r/canadaguns • u/Corvus_Mortem • Jun 01 '26
Misc Anyone else *still* waiting for HiCal?
Been getting the runaround since January. Last I called was told they should have them no later than May 22. Alas, order is still "Processing".
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u/CADJunglist Jun 01 '26
This is at least the 4th post I've seen with this issue
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u/Smart_Letter366 Jun 02 '26
It gets tiring. I get that the date is running late, but things like this are never new when the store employees a 3rd party producer.
Who, let's face it, are not exactly going to treat small production runs as there meal ticket.
He'll, DLASK took longer making the gas blocks for HiCal when they introduced the first NR Bren 2 guns in the country.
No one complained when they got them then, as they were top tier.
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u/Corvus_Mortem Jun 02 '26
4 months is a bit more than "the date is running late". It was advertised as 6 weeks when I ordered in January. I contacted them in March and was told by the end of the month. I contacted them again in April, and emails were ignored. I phoned in May, was told by the individual who answered the phone that they personally saw them being finished up and would be no later than the 22nd. And here we are in June. I've worked in the tactical retailer industry. I get complications in production, and having to extend lead times, and having to break that news to customers. What I don't get, is the lack of communication. It's not fucking hard to send a blanket email to customers waiting on a product that's been delayed by 4+ months. I've never purchased from hical before, and have zero experience with them or how they operate, or what kind of reputation they have. I wanted to make sure it wasn't a scam, because that's exactly what it looks like to me.
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u/shapoopshoot Jun 01 '26
I just cancelled my order the other week for LAR15 mags. I was looking forward to using them, but then I realized I can buy the shorty mags + 3d print some bottoms, and then use a mag sleeve. It looks like a full size 30rnd mag now. I saved myself $200 from cancelling the order.
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u/emeric1414 Jun 01 '26
How easy was it to cancel? I've been waiting on them since January and now I don't seem to be getting answers to my emails anymore...
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u/shapoopshoot Jun 01 '26
I just called them during their business hours. The guy that picked up was cool and he understood, he knows lots of us have been waiting months. I got a cancellation notice in my email and the money was returned to my bank the next day.
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u/emeric1414 Jun 01 '26
Alright thanks, I'll try that if my most recent email doesn't get answered
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u/Smart_Letter366 Jun 02 '26
For the love of God, PHONE stores: anyone in retail will understand how dumb emails are in SMALL store fronts.
It will get read, most likely paused when people enter the store, swapped to another email when someone asks/phones a question, buried under yet another new email while the person away from the computer, ignored by another worker so as to not interrupt what is being replied to...
Etcetera!
Phone.
Phone.
Phone!
They are my local store. They run a skeleton crew of 2 people, with an odd 3rd person occasionally.
Firearm businesses are pretty slow if you hadn't noticed, with many closing their doors.
1 in the back working on guns, 1 up front. 2 up front if someone has another task to perform.
So if 1 guy is working the till and another is on the phone, just how URGENT of a response do you take your quiet email for?
If you want answers, PHONE the storefront.
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u/Bovinious Jun 02 '26
Think I'll go the same route. Where to find the 3D print files for the bottoms?
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u/shapoopshoot Jun 02 '26
I just googled LAR15 3d print model. The first link took me to maker world
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u/Embarrassed-Gur1769 Jun 01 '26
I made a post about my bad experience with them last year. Not surprised they still suck.
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u/Mahatma_Ghandicap Jun 01 '26
I went TNA
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u/uber_poutine Jun 02 '26
Can't comment on their adapter specifically, but for parts and plates they've been solid. The swag/bonus bits and bobs when you pay with e-transfer is cool too.
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u/OhNoACanadian Jun 02 '26
HiCal is a local shop to me and I still won’t give them my business. That alone should speak volumes. Their sticker draw always seems to be won by staff, friends of staff, or family of staff members.
1
u/Smart_Letter366 Jun 02 '26
BS. Their staff CAN NOT partake. What are you on?
Old Dave and Tammy? Nope.
New Dave? Nope.
Ray, Tom, Ryan, Doug, Shane, etc.?
Nope.
Friends? Probably more astute to call those people valued, ie consistent, customers who buy stickers on the regular - like the one chap who kept buying 50% as a practice. I think I saw him win 3 or 4 times because of that.
Christ, I have almost won a Tavor 7 from SFRC. Because my name showed up by the guy with 69 as his number. No joke. I am not about to whinge if the guy made jokes with their owner on the regular.
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u/RolandDirlewanger Jun 02 '26
Bought a SKS with this installed 6 years back from them. Shipped fast but they forgot some rails and didn't include the og furniture. Got them to ship that out. I would still recommend them as I still have this gun and it's been a really trooper.
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u/Acceptable_Visit_115 Jun 01 '26
Yeah it's HiCal... They make like one batch of these things a year, and any other time of the year it'll be backordered.
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u/Smart_Letter366 Jun 02 '26
Wow. I love how people down voted you for the simple truth that runs are done when it is profitable and not before. And backorder help winnow tire-kickers from actual customers.
Almost like little stores have tight profit margins and don't go about saturating the market.
I think this page is more for people who want to have a group tantrum because a product from a 3rd party is a bit late.
Christ, I am beginning to feel like this topic has turned into a standard left wing reddit drama page.
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u/Acceptable_Visit_115 Jun 02 '26
Yeah they are known to do runs of these. Like it's been years. Every year they make a run or two and announce that it's done when it's done. Not sure why people get mad and downvote when you can literally find all these info online lol
1
u/Defiant-Bass9034 Jun 02 '26
The only thing I ever bought from them was some of the pistol mags. I'm leery of unfamiliar stores lol, for obvious reasons but I figured I'd give them a shot. Two weeks went by, nothing shipped. Called the store, guy on the phone was pretty nice, said they were out of stock. I said the website said there was over 50 in stock, he tells me they came under new ownership and the site and physical inventory weren't synced up properly yet. He asks the owner "this guy ordered these magazines, what do I do?" "Tell him we don't have any" he says in a gruff voice. Guy asks me if I want a refund or just wait it out. I ask for the refund. Never get my refund, months later the mags finally ship. I decided to just take them, but I'll never shop there again, for the adapter or anything else. I used to be a welder in a machine shop, why pay them hundreds of dollars for something I can slap together myself out of $20 of steel from the local farm supply? I feel sorry for the people working there. The new owner sounds like an entitled asshole. The hell with him lol.
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u/harryfrogman Jun 02 '26
This is why you buy the adaptor and do the work yourself
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u/Corvus_Mortem Jun 02 '26
The adapter is what I'm waiting for.
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u/harryfrogman Jun 02 '26
Ahh crap they were so fast with mine but that was a couple of years ago now
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u/daddyfatsacks22 Jun 01 '26
Seriously, f*ck these guys.
They’ve now totally ghosted me. I’m out $2,500 and will need to deal with my credit card company to try to get my money back. This was for the rifle with the adapter installed.
So pissed off.