Now, I know everyone on here is drinking the Benelli Kool-Aide, but please remember that I too, wanted to drink it as well. However, I now find myself puking on it. I've never have had such a tough time becoming a believer in the brand, and I actually now want to become the champion of everything not Benelli. It starts with their customer service/touch points.
Let me explain:
I purchased an M2 Field Apg with the promise that I could have a 26 fowl barrel in the woods within just a few months. And, now Benelli is telling me that they won't even be available to the stores for months, with no date in mind. I should have listened to Cabella's when they told me to buy Remington, Browning and/or two other recommended manufacturers that, according to many retailers, were much easier to work with ...and much easier to get their barrels...and at a much lesser cost. I didn't listen, and now I find myself at a loss and have a slug gun -- only half of what I wanted. What is up with Benelli's clear lack of organization and commitment of product to its customers, like making sure they have the barrells ready to support new products? The company is completely disconnected from the customer experience at retail, and a customer literally has to jump barriers to convince an actual retailer to sell him a Benelli. And, once a customer accomplishes that feat, Benelli still leaves the customer in the cold with Bill Clinton answers that don't answer anything, but, instead, leave you stranded while scratching your cold head, saying, "wow, I guess the retailers were right. Benelli is awful when it comes to customer service. Not worth the money."
However, after I convinced the retailer that I wanted the M2 Benelli, I was again convinced by them along with two others that the best way to get a Benelli would be to buy the slug version, getting me the slug barrel which many wait months and months for, and putting myself on the shorter wait list for the 26/28 inch fowl barrels. "Yep, that is the best way to go." Lol. Lamao. What a complete lie, or was it pure hope on the dealer's part that Benelli would deliver upon at least that--"Wrong." Also, what is Benelli thinking? No good company ever goes to market with half commitment to their customers to prevent situations like this. What a half ass approach to doing business. Benelli is not a $25,000 Harley which people will wait for. Benelli needs to eliminate the ego. They aren't deserving of that position, and not even Harley could survive on doing business like that and they quickly learned that no one is deserving of that anymore, as they learned that that business proposition couldn't sustain the company nor keep its customers waiting...however..I will still wait for a Harley...but I won't wait for a barrell.
Simply said, when you launch a gun, Benelli needs to do the basic audit of what is required behind an appropriate launch that will provide its "CUSTOMERS" with an experience that not only backs up the brand reputation but enhances it. If they wanted to add APG to the profile offering, then they damn well should have made sure they backed the promise up to the customer in an adequate way. This also is clearly an ongoing issue with Benelli based on what literally every retailer said...."don't do it...the barrel situation at Benelli is insane, and if you do, get the slug barell because the bird ones are easier to get..." Boy, I guess Benelli is now lacking in that area. What is
next? Remember, it is a slippery slope in business when integrity starts receding.
Then, after I purchase the gun with a slug barreell, I call the same three retailers, and they say, don't go through us..go through Benelli directly..because it goes much quicker. I then contacted Benelli after approaching retailer after retailer and their response was, "we don't do that...go find someone who will." I call all of the Gander Mountains, and talk to one of the managers (a very good guy) and he says he will do his best....after two weeks...he has still yet to get an answer...and he is smiling at me like my mother used to with an akward, "I told you so" smile.
Now, I have a $1,400 gun with no barrel to go turkey, duck or pheasant hunting...the main reason I purchased the m2. Thanks a whole lot Benelli. My first Benelli experience is a complete let down. In fact, it was a good lesson on how not to build a relationship with a customer. I thank them for that. And to think I was actually thinking about adding another Benelli to my collection.
To make it worse, I wrote them again, after none of the retailers had answers, and they haven't responded in a week.....which most good companies respond to within 24 hours. I'm starting to wonder that the great Benelli brand is just that...a brand... a brand that has mesmerized many...and now i fear that many will soon be feeling like they went to bed with a Jessica Alba and then actually waking up next to a plastic love doll that doesn't kiss back....just plastic...no substance...just a blank huanting stare.
Their tone. The help they provided. Their care. It all sucked!!!It is no wonder that they don't sign their names to their customer service responses. Because if anyone reads their responses as a true business that respects its customers, anyone would quickly notice that Benelli is near bankruptcy in caring, and ultimately, mattering. They simply do not care, and as a result of that, they will simply not matter soon...to anyone...but to each other. Soon and before they know it, their culture will be a pool of people gazing at each other with glassed over eyes, guzzling down the corporate kool-aide and, with their "Benelli" swagger, peeing out messages like drunken, souless pirates.
I have now wasted 5 trips to different retailers, gas, phone calls, back and forth this and back and forth that, and now I'm stranded. No answers. No barrell. No barrell in sight. Well, I got half of what I wanted...but bird season will come quickly and unfortunately, it will be enjoyed without Benelli. Unless they get their act together in product launches, begin caring for its customers, their walls will crumble. Throughout history, many great brands began to rest on their laurels and quickly, sometimes over night, find themselves looking into the asses of their competitors...following...not leading....and they will fade....fade away....into the pack of mediocracy...pure stinking mediocracy...the smelly pathetic medoicre. The stench of the non living. I still want to be a Benelli Believer, but the stench keep getting worse.
Cheers!
