I have a couple of rifles I need scopes on, and don't really want to buy Leupy DDs when I have the Williams on the way. Just looking for a little info is all.

You have PMs, Email and the telephone or mobile phone; why air it on a public forum if your goal is not to kick him while he's down?

If Matt ever gets off his bum and makes them for 19 mm Brno dovetails I shall not hesitate to purchase from him.

Pretty simple...
He does NOT respond to any of those at any time,and when he did a month ago,shipping was going to be"next week"

Whats odd is,Matt knows this thread is here,why he dosen't answer some ?'s is beyond me,this is a great opertunity to settle the dust!!

He did respond. How many times does he need to say the same thing?

Apparently he is busy and playing on the internet is not on his agenda.....

I'm pretty sure that the Internet is a large part of his business,and your right he did answer,but there are still a few ?'s from other posters that are waiting for there product,and am thinking this would be a good oportunity to add some more info..my bad!

Wow. Admitting that I'm still looking forward to his product, and maybe a little excited about seeing it, is kicking him when he's down? Didn't realize you were such a sensitive sort.

Has rifle received his refund yet?

How did rifle pay for his rings? If he used a credit card why was it charged before the product was shipped let alone made? If a check was sent it should not be cashed either until at least the product is ready to ship.

I don't know Matt but these are pretty simple "rules" for any business.

I know Matt.

I'll not fret his honor.............(ever)

Something that we can agree on, Matt Williams being an honest guy.

We should never forget that Ruger had a little trouble getting his business off the ground and since Matt is chief, cook, and bottle washer, he is probably busy finding stock and making chips.

There are a lot of bigger things to sweat in life then a set of bases/rings. Things like family and actual friends, rather than cyber friends.

Jeff