Lousy Customer Service

[Snubby 38]

Am I the only guy who gets lousy customer service?? I read all these testimonials about how some guy sends his father's old gun to the manufacturer and they refinish the whole thing for free and ship it back at their expense. I've had bad service so many times I can't keep track.

1. Sent a revolver back to S&W for refinishing after calling and discussing it first. They sent it back because it was obsolete (1955)... well if it was new it probably wouldn't need rebluing.
2. Sent Rossi (I know, it serves me right) back for repair and it took "12" weeks and came back exactly like it left. Fixed it myself.
3. Bought a new Beretta 950, sent it back so many times that they finally replaced it, but I ate all the shipping and it took months.
4. Sent a S&W revolver to "Gun Kote" in Wisconsin for refinishing. Came back looking like they painted it with a paint brush. Sent it back and it was returned looking the same, only now the cylinder wouldn't rotate.

I think you've got the idea... must be a dark cloud over me, but I'll keep shootin...

 

[Crunker1337]

Man, that really sucks.

The only thing I can suggest to you is read a load of reviews about a company's customer support before sending them your gun and money...
Also, you can try doing things face to face more, but I guess with the decreased amount of decent gunsmiths in the US that may be hard to do.

 

[Rexster]

There is an organization called the American Pistolsmith's Guild, and the qualifications for membership are very high. They are not mere parts-changers and dremel-jockeys. Try one of them next time.

 

[Old Fuff]

Smith & Wesson has a policy of not refinishing guns for which they have no parts. This is because if a part (or parts) are damaged during whatever service they are doing they can't replace it. This is understandable, but they should have told you up-front before you sent in the gun.

 

[Setzer77]

I too have an old S&W that is obsolete (.38/44 heavy duty from 1947) that S&W wouldn't work on, but they were polite in all dealings regarding it. I have considered sending to a good smith, but only when I get the cash.

 

[TXMINIME]

Sadly, customer service can be quite difference from one manufacture to the next... From my experience in the past, Springfield Armory, GLOCK, Ed Brown, Nighthawk Custom and Dillon Precision are all setting the gold standard for the whole industry. It is unfortunate that not every company takes customer service seriously.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Usually it is considered poor form to flame companies without giving them a chance to correct it the problem, but it appears that you've done that. So flame away.

I've had good service from Sigarms. I had to use it three times with one gun and now with the one they replaced it with. Good thing they send me prepaid shipping labels, or I would be out even more money. Here, though, the problem is more with the product ( GSR Revolution Carry) than the service.