This is long, so bear with me.
For years I have been hearing glowing reports about how great Ruger customer service is and how S&W and other firearms manufacturers should emulate them and follow their lead. Every one of these tales seems to report 1-2 week turn around times and great communications from Riger.
I now have a tale of their customer service of my own to relate. Unfortunately mine has been a somewhat different type of experience altogether.
For a couple of years I carried a first generation LC9 and was very happy with it. Until approximately 3 months ago when it fired out of battery and launched the extractor into low earth orbit.
Here is the timeline of the high points of this little exodus
7/17/20 I first contacted Ruger customer service by email to tell them of my problem
7/21/20 I received an email reply including a prepaid FedEx shipping label and instructions on how to send it in for inspection/repair.
7/23/20 I shipped the firearm back to Ruger
7/27/20 I received an email saying that they had received my firearm.
8/10/20 I sent a follow up email inquiring about the status of my repair – no reply
8/13/20 I called inquiring about the status of my repair – they promised to find out and call back. They didn’t
8/17/20 Called again inquiring about the status of my repair – they promised to find out and call back. They didn’t - again
8/24/20 I finally received an email saying that a technician had my gun on their bench, exactly 4 weeks after they received it.
9/1/20 I received an email from customer service saying my firearm was not repairable, that they would give me credit towards a different pistol to replace it, but that the replacement might require paying an “upgrade charge” if it was a more expensive firearm. I replied to the email asking for a reason WHY my pistol was not repairable since they still sell repair parts for it on their website. I also asked how much credit I would be getting towards something to replace it, and gave 3 examples of current offerings I might be interested in as a replacement.
9/2/20 I sent a follow up email expressing my displeasure at their lack of response and asking that they give me a phone call to discuss my questions and concerns
9/5/20 I received a reply from customer service quoting the “upgrade charge” for all 3 of the current offerings I had expressed interest in as replacements for my gun. BUT they gave no explanation for why my pistol wasn’t repairable. I also asked about sales tax and shipping times for the 3 example replacements they quoted and pointed out that they hadn’t answered my question about my pistol being beyond repair.
9/8/20 The customer service rep replied to answer my question about taxes and what the shipping time would be for the 3 example replacements I asked about. In explanation of why they couldn't repair my pistol she said that they “do not have any slides for this model, it will continue to have a slow slide reaction.” Seemed like an odd explanation to me – I’ve never heard of a gun discharging out-of-battery being described as “a slow slide reaction”. I replied to ask if any or all of the 3 alternatives were in stock and ready to ship.
9/15/20 Having received no reply for a week I sent a follow up email reiterating the questions I asked in the email I sent on 9/8/20. Customer service finally replied to say that only one of the alternatives were in stock and ready to ship. I responded with the my preferred alternative replacement pistol (an AR-15), my FFL choice, and to ask if my magazine from my LC9 could be returned to me. They replied to say that they would ship the magazine back the following day and that they would contact me for payment of the $259 “upgrade charge” when the AR pistol was ready to ship.
9/21/20 I sent a follow up email from customer service asking if they could tell me when the replacement pistol would be ready to ship. They said that the order had been placed at the factory and they didn’t know when it would ship.
9/22/20 The factory sent me an email to say that the new pistol would ship in 10-14 days.
9/25/20 The factory sent an email asking me to call them with payment for the “upgrade charge”. I promptly called and gave them my credit card info. I notified my FFL to be on the lookout for the gun to arrive.
9/28/20 I sent a follow up email to the customer service rep inquiring about my magazine that had never arrived. They replied to say that they had forgot to ship it and it would go out overnight the next day.
9/29/20 I got an email from FedEx saying the package with my magazine would arrive the next day. I also got a text from my FFL to let me know the new gun had arrived.
9/30/20 I got another email from FedEx saying it couldn’t be delivered because it was marked “Adult signature required” – and there are no adults at my home during the day. I went to their website and tried to ask them to hold it at the terminal for me to pick it up, but found out that Ruger had given instructions that it could ONLY be delivered to the specified address (my home) and that it could only be released with an adult signature.
9/30/20 I sent customer service an email and asked them to contact FedEx and tell them it was OK to hold it at the terminal for me to pick up. Instead they removed the Adult Signature Required restriction from the package. BUT they never bothered to reply to me to let me know.
10/1/20 I got another email from FedEx saying the package with the magazine had been delivered.
10/2/20 I met with my FFL to complete the transfer paperwork.
So start to finish from the point I first contacted Ruger about the problem until I received the replacement was just under ELEVEN weeks (7/21/20 to 9/30/20). The turn around time from the date they received my broken pistol until they shipped the replacement was NINE weeks (7/27/20 to 9/25/20).
I understand about COVID slowing things down, but an increase from 2 or 3 weeks total turnaround time to 11 weeks? That seems a bit excessive. Frankly the lack of communication was a big part of the problem. Waiting a week or two before answering a customer’s email, or failing to answer an email at all, is NOT my idea of outstanding customer service. Neither is promising things you don’t deliver (like shipping my magazine the next day). It is almost as if they are so used to getting the gun back into the customer’s hands quickly that they have never developed the communications skills or mechanisms – because they haven’t had to. It seems like now that the lead times are long enough that they need to communicate with the customer, they don’t know how.
So, in the final analysis, all's well that ends well. I am very satisfied with the final resolution. For $260 cash, a well used pistol I paid $140 for 2 years ago, and a $20 transfer fee I got a new-in-box 5.56 pistol that is selling on GunBroker (not just listing, actually SELLING) for $1,000. So I have no complaints there.
However, I think it is safe to say that Ruger customer service isn’t what it once was – at least not at this present time - and their products are just as subject to having "issues" as others.
P.S. I have photos of the ruptured cartridge and video showing that the gun could, would, and did fire out of battery. I volunteered to provide this "evidence" at the outset, but Ruger never asked for any of it or even tried to dispute that an out of battery discharge was what caused the damage.
For years I have been hearing glowing reports about how great Ruger customer service is and how S&W and other firearms manufacturers should emulate them and follow their lead. Every one of these tales seems to report 1-2 week turn around times and great communications from Riger.
I now have a tale of their customer service of my own to relate. Unfortunately mine has been a somewhat different type of experience altogether.
For a couple of years I carried a first generation LC9 and was very happy with it. Until approximately 3 months ago when it fired out of battery and launched the extractor into low earth orbit.
Here is the timeline of the high points of this little exodus
7/17/20 I first contacted Ruger customer service by email to tell them of my problem
7/21/20 I received an email reply including a prepaid FedEx shipping label and instructions on how to send it in for inspection/repair.
7/23/20 I shipped the firearm back to Ruger
7/27/20 I received an email saying that they had received my firearm.
8/10/20 I sent a follow up email inquiring about the status of my repair – no reply
8/13/20 I called inquiring about the status of my repair – they promised to find out and call back. They didn’t
8/17/20 Called again inquiring about the status of my repair – they promised to find out and call back. They didn’t - again
8/24/20 I finally received an email saying that a technician had my gun on their bench, exactly 4 weeks after they received it.
9/1/20 I received an email from customer service saying my firearm was not repairable, that they would give me credit towards a different pistol to replace it, but that the replacement might require paying an “upgrade charge” if it was a more expensive firearm. I replied to the email asking for a reason WHY my pistol was not repairable since they still sell repair parts for it on their website. I also asked how much credit I would be getting towards something to replace it, and gave 3 examples of current offerings I might be interested in as a replacement.
9/2/20 I sent a follow up email expressing my displeasure at their lack of response and asking that they give me a phone call to discuss my questions and concerns
9/5/20 I received a reply from customer service quoting the “upgrade charge” for all 3 of the current offerings I had expressed interest in as replacements for my gun. BUT they gave no explanation for why my pistol wasn’t repairable. I also asked about sales tax and shipping times for the 3 example replacements they quoted and pointed out that they hadn’t answered my question about my pistol being beyond repair.
9/8/20 The customer service rep replied to answer my question about taxes and what the shipping time would be for the 3 example replacements I asked about. In explanation of why they couldn't repair my pistol she said that they “do not have any slides for this model, it will continue to have a slow slide reaction.” Seemed like an odd explanation to me – I’ve never heard of a gun discharging out-of-battery being described as “a slow slide reaction”. I replied to ask if any or all of the 3 alternatives were in stock and ready to ship.
9/15/20 Having received no reply for a week I sent a follow up email reiterating the questions I asked in the email I sent on 9/8/20. Customer service finally replied to say that only one of the alternatives were in stock and ready to ship. I responded with the my preferred alternative replacement pistol (an AR-15), my FFL choice, and to ask if my magazine from my LC9 could be returned to me. They replied to say that they would ship the magazine back the following day and that they would contact me for payment of the $259 “upgrade charge” when the AR pistol was ready to ship.
9/21/20 I sent a follow up email from customer service asking if they could tell me when the replacement pistol would be ready to ship. They said that the order had been placed at the factory and they didn’t know when it would ship.
9/22/20 The factory sent me an email to say that the new pistol would ship in 10-14 days.
9/25/20 The factory sent an email asking me to call them with payment for the “upgrade charge”. I promptly called and gave them my credit card info. I notified my FFL to be on the lookout for the gun to arrive.
9/28/20 I sent a follow up email to the customer service rep inquiring about my magazine that had never arrived. They replied to say that they had forgot to ship it and it would go out overnight the next day.
9/29/20 I got an email from FedEx saying the package with my magazine would arrive the next day. I also got a text from my FFL to let me know the new gun had arrived.
9/30/20 I got another email from FedEx saying it couldn’t be delivered because it was marked “Adult signature required” – and there are no adults at my home during the day. I went to their website and tried to ask them to hold it at the terminal for me to pick it up, but found out that Ruger had given instructions that it could ONLY be delivered to the specified address (my home) and that it could only be released with an adult signature.
9/30/20 I sent customer service an email and asked them to contact FedEx and tell them it was OK to hold it at the terminal for me to pick up. Instead they removed the Adult Signature Required restriction from the package. BUT they never bothered to reply to me to let me know.
10/1/20 I got another email from FedEx saying the package with the magazine had been delivered.
10/2/20 I met with my FFL to complete the transfer paperwork.
So start to finish from the point I first contacted Ruger about the problem until I received the replacement was just under ELEVEN weeks (7/21/20 to 9/30/20). The turn around time from the date they received my broken pistol until they shipped the replacement was NINE weeks (7/27/20 to 9/25/20).
I understand about COVID slowing things down, but an increase from 2 or 3 weeks total turnaround time to 11 weeks? That seems a bit excessive. Frankly the lack of communication was a big part of the problem. Waiting a week or two before answering a customer’s email, or failing to answer an email at all, is NOT my idea of outstanding customer service. Neither is promising things you don’t deliver (like shipping my magazine the next day). It is almost as if they are so used to getting the gun back into the customer’s hands quickly that they have never developed the communications skills or mechanisms – because they haven’t had to. It seems like now that the lead times are long enough that they need to communicate with the customer, they don’t know how.
So, in the final analysis, all's well that ends well. I am very satisfied with the final resolution. For $260 cash, a well used pistol I paid $140 for 2 years ago, and a $20 transfer fee I got a new-in-box 5.56 pistol that is selling on GunBroker (not just listing, actually SELLING) for $1,000. So I have no complaints there.
However, I think it is safe to say that Ruger customer service isn’t what it once was – at least not at this present time - and their products are just as subject to having "issues" as others.
P.S. I have photos of the ruptured cartridge and video showing that the gun could, would, and did fire out of battery. I volunteered to provide this "evidence" at the outset, but Ruger never asked for any of it or even tried to dispute that an out of battery discharge was what caused the damage.
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