came back to air rifle hobby recently. PA used to be great in customer service. I have an order from 1st week of Nov that has been a string of 4 mistakes so far and no reply on last one pointed out this morning.
They are penny wise pound foolish...I was going to order some expensive items to include the new Diana 54 laminate but if they can screw up a simple pellets and rings order so many way i may need to wait for others to have it available
Wish Josh had not retired
PA forgot the "10 for !0 " in my order for the Avenger (I notified them Dec 14)...... after several days they agreed to send my $10 refund...that was Dec 22. I'm about to send yet another request. Such a stupid mistake being made worse and they leave early on Fridays....don't ask.
Did Josh sell the business (PA) ?
I had the pleasure of meeting Josh many years ago when he ran PA after his house, not far from where I use to work.
Very interesting guy... went there to pick up a walnut shoulder-stock for my P1 when he was selling custom made ones.
Seems most businesses go sour after the original owner leaves.
I,ve always been confused about PA's lineage. Back in '90 I took my RWS 54 all the way from the Ohio river valley to South Solon, OH (SE. Cleveland area code 440) because a gentleman said he could replace broken mainspring in it, in 1 day. He accomplished that and cost was cheap. Been a while so memory is foggy but I recall it was a small shop the aforementioned sole attendant was in his 50's or 60's and wore a side arm in the shop. Pleasant to deal with. I've always wondered if this was PA's beginning but I seem to recall another airgun shop in Solon?
The current "lawyer stamp" includes "Air Venturi" on PA's Weihrauch's for example, which points to an area code that is farther north and encompasses Cleveland metro.
In the past, I've seen (I think Warren Heights labeling) which is 20-30 miles east of Solon; South Solon currently shows up on the map East of. Dayton, OH.
With that, I can't wrap my mind around who is who and what is what.
@straitflite The local airgun shop that I use to go to was in Maple Heights, Precision Airgun, owned by Chuck Trepes... Chuck could fix most anything from spring-piston, to CO2, to pnuematics... not sure if he ever got into PCPs, but I'm he might have... He was in business for many years... he passed away in 2018 at the age of 91... he had to close his shop a number of years before that due to failing health.
He did some work for Pyramyd Air according to some conversations that I had with him.
I bought my first airguns from a firearms shop called "Pistol Pete's" in Chesterland Ohio back in the early 1990's... the owner was a dickhead, and I doubt he could fix anything airgun-related.... I still shopped there, because I wanted airguns and he had them... and bought lots of ammo from him, pellets, 22LR, and .45ACp... but he was always a jerk... I know he packed a firearm, but it was usually behind his back with his shirt untucked.
Buddy & I drove 600+mies round trip that day, including the turnaround time for the spring fix. It was early spring in 1990 and we had a multi day backpack trip planned for the next day.
May sound crazy but "Chuck" rings a bell and his age in 2018 would put it about right on. Our guy had a red checkered flannel tucked completely in with side arm where all could see...kind too; unlike the Peter LOL. Long time ago... wild what we can recall and cannot. I do know Solon was a destination and could have been a 2nd stop for something... We had nuttin' down here on the river air gun related, still don't -Bakers would be the closest now.
Just did a search on PA's history. Google took me to Egypt and Gaylord's blog took me to Russia. It may have been Josh I saw in a youtube video. Just a quick scan, but I didn't see when PA opened under that name.
Many fishing trips on Erie over the years, all along it's US coast and into Ca. waters. Walleye and Ring Perch in beer batter YUMMY! Spent 3 months once in Conneaut. Spring didn't show until July. Jesus it was cold LOL
Chuck Trepes originally had his airgun repair facility in Solon Ohio. His retail store, Precision Airgun, was on Warrensville Center Rd. in Maple Heights, Ohio. I can't remember him NOT carrying a revolver in all the years I shopped there. The first location, he shared space with a gun shop. Think they were next door to a tuxedo rental place. Second location was all airguns. He was in a small shopping plaza next to a barbershop.
@straitflite I just remembered that Chuck's original shop was shared with a firearms dealer... he probably had the revolver.. I only met him once that I remember, and that was the very first time that I stopped in the shop... Chuck wasn't there that day... that probably was early 1990's.
Chuck later moved his shop up the road in a small shopping plaza, still on Warrensville Center Rd, and he was by himself (and his wife), no firearms dealer there... I think the firearms dealer left his old shop at some point before Chuck moved, because I don't remember seeing him there after my first visit.
It was and still is a rough neighborhood... I think Chuck lived nearby and could actually walk to the shop.
I always called his shop before I made the trip out there to make sure he was there... I use to take a long lunch break and drive out there from work in Mayfield Heights... probably my most favorite place to "shop" and talk when he wasn't busy.
@straitflite I don't think so... that was pretty much before the internet... and any airgun forums... and the Tom Gaylord's Airgun Letter... that subscription and the Beeman catalogs gave me the airgun bug.
I don't remember exactly how I discovered Pyramyd Air... probably from the Airgun Letter ?
If I'm not mistaken I thing PA bought out Airgun Express there in Ohio if any of you remember them. Not sure what Josh was doing before this. Reason I know they purchased Airgun Express is because I was doing work for AE and got Grandfathered into PA vendors list and then started doing work for PA for several years after that as well.
Great info guys. It sounds like PA never started with a brick & mortar storefront...
Look what happened to Beeman! Any time the original owner is the main protagonist in a business, it is usually quite successful because he's protecting his reputation with good service. Could his profits be better? Sure, but if he's making a good living so be it. As soon as a company is sold to another, especially a large conglomerate, forget the personal service. The new company bean counters take over and cut costs and change management. The only thing left is the name.
Look what happened to Beeman! Any time the original owner is the main protagonist in a business, it is usually quite successful because he's protecting his reputation with good service. Could his profits be better? Sure, but if he's making a good living so be it. As soon as a company is sold to another, especially a large conglomerate, forget the personal service. The new company bean counters take over and cut costs and change management. The only thing left is the name.
This happens a lot in business. Companies will ride the name until it no longer means anything and then it's off to purchase another.
Chuck’s store was awesome. Wish I’d taken photos of it, It was like a museum.
First experience I had with pyramid was at the Solon location in 2004, in the industrial lot. You could walk up and talk with the techs and pick your orders up. They were always friendly and helpful. Went to the new location to pick up items a few times and it was very transactional. But they’re a much bigger company now so I expected that.
My friend’s dad in Moreland Hills was involved with Pyramid in some capacity at the beginning. I remember going to his house and seeing an AF Talon in the corner and he said he got it after he’d spent a summer working there. At that point his dad was no longer involved which was around 2006.
Hopefully whatever issues are happening get worked out.
I found this interesting article... as mentioned before, I did visit Josh's home where Pyramyd Air started... it's a big house with a big basement... the basement was full of boxes... I could see why he moved the business to Solon... outgrew that, and moved to the current location in Bedford Heights.
I seem to recall that the original "Pyramyd" business was "Pyramyd Stone" or similar name... not sure exactly what kind of stone... marble, building material, etc but I'm not sure.
https://hardairmagazine.com/features/josh-ungier-ceo-of-pyramyd-air-talks-to-ham/
Very interesting read. Article is over 5 years old, imagine they have grown even bigger since then. Seems like a lot of the 'great's' that have been around as long and some even longer are inevitably closer to retiring.
Great article.
I have an old business card I got many years ago at the Roanoke Airgun Show when Pyramyd first started up. Too lazy to go get it but I remember it said that Pyramyd Air was a division of Pyramyd Stone corporation. I remember wondering at the time if Pyramyd would survive, being a new start-up.
I didn’t know Josh had retired. Guess it’s been long enough now I shouldn’t be surprised.
Jack
Does anyone remember Sandra? She was super helpful, my favorite rep to talk to by phone.
I don’t remember Sandra but Stacey was super helpful to me for information and parts. I just tried contacting her about getting some HW100 parts I need and it’s not working. They won’t even tell me if she’s still there. Ive tried calling and email...weird...
Higgs
PA latest response:
We apologize for the delay in response, we're experiencing a high volume of emails and calls at this time. Unfortunately, our accounting department is behind regarding credit reviews. We thank you for your patience as we work hard to satisfy our customers needs.
Chuck Trepes’ Precision Airguns and Supplies is the only brick and mortar I’ve ever set foot in.
I really wanted one of Tom’s “Audible Speed-O-Meters”, (pat. pending).
miss the AGL. it was a running free for all. Team LD v Team SteveNC. Some days I’d have to go back several pages to see what started the current whizzing contest. And then Tom would post some profound BS and everyone would jump on his azz. Wish there was an archive. Only Tom or maybe Steve would have it. Steve was always digging up some hysterical post and rubbing someone’s nose in it.
Alas, the good ol’ daze?
@scratchit I wonder how many brick and mortar airgun shops there are today... I would love to visit any and all of them... but Chuck's was probably one of the best !
Did you live in Ohio ?
Loved the AGL forum... and the monthly printed mailed letters... I still have all of mine and the airgun revues... I need to get them out and browse through them again... all the PCP's bore me... it was interesting with the Shin Sung Korean Career II air rifles came out... my one and only PCP, .20 Career II carbine... too much of a hassle to shoot, although I did enjoy it... needs new seals now... I should send it off to get fixed.
Hi, airmojo. From the late 80’s to the late 90’s I worked for some folks whose corp. hqdrs. and some manufacturing was in Highland Heights, a few miles west of mayfield. They eventually established a training ctr. in Solon, actually closer to Mayfield. I probably spent 8-10 months in Cleverland over the 10 year period under the guise of training/continuing education. Never lived in Oh.. In-laws live north of Dayton.
Found Chuck in the phone book, the search engine of the day. Next time I was in Cleve., I brought my fwb and tempest and one sat. morn. walked in. Chuck was on the left side of the establishment and I but hardly noticed the fellow on the right. I recall a counter and several air guns hanging on the wall. Showed him my guns and asked him to lay on of hands and heal them, no problem he said. I was awed. We talked for a few and said they’d be ready next Saturday. I returned a week later and he’d resprung and resealed both and swapped the barrel on the tempest from .22 to .177. He put some kind of heat shrink on the fwb barrel and did a bit of cold blue touch-up to a spot on the receiver/tube where the butt of my palm would rest when loading a pellet.
He had a Farco shotgun hanging on the wall, I bought it. While I tried hard, I never could find a practical application for it. Sold and shipped to some fellow in Arkansas, complete with 20lb. CO2 bottle w/siphon, about 50 lbs of shot, about a 3’x3’ sheet of cork and a bunch of sabots and .44 cal bullets. Cost me a small fortune.
When Jim Stannis with the same business name started up I wondered if Chuck had checked out.
There might be a handful of brick and mortars. I think Utah Airguns welcomes folks in. Charlie Frear might, dunno. Not sure about Pyramyd. Maybe Hector, JoeB? With the COVID going on who knows. I’ve raised my hand and as soon as the VA calls I’ll get it, the shot that is.
First show I went to was what’s been referred to as the last Winston-Salem show. Bought my career carbine in .22 from Bob Krug. I was so overwhelmed with it that I called him a week later and bought the .25 rifle. Met Tom and Edith and a bunch of other folks I can but hardly recall. I subscribed to the AGL bulletins for 2-3 years. Wife sold them and my Beeman catalogs on eBay. Oh well, I’m not much of a collector and they’d been read and re-read.
I’m about ready to give up on the pcp trip and am migrating back to springers. I about overloaded the golf cart last time I was out with gun, tank chrony, targets, gun rest, blah, blah, blah....
I truly enjoyed the AGL, thanks folks for all those mammories!
@scratchit Chuck had the best selection of pellets... I worked in Mayfield Heights for many years and when I needed to get out of the office, I would give Chuck a call to see if he was open, and take a drive out there during lunch... I always bought at least a bunch of pellets when I was there... this was his newer shop up the road from the old shop.
I bought a nice .177 R1 from a friend of mine, and later bought a .22 JM Piranha TK barrel for it... Chuck had a supply of the old blue tin Eley Wasp .22s, and I always bought at least a few cans... this was when they stopped being made, but Chuck always seemed to find more of them, so I bought them whenever I could... I still have several tins of them.
I always left there with something... bought a nice FWB300US from him that belonged to some rich customer (might have been a doctor) that left several nice air rifles with Chuck to sell... bought a few others too
Chuck could be kind of grumpy at times, but he was cool guy... loved talking to him when there weren't any other customers, which was quite often... loved that shop !
? ? ? Yes, this is more of what I remember. From some of the posts I was beginning to think I had been to the wrong place. Kind of grumpy for sure and an annoying dog that barked constantly unless he was locked up. I just attributed the grumpy part to the fact he was old and needed a walker to get around. Like everyone, Chuck seemed to have his good and bad days. Some days he wanted to talk and others he just didn't have a lot to say. Regardless, he was a wealth of knowledge and had a really good selection of unique pellets and airguns in his store. I miss visiting his shop during lunch for sure. It seemed to make the remainder of my work day go so much better!!
@hammarhead The walker was his later years... but he always had a grumpy side... it helped when he got to know you, and knew you by name.
Like anyone that lives that long, he went through a lot... his wife was at the shop many times, doing office book work, and on the computer... she was very quiet, but was always pleasant... she ended up with alzheimer's and passed away, so he had that to deal with, plus all the headaches of having a business in a not-so-good neighborhood, break-ins, nasty "customers" coming in, etc.
It helped that I called ahead of time to make sure he was there... learned to do that after taking time to drive out there, and he was closed... he was always glad to see me when I came in... smiled, shaking hands.
The place that I worked at in Mayfield Heights, closed and moved their headquarters to Atlanta in 2010, and I ended up working out of their plant office in Warren, OH in a deserted part of the office building (until they eliminated my job in 2012)... depressing city... I started with the company back in 1975 working at their data center there... it was like going back in time, except the city was like a ghost town from the Twilight Zone... it was like a bad dream... best part was when I explored the local pawn shops in the area, and found a Hy-Score 810M (Diana 60) match rifle stored away in a back storage area... made that 2 year bad dream worth while !
I stopped to see Chuck a couple of times when I was taking or picking my wife up from the Cleveland airport... it was sad to see him in such pain and using a walker... even more depressing when I drove by and saw his shop closed.
Airgunning has been a fun hobby with many rewards and memories... all hobbies should be that way... my other hobbies are that way too... playing harmonica, o-gauge model trains, restoring old kerosene lanterns... my wife is afraid I might get another hobby !
I think I saved most of my receipts... Beeman coffee cup... the barrel cleaner is an invention of Chuck's that he marketed and sold... Beeman belt buckle brand new... loved buying the accessories he had !
Hey guys, this is Val Gamerman. I am still around. Still don't have MBA, nor planning on getting one. Been around since 1998 when I met Josh, helped him retire in 2016.
All is well here, except we have grown like crazy, and are having a hard time hiring the right people fast enough. Combine that with all of Customer Service department working from home/remotely and you might start to appreciate the challenges we are facing. Not complaining, as we were lucky enough to benefit from the COVID pandemic, unlike many, many other businesses who are still suffering.
One thing that has not changed - whatever the issue is - we will take care of it. Pyramyd Air never left a customer hanging, never will.
Thank you for all of your patience.
Shoot straight and be safe.
Hey guys, this is Val Gamerman. I am still around. Still don't have MBA, nor planning on getting one. Been around since 1998 when I met Josh, helped him retire in 2016.
All is well here, except we have grown like crazy, and are having a hard time hiring the right people fast enough. Combine that with all of Customer Service department working from home/remotely and you might start to appreciate the challenges we are facing. Not complaining, as we were lucky enough to benefit from the COVID pandemic, unlike many, many other businesses who are still suffering.
One thing that has not changed - whatever the issue is - we will take care of it. Pyramyd Air never left a customer hanging, never will.
Thank you for all of your patience.
Shoot straight and be safe.
I love and will always buy all my fun toys from PA, you guys are great!
Ya left me hanging was promised free shipping after screwing up a simple pellet order multiple times. I was charged shipping plus cost of a 200 pellet tin so a total of $31.83 for a 200 count timn of .22 cal
I just finally found time to log in again on the website to send you this
tomtk4@ or tomtk3@ .....mail is on order I am not sure how much effort was expended to not leave a customer hanging?
9693156
$20.99
$1.80
$9.04
Saturday, 11-28-2020
$31.83
$31.83
Hi MOT,
I see that specific order in the system. It was charged shipping as it was part of larger order and when you placed that one you explicitly chose to have us split the order and charge extra for shipping as we were shipping portions of the order that were in stock.
I am now researching what was promised to you.
Thank you.
Val
Thank you. There is a chance the applied it as a form of free shipping for one of your other small orders that is currently on backorder. I sent an email to the rep, her manager and director so should know something tomorrow. Don't waste your time, will get back to you with an answer tomorrow.
Thank you
Val
I don't get all the Pyramyd Air hate. We don't have that many companies that try to cater to airgunners and I appreciate those that do. If it were not for a handful of small airgun companies, we would only have the large chain stores and internet sellers to buy from. Do you think Walmart or Amazon would help sponsor airgun shows or airgun competitions? Would Amazon carry inventory high end airguns that are slow sellers.
I personally like Tom Gaylord. No, his word is not gospel. He had made some major goofs. I think some times he has made bad assumptions based on his testing. But, Tom test a lot of guns and tells us how they shoot for him. I don't know any other way to test the airguns. If a gun doesn't shoot well for him he reports it. If a gun shoots well for him, he reports that. No, his findings don't always agree with my findings or those of others that have tested the guns.
There is a lot more good to be appreciative of in our airgunning circle than there is to complain about.
David Enoch
@davidenoch I agree... I mainly order pellets from Pyramyd Air and Straight Shooters, but I have ordered other items in the past.
I had an order of 5 pellet tins... when it arrived one of tins was badly dented, although they were all packed extremely well in the box inside the styrofoam packaging that holds a round tin of pellets.
I suspected that the tin was already damaged went it went into the box.
I did not open the tin, but was afraid that some of the pellets could have been damaged.
I contacted PA via their website, I sent (or attached) the photos that I took of the damaged tin.
They promptly sent me via FedEx (the same as the other package) a replacement tin... free of charge, and no hassles.
I was totally satisfied and glad they are in business for us USA airgunners !
@critter99
The rep only took care of the backorder free shipping, but she never submitted the shipping refund request for $9.04. I am told such request has been submitted, so you should see that refund on your account within a few days. She will be reprimanded, thank you for letting me know about this issue, and sorry we failed you. Hope to earn a chance at your business and your trust again one day.
Val
@bf1956 Ok, sorry if you feel we did not communicate well with you at some point, or were not knowledgeable on some product. Thank you for sharing.
I have a bunch of stuff in my cart at Pyramid Air. They sent me a 10% off email if I order what's in my cart. However when I went to place the order there was no discount at all. What a crock of crap. Most of the stuff I have in the cart is out of stock. They want you to pre-order. I don't think so?. They also have a chat feature. But when you try to use it nothing happens. LOL. Total bullshit.
@rx-hunter Thank you for sharing that! Yes inventory has been an issue for the past 11 months. Some items are mapped and coupons do not apply to them. Can you share what was in your cart or DM your email address so I can have someone look into this? We shouldn't not be sending 10% offers for about a year now, hence a little concerned that what you are describing is happening.
@rx-hunter These are not MAPped so a valid coupon should work. What message are you getting?
@davidenoch
Hate mail is because people are getting very poor service from them lately. Myself included. Everyone was used to their service being good but it has severely dropped off. That is a dissappointment. There are several other places to purchase guns parts and ammo that provide better service and do what they say. IMO
Hello, yes in the past 12 months due to explosive growth driven by the pandemic, our service levels have slipped about 6%. We went from 94% customer satisfaction to 88%. No, it's not acceptable to us either. Yes, we are hiring and training as quickly as we can. Not asking you to understand or giving you an excuse, just sharing the facts. I understand if you are upset and taking your business elsewhere.