Springfield Armory Customer Service, I'll report, you decide

[walnutred]

I have an old Springfield Armory M6 in 22LR/410. This is an early one with the push button safety, which a previous owner had removed. Searched high and low and could not find or fabricate a replacement.

At the NRA show I stopped by the SA booth and knowing they had not made this model in decades I explained the problem and half jokingly asked a Rep if they had any old parts left over stashed away.

He said not really but if I called Customer Service and said I'd talked to Mike they would take care of me. So a week latter I made the call and much to my surprise they emailed me a FedEx return authorization form and I shipped the M6 to them.

6 weeks passed and I received an email saying work was done and M6 was on the way home, adult signature required and invoice attached. Invoice shows replacement of safety, extractor and extractor spring, no charge!!!!!

In anticipation I open the box tonight and safety is there and working correctly, but the hammer/trigger mechanism was installed incorrectly. Trigger bar was obviously outside of the frame and the hammer would not cock.

It was a simple task to pull the e-clip, remove the hammer/trigger assembly and reinstall it correctly. I'm VERY grateful to have the safety replaced and would have paid for the service, but how do you not function check a firearm before returning it to a customer?

I'll send them a Thank You letter but would you mention the incorrect reassembly?

 

[OKFC05]

Why complain when you got what you wanted, for free?
Be happy!!

 

[Faulkner]

Why complain when you got what you wanted, for free?
Be happy!!

Yeah, I agree. They did you a solid, the mistake was unfortunate but not significant.

 

[walnutred]

They did treat me very well, that's my quandary. If it was your business you would not want to know such a mistake was made?

 

[Hair Trigger]

They did treat me very well, that's my quandary. If it was your business you would not want to know such a mistake was made?

I'd write the Thank You letter, with glowing praise for being able to fix such an old firearm for free. Then I would mention the condition in which you found it upon unpacking it and ask if they did function tests after repair, and if not, then why not?

Maybe it got fixed near closing time on Friday and somebody got in a hurry.

I've sent two Springfield Armory semiautos in for service of minor issues. Both were returned within a couple of weeks at no charge, and the fixes were more than I had asked for, and the guns now function perfectly.

 

[NYlakesider]

I have an old Springfield Armory M6 in 22LR/410. This is an early one with the push button safety, which a previous owner had removed. Searched high and low and could not find or fabricate a replacement.

At the NRA show I stopped by the SA booth and knowing they had not made this model in decades I explained the problem and half jokingly asked a Rep if they had any old parts left over stashed away.

He said not really but if I called Customer Service and said I'd talked to Mike they would take care of me. So a week latter I made the call and much to my surprise they emailed me a FedEx return authorization form and I shipped the M6 to them.

6 weeks passed and I received an email saying work was done and M6 was on the way home, adult signature required and invoice attached. Invoice shows replacement of safety, extractor and extractor spring, no charge!!!!!

In anticipation I open the box tonight and safety is there and working correctly, but the hammer/trigger mechanism was installed incorrectly. Trigger bar was obviously outside of the frame and the hammer would not cock.

It was a simple task to pull the e-clip, remove the hammer/trigger assembly and reinstall it correctly. I'm VERY grateful to have the safety replaced and would have paid for the service, but how do you not function check a firearm before returning it to a customer?

I'll send them a Thank You letter but would you mention the incorrect reassembly?

Based on what you wrote send a very friendly thank you!

 

[Inusuit]

I think you were lucky to get your old gun fixed for free and were easily able to resolve the assembly error. I'd thank them for the service and not mention the problem.

 

[CajunBass]

Heck, the guy who assembled it at the factory had probably never heard of one, much less ever worked on one. I'd just thank them sincerely for what they did, and just forget about the glitch.

 

[AJ]

Just say thank you and be happy......Or send them a check for the repair and complain about the work.

 

[moralem]

The old adage, you get what you pay for seems to apply here. Since the problem was easily remedied by you and not a mistake that had to go back, I would accept their good will and move on.

 

[luvsmiths]

They did treat me very well, that's my quandary. If it was your business you would not want to know such a mistake was made?

Everybody has a bad day.
That was excellent CS- let it go.

 

[dmn57]

I say let it go and enjoy!

 

[BSA1]

They did treat me very well, that's my quandary. If it was your business you would not want to know such a mistake was made?

Since you choose to post this on the Internet for anyone to see without telling them first it is a little late to do it now.

 

[Grayfox]

Springfield has some of the best customer service in the industry.
Even the best of us makes a mistake now and then. Its human nature.
Be grateful and let it go.

 

[Paul in Nevada]

I am going to disagree with the majority here. I say you should express your appreciation for the excellent customer service, then very politely mention the error. Make sure you state that you were able to correct the error yourself and you are still happy with the service received.
I say this because there is a training opportunity here for the tech who did the work. I work as a supervisor in a service/warranty role myself. I am responsible for everything my technicians do. When I catch an error, I point it out to them with constructive criticism. It's a teaching moment. When they do well, I praise them. When they make a mistake, I help them get better. I always welcome this kind of feedback from my customers. I don't punish my guys for their mistakes. As a result, they don't hide their errors from me or short change our customers. They know that customer satisfaction is our #1 priority and they take pride in their work.

 

[dsf]

I have an old Springfield Armory M6 in 22LR/410. This is an early one with the push button safety, which a previous owner had removed. Searched high and low and could not find or fabricate a replacement.

At the NRA show I stopped by the SA booth and knowing they had not made this model in decades I explained the problem and half jokingly asked a Rep if they had any old parts left over stashed away.

He said not really but if I called Customer Service and said I'd talked to Mike they would take care of me. So a week latter I made the call and much to my surprise they emailed me a FedEx return authorization form and I shipped the M6 to them.

6 weeks passed and I received an email saying work was done and M6 was on the way home, adult signature required and invoice attached. Invoice shows replacement of safety, extractor and extractor spring, no charge!!!!!

In anticipation I open the box tonight and safety is there and working correctly, but the hammer/trigger mechanism was installed incorrectly. Trigger bar was obviously outside of the frame and the hammer would not cock.

It was a simple task to pull the e-clip, remove the hammer/trigger assembly and reinstall it correctly. I'm VERY grateful to have the safety replaced and would have paid for the service, but how do you not function check a firearm before returning it to a customer?

I'll send them a Thank You letter but would you mention the incorrect reassembly?

I have the answer ...

Persnickety little brother visits the city's newest exclusive French restaurant. On the way home he stops at Big Brother's house to tell him about his experience.

"And how was your meal at Che Ptomaine?" the Big Brother inquires.

"Oh it was just perfect - except for one unimportant thing I just had to complain about" was his animated response.

"So" came Big Brother's reply, with a knowing smile "it was just how you like it.

 

[walnutred]

The transition from a Producing culture to a Consuming culture has been interesting. I've spent the last 28 years of my life doing Environmental Safety and Health in a manufacturing environment. Every morning we have a meeting that starts with me talking about any ESH issues that came up in the last 24 hours or upcoming projects. Then Quality talks about any defective product that was discovered. Hopefully discovered internally, not a customer complaint. Next Production talks about parts run and any machines that might be down that would affect the days production. Finally HR talks about recruitment and terminations and where we stand on required manning.

That's the order topics are discussed everyday because that is the descending order of priorities the corporate office wants us to understand is their priority. We are not an American owned company.

 

[BillyMagg]

Spot on!

I am going to disagree with the majority here. I say you should express your appreciation for the excellent customer service, then very politely mention the error. Make sure you state that you were able to correct the error yourself and you are still happy with the service received.
I say this because there is a training opportunity here for the tech who did the work. I work as a supervisor in a service/warranty role myself. I am responsible for everything my technicians do. When I catch an error, I point it out to them with constructive criticism. It's a teaching moment. When they do well, I praise them. When they make a mistake, I help them get better. I always welcome this kind of feedback from my customers. I don't punish my guys for their mistakes. As a result, they don't hide their errors from me or short change our customers. They know that customer satisfaction is our #1 priority and they take pride in their work.

This is the way to go about it,, I rather doubt they will take offense at you mentioning it here,, consumers need to be informed,, management should be commended and allowed to do some teaching to their staff,, all good..

 

[Baxter6551]

I've had no issues at all with on a couple of occasions wirh Springfield Customer Service. Most recently was two 9mm 1911 mags replaced no charge.

 

[Sevens]

I also like Paul's answer and the tone of most of the other replies seem to hint that you are looking a gift horse in the mouth and I don't agree with that sentiment.

Consider this -- sounds like you "got the hook-up" when you were told to ask for Mike. I suggest you call back, ask for Mike again and either thank him clearly and genuinely and then detail the screw-up also (tactfully) or you ask Mike for his last name so that you can write him a letter.

I think it's obvious from your post that tact is a skill that you have, it's valuable here I think.

I enjoyed hearing about this.