S&W Warranty Repair - 8 Months and Counting - Normal?

[wproct]

I would not be happy either. I will look forward to seeing the revolver with those new grips when you get it back.

 

[pgwoodgrain]

I have an update, sort of.

My FFL called me to tell me some good news: My gun had just arrived back with him.

However, he had some bad news, too: The gun had arrived unrepaired, disassembled, with its inner parts in plastic bags.

S&W had included a form claiming that they had reached out twice for payment and received no response.

Since we've both been trying in vain for eight months to elicit a single peep from S&W, the form's verdict added insult to injury.

My FFL tells me that upon receiving the returned gun he spoke to a supervisor at S&W who was vocally peeved to hear about the treatment we'd received.

He is going to follow up this coming week and, hopefully with this supervisor's assistance, press for the repair to be completed free of charge as initially agreed -- and, this time, expedited.

Fingers crossed.

 

[pgwoodgrain]

I would not be happy either. I will look forward to seeing the revolver with those new grips when you get it back.

Thank you. I think they're going to look great.

I love a pale grip on a blued gun, and birdseye maple works better for me than ivory.

I think of them as my "Vermont Ivories."

 

[ladder13]

I have an update, sort of.

My FFL called me to tell me some good news: My gun had just arrived back with him.

However, he had some bad news, too: The gun had arrived unrepaired, disassembled, with its inner parts in plastic bags.

S&W had included a form claiming that they had reached out twice for payment and received no response.

Since we've both been trying in vain for eight months to elicit a single peep from S&W, the form's verdict added insult to injury.

My FFL tells me that upon receiving the returned gun he spoke to a supervisor at S&W who was vocally peeved to hear about the treatment we'd received.

He is going to follow up this coming week and, hopefully with this supervisor's assistance, press for the repair to be completed free of charge as initially agreed -- and, this time, expedited.

Fingers crossed.

Absolutely ridiculous.

 

[Oldsalt66]

That's neither normal, nor acceptable.

 

[pgwoodgrain]

A couple of things I forgot to mention in this most recent post:

1. According to my FFL, sometime late last year, S&W lost the initial return merchandise authorization assigned to this gun. They had to create a new one for it around December. Maybe this is why they believed they were owed payment even after they had accepted the gun for a warranty repair.

2. On the topic of payment, the form they sent me carried no useful details. It was just a checklist with a box checked next to a note that said something like "returned because customer didn't respond to 2nd request for payment."

I wish they'd sent a bill; an invoice detailing the cost of the repairs; or at least a work order explaining what the repair procedures might theoretically have been!

I'm somewhat more confident now that we're in touch with this supervisor, whose motives presumably include averting a second goat rodeo at the S&W service center, but yikes.

Anyone watch Succession? So far this experience brings to mind the title of Season 1, Episode 2 -- the one with two consecutive cases of vivid alliteration.

 

[pgwoodgrain]

Anyway, in the meantime, here are the beautiful grips I received this past fall from Jennifer and John Culina:

 

[pgwoodgrain]

Your gun was likely shipped to TN for repair. The Performance Center is in MA so it was probably re-shipped from TN to MA which probably confused the PC folks. I would not speculate why they might be confused but at best your piece went to the bottom of the list up in Massachusetts, after spending time at the bottom of the TN list. I recently sent a 29-2 in for minor repair and it was shipped directly to the PC due to it's age, as I was told. I got it back in a little over 3 months. With a broken hammer pivot pin I'm surprised S&W didn't just send you another (new) gun.

The Performance Center confusion does sound likely.

As for the hammer pivot pin, my understanding is that it's a pretty minor part that has become almost impossible to fix outside the factory because certain tools are required. They'll have to remove it from the frame, put a new one in through the outside, and polish the outer surface smooth again (then reblue it if necessary). They'll do this on a stainless or carbon steel gun, but generally not on an alloy J-Frame, which they'll offer to exchange for a new one.

MY FFL tells me there's a gunsmith named Pat at The Compound in Crete, IL who can do this repair if S&W won't. Apparently Pat worked with John Gillette at Classic Guns before they closed.

 

[AlHunt]

I have an update, sort of.

My FFL called me to tell me some good news: My gun had just arrived back with him.

However, he had some bad news, too: The gun had arrived unrepaired, disassembled, with its inner parts in plastic bags.

S&W had included a form claiming that they had reached out twice for payment and received no response.

Since we've both been trying in vain for eight months to elicit a single peep from S&W, the form's verdict added insult to injury.

My FFL tells me that upon receiving the returned gun he spoke to a supervisor at S&W who was vocally peeved to hear about the treatment we'd received.

He is going to follow up this coming week and, hopefully with this supervisor's assistance, press for the repair to be completed free of charge as initially agreed -- and, this time, expedited.

Fingers crossed.

Wow. That's just childish and vindictive. Especially since there was a dealer involved, giving them 2 avenues of contact.

Years of QC issues, horror stories about dealing with the service department and now this new low.

They should just change the company name. They're disrespecting their own heritage and destroying a once great brand.

 

[Oldsalt66]

Here's what I suggest you do at this point:

Write a respectful, unemotional, letter directly to the president of the company outlining what's been going on.

Include pictures and a printout and link to this thread.

Mail it registered mail receipt requested and address it to the company president.

This is what worked for me after my very early production model E Series 1911 TA was returned to me by S&W customer service for the third time, still unable to run through a single 8 round magazine without several malfunctions.

The letter resulted in my recieving a brand new replacement pistol from the company in a matter of only a few days.

Good luck.

 

[ladder13]

In other news, I sent a 30yo Mossberg 9200( yes a Mossberg ) back to one of their repair centers in TX.
I sent it basically in pieces.
They received it last Monday, and shipped it late Thursday, arriving tomorrow. NO CHARGE.