Lyman Warranty - Not Good

[David Wile]

Hey folks,

I have been using Lyman dies, Lubrisizer, moulds, case trimmer, and other stuff for many years - some of them for over 50 years. I think Lyman's quality is good, but their customer service as far as covering items under warranty is now and always has been (in my experience) lousy to the point of virtually non existent.

My most recent event involved the full length sizer die in my .223 dies. While sizing a .223 case, the top of my neck expander button broke into several pieces. A call to Lyman resulted in my being told the dies are only covered for one year from date of purchase. To get a replacement expander button under warranty, I would have to return the broken button along with a receipt showing date of purchase less than a year ago. One year warranty on an expander button??? And who keeps receipts for these items?

I have had the same experience with them involving my Lubrisizer and my bottom pour electric furnace, and another expander button on another die set. I think their products are good quality, but their ideas on warranties are lousy. For this reason, I have long tried to buy RCBS equipment instead of Lyman if I have a choice.

A year or so ago, the thermostat went out on my Lyman bottom pour electric furnace. Of course it was not covered by warranty, but worse yet, I had to ship it back to Lyman for repairs. They would not sell me the thermostat to install myself even though I already had the furnace apart and ready to do the replacement.

In spite of all the good experience I have had with all the many Lyman products I have used in 50 years of reloading and casting bullets, I hate Lyman's "No Quarter" warranty policy, and I would tell others to choose an RCBS product over Lyman if they have a choice. RCBS' warranty policy is much more customer friendly than Lyman virtual no-warranty policy.

When ordering a replacement button from Lyman, I found I could not order just the button. The on-line system forced you to order the whole rod/button assembly for twice the cost plus $6 shipping. I hate Lyman.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

 

[drsfmd]

And what would be a reasonable time period if one year is not acceptable?

The thermostat is probably a liability issue... if an individual installs it wrong and it burns the house down, they go sniffing around for someone to blame... so Lyman covers their backside.

 

[MtnCreek]

And what would be a reasonable time period if one year is not acceptable?

Something along the lines of this (from Dillon):

Our products have thrived for several reasons. First, I run the company based on my philosophy. You treat other people the way you want to be treated. I don’t want people calling me up saying, “You miserable S.O.B., you sold me this machine and now you won’t help me.” I don’t want anyone mad at me. This is reflected in our warranty. No warranty cards, registration or serial numbers are necessary. Whether you are the first owner, or the seventeenth, all our hobby-level reloading machines have a lifetime warranty. If you break, damage or wear out anything on them, it will be fixed or replaced – whatever is necessary to restore the machine to normal operating condition. If a minor part is all that is needed, contact us and we will ship the part. (International customers pay the return shipping costs) If something major is damaged or broken,contact us and we issue the customer a return merchandise authorization-RMA- to return the item to us for repair. The customer pays the shipping; we fix or replace as is warranted. Only our commercial machine, the Super 1050, has a one-year warranty, as do all electrical/electronic products and textiles. Our customers understand that they have a best friend at our factory. We are only a phone call, FAX or E-mail away. In return we receive an incredible amount of customer loyalty.

 

[James2]

I have used many Lyman products. I have never had a warranty issue. The tools have worked faultlessly. That said, I have no opinion of their warranty policy.

 

[Ultravox]

I would consider a one year warranty to be a pretty good warranty.

If you want a better warranty on the products you buy, then buy products with a better warranty.

 

[ReloaderFred]

I know of no other industry that offers the warranty that most reloading products offer. I'd love to have a lifetime warranty on my refrigerator, truck, RV, etc., but it isn't going to happen. Even Dillon only warrants their electrical products for one year. RCBS also warrants their electrical products for one year, and I don't blame either one of them for that. Stuff happens with electrical products that are out of their control.

I've only had one issue with a Lyman product and that was with a carbide die that I bought in 1969 that started scratching cases around 1987 or so. I sent it back and they replaced it, no questions asked. I know of no other industry that offers that kind of warranty on any of their products.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[David Wile]

Hey folks,

When it comes to electrical products, I have no problem with a one year warranty. When it comes to replacing my thermostat, however, the whole liability thing is a red herring. All kinds of places sell all kinds of thermostats for all kinds of electrical products. You can go to Home Depot and buy thermostats off the shelf for water heaters and furnaces. Why would Lyman's liability exposure be any different than Home Depot's?

When it comes to non-electrical products that are simple in mechanical function, I think lifetime warranties are not out of the question. Several reloading companies warrant their dies and similar products without question. Some even warrant their progressive presses far above and beyond what I suspect are problems due to owner/operator error and ignorance. Outside the world of reloading, Sears has been giving a lifetime warranty on their Craftsman hand tools as far back as I can remember. Now days, even Harbor Freight warrants certain brands of their hand tools for lifetime. And no receipts are required for these things either.

To James I would point out that I also said that I have used many Lyman products for many, many years without any problems. I said I thought their quality was very good. My problem is with their ideas of good customer support the few times I did have one of their products break.

Ultravox: I agree with you completely about buying products with a better warranty policy. Please note that my original post clearly indicated that I recommended buying RCBS rather than Lyman for that very reason. I would also point out that both RCBS and Lyman are pretty much the same in their pricing even though RCBS seems to have a much more customer friendly warranty policy.

Fred: Agreed about the one year warranty on electrical things, but as I mentioned earlier in this post, lifetime warranties on hand tools is offered by quite a number of companies including Sears, Snap-On, plus others, and now Harbor Freight. Lifetime warranties on steel hand tools is pretty much the same as offering lifetime warranties on non-electrical reloading tools. You mentioned that Lyman replaced a carbide die for you with no questions asked. Was the die less than a year old, and did you have to give them a receipt for purchace to prove the date? If you did have to do that, then I would not consider the replacement as "no questions asked."

Other than bent decapping pins, in all my years using Lyman products I have only had two expander buttons break, the screw stem pull out of its bushing two times on my Lubrisizer, and the thermostat go bad on my furnace. With the two expander buttons and the two times the Lubrisizer screw rod seperated from the bushing, I also had no questions asked by Lyman. They simply said there was no warranty. With the thermostat on my furnace, I did not expect them to cover it under warranty. Why would I? They never covered the four other incidents under warranty. If Lyman was more customer friendly, however, they certainly could have sold me the thermostat instead of forcing me to return the furnace and pay them for repairs.

In over 50 years of reloading, I have used perhaps a half dozen different brands of reloading equipment. In all that time, I have only had the few things I mentioned above break. I bought one of the first Hornady L&L progressive presses in 1997, and it is still in its original condition with its original systems all working properly. The only part I ever had to replace was a shell plate spring in the first year or two of use. The replacement spring is still humming along without any kinks. I still use my original RCBS RockChucker and RCBS Jr from the mid 1960s, and they have had nothing break in all those years. I have had some of my Lyman and RCBS moulds more than 50 years without anything breaking. Out of some 35 die sets, the two expander buttons were the only breaks other than decapping pins.

I mention this history of product use to point out that I do not have a history of having frequent equipment failures. On the contrary, I find my different brands of reloading equipment to be very well made. When it comes to customer friendly warranty service, however, I would recommend buying RCBS over Lyman if possible.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

 

[ReloaderFred]

Dave,

I'd forgotten about the Craftsman, Snap-on, etc. warranties, so I stand corrected on that point. As far as Lyman replacing my die after 18 or so years of use, they didn't ask for anything. They just sent me a replacement die.

I guess my point is it was a large post about a small problem. I understand that you're upset with Lyman and you made that point quite clear.

I just don't want to beat the issue to death.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[twice barrel]

They should have told you to send it back at your expense, repaired it and sent it back to you at their expense.

TB

 

[IMtheNRA]

Thanks for the heads up! I am so used to great warranty service from RCBS and Hornady, that I did not even realize that Lyman has a one year warranty. While there's nothing wrong with a 1 year warranty, and I'm sure that Lyman makes great products, I prefer to buy stuff with lifetime warranties whenever possible.

 

[kestak]

I do not buy Lyman products because of their lack of lifetime warranty.
For the same overall price, I get a no worry warranty from Dillon.
One I broke a firing pin and the pin assembly bended by my own fault. I Told it to Dillon representative and mentioned the price of the two items was almost the same price than a Lee die. He sent me free the two pieces in spite that usually they make people pay for it.

 

[hAkron]

The priming arm broke where the ram screws in on my Lyman T-Mag II turret press. I broke after only a few thousand rounds. I emailed Lyman and they said I would have to send them the old one and they would replace it once they had the broken one. While I do understand that this is how most warranties work on most everything else you buy, this is unusual for Gun manufacturers and reloading companies. Hornady sends me replacements for broken parts with no questions asked. CZ USA sent me a free trigger group pin when I told them I broke it due to negligence and asked how much for a new one. It's kind of accepted, almost expected, and certainly apprecitated.

 

[old_haidouk]

When my old Lyman caliper broke out of warranty I sent it back with a letter asking if they could fix it. I also mentioned that if they couldn't do it for free then they were welcome to keep it. I got a new one in the mail the next week

 

[WVRJ]

If a company doesn't take a big interest in customer service,their business will suffer.Even the smallest problem should be taken care of.I bought a pair of Leupold binoculars back in 1980.In 87,I fell out of a tree and damaged them.Sent em back with a letter explaining what had happened and within two weeks had my binocs back,repaired with an invoice that said warrenty-no charge.Dropped the same binocs on a rock in 96,did the same thing,told them to send me a bill for the repair.Two weeks later,a brand new pair of binocs shows up with a HANDWRITTEN letter saying the ones I sent back were beyond repair,and these are the replacement for my discontinued model.Is it any wonder that I have bought thousands of dollars worth of Leupold products over the years?

 

[ArchAngelCD]

i have no problem with a limited warranty on electrical components but you should have repaired or sent the part to repair the die. RCBS will send you a part or repair their dies no questions asked. I have had them replace a part for me for free that I asked to purchase because I lost it in a move. That is way more than I could expect from any company but bought them more than is cost them.

 

[Duckdog]

They should have stood behind it. In an industry where it seems all the other players are standing behind their products, they might want to take notice and do it as well.

I do not own many orange products so I do not have a horse in this race, but any time I've called Lee, Hornady, or RCBS they have stood behind their stuff.

 

[jerkface11]

A call to Lyman resulted in my being told the dies are only covered for one year from date of purchase. To get a replacement expander button under warranty, I would have to return the broken button along with a receipt showing date of purchase less than a year ago.

Lee did that to me and my die broke on the first day.

 

[codefour]

I can not say enough good things about RCBS and their warranty! I have broken things that were my own dumb fault, not the fault of the tool I was using. RCBS still replaced it and refused to take my credit card information. I felt guilty. RCBS has never replaced a broken part or item.

Also, RCBS now has a two year warranty on their electrical products. At least that is what they told me at this years SHOT show.

I did have one warranty claimwith Lyman. The chuck on my ten year old universal trimmer wore out. They sent a new one with no questions asked.

I am sorry you guys have had bad experience with your Lyman stuff. But hearing all this, I will stick to RCBS and Dillon.

 

[billdeserthills]

David Wile,
From what I'm seeing on here I would suggest that you send back the broken item to Lyman. Maybe they will replace it & maybe no, but it certainly seems worth the postage to find out. In the future don't purchase Lyman products any longer, I know I won't be, not after hearing this.

 

[Seedtick]

In the future don't purchase Lyman products any longer, I know I won't be, not after hearing this.

+1

Nor will I.

Thanks for the heads-up Mr. Dave.

Seedtick

 

[joed]

One of the biggest reasons I quit buying Lyman years ago. They make a decent product but will only stand behind it for 1 year. Always considered them just a step above Lee. Whenever I needed a tool I looked to RCBS first, then Lyman and last Lee.

When it came to reloading tools I always stayed with RCBS. The last couple years I've started switching to Dillon. I'll pay extra for a warranty and don't expect anything for electrical.

 

[edwin41]

hi
all of my reloading stuff is from lyman , i like it that much that i wouldnt trade it for anything else . overall quality and finish looks great to me.
its getting harder to get it over here in holland , so for everything i have to make a order in the states through a gunshop.
its all worth it to me though , since i have a blind faith in the mark.
i had some questions about their products wich i mailed to lyman usa , and they always had an answer wich was sufficent , within two days...
gonna stick with lyman as long as im gonna reload ...