ollie366 Posted January 9, 2020 Posted January 9, 2020 I need some ammonium perchlorate and contacted Firefox. They provide pricing for the product but not shipping, so I put on the order form in multiple places not to process the order until they tell me what the shipping cost would be. Got an order acknowledgement from them right away and my CC was charged even though I didn't authorize it. I tried calling and sending an email about this but no response. No info provided by FF on the shipping of the order. I followed up with additional calls, voice messages and emails but no response. I'm now going to contact the CC company.Has anyone else had problems with Firefox?
Piccaso Posted January 10, 2020 Posted January 10, 2020 They are usually slow to respond. They seen to be a part time business.
SharkWhisperer Posted January 11, 2020 Posted January 11, 2020 EXACT same problem earlier this autumn. Placed an order, followed up with an email. Both times I explicitly wrote "Please do not complete order until you have calculated it and I have approved shipping charges" (almost every other site will calculate shipping for you, no matter how complex). Received an invoice a few days later showing my credit card had been billed for the items I'd queried/"begun" ordering. And the one item that I really needed was not included--it still appeared on the website as "available" but on the invoice as "out of stock". Shipping cost was higher than most--for a 3-pound ORM-D package, shipping was $20.47. Ok, I'd live with that if the product that I primarily wanted had been in stock. On top of that, I was billed a $3.85 "box charge". Uhh....what??? And to boot, they billed an additional 3% of the total order, including shipping costs, as a "Processing fee". Ridiculous. Just raise your product prices 3% instead of nicking customers with nonsensical add-on charges. My emails went unanswered though I did receive an autoreply from Dianne Purrington that included a phone number. I will provide it to you if you PM me. I spoke with her and asked her to cancel my order and refund my payment--I had not been provided a tracking number and she wouldn't (couldn't? don't remember) confirm whether the package had been sent (it had not). Two weeks went by and no package arrived. No email queries were returned, and Diane was no longer answering her phone. Interestingly, my final email informed her that I intended to have charges returned by Visa as potentially fraudulent billing (money paid, no product, no communication). No answer. So I reversed the charges. A week later I received the package, which had been mailed out the day after my notice that i was reversing charges. Never got another email, bill, or phone call. Felt bad that I'd received $30 in chems and not paid, but not that bad given the headaches I encountered. No, I will not take a chance with this company again. I wish them the best, and hope they get their act together. I know they had a tough run, perhaps undeserved, with their legal injunction. Still, what I consider a demonstrated lack of professionalism means is a deal breaker. There are sufficient competing business who provide top-notch customer service and decent products for reasonable prices--FW Cookbook is reliably excellent, with fair prices; Dixie has some super hot Indian Al for perhaps best pricing outside of shared bulk purchases or a meet; cannonfuse has plenty of tidbits, and Caleb & Sarah have spot-on customer service for quality tooling, tubes and other products, to mention only a handful of the excellent vendors that remain available. Just my experience and my 2-cents worth. I very much wish that I was able to write a rave review about these folks, but am not... SW 1
ollie366 Posted January 11, 2020 Author Posted January 11, 2020 Thanks Shark and PicassoI called her phone # at least 3 times- went right to Vmail. Got an email on Thurs saying the product will soon ship. Interestingly, that's the day I posted here and also contacted my CC company. Not sure if it's coincidence or one of the outside actions that stimulated her to respond. I asked for the tracking # and told her I needed it right away because of the CC action. Nothing.... I guess I'll just wait. I agree there are other reliable alternative suppliers that I'll use in the future.
Piccaso Posted January 13, 2020 Posted January 13, 2020 I agree I like the companies you mentioned also. Top notch service with excellent prices, I just wish there was a company that sold every thing that Firefox does.
SharkWhisperer Posted January 16, 2020 Posted January 16, 2020 (edited) Lets flip the basic question around: Has anybody had a good/pleasant experience with Firefox purchases lately (perhaps within the past year)? If so, that would be useful information, and only fair to Firefox. Make no mistake--I remain thoroughly displeased with my own Firefox encounters and will not risk another disappointment, but if anybody has had good experiences with them, then in the interest of a balanced discussion they should be heard, too. p.s. to Picasso: Sure, Firefox has quite an extensive inventory of chems and other supplies, but it doesn't really matter if: 1) the stuff is not in stock (even if it shows availability on website); and 2) orders never arrive... Edited January 16, 2020 by SharkWhisperer
SharkWhisperer Posted January 23, 2020 Posted January 23, 2020 (edited) So it's been longer than a week since I queried the forum for any positive Firefox experiences, and none of the perhaps 150 folks that have viewed it since that time have provided new information or good reviews of the company. That might be telling. In the absence of new info, I maintain my decidedly low, low opinion of Firefox. Which is a shame because, as Picasso mentioned, they had a great variety of items for sale (not to be confused with actually having them in stock, though). Perhaps this thread should be relocated to the Vendor/Supplier subforum? p.s. off-topic shoutout to Phil at his General Store, who sent me some tubes that seem to be of super high quality! Quick delivery and a good price, too. So far, so good! Edited January 23, 2020 by SharkWhisperer
davidh Posted January 24, 2020 Posted January 24, 2020 I have ordered from Firefox many years ago before that judgement against them, and I had a good experience with them, in that I got what I ordered in a timely manner. I often wonder why they don't sell off their stock and go out of business because of that judgement. Anyway, there are other vendors that will sell you what you need in a much more communicative manner.
SharkWhisperer Posted January 24, 2020 Posted January 24, 2020 (edited) David hey, thanks for sharing your experience. However, it seems like that was several years ago. Firefox got clipped for selling M-80 "kits" many years ago, not just last year or so. Now, unless you're BAFTA licensed, you can buy precisely 1 pound of KNO3 per year from them, and do know that all transaction records are definitely forwarded to our pals. Sheesh, you can buy 50x that, at half the cost (including shipping) elsewhere, without having to work up a sweat locating it ("Haifa", achoo!). Anybody have any RECENT (within 1 year) positive experiences with Firefox? Doesn't seem likely. Seems to me, they are both otherwise employed (? Or not. Maybe not getting along or even divorced by now), and Firefox is a struggling ember, earning some extra loot before it completely dies out. Shame. It was historical. Of course, as always, this is simply my personal opinion and laden with speculation. Meanwhile, Phil still sells reasonably priced spherical Ti if you still pound your rockets with a hammer and are afraid of blowing your face off with sponge! Chris at FC sells great granular/sponge Ti (and is more flexible than his website indicates if you talk nice) if you press your gadgets or are willing to risk spark/face removal when pounding rockets containing fuel with jagged edges! Blow 'em loud n proud !! FFS. Edited January 24, 2020 by SharkWhisperer
ollie366 Posted January 24, 2020 Author Posted January 24, 2020 An update- I finally received the product although I was never sent the promised tracking info. Furthermore, it was sent to the wrong address and the people at that house were kind enough to let me know. I opened the box and found the AP to be wet and clumped into 1- 2" hard chunks, not the "free-flowing" powder. I contacted Diane by email and have yet to hear from her but it's only been a couple of days. I don't expect a response. Never again!
davidh Posted January 25, 2020 Posted January 25, 2020 An update- I finally received the product although I was never sent the promised tracking info. Furthermore, it was sent to the wrong address and the people at that house were kind enough to let me know. I opened the box and found the AP to be wet and clumped into 1- 2" hard chunks, not the "free-flowing" powder. I contacted Diane by email and have yet to hear from her but it's only been a couple of days. I don't expect a response. Never again!Dry AP clumps hard and fast. Like you wouldn't believe. Literally overnight. Are you sure it was wet?
SharkWhisperer Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 (edited) An update- I finally received the product although I was never sent the promised tracking info. Furthermore, it was sent to the wrong address and the people at that house were kind enough to let me know. I opened the box and found the AP to be wet and clumped into 1- 2" hard chunks, not the "free-flowing" powder. I contacted Diane by email and have yet to hear from her but it's only been a couple of days. I don't expect a response. Never again!So, it's been almost a week since you received your clumpy Ammonium Perc from Firefox. A) Did you ever hear back from Firefox/Diane; B... Did you sort out the apparent "moisture" issue? C) Have you made any test comps with your AP? Shipping to wrong addresses? Was is a Firefox error or a USPS/UPS delivery error? p.s. why tf does this website editor change "B)" or even "b)" to a friggin smiley face, ffs??? Lame, confusing if overlooked, and super friggin annoying... Edited January 30, 2020 by SharkWhisperer
Acer88 Posted June 17, 2020 Posted June 17, 2020 Hi All- I placed an order for 2 books from Firefox back on May 4th of this year. They charged my card and sent invoices. I contacted them every week for 6 weeks and still have never rec’d the books. I finally had to contact the bank and have them reverse the charges. Skylar told me that the package was ready to ship but USPS was slow because of Covid-19. Never rec’d tracking information or another e-mail from them. They still have my personal information and ID photos..... kinda wary now.....
Builder100 Posted September 15, 2021 Posted September 15, 2021 I have ordered from them a few years ago with no problem. I placed 2 orders a month ago and cant get a hold of them at all . Sent emails, no response. As of a week ago they have no billed my cc. Good thing. I have no idea how they can run a business like this, maybe they are not running a business ?
Arthur Posted September 15, 2021 Posted September 15, 2021 Maybe it's a small business suffering a covid crisis. In a small firm one person may be critical to the continuance of the company.
SharkWhisperer Posted September 16, 2021 Posted September 16, 2021 Maybe it's a small business suffering a covid crisis. In a small firm one person may be critical to the continuance of the company.Nope. Nothing to do with Covid. Gary, Dianne, and Skylar Purrington (Firefox) have been doing this long before Covid showed up. Might be better off looking for an alternate source. And keep an eye on your credit card statement for late surprise billing. You might get your products eventually, after they arrive in Idaho after a long boat ride from China and get repackaged for you. But don't expect Dianne to answer her phone or emails. They're now famous for this behavior. Used to be reputable but bad decision making and they screwed themselves with the government and have been struggling increasingly since 2014 iirc. Good luck.
Oddmanrockets Posted June 5, 2023 Posted June 5, 2023 i had issues getting my order from Firefox until I sent a Nasty Email and my order showed up a couple days later without any notice i order from Skylighter now and have had No Issues
cmjlab Posted June 5, 2023 Posted June 5, 2023 When did you order from Firefox? I was under the impression they weren't in business anymore. I'm not sure what you bought from SkyLighter, but if you want decent prices, quick shipping, and customer service - I'd recommend fireworkscoombook.com or my favorite Pyrochemsource.com. For materials I use Uline and Pyrocreations or PyroDirect. Just some suggestions. Context: I've never used SkyLighter.
Richtee Posted June 6, 2023 Posted June 6, 2023 Context: I've never used SkyLighter.They are rip-off artists. Well stocked but... I guess if you need it, they prolly have it.
Arthur Posted June 6, 2023 Posted June 6, 2023 On the other hand, you could send money to sends you nothing and doesn't reply or send money to someone who does supply.
davidh Posted June 6, 2023 Posted June 6, 2023 They are rip-off artists. Well stocked but... I guess if you need it, they prolly have it.I always defend sellers of goods. You get to choose where you spend your money. The sellers can _ask_ for whatever they want. That's capitalism. Now health insurance and medical care, when your choices are few to none, now those are rip-offs!
Richtee Posted June 8, 2023 Posted June 8, 2023 I always defend sellers of goods. You get to choose where you spend your money. The sellers can _ask_ for whatever they want. That's capitalism. Now health insurance and medical care, when your choices are few to none, now those are rip-offs!True. OK.. they are high priced. About ANY insurance, as you say is a racket.
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