Abysmal Customer Service

Wow.

So now the gun manufacturers are breaking down their warranties by part numbers just like the car makers, apparently:

"So, Mr.Smith, unfortunately only your barrel and breechblock are covered by our lifetime 'combustion chamber' warranty. You see, the fire control group and springs are covered for 3 years or 3000 rounds under our 'base' warranty, and the frame and slide are covered by our 10/100 corrosion and perforation policy. But, good news! The ejector is covered under the Federal 'brass emission' warranty......."

Another example of a company stepping over dollars to pick up dimes. An $8 RSA and a friendly note from CS is a hell of a lot cheaper than dealing with an angry former customer now crusader who posts on multiple forums all over the internet. The worth of good CS can't be measured. I bet FN's advertising budget is in the millions this year... and none of it will be as effective as taking care of current customers for a millionth of the cost.

For what its worth, the only two manufacturers' CS I've ever had to use were Ruger and Weatherby.

Ruger replaced my slide and sent me a tech report and test target. All I had to pay was shipping.

Weatherby mailed me a new bolt stop for my Vanguard, free of charge.

Both were great.

I have dealt with Beretta on a coupe of occasions concerning a Model 70S and a Neos U22. The bluing on the Model 70S was starting to show signs of rust though the gun was kept clean and always had a light coat of oil on it. Wrote to Beretta about it and they said some of the initial guns that were imported had this problem and they said they would reblue it free of charge under warranty. Sent it to them, they reblued it, and everything was okay for a number of years until the rust problem came back. Decided at this point not to contact Beretta again since I didn't think that rebluing the gun a second time would provide any better results. Remembered reading about Metalife SS Chromium M and had the gun hard chrome plated for less than getting it reblued and it's been an incredibly durable finish after all these years.

Beretta also did a decent job in handling the Neos U22 safety recall. The dealer I bought it from handled the entire process at no cost to me and Beretta got the gun back to the dealer in about a week and a half. Never had a problem with the safety before the recall and no problems since I got it back.

Sorry man, I don't have the money for a FN and considered them to be a quality gun. I own Glock,Walther and SA. Have had a Ruger but traded it for an XDE. The Glock and the Ruger went in for service and came back fixed for $0. Glock replaced the frame, and everything else but the actual slide and barrel. Ruger trigger didn't return so they rebuilt all that area. Not a dime from me for either so I can understand your frustration.It might help to talk to a supervisor and tell them how you feel.

Stepping over dollars to pick up dimes is a perfect analogy for this type of short-sidedness!

FN is known as a quality firearms manufacturer, hopefully the bean counters aren’t starting to take over the reins.

Stay safe!

Wouldn't have expected that crap from FN.

Not ok

groundhog34 said:

Would Glock, Sig S&W responded similarly. I doubt it. Sorry FN I am through with your firearms.

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For a recoil spring pretty sure they would say the same thing.. I wouldn't expect Toyota to replace my tires either.
If it's a plastic rsa I'm pretty sure that would fall under wearable part too.

tarosean said:

For a recoil spring pretty sure they would say the same thing.. I wouldn't expect Toyota to replace my tires either.
If it's a plastic rsa I'm pretty sure that would fall under wearable part too.

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In my experience, Glock didn't in the late 90's. The flange on my recoil spring guide rod broke in my 21 and after a phone call, they sent me a replacement complete assembly without ANY hassle.

Because I believe that is a high stress part and I didn't understand the thinking behind making that part a thin piece of plastic, I promptly traded it in for a different pistol. But, hey, the CS was great.

How much is a spring?

tarosean said:

For a recoil spring pretty sure they would say the same thing.. I wouldn't expect Toyota to replace my tires either.
If it's a plastic rsa I'm pretty sure that would fall under wearable part too.

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Yep, I've always thought recoil springs and plastic guide rods were wearable items, too. I usually buy spares in advance for my autoloaders knowing they will wear out at some point.

Glock sent me a recoil spring assembly with no issues for no cost for my 27. The lip in the front broke off about half the diameter. Gun still functioned though. This was around 2010 I'd guess.

groundhog34 said:

The spring is $27 plus $ 8 freight. Total $35 rather exorbitant I dare say.

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Any aftermarket options?

Twenty eight years ago I bought a Ruger Mini-30. It couldn't keep five rounds on a two foot by three foot target at 100 yards. I felt lucky if there were three holes on the paper and those weren't anywhere near center. Sent it back to Ruger not once but twice. Both times it was returned with a note saying "it meets our accuracy standards", and no test target to prove it. I got rid of it and haven't even looked at anything from Ruger since.

I like FN a lot. However, their answer doesn't surprise me a whole bunch. They tend to have a habit of releasing new guns with very limited cross compatibility and discontinuing older models with little in the way of support.

I know new things come along all the time and eventually a company has to stop devoting resources to out of production product, but they are pretty small players in terms of the civilian market with a small line up of pistols so it's not like there is either economy of scope or third party manufacturers making mags and parts for less than MSRP factory prices. FN is kinda like owning an HK without the prestige, tbh. 50 dollar mags, 20 dollar springs, and maybe a discontinued gun with limited support in short order.

I don't mean to bash FN. I'm a big fan of their guns. I've owned an fns 40, fns 40c, and an fnx9. If I had bigger hands, I'd be all over an fnx45. If the 509 had won the .Gov trials, I would have one of those now. It's just that without a meaty military contract to support it, I'm leery of the 509 support lifespan since it already a bit different from the fns line.

I guess I've always put springs and RSAs in the "wearable parts you replace yourself" category.

I wouldn't have thought to call CS unless the part isnt available

NIGHTLORD40K said:

"So, Mr.Smith, unfortunately only your barrel and breechblock are covered by our lifetime 'combustion chamber' warranty. You see, the fire control group and springs are covered for 3 years or 3000 rounds under our 'base' warranty, and the frame and slide are covered by our 10/100 corrosion and perforation policy. But, good news! The ejector is covered under the Federal 'brass emission' warranty......."

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Aren't warranties fun? Lol. Of course, automobiles are far more complex, more likely to see abuse and have far lower profit margins, so the automakers limiting warranties is understandable. Guns, not so much.

bihj said:

Twenty eight years ago I bought a Ruger Mini-30. It couldn't keep five rounds on a two foot by three foot target at 100 yards. I felt lucky if there were three holes on the paper and those weren't anywhere near center. Sent it back to Ruger not once but twice. Both times it was returned with a note saying "it meets our accuracy standards", and no test target to prove it. I got rid of it and haven't even looked at anything from Ruger since.

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This is why I resist the urge to buy a mini 30, too many stories about inaccuracy and/or feeding problems. I've been tempted many times but always talk myself out of it. That said, I have many of their handguns and several of their rifles that are all stellar performers. Even when I've stupidly misplaced minor parts, and admitted as much on the phone, they've always covered me without charge.

I sent a glock in on a Saturday. Tuesday I got a call from a technician explaining how a spring wasn't put back in correctly. Since the gun had 25k+ rounds through it, they replaced basically all the internal parts for free. It was back at my house on Friday. Can't do better than that!!

tarosean said:

Any aftermarket options?

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LOL........that would void the FN warranty.

I looked on the FN website and could not locate their written warranty; but they were very clear on everything that would void it. I would think there would be some type of service life recommendations, in rounds fired, for their parts that will fail and need to be replaced.

groundhog34 said:

I have several FNs, 9,9c,40c my FNs9c's

Sorry FN I am through with your firearms.

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Through with them as in not buying any more FN; or, through as in selling/trading all the FN pistols on principle and not buying any more.
There are different levels of through.