I seem to recall Ruger's customer service being better

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Maelstrom

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I called Ruger after having the front sight snap off of my Blackhawk while I was shooting it.

I spoke with the lady and gave her my model and finish and all of that and she then quotes me a price of $5 and change plus shipping.

I told her I was hoping that the warranty (which I know doesn't actually exist) would kick in and cover that.

She replies that the warranty only applies to guns that are sent in, to which I replied that I'd be happy to send in the sight.

Negative on that.

So, here's the big plan. I'll post here and link it to the online request to see if Ruger will fix their product. Do I have more than one Ruger? Sure do.

A Blackhawk, Super Blackhawk, 22/45, two 10/22s and a Mini 30.

With two grand worth of sales, do you suppose they'd send me the $5 piece?

Beretta, Kimber, Kel-Tec, and Glock have all sent me in parts without having to even be asked. So has XS when their Big Dot front sight broke inside of a Fobus holster. And I'm sure I'm forgetting a few.

I have a gripe and I'm showing all of the internet-capable people of planet Earth.

I'll let you know how it goes.
 
Here is the online letter I have sent them.

Gentlemen,

I have a stainless Ruger Blackhawk 6.5" which recently had the front sight break off during recoil. The front sight appears to be broken at the point where the roll pin holds it in place.

I have always had good dealings with the Ruger company and you have always stood by your product in the past. I hope this will be a continuing trend.

Please contact me with any questions you may have.

Thank you.

-XXXXXX
Click to expand...
 
Strange...
I called them about a gun sight once and they sent me a replacement in the mail. But I did mention that I had just bought the gun new.
They also told me before with a used gun that I bought that I could send it in and they'd adjust the fixed sights for free, even knowing that I'd bought it new.

FWIW, my GP-100 just went back today. The sights are not aligned straight. The mounting hole for the front sight is not centered in the barrel, causing the front sight to sit to the right. The rear sight was also mounted in the frame on an angle to the left. The result - not enough windage in the sights to zero the gun.

Hope you can get this sorted out.
 
I guess it's who you talk to. I had a problem with a single six I bought a year ago, the magnum cylinder was binding and I thought it might be the retaining pin. Anyway I called to order a new one to see if it would fix the problem and she asked me for the serial# and said she would send me the pin for no charge and if it didn't work to call her on her direct number and she would send UPS to pick it up for free, it went out last thursday.
 
I told her I was hoping that the warranty (which I know doesn't actually exist) would kick in and cover that.
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So if she had said that you were correct in that the warranty (that you knew full well didn't exist) did cover the part, would you have let her send you the part for free?

If so, that's not very high road. If you know something isn't covered by warranty, but you try to get over on the person by asserting that it is so they'll send you a free part, you're lying and stealing.

Yeah, it might only be a five dollar part, and yeah, you might have bought thousands of dollars of their products to date. So what? So have many others, who understand that being a repeat customer of a company doesn't mean you're automatically entitled to free stuff. Even if it is only five bucks to begin with.
 
Please don't use "recall" and a firearm name in the same sentence, heehee. I saw the leader phrase in the subsection topics, and got nervous. Still getting over the Dodge Dakota recall notice...
 
So if she had said that you were correct in that the warranty (that you knew full well didn't exist) did cover the part, would you have let her send you the part for free?
Click to expand...

Yes. Ruger goes into a whole song and dance about why they don't have a written warranty, but then goes on to explain that they'll stand behind their product anyway.
 
$5 for a part that's not covered under warranty? Why those dirty rotten low-down....:p

That doesn't sound bad at all. It's not like they were denying a valid warranty claim. If it was a Springfield XD they'd want you to send in the whole gun for a front sight (nothing negative towards them, I have done that, and their service was excellent). I'd save the griping for when they try to deny you on something that costs more than $10.
 
Yes. Ruger goes into a whole song and dance about why they don't have a written warranty, but then goes on to explain that they'll stand behind their product anyway.
Click to expand...

That's beside the point. You didn't call up and say "hey, I know this part isn't under warranty, but is there any way ya'll will stand by your customers and send me one for free?"

you said "hey, is there any chance this is covered under the warranty?" when you knew it wasn't, because the warranty didn't exist.

That's being dishonest, and hoping you'll get something for nothing. There is a difference. Maybe she decided not to send you the part because she realized you were trying to pull a fast one.
 
Send them the gun. They'll fix it and ship it back, no charge. You pay shipping to Ruger.

They want to ensure that their sight is going on their product, and that it's installed correctly.

That's called "proprietary product control" and ensures that they can further warrant your gun / their product down the road -- because it hasn't been "bubba'd" by some kitchen table gunsmith.
 
You could spend $30-$50 to ship them the gun and have them replace the sight for free. Or, you could send them $5 and they will send you a front sight. My time is worth a lot more than $5/hour to me. Rather than waste time writing a letter I would have been writing a check.
 
I think its unreasonable to expect any company to provide parts for a gun thats not under warranty. In my case I had the loaded chamber indicator come off my cz 97b due to a set screw that was loose. I e-mailed them asking if I could just have the main part of it. I also mentioned that my 22lr conversion shot way high, and that I thought a taller sight post would fix the problem. A little under 2 weeks later the entire loaded chamber indicator and a new front sight post showed up free of charge. Even though the 97B was under warranty, I still didn't expect anything for free. Companies can't just give away parts for free forever, especially considering the cost of shipping. The 5 $ charge is reasonable in my opinion. If they said 35 plus shipping I might have a problem.
 
I would agree, if the part was built correctly and I abused it. The gun is about a year old, and a cast part came apart under normal use. That is a manufacturer's defect and I'd like to have it corrected at no cost to me.

Despite what some in the firearms industry have told us, buying a gun and having it work correctly really isn't too much to ask for.

Incidentally, I feel the same way about cameras that cost $300, computers that cost $3000, and cars that cost $30,000. Build a product that works like it should. I'm really not being unreasonable.
 
You're not being unreasonable by wanting products you own to work. But, parts break. It happens.

It still doesn't explain why you tried to play games and get something covered by a warranty that you knew didn't exist.

Like I said, if you had called and explained the situation and asked what they were willing to do to fix it, I can understand you being upset if they charged you. But, you chose to start off by blowing smoke, and ended up having to pay for it. That's you're mistake.

That said, it's five bucks. I know it's the principal of the thing, but when -you- start off by not being truthful and doing the right thing (not claiming it's under warranty when you know full well it's not) don't expect them to play along.
 
I would have just sent the five bucks. You may be correct that they should take care of it, but it sounds like the headache to get the part and/or service free is substantial, and $5 seems like an easier solution.
 
What are you talking about, Kingpin? I have never been untruthful here. It's not MY gun that isn't under warranty. NO RUGER gun has a warranty. I never said it has a warranty. I said they should back their product.

Now bear in mind, sending the $5 isn't out of the question, but I will report their position to you guys. None of the other companies had their arms twisted, either. They had good customer service people, like RCBS, or Forsters (a couple I forgot to mention earlier).

Ruger's ads talk about how great and strong and awesome their products are.

I didn't buy from a company that bought a full-page ad in American Rifleman claiming:

RUGER
OUR CRAP BREAKS IF YOU USE IT​
 
I'm talking about this:

I told her I was hoping that the warranty (which I know doesn't actually exist) would kick in and cover that.
Click to expand...

You knew that Ruger doesn't offer a warranty, but you mentioned hoping that it would "kick in" and cover the part anyway.

Why would you mention something that doesn't exist, and how you hope it will cover a part, if you're not trying to get something free from Ruger?

That's what I mean when I said you weren't being truthful. I also asked in an earlier comment if you would have taken the free part had the representative been gullible enough to not realize that there wasn't a warranty. You said yes to that. That's not being truthful. That's accepting something for free that you have no right to.

And whose fault is it that you bought products from a company that doesn't have a warranty on their products? I'm honestly not trying to bust your chops here, but it's pretty simple to find out something so basic as whether a product is covered under warranty with a little basic research.

If you don't like the fact that they don't offer one, don't continue to buy their products. But don't come complaining to us because they refused to hand you a part that everyone else (be they long-time customer or first-time buyer) has to shell out a five-spot for.
 
Ruger has always been good to fix problems that affect the firearm's functioning, and would require sending the firearm in for repairs. However, a user-installable fix is different. Long story short: if you had a problem that required sending it in, and Ruger determined it was due to a faulty part, they would fix it. But since they can't see it, and you just need a sight blade, they will charge you a token fee and just send it to you.
 
Once Ruger sent me a small part ..for free, .. to replace something I accidentally lost! Kudos for them. I will eventually have to send in my LCP, though expected to be slow, they are doing a good job and generous with the extra mag. They are spending a ton to get that done.

The way they handle their 'non-warranty-for-legal-reason-but-they-still-stand-behind-products policy' does make me somewhat nervous, but they are a reputable American company - we need more domestic companies with similar service. If you call at the right time you get to talk one of the guys straight from the shop with tools running behind him. That's good in my book if they really stand behind it. Caveat Emptor; consumers must know these things & be aware before they lay down hundreds of dollars.
 
(quote)"I needed a screw from them that worked itself out about 10 years ago, they just sent it, didn't charge anything. Hmmm.. "

Which is what I also would've expected from Ruger concerning this inexpensive part that shouldn't have broken in the first place.

(quote)"...being a repeat customer of a company doesn't mean you're automatically entitled to free stuff."

He wasn't trying to scam some free hats,T-shirts or new set of grips, the OP just hoped that the big, reputable,American corporation would stand by their product rather than give him some chintsy,nickel and dime, counter offer.
But, as already stated, it looks like his best bet is to just send them the $10 they want.
 
OP just hoped that the big, reputable,American corporation would stand by their product rather than give him some chintsy,nickel and dime, counter offer.
Click to expand...

If that was what he was hoping, why all the nonsense about the warranty that he knew didn't exist?

Also, nickles and dimes add up. How many of us come here and moan about it when a gun manufacturer announces a hike in the prices of their wares? I'd much rather be charged a measly five bucks for a spare part than get it for free all the time and then see the price on the new gun I want go up fifty bucks months later.

And it's not a "counter-offer", it's the price of the replacement part. If he had called them and been quoted $20 for the part, and when he refused, they quoted him $15, that would be a counter-offer. Once again, there is a difference.
 
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