MidwayUSA blacklists you if you dispute a transaction with them through your bank.

Gnash.Hyena

Hyena with a Gun! Oh no!
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Just figured y'all should know that. Just so we're clear, I have not actually disputed a transaction yet. I'm just warning you that I have been warned as such.

EDIT: Most people are saying this is the norm. Today I have learned. Good to know.

I've been having probably the worst customer service experience I've personally had with Midway here recently, but only this last bit really takes the cake. They promised me I'd get my refund by Thursday. This is after three weeks of dealing with them constantly messing up a refund on an item they royally screwed up on (it's a long story, I can type it out if you want). I said great. If I don't see the refund on my account by Friday morning then, I'll have no choice but to dispute the transaction via my bank. That's when I get the following. "Well then, I am obligated to inform you that if you dispute a MidwayUSA transaction through your financial institution, you will no longer be allowed to do business with MidwayUSA."

I don't know how commonplace that is, but to me that's *really* suspect. A good faith effort to ensure a transaction was properly conducted, and that I get money back for goods I never received should not be punished with a permanent blacklisting. I'm not going to throw the "but I've been dealing with you for years!" card, but I'm rather disappointed that that's Midway's policy.

I hope this is posted in the right forum. Sorry if it's not.
 
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"Blacklisting" a customer that disputes a charge is common practice, and is to be expected. They may very well have processed the refund on the agreed schedule and your bank may take a few days to process...so you may have jumped the gun on that step.
 
Just figured y'all should know that.

I've been having probably the worst customer service experience I've personally had with Midway here recently, but only this last bit really takes the cake. They promised me I'd get my refund by Thursday. This is after three weeks of dealing with them constantly messing up a refund on an item they royally screwed up on (it's a long story, I can type it out if you want). I said great. If I don't see the refund on my account by Friday morning then, I'll have no choice but to dispute the transaction via my bank. That's when I get the following. "Well then, I am obligated to inform you that if you dispute a MidwayUSA transaction through your financial institution, you will no longer be allowed to do business with MidwayUSA."

I don't know how commonplace that is, but that's *really* suspect. A good faith effort to ensure a transaction was properly conducted, and that I get money back for goods I never received should not be punished with a permanent blacklisting. I'm not going to throw the "but I've been dealing with you for years!" card, but I'm incredibly disappointed that that's Midway's policy. I had a good view of MidwayUSA as a company... until now. :(

I hope this is posted in the right forum. Sorry if it's not.

Sometimes issues like this should be passed up the chain. SOMEBODY in the company cares. I am sure the dispute policy comes from dirtbags who try to abuse and get something for free. My experience is that after a few tries, it helps to go full Karen and talk to a manager :)
 
"Blacklisting" a customer that disputes a charge is common practice, and is to be expected. They may very well have processed the refund on the agreed schedule and your bank may take a few days to process...so you may have jumped the gun on that step.
I haven't actually disputed the transaction yet. I'm just warning folks here that I have been informed that is their policy.
 
I've had dentists do the same thing. One even brought me a bill while I was in the dental chair. That was the day I walked out of their lives forever.
 
If it's gotten to the level that you're having to dispute a charge, why would you want to do anymore business with them anyway?

It's mutual. You're done, they're done.

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Fair question. I would do business with them in the future because I recognize all the issues they're having are due to current events. Under non-pandemic circumstances, they're just fine. They ship right, they get my order right, they have the right price, and they offer products that are gathered in a single place that otherwise I'd have to order direct from the manufacturer. The website is handy and I appreciate their being there, generally. It's just been three weeks of dealing with this back and forth. This is the first time they've had an issue with my order, but darn if they didn't mess it up. They sent it to the wrong state, the case broke open mid-transit, resulting in a loss of 1/4 of the ammo in the case, and their customer service and shipping departments have been utterly uncoordinated. I've had a couple different refunds supposedly processed, one at the wrong rate and one for only the ammo lost, an offer for store credit sent my way that I agreed to and never received, and with those having failed I have a hard time believing that their staff has accurately processed this individual order. So while the 5-7 business day typical wait time for this go-around technically goes until Thursday, it's been several weeks of dealing with this. They're so backed up on communication that telephone isn't available, text chat is a 42 person waitlist, and I figured that means the managers are probably even more busy, so the odds of pulling a Karen are pretty slim that that'll work either. So with a several week wait, and what communication I do get from Midway being useless, I figure my bank would have better luck resolving the matter more efficiently than I can.

I figure the issues all stem not from company apathy, but from being severely overburdened, and being so swamped that they can't seem to get anything straight right now. I'll order from them again once Covid19 stuff is over, but for now I'd really just like my money back, and they're too disoriented to seem to get my stuff right. So my thought was that my bank would make it a simple one and done deal, and then I could be out of Midway's hair until things get back to normal. But with a company policy like that, doing so is impossible without burning the bridge I still want to cross.
 
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Fair question. I would do business with them in the future because I recognize all the issues they're having are due to current events. Under non-pandemic circumstances, they're just fine. They ship right, they get my order right, they have the right price, and they offer products that are gathered in a single place that otherwise I'd have to order direct from the manufacturer. The website is handy and I appreciate their being there, generally. It's just been three weeks of dealing with this back and forth. This is the first time they've had an issue with my order, but darn if they didn't mess it up. They sent it to the wrong state, the case broke open mid-transit, resulting in a loss of 1/4 of the ammo in the case, and their customer service and shipping departments have been utterly uncoordinated. I've had a couple different refunds supposedly processed, one at the wrong rate and one for only the ammo lost, an offer for store credit sent my way that I agreed to and never received, and with those having failed I have a hard time believing that their staff has accurately processed this individual order. So while the 5-7 business day typical wait time for this go-around technically goes until Thursday, it's been several weeks of dealing with this. They're so backed up on communication that telephone isn't available, text chat is a 42 person waitlist, and I figured that means the managers are probably even more busy, so the odds of pulling a Karen are pretty slim that that'll work either. So with a several week wait, and what communication I do get from Midway being useless, I figure my bank would have better luck resolving the matter more efficiently than I can.

I figure the issues all stem not from company apathy, but from being severely overburdened, and being so swamped that they can't seem to get anything straight right now. I'll order from them again once Covid19 stuff is over, but for now I'd really just like my money back, and they're too disoriented to seem to get my stuff right. So my thought was that my bank would make it a simple one and done deal, and then I could be out of Midway's hair until things get back to normal. But with a company policy like that, doing so is impossible without burning the bridge I still want to cross.
I'll respond with my personal experience.

I work at a gun store in Fayetteville. Business has been insane, to put it lightly. Slammed with customers every day, almost all day. In our efforts to keep up, customer service has slipped. We're trying so hard to help every customer that attention to detail has gone out the window. It isn't intentional. Simply a byproduct of the current times. We've hired two new people in the last month. It has helped but we're still swamped at times.

Having a customer like you doesn't help. Sorry, not sorry.

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I'll respond with my personal experience.

I work at a gun store in Fayetteville. Business has been insane, to put it lightly. Slammed with customers every day, almost all day. In our efforts to keep up, customer service has slipped. We're trying so hard to help every customer that attention to detail has gone out the window. It isn't intentional. Simply a byproduct of the current times. We've hired two new people in the last month. It has helped but we're still swamped at times.

Having a customer like you doesn't help. Sorry, not sorry.

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It seems like you are finding fault in the OPs issue with midway, instead of with midway for screwing up royally? And what gun store is that in Fayetteville so I know not to shop there if that is the case? :confused:
 
I'll respond with my personal experience.

I work at a gun store in Fayetteville. Business has been insane, to put it lightly. Slammed with customers every day, almost all day. In our efforts to keep up, customer service has slipped. We're trying so hard to help every customer that attention to detail has gone out the window. It isn't intentional. Simply a byproduct of the current times. We've hired two new people in the last month. It has helped but we're still swamped at times.

Having a customer like you doesn't help. Sorry, not sorry.

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Well, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be rude, cause a problem, or say any one individual has done wrong. I've done my best to be patient, understanding that current events have resulted in slippages. That's why I answered how I did. Because I know that under better circumstances they, like you, do an excellent job and leave me with no complaints. After three weeks of waiting though, I don't think it's wrong of me to want my money back, and in the absence of my own success in getting it back after their screwup, I felt it's time to at least state I'm considering pulling out the big guns. I don't appreciate being jerked around, so just give me my money back and I'll go away until things have leveled out.
 
Earlier this year, I had a customer claim he hadn't gotten product I shipped him. Tracking said otherwise - that it had been delivered two weeks before he emailed me. I told him I'd track down the package, but if it couldn't be located that week, I'd either refund his money or send him another. He opted that I send him another.

I spent hours running the package down. We have a great post office and the main person there was bending over backwards to help. He emails me two days later telling me his grandfather thought the package was for him and took it. Everything is great, right?

Nope. The next week I get notice from my credit card company that he had disputed the charge. This was AFTER I had already promised him a refund or a reship and he had agreed to a reship. I had to spend another hour dealing with the credit card company dispute process. Then I emailed him asking what was up. He emailed back several hours later that he had talked to his credit card company and I should get my money the next day.

All of this over a $60 magazine. Guess who got blacklisted from doing business with me again?

@Gnash.Hyena - I'm not in any way saying you were like him. Just relating a real life story of how a customer got blacklisted.
 
I will answer this from the merchant side and the card holder side. As a merchant the charge back costs you money even if you win. You lose the money from the transaction and depending on your processor there can be a charge for the chargeback itself. It is a total PTA for the merchant. Even if you win the you are out your money for sometimes upto 30 days. If you are selling high $$$ items it is a liability but it is the cost of doing business. We would not work with anyone who chargeback on us. If we were wrong or made a mistake we offered a equatable solution. 99% of the time someone started a chargeback what they wanted was not reasonable.

As a consumer I see chargebacks as an action of last resort. It makes sense when the merchant has completely dropped the ball and refuses to be reasonable. Most of the time I have charged back on a company is when there is ZERO communication or they cut off communication. At that point I let the CC company speak for me. Now I have used it as a threat. I know from the merchant side how bad it sucks to deal with chargebacks. I have on more than one occasion told a merchant that if we cannot work this out then I will have no other choice but to file a chargeback. Most of the time that gets the resolution I am looking for but it has to be said to someone who can actually do something about the problem. Most of the time that is not a front line customer service rep. Put your best Karen wig on and ask for a manager.

IMHO unless you have exhausted all other ways to resolve the problem charge it back and move on. I would not do business with someone I had to file a chargeback against. YMMV
 
You guys might not believe this. But I do this semi regularly on ebay. I've developed a sense for what will work out and what will not. When that sense starts tingling I just block the buyer and move on. This mostly involves absurd requests, rude responses, bad feedback with no communication, and sometimes the PM exchange goes on so long or in a direction I know it's not going to work out from experience. If I feel like the process is going to go bad for one or both of us, I'll just cut it short now.
 
That sucks OP. I got blacklisted from Targetsportsusa.com recently. I bought some 3 inch winchester long beards in early March. It took them a month to ship them to me, and they sent me 3.5 inch shells instead. Don't have a 3.5 inch gun so I had to scramble to find some turkey rounds before season at the height of all the closures.

I sent them 3 emails over the course of a month (cause they weren't answering phones) asking them to send me the correct shells and a label so I can send the incorrect ones back. I never heard back, so in May I issued a chargeback. Went to check out their site last week and it just says "Refused." Same with every other laptop or phone on my Wi-Fi. Turn the Wi-Fi off and the website loads as normal. So pretty sure I got on their ip address blacklist. I've spent a few thousand $ with them over the years. They got rid of a loyal customer over their $17 mistake.
 

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It seems like you are finding fault in the OPs issue with midway, instead of with midway for screwing up royally? And what gun store is that in Fayetteville so I know not to shop there if that is the case? :confused:
I'm saying that most ammunition and firearms retailers are doing their best, given the times. Can't keep everyone happy and energy used on a person that is inconsolable is energy wasted.

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Worst CS Ive ever gotten from a big boy guns and ammo etailer was TargetSportsUSA. Midway and I have had our problems. One recently where they gave me bad tracking number and blamed it on their "shipping partner". I think I finally got what I ordered and they shipped (which is usually same day) 3 weeks had passed. They were or are still not answering their phones which I think is inexcusable in this day and time. They should be able to have folks work from home and answer their damn phones. Anyway I got them to issue a RMA with no cost either way to me. About the very next week they have a big notice on their home page about shipping issues. I guess its their way or the highway in regards to their terms and conditions but they are not the only game in town and business cant be that great since every other week they are offering free shipping.
 
I'm saying that most ammunition and firearms retailers are doing their best, given the times. Can't keep everyone happy and energy used on a person that is inconsolable is energy wasted.

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It sounds to me like the OP has given midway a whole lot of chances to ā€œconsoleā€ him and they are messing it up big time. If thatā€™s the best they can do, then they suck and need to do better.
 
I'll respond with my personal experience.

I work at a gun store in Fayetteville. Business has been insane, to put it lightly. Slammed with customers every day, almost all day. In our efforts to keep up, customer service has slipped. We're trying so hard to help every customer that attention to detail has gone out the window. It isn't intentional. Simply a byproduct of the current times. We've hired two new people in the last month. It has helped but we're still swamped at times.

Having a customer like you doesn't help. Sorry, not sorry.

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Midway screwed up apparently. It's ok for the dude to be irritated to say the least.

I'm in the same industry as you. Op is reacting in a calm calculated manner at least as per the first post.
 
I haven't actually disputed the transaction yet. I'm just warning folks here that I have been informed that is their policy.

No but you issued a direct threat and ultimatum... It is what it is. Luckily there are lots of outlets for their stuff and they're rarely the best price anyway.
 
I'll respond with my personal experience.

I work at a gun store in Fayetteville. Business has been insane, to put it lightly. Slammed with customers every day, almost all day. In our efforts to keep up, customer service has slipped. We're trying so hard to help every customer that attention to detail has gone out the window. It isn't intentional. Simply a byproduct of the current times. We've hired two new people in the last month. It has helped but we're still swamped at times.

Having a customer like you doesn't help. Sorry, not sorry.

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Please tell us the name of the gun store where you work... Your attitude makes me want to never step foot inside.

Sorry, not sorry...

tenor (9).gif Judge-Judy-Shake-My-Head-Gif.gif tenor (10).gif
 
You guys might not believe this. But I do this semi regularly on ebay. I've developed a sense for what will work out and what will not. When that sense starts tingling I just block the buyer and move on. This mostly involves absurd requests, rude responses, bad feedback with no communication, and sometimes the PM exchange goes on so long or in a direction I know it's not going to work out from experience. If I feel like the process is going to go bad for one or both of us, I'll just cut it short now.
^^^^ This. You gotta know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em. When you're a self-employed small businessman you can't abide time-wasters. During the time I was self-employed, I had a business plan with an annual rolling projection, and I was acutely aware of how much I had to make every hour to achieve my plan goals.

Early in my career, before I went on my own, I was a designer / art director in an ad agency. It was extremely frustrating to work with clients who would take your work and ask for changes to the point that you no longer wanted to be associated with it :mad:. I had to do it coz I wasn't the boss, but it chafed me something awful. So when I broke out and went on my own, I had one fee scale for good clients, and a different one for ones that I could tell were going to be a PITA. Even better, when I decided to get out of that business a few years later, some people would still call me to do work for them. I'd tell them I don't do that any more, but I'll do yours on one condition: you don't change anything. If you change a thing, you will pay 2X my normal rate. Interestingly, I did some of my best work, enjoyed it more, and made more money - and clients were happy; at least they didn't f*ck around with my sh*t ;)

Sorry, I seem to have drifted somewhat from the OP - but the point is, a business has to minimize time-wasters (and I am emphatically not suggesting the OP was one). They can do this through good customer service, but it's not unreasonable for them to have limits based on their experience.
 
It's completely normal and commonplace. You dispute a charge & get a chargeback via your bank, the company you chargeback will not let you shop with them again. It's not sketchy at all. It's their right as is it yours to do the chargeback. And if you have to do one, why shop there again anyway?
 
I'll respond with my personal experience.

I work at a gun store in Fayetteville. Business has been insane, to put it lightly. Slammed with customers every day, almost all day. In our efforts to keep up, customer service has slipped. We're trying so hard to help every customer that attention to detail has gone out the window. It isn't intentional. Simply a byproduct of the current times. We've hired two new people in the last month. It has helped but we're still swamped at times.

Having a customer like you doesn't help. Sorry, not sorry.

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What store? I have friends interested in checking out the gun stores in Fayetteville.
 
I am not sure why everyone is jumping down @indie_rocker 's throat. I think he is stating the obvious. People are panic buying like we are all entering the Hunger Games/Living Dead tomorrow and the retail end of the food chain is bearing the brunt of the insanity. Don't shoot the messenger. Right now I am sure MidwayUSA is seeing more volume with less staff than they have had in 10 years. It is crazy out there.

F3KQEAM.gif
 
Sorry folks, I didn't know it was that common. When I contacted my bank to ask for their recommendation, they recommended disputing the charge on their end for them to deal with, as if it were no big deal. All my friends were acting like Midway refusing to do business with someone who disputed a charge was a heinous thing worth being concerned over. It was suggested I tell yall about it, so I did so. I thought this would be helpful for yall to make informed decisions should you find yourselves in the same situation. I was apparently wrong.
 
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Sorry folks, I didn't know it was that common. When I contacted my bank to ask for their recommendation, they recommended disputing the charge on their end for them to deal with, as if it were no big deal. All my friends were acting like Midway refusing to do business with someone who disputed a charge was a heinous thing worth being concerned over. It was suggested I tell yall about it, so I did so. I thought this would be helpful for yall to make informed decisions should you find yourselves in the same situation. I was apparently wrong.
I hope I didn't come across as confrontational. You shared your experience and it's appreciated. Thanks for those that have been understanding of my posts. Probably some misplaced frustration on my part.

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I am not sure why everyone is jumping down @indie_rocker 's throat. I think he is stating the obvious. People are panic buying like we are all entering the Hunger Games/Living Dead tomorrow and the retail end of the food chain is bearing the brunt of the insanity. Don't shoot the messenger. Right now I am sure MidwayUSA is seeing more volume with less staff than they have had in 10 years. It is crazy out there.

F3KQEAM.gif


I read the OP's post and I have read all of the replies...

OP gave an informative and detailed explanation of his personal situation with Midwayusa, a giant online seller.

@indie_rocker gave a candid explanation of his opinion of current events from the perspective of an employee at a small local gun store.

His misconstrued opinion made @Gnash.Hyena sound like a horrible customer, aggravating the employees, wasting time, etc.

We all know this is not the case.

Yes, LGS are overwhelmed. Yes, online gun store are overwhelmed.

But, no one needs to come here, talk down to @Gnash.Hyena and then say, "sorry not sorry".

Take that nonsense back to reddit...
 
Sorry folks, I didn't know it was that common. When I contacted my bank to ask for their recommendation, they recommended disputing the charge on their end for them to deal with, as if it were no big deal. All my friends were acting like Midway refusing to do business with someone who disputed a charge was a heinous thing worth being concerned over. It was suggested I tell yall about it, so I did so. I thought this would be helpful for yall to make informed decisions should you find yourselves in the same situation. I was apparently wrong.

You are not wrong. Don't take it that way. If you have no recourse then a charge back is a reasonable option. Your bank suggested it because on their end it is not an issue. From their customer service standpoint they have taken care of you! Thanks for saying something!
 
Sorry folks, I didn't know it was that common. When I contacted my bank to ask for their recommendation, they recommended disputing the charge on their end for them to deal with, as if it were no big deal. All my friends were acting like Midway refusing to do business with someone who disputed a charge was a heinous thing worth being concerned over. It was suggested I tell yall about it, so I did so. I thought this would be helpful for yall to make informed decisions should you find yourselves in the same situation. I was apparently wrong.

Your bank is just looking out for you. That's what they should be doing.

Your friends must not have ever had to do a chargeback before.

I've had to do them before & yes they blocked me from purchasing again. Which is fine because obviously I don't want to shop with any company that required me to go so far as a chargeback.
 
Ladies, Germs.
I think every post in here was well intentioned.

If you want something to yell about, go watch the shitshow hearings that Bill Barr was put through today. We are in a civil war and the vast majority if us here are on the same side.
 
I hope I didn't come across as confrontational. You shared your experience and it's appreciated. Thanks for those that have been understanding of my posts. Probably some misplaced frustration on my part.

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I guess I was being a little too excited too. I was too excited to take up for @Gnash.Hyena . He doesn't need me taking up for him.

I wrote my last comment before seeing your last comment.

No hard feelings?
 
I guess I was being a little too excited too. I was too excited to take up for @Gnash.Hyena . He doesn't need me taking up for him.

I wrote my last comment before seeing your last comment.

No hard feelings?
None at all, were all family when it comes down to it.

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It sounds to me like the OP has given midway a whole lot of chances to ā€œconsoleā€ him and they are messing it up big time. If thatā€™s the best they can do, then they suck and need to do better.
I was at a BJ's the other week picking up an online order for "curbside service" that requried me to go in to get my own order. After I got home and gave my wife her order, we found out they screwed up AGAIN. I've been in there twice and both times were flaming cluster...bombs.
So when I had to go back a 3rd time to fix the problems of visit #2, I decided to ask for a manager. I did my best to politely explain that I dread going there now, but I have a wife that can't really leave home a lot of days and going there is a bit of a large inconvenience for me, so I'd appreciate it if they could do their jobs a little better to save me hours of trouble.
The lady made a lot of bad excuses, which i argued, and she finally said something like "fine, what will it take for you to be happy" in a way that made me think she was expecting me to demand a gift card or something.
I said "I already told you, I want your employees to be better. You're the manager and they are your responsibility. I want you to do your job and make them do theirs. I want you to make sure they're trained and that they know how to do their jobs. I want to not have to go through this again and I want other people to not have to go through t either."

Such is the state of customer service these days. nobody cares. Maybe pay somebody off, maybe not, there is always another customer. But I got the feeling she had never dealt with somebody who honestly didn't want to be paid off or placated in some way and really just wanted their order to be right next time.

CSB: DSG tells stories when he's drinking.
 
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