How Important is Warranty, Customer Service?

[BerettaNut92]

How imporant is a company's warranty and/or customer service to you? Is it a make-or-break deal or not a factor at all? Do you just send it off to a gunsmith?

 

[foghornl]

Highly important. If a company does not believe in its own products enough to offer a warranty of reasonable length and with good service, I will NOT buy it.

Applies to all products, not just firearms.

For instance, say you buy a large capacity food freezer, with a "lifetime warranty." What good is the warranty if you have to ship the freezer to say Italy at your expense [both ways] for repair? {I know, I know, a preposterous example, but you get the gist of it}

 

[Jack19]

For weapons or for anything?

For weapons, I'm not that worried about the warranty, although I do stick to high quality products. Customer service is important however as no matter when it brakes, I want it fixed.

For everything else, it depends. The warranty for a lot of things, like cars, is important, but for other things, like a ten year old refrigerator, I'm more concerned about customer service, understanding that I'm paying for the fix...just come out and fix it.

 

[Ala Dan]

Greeting's All-

I think any manufactuer's "customer service dept"
and/or warranty repair service should be of major concern
to not only firearms owner's; but should be the same for
anything expected to last 10 years or longer!
Example: automobiles, home appliances, T.V's, etc.

It's worth noting, that I've never had to send a firearm
back for service; so I feel like I have scored a victory each
time I've chosen a particular gun. That is why
I buy only QUALITY firearms.

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

It's not really that big a deal, since I have a full machine shop at my disposal, and I'm not one to get all excited if something breaks.

 

[jsalcedo]

Not at all important.

I buy my guns locally, if something breaks fairly quickly "30 days" I go to the shop and get my money back. Done this about 4 times.

If I've had the gun for a while and have put it through its paces I'm not going to spend $35 to mail it back to the manufactuer risk losing it in the
shipping just so the company will take 5 months to fix it and then charge return postage.


I'd rather use my shipping money and take the gun to a competant gunsmith who I trust.

The gunsmith I use is reasonable and if there is something still wrong after he fixes it I can just run it back down to him instead of spending another
$35 and playing the blame game with some faceless operator in Pennsylvania.

If the gun self destructs or ends up being defective my gunsmith will
call the manufacturer or distributer for me and arrange to get it taken care of.

Warranties in my opinion are mental "*******tion because companies
change hands, hire dumb folks, lie, and make you completely dependant on their good will.

No thanks.

 

[Kharn]

To me, its VERY important when buying a used gun. In MD, some dealers buy all the used handguns they can to increase their inventory (since they cant sell new production pistols) and sometimes arent too careful about ensuring a gun's quality. I bought a Ruger MkII Govt used and it turned out that the barrel could rotate quite a bit (from 12:00 to 1:00) when the gun was allowed to heat up to about 100 degrees in the sun. I shipped it back to Ruger ASAP and am awaiting their phone call saying its on its way home, which should be any day now.

I wouldnt have bought the used Govt (I could have bought a new 5.5" Bull barreled MkII for $30 more) if I had any doubts about Ruger's customer service.

Kharn
[Editted to clarify that its only pistols, not longarms, that cant be bought new production]

 

[keyhole]

Both very important to me, and I listen to others when they have a positive encounter with a company.

I also listen closely when they have bad encounters also, and do business accordingly.

Makes all the difference in the world. Had one gunsmith years ago take care of my duty gun, ( Colt Ser.70 ), and he did a great job, and had the gun back with 2 days to me. Really appreciate service like that.

 

[WhoKnowsWho]

It's important, I like dealing with companies with customer service who stand behind their products. Sometimes I will make exceptions (like old stuff that no one exists to service it) but I like some backing if I need it.

 

[Standing Wolf]

In my experience, warranties are generally worthless, and so-called "customer service" is a lot like the Democratic (sic) party's concern for the little guy: non-existent. If I figure there's much chance I'll need the warranty, I don't buy the product.

 

[standingbear]

some big companys dont advertise a warrenty and some do.it amazes me that when something breaks,how fast people will try an tell you its not their problem and give you name after name of someone else until you reach full circle..on the other hand,there are companies that will go out of their way to solve a problem,even if it costs them money to keep your business.if they wont stand behind their product,i want nothing to do with it.it must be junk or they get alot of complaints.otherwise,they would care about it and try an make a better product.get sold nuff new junk and lose enough money..youll stop buying there too.

 

[45R]

Crappy CS = no workie for me. I dont buy products from people who dont support them.....and thats the bottom line.

 

[Doug]

I can forgive a skimpy warranty if the customer service is good. A warranty isn't worth the paper it's written on if their customer service dept stinks. Over my many years I've thrown a bunch of stuff away that had "lifetime warranties". On the other hand, I've had a number of things made right by great customer service after the warranty expired.

Doug

 

[Redlg155]

A warranty and customer service is good for when unexpected problems arise, but a good product combined with an efficeint factory QC system far surpasses any assurance that a warranty may provide.

One item that comes to mind is the Kel Tec P32. Been there, done that. Did the fluff n buff. Still no go. Sure lots of folks got great ones, but for a while it seemed as though it was a 50-50 split between happy and dissatisfied.

The warranty was super. Kel Tec would make it right or keep trying until you were satisfied. Kel Tec had a good product that would sell. Still, their lack of QC turned off many potential customers.

I want a gun that works the first time.

Good Shooting
Red

 

[Waitone]

Warranties are good as long as the manufacturer does not use the customer as his quality control system. "oh, go ahead and ship it. If its bad the customer will send it back under warranty." Japan ate our lunch in the 70's because of American management's attitude.

Best protection is a good reputation. If I purchase a SIG and it is unending problems, I know the problem is exceptional and I can expect the company to make it right. SIG doesn't want a bad gun out there destroying a reputation decades in the making.

 

[Poodleshooter]

It's very important to me. I recently had to return a defective Lyman barrel. They rather promptly returned a new barrel. I don't mind the occasional screw ups, so long as they are swiftly rectified.

 

[cdbeaver]

If warranties were very important, no one would buy a Ruger, because they specifically put it in writing that you aren't going to get one on a new gun.

But I understand their customer service is very good, though I've never had occasion to test it.

 

[Art Eatman]

I dunno how many used guns I've had "visit" me for a while. Several hundred, I guess. Back in my gunshow days, I commonly shot almost every trade-in, just for fun. Rifle, pistol, shotgun...

I can't recall any which needed gunsmith work or factory work or whatever. Oh, I've run across minor stuff, but nothing I couldn't readily fix.

I can't recall any new gun that needed warranty work. Ruger, Rem, Win, Colt, S&W...Nope, nada.

So, after all these years, I just don't even think about guns and warranties.

Art