You get what you pay for, i guess - Stack-On Elite 27-30 Gun Safes

For the price, this seemed like a great deal on a safe, but in the end, you’ll end up paying a lot more than you expect for delivery. I also have reasonable suspicion that this safe was a returned item that got shipped to me as “new”.

Let’s start with the $370 freight delivery fee which only includes dropping it on your driveway. When I arranged for the delivery, Optics Planet said nothing to me about this and made no mention of “white glove” service that I would learn of only after I spoke with the freight company to make the final delivery arrangements. If you want it delivered in your house, make sure to tell Optics Planet that before you agree to any shipping cost. Based on some basic research online, I believe the inside delivery of this size safe would have been an additional $400 in my case because of the stairs in my house. Fortunately I have friends with able bodied high school seniors who were willing to help me move it. They would have done it for pizza, but I gave them $140 for their effort.

Second of all, there was considerable scratches and dents on this thing. If I can figure out how to add pictures to this review I will. The box was pretty messed up, and the pallets it was on were completely destroyed. In fact, one of the lag bolts that held the safe to the pallet was not even screwed in any longer because the wood was so busted up. The pallets were so damaged that the delivery driver and I had to work together to get the pallet jack through all the busted wood in order to get it off the truck. Since the safe door opened and closed without any problem, I figured I could live with the scratches and dents, and Optics planet did give me some credit for the damage.

Thirdly, I find it hard to believe that this safe will keep out two feet of water as advertised in the description. The seal around the door could not possibly stop water because it is not a single molded seal, but four straight pieces, glued on, and the ends don’t mate up to each other in a way that would stop water. Also, the locking lugs do not have any taper on them that would pull the door tighter as it is locking.

Finally, it seems to me that this safe had been delivered once, and returned because there was no instruction manual, no backup key, the battery was already installed, and the tape seal on the box that holds the handles and shelf brackets was cut. I suppose the backup key would have been in this box. Since the box was no longer sealed, a bunch of the shelf brackets were scattered all around the inside of the safe.

I called Optics Planet several times regarding this delivery, and their customer support people were great. The only interaction I had that could have been better was the initial call to arrange delivery where the customer service rep could have told me about what was included in that freight charge and offered the “white glove” option.