I have had a trusty S&W 686 (no dash) revolver for years, and the tiny little trigger rod finally broke off making it un-usable. That's ok, I know it's an old gun, so I called S&W customer service, described the situation and they sent me a FEDEX label to send it in for repairs. Everything is great, right? WRONG, 2 weeks later after not hearing anything from them, I called to check on things. Issue 1, they sent it over to the Custom Mods group without notifying me. Issue 2, the minimum charge to even look at it is $45. Issue 3, the custom guys won't even look at it for 2 months!

I asked for a manager to call me to discuss this situation, and he explained that this is just the way it is. I told him that this doesn't make me very interested in buying another Smith again. He just said - sorry. Does anyone have similar experiences with Smith & Wesson Customer Service?

I called CS yesterday to explain a light primer strike problem with one of mine. Miranda sent a FedEx label to me and explained the turn-around time would be 10-12 weeks.

"Okay."

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Wrangler of stray Chiefs
Bob

Klugey1, first of all, your no dash 686 was produced before S&W had a lifetime warranty on their pistols. So it is very reasonable for them to charge you for repairs as that is a 30+ year old gun. And $45 to look at the gun is also a very reasonable charge. The man checking your pistol out will probably take 1/2 hour to 1 hour or so checking it out and seeing what needs fixing. Go bring your out of warranty car or truck in and ask for a diagnostic check to be run at the dealership and they will hit you for a diagnostic charge too. As far as sending it to the custom gun shop, I think that happens to be the wise choice also. You have a much better chance of getting someone to work on your gun that happens to be an actual gunsmith instead of a parts changer. As to the wait, just deal with it.

I sent my old model 27 to them a few years ago to get a thorough checkup and tuneup after 30+ years of pretty hard usage and it probably took them 6 weeks to get back to me with the estimate to fix it. That involved turning the barrel back one thread to mill off the throat erosion and recutting the throat, changing the hand and cylinder stop and changing the rebound slide. All those repairs, diagnostics and shipping costs both ways cost right around $200, which I thought was reasonable. I sent them payment and around a month after receiving the estimate by mail my old 27 was delivered back to me feeling like a new pistol, but broken in and smoother on the trigger than an actual new pistol. So in my case, from door to door it took about 3 months and I got back a pistol that was as nice or nicer than when it was new.

Hopefully it will work out for you like that too.

That's interesting because S&W charges $90 per hour labor for non-warranty work and it's normally 4-6 weeks before they get to look at your gun. Wait times up to 3-4 months is not uncommon for the world's busiest gunsmithing service. Quite frankly I'm surprised that the OP doesn't know this as everytime I spoke to S&W they always told me about the average turnaround times upfront before proceeding with emailing me a shipping label

Any company's customer service depends on business.
1, When business is slow, customer service is great (they want satisfied customers)
2. when business is great customer service is slow and nit picking (the dollars are rolling in, so who needs you)

I don’t like surprises either but I think when you send a gun to S&W at their expense you have to anticipate that they will think you want something done with it.

I’ve had minor repairs and major alterations done by S&W and always felt costs were reasonable. I don’t like the lengthy times for revolver mods (I recently had a revolver barrel replaced, which took 10 weeks) but I think that is the wait time for true gunsmithing (swapping out parts in a M&P semi auto might get done faster, I don’t know) and in any case S&W is up front about the delays.

But I sympathize with the OP and hope the end result is excellent and outweighs the pain of getting the work done.

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S&W Rover

They have been easy to deal with for me. They have my Sport ll in for repair as I type this. On their dime.

The subject post is close in essence to the 2nd "sticky" on this forum entitled, "Bashing, Crying, and Whining".

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66/642/640/627/586/60/638/686

Email Kate Fredette at S&W, [email protected]
Kate has always been very helpful and fairly prompt in getting back to you. My history with S&W customer service, over the past 25 years, has been nothing but positive and I have used them many, many times for old and new guns. Start with a patient, positive expectation and go from there. Good luck!

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Tim

...and S&W could fix it, I'd gladly pay the measly $45 to get it fixed and i'd take advantage of the free shipping label. And I don't care how long it would take. Truthfully, I'd pay more and wait longer. That's the trouble with owning a PERFECT gun. No 'replacement' will do.

An alternative would be to buy a 'junker' to get the part you need. it's still going to cost to put it in though.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Both my M&P 9mm and Victory sw22 took roughly 3 months from start to finish. The quality of the work perform was exceptional.

Your story sounds real familiar to me as I sent one in last year. Felt like I was dealing with Ruger when they offered to email a shipping label until I had to wait 3 months and got the bill. That $45 will be for them to look at the gun only and to repair, my guess is going to be $148.

I do not understand your complaint. You used the word "old" to describe your gun. You sent the factory an old (your word) gun to fix and you are upset that they want to charge you a fee to spend their time diagnosing the issue? And you are upset that they sent it to their "custom mods group" by which I assume you mean their Performance Center, the folks at the factory that do repairs...the repairs you sent the gun to them to do. And you are upset that they won't look at it for 2 months. You have to get in line--the factory is busy. Two months for non-warranty work actually seems pretty fast. I thought they were currently running more like 4 months.

The OP needs to understand his situation is why you always have more then one... send that 686 to one of the name premier gunsmiths out there and he will think the S&W return time was lightning speed.

Im curious...were you actually interested in buying another?

Depending on where you are, an outstanding local gentleman can meet or beat the factory, or internet folklore.

A couple years ago I bought a used Python from a friend so he could buy a Smith 41. He had left in a holster for 30 years and it had some pitting on the cylinder and barrel. No big deal, but the action was horrible. It did not even pretend to rotate the cylinder into lockup and the single action was an even 9 pounds, same as the double action.
So, it had to go back to the factory. Shipping was right at $80. The action work was $225, and a reblue at $400 plus.
One year later and somewhere around $725 I have a nice looking Python. I have not fired it yet!!

Smith service is cheap!!!

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Richard Gillespie
FBINA 102

While reading this thread several thoughts just will not go away. The first is why doesn't the OP simply replace the little trigger rod thingy himself? You know go to Midway or Brownells and buy the part it's probably a few bucks and pop it in?

The second thought, if for what ever reason the OP doesn't want to replace it or cannot do it himself why not hand it over to a revolver smith that knows S&W L frames? Several times I have had major action work and machining on my L & N frames and the turn around was 2-3 weeks.

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NRA Pistol & Reloading Instr.

Yes just fix something like that yourself. It’s not rocket science and it’s fun. Read study and figure it out.

I suspect SAWs repair and warrantee business is much like others. When it rains it pours, when it doesn't rain there's a drought. It may be pouring up there now. I've had one repair take 5 months, two others about 3 weeks.

I'm glad your revolver lasted so long.

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Foster Positivity.

I'm in the camp that the OP's complaint borders on whining. What does the OP expect? Getting the work done for free in 7 days? Perhaps the OP should post what he/she thinks are reasonable expectations as to cost of repair, time frame, and shipping obligations. I agree with dogdoc and Thomas15 about doing the repair themself. That would save exasperation, time, expense, and a waste of all respondents consideration of a crying complaint.

OK, are we done bashing the new member on his very first post? Nice reception, guys. I think mudddoktor's post #3 conveyed all the necessary information.

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Some collect art; I shoot it!

...or any of the better parts suppliers and buy parts for S&Ws. Maybe it's because they don't make them any more, but 3rd gen parts are impossible except through an individual that might have a part you need, but I don't think anybody stocks them. They like to keep control over what goes on with their guns.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"