Halfblock order delay - everywhere?

[napa3uT]

Hello,
I made an order of ProCut Mini body kit at DisruptivePaintball a month and a week ago. Since then, every week I send them an email, asking for a status of my order, and every week I get an answer, that my body kit is still anodizing. How long does it take to anodize the body?

They are saying there a lot of orders. So, I don't want to wait any longer. But I still want a halfblock So, the question is: what is your impression of turtlecockers, fbm, doc's machine, martin, warpedsportzLA and others - how long does it take to get a body kit from them? (real time, not standard two weeks they say before the order).

Thank you
By the way, anyone tried Z-force body? Is it strong enough?

[wgpcircle]

i was gonna order my kit from disruptive next week i hope they have it in stock  

keep me posted on the situation plz

[shampoo_victim]

hi, I've place a order and pay for a turtle body kit at Rob Long in january 05, I didn't receive it yet, problem of anodizing says to me rob...
half-block are victim of their success, production didn't follow orders...
especially for a craftman production like turtles.

[drg]

I will tell you what I know/have heard:

Turtlecockers.com -- Many months wait, even upwards of a year. Very hit or miss, he does not seem to have his business under control. He is intermittently responsive to email. He has claimed to be hiring more machinists and solving his backlog, but I have not seen evidence of this.

Disruptive -- Originally delivered very reliably, now experiencing delays similar to Turtlecockers.com. That might not be surprising, since they use Bob "Turtle" Long as one of their machinists (I have heard he does all the body conversions). They are responsive to emails.

Doc's Machine -- Fastbacks have been out of stock forever, it's impossible to get in touch with him. There are rumors of a second run of bodies, but no one can say when or where. Best not to count on Doc, unfortunately, for anything. He hasn't has his business under control for quite some time now.

Martin -- Is out of business and is not making Miniblocks anymore.

FBM -- To my knowledge is not experiencing delays. They have been responsive to emails and I have not seen any reports of problems. Yet. I do not know what their normal turnaround is. They do conversions.

Warped Sportz -- To my knowledge stocks Z-Force bodies and is shipping them.

I DO NOT GUARANTEE THIS INFORMATION, but maybe it's at least a starting point. I too would like to see the halfblock makers solve the supply issues they are having, but until then we owners enjoy pretty exclusive guns

Which brings me to, IMO, the BEST way to get a halfblock -- BUY IT PRE-MADE. You can find halfblocks fairly often used or on eBay. Keep checking. If it takes you a month it may still be faster than some of the other routes. A couple of our gallery guns are for sale ...

[wgpcircle]

i talked to a guy at disruptive today its not him that is taking to long its the anno guy he uses

the anno shop has there own team and when ever there is an psp nppl event the close up for a week to go play in that event

so thats why it takes a little longer because its the anno he has kits pre-made they are the raw body though

[drg]

The anno story is one that Turtlecocker.com has been using for quite some time now. It does not fully explain some of the delays he had. Disruptive is officially linked to them, so draw your own conclusions.

I would see if you can get one of the raw kits and anno it yourself, if you want to go that route. You can find reputable annodizers who have a decent turnaround.

[wgpcircle]

he also told me that he gave his anno guy 60 bodys to do last month alone

he also mentioned to me that the 2006 halfblock was gonna get released in oct/nov better milling and stuff like that he really didnt go into detail
about it

he seemed like a nice guy but what can u tell over the phone u know ?

[drg]

Disruptive is responsive and friendly, but it seems to me they don't always tell the entire story. But any business will do that and it is their right. Maybe they don't even know the whole story themselves. For all we know, the bodies have gone directly from Turtlecockers to the annodizer, and they're getting the same "still annodizing" story everyone else is.

But in the end it doesn't matter why something is delayed, if you can't get it you can't get it. So you just gotta deal with the realities of the situation and adjust, or play the waiting game.

[prettyful_unicorn]

If i would you, i would take the previous advice and order one used or new off of ebay or some forum.  I had ordered a fastback from Doc last August and have gotten 2 email replies, both of which were sent to me last year.  I bought an already made fastback off of PBnation and I am still wating for the other fastback body I ordered.  If you order a body off of turtle, Doc, wherever else may be experiencing delays, you just lost yourself quite a bit of cash.  As for me, I'm 375$ down the drain.

[napa3uT]

Thank you all for your info. Living here, in Israel, it's hard to know all the nuts and bolts of halfblock industry. You've been very helpful.

And now the question is: can I get my money back? I paid with PayPal, I can fill complaint for not getting the product, and try to get my money back. Why all of you cannot do that?
Is it efficient at all?

[drg]

I know you can do it under certain circumstances, I have used it before to recover $500 from someone in a private deal gone sour -- ironically for a Turtle cocker!

BUT since you are in another country, I don't know how Paypal's rules apply to you. You might have to look into it or email them, but I think anyone can file a complaint. You just may not be eligible for their automatic protection.

Once you get into the complaint process, they give the person 10 days or so to come up with proof of shipping and if they can't, their accounts will be charged and you will get the money back, or as much as they can recover.

[wgpcircle]

well i talked to glenn from warped sports la  they have the zforce halfblock in stock in blk,red,blue,pewter and ready to ship

i think i am gonna go with the zforce !!!!!

[drg]

Good luck! Be sure to come back and let us know how it turns out, then you can answer Zforce questions others have.

[prettyful_unicorn]

Not trying to clutter up the thread or antyhing, but I would like to know how this complaint thing works.  Seeing as how i have not received my product for quite some time, I would really like to get a refun on teh Fastback I ordered.  I have another fastback and would really love to E2 it.  Can someone please explain how you file a complaint of the sort?

[wgpcircle]

glenn from warped says the zforce has the eye on the bottom of the breech so they can have 2 ball detents

i am not sure how it works but sounds good