EAA Sucky CS

LOL!

Not meaning to offend, but historically European American Arms has among the absolute worst customer service in the industry.

I had quite a frustrating dealing with them years ago (chronicled at TFL) and ultimately gave up on them as it was apparent they didn't give a poop about their defective product (Witness Compact .40S&W, wonder finish).

All three times (yes, 3 times!) I received the pistol back with the same defective safety that still wouldn't feed more than 2 consecutive rounds. This was accompanied by a note saying "test fired, ok". Yeah, right.

I hope you have better luck than I did.

You are not alone. Their CS makes even the DMV seem like Disneyworld. There are just too many other options out there to waste time and money with EAA.

I really would like a 9MM Witmess Elite Match, but these stories are a but daunting. Guess I'll just go with the CZ SP-01 Shadow, as I have had great experiences with CZ products and CZ USA Customer Service.

Did you know how bad the CS was before your purchase?

Their customer service has improved but not good enough.

So we are not talking about the Experimental Aircraft Association?

I got all excited when I saw EAA listed on a gun site!

Jim

Bummer. I've had two decent experiences in the last year with their CS, hate to hear that it's spotty. Did you talk to them before sending in the gun? Did you include a note? Not trying to cast any blame, just trying to see whether there's something to avoid in any of my future interactions with them.

Stories like yours have been cropping up for at least a decade. I've had such bad experiences that I sold two of my Witness pistols and don't shoot the other one, because EAA refuses to fix it.

I really would like a 9MM Witmess Elite Match, but these stories are a but daunting. Guess I'll just go with the CZ SP-01 Shadow, as I have had great experiences with CZ products and CZ USA Customer Service.

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My exact predicament as well.

Yeah customer service @ EAA isn't very good cause its a one man band, and depending on which side the bed he gets off determines what kind of service you'll get that day, I had a SS 45 acp Witness sports from 1992 till 2009 good gun, slide cracked (terrible customer service) they replaced it with the cheapest 45 acp slide barrel combo they had at hand, didn't even try to provide the wonder finish or anything bright as a replacement for a solid stainless original, finally gave up and sold it to relatives, (I like) they're happy.

shoot safe, shoot straight, and have fun

If you have non-catastrophic problems in the future, it may be cheaper to have a local gunsmith fix the problem (no shipping costs.) Forget the warranty -- unless it's parts they can send you.

Safeties are cheap enough, that I'd replace them myself.

Sorry to hear about the CS. I had heard that it had improved. Guess not.

EAA claim another victim!!

Unbelievable people still buy their products....I will never ever get tired to repeat all the time that I would not let EAA manage a lemonade stand, forget about selling firearms.....

Hhmmm....I always love these EAA-CS threads, especially when we're talking 10mm pistols. EAA 10mm...cute, cute, cute w/ good magazine capacity, but the word on EAA has always been questionable quality control (material & assembly) and bad customer service. I used to see some EAA magazines sold in factory-packaging...that indicated the product was sold "as is." {Understandable....I had a friend who was delighted when he heard that the yet to be produces New Bren-Ten would use EAA magazines--he said he had lots of experience fixing them .]

I have heard that their CS had improved somewhat (i.e., gone from horrible to better). I'm hearing that their CS is now mostly bad.

While I've looked wistfully at EAA 10mm pistols, I've never had the nerve to buy one.--Patrice

I've owned a full-size Witness in .38 Super for about six months, now, and I haven't had so much as a hiccup. Not a single FTF, jam, stove pipe, nothing. I bought it used, so I have no idea of the previous round count, but the 1000 I've put through mine have been nothing but pleasurable, and tack-driving accurate.

Like any "CZ" style semi-auto, it's bulky, but not overly so.

Patrice said:

Hhmmm....I always love these EAA-CS threads, especially when we're talking 10mm pistols. EAA 10mm...cute, cute, cute w/ good magazine capacity, but the word on EAA has always been questionable quality control (material & assembly) and bad customer service. I used to see some EAA magazines sold in factory-packaging...that indicated the product was sold "as is." {Understandable....I had a friend who was delighted when he heard that the yet to be produces New Bren-Ten would use EAA magazines--he said he had lots of experience fixing them .]

I have heard that their CS had improved somewhat (i.e., gone from horrible to better). I'm hearing that their CS is now mostly bad.

While I've looked wistfully at EAA 10mm pistols, I've never had the nerve to buy one.--Patrice

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There are no EAA magazines. There are Tanfoglio magazines that work in the Tanfoglio Witness pistols which are imported by EAA. As far as I know, Tanfoglio magazines are made by Mec-Gar, which OEM magazines for a number of European manufactured guns and are generally accepted as being top notch. Tanfoglio does do a much better job on their upper tier guns, but the base guns do sometimes leave the nest with issues. The problem is that if you are an American buyer, you are at the mercy of EAA, the importer to do the repairs. Unless its something you can fix locally.

Some of the Witness mags I've seen and used were made by Mec-Gar, and carried Mec-Gar markings on several different .45s I owned (including a Sport Long Slide that I really liked.) I don't remember how the mags for the smaller-framed guns were marked, but I don't remember any of them being made by Mec-Gar. (Hard to say with used guns, as you don't always know WHERE the mags came from.)

I've had a bunch of Witnesses over the years, and never really had grounds for complaint. My few interactions with CS was for parts which weren't covered by warranty, and those went smoothly.

All that said, I am hesitant to buy a NEW Witness because of the continuing (although now less frequent) horror stories about customer service when there is some sort of major problem with an EAA gun.

EAA doesn't seem to realize that they could suck it up, and pay for a couple of big problems, and increase their sales substantially. Particularly when most of the those "big" problems seem to be design-related issues.


I think Tanfoglio makes fine guns, but the Tanfoglio-made Witnesses guns seem to have some tweaks and mods that EAA specifies for those guns they import that may make EAA the source of the problems and the likely source of the solutions.

I think Tanfoglio makes fine guns, but the Tanfoglio-made Witnesses guns seem to have some tweaks and mods that EAA specifies for those guns they import that may make EAA the source of the problems and the likely source of the solutions.

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Can you give more details on this, or links to other discussions?

Can you give more details on this, or links to other discussions?

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I read all of this some years back, so don't know of any links or sources that I can cite.

It was my understanding that some some of the the EAA/Witness guns, especially the 10mm versions, were built primarily for the U.S. market -- with features unique to these guns. The .45/10mm models are much less in demand in Europe. The guns cited as being problematic are almost always 10mm guns, with a few .45s thrown in...

When problems arose, it seemed to be these guns, only -- and primarily the 10mm versions. A couple of changes have since been made over the years to the 10mm and .45 slide design to address problems with slide breakage/cracking in a number of these larger-caliber variants.

At one time I had a .45 Long Slide with a second 10mm (non-Long Slide) top end. Mine was trouble-free, but decided I didn't need the 10mm unit, and sold them. Much later, I traded the .45. The .45s I now have are a SIG P220 Super Match and a Glock 38.

Posted by Pendennis:I've owned a full-size Witness in .38 Super for about six months, now, and I haven't had so much as a hiccup. Not a single FTF, jam, stove pipe, nothing. I bought it used, so I have no idea of the previous round count, but the 1000 I've put through mine have been nothing but pleasurable, and tack-driving accurate.

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Hmmm, I sold a full-size Witness Super last year. If it's the same gun, it's a good one. Accurate and dependable. I only sold it because I couldn't bear the thought of ever having to deal with EAA again.

I have another Witness, a .45 that "has issues". It often locks the slide back with rounds still in the mag. EAA's "gunsmith" told me (without asking a single question) that the warranty was void because I'd been shooting +P+ handloads in it. That was a lie, but I didn't get a chance to say so. He hung up on me.

If you still own the .45 Witness:

1) check the slide stop spring -- which may be weak, alloiwng it to be too easily moved by rounds or the gun's inertia.

2) examine the slide stop in the place where the follower pushes it up, when the mag is empty.

If you see marks on that nub, it may be that the stop is out of spec and needs to be filed down a bit. I had this problem, way back, with a CZ -- there was lead/copper on that extension showing that it was being hit by rounds during the cycle.

If you hand load and your rounds are a little to long (OAL), or if the slide stop is out of spec, the slide may be pushed up when rounds are still in the mag.