Sent a 2.5" 686-1 to the factory for the M stamp recall back in April. I called a couple times and was always told 2 more weeks.

On June 5th I called, and while I was talking to the person I got an email from S&W which was another shipping label. The girl I was talking to said something was wrong and she would call me back in a couple hours.

A guy called me back, I think he is in charge of customer service or something. He promised me he would personally follow my gun thru the process and I would have it in a week to 10 days.

Called on the 11th day to see what was up, and he assured me the gun had been fixed, and promised me it would ship that following Friday. Called back yesterday/Tuesday and he said it had slipped his mind and it would ship today, no excuses.

Waited all day for an email or call for shipping conformation and called back a few minutes ago.

He told me he had found out my gun hadn't been touched yet, and I could expect it back around July 4th. I told him to just put it in a box and ship it back to me, but he said they couldn't do that. He said I'd be getting some S&W goodies shipped seperatly for all my problems. I have no idea what S&W goodies might be.

I sent it in without any grips, and I received a free set of magnas for it that came today.

This has taken longer then my first ATF stamp.

Wow! Quite the roller coaster ride there. Best of luck to you!

Life's hard, isn't it?

Free magnas? That's better than the little flashlight that I once received.

Yep! Their really dark too.

I like the dark magnas...especially on blued guns but stainless as well. But I have to admit that for shooting the snubby magnums I prefer the Hogue Bantam.

Here's a 19-3 with dark magnas. The grain shows better in better light. Also a 66-3 and a 686-1 with Bantams.

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I got a sticker once, I would have rather gotten a set of grips, or a hat.

I am confused, do they actually have your gun or not? You said they lost it, but they seem to have it. Maybe you meant they lost it , but found it. Hopefully, it will all work out for you!

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

Right now I honestly have no clue. They lied to me about it being repaired and in the box ready to be shipped out the next day, then he tells me it's not even been touched yet.

Wish I could find a corporate email. All I can find is customer service, which would go straight to the guy that's been giving me the run around since April.

I'd rather just got my gun back weeks ago as promised.

OH GREAT! I hope my mod 69 at SW is not in the same bin as your 686! Lol
SEMPER PARATUS

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NRA Life Member
CPO

Sorry to say, but this is just one more ding from what was at one time was a premier firearms company.

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Always Stay Strong!

'Fraid so.

It seems they had a better tracking system of repair guns in their possession a hundred years ago!

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Chris
SWCA #2243 SWHF #292

I hop you also find one of these! Lol

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NRA Life Member
CPO

LOL...check your PM

They have had my "New" SW22 Victory for over a month with no hope in sight. They keep saying it's on the bench or ready to ship??? Hello! I just want my pistol back! Good luck to all if your New Pistol has to be sent in...

Mine is going on 3 months and hasn't been touched.

At the moment it seems you traded them a 2.5-inch Model 686-1 for a set of plywood stocks. I wouldn't of made that deal. 😲

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~ S&W aficionado in training ~

There's the problem right there. They lost the "M" stamp and they are trying to teach someone how to turn the "W" over so it looks like an "M".

I've waited longer for an estimate before.. I realize it's to be warranty. But it's old stuff and maybe needs to be done in the Performance Center which I am told is a different location.

It will show up..

''Color Me Gone'' was the Dodge race car of Roger Lindamood in my youth..

ls it possible some in Smith & Wessons' Repair Dept are fans of Roger too??

In the words of Davey Crockett: "I've never been LOST, but I was once CONFUSED for four days!"

After my last experience with S&W Customer Service I am thinking RUGER !

Yeah, I've waited quite some time for repair work, whether it was warranty or I was paying. Ruger has the best turn around in the business. usually less than 2 weeks. A friend of mine sent in his father's old Security Six when his dad died. Over 30 years old. Easily 20,000 .357 magnum rounds through it. Bluing very worn. A real work gun.

Ruger completely overhauled it. Brought it back to new. Even reblued it and sent it back in a new factory case. Same old grips were on it but my buddy bought a new set for 10 bucks. Total cost to repair gun was ZERO. And he had it back in less than a month.

S&W's Lifetime Warranty isn't so great. 3rd gen parts are almost entirely gone. K frame Magnum barrel's no longer made. I don't expect them to be able to service a 100 year old gun, but a 3rd gen bought in 2000? Shouldn't be an issue.

Anyway, good luck to you. You'll get it back. Eventually.

This is the sort of thing I hate to read. S&W has such great history of manufacturing excellent products and service of those products. It is a shame that the OP has had such a poor experience. A company is only as good as it's people. Perhaps S&W is now using Taurus training procedures.

I sent them a NIB PPK/S on a recall. It came back butchered up with deep vise marks on the right side of the trigger guard. I complained, they sent a label to send the gun back, which I did. A guy called me and said I would get a new gun, with the recall corrected, in several months when they started making them again. True to his word, I got a new gun.

Am I the odd man out on this topic? S&W has given me FANTASTIC Customer Service the few occasions I needed it............

Randy

Things are getting really weird now.

Got up a half hour ago, checked my email and have 3 from FedEX.

10:22 FedEx shipment notification.
10:40 FedEx shipment cancellation notice.
10:42 FedEx shipment notification.

Both shipment notifications have different tracking numbers, and they are from SAW weigh 3 pounds, and are signature required.

Anticipation is getting the best of me. Let us know please.🤓

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"Happiness is a warm gun"

Back in 1977, I sent a NIB 29-2 back to S&W for warranty work. After 11 months and several tracking report attempts without anyone admitting to having the revolver, I filed a theft report with the local PD. Two weeks later I received a brand new revolver through my FFL who, as it turned out, had the original pistol stolen out of his shop. I certainly can't blame Smith for this one.

In 2010 I sent an AR-15 back in for cosmetic work after owning it for eleven months. I got it back repaired on the same day that I received the email from S&W telling me they had received the rifle, a five day turn around.

As an aside, I sent a Ruger .44mag carbine in for work under their lifetime warranty. It came back untouched because they no longer had repair parts. Looks like all the manufacturers have to draw the line somewhere.

As a logistics guy, this isn't completely abnormal. FedEx isn't great at reprinting labels, they might have mangled the first one and printed a second one.

Call Ruger today about getting any work whatsoever done on a Securiy Six and report back with your findings. Better check on present conditions before bragging them up in order to put down S&W. You are completely out of touch with todays Ruger and what they will do.

Just got off the phone with S&W. Dude told me the gun had been fixed, and will be delivered to my house tomorrow.

I told him the CS manager told me yesterday to expect it around July 4th. Also explained how he flat out lied to me about having the gun fixed in the box, and would hand walk it to shipping.

Dude I talked to said that's probably exactly what he did yesterday after our call.

I checked the tracking number, and it says a label has been created and Scheduled delivery:
Thu 6/22/2017 by 8:00 pm

I told the Smith dude I'll believe it when I see it.

I sent them some magazines I bought for a cs45 that don't work properly along with a good description and a link to a thread I have here on the forum.

Someone in customer service told me I could send them in and have them evaluated so I did. I called some time later and they told me they couldn't find them so they ended up sending me some new ones that have the same problem.

I told them these have the same problem and asked if I could send them in for evaluation. I also mentioned the good descripition I gave and the links to my thread on the forum here with pictures and they said they won't look at the forum. I told them it explains the problem to a T and they told me I should send them back to where I bought them for my money back. It's too late for that, though. She asked me to test the new magazines they sent but I have not had time to do so.

I have 4 of these mags and have had all 4 replaced. They all have the same problem...or maybe it's my cs45. It works fine with 2 other mags, though, and I can visually tell the difference between the ones that work fine and the ones that don't.

I wanted to like the cs45 but the mag problem has me so disappointed I don't even look at it anymore. I feel like selling it.

No you're not. I've gotten excellent service and free parts as well, without even asking for them.
Maybe because I don't burden CS with daily calls for "when was my gun built?".

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Sure you did

I'm sure Ruger's quite busy with all those ****** front sights they put on all those recent RedHawks.

More Ruger woes.

Ruger Mk IV Recall Notice

But hey they return em' fast, that's a positive.

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Sure you did

Actually, I'm not. I know they no longer service the Six guns. My friends gun was overhauled about 5 years ago.

So they don't service a gun they stopped making over 30 years ago. Try sending in your 15 year old 3rd gen and let me know how it goes. When did S&W stop making the .357 K frames? 2003, I think? Try getting a .357 barrel for a Model 65 made in 2003. Ruger supported the Six guns for nearly 30 years after they stopped making them.

Ruger has such good service that I've sent several in just for a free inspection when I've bought them used. Never a penny charged, even for shipping, and never more than 10
Days total to get back in my hands.

I think S&W customer service sucks.. After three separate phone calls trying to get the recall mod done on my no - 586 I've decided it's not worth the risk of losing it for months on end. Every phone call they said they would be sending out a shipping label that never was.. Ruger, however, was a very different experience. I bought a new GP 100 that was dropped and broke the rear sight blade. After a quick email, I received a new rear sight in the mail less than a week later no questions asked as to why I needed it. Not bashing S&W or touting Ruger, just my personal experience with the two companies.

I had one with a long wait.. and couldn't locate it for several days.

Then Fed ex was at my door before the email to track shipment came.. the next day after conversation with CS

They are trying to make up for your wait.. they will deliver.

I sent in a 19-4 last spring for some work and they told me the turn around was 10 days. Well 10 days turned into 10 weeks.....

When I first called about the recall on mine, they emailed me a shipping label in minutes.

I've only used S&W CS one other time for the grip recall on a 6906. That was last year, and I got it back in 10 days.

Bought a Ruger LCP from a person who claimed it had never been shot. About 90% of the time the slide wouldn't go forward without bumping it with my hand. I polished the ramp, but it didn't help. Watched a youtube video of a LCP strip, and noticed theirs had a double recoil spring. Mine only had one. Called Ruger and told them my problems and about the single spring. They said it shipped with a single spring, but would send me their "enhanced" recoil spring at no charge. Sent a old P95 back for the MKII recall and got it back in about 10 days. They offered me free shipping or a free mag. I took the shipping.

Had a titanium firing pin break into 3 pieces on a CMMG 22 upper. Emailed them pics of it and they sent me 2 in a few days. Still cant figure how that thing broke.

I've had good experiences with S&W up to January 2016. I sent my 1988 686-1 in for the M recall in early November 2014. It was back in my hands in 14 days. In addition to the recall I could tell the action had been worked on and smoothed up a bit. No charge.

In October 2014 I sent a new M&P Sport in under warranty because of some cosmetic wear on the barrel that apparently occurred during assembly. (On-line order from a retailer and I didn't check closely before accepting) I hadn't even shot the gun. That was returned in six weeks with an entirely new upper. And I could tell the upper was fitted to the lower.

Finally. In December 2015 I sent an inherited 669 in because of a safety/decocker problem. This gun was outside of the 669 recall SN range. S&W replaced several parts in the fire control mechanism at no charge. Back in four weeks.

I think I only asked them about the status of the Sport once during the six weeks.

Maybe something has changed in a short time?

When I shipped mine back they said the wait time is longer in the summer months.

Got an email from the CS manager. He's sending me a S&W t-shirt, and a new blue plastic box that will ship separate from the gun.

New grips, box, and shirt. I think that's pretty cool, and makes up for the mass confusion.

I recently called and asked if they would work on an older model 64. The guy on the phone told me it would take 3-6 months.

I said thank you, have a good day.

She's back!

Very nice. Glad it's back.
BTW, It don't look like a girl.

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"Happiness is a warm gun"

IDK... we tend to fondle them a whole lot...

What else would could you call it.. ?

The one I had confusion over was a 629 stealth early one... I got a free cylinder replacement(for finish problems I should have paid for) because of their problems.. I saved a bunch..

I was a happy camper..

You do understand that you're not required to read this thread, right?

With all due respect ....

Or am I being humor impaired ... ?

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Just Say No - To Social Media

The same Ruger that is currently recalling ALL MK IV pistols made before 1 June 2017? The same Ruger who has no parts to fix the safety issue identified? The same Ruger who puts the burden on the customer to pay for aftermarket parts to be once again swapped out or confiscated?
Maybe we should all go buy Taurus revolvers as they have a lifetime warranty?
Trust me, I'v tested many of the major brand customer service departments. S&W is among the best.

Lets be step back and be fair. Occasional "stuff" happens in any repair shop ( Guns, cars, appliances .....) It's not necessarily a sign of a bad business. In the grand scheme of things, a mix up at the factory isn't a big deal as long as it's made right in the end. (as I'm sure it will here.)

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Dave