To Our Valued Customers:
H-S Precision has received comments relating to individual testimonials in our 2008 catalog. All of the testimonials focused on the quality, accuracy and customer service provided by H-S Precision.
The management of H-S Precision did not intend to offend anyone or create any type of controversy. We are revising our 2009 catalog and removing all product testimonials.
Sincerely,
The Management of H-S Precision
[Via Oregon Firearms Federation]
35 comments:
Removing ALL product testimonials? I don't see an admission of gross offense anywhere in this non-apology.
Yeah, quite frankly it reads like "I'm sorry you guys got offended, maybe if you weren't such babies this wouldn't have happened".
That could be my personal bias though.
I think that the term non-apology about covers it. No one had any trouble with testimonials. Everyone had a problem with Lon Horuichi.
A simple, "Were are very sorry for our idiocy", would have been nice.
Nothing personal, but I hope they freeze in the dark.
Works for me.
I still sent 3 NIB stocks back to Midway and I won't order another.
Well, I for one am glad that's over. It's time to let the healing begin!
Ahab is right. This is one of those "we're sorry you were offended" pseudo-apologies. They need to twist in the wind for a while.
Weak and a week late.
I guess that the HK motto of 'because you suck and we hate you' was already taken.
After almost two weeks of non-apologies, I think that they should have kept their damn mouths shut, instead of spewing that drivel.
Must have been written by the same genius who can't run a Google search for the names of people loaning thir "testimonials" to the company.
Off my list.
"Wow, we messed up.
Our saving grace is that you, our customers, cared enough to let us know we were being idiots.
We're as happy to have you as customers as we are embarassed that we ran a testimonial from Lon Horiuchi.
We printed off every email about this, rolled them each into a ball, and threw them at the employee who included the testimonial.
We're really sorry!
To show our contrition, we are offering 5% off to anyone who places an order for delivery in 2009 who mentions our poor taste in testimonials between now and December 31.
In the future, we'll pay more attention to who we use to talk about our products.
Respectfully,
The management"
Now if they'd sent out that, how many people would find the extra $$$ to get another rifle this year?
Pretty weak tea.
In other words,
"We're sorry that you thin skinned people got yer feelings hurt, we'll take all the testimonials off our catalog if that'll make y'all shut up. So there!"
I think that about sums up H-S Precision's response.
Longbow
Just because they make cool toys, don't mean they're on our side.
They don't get it; they don't get my dollars.
"They don't get it; they don't get my dollars."
Exactly!
Longbow
BZZZZTT!! Try again!
Basically, that's the corporate equivalent of the bratty kid who would only apologize for throwing a rock at your face if his mom had him by the ear, and he NEVER meant it.
I award them no points, and may God have mercy on their souls.
KsR
Wow, is this a Samuel Adams moment.
From http://www.nationalcenter.org/SamuelAdams1776.html:
"... Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say, What should be the reward of such sacrifices? Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship, and plow, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquillity of servitude than the animating contest of freedom--go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!"
H-S really should have talked to Zumbo before they answered.
I think he "gets it" now... H-S obviously still does not.
We can now add H-S to the dishonor roll with Zumbo, who's offense was actually much less.
This is a piss poor watered down, we are sorry, slap in the face. No question about it.
Which begs the question. Are we asking for them to bleed in front of us, so we can glee at seeing it. No!
Here's the foundation of this mess and its very simple. Of course HS-Precision knows who Lon Horiuchi is and what he's done as an FBI sniper in the past. Somehow they have the mind set that what he did is perfectly fine. What he did was totally gutless and despicable, and may he burn in hell forever for his evil and cowardly acts.
By HS-Precision showing their hand that reveals their mindset in their bold face support of Lon Horiuchi. They have shown that they are of a totally different mind set than their customers, most anyway. In all fairness there are many cops out there who find Lon Horiuchi action just as cowardly and despicable as we do. So this isn't a case of anything but showing where your "moral fiber" stands.
Clearly by the text released by HS-Precision doesn't say much but they are changing a part of their catalog because their customers find it upsetting. Fine, but we would still be supporting a company that has a huge difference in "moral fiber" that is 180 degrees from many of their customer's foundation in the moral fiber department.
I don't know but my hunch is this statement from HS-Precision being so watered down is because; The players at the top of that company approved Lon Horiuchi's testimonial and didn't see a thing wrong with it. Which brings us back to moral fiber and who anyone of us want to support with our money.
AvgJoe said:"I don't know but my hunch is this statement from HS-Precision being so watered down is because; The players at the top of that company approved Lon Horiuchi's testimonial and didn't see a thing wrong with it. Which brings us back to moral fiber and who anyone of us want to support with our money."
You're right, you don't know. Wild speculation isn't going to add anything but emotion to the argument. I think the Alert at the Oregon Firearms Federation said it best; they have the marketing skills of a pipe wrench. They screwed up and didn't respond within nanoseconds of the discovery of their gaffe. After a week of doing who knows what, they came out with a limp, bland response. Why? Because anything else would have resulted in prolonging the controversy. At this point NOTHING they say will matter. Me? I'm voting with my pocket, and I'm done. Anything further is just mental masturbation.
abd10, I stand by my statement and gut feelings. Here's way I do in a little deeper insight.
If HS Precision wanted to they could have thrown Lon Horiuchi under the bus, they didn't. They could have said, that they didn't know much about his past but he was a sniper for X number of years with the FBI. They could have said that they had no clue he shot Vicky holding a baby and was at Waco as well. Showing shock about who the real Lon Horiuchi is and thanking their customers for telling them about it.
This hasn't happened and I'm not buying into allowing them off the hook by saying: They have the marketing skills of a pipe wrench. I can't believe they haven't brought in to the fold someone or people that can help them with this PR issue.
But as I said, I'm on the sideline and just giving my reading of the situation as I see it. I maybe totally wrong but I could never be as wrong as them for using Lon Horiuchi, if you get my drift.
Wow. What do you say to that?
I could never afford any of their products anyway, so harming them financially is not an option for me. I'm sure they'll go on happily selling arms to the government that will one day point those arms at me.
But I can dream. And what I dream of is sitting by a river and watching the dead body of my enemy, HS Precision, float past.
First I would like to Thank David for helping to bring this out so we can "S&W" the idjits.
As to H-S Precision .... anything and everything I can do to see that they lose in every way is my next move.
Does anyone have a list of their Corporate customers ? I Might just give them a lap full as well.
Nice visual Joel.
Personally I favor The Brand New and Entirely Redesigned, Super Duper, Bright and Shiny, Shark Feeding in the Open Ocean Solution.
That even saves ammunition .... sharks don't care if their food is alive or dead .... just bleeding.
g
Ah Joel - a Sun Tzu fan.
Brings to mind "If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril."
They are either woefully ignorant as to the depth of their blunder or have no true understanding of their customer base. Calling that an apology is an insult to apologies everywhere.
Thanks for keeping us informed on this matter David.
Does anyone have a list of H-S business customers?
We need to identify and put them on notice.
Folks you can hurt H-S, even if you don't buy their products.
Let people who carry their products know that you can buy magazines, cleaning supplies, ammo, or whatever from some other
company. If H-S wants their only customer to be the govt. let it be so.
Let the shunning begin!
Yes, OFF included it in this post, which I linked to the other day.
That non-apology actually makes sense if the rumors are true, that Horiuchi is friends with somebody in charge at HSP.
"To our valued customers:
We're sorry you have sand in your vagina. Strong message to follow.
Hugs & Kisses...
Your friends at H.S. Precision"
All the comments above assume that WE are the customers that HS should be concerned about. Get real!
The customers that HS Precision cares most about are Ron Hariuchi and those who employ him, and the various and growing government agencies that need 'gee-whiz' guns and for whom cost isn't an issue. That apology is for no other purpose than to say they apologized when they are approached by Congresscritters and Scametors who have heard from us.
I say that is fine, and I will not do business with them. However, I will also do anything I can to discourage any government agency from purchasing from them either. THAT is where their real concern lies, and is the lever by which we can tip up the rock HS Precision is hiding beneath.
C
Let's get 'em! We'll fuss and fight because their marketing department is run by clueless boneheads. And while we're busily eating one of our own, thus doing the anti's job for them, we can feel self righteous while the real battles coming down the pike are ignored.
All the comments above assume that WE are the customers that HS should be concerned about. Get real!
They don't sell direct.
They sell to the folks that we buy many items from.
Yea OK, they sell direct to the government or do they?
This is an issue of: You talk with your limited bucks.
I did not see any form of the words "sorry" or "apology" in there anywhere, did you?
"We printed off every email about this, rolled them each into a ball, and threw them at the employee who included the testimonial.
We're really sorry!"
If they actually rolled them all into one ball, and actually threw it on the responsible nimrod(s), they'd be as guilty of murder as Horiuchi. Being crushed under an 800 lb. ball of paper would be lethal, would it not?
Tam says:
"Nothing personal, but I hope they freeze in the dark."
Yeah, I'm pretty much good with "freeze in the dark" too.
B@stards!
I've been considering building a rifle and using HS for the stock; had no idea they had done this, and it's been a year.
I'll use some other stock. And I hope the staff and management responsible wither slowly and painfully from some horrible terminal disease.
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