I need to send in my new Model 19 to get it looked at for two issues I'm having. Anyways, my understanding is that I go to a FFL dealer and tell THEM my issues with the revolver and THEY contact S&W and get a shipping label/code or whatever you call it. Is that correct? I was assuming S&W would email me the shipping info and I'd take it to the FFL dealer. How do you know the FFL dealer is going to accurately articulate what the problems are to S&W?
S&W repair question
- Thread starter Wfevans4
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bigggbbruce
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Call S&W service, they will send you a label, ship yourself through FedEx, they will send it back to you.
b737lvr
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To add to the above: Call S&W. Explain the issue along with information they request. They will email you a label. Place your pistol into a pistol zipper case if you can (they will send it back). Along with the pistol write a note with your name and phone number along with the same things you mentioned to the agent. This helps the tech more than you'd believe. Put the case in a fresh box with plenty of bubble wrap or cushion inside. I use a bundle of grocery bags. You can then schedule to have FedEx come to you to pick it up on the fedex website.
After it's delivered it make take a week for them to receive it into the repair center. From there just forget about it. There is a 99% chance they will not email or call you. One day you will just get a FedEx man at your door asking for a birthday and signature. I say again: do not call call CS for updates. I promise you that your pistol is being serviced. Some repairs take longer than others but the most common wait time is 4-6 weeks.
After it's delivered it make take a week for them to receive it into the repair center. From there just forget about it. There is a 99% chance they will not email or call you. One day you will just get a FedEx man at your door asking for a birthday and signature. I say again: do not call call CS for updates. I promise you that your pistol is being serviced. Some repairs take longer than others but the most common wait time is 4-6 weeks.
No need, in my state of Minnesota, YET anyway to involve an FFL, other states, maybe you do?
bigggbbruce
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All correct...Except...
I just sent one in for warranty work. Delivered on 7/2
I got an email on 7/7 said they received it.
Got an email today saying its shipped. 7/21 14 day turn around..
I called and they verified my request was completed.
and this is on a 22 year old gun.Nope, call the mothership and they will send you a label, that you can drop off at a Fedex shipping point. You don't need an FFL to ship it back for repair. Also, make sure that the Fedex location that you're going to drop it off at WILL ACCEPT FIREARMS. Most all of the Fedex locations are franchised and they have the choice on whether or not they will handle firearms. I just did the same thing a few months back.
b737lvr
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Just don't set the expectation for yourself or others that 14 days is normal. Took 4 weeks exactly for my 442 to be repaired (end shake) and 6 weeks for my 637. The 637 had to be completely disassembled and frame refinished due to the hammer being offset to the left which was quite literally beating the frame up.All correct...Except...
I just sent one in for warranty work. Delivered on 7/2
I got an email on 7/7 said they received it.
Got an email today saying its shipped. 7/21 14 day turn around..
I called and they verified my request was completed.
wwsmith111
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I depends on where you live as to what you can and can't do. Smith will know. Either way you need to call them and explain the problem and they will tell you what to do. I live in Georgia and they emailed me a label and I sent my revolver in direct from me to them via FedEx. In other cases you may have to go through an FFL. They can also send it back direct to you depending and where you live and what they did. In my case they had to change the frame which had a different sn# on it so they had to send it back to me through an FFL so that a new 4473 could be filled out. But Smith paid for everything including transfer fees. In my case there weren't any as the FFL didn't charge for a warranty repair transfer but Smith would have paid for that if they did.
The last time I had a gun that needed warranty work I emailed S&W about the problem. That way there was a record of the problem. S&W sent me a return label along with complete instructions on how to Fedex them the gun. One of the instructions was that I needed to tell Fedex that the package I was sending contained a firearm. When I took the gun to Fedex, I told the first fedex employee I saw that I was shipping a gun and she said, "We don't do that." I replied, "Yes you do." She turned to the her manager and asked him and the manager asked me if it was unloaded and if there was any ammunition in the box. I told him it wasn't loaded and there was no ammo in the box. He then said they would ship it.
walkin' trails
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Having had fairly recent experience this year with sending a pistol back for warranty work, no need to go thru an FFL unless your state requires it. After contacting S&W, they'll send you a fed ex label 2-day label. Get a fed ex box that will fit the original box your gun came in. Pack it per S&W instructions, affix the label, keep a copy, and take it to a fed ex shipping center, not the corner fed ex store or an overnight drop box. Has to be a shipping center. Drop it off with the counter rep and ask for a receipt. It's not illegal if done that way. S&W instructions will include these steps.
Correct. S&W, who generates the label, is an FFL.
FedEx changed this policy. With FFL generated labels you can use FedEx Office locations, as they're closing most of their hubs to public traffic.
walkin' trails
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How long ago did they change the policy? I've shipped a Smith back twice this year and recall the instructions said to take the package to a shipping center. Found to go for a record third time here very shortly.
I shipped a pair of Berettas back to a factory authorized repair a couple of years ago via UPS. I did not receive a shipping label as the guns were long out of warranty. Had to take them thru a UPS shipping center. With insurance, it wasn't cheap.
Yes. In my state if you're not an FFL you may not use the "mails" to send or receive firearms. S&W knows this and will ask where you're from and then, if you need an FFL, they will tell you.
You can also email them with the info. I recently did that with 2 M&Ps (one 380 EZ and one 9mm EZ) that were subject to recall (they were both made in the same time frame with hammers were subject to breakage) Sent them an email, day later they emailed the shipping label for FedEx, sent them off, got them back within three weeks. Painless.
I called S&W and didn't ask any questions this time, just said I needed a shipping label and the guy sent me one. Took less than 10 minutes. A local FedEx shipping center said they would ship the revolver and so I dropped it off today. Not sure what the difference is between a shipping center and a store like Walgreens that ships FedEx, but a "shipping center" will ship firearms.
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Not a State issue. It's Federal law that only dealers can ship handguns through the USPS.
Also agree 100% with using a hard case -under no circumstances should you use a soft zipper case to ship any firearm.
If the factory didn't ship in a hard case, an adequate one can be purchased for less than $10 -well worth it, even if you don't get it back.
