In September 2019 I purchased a brand new S&W Bodyguard .380. After firing a few magazines, the slide would not hold back.

I did all the necessary things, then finally sent it back to S&W. The slide stop was replaced. After test firing that problem still remained and new problems emerged. Failure to feed was one. Gun went back again, and a new grip frame was installed. Test fired again and all the above problems were still present, and another issue: rear roll pin was drifting out of the gun.

Sent the gun back for 3rd RMA, got it, fired it and all the above problems still existed after a 2nd grip frame was installed. I red lock tited the pin in place, it still wandered out of the gun to the right.

Finally after the 4th RMA S&W decided to replace the gun. WOW!

I purchased my first S&W in 1972, how many have I owned since then I don't recall. Never had an issue like this before now.

After sending an FFL to S&W 3 or 4 times, the customer rep at S&W admitted she had the FFL; hurray!

I was told on January 8th 2020 that I would get a replacement. Then I was told on January 29th, the pistol was going to be shipped soon. Today I sat on hold with S&W for 40 minutes, got no answer on ship date from the first rep, was transferred to the rep that emailed me on 1-8-20 that I was to get a new gun and on 1-29 that she had the FFL. Of course when the call was transferred over it went to voice mail... a dead end again.

I have been a extremely satisfied owner of S&W firearms for over 40 years, but something has really changed with them. It is not a go to brand for me any longer.

I have wasted over 1000 rounds of .380 ammunition testing this gun and the repairs, along with countless hours on the phone and at the keyboard. No more of this nonsense for me.

sparx
Tucson AZ

I have always received excellent service from S & W customer support.

Jeez! And I just sent mine back for repair yesterday.

__________________
I told you not to use Lifebuoy

Most likely will hear quite the opposite from many forum members like myself that are very pleased with their treatment by S&W.

Randy

I hope THEY get it right soon. That is difficult to deal with.

I've also had good luck so far....only two issues..hold time can be long, last call was real short....maybe under staffed?....hope they get it right for OP

S&W Customer Service has been stellar for me.

Did you send the magazines back as well? The problem sounds like a bad magazine.

The roll pin walking out isn't a big deal - tap it back once in a while. After all, this isnt a range gun.

I’ve always received good customer service from S&W, but they are not perfect nor is any other company. My personal opinion is that the problems you’ve encountered have more to do with the specific model of gun you purchased than anything else. I’d like to have a micro .380 like the bodyguard, but I see way too many problems and complaints to put down money on one.

Yes, sent the mags back. The only issue repaired was the slide hold back.
S&W today tells me the replacement pistol has been cleared for shipment, apparently the "processing" by the specific rep was not the final stage of getting this RMA completed.

S&W people don't explain things very well these days.
sparx

Don't buy one, your chances of having an issue is high.
sparx

I've had both stellar customer service and horrible customer service from S&W. The stellar service made me think "why would I get anything but an S&W." The horrible service made me wonder "why would I ever buy an S&W pistol again."

Now I'm at a place where I'd buy a new S&W pistol, but only if I'm getting a smokin' hot price so if there's something wrong and they don't make it right, it doesn't raise my blood pressure quite so bad.

JMO, but I was wondering if S&W is struggling financially and starting to cut corners on service.

__________________
Vegan by proxy.

Over the years I have owned maybe 20 S&W's. Never in these 40 or so years have I had such poor service and such a significantly defective pistol. I would only buy a S&W revolver at this point, even after having 2 or 3 excellent Shield 9mm's.
I carry a sig 365 currently, 1318 rounds fired, never one problem. The 365 model did have issues early on, but most of what I have read Sig took care of them. My other carry is a 642 .38.
sparx

Generally they have been stellar for me too. I am sorry to hear you had an issue that cost you a lot of time.

I’ve got to say their CS isn’t what it used to be.

Had to call on Monday as I purchased some NIB MP 45 magazines. On two the followers were dragging in the mags and were different than the others.

SW told me I had old style followers that needed replacing and then asked for the colors on the tips of all the mag springs. Told them I had a mix of orange and black to which they replied that the upgraded ones were tipped blue and needed to be replaced as well.

Told them fine, I need 6 springs and 2 followers to which they replied “Sure, that comes to $25.16, how will you be paying”.

Seems if these parts were upgraded to fix issues they’d just send them out no cost.

The gun market is full of many many choices.
Out of the millions of guns sold what is the percentage of those that fail to meet expectations?


In a space of around 4 months the OP is getting a REPLACEMENT gun. How horrible is that?


Take in a $40,000 vehicle with some nagging problem and see what results you may or may not get.

__________________
Still Running Against the Wind

Sorry to hear about your situation. I have had nothing but exceptional experiences with S&W Customer Service over the years. My only complaint is the hold times when calling them. Sometimes 20-30 minutes before getting a representative. Other than that, I have been very pleased.

__________________
Find a way or make one.

Sometimes you just get a lemon, Sir. I think I may have figured that out just a wee bit earlier than the 4th RMA. I had a BG .380 for over a year back around 2015. I determined that I could not trust it with my life with it so I bit the bullet and sold it for a $100+ loss. I’ve never looked back nor have I dwelled upon the loss. Every company that I can think of turns out a poor example, including poor design work, every once in a while. SIG will gladly sell you a nice P238 that will be bulletproof!!

Yeah, SIG 238, don't want a hammer fired design auto. S&W should have determined this pistol was a dude after the 3rd trip back.

The poor customer service, misinformation, lack of ANY replies to messages and emails, oh and requiring a FFL be sent FIVE times, does not say much for S&W.


I will use my 642 when I need light carry.
sparx

@sparx, what's the build date on your BG? I just bought another one yesterday (giving it a second chance) and it's the no laser version with a 8/22/19 build date. I wonder if yours is significantly older (aka, new old stock). Not that it matters, just curious.

above the model # 01.22.19

The one time I dealt with them it was stellar, fast and courteous. They did warranty work on a gun even though I wasn't the original owner no questions asked.

__________________
Dave Ramsey Cultist

I have only had one dealing with S&W customer service and was treated right. I think her name was Rose. I have no complaints with them.

my only experience with customer service was requesting a replacement laser for the Body Guard. the original Insight laser had problems with the activation buttons. when S&W changed to Crimson Trace i asked to have the Insight replaced with the Crimson Trace, and they were o.k. with the request. took several weeks to receive the new laser, which is acceptable. i had to return the Insight laser.

I was one of the guys that always posted S&W Customer Service was the best….until it wasn’t. I hope that doesn't happen to the rest of you that are posting how happy you are.

I’ve been buying Smith & Wesson’s for over 45 years and will continue to do so; they have a great product. But when I got a lemon; CS was useless. Even after I wrote to the President and the Firearms Director, and was contacted by a CS person that told me he was told by the Firearms Director to fix my problem; he showed me who was in charge of CS, and it wasn’t the Firearms Director.

I just came on the forum today to see if I could find out when they would be offering a Shield with an optic cut that wasn’t a “Performance Center” gun. My last gun was supposed to be a “Performance Center” gun. If it was even in the Performance Center; I don’t believe it never got off the cart. I think marketing is playing fast & loose with the PC name; and I don’t want to pay extra for something I’m not getting.

Like the other brands, it is not your father's service center, but I think most of the folks there still try. As I have said before, quality is not what it was, because we are not willing to pay for it.

I've had a Browning BDA for years------double digit years---never had the first problem. Of course it's an old fashioned thing---made out of steel and wood----you never know when they're going to let you down.

Ralph Tremaine

As any mass produced products some of my S&W handguns had issues but all of them were resolved to my satisfaction by CS.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My new full size M&P9 had extraction problems. Smithboaid for the return and promised it in a month. Got it back in 2 weeks. They "repaired" (probably replaced) the extractor and polished the chamber. Works 100% now.

Just try that with Colt.

I only have had to use S&W CS once out of over a dozen different guns. My L-Comp came with some small chatter Mark's on the right side of the frame and some finish issues inside the comp and under the cylinder. Three week turnaround and it arrived in beautiful condition. Completely refinished just as I had asked. You can have a bad experience with any company once or twice. But to have one bad experience, that you ultimately received a brand new gun out of, and to say you are swearing off all their products from now on sounds ridiculous IMO.

I did receive my replacement Bodyguard from S&W last week. It was sold off immediately to my FFL dealer, cannot trust a gun that is potentially a problem- note that I am not the only person having issues with the BG 380.

There are plenty of other semi auto striker fired pistols I can purchase, I see no reason to travel down this path again.

The malfunctioning pistol is not the entire concern I have with S&W, it is the way the problem was handled by them. I wish you could share some of the phone conversations I had with S&W reps regarding this issue, along with the lack of communication and needing to submit an FFL FIVE times-FIVE times; heck the US Gov is not this fouled up!

I will state again that I have owned several S&W guns since 1972 and have used there customer service more than a few times. This incident has clearly shown me that they are not headed in the right direction.

I have my 642 for light carry and a sig 365 for regular carry. My 365 has been flawless, yes others have had to return their 365's once or twice for problems; but twice is acceptable for brand new model in my opinion vs. 4 RMA's for gun well out of its infancy.

l will not hesitate, (well maybe a little) to buy a S&W revolver, but sorry no more Smith semi autos for me.
sparx