Irate with Smith & Wesson. Done with them.

[fallhunter]

Anyone that is local in my area (Duluth, MN.) as I do not wantto deal with shipping and all that stuff, is welcome to purchase it. I have my eye on a new gun and need to get this one off my hands. The next one I will be parting with is my full size m&p. Once I can requalify at work, I am going to have a new unit, different brand in hand.

 

[fallhunter]

I didn't. I simply asked you to surprise me with your experience since that's what you said.

Well, you're right about that.

Look, I'm glad you like your Glock. I've owned a couple and they were reliable guns. They just aren't for me. However, to make a blanket statement like, "they have great triggers" accompanied by "I have x years of experience" is misleading. It comes across as though you're trying to say that you have some authority on the subject over the rest of us. Saying that you like it better than an M&P is more correct because that's what you really mean.



Close. It's actually 93.4% these days.


fallhunter,
I've asked twice before, but maybe you just missed it. What do you do for a living?

I am an armed security patrol officer. On patrol, I have a regular gun belt with my full size. Other posts, we have to be armed, but the client wants us to be armed, but to have it concealed. That is the reason I have the Shield. concealed regular post, and off duty carry. I can not always use the full size.

For what its worth, I went and looked real long and hard at the Taurus 709 Slim, and I absolutely love it. I do not have the time to sit and wait around for Smith & Wesson.

 

[fallhunter]

Not to pile on or anything, but I had the trigger issue as well and had a heck of a time just getting S&W to send me an RMA to return the gun.

I called S&W 5 times total, starting the day of the safety notice. Twice I was given incorrect info. I emailed S&W twice. Neither time did I get more than an automated response.

I finally, last Friday was contacted by a customer service rep because I was grouped into a number of Shield owners who had not received any type of return info.

I will wait until the whole experience is complete in order to judge their customer service but as of right now I'm not pleased.

Same here. I was on hold for 37 minutes today. Finally someone came to the phone. Guess what? Same run around. I have nothing but the utmost dissatisfaction with their company. I have less than zero interest in owning another one of their products. Glock, Springfield, or Taurus for me for everything from now on.

 

[S&W Rover]

A couple of observations (this thread is nearing the end of its useful life anyway, so I thought I'd be boring and pedantic and put everyone to sleep).

1. S&W understands its market and is making money. They make some fine and useful guns. The M&Ps are that, and delivered at a pretty fair price point. And they keep getting better with continuing improvements. The newest M&Ps have triggers that are a lot better (smoother, shorter travel) than the first ones.
2. The Apex poly trigger, USB, short sear, and trigger spring make my two M&Ps very, very good indeed. The newest M&P (July 2013) was so good out of the box that I questioned myself for installing the Apex gubbins -- but it was worth it. But the difference is not so great anymore.
3. S&W customer service routinely gets high marks. Sometimes it takes longer than it should, especially in late summer, when they thin out the work force for summer break. Their customer service is among the best in the business. Ruger is excellent in fixing their guns, and doing recalls when necessary, too -- but less likely to give the benefit of the doubt to the self-taught gunsmith with a dremel tool and a hammer. I hear HK doesn't want to hear from you after you buy a gun from them. Taurus says throw it away if it has a problem. Sigs don't need customer service.
4. Glocks are good guns, but I don't want one. With large batches of guns going to police forces, they experience what S&W has found out since they started bidding seriously for police contracts: repetitive problems get exposed quickly, and recurring weaknesses in design or execution get noticed very fast -- corrective measures are sometimes needed on a large scale (leading to continuous process improvements for the entire product line that people notice, but should be grateful for).
5. I appreciate wit and humor like the next person but don't like it when Forum members get nasty with each other and pile on. I get enough of that on the road, in the stores, and at work. The Forum is a place for gentlemen (and ladies) to share their opinions, and other gentlemen to nod knowingly -- not ridicule.

 

[BillBingham2]

Same here. I was on hold for 37 minutes today. Finally someone came to the phone. Guess what? Same run around. I have nothing but the utmost dissatisfaction with their company. I have less than zero interest in owning another one of their products. Glock, Springfield, or Taurus for me for everything from now on.

I'm thinking just the opposite direction (well sort of). I'm looking to change my selection of firearms and am going with a J-Frame just because there a few hundred great smiths that can work on them.

Right now Ruger seems to be putting a lot into customer service which is great. My read on the issues people are having with S&W customer service is they have not staffed up for the volume of firearms they have sold and issues that have been uncovered. It looks like manufacturing has just caught up with demand for many products. Hopefully management is watching the numbers on the call center and sending out some surveys to see what their customers think.

Please put me #2 or 3 (lost count) in line for the shield when she comes back.

B2

 

[BlueOvalBandit]

Time for Smith to pay some overtime (1 1/2 the hourly rate for those CS folks can't be more than $13.00 per hour - they aren't skilled artisans - those employees got laid off years ago) and show some professionalism dealing with their customers.

I understand what you're saying, but having worked in CS on phones this is a 2 way road. A lot, not all, but a lot of customers will vent and take it out on CS reps like they sabotaged their merchandise. We do what we can to assist and fix problems, but a lot is out of our control or we have limited resources to track down play by play action of where things are. A little courtesy goes a long way, especially when you're at this all day getting ripped hour after hour.

I'm not saying the OP bashed the CS reps on the phone, I wasn't there but this happens quite a bit and doesn't motivate them to assist you as much as they could. Granted the CS rep could also be the a-hole too, who knows.

 

[Lost Lake]

Anyone that is local in my area (Duluth, MN.) as I do not wantto deal with shipping and all that stuff, is welcome to purchase it.

You have a deal. I'm working in your area for the next several months and will stop by anytime you'd like.

I have $300 cash burning a hole in my pocket.

.

 

[Edmo]

...5. I appreciate wit and humor like the next person but don't like it when Forum members get nasty with each other and pile on. I get enough of that on the road, in the stores, and at work. The Forum is a place for gentlemen (and ladies) to share their opinions, and other gentlemen to nod knowingly -- not ridicule.

What he said...

Edmo

 

[S&W45Colt]

What he said...

Edmo

I do have one question, what was your expected response to that post on a S&W forum? The responses were/are predictable.

I do not disagree one iota on the piling on. I've noticed more of that lately on the Forum and I do not like it either.

 

[Kanewpadle]

I am an armed security patrol officer. On patrol, I have a regular gun belt with my full size. Other posts, we have to be armed, but the client wants us to be armed, but to have it concealed. That is the reason I have the Shield. concealed regular post, and off duty carry. I can not always use the full size.

For what its worth, I went and looked real long and hard at the Taurus 709 Slim, and I absolutely love it. I do not have the time to sit and wait around for Smith & Wesson.

Let me get this straight, you're here bad mouthing S&W and now you're going to buy a Taurus!?.

Good luck with that. You're going to need their lifetime guarantee.

 

[Kanewpadle]

I do have one question, what was your expected response to that post on a S&W forum? The responses were/are predictable.

I do not disagree one iota on the piling on. I've noticed more of that lately on the Forum and I do not like it either.

Piling on? I don't see anybody piling on. I see people expressing their opinion in response to the OP's post which should never have been posted until S&W had a chance to make it right.

Can't ANYONE make a mistake?! Or are some of us too spoiled? Too spoiled to be patient? To spoiled to give someone a chance to make things right?

How many times do we have to put up with people that come here angry? And we know they came here only to complain like it will somehow help. And how many times have those people suddenly became happy because their problem was corrected when they should have had a little more patience and understanding?

 

[S&W45Colt]

Piling on? I don't see anybody piling on. I see people expressing their opinion in response to the OP's post which should never have been posted until S&W had a chance to make it right.

Can't ANYONE make a mistake?! Or are some of us too spoiled? Too spoiled to be patient? To spoiled to give someone a chance to make things right?

How many times do we have to put up with people that come here angry? And we know they came here only to complain like it will somehow help. And how many times have those people suddenly became happy because their problem was corrected when they should have had a little more patience and understanding?

Like I said, the responses were predictable. Anyone posting what he did should know a beating was coming.

I might not have been clear enough, which is my fault, but the piling on thing was almost a separate thought. I was thinking more of some piling on that was done to Security Guards and some other people.

As far as piling on goes on this post, I do not disagree with you on Taurus or the lack of patience of many, we in fact agree, but this post doesn't need 200 replies for the point to be made. JMO, what do I know?"

 

[fallhunter]

You have a deal. I'm working in your area for the next several months and will stop by anytime you'd like.

I have $300 cash burning a hole in my pocket.

.

Sounds good to me. I will message you here VIA PM as soon as it gets back to me.

 

[ditrina]

Let this be the final word.. all that can be said has been said.. Enough bickering..