Florida Shooters Network

I've dealt with this company several times over the past few years. The last two times were a nightmare. Earlier this year, I ordered some M14 repack kits. After being charged for the items and having several weeks pass without receiving my merchandise, I called to inquire on the order's status. The lady who answered was unbelievably rude. I requested a cancellation of the order and a refund. Fortunately, this occurred promptly. A week or so later, the merchandise arrived. I immediately contacted Fred's by e-mail and advised them of their error. I requested either a UPS pick-up or a prepaid shipping label. Never heard a word. I followed up twice more. No reply. My personal honor and ethics will not allow me to keep things that don't belong to me. I returned the erroneous shipment and included a letter again explaining the situation and requesting reimbursement for my shipping expenses. Never heard a word much less receive a check for my shipping costs.

Five (5) weeks ago, like an idiot, in retrospect, I placed an order for some targets and 10 Garand clips. Four weeks (5 now) passed since I placed the order and my credit card was charged. Nothing heard and no merchandise received. Their website states that a simple order like that would be shipped within a week. Yeah, right! I tried calling them but got no answer. I wrote them an e-mail and was pleasantly surprised to receive a prompt reply promising shipment last Friday or this past Monday at the latest. UPS ground shipping time from their NC location to my NE Florida location is 3 days. No order received now after 5 weeks.

Judge for yourself whether this is a company you want to deal with.

wow, that sounds pretty bad.

I've only ordered a few targets from them. The last order was 3 weeks ago. Targets showed up within a week.

Fred's has been like that forever and there's nothing anyone is going to do to change it. I've bought stuff from him over the last couple decades and for the most part the transactions were OK. Occasionally things got screwed up but that was part of dealing with Fred's. It's not a "real business" in the sense that people are there everyday. It's hit or miss. He's going to retire soon so don't expect things to get better!

I guess I've been lucky in that their service always has met my expectations..... not fast, but reasonable amount of time considering the whole "dig it out of the warehouse bins" issue.

Longest I ever waited was 5 or 6 weeks for a Tiger Stripe stock.... the wait was entirely worth it in my opinion.

Fred's Shotgun News ad states that if you can't put up with slow service don't bother ordering. Kind of says it all. I've never ordered a thing from him.

"Fred" is the one who started Project Appleseed way back in 2006. He devotes a considerable amount of time to this effort, and unfortunately this means that his 'business' is not receiving the attention that it deserves. You are not the first to experience a long delay, or to have numerous calls and emails go unanswered, and for the foreseeable future, you will not be the last.

I was actually at the Freds M14 Stocks warehouse about a month and a half ago, and was astonished to see the sheer number of stocks that Fred has.. Smallish warehouse, but it is packed wall to wall, floor to ceiling. When I was there, he had probably 50-60 shipping boxes with labels printed, seemingly ready to go. When asked about them, he said that each was missing some little part, that would undoubtedly take a while to find...

Basically, if you want a stock, order just the stock, and it should arrive someday. Order small pieces to go with your stock and it will arrive about 12hours after the end of the world...

FWIW, Fred and his wife run the business in their 'spare' time. He's traveling on average 3-4 days out of the week, leaving him 3-4 days at home to be with his wife, and work in the warehouse filling orders...

And no, I cannot get things from Fred any faster than anyone else...

Yeah, that is about my experience with Fred's. Unless Fred is the only one where I can get what I want, I pass.

I just had a good experience with Fred. I ordered a stock on 11/29 and got is 12/6 with Standard shipping. He threw in a free hand guard. I had been talking with another member at my club and he was negative on Fred... So I was pleasantly surprised when the stock arrived quickly... Maybe Fred is reading the web and is trying to change his image.