Has anyone ever bought a blem part that was actually bad?

[DDadams]

I've bought many blems from Aero and they were virtually the same as the normal stuff. I couldn't tell a difference at all.

Last week I went on Geisseles site to look at the handguards to see which one was the model I wanted to hunt down and to my delight they had multiple blems in stock of various types and lengths. Even luckier - they had the one I wanted in the length and color I wanted.

I was sure based on the 50%+ off and the hefty warnings that their blems would actually be blemished but I didn't care at that price.

It just got here and this is all the blem I could find.

I just can't understand discounting product by half or more over THIS little of a mark. I've had worse damage from rifles simply being assembled than this.

 

[Sigblitz]

Nice socks.

 

[LEaSH]

I've never been disappointed by a heavily discounted and clearly advertised blem.

I expect the worst and hope for the best.

I imagine that a well respected company would never attempt to pass off a slightly blemished part as perfect. And probably scrap and recycle a heavily blemished part, rather than risk a disappointed customer.

 

[Cameramonkey]

I love blems. I figure I'm going to do worse to it the first couple times out at the range.

 

[TJ Kackowski]

No reputable manufacturer is going to sell something that is knowingly bad. The "blem" market is all about products that are perfectly fine for function, but are not perfectly finished ... not bad products that don't function or meet specifications.

Personally, I love the blem market. As noted earlier, I will be adding my own marks to the firearm sooner or later. Might as well save a few dollars when I can.

 

[DDadams]

I get all mentioned above and agree but I've gotten non-blemished parts from at least 4 high end manufacturers that had worse scratches from the factory - whether this was from shipping companies or not I just think that this handguard is as good as non blemished.

Has anyone actually gotten anything really scratched up or dinged? I think on day 1 at the range most guns get worse damage than this. It's just silly to mark off $175 but I'll totally buy it happily as long as they keep selling blems this good.

 

[gassprint1]

PSA always has some killer deals on complete upper blems.

 

[Cameramonkey]

PSA always has some killer deals on complete upper blems.

And I have purchased 3 of their blem lowers, and couldnt for the life of me figure out what was wrong with them.

 

[bashMOH]

And I have purchased 3 of their blem lowers, and couldnt for the life of me figure out what was wrong with them.

I've wondered if their blems are really blemed. Haven't bought anything, but sure have been tempted by a few

 

[shootersix]

I was listening to a podcast, and the owner of tactical solutions was the guest, he told the story of walking into the qc department and there were a few pac lite uppers on the rejected table, he picked it up, looked all over it, couldn’t find anything wrong, he looked at the qc lady and said are you sure this is a reject? She pointed to the cosmetic flaw…the owner of the company couldn’t even see the blemish!

A friend picked up a blemished psa upper and lower (I think it was 350 shipped with mag pul furniture) three of us looked over it and not one of us could find a blemish

 

[tcecil88]

I love Blem parts, Never had an issue with anything Blem I have bought.

 

[dieselrealtor]

I have bought a fair amount of "blems" from Aero. Most had little/nothing noticable, some had T Marks that wiped off.

Only 1 had severe blemish, looked like it had been bounced down mezanine stairs & stepped on.

I would not hesitate to buy "blems" from Aero, knowing that I could get a bad one but the odds are in my favor.

 

[2tonic]

No reputable manufacturer is going to sell something that is knowingly bad. The "blem" market is all about products that are perfectly fine for function, but are not perfectly finished ... not bad products that don't function or meet specifications.

Personally, I love the blem market. As noted earlier, I will be adding my own marks to the firearm sooner or later. Might as well save a few dollars when I can.

This ^^^^^
There's a reason these companies have the reputation they do.
That's why you went looking at their site.
They do their best not to f*** their customers.
Sometimes it's a miniscule nick or chip. Sometimes it's an off, or uneven color to the finish. But if the finish or specs are physically compromised, they'll destroy it. They don't want that piece out on the street making them look bad.

If you do find some manufacturers item being sold that is bent, dented, or otherwise compromised, that tells you all you need to know about their business practices, and how little they value the purchaser, or their own reputation.

 

[SmileDocHill]

I've bought 4 or 5 blem parts before and I've yet to find the blemish.

 

[76Too]

Every gun I’ve ever bought from sweaty Ben at Classic Firearms

 

[Leo]

I have bought blems, and they were fully functional and in great shape. Maybe a discolored spot in the finish, maybe a rough spot in the casting. I once bought a scratch and dent washing machine and a new undamaged matching dryer. The delivery guy slipped and dented the new dryer worse than the scratch in the discounted washer. They worked fine and I didn't care.

Sometimes I see things advertised as blems or returns and I buy them, I end up with a new perfect product that is still sealed in the original factory box.

I looked into this. It is to avoid a contract limitation. Sometimes a retailer buys 100 of an item. By contract they are bound to a MAP agreement. (Minimum Advertised Price) they sell 85 of them, and made the profit they wanted. The last 15 are just not selling, and the new models are out. Since the MAP agreement forbids them advertising a discount, and they cannot sell them without advertising, they call the product a return or something else just to get them off the shelf.

Always nice to save a few bucks on something that you wanted.

 

[mark40sw]

Bought a couple of blem bipods. Looked them over and could not see any obvious faults. Finally found locking sleeves had knurling that a couple "points" of the knurling was not sharp as the rest. Very hard to spot and does not affect use at all.