Agree 100% with multiple users on here about customer service manager Nick V being rude and crass and absolutely no help - worst customer service experience of 2014. Issue started with purchase of gun (Nov 2014) from Budsgunshop of 44 Mag which was found defective upon receipt and sent back to Buds (Dec 2014). The 44Mag revolver had both used/wear/scuff mark like it was used gun ? or handling damage ? and also had broken off cylinder release button that made the gun completely non-functional !! Called budsgunshop rep and she agreed to return gun (thank you) based on eye witness account from both myself and FFL dealer about gun condition. However, at no point during entire process did budsgunshop.com allow me to write a review of gun - in fact their website claimed they had no record of me having bought gun from them. WTF ??? Brought up the issue on three (3) different occasions on budsgunshop website with comment ending with "WTF?" term - however instead of acknowledging website product review issue on their end and promising a fix/resolution with on-site IT team this customer service manager Nick flew off the handle and actually fed me a weak long line of bs about "no review function since order open" - "no review function since order returned" - "no review function since order cancelled" blah blah blah !! Unfortunately, like other Yelp reviews (Reddit?) Nick was rude, Nick was crass, Nick was argumentative and and Nick was downright belligerent including threats of "no, will not let you speak to my boss" ??? "I am cancelling your account" and in fact actually HUNG up on me and blocked my phone number ! Really ? Really ? How Arrogant ? How Childish ? Grow Up !!! Plus, I have YET to receive my REFUND check from Buds and cannot call Buds Accounting/Customer Service because my phone number is blocked ! WTF ??? Irony is Buds released a "Behind the Scenes" video from Tony in Marketing dated 12/12/2012 where the Director of customer service "Elaine" speaks about hiring employees proficient at customer service - employees who speak with a smile - heck they even interviewed this Nick on the video - however clearly Nick missed the "memo" on customer service with a smile especially this 2014 holiday season. Jerk !! Been dealing with budsgunshop for 4? 5? years with multiple gun and accessory purchases but never ever faced such terrible customer service - absolutely unacceptable customer service including cancelling my online account from buying guns, blocking my phone number from calling to report customer dissatisfaction much less placing future gun phone order, Owners of BudGunShop - Marion/Bud, Rex & Joe - perhaps time for "your call may be recorded for quality purposes" to monitor unprofessional non customer service oriented employees like manager Nick who instead of acknowledging and apologizing and resolving issue(s) actually want to blame customers and want to ban customers. WTF ?!?!?!? Lastly, and this is NO small matter, this case has also exposed/demonstrated a potential problem with the budsgunshop website that did NOT allow me to register a "negative" feedback for defective/blemished gun purchase which calls into question budsgunshop claims of customer satisfaction. BBB anyone ? Congratulations Nick V at BudsGunShop - Worst Customer Service Manager & Worst Customer Service Experience of 2014 !! P.S. ALL this time I thought BudsGunShop was cheap(est) option online - however following Nick V "meltdown" I used "slickguns.com" and bought two more guns and saved 20% - yes 20% - on both !! So THANK YOU Nick V for costing your boss/owner and your company my business $$ and my patronage and saving me 20% in process. "Karma is a B*tch" !! :-) read more

BUYER BEWARE Using the online portal, I ordered two magazines and a front end for a rifle. I realized I had ordered the wrong front end and called Buds to cancel. They said it was too late, and I would have to pay a restocking fee to return it. Once the front end arrived, I noted that it looked half-opened, and it was a hinged-neck box with an inter-tab lock. Wary that something had happened to the contents of the box, and wanting to ensure that the part would be there in order to return it, I looked inside the unsealed box to validate the contents, They were there. Also, one of the magazines was defective: the follower was jammed and would not travel in the magazine. I called Buds to arrange for the return. I spoke to a person who identified as "James". James immediately challenged the issue with the magazine (which I have had many), saying it should "break in" after a while, The trouble is that the follower would not move at all, so there was no "break in" possible. "James" argued the point, saying I was doing something wrong. I assured "James" I was not doing anything wrong, and I had even tried to add a drop of CLP to it to loosen it from being jammed. "James" then said they would not accept the return, then, because I had tried to unjam the magazine. Next, the rifle front end. "james" asked whether I had opened the package. I explained to "James" that the box had arrived partially opened (there was no seal, it was cardboard with a folding tab), and I explained to "James" it was already half-open and I looked inside to verify that the contents were in place prior to returning. "James" then said I could not return it because I had "opened" the box. I explained to "James" that I did not "open" the box, that it was half-open and I had to look inside. "James" quibbled that I had, therefore, "opened" the box and could not get a return. We bickered for a few minutes until I asked to speak to someone in authority. I was left on hold for some indefinite amount of time, then I called again. The same "james" answered the phone. "james" claimed no recollection of the phone call we'd just had. I pressed him on it, he lied, saying he had no recollection, He asked for my order number, then I repeated the issues again. I pressed him again about just talking to him, He said it appears that "customer service" had had an interaction with me. Finally, I agreed it was him the whole time, claiming that he wasn't lying. "james" asked for photographs of the package as a precondition of starting the return process. I sent them, and he asked for photos of the internal contents of the package but refused to indemnify me against opening the box. Stalemate. I've alerted the credit card company to dispute the transaction. In sum, Bud Gun Shop is unethical in its business practices and employs people with low moral character. read more

EDIT 04/01/2025- they suck worse than they did 2 weeks ago. Involved BBB, that's a lion with no teeth. Can't get gummed to death. Run- there are lots of people that want to take your money, provide value, and legitimately want to see the customer experience to be as successful as possible. Dud's couldn't hit a customer satisfaction target 1 foot away with a sawed off 8" long 12ga. UNETHICALLY RUN AND BROKEN BUSINESS If you were purchasing a new Browning White Lightning over/ over shotgun for $2,000 plus wouldn't you expect a "supposed reputable" gun store" disclose, divulge that it was 15 year old new stock MANUFACTURED IN 2010?!?!?! Knowing Browning has made two runs of White Lightning models the first being circa 2010 and a second run being in 2018 Shot Show Special. Both are discontinued. With my order I sent a picture of the 2018 bottom receiver to make sure that was what I would received. Guess what shows up at my FFL? He told I should have ordered the gun from him, captain obvious. Difficult to speak to a person at Bud's, the thread from customer service gets contentious, I get a voicemail from "James" the assistant manager, which truly is a man of no common sense and lacks enough customer relations skill to run a dog waste pick up business- we go round and round and he won't own that they are unethical, clearly sent the model I did not want. He is not real good with math either- it's 2025, the gun was new in 2010. It's not a couple of year old new stock, it's not even 5 year old new stock. IT'S 15 YEAR OLD NEW STOCK. WERE AT AN IMPASS, HE WON'T PUT IT IN WRITING THAT I WILL BE REFUNDED IN FULL- SAYS HE WILL, AT FIRST INSISTED EITHER 25 or 30% RESTOCK FREE PLUS FREIGHT. ONCE THEY HAVE THE GUN BACK ALL I HAVE NO GUARANTEES THEY WILL REFUND MY CARD. They've already proven to be unethical and are an organization which could care less about repeat customers- what would you do? What I hope you do is run away from Bud's. Sad part is I have bought at least a half a dozen or more firearms over the years. I would have bet a dollar to a hundred dollars they would have made this right from previous transactions. read more

I'd rate Buds a ZERO if that were possible, but since the bottom number in the scale is a 1 that is the rating I'm giving them. I've purchased several guns through online auctions - Gunbroker, Sierra, Rock Island, eGunner, GunAgents, Buds, and even Armslist. Buds was by far the worst experience of them all. I paid by credit card and sent them an email asking if using an FFL from their preferred list still required ME sending them a copy of the FFL documents. Four days, NO answer. Sent a second email, Four days later, STILL no answer. Went ahead and sent the FFL paperwork. Still no action on filling my order. Called them several times over a 3-4 day period and couldn't get through. I was always caller 10 or 12 in the queue with a 30 minute (or longer) wait time. I tried using the "press 1 to receive a call back" feature - nobody ever called me back. I followed their instructions to try calling after 5:15pm during their "less busy" time. Still huge queues with 30+ minutes wait time. Finally I just gutted it out and waited 25 minutes for someone to actually talk to me. The rep acknowledged that the gun was all paid for and the FFL paperwork was all in order, but had no explanation for why they hadn't shipped the gun for nearly two weeks. I was told it would move to the shipping department and be shipped the next day. The online status finally changed to show it sent to shipping - where it sat for ANOTHER 3 days before it FINALLY shipped. So all told it took nearly 3 weeks from the point of it being paid for before I actually got the gun in my hands today. Absolutely the WORST customer service experience I have ever had with an online firearms purchase. Then to top it all off, my FFL had problems with getting and printing a copy of Buds FFL paperwork. So much so that he said HE is going to stop accepting transfers from Buds, because they no longer put a copy in the box (which he says is illegal) and it took him over an hour to get a printable copy for his records. I will NEVER buy from Buds again. read more

Many of the negative reviews I am reading here about Budsgunshop.com sound like people who didn't bother to READ the terms and conditions that Buds clearly states on their website. Some just sound like whiners who will complain about anything. Some may have legit gripes, but that can happen anywhere. Buds is a busy place, and gets lots of business, so naturally mistakes will sometimes happen. One thing is clear, they are so busy because so many people buy from them. Some reviewers mention buying local. I've tried that, and found poor selection, and worse, gun shop owners who act like they are doing you a favor for answering questions or selling you a gun. Buds offers better prices because they sell in high volume. My first online purchase of a gun was from Buds. I'd never heard of them before. It was a local gun dealer/FFL who didn't have what I wanted, that suggested Buds. Sure enough, I found just what I wanted, at $250-$350 LESS than anywhere else online! The gun arrived at my FFL and I went to pick it up. Like Buds website clearly states, for those who can READ, if you find a problem with the gun when it arrives at your FFL, refuse delivery. They will pay to take it back, then ship you a replacement. If they can't provide a replacement, they refund your money. Meanwhile, they are providing FREE SHIPPING both directions, and selling cheaper than anyone else, so in those cases, they are losing money. In my case, my gun arrived in absolute perfect condition, so I accepted delivery. Since then, I have made two more purchases of guns from Buds. All my transactions have been flawless, the service was fabulous, and the guns I received were flawless specimens. And, in each case, I saved money by getting them cheaper than anyone else could sell it for, AND got free shipping each time! Would I buy from Buds again? Heck yes! Do I recommend them to friends and family? Heck yes! Do I love the guns I have bought from Buds? You can read my 5-Star reviews on their website! read more

I don't know where these other reviewers are coming from. They must be totally incompetent buyers or working for Bud's competition. Bud's is like the online gun buyers "Amazon". Gun stores and gun sellers at the gun shows wince when you mention their name. Some will stop speaking to you when you mention Bud's price. I don't blame them. Bud's rules the online game for pricing and volume sales. I've personally been a Bud's online customer for years. I live in Texas. I don't work for Bud's and they have never given me a dime for endorsement. I have however spent thousands of my hard earned $'s with Bud's. I am here to tell you I have not had one screw up with my orders from Bud's. Any and I repeat any problems I have had were my own fault in ordering or the awesome UPS service for trashing the shipment. Bud's has fixed any and all mistakes I have made when ordering. Bud's tells you to inspect the weapon at your FFL BEFORE you do the transfer. Once it has been transferred to You it is your problem and You have to deal with the manufacturer yourself. Simple huh? I don't expect Bud's to take care of some issue with a pc of junk import from china. I do however expect the American manufactures to stand behind their warranties. Like Windham Weaponry. Lifetime. That's why I buy their stuff from bud's. It works or Windham fixes it. NOT Bud's. Duh!!! Inspect your gun before u transfer it. If it's not right then do not do the transfer. Bud's pays for its return. I will keep buying from Bud's. I will price shop. I will pay the cash price offered buy bud's with a check if I want to wait for processing. I will pay the extra 3% fee for using a credit card if I'm in a hurry. I use the "MAKE OFFER" on Bud's site. save me some shipping monies. Heck yes. read more

First off I would like to thank the sales person who was so helpful and friendly. So, Tristen, thank you. He made my purchase very enjoyable. I had never been to Bud's Gun Shop before and never will go again. With that said, I'll explain why. The female manager or sales person, what ever she was- was not even waiting on me. What a Biotch- (she has dark black hair) completely rude as hell! If she was to wait on me, I would have told her to kiss my back side!!!!! The check out person, must have been trained by the " female manager/sales biotch",- because he was a complete Ass! I wish I knew both of their names because I would have posted both of their names on here to tell everyone how rude and hateful they both are. All the check out dude had to do was take my cash! I asked the simple question, "I saw on your website that you give discounts for customers paying in cash." Omg, you would have thought I asked him to give me his right arm. I was polite, I swear. He about flipped out! The young man at the other register tried to make things better by smiling and talking nicely. My check out clerk should take lessons from him. What a jerk my check out guy was. Didn't even say, "Have a nice day, come see us again, kiss my butt" nothing!! If I had not have driven an hour and a half, I swear I would not have purchased a damn thing. I promise..Bud's Gun Shop- You will never, ever get a dime of my money again. Good Luck, Because me and my family purchase at least 2 guns a year. 1 for birthday, and 1 or 2 for Christmas. So, you lost all future business with me and my family. read more

Ut Oh...somebody ain't gettin what we thought fron Santy Clause.....thanks a lot you bunch of **** ***** ! So much for "under the tree" FALSE ADVERTISING for weeks on end now... Tricksters, Dishonest, Intentionally Misrepresenting Items and Service Provided. If you effed up and made an order, better get to calling for the daily lip service, blah, blah, blah... Any promises made by their representatives or any of the many sales gimmicks are just complete lies. Just trying to get your money quick as possible, then it's good luck to you if you ever get your item they promised. This is why budsyouweredumbandshopped doesn't take paypal and why they have the "restocking fee" err... stealing fee...you get charged to be stolen from and completely bs'd. So if you shopped at budsweweredumbandshopped like us...you just got screwed! Don't listen to any of these payed idiots and those that just got lucky, telling you how awesome budt's is....poop don't stink either....worst gun shop ever!! Don't be a tool...fools do business with fools! Bud's gun shop sucks ; firearm; Firearms ; Guns; Bad Service; Dishonest; Misrepresented; Gimmicks; gimmick; Tricks; Terrible; horrible; laughable customer service; at bud's gun shop we suck; read more

I had the wonderful experience getting to have my first women's firearms training course here w/ Gary & it was very interesting and fun. Learned a lot in a short period of time and it was specific to detail and simple to understand & remember. Gary did a wonderful job & felt highly safe target practicing with him as my instructor! I plan to go back to continue on with more training courses because of how well done it was with the women's only course. I have already gone back again 2x more times to target practice by which Steve the employee who was working that day was also very helpful and learned a lot from him while target practicing. I have brought along my father who now enjoys buds range & retail & now both of us already purchased some firearm's for ourselves. I am so happy that it is with Buds Gun Shop & Range. We will continue to use them for our firearm needs. Also to mention very pleased with the overall customer service experience in the training courses, going to the range and shopping in the retail store. All together wonderful group of employees with positive and helpful attitudes. HIGHLY RECOMMEND anyone to stop by here to have the same wonderful experience as we did. read more

Megan, one of Bud's online chat agents sat on a chat with me for about an hour answering questions regarding products my mom inherited and we could not identify. Not only was she exceptionally patient with the questions I was asking (pretending to be my mama as she had to step away from the screen shortly after initiating the chat), but she also combed through past orders so I was certain about exactly what I had to handle. After she helped me completely, going above and beyond as far as I was concerned, she also closed the account for me so I didn't need to undergo that task. I had one unopened order I was able to return, on the receipt for the order, in BOLD it states all returns must have shipping paid for by the returning customer. Megan and her supervisor, even took care of the shipping, which I did not realize until Fedex did not charge my Mama when she dropped the shipment off. Not only did my dad apparently like the products this company chooses to sell, but also, their team has some of the best customer service I have ever experienced. Their human compassion was so amazing and appreciated. Please trust them and patron them- your money is well spent there. read more

I ordered a bushmaster carbon 15 on April 10 when it was 599.99. Payment was processed, etc. Then i get an email that theres a problem with my order. They say they wont ship to my FFL in IL because they dont ship firearms or ammo to IL. They ask if I want cash or store credit on a refund (so you dont ship to IL, but $600 in store credit makes sense?) Anyway, that same day, suddenly the EXACT same rifle has the price changed to $700+. Looks like they cancelled my order not because they dont ship to IL, but because they raised the price and didnt want to sell it for what they processed it for. Do your research about them. Bidgunner is a total scam (the same users win EVERY auction, and have since the site started. either they have unlimited resources or its the program ensuring people dont wiin), and ive also read where they change negative reviews that people on the site. Check the BBB. They have a LOT of complaints in just the last 3 years Grabagun, Lanbos armory, KYgunco, and sportsmans warehouse are generally cheaper or about the same price, ship fast and actually honor their prices (and ive had items shipped from ALL of them to IL) read more

I ordered a Mosin Nagant from Bud's on Monday and received it today four business days after ordering it. I was surprised when I opened the box to see a red letter Izhevsk. I sure wasn't expecting that. It arrived in very good shape, and it came with a red letter bayonet, oil can, screwdriver/bolt tool, muzzle protector, and a few cleaning jags so that was a nice bonus too. The rifles bore is in excellent condition for a milsurp with strong lands and grooves, and muzzle wear is very good too. Stock is in very good shape too with minimal dings and dents so that was a nice suprise. Typical Russian refurb blue and varnish which is to be expected. Not a heck of a lot of cosmoline on it, and no rust spots either. Feels like it has a thin film of oil on it which was nice to see. I was pretty skeptical about ordering from Bud's based on the reviews I read, but I am glad I did. Ordering and FFL process was simple and straightforward. The rifle I received is as good, if not better than described. I'm very happy with my purchase from Bud's, and would not hesitate to do business with them again! read more

Where to start, I was searching for a particular expensive firearm, found it on gunbroker in Bud's inventory, created a account, and attempted to place the order. After placing the order I had a couple questions in general and the system was not finding my FFL holder (who claims he is registered with them) in their system, I wanted to register as a qualified professional, etc. Here is where things went very much SOUTH... I understand good customer service is expensive, but it is not that their customer service is lacking, it really just does not exist!!! They rude, dismissive, they want to you pay money to access customer service, it is a utter joke and drove me away. Never did speak with a human although I chatted with some entity that claimed to be a human but if that was true they could not have been any less helpful giving blatantly wrong info. Asking me to call a number that is a utter dead end, either they have never called that number or they just did not care that they were lying. Over all the experience could not have been worse, did not walk away I ran. Wow. Be warned. read more

Buds sold me an "unissued" & "never shot" police issue gun. This was not the case when it came in. I didn't complain, and left a 4 star review that the item may have been shot some (there was slide and barrel wear.) I was still happy with the purchase for the price, but the issue wasn't any of this. My 4 star review never showed up on their site. Coincidentally, all other reviews (13,) including newer ones than mine, were all 5 star reviews. Please be wary of using them for purchase. I would have refused this weapon if I knew they handled business this way. Clearly, they're filtering reviews. Or they may be making them up altogether now that I think about it. I really don't want to make that accusation, but the former is a certainty. I AM happy with my purchase, but I don't like being taken advantage of through deceptive business practices. This was my first gun purchase and the wear was confirmed by multiple people. The wear honestly doesn't concern me, but the filtering of my item review (4 stars of 5 mind you) tells me enough about this company. read more

....don't really understand all of the negative reviews for Bud's....I have done 4 transactions with them over the last two years and this is shipping into an FFL in The People's Republic of NJ....My latest order was initiated about 10 days ago...price was right, credit card application of deposit went smoothly, mailed my check and it was received in two days and got a prompt email notification of the same....check release was less than the 5 days stated on their site...and now my Kimber is on my way to my NJ FFL with delivery expected by 4:00 PM by FEDEX...my only complaints would be couldn't speak to a person (I attribute this to the CHRISTmas Holiday business) and the fact that adding my FFL (although this was my 3rd time using them) to my account took a little time....to me this should have already been on my account with the question; "Is this the FFL you want to use?" In any event, baring any unforeseen circumstances, I should be out shooting my Kimber Stainless Ultra Carry II in .45 either Saturday or Sunday this weekend! Love Buds Gun Shop! Anthony read more

49 yr old woman, 1st time gun buyer and it was super easy, even for me, to buy the guns I really wanted. I have a 9mm that my father left me when he passed, but this was my first time actually purchasing a gun. The website made it SO much easier than I thought it was going to be. I was really worried about getting it shipped, the FFL, how to arrange all of that, figuring out how much using the FFL was going to cost, etc. To be honest, it's pretty overwhelming and intimidating. Buds literally made it as easy as clicking on the options/preferences they provided. The shipping cost, optional shipping insurance, and even a LIFETIME WARRANTY for less than $12....all amazing! Not only that, but they offer layaway which is just f***ing awesome. I was torn between two firearms and, because of the layaway option, I didn't have to choose... I got both!! I purchased one today and put the other one on layaway. I'm a 49 year old woman, first time gun buyer, and I couldn't be happier with my experience at Buds Gun Shop online. read more

Ordered some magazines. One of the items, I believe, was an incorrect order on my part. Bud's would not exchange the magazines for the ones I needed. They would only do a return with a 10% stocking fee. Fine... but I won't order the replacement magazines from Bud's -- I will take my business elsewhere. This is the 3rd order with Buds. 2 previous orders never worked out... never got charged (at least I hope not)... never got my stuff. Not only that... just getting the return going was a pain: Me: I got the wrong item. I got item #___ and need item #___. Them: Sorry, it's already shipped Me: I know it has... I already got everything, but one item is incorrect. Them: Oh, ok. Well, what is incorrect? Me: Did you read my original message?... (repeated message) Them: We can do a return with 10% restocking Me: I cannot exchange them? I could pay the difference.... I finally gave up. Will never purchase from Bud's again. read more

I have purchased several guns and ammo from you guys. I always get what I pay for; And usually faster than expected. The last rifle I bought was a Marlin 4570 GBL... what a gun!! and $100 less than my FFL pawn shop... I had a 4570 when I was a kid, but this is a whole other animal. I don't hunt much any more but wanted something with knock down power from 70 yards. in. I had forgotten how much fun a big bore is to shoot. We live in bear country so I built a cubby hole by the front door just for the gun. Now hogs, dogs; I shoot to miss, but the sound of this howitzer sets everybody running I love it!! Thanks Buds again I put the rifle on lay-away because after a year of trying to save the money, you know how that goes... It all worked great. Basically any one who tells you this is not a first rate operation has bear scat for brains. Thanks again Buds...You guys are first rate. read more

NO WAY! RUN, DO NOT WALK AWAY! I HONESTLY THINK BUD'S MAKES MORE MONEY FROM JACKING PEOPLE AROUND CANCELLING ORDERS AND CHARGING RESTOCKING FEES THAN ANYTHING ELSE. Not having gone into the shop in person, yet, I am not sure they even have any guns. They have a lot of excuses, and a lot of gall to screw people around. There is an old saying, "You get what you pay for", and the feeling you got a good deal at Bud's will quickly evaporate when your order never shows up, while your money remains tied up. I will be contacting consumer affairs, and the representative attorney generals in any location Bud's actually does business. Bud's is so sleazy they have changed names THREE TIMES on Amazon, because their name has come to represent a bunch of shylock scumbags, who never come through on any transaction. read more