I appreciate the first hand experience, thanks.
While for the most part I agree with what you are saying, I think Taurus may have become more quality as of lately. I took a chance on a couple snubbies in the last year and have been impressed, especially when comparing them to the new S&W offerings. Not that S&W is bad at all, but not near as good like my 1981 model 10. I have had great service from both of them after a deep cleaning, they had alot of factory gunk on them. I find them to have fairly smooth actions for a new revolver, and they lock up well.
Now I realize about Taurus customer service, but for my $ if I ever have a problem, I will be taking it to my local smithy. For the price of shiping he could fix most problems, and I trust his work as it has been stellar several times.