Lifetime Warranty? Nope!

toocool · Jun 20, 2012

I have a Model 39-2 that I've had since it was a pup. Hadn't shot it much over the years, and for the last 20+ it's resided in my safe. I recently took it out with my son and had some issues with failures to eject. What we got were upside-down stovepipe jams (case opening down, not up, stuck between the slide/barrel). I contacted Smith & Wesson, got a reply from S&W that they'd look at the gun and advised I should send it in (on my dime). After having it for over a month, I got a letter from them with a cost of $92 to repair it, $14 of which was shipping. It has always been my understanding that Smith warranties their products for life, so I was a little puzzled. I called the number on the letter to provide them a credit card number for the repair, and to inquire as to what the charge was going to cover. The guy I spoke with looked up my info, and told me the cost was $117, but couldn't detail what work was to be done! Since I had a letter in hand quoting $92, I questioned him. He kept insisting it was $117, put me on hold, came back and now it's up to $131! I kept insisting, and said he had to call me back with more information. When he called me back, he had determined that the discrepancy was due to a labor rate hike. After much insistence by me, they lowered the cost back to the original amount, but this has left a not-very-good taste in my mouth. I had previously used their warranty service with no problems, and I understand I was looking for repair on a 30+ year old gun, but I wasn't impressed with this level of service.

Has anyone else had any issues when looking for service on an older weapon?

s&wchad · Jun 20, 2012

The Lifetime Service Policy covers guns made after February, 1989. Since the 39-2 was discontinued in 1982, it's not covered.

srgvaz · Jun 21, 2012

You could have replaced the recoil spring yourself and saved allot of time and money.

Hillbilly77 · Jun 21, 2012

I have the original box & paperwork for my 586 - born in 1981.
According to the paperwork, the warranty period back then was 1 year.

Broker50 · Jun 21, 2012

As stated, covers guns after '89 (three letter prefix S N). And to the original owner only. Many here will argue that it covers successive owners, but it CLEARLY states original purchaser. They do cover some, I suppose on a "don't ask, don't tell basis", though.

Silversmok3 · Jun 21, 2012

The lifetime warranty only applies to the original owner of a firearm.After 5 odd phone calls to S&W CS regarding a misbehaving 5906 , that was the only consistent response I got from the company. For what its worth that's pretty much industry standard policy, and at least S&W will adress the problem.

For a company certain to leave a bad taste in your mouth, try calling Beretta with a problem.If their guns break and its second-hand the factory won't even take your call!When I had a problem with a Beretta pistol I was transferred to a third party gunsmith located way out in Nebraska. If I gotta pay parts and labor to fix the gun anyway , why should I bother mailing it to an "authorized regional repair center" when there's a gunsmith an hour away from me?

Engine49guy · Jun 21, 2012

Broker50 said:
As stated, covers guns after '89 (three letter prefix S N). And to the original owner only. Many here will argue that it covers successive owners, but it CLEARLY states original purchaser. They do cover some, I suppose on a "don't ask, don't tell basis", though.

Just a little clarification ,
3 letter prefix serials began around 1983 well before the lifetime warranty so not all 3 letter prefix guns are covered.

You probably didnt mean to infer that but some might read it that way .

FirebirdV8 · Jun 21, 2012

The different cost quoting would be annoying, but the fact that a company would support a discontinued product anywhere from 30 to 40 years old at any cost is amazing. Try that with any other product in your life and see how that works out.

patbelly · Jun 21, 2012

Let's see, a 30+ year old gun that is no longer covered under the Service warranty is repaired and shipped back to you for under $100??
Sounds like a great deal to me. S&W Customer Service has been outstanding in most cases that I have heard. Some ppl have spent almost that much just to ship a firearm back "under warranty", not S&W.

Florida Guy · Jun 21, 2012

I'd be frustrated with that situation also. You had a price in hand, and that's what you should pay.

About 7 months ago, I sent 2 revolvers back to S&W for repair.
They were both around 1980 vintage. S&W sent me a shipping label, but I had to pay return shipping + cost of repairs.
I think it cost me around $90 incl. shipping for the 2 guns.
They worked perfectly when I got them back, and I was very happy with this experience and cost.

Not many companies stand behind their products for so long a time, and still have parts in stock to do repairs.

Loy Loyola · Jun 21, 2012

From $92 to $117 to $131 in a matter of minutes? Who's running the shop there, an auctioneer?

RightArm · Jun 21, 2012

I wonder what would have happened if you just mailed in $92 without calling. It's my understanding they hold your gun until payment is made. Sounds kind of like a ransom situation. I was worried when I sent my 2nd hand 3rd gen. I was told they would call before any work was done, but I never got a call. I held off on any purchases or unnecessary spending until I knew the cost. Turns out it was free, even the shipping, although they didn't exactly do anything I couldn't have done myself. At least I didn't have to pay for parts that would have set me back about $50. Still the whole holding your gun hostage thing is kind of frightening.

Fishslayer · Jun 21, 2012

toocool said:
Has anyone else had any issues when looking for service on an older weapon?

Not really. They told me I was outta luck with my carry up problem on my 686 no dash, so no issues. Fair enough. I just took it to a local 'smith for the work. Ya know how much it costs to ship a handgun if yer not an FFL?

Kinda funny lately I've been hearing more positive reviews of TAURUS CS than S&W's.

toocool · Jun 21, 2012

srgvaz said:
You could have replaced the recoil spring yourself and saved allot of time and money.

Replaced it with three different weights; had no effect. I suspect something to do with the extractor, but I don't feel comfortable trying to fix that part, hence, shipped it in. And for what it's worth, I once had a 9E (same as the 9VE, but with a melonite slide) that had a DREAM of a trigger, bought new from a police supply store, but had numerous failures to fire. Contacted Smith, they sent me a call tag, fixed the gun (no charge) and paid to return it to me, albeit with a much heavier trigger pull. It was 100% reliable after that, though, so I'm not totally down on their customer service, and I still thought it would be a nice gesture if they'd eat the shipping cost (it cost me $50+ to ship it to them, they're charging me $14 to return it...they obviously have a better rate than I do...). And I wasn't really expecting a free ride on a 30+ year old gun, but again, a guy can hope, right? It was the pricing manipulation that bugged me. I did think of just filling in the blanks on the letter, with a check for $92, but I wanted to get the repair moving as quickly as possible, so I called...so, now I'm just hoping it comes back and works...

patbelly · Jun 21, 2012

Let's hope it comes back better than ever so you can enjoy it again.

luis · Jun 25, 2012

s&wchad said:
The Lifetime Service Policy covers guns made after February, 1989. Since the 39-2 was discontinued in 1982, it's not covered.

I am sorry to say but Smith does not really have a lifetime warrenty. A friend had a forcing cone issue with a 2 inch barrel model 64 with DOB 1997. S&W told him that they no longer made parts for the gun and that it was NOT covered by the lifetime service policy. It was only after he told them that it was his carry gun with the department that they came back and said they had one barrel left. This was about five years ago.

S&W will discontinue a model so they do not have to keep spare parts for repair. So much for lifetime.

Islander · Jun 25, 2012

Hi
I sent a model 24-3 in that I had bought on GB. The cylinder jammed against the frame upon firing. Called S&W sent it in standard fed ex not overnight like they said nothing happened ? They repaired it send the old parts back in a small ziplock and it works fine now. All for less than 100.00 dollars my A.C. man charges 80.00 just to drive two blocks to my house to look at my air conditioner ? Colt I have a trooper MkIII .357 let my brother in law shoot some old wad cutters I had to use them up a friend had give them to me one stuck in the barrel he fired another and bulged the barrel I noticed it when cleaning the revolver called Colt sent it in they had a barrel made it was not up to spec? they called me told me they were sorry it was going to be awhile longer than expected they had another barrel made with correct marking installed it reblued the gun set it up and shipped it back it is better than ever. Cost 89.00 !!
I could not believe it that was in 2011. I could not tell they had ever worked on it. I have had good luck with both on repairs.
Regards
Bob

growr · Jun 25, 2012

Ever try to get some warranty work on a 30 year old car? I think S&W took very good care of you...especially in light of the report that it runs fine now.
Randy

125JHP · Jun 25, 2012

I just got my 1989 vintage 5906 back from S&W today - was gone less than 2 weeks. I had started having extraction problems and they sent a shipping label. The repair order said they replaced the recoil spring and extractor spring. I was surprised how quickly they took care of everything at no cost. Needless to say it will influence my next gun purchase.

toocool · Jun 29, 2012

My 39-2 came back yesterday, and not having had a chance to fire it yet, I can't tell if they did anything with it. It looks just like it did when I sent it in, nothing looks different. I got back a blank repair order (as in, nothing written on it at all...a blank piece of paper with a note on the bottom..."if you'd like further detail as to the repairs, please call...." and it took a little over a month and a half. I'll be taking it out for a spin tomorrow and see if it's better.

Lifetime Warranty? Nope!

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