This is how a company commits suicide.
It was a deal
Russell Kellner of Flower Mound says was too good to pass up.
“It was a heck of a deal.”
Last month, on Black Friday, he says he and his wife bought three Troy Defense Carbine Semi-Automatic Rifles from Dick’s Sporting Goods.
Kellner says the store advertised them for $799 each, a $300 dollar discount.
They got two of them, then received this letter from Dick’s on Christmas Eve, telling customers, it’s not fulfilling any more orders.
—
Dick’s is telling customers it will give them a full refund.
It also sent Kellner a $100 gift
Now there’s talk of a class action lawsuit against Dick’s, and Troy, the manufacturer of that rifle, has to find another retailer. It had an exclusive deal with Dick’s to sell that rifle and says it poured millions of its own dollars into the deal.
Once upon a time, “Dicks” Sporting Goods was a company called (and I swear to all that is holy that I am not making this up)…”Chicks”.
I don’t believe I have to say another thing about this, do I?
Well,yes, you do, because that didn’t make much sense. What exactly are you saying?
That they’re reverting?
Wrong, Dicks acquired chicks
I bought a rifle a Dick’s once (a .22 target rifle). The order took forever, then they gave me a gun with broken sights. They replaced it, but it was a hassle I won’t be repeating.
Support your local gun store.
Gander Mountain and Bass Pro Shop are still around. And local gun shops.
Is Dicks Sporting Goods in violation of some conservative free enterprise law?
The idea that ‘conservatives’ are ridiculing free enterprise rights is…….
Actually yes they are violating “conservative free enterprise law” in my opinion.
I am not a lawyer, so I will defer to the informed opinions of those who are in that profession – but I HAVE read enough contracts to have a decent understanding of how certain things work.
I’d suggest that when Dick’s (was ever a company more aptly named?), took their order for the firearms that they basically entered into a contract with the customer.
Basically, they agreed to act as an intermediary between manufacturer and customer to facilitate delivery of a specific weapon at a specific price.
On top of that, apparently Troy, who builds that particular firearm, was/is in some type of agreement with Dick’s to supply these weapons.
I’d also suggest that someone, somewhere, did some bean counting to determine roughly how many AR pattern rifles Dick’s could be expected to sell on an annual basis. This would have played into the pricing structure mentioned in the ad that Dick’s placed. Probably a figure both companies would have agreed upon to make sure Troy had the manufacturing capabilities to fulfil their contract with Dick’s.
Now Dick’s has pulled the rug out from under not just the company they were in a commercial agreement with, but also customers whose money they accepted that was paid in good faith that Dick’s would fulfil their end of the obligation.
Dick’s is reneging on both counts, and I suspect a class action will be forthcomining in 2013 on the matter.
What Dick’s did has ZERO to do with “conservative free enterprise law” – except in violating it, that is.
Couple of lawyers hang out on here and one or more maybe are probably contract specialists. Maybe you can front with some $$$$ for them to file the lawsuits you speak to on behalf of the injured parties. Sounds like you have a cake-walk all figured out for them.
Forget class action lawsuits – they just make the lawyers rich. Take Dick’s to small claims court for failing to deliver a product at an agreed upon price.
Many years ago, I purchased a pair of speakers from a stereo store. They called me later to say they had oversold their inventory and would either refund my money or let me buy the new model for more cash. I filed in small claims for about $10 and a few weeks later got another call telling me to come in and get the speakers they “didn’t” have anymore.
Hehe….imagine instead of a typical class action lawsuit that puts only pennies in the pockets of the customers that instead forced Dick’s to provide the very firearms they contracted to provide AND provided additional monetary damages on top of that as well as paid the legal fees as well.
In other words, force the company to live up to its agreements and pay for the legal trouble the customers had to go through to make Dick’s live up to its obligations.
You seem to have no idea what a class action lawsuit is. The whole point of a class action suit is that when one person has screwed a lot of people for a small sum each, not enough to justify the expense and trouble of a lawsuit, someone can sue not just for themselves but for all the victims. That way it’s worth pursuing, and the perpetrator doesn’t get away with it.
Without class actions there would be nothing to stop your phone company, for instance, from just adding 57 cents to everybody’s bill, and make a killing. Would you sue for that? But with a class action they get sued, and they have to cough up all their illegal profits, which means they think twice about doing it in the first place.
Those settlements in which the consumer gets 57 cents are generally ones in which they only lost maybe 90 cents in the first place. You never have to consent to the settlement; you can always file an objection and sue privately, if you think you can get enough back to make it worth while. But for $10 or $20 it’s just not worth it, so be grateful for the 57 cents that you would never have got without the settlement. In this case, though, the payout per customer won’t be 57 cents, it will (or should) be at least the difference between what they paid and what a similar weapon would have cost them at the time, if not what it would cost them today. Minus a cut for the lawyers, of course; you can’t expect them to work for free.
How is recognizing that a poor business decision is a poor business decision tantamount to “ridiculing free enterprise rights”?
#4 Zeke
They have the freedom of choice to sell what they wish, or not. That is not in question. Everyone has freedom of choice. No one has freedom from the consequences of those choices. It is not only foregoing the profits from gun sales. It is the cost of unwinding the business relationship with the gun manufacturers. For a nationwide chain, the sales were not done with a handshake and a verbal agreement. If there was a written contract, that contract had terms that Dick’s is violating unilaterally. Only members of the Journo-List 2.0 media and Democrat politicians do not have to bow to the court system. You can bet your anatomical part of choice that they will be paying damages for a while. Damages that will come off their bottom line.
Then there is the matter of the specific customers who were personally affected. The $100 gift card [presumably good only at Dick's, thus reducing the actual outlay for the chain] and a refund may not be sufficient for damages caused by the increased price to replace the firearms now and any other damages incurred. I hope they sue the **** out of Dick’s.
Finally, there is the matter of the image of the company. I know that I have shopped there for camping gear. And that I have never purchased a firearm there. And I know that I will never set foot in their store again, regardless of what they sell or whatever discount they offer. The firearms community is a fairly tight one, and news spreads fast. I’m pretty sure that I am not alone in my feelings. Being known as “By Appointment, Bootlicker and Official Purveyor of Sporting Goods to Obama and his Minions” may not be as profitable as they would hope.
By all means, let them decide what to sell, or renege on, at will. And let them deal with the consequences.
Subotai Bahadur
Thanks for a well presented opinion.
As to the legal stuff, corporation have access to either in-house or by retainer to consult with in such cases. On behalf of those ‘customers’ not having a purchase fulfiled claiming injury, it seems without merit given that they received a refund in the full purchase amount and in addition, was given a hundred dollar gift card. As to the retailers contract with the mfg, nobody has posted it so that cannot be speculated upon by those who have no such knowledge.
As to the profit and loss analysis of this retailers decision not to sell some weapons, I have no personal knolowedge. However, it is not likely that this particular retailer finds that deleting these kinds of weapons from their inventory is a critical decision from either a perspective of sales or public image. These kinds of decisions are theirs to make and they should not receive criticism from some activist group(s) — especialy, those who decry the freedoms of the constitution. Are these same activists so concerned with the P&L and public image of decisions made by JC Penny of recent times? Hypocrisy?
Zeke, are you dishonest or just plain stupid? How does a refund and a $100 gift card in any way compensate the customers? What would you say if a supermarket did that with, say, corn flakes? What do you think would happen if they took a box of cereal that normally sells for $5, offered it online for $1, and then after they had taken people’s money and held on to it for a week they changed their minds and said “here, have your money back, plus a 10c coupon, but you’re not getting the cereal we contracted to sell you; go buy it for full retail”? You can bet the consumer affairs authorities would be all over them for that. So how is this different?
Bottom line, someone paid $800 for a gun that was worth $1100 at the time, and costs even more now. If the sale hadn’t been offered, they might have taken that $800 and bought something else that was on sale somewhere else. Now they can’t do that any more. And to buy the gun that they paid $800 for, they would now have to spend $2000 or more. Who’s going to give them that $1200?
Geesh!
Apparently the letters were timed to arrive on Christmas. Troy itself was never contacted. Both of those actions coud perhaps be seen as Dick’s saying “we think you are evil.”
I will say I have a local Dick’s–sorta brand new–and a local Wal-Mart, and a local Academy Sports, and a not-so-local Bass Pro Shops. The Wal-Mart had a “modern sporting rifle” when I meandered by today. The other two are solid.
Dick’s is free to do as it wish, and up to now I have had basically zero desire for an AR-15 variant, but, basically, there are a lot of outdoor recreational gear choices out there, and perhaps people should think about those alternatives. I don’t like folks who break contracts for basically their own convenience. Means you can’t take them at their word–that they will hose you if the profit of doing so outweighs the loss (honor having nothing to do with it–in this case, the honor in meeting the obligations of a bargain struck).
“I don’t like folks who break contracts for basically their own convenience.”
I understand your point. However, in the business world of reality, everything from complex contracts down to the simple purchase order contracts are routinely “broken” everyday. Walmart did it with thousand of contracts during the end of their “made-In-America” strategy. Of course they did it by requiring turn around production quantities that the mom & pops vendors couldn’t possibly meet short of capital expansions they could not feasibly afford. Defense contractors routinely get their contracts and funding terminated. Commodities contracts often get cancelled. Autombile mfg’s often cancel component contracts. Federal bankruptcy courts routinely teminate contracts. The list is as long as the tranactions themselves.
The one near me has the best prices for bulk .22LR and 45/70.
Troy is probably secretly happy that Dick’s is reneging on its customers. In this environment channels don’t matter; demand is so high that any AR15, anywhere, will be sold. Troy will sell its rifles on the open market for a significant markup.
Ammunition Stock levels have fallen by more than 90% from the pre-Election Day levels. Less than 10% remains available.
Available Ammunition links will be updated throughout the day.
Handguns are down by 80%, Long Guns by 63% for an overall 72.2% reduction in firearms inventories.
AR pattern rifles are becoming particularly difficult to source.
http://tractioncontrol.well-regulatedmilitia.org/?p=14529
Dick’s is done in the firearm/hunting business. Few will trust them ever again. Either to honor their contracts or to support Constitutional rights. They chose poorly. I hope Troy can break the contract and go for damages against Dick’s.
I stopped shopping at Dick’s a long time ago. The bulk ammo I bought was cheaper at Wal-mart. Their golf equipment is sometimes pro-line and usually less quality. Their pro line stuff’s price is matched by my golf course. I could never find someone to help me if I needed a question answered or to find something, and there was usually not enough clerks working the checkout line. I never saw myself buying firearms there. Other places had a much better selection. Non the less, their actions in the wake of the Conneticut shooting came across as crass and opportunistic. Let them eat quiche!
Don’t be a dick, Dick’s. Oh, it’s too late.
Ask Colt Mfg just how well news travels in the gun buying community and just how long our memories are. A different but not unrelated snafu brought them to their knees in 1998 which took years to recover from.
“During a 1998 Washington Post interview, CEO Ron Stewart stated that he would favor a federal permit system with training and testing for gun ownership. This led to a massive grass-roots boycott of Colt’s products by gun stores and US gun owners.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt's_Manufacturing_Company#1980s.E2.80.931990s
This year will go down in history. For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration! Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future. – WHO SAID THIS?
I’m guessing Godwin’s Law applies, based solely on the use of absolute certainty in every statement.
Who does that remind YOU of?
Hint: He’ still shooting his dung-filled lying mouth off at every opportunity.
Note to Dicks: There’s no shortage of alternative sporting goods stores.
I’m just curious, as I am not a hunter and have never owned a weapon, what do you do (hunt? if so what?) with a semi-automatic rifle?