I think anyone would be well advised to keep in mind that the perception of CC being a hobby business is probably close to the truth. There are pluses and minuses to this.

Basically it seems like a few guys, just like us, finding great gear and trying their best to get orders out the door. I have a feeling that for some of them CC may not even be their primary 40 hour a week gig.

They don't run a brick and mortar storefront. They operate out of a commercial building and they are not in the business of creating a flashy, hyped up web image.

They have good stuff, at good prices but I agree that they would greatly benefit from taking a retail management training course. During which they would realize that EVERY single email and every order is a reflection of the entire organization.

On the other hand, they'll never be able to compete with Cabelas or LL Bean. They simply don't have the resources. But you can't get the cool stuff that CC offers at Cabelas either...

I can't comment on the shipping charge issue as I live in CA (about an hour north of them in fact) and I've always gotten my orders in reasonable time at a resonable charge.

I suspect that all of them really want to do the best job possible but they may not have the retail "customer experience" background or resourses to make this happen 100% of the time. But this doesn't stop me from ordering.

I once ordered some stuff and got something completely different. I called and requested an RA (return authorizaition) and was told "Don't bother, keep the wrong stuff and we'll send you the right stuff this time". Granted, it wasn't a big order but someone there wants to make people happy. On the other hand it seemed like they didn't get that I was inconvenienced and had to wait a second shipping cycle or that the first batch was inventory down the drain for them.

I would say give them a shot to let CC know how you feel if you're not satisfied. Personally I would rather encourage a small business to improve itself and stay around than discourage one.

Maybe Clearwater summed it up best! But even Wallyworld won't have the cool CC stuff!