A little attitude with S&W customer service

[MrTuna]

Don't feel bad. I bought a Sig Sauer P220 Elite and it actually came from the factory with the wrong slide on it. It did not say Elite and did not have the front cocking serrations. Try and explain that one. Good thing my local store backed me. Yeah they do make mistakes in a factory.

 

[SMMAssociates]

I had a loony one like this back in 2004 when I bought a new Para Tac-Four (P1345 as an LDA, $50 magazines!). Because of the then-expiring AWB, I was supposed to get two 13's and one 10.... We checked the gun at the store, and there was one of each. I didn't know about the second 13 at the time.

A day or two later, while rummaging around on Para's web site, I found out that they'd been doing the three magazines deal for a while.

(The gun was supposed to arrive in the store with the two 13's and a video secured to the outside of the box. The distributor was responsible for attaching this stuff - apparently Para, then in Canada, couldn't ship the 13's into the US at the time, but had a hoard of them at a site in FL.)

I called my dealer, and they called the distributor. The extra magazine appeared about a week later.... We never figured out how that happened - I trust my dealer, and he trusts the distributor. (This was before he started buying guns on the web....)

The plus side - there was a delightful blonde countergirl working there at the time. My wife wouldn't let me keep her, but at least I could look .

Often....

Regards,

 

[Walthernut]

I had the same thing happen with a Springfield XD .45 Tactical. I bought it on impulse from a local dealer and it had one mag. I later found out it was suppose to have 2. I went back to the dealer and he swore up and down that it only had 1. I called the factory (actually e-mailed them) and got a quick response that it should've had 2. The factory made no attempt to give me a second mag. I forwarded the factory e-mail to the dealer and got no response.
Since I was miffed by both the factory and the dealer and I bought 2 spare mags from another source for less than the factory advertised price. The dealer said he could get me one and his non-response to the factory e-mail I forwarded to him rubbed me the wrong way.
Live and learn. The XD, incidentally, shoots great with all 3 mags, excellent trigger and very accurate. Alls well that ends well and the dealer, well, he's off my list for future sales.

 

[Craig19]

Gotta watch those sales weasels, wouldn't surprise me if they stripped it out and planned on selling it later.

 

[meanmrmustard]

I sincerely doubt S&W forgot to put a magazine in the box. And honestly, it's your responsibility to check the product before you bring it home, right?

The customers always right, even when wrong. Checking for the second mag wouldn't have made it magically appear at the time. Quality control is in charge of that, not the customer.

 

[Knightrider03m]

The customers always right, even when wrong. Checking for the second mag wouldn't have made it magically appear at the time. Quality control is in charge of that, not the customer.

NO, the customer is not always right. The customer should have checked before leaving also. However, even when the customer may or may not have been wrong, the employee of S&W shouldn't have acted like that.

 

[SMMAssociates]

NO, the customer is not always right. The customer should have checked before leaving also. However, even when the customer may or may not have been wrong, the employee of S&W shouldn't have acted like that.

Marcus:

I think you hit the nail on the head here....

Unless you check the thing during the final acceptance, it's really your word against the counterstaff (and S&W's CS people). While I doubt if any of us would take advantage, we're a cut above .... The counterstaff needs to sign off on the missing magazine.... Unless the CS people are really in a good mood....

I didn't have any problems in that Para instance mentioned above - the owner's a friend, and his sister - who's sort of COO there - was both a friend and had taught my kid's Sunday School. At least two people remembered that I only got the two (one 10 and one 13) magazines, and Amy (the cute blonde) called the distributor to verify that there should have been two 13's as well as the 10.

That said, a reputable dealer should vouch for you if they know you at all.... (Which is why I keep my purchases to places that know me . OTOH, those extra door locks and guard dogs had to cost a few bucks.)

Other than not having the dogs set out after you, buying local has some advantages.... (Especially when Amy was working there .)

Regards,

 

[RAW]

Customer service

Along those lines: How long should it take S&W to fill an order for a pistol in general? My shop ordered me a .45 with a 4 inch bbl almost a month ago and they still haven't seen it. Should I keep waiting or try another store?

Sorry, not trying to thread hijack, but I am kind of concerned.

contacted customer service about M1911 in 9mm; was told "production would begin in late June". Pistol has been out since 2010 ??!! my authorized dealer cannot get any information either.

semper Fi 1st Sgt (ret) USMCR

 

[meanmrmustard]

NO, the customer is not always right. The customer should have checked before leaving also. However, even when the customer may or may not have been wrong, the employee of S&W shouldn't have acted like that.

Checking for the mag would still have resulted in a dispute between himself and customer service. You fail to see the point, the customer is most important especially in a situation where he/said she/said is concerned. The ffl isn't going to make the missing mag magically appear, so it's CS whose responsible for making things right. They're human and not by any means perfect. Mistakes are made, but it's their job to fix it. Get off your high horse guys, cut the OP some slack. Lord knows S&W isn't.

 

[Water-Man]

Since the problem was partially your own fault, maybe this thread should be about praising S&W for sending you a free mag.

 

[remat457]

Get off your high horse guys, cut the OP some slack. Lord knows S&W isn't.

Maybe we (me?) are coming across a little too briskly. I was actually blaming the dealer for not taking care of the C.S. I don't think that the OP should have even had to call S&W.

After all, who sells M&P's? Who knows how many they normally come with? Who had to verify the SN on the pistol any way? And, at least in the case of my dealer, the mag would have magically appeared. The dealer would have gave me one and called S&W later.

I think that S&W should have treated him (everyone) better. But, S&W did send the mag, I would consider that slack. Maybe its a sorry state of C.S. but you guys should try calling Kimber or EAA. Now, there is some...brisk attitude.

 

[firebirdude]

Nobody likes getting attitude. And nobody should really give attitude. It's a sign you're letting your emotions mix with your business. It's inexperienced, and honestly, a little childish.

But in the end, S&W did send the mag. They have no idea who's really at fault. But they took you for your word and are sending you a very popular (and probably the most often scammed) piece of your firearm. So please don't trash them online for giving you a little lip. At least call it a wash.

Odds are the retailer has it. It may have been by accident. But the odds of S&W accidently forgetting a mag is about 1/50th the odds of a retailer misplacing it.

 

[khclark]

... and they seem a little uncomfortable distributing and representing Walther USA, with the sorry, one year warranty that Walther dictates they abide by. In my opinion, they should ditch Walther, as by association I feel it sullies the S&W name.

Amen, brother.

 

[Lost Lake]

Along those lines: How long should it take S&W to fill an order for a pistol in general? My shop ordered me a .45 with a 4 inch bbl almost a month ago and they still haven't seen it. Should I keep waiting or try another store?

Sorry, not trying to thread hijack, but I am kind of concerned.

I am still waiting on my M&P 22.... 7 months now... I called about ordering a M&P 9mm yesterday and was told they are 30 - 45 days out.

 

[jimslim]

one month wait

it took my ffl's distritor one month to get my 329NG .i was so glad to get it i ignored the fact all six cylinders were sooted and the cylinder showed some drag lines .who do you look at then ?

 

[Dr.-d]

The customer service rep knows what he or she are trained and allowed to do to take care of customer service issues. If there is an issue they can not resolve or do not know how to, pass it off to their supervisor or get instructions from them. Yes everybody has bad days. Heck, I deal with Angry, upset and rude people everyday and there are some people no matter what you can't pacify. The customer srevice guy on the phone even if he got 100 phone calls a day or more from people wanting free magazines and he believes most of them are scamming, why should he care. His job is to take care of the customer. Do the job as required, don't take it personal, punch out at the end of the day and go home and be happy. Let those in charge of the company worry about the cost of doing buisness and how they want to handle things.

 

[EAHILL]

Well, you could thank them for the range test.

 

[ET.]

I've been in wholesale sales for some 25 years. It never amazes me to hear what customers will call in demanding. Yes the OP deserved to get 2 mags with his gun. He does state that he & the gunshop opened the box and inspected the gun. As others have said, that is when the missing mag should have been caught. The excuse that the OP buys several guns at once is no excuse. If you are buying the gun & the case is opened for inspection, you had better inspect the cases contents.

Once the gun is shipped out of the factory, any number of things could have caused that mag to disappear... at least that is how the CS rep is looking at it. He knows that the inspections process that the factory goes through before that gun case is closed almost certainly ensures that there were 2 mags in that case. It isn't just one guy looking at the contents in the case. Several sets of eyes comfirm that everything is included that is supposed to be there & I'm sure that they check off on the fact that it is all there.

If word gets out that anybody can call up and say that they only got 1 mag & S&W will gladly send them another with no questions asked, then S&W will be supplying a ton of free mags. That's just how it works. The CS rep needed to press you to see if you would back down, which some people who are fishing for a free mag would do. If I had been the CS rep. I would have also stated with certainty that the gun shipped with 2 mags & that the second mag is out there somewhere.

He knew that the probability of somebody getting a free mag out of this deal was close to 100%. It might not be the OP, but I would bet my IRA that 2 mags left the factory in that case and someone is enjoying his extra mag as we speek.

 

[ET.]

The customer srevice guy on the phone even if he got 100 phone calls a day or more from people wanting free magazines and he believes most of them are scamming, why should he care. His job is to take care of the customer. Do the job as required, don't take it personal, punch out at the end of the day and go home and be happy. Let those in charge of the company worry about the cost of doing buisness and how they want to handle things.

This isn't the person I want working for me. "Why should he care?" He should care because he takes pride in doing his job correctly. Correctly doesn't mean giving free mags to everybody who calls in demanding one. Correctly doesn't mean "let those in charge of the company worry about the cost of doing business..." Correctly isn't "do his job then punch out at the end of the day and go home and be happy".

I want employees who want to do what is right. Doing everything that the customer demands isn't always the right thing. I once handled a complaint by an end user who was totally out of touch with reality. I turned the complaint down. He called the factory and lied through his teeth & got a new product on the spot worth $3000. Then the CS rep called me up and blasted me. I ended up telling the CS rep that she was totally out of line. I had been doing this for 18 years & never had a CS rep take the customers word for truth without first talking to me about it. She ended up in tears & I found myself talking to the VP of sales. Once he heard my side of the story he retrained his CS department to work through the sales force instead of as a completely independent department. We never had another problem.

This problem should have been handled through the gun store. The end user should never have had to deal directly with CS when he was sold a gun missing a mag. The gun store dropped the ball here and should be held accountable for not doing what they were supposed to do...that is, take care of their customer. If the store had a good reputation with the distributor or manufacturer, then they probably would have been refunded the cost of a new mag. If they pull this a lot, which tends to be the case, then they would have been out of luck. I've found that there are usually just a few problem accounts who seem to have these problems over & over again, where as everybody else almost never had those problems.I suspect that is the case here.

 

[SMMAssociates]

Seems to me that in the flush of buying a new gun (or more than one), it's possible to miss the absence of an accessory. Hard to miss a magazine, but if you see one, you may think that the other one's in the gun, for example, and keep on going - thinking about hitting the range with it, or the other Super Master Blaster 5000 you just bought....

Between you and the store people, though, somebody should have noticed. (The "other eyes" at S&W could have been having a bad day, too, walked away, etc.)

And, yes, it should be the store people who talk to the distributor or take it up the line as needed. This can add credibility to your claim, if nothing else.

The instance I mentioned earlier in the thread - I didn't find out about the three magazines (two full-cap, one neutered) that were supposed to be in the box until I hit the website.... Double-checked all that and then called the dealer. They handled it....

My credibility at this particular dealer is such that they'd probably have given me the countergirl who handled the distributor-level calls if I'd asked nice. (Just short of "leave the wife and kids"! But her boyfriend was kinda big. As in "use Volkswagen axles for toothpicks".... They eventually got married, and she quit. A good chunk of the clientele went into mourning .)

I called KelTec one afternoon for some bits & pieces, and the guy didn't even ask for a serial number. I finally had to ask "couldn't I find a way to get a whole gun out of you guys this way?". He said I couldn't.... Hm.... Not even a hint of a question when I had to order a complete "grip" - what they call the whole plastic part of the gun. Dumb thing cracked back by the sear assembly.

NEVER, EVER take the sear assembly out of a P3AT without your prayer shawl, Rosary beads, and some votive candles. A whole new definition of counter-intuitive.... It's also nearly impossible to swap a trigger....

(As long as we're off topic, a buddy brought a new .380 "Bodyguard" to the range last night. He loves it, laser and all, but wouldn't shoot it.... He's a little different . He's been known to put five rounds downrange, decide he's not having a good night, and leave.)

Back to topic, I've heard a few CS calls, too. I was the Data Processing Manager at a custom plastic extrusions facility for many years, and spent a few years prior working in QC and product design. One holiday morning, being single then, and with nothing better to do, I'd gone out to the office to shake the doors, and get a little paperwork together.

The phone rang, so....

Turned out to be an Architect in New York trying to get some replacement weatherstrip for a building rehab in Scotland.

We could make this stuff in millions of feet, but generally had a minimum order of 1000' or thereabouts. He needed about 100'.... I explained that, and told him I'd give a memo to the Sales Manager - they could discuss whether or not the order would go through, costs, etc. (Not to mention being able to find some of this stuff at a hardware store if you weren't too picky.)

Sales Mangler (that's not a typo ) talked to the guy in a few days, and they agreed, but noted that because of the quantity, actual production would likely be on a "when we can get some time" basis, and might take a while.

After about thirty days, the architect called me about every other day.... He couldn't understand that the only influence I had on Production was printing up (but not signing) paychecks....

Reminds me of my brother-in-law. He couldn't stand dealing with the public at an Orange Julius. He's now a funeral director....

Regards,