- Joined
- Jul 30, 2020
- Messages
- 114
- Reaction score
- 225
Millions of guns sold and all you hear about are the few that had problems
This thread is about customer service issues, not the millions of successful guns sold…
Deterioration of Smith Customer Service?
- Thread starter RenoHuskerDu
- Start date
This thread is about customer service issues, not the millions of successful guns sold…
Model 15-4ever
Member
Usual result options of the above course of action when calling S&W CS:
1.) Put on hold, no supervisor ever picks up. Eventually you hang up, call back. Process repeats continually.
2.) Another employee gets on the phone and gives you the same CS mantra the previous one did.
3.) Your complaint gets escalated VIA EMAIL to the "supervisor", who assures you that the problem will be "personally addressed". From that point, the sub-routes of resolution:
a) Your problem remains unresolved, OR
b) Your problem is resolved, and NEW problems added, OR
c) Your problem remain unresolved, AND new problems added.
I've bought a new S&W revolver each of the three previous years. Out of the Box, TWO required complete replacement. One of those required four (4) trips back to the factory and a subsequent call to an upper-management contact to have it resolved. The most recent one I repaired myself (I'm a factory-certified revolver armorer) rather than suffer the CS nightmare.
50% of the new in box S&W revolvers I've examined at the LCS for the past 2 years have been defective. It's not a couple of whiners and complainers. The quality has taken a massive nosedive.
I've not finger banged many Smiths in the last 2-3 years, so I can't comment on that. But if it's true, wow, that's just horrific!
The new TN plant is about an hour north of me. If they ever cheese me off enough, I'll take the thing directly to their plant.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't all the revolvers still being made at the Mass plant? I wonder if there were some forced retirements when the move was executed? Perhaps as a cost cutting measure?
Brand loyalty only goes so far and the vast majority of folks on this forum are S&W fans. When so many on here are having so many problems with S&W customer service, one has to sit up and take notice. Some customers will sell a defective gun rather than face stonewalling by CS. That makes me even more leery of buying a used S&W handgun than before, especially if it is online (a pig and a poke).
Yaworski
Member
- Joined
- May 21, 2016
- Messages
- 883
- Reaction score
- 1,209
The couple times that I had an issue with an S&W, I found them to be responsive and very helpful. Of course that was about twenty years ago.
The move may be part of the problem. Poor training can be an issue. Also, quite often the modern worker just doesn't care enough to do a good job. The person you were talking to didn't care enough to find out the maximum file size.
The move may be part of the problem. Poor training can be an issue. Also, quite often the modern worker just doesn't care enough to do a good job. The person you were talking to didn't care enough to find out the maximum file size.
SnidelyWhiplash
Member
The only times I ever had use of Smith's customer service was back in the late '70s and '80s. I purchased new a Model 19 (still have it) and a Model 66. Each was defective out of the box. Each one would fail to function after only a few rounds...two different problems but the gun store owner sent them to Smith and each was sorted out promptly. One was under Pangor Punta ownership...the other under Lear Siegler.
The last time was when the police agency I was a member of received an order of new Model 64 revolvers. Upon testing one was discovered that the barrel was unrifled...a smoothbore. I called S&W and the rep said "We want that back!" He said the gun would have had to pass through at least a dozen hands before shipping and that should have been caught. The revolver was shipped back and we received it a week later with a new, proper barrel.
Customer service was fine each time...but the problems should never have happened.
The last time was when the police agency I was a member of received an order of new Model 64 revolvers. Upon testing one was discovered that the barrel was unrifled...a smoothbore. I called S&W and the rep said "We want that back!" He said the gun would have had to pass through at least a dozen hands before shipping and that should have been caught. The revolver was shipped back and we received it a week later with a new, proper barrel.
Customer service was fine each time...but the problems should never have happened.
N4KVE
Member
Anytime a company moves, they offer to take any employees with them, & help pay for the move. So the gal could have been from up north. Anytime I try to send photos via E-Mail a screen pops up asking “do you want to send the photos small, medium, or large”. After years of doing this, it turns out medium, or large don’t work. Small works fine, but there is no warning medium, or large didn’t get sent. But I check my sent files to find out it didn’t work. So now I send all photos small, & that always works. GARY.
Last edited:
smithman 10
US Veteran
How to avoid customer service problems
Buy used from shops that test fire their offerings before they put them in the display case!
Buy used from shops that test fire their offerings before they put them in the display case!
No, they call the sales rep who brokered their purchasing contract. They don't dare stand in line with the unwashed masses.
I've never in my 30+ years of selling guns have heard of a shop doing that. Never.
I have not heard of any shops that test fire before selling either. Most do not even have an on-site range and even if they did, it would be time consuming and expensive.
I've had a couple of problems with my last S&W purchases. One was a recall, which was promptly taken care of, and another was a 22 mag that required 3 trips back to Smith before they gave up and replaced the firearm. The rest were fine - they all worked and looked like you expect a new purchase to do.
The oft repeated sentiment that most people will complain when something is wrong but usually won't say anything if all is good is true, especially since the internet provides such an easily accessible a platform for such complaints. And often when people do speak up and say how great their item is, they are accused of being fan boys. The squeaky wheel does get the grease, but it needs to squeaking where the 'fixer' can hear it. Since I don't believe S&W visits this forum, squeaking here is of limited benefit. Better would be to hear from people who had problems satisfactorily resolved and how they managed that outcome.
As a long time buyer of S&W products (over 50 years), I can state that their quality has gone up and down over the years. Ask old timers about the Banger-Punta / Lear Siegler days. For the most part, I believe their products are good but agree that customer service lately has been hit or miss. Persistence, in the form of determined but respectful communications, is generally the best route to iron out differences and get the most out of customer service. Often it's a simple matter of speaking to someone else. If someone tells you they don't know, politely ask to speak to someone else who does.
Ranting and raving on line will do absolutely nothing to fix your problem though it might make you feel better for a short period of time. It 'might' dissuade someone else from buying the product or it might not, but if someone complains about service without providing proof of their efforts to resolve the situation, as I've seen many do, especially the "hit and run" posters who make one post and disappear, then I tend to take the post with lots of salt.
The oft repeated sentiment that most people will complain when something is wrong but usually won't say anything if all is good is true, especially since the internet provides such an easily accessible a platform for such complaints. And often when people do speak up and say how great their item is, they are accused of being fan boys. The squeaky wheel does get the grease, but it needs to squeaking where the 'fixer' can hear it. Since I don't believe S&W visits this forum, squeaking here is of limited benefit. Better would be to hear from people who had problems satisfactorily resolved and how they managed that outcome.
As a long time buyer of S&W products (over 50 years), I can state that their quality has gone up and down over the years. Ask old timers about the Banger-Punta / Lear Siegler days. For the most part, I believe their products are good but agree that customer service lately has been hit or miss. Persistence, in the form of determined but respectful communications, is generally the best route to iron out differences and get the most out of customer service. Often it's a simple matter of speaking to someone else. If someone tells you they don't know, politely ask to speak to someone else who does.
Ranting and raving on line will do absolutely nothing to fix your problem though it might make you feel better for a short period of time. It 'might' dissuade someone else from buying the product or it might not, but if someone complains about service without providing proof of their efforts to resolve the situation, as I've seen many do, especially the "hit and run" posters who make one post and disappear, then I tend to take the post with lots of salt.
The last 3 handguns I have purchased from two different gun stores were absolutely fired multiple times and being sold as NEW.
In one purchase, after field stripping and cleaning it immediately getting home with it, I took the gun back to the gun store and told them that I wanted NEW gun and not a used gun. They used a BS excuse that the “distributor” must have pulled a returned gun by mistake.
The attached photo is how “new” the last handgun was when I got it home and cleaned it. How many rounds went through it?
As a member of the range/shop I can test fire nearly any gun they have in the store. A non-member can rent them at the range. There's no doubt the one I purchased had been "test fired".
Attachments
I guess I don't understand your complaint. One the one hand you won't accept a new gun that has been test fired by other than the manufacture. On the other hand, you can test fire any gun in the shop and not buy it, so the next customer gets a new "test fired" gun that you shot?
My experience is that S&W customer service has been erratic for as long as I can remember. On the other hand, I’d be the first to admit they’ve done me a few favors I really didn’t expect. Overall, I’d give them a C+ or a B- if I was a teacher handing out the grades. They do a credible job, but they could do a lot better. 
It doesn’t surprise me that their system eliminates e-mails with large photos. I am no technogeek, but even I would know better than to send a photo bigger than necessary. It would have been nice if the CS rep had cautioned you not to try to send a photo larger than a certain size.
Is S&W’s CS now exclusively handled in TN? I’d have to wonder if that is not still handled in MA. The last time I had reason to call them I had the impression the lady I was speaking to had very little general knowledge about S&W revolvers and their construction. She also seemed to have trouble accessing old part numbers. I ended up getting parts for newer models that were total useless to me in my older gun, even though I had supplied correct part numbers. That seems like something that should have been pretty elementary.
It doesn’t surprise me that their system eliminates e-mails with large photos. I am no technogeek, but even I would know better than to send a photo bigger than necessary. It would have been nice if the CS rep had cautioned you not to try to send a photo larger than a certain size.
Is S&W’s CS now exclusively handled in TN? I’d have to wonder if that is not still handled in MA. The last time I had reason to call them I had the impression the lady I was speaking to had very little general knowledge about S&W revolvers and their construction. She also seemed to have trouble accessing old part numbers. I ended up getting parts for newer models that were total useless to me in my older gun, even though I had supplied correct part numbers. That seems like something that should have been pretty elementary.
N4KVE
Member
Where I work, if a customer is on the fence about buying a pre owned firearm, we will allow them to fire 5 rounds on our range for free to clinch the deal. But they have to have the cash in hand, and buy the gun if it works properly. We do not test any guns we take in on trade. GARY
Firearms are typically test fired at the factory, but are usually not cleaned after the test firing. They are assembled, lubed, fired, and boxed, so a new firearm is going to have the evidence of being test fired. As to how many rounds are used in the test firing, it's usually 3 rounds for revolvers, but I have no idea how many rounds for pistols, but I'd guess not likely more than one magazine full unless there was an issue that needed to be fixed.
Last edited:
Similar threads
