Gun Dog Supply or Lion Country Supply

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BuckeyeSteve
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Gun Dog Supply or Lion Country Supply

Post by BuckeyeSteve » Sun Jun 24, 2018 9:13 pm

So... this is not a product review, but instead of supplier review. I've dealt with both suppliers now quite a bit over the past 6 months....and I figured I'd write my thoughts for anyone who cares. I'm also pretty sure I'm going to have a lot of people disagree with me on this and state counter-experiences -- which is absolutely fine and welcome.

Regarding equipment quality and options - I think both are equal. Both suppliers have a great variety of good quality stuff. I've gotten a physical catalog from LCS and haven't (yet) from GDS, and I'm somewhat a fan of having the catalog on hand. It gives me ideas of more stuff to spend my money on.

Regarding price - Again I go with both are equal. On the big items, I think prices are generally set by the mfg and they can't vary from it much. On smaller items, one will be negligibly better than the other on one thing, and vice-versa on another.

Regarding Customer Service - This is where the two have really been separated from each other (to me). I have had reason to deal with customer service of both companies twice each now. Overwhelmingly, GDS has been way easier to deal with. I don't mean to in any way say anything negative about the people of LCS... it's definitely not a personal thing... but I have developed the feeling that LCS positions themselves as a middle man between a supplier and an end user, and they don't want to deal with anything outside of processing the orders. Conversely, GDS has been the polar opposite to me. They seem to really have a strong customer service mindset.
To expand on this - My first Customer Service experience with LCS was when I ordered an additional name plate to add to a collar that I had already bought from them earlier. I ordered a nameplate to say "Vital Medication Needed". When it arrived, it read "Viatl Medication Needed". I couldn't find the initial order, but reached out to say I thought I had spelled it correctly on my order and asked if they could look it up. The email reply I received was, in full, "Hi Steve, the nameplate is as stated". I emailed back to say I really did not believe this to be the case, but there is no way to look up past orders on their website. They explained I cannot look up old orders, but sent me other nameplate orders (not the one in question) that I had placed in the past. Very friendly...just not getting back to the order I was asking about (I had given the order number in my email). Shortly later...out of principle (I explained I really didn't care about the 2.50 tag...I just want to know if I really screwed up the spelling or not) I dug up an email confirmation that did have the spelling shown correctly, and forwarded back to them. They gave me a credit for the 2.50 plus shipping (which I never used...but that's not their fault). Bottom line, I was just told I was wrong without taking the 30 seconds it would take to look it up and correct the issue.
My next experience was I ordered a Ruff Tough Kennel, which arrived almost a month later badly dented on both sides. I contacted LCS, they forwarded my email to RT. RT said they could fix it in their factory, and I could return it and buy one from Cabela's (which I had offered to do b/c I couldn't wait another month). Then I got a later email from LCS telling me I could return it but RT and LCS weren't paying the shipping (20-30.00) because it wasn't defective based on the fact that they could fix it. They explained they sometimes dent due to extreme heat in shipping. I explained that it was May in Pennsylvania, not August in Zimbabwe, so extreme heat wasn't an issue. I also strongly disagreed on both sides of the kennel being badly dented not being a defect. I explained that again we were facing a matter of principle and if RT doesn't fix this, themselves or through LCS, I would review my RT on every review site on the internet. I also explained that because of this response from them I wouldn't be buying a RT. (instead I got a Dakota283 that is awesome). With that they sent me a shipping label. I'm disappointed that I have to be the one to fight over things wrong with my orders, in my opinion the supplier I'm buying from should deal with their vendors for me.
On the other hand... With GDS, I ordered an e-collar. After ordering it I sent a message asking if it would be possible to add a gps unit to the same collar. Dwayne replied back that I could, but needed to tell them to send a 3/4" collar not a 1". I sent another message asking if there was still time to do so. Ray emailed back telling me the order had already shipped (super quick processing), but said he'd just send me one and asked what color I wanted. They didn't charge me for it...just sent me one to make sure I was taken care of. I didn't expect that or ask for it (nor would I, they hadn't done anything but be helpful and they certainly didn't owe me an extra collar). To me, that is above and beyond customer service, which I truly appreciate.

That was way more typing than I meant to do...but I'm really impressed with GDS so far and I thought it was worth reviewing. I again have no doubt that LCS is a great company and they are great people...I just appreciate the customer service mindset of GDS.

averageguy
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Re: Gun Dog Supply or Lion Country Supply

Post by averageguy » Mon Jun 25, 2018 5:27 am

GDS also has some very helpful videos on the more expensive products as well e.g Garmin Alpha. And it is rare they do not have what I am looking for. Order processing and shipping is very prompt. Nothing to complain about from me.

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ezzy333
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Re: Gun Dog Supply or Lion Country Supply

Post by ezzy333 » Mon Jun 25, 2018 6:56 am

Plus GDS owns this forum for you to use free.
http://www.perfectpedigrees.com/4genview.php?id=144
http://www.perfectpedigrees.com/4genview.php?id=207

It's not how many breaths you have taken but how many times it has been taken away!

Has anyone noticed common sense isn't very common anymore.

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BuckeyeSteve
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Re: Gun Dog Supply or Lion Country Supply

Post by BuckeyeSteve » Mon Jun 25, 2018 2:03 pm

Seriously.... I had no idea GDS owned this forum. That is awesome.

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BuckeyeSteve
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Re: Gun Dog Supply or Lion Country Supply

Post by BuckeyeSteve » Mon Jun 25, 2018 2:05 pm

averageguy wrote:GDS also has some very helpful videos on the more expensive products as well e.g Garmin Alpha. And it is rare they do not have what I am looking for. Order processing and shipping is very prompt. Nothing to complain about from me.
The videos are another great bonus I hadn't even thought about. The e-collar video I got with my Garmin Sport Pro for $0.01 was SUPER helpful, as I had never used an e-collar before.

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Urban_Redneck
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Re: Gun Dog Supply or Lion Country Supply

Post by Urban_Redneck » Mon Jul 02, 2018 8:49 am

I live about 150 miles from LCS. Twice I have ordered from LCS and GDS on the same day, both times the GDS order arrived at least a day earlier for the same shipping charge. I also appreciate the follow up emails from GDS customer service. I always check GDS first.

I believe LCS has new ownership, l hope they can get their house in order.

Quailtail
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Re: Gun Dog Supply or Lion Country Supply

Post by Quailtail » Sun Oct 28, 2018 11:14 am

Great people at Gun Dog Supply. My experiences have always been positive.

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isonychia
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Re: Gun Dog Supply or Lion Country Supply

Post by isonychia » Tue Oct 30, 2018 2:13 pm

Sometimes LCS has something I want that GDS doesn't. Otherwise....

RyanDoolittle
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Re: Gun Dog Supply or Lion Country Supply

Post by RyanDoolittle » Thu Nov 01, 2018 7:39 pm

GDS has always been easy to deal with for me as well.

Last I dealt with LCS was on facebook. They were advertising trade in your Astro 320 for a 430. I replied I was interested and was curious what the trade value on a 320 was. All I got for a reply was we dont deal with Canada for Garmin, in which I replied that was fine but it was going to a USA address anyway. Never heard from them again.

Needless to say I wont be dealing with them any longer.

I like some of the product on Dogs Unlimited as well because they are built with better material (ie the bird bags have a metal snap instead of a plastic one) but the shipping they charge is outrageous.

The other thing I like about GDS is the owners do the same type of hunting I do, wide open with big running dogs. So I know when I talk to them about product reviews I am getting reviews with experience I can relate too.

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