Shield 40 Mishap

[jhc37013]

Well I for one pledge not to buy another S&W product until the OP has a new gun or refund, I don't know the OP from anyone else on this board but I could only imagine if this was me.

To be fair the only time I have dealt with S&W CS it was a very good experience, I bought a brand new M&P40 and it had a chip on the outside of the barrel and the chip had finish on it so it was obvious the dent happened at Smith, they replaced the barrel and had it back to me in no time.

If the OP had been using reloads I would be more neutral but he did everything he was suppose to do and is being treated wrong.

OP do you have another gun to protect yourself and home? If not does Smith know this? If you don't then not only is S&W morally wrong they may also be endangering you and your family so I'm doing my own personal boycott for you no matter how long it takes and if it never gets properly resolved in your favor then I won't be buying anymore S&W products which would be a shame because I love their guns.

Edit: Well I see above you do own other S&W guns but still it could be someone who has nothing else.

 

[Smithsrevenge]

If Smith refuses to give you your gun back for any reason.

He'res what I would do, Dont even need a lawyer, that can be used in a suit later :-D

Call the Mass State Police and Report your gun as stolen. And let them know who has it

Legally that is your firearm. you own it, you paid for it, your name is in the filing with the FBI from when you bought it, as with the LGS who you bought it from.

You sent it to the manufacturer for "service" due to a malfunction. It is still your gun :-D.

They took possession of it, and then refused to return it. Legally that is federal firearms theft.

Mass state police will then go to S&W and retrieve the firearm. They may even charge whoever decided to not give it back with a pretty serious felony.

I had to do this to Boston PD once. They "confiscated" a pistol from me once because the serial number came up as stolen. Charged me too, after the court date and me proving I had bought the gun brand new at my LGS, they refused to give it back. I called mass State PD and reported it as stolen to them. They went to boston PD and ginked it back, called me up and said come get it. I then got a good settlement from boston PD after I took them to court for it

Dont have to take this route, but just keep that Ace in your sleeve in case

Regardless if they give you a new one, you own that gun and they must return it or their violating the law by means of theft

 

[Smithsrevenge]

If you voluntarily send your property to someone can you then turn around and claim it was stolen? Isn't that fraud? Wouldn't that hurt your case more than help it?

Heck, he doesn't even know that S&W isn't going to send the pistol back yet.

2001gmc,
Did S&W hint in any way that you would never get the gun back? Did they say that the investigation would require destructive testing resulting in the gun being destroyed?

Nope. think of federal gun laws, State-to-state transfer laws.

That requires a NCIC background check and a lot of paperwork to acquire ownership. Unless they have that, they have just violated every single federal transfer law there is pertaining to ownership , Their licensing allows them to sell guns, but they are still required to the same laws you and I are if i were to transfer ownership of my gun to you across state lines, without that signed paperwork from both parties submitted to the FBI, its an instant felony on their part. I Thats the exact law I brought up when I brought a civil suit against Boston PD and won :-D

 

[spelasr]

After reading this entire thread, I find it amazing what the owner of the firearm is going through. I am glad he was not seriously injured. I own a few Smiths, M&P 40, M&P Shield 9mm, and an M&P 22. My next purchase was going to be another M&P 9mm either the C or Full Size but, now I have my eyes on a Glock 19 instead. Since I already have a G17, the 19 looks like it would be the better purchase after reading this. Thanks for sharing and I truly hope it all turns out well and in your favor.

 

[spearcrow]

I hate to see people going through these situations, but they do happen. as a lifelong smith and Wesson supporter, I am really shocked by the customer service treatment the OP has received. This guy should have had a replacement firearm in two weeks. I understand that it might be an ammo problem, but that should be smith's problem... my opinion there. I would expect better treatment than this, and I know it would be my last firearm from s&w if I were the OP. As it is, there have been far too many CS issues lately being displayed on the forums from s&w, and this thread has definitely helped me to decide to pick up either the Xds or glock 30s, rather than the mp40c.
They can do better or deal with customer loss.

 

[Rastoff]

...now I have my eyes on a Glock 19 instead.

...there have been far too many CS issues lately being displayed on the forums from s&w, and this thread has definitely helped me to decide to pick up either the Xds or glock 30s...

I'm not picking on you two. These threads were just close by.

For all those claiming that they will pick another manufacturer because of this incident, how do you know they will be any better? In the case of Glock, they are a foreign company. What makes you think they will have better service? In fact, I've heard more horror stories from them than S&W.

Too many CS issues lately? If we were to count up the threads that talk about customer service from S&W I'll bet lunch that the good stories out weigh the bad 2:1. Further, it's rare for guys to talk about good service. It's far more common for guys to talk about bad service. So, I'll bet that for every good story told, there are 10 that never get mentioned.

If I were 2001gmc I would probably be unhappy as well. But even he has several S&W guns that he's totally happy with.

Glock, H&K, Springfield and a host of other companies make great guns. I'm not suggesting that you not buy them. Just realize that this is an isolated issue. I'd be surprised if any of those companies were any better than what we've seen here.

 

[2001gmc]

I'm gonna see what federal tells me after them trying to contact smith. I know they will contact me and let me know something. They always reply when I send them a email. I doubt they will ever get the casing from Smith to test it. If Smith indeed thought it was a bad case you would think they would be killing themselves trying to get it to Federal to get this resolved. I guess we will see probably later than sooner.

 

[jfwright1955]

The fact that you had 10 failure to ejects out of 150 rounds makes me wonder if something wasn't wrong with the gun from the start. The shield is generally much more reliable than that.

That was my first thought as well. I've put over 2,000 rounds through my .40 Shield without any issues, no FTEs or FTFs. It's been extremely reliable. I run only factory ammo through it.

John

"No one should make decisions for us when it comes to guns and gun carry. If we do things we're not comfortable with because someone told us it's 'right' it becomes a distraction in an event where clarity and simplicity is needed."

 

[ncase]

Not alone

2001 GMC
I have the same problem, with an mp full size pistol, it looks like the pictures you posted .Customer Service said it was ammunition and not the guns fault. I received a similar letter , I opted for the replacement at reduce price. That was last summer no replacement yet. Just to let you know you not alone.

 

[2001gmc]

Got a call from Mark this morning regarding the call i left with Kate to call me back last Friday. I told him to see that the casing get sent to Federal for testing as they wouldn't do anything without testing the case first. He said he would send the info to the guy working on it. Told him Federal has contacted them as well requesting it. I ask him what will happen if they say the casing is within spec. He said they wont that normally they always own up to it. So well see what happens.

 

[turbo38gn]

Did you happen to get Marks last name...

Got a call from Mark this morning regarding the call i left with Kate to call me back last Friday. I told him to see that the casing get sent to Federal for testing as they wouldn't do anything without testing the case first. He said he would send the info to the guy working on it. Told him Federal has contacted them as well requesting it. I ask him what will happen if they say the casing is within spec. He said they wont that normally they always own up to it. So well see what happens.

 

[2001gmc]

Did you happen to get Marks last name...

No I didnt.

 

[Ds98formula]

Sorry for your troubles. I am new to hand guns over the last few months. I got my self a Sd9VE and my wife a M&P 40. I really like my s&w but if this is how they treat people I will be looking elsewhere for my next gun purchase. Good luck and keep this thread up.

 

[Smithsrevenge]

Smith just aint the same no more boys

Back in 03 when I got my first 6906, it would FTE every time, EVERY TIME, I trucked it down to S&W myself, walked in and they took it right out back, figured it was the ejctor. Replaced it for free and even test fired it while I was standing right there. Outright Great customer service.

This thread saddens me. Not the thread by Smith's CS.

If this is how they deal with their customers. Ill probably stop buying smiths in the future. Unless they are pre-owned model 3 or earlier and smith isnt getting a cent out of the purchase.

I used to love ....

Kimber.

S&W

Sig Sauer.

But all three have left a very bad taste in my mouth in the past 5 months, all three have been added to by "never buy from again list "

 

[lonejacklarry]

Call the Mass State Police and Report your gun as stolen. And let them know who has it

They took possession of it, and then refused to return it. Legally that is federal firearms theft.

Regardless if they give you a new one, you own that gun and they must return it or their violating the law by means of theft

None of this is true. The OP sent the gun voluntarily to S&W. It is not theft nor is it a federal felony of any sort. My guess is that they are protected, in some manner, by not allowing a defective (now, anyway) firearm back out on the street. In their minds, they made a fair offer. And, no, I don't personally think it was a fair offer.

All you will do with the above system is irritate any law enforcement agency to which the "theft" is reported.

 

[lonejacklarry]

I Thats the exact law I brought up when I brought a civil suit against Boston PD and won :-D

I, and many others I think, would love to read that case. If you have a minute would you cite the case and give report title, volume number, page number and date, please?

Thanks very much for presenting a case that will help us all out. We're looking forward to it!

 

[P33v3]

This surprises me. I've always had great experiences with them. That said, it is interesting in that I was considering getting a Shield 40. I'm not the biggest fan of the round (I prefer the full load 10mm Auto it is based on) but given the size of the Shield and the larger caliber for its size I was thinking this might be a nice lightweight carry pistol. I also like that it was a Smith And Wesson. But your overall experience both with the pistol and the customer service have given me a lot to think about. I guess I'll stick with my 3rd gens and deal with the extra weight.

 

[Lee in Quartzsite]

I have been following this Thread since the beginning...not impressed with the outcome so far.

I just had my first dealing with S&W CS. My new 45c came with the Large and Small grip inserts made for a full size gun. I wrote S&W an E-mail per their instructions and received the Automated response almost instantly, then the following day received a personal E-mail from Michael saying they were shipping out the inserts at No Charge....so I have no complaints!

Wish you Good Luck!

 

[woodmnctry]

Easy to say from a remote location -- but --- the lack of SW jumping in and really handling this has cast a dark shadow on their name in my humble opinion --- though I do own multiple SW products -- I will be remembering this on future purchases --- just say'n
G

 

[jeffnles1]

been following. Any updates? Did Smith get the casing to Federal yet? Really interested to hear the outcome.