The sequel to my long going Solo hassel with Kimber...the final chapter

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IMTHDUKE

IMTHDUKE

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Many of you know by my many post concerning my Kimber Solo my back and forth with Kimber, but for those who do not and would have an interest in their CS and their response to my many issues with the gun....below is my letter to them on the 3rd trip in for repair:

This is the third time I have sent this gun in because it will not function. Kimber Solo S1102156
First time….FTF and mag release that could not be released with a full mag without extreme two hand pressure. After keeping the gun for about 6 weeks. Returned with mag released fixed, but failure to feed….both using 124gr and 147gr Remington golden saber and Federal Hyd-shok.
Sent it back…for second time. Return with barrel replaced with no explanation as to why. The stuck mag release was back to where it was before. Had not repaired that. It also rubs the finish off the bottom of the dust cover on inside of gun but was told this was up to specs. Really? I have no other guns that do that. After two trips back to Kimber. At the range would not feed any of the above rounds.
Bottom line…I bought a new high dollar gun that would not work and repaired twice and still will not function. Kimber has had the gun more than I have.
Kimber says that, your goal is total customer satisfaction. I am totally dissatisfied and disgusted with, to me a useless product. I am requesting that you either refund my money paid for the gun or send me a new gun that will function reliability. This is a reasonable request not even considering my frustration and time and money spend on trying to get what I paid for to function. I bought the gun on Gunbroker when they first came out and paid the Manufactures suggest retail at $729. I do not have the original receipt.
Please let me know what you intend to do to remedy this issue. Thanks.

End letter.

Kimber called today and told me they would be sending me a new Solo. Because it would be a different serial # they could not mail it directly to me, but would need to mail to one of their dealers in my area or to an FFL holder. I had my FFL guy email them his FFL to ship to him.

Now, the dilemma for me is this: and I would like your opinions.

Should I sell it or plan on keeping it? I can sell and not loose money, but I do like the gun if it will be 100%. But, if it's not, I don't want to go through the shipping back and forth again(on their dime, btw). What would you do?
 
While I can understand your frustrations and troubles over the period of time, Kimber did live up to their bargain.

It would be up to you if you are going to keep it, but if it were me, sounds like they did a good job of taking care of you.
 
I had a very similiar experience back in 1997-98. The gun practically fell apart. The worst part was if you squeezed the trigger twice without depressing the grip safety it would fire. They had it in the shop more than I had it in my possession for 5 months. I finally got the dealer to give me my money back and went to another shop and bought a Springfield. No problems there. I got a call from some guy at Kimber and he finally told me I just didn't know how to shoot the gun. That was a bunch of baloney. Needless to say I'll never own another one.
 
First of all they do not need to send the gun to an FFL. They are replacing an gun already transfer to you and then are allowed to send it directly to you. Colt did this once for me.

I personally would sell it.
 
I would have kept my preferred resolution as "refund." Since you opened the door for a new gun, I say run the hound out of it. If it works, then you have a choice - keep or sell. If it continues to have problems, send it back with copies of all previous documents and demand your money back. Period.

Q
 
I recently had the same type of problem with a new gun I purchased, it went back to the mothership twice and still did not work. On the third trip back they agreed to sent me a new gun (no ffl involved). They were first class about the entire ordeal, but I'll tell you what I did: at the next gunshow I traded it for another completely different type of gun and never looked back. Sometimes it's best just to let go and move on, even though I know how much you wanted this gun to work.
Just put the P380 in your pocket and be happy......
 
I've been following your situation since the beginning. I'd say get rid of it!!!!

When the new gun comes back, you have an unfired Kimber Solo that will probably sell on GunBroker for around $900.

If you fire it and then decide to sell it, a lot of its value will disappear, and if there are any issues (and you have veeeeeery good reason to believe that there WILL be issues) then you'll have to disclose them to the buyer.

Sell it and don't look back. Plenty of mini 9mm pocket guns out there!!
 
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While I can understand the frustration, our society doesn't recognize pain and suffering as part of the warranty. It seems Kimber should have done a much better job of repairing the product before sending it back to a valued customer - they did honor the warranty and replaced the gun. Good for them. It it were me, I'd inspecte the gun for fit, make sure it functioned in all aspects (minus shooting it) and then make a decsion. If you really like the design give it another try. If you don't want to take the chance, then sell it unfired. My worthless two cents of opinon.
 
Kimber has chronic problems. If a gun goes back, it should get a ton of extra TLC to make sure it's right this time. Or, If they don't have time for that, toss it in the scrap metal bin and send a new one. At least take the time to shoot it.

Kimber has unlimited resources to make thier QC better. But they choose not to. DW, EB, W, LB, SVI would have had that pistol perfect after it's first trip back. Those companies still have small issues from time to time, but they get your gun into the hands of an expert to make sure it gets fixed right. Kimber deosn't.

Why bother. 3 trips back? How much did that cost? How long did that take. No thanks.
 
Your post is a trip down bad memory lane for me. :)

Did you get to talk to the asshat "Dennis"? Good times. ;)

I would dump it like the overpriced, overhyped POS it is........before it starts rusting on you! Good luck!
 
IMHDUKE,
Sell the Kimnbber and don't look back. Several years ago a fellow shooter purchsed on e of their high end 45's and it went into full auto. Sent it back to Kimber and after their repair it did the same thing. After the second or third try Kimber did replace the gun with a new one which my friend had the receiving dealer sell. I do give Kimber credit for replacing the defective gun with a new one.
 
TonyT said:
IMHDUKE,
Sell the Kimnbber and don't look back. Several years ago a fellow shooter purchsed on e of their high end 45's and it went into full auto. Sent it back to Kimber and after their repair it did the same thing. After the second or third try Kimber did replace the gun with a new one which my friend had the receiving dealer sell. I do give Kimber credit for replacing the defective gun with a new one.
Click to expand...

Another shineing example that Kimber might not know how 1911's work. They probally didn't even shoot it.
 
It is up to you but after working in a gun shop I have learned name doesn't mean a thing sometimes. A great example is Sigma, okay gun but still over priced. No offense to Sigma owners but I have seen a lot of them with front sight falling off issues.
 
You seem to like the Solo so why not see if this one's a good one? This story is far too interesting to let it end here!! My suggestion is to keep it, shoot it and report back to THR ... we need data!! :D If you have problems with this one, send it back and demand a refund or a replacement and then sell it.
 
Sell it and get a Kahr CM9. Then you can use the extra $250-300 for ammo, holsters, etc. It's smaller, lighter and reliable. What's not to like?
 
Mayhaps you should wait and see if the new gun works before you even consider doing either? :rolleyes:

Selling the gun prematurely wont get back at Kimber, It wont fix the past, and it wont help you sleep better at night (at least not if you use any form of logic in your decision making).

You purchased the gun because you liked it. If the new one works, then GUESS WHAT? You got what you originally wanted. Seems like that is worth a bit of hassle to me.

The NEW GUN is just that - a NEW GUN. Treat it as such, and evaluate it based on its own merits, rather than some illogical negative emotional bond with the old one. If the new one is also a problem, then get rid of it.
 
First of all they do not need to send the gun to an FFL. They are replacing an gun already transfer to you and then are allowed to send it directly to you. Colt did this once for me.
Click to expand...

I believe that you are mistaken.

As long as the serial number does not change--even if they had to make a new frame and assign it the same number--it can be sent directly to you.

If it is a different gun, then it must go via FFL.
 
After your initial back and forth with Kimber, it seems to me that you laid it on it the line offered Kimber a "choice" as to fixing your gun right OR sending you a new one that would shoot right. You didn't have to offer them a choice, but that's what you did. They elected to send you a new one and they chose one of the two options you offered them. They did so in good faith based on what you told them you would accept as a remedy.

Given that they accepted what you offered as a remedy, I feel that it is your obligation to reciprocate and to exercise good faith on your part and to shoot the new gun and to determine if it shoots right...or not. In my mind, selling the gun unfired and as new to someone else does not redeem the obligation I think you have to them. You are left with nothing but bad memories of your first gun without giving the second gun and the company the chance you said you would give them.

If it does not work right and work flawlessly like an expensive gun should, return it immediately, demand a full refund, and do not give them additional chances or choices.
 
Weld some heavy-duty bait hooks on it and use it as a shark fishing lure. You can secure a cable through the trigger guard so it won't get lost in the saltwater.
 
Co-worker of mine has a $1500 Kimber full size 45, its a jammo-mattic according to him. I wouldn't touch a Kimber, don't care what model it is.

I'll take a run of the mill 1911, springfield or Ruger, at least it will run right out of the box, lol.
 
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