I'm a bit irritated with S&W right now...

[buzzkillbob]

In late December, I sent my 15-22 back to S&W for a repair. I knew it would take sometime over the holidays, but I didn't expect this kind of difficulty.

After several weeks of waiting, on January 22nd I got an email from S&W saying it shipped and that I should receive it via FedEx on the 27th. When it didn't arrive, I asked about it again. They said it should ship by the end of this week (But you said it already shipped!). Okay, okay…I can be patient. Then two days ago, I received a pre-paid shipping label out of the blue. You know…to ship my firearm back to them. But…they already have my weapon! I'm waiting to get it back!

I don't really understand what's going on at S&W. They told me, "We have changed our inventory System to SAP and we have been having delays in shipping." I'll say! I'm not sure exactly what "SAP" is, or how that's my concern, but I will say they are having more than delays in shipping! Every time I hear from them, we are going backwards. Sad…I really like S&W, but they are breaking faith with me…

 

[Kevin8503]

SAP is an enterprise level corporate management software package, commonly referred as an ERP (think QuickBooks on steroids, with modules for all sorts of management functionality).

That being said, I also shipped my 15-22 to S&W in mid-December. I didn't hear anything by early Jan so I emailed them. Two days later got the same "your weapon has been shipped" email, but no response as to my inquiry. Another two days after the shipment notification, I got a response from S&W on the "status" of my repair, with a generic boilerplate reply stating it would take 10-15 days to repair (mind you it was already on it's way back).

I did receive my 15-22 from FedEx on time. I never bothered to write S&W back to thank them for the obviously false status update.

Two weeks after I had my 15-22 back I received another prepaid shipping label out of the blue for me to send my rifle back. So weird.

I really enjoy my rifle, and they did fix what needed fixed; but their customer service is atrocious.

Long story short, I understand your frustration.

 

[jimmib]

anytime you have a new software package it takes time to train people to punch the right buttons...the company I worked for spent $66 million on a new software program and it took two years and many meetings to get everyone up and running on it...lets just be happy these people aren't making the guns....

 

[Bulldogg]

Annoying as this is they still cover the gun for life, so a glitch here or there is still way better then a 1 or 2 year warranty then you eat it.

 

[buzzkillbob]

SAP is an enterprise level corporate management software package, commonly referred as an ERP (think QuickBooks on steroids, with modules for all sorts of management functionality).

anytime you have a new software package it takes time to train people to punch the right buttons...

Good points, but neither are the consumer's problem. That is a corporate issue they need to sort out.

I did receive my 15-22 from FedEx on time.

Alas, I did not. Monday it will be two weeks overdue. At this point, I'd like a straight answer from them instead of the runaround…

 

[buzzkillbob]

Annoying as this is they still cover the gun for life, so a glitch here or there is still way better then a 1 or 2 year warranty then you eat it.

Glitch? They can't even tell me if they have my firearm! Still a terrible way to do business.

 

[cajunfirehawk]

FWIW; I work in the corp world and we call SAP = "SLOW ALL PROGRESS!"

 

[Kevin8503]

Glitch? They can't even tell me if they have my firearm! Still a terrible way to do business.

^This.

When I got my inquiry reply telling me 10-15 days to repair AFTER FedEx emailed me that it was already on the way back, I realized they have no idea what's going there at this point.

IMHO, the customer service team and the repair teams are more or less disconnected, and the CS team has no ability to track your repairs outside of physically walking over to the repair team and tracking it down manually.

If you do some searching on the forum, you'll find some horror stories of people sending in for repairs and not hearing a single thing for months. And when they inquire as to the status, it becomes a game to find out where their weapon even is.

I too work in the tech industry and deal with software implementations. I do not envy where S&W is right now. Implementing a behemoth like SAP is stressful enough for a company without the added stress of their warranty and repair department being in shambles.

The lifetime warranty is one of the reasons I bought my 15-22. And as long as they can continue to honor it, I'll be a happy owner. That being said, I'm currently in the market for a CC firearm (I'm new to the CC world), and I reallllly want to take a look at the shield, but I'd be lying if I said the poor CS experience wasn't somewhat making me hesitant. It's one thing for my plinking rifle to go back and disappear for a couple months, but I'd be unhappy if my EDC firearm went back and disappeared. Kind of defeats the purpose of CC.

 

[Nuskinmd]

Delays in Shipping

I sent my M&P to have slide stop replaced on Jan 23
On Jan 28 I called and was told it was repaired and in shipping.
I called again on Feb. 3,7,10,12, & 14th. The firearm was still in
shipping. The following excuses were given in order:
1) we have a tremendous amount to orders to ship
2) we are having problems with the new computer system
3) we are doing an inventory and not shipping
4) You should have received it by now; I am going to print this out and go over to shipping
5) the weather is bad. We are working with a skeleton crew. You will certainly have it back in 2 more weeks.
Stay tuned folks

 

[hd28cw]

its over-engineered inventory management. what ever happened to an ink pen and a legal pad...

 

[Kevin8503]

Hey BuzzKill, any update on this? Just curious to see if and/or when you ever got your rifle back...

 

[CC83]

A little off topic, but what problems are you guys having with the 15-22s? We have two of them and they have been rock solid, even with Thunderbolts. I'm just curious, is there something defective?

 

[Kevin8503]

A little off topic, but what problems are you guys having with the 15-22s? We have two of them and they have been rock solid, even with Thunderbolts. I'm just curious, is there something defective?

Mine came (new) with a heavily scratched and gouged barrel. For what it's worth, S&W replaced the barrel with no hesitation.

 

[Just another 22 shooter]

A little off topic, but what problems are you guys having with the 15-22s? We have two of them and they have been rock solid, even with Thunderbolts. I'm just curious, is there something defective?

Like any mass produced fire arm, there's going to be a few lemons. I know . I have one of the 1522s that have had problems and have been sent back. The vast majority of 1522s run like sewing machines with no problems at all.

 

[Brett248Vista]

Implementing SAP means completely changing every sector of the
buisness (Not making excuses for S&W just explaining the system).
We made the change over to SAP back in mid 2000's and we had
dedicated Deloitte employees on-site for 4 years.. That's how long
it took us to fully integrate. We had 1.5mill customers at the time.

Sorry to hear about the delays. And I agree their problems are not
your problems!

 

[buzzkillbob]

*Sigh*..."Should ship by Monday afternoon"...still haven't received a tracking number or any other indication that my 15-22 has shipped. I'm wondering if they even know where it is a this point...

I've now been over a month since they told me they shipped it the first time...I can't begin to describe how frustrated I am with them! Unfortunately, I'm deployed so I can call them and (attempt) to talk to a real, live person about it.

 

[Comrad]

Software hell is a crowded place