Ruger customer service back in the day was exceptional, and not needed all that often.
Things have changed.
The first example:
I bought a new SP-101 in .22LR in 2016, and it had a poorly cut forcing cone. It leaded so bad it would start key holing by the third cylinder full of shots fired.
Long story short:
- it cost me $75 in never reimbursed shipping (Ruger lost the original receipt and would not reimburse based on a copy) on the first return;
- they didn’t fix the issue and it had to go back again, and they promised a supervisor would look at it, a gunsmith this time they stated;
- they then advised is was not factory repairable and offered me a refund, if I could produce the original receipt, or they could send a new one to an FFL. I’d been there and done that with the shipping receipt so I opted for a new one; and
- it wasn’t until I followed up a month later that they told me I’d have to wait for the next production run for the new revolver. Yep, they didn’t keep any in the warehouse at the factory for possible replacement of returned revolvers, they were not willing to have a distributor ship one, or even authorize by local gun shop, a Ruger dealer to replace it out of his stock and reimburse him.
In total it was 8 months until I had a working revolver.
—-
A second example:
A couple months ago I bought a new SP101 in 9mm. They had two in stock. The most recent (highest serial number) felt like someone through a handful of sand in the works. It felt awful. A QA fail.
The second one was nothing special but was ok.
I got home and then realized that the little brown envelope with the three moon clips in it was not present. I called the shop and they said they’d just get the envelope out of the box for the other 9mm SP101 they had in stock. However, they discovered it didn’t have them either. That’s another QA fail.
I called Ruger customer service and they agreed to send me moon clips. This was their chance to shine. They could send extra moon clips, send a hat or tee shirt, even just send me a sticker. What I got was a brown envelope with three moon clips, without even a “sorry we goofed” note. Not exactly stellar customer service.
When I opened the envelope I discovered one of the laser cut mon clips had slag that had dripped and cooled on one side. It needed to be filed flat before it could be used. Another QA fail.
The next day at the range, it would dock and fire fine, single action. But when fired double action, especially with a slow DA trigger pull, it would lock up on 2 of the 5 chambers.
I had to call and get an RMA to return it. I called 3 weeks later and they advised their normal turn around time was 4-6 six weeks and six weeks is what it took.
They indicated they replaced the trigger, hammer and hammer strut. But the entire revolver feels much smoother and the cylinder now freely spins on the ejector rod so it appears they gave it a general going over in the process. I’ll see if it shoots in a day or two.
——
In short, I’ve found that at present Taurus revolvers have better quality, at least in their executive series (costing over $300 less than this SP101), and Ruger customer service is adequate, but nothing special.
Things have changed.
The first example:
I bought a new SP-101 in .22LR in 2016, and it had a poorly cut forcing cone. It leaded so bad it would start key holing by the third cylinder full of shots fired.
Long story short:
- it cost me $75 in never reimbursed shipping (Ruger lost the original receipt and would not reimburse based on a copy) on the first return;
- they didn’t fix the issue and it had to go back again, and they promised a supervisor would look at it, a gunsmith this time they stated;
- they then advised is was not factory repairable and offered me a refund, if I could produce the original receipt, or they could send a new one to an FFL. I’d been there and done that with the shipping receipt so I opted for a new one; and
- it wasn’t until I followed up a month later that they told me I’d have to wait for the next production run for the new revolver. Yep, they didn’t keep any in the warehouse at the factory for possible replacement of returned revolvers, they were not willing to have a distributor ship one, or even authorize by local gun shop, a Ruger dealer to replace it out of his stock and reimburse him.
In total it was 8 months until I had a working revolver.
—-
A second example:
A couple months ago I bought a new SP101 in 9mm. They had two in stock. The most recent (highest serial number) felt like someone through a handful of sand in the works. It felt awful. A QA fail.
The second one was nothing special but was ok.
I got home and then realized that the little brown envelope with the three moon clips in it was not present. I called the shop and they said they’d just get the envelope out of the box for the other 9mm SP101 they had in stock. However, they discovered it didn’t have them either. That’s another QA fail.
I called Ruger customer service and they agreed to send me moon clips. This was their chance to shine. They could send extra moon clips, send a hat or tee shirt, even just send me a sticker. What I got was a brown envelope with three moon clips, without even a “sorry we goofed” note. Not exactly stellar customer service.
When I opened the envelope I discovered one of the laser cut mon clips had slag that had dripped and cooled on one side. It needed to be filed flat before it could be used. Another QA fail.
The next day at the range, it would dock and fire fine, single action. But when fired double action, especially with a slow DA trigger pull, it would lock up on 2 of the 5 chambers.
I had to call and get an RMA to return it. I called 3 weeks later and they advised their normal turn around time was 4-6 six weeks and six weeks is what it took.
They indicated they replaced the trigger, hammer and hammer strut. But the entire revolver feels much smoother and the cylinder now freely spins on the ejector rod so it appears they gave it a general going over in the process. I’ll see if it shoots in a day or two.
——
In short, I’ve found that at present Taurus revolvers have better quality, at least in their executive series (costing over $300 less than this SP101), and Ruger customer service is adequate, but nothing special.
