Who at Smith & Wesson should I complain to?

[Careby]

I am dissatisfied with service I received recently from Smith & Wesson. I intend to send a letter outlining my complaint, but I do not know who I should direct it to. Any suggestions?

What happened is that I purchased a 325 Thunder Ranch (Performance Center) revolver, brand new, from my local S&W authorized dealer. Two days later, the first time I fired it, the barrel nut loosened. I called S&W and arranged to send it back for service. It took a week to receive a shipping tag, after which I immediately shipped it. It took them over 8 weeks to repair my revolver, and I just received it back today. Included with the revolver is a letter that states that a new replacement frame with a new serial number was used and the old frame was destroyed. Unfortunately a casual inspection reveals that this is not true. The original frame was apparently stripped using a somewhat abrasive process, refinished, and the new serial number stamped over the remains of the old serial number in both locations. The Made in USA stamping is now very faint, the L next to the IL is gone, the arrow is faint, and the sharp edged details of the frame now seem softened. I can still make out the old serial number under the new one, and the black finish does not match the barrel shroud or my recollection of what the gun looked like when I bought it. If this was a used, worn revolver I sent in for refinishing I might be satisfied with the results, but there is no way I would buy a new revolver in this condition, and if I ever decided to sell it there is no way I could ever represent it as anything but
a refinish job. Had they pulled a new frame off the production line with a different serial number I would have no problem with it, but I feel like the service they provided is inappropriate for the purchaser of a brand new, defective product, let alone a high end performance center revolver.

Am I being unreasonable here?

 

[yanici]

I would be bull, too. First off I'd call customer service and explain what the repair shop did and that you want it corrected. You "want a NEW, replacement gun." You bought that gun new and right now it looks like a 50 year old POS. You're gonna have to send it back anyway so you might as well start there.

If you can't get satifaction maybe then you can go further up the food chain.

 

[buckeyeshooter]

Myself. having little tolerance for being 'jacked around'. would promptly look up the presidents name and save time and aggravation by starting at the level where a decision can be promptly made. Not to mentioned the problem in the servicecenter immediately fixed for everyone else.

 

[bountyhunter]

Originally posted by Careby:

Am I being unreasonable here?

If they had pulled that BS on me, I would be looking for somebody to flame too. Selling junk for big money is not that unusual (sadly) among the major gun makers.... but lying to get somebody to go away is a hanging offense.

I would document the gun with digital camera. I would tell SW they have exactly ONE CHANCE to get it right this time because your next stop will be to notify the State's Attorney General Fraud Unit. I just got finished giving Dish Network about FIVE MILLION dollars worth of misery after they sold me a defective DTV converter which they refused to fix. I also got my money back..... finally, but having the attorney general's office chew them to shreds was the real fun.

 

[deanodog]

Just don't give up on it. Go as high as you need. I have just been burned on a used "NIB".
That is bad enough but on a new one."no way"
Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

[Joe in SC]

You have a right to be highly disatisfied with the service you recieved. Not only was shoddy work done on the revolver when assembled as new, but also when repaired. To top it off the service dept. was not honest with you. Where I come from someone would lose their job over a stunt like this.

This is not the S&W of old. I've seen too much junk come out the door in the last 2 to 3 years. Evidently Quality Control is not a priority as it should be.

I would bypass anyone in the service dept and would go as high in the company as I could with my next complaint. I would ask the dealer for a full refund. As an authorized dealer he has an obligation to his customers. S&W certainly has some serious problems in their organization that needs correction. BS like this is why I will not buy their new stuff.



Good luck in getting satisfaction.

 

[ENH]

Careby - having followed your progress here, some thing has seemed wrong for some time. A loose barrel is usually back in a week and my cracked frame on my 396 was replaced in 3 weeks or less. I did receive a new serial # and had to do the paper work, etc again at my FFL. It would seem someone screwed up somewhere along the way. You may get better results by calling customer service and calmly explaining the situation. I bet you receive a UPS slip ( By the way have it emailed to you and you'll get it right away)and I think they will replace the gun or frame. A letter may work but I think costumer service will produce the results you want. Be polite but insist the gun be inspected. Keep us informed. Too bad, I shot mine today and it is a fun gun to shoot. Sorry for the sour experience. Also remember the guy you talk to has not seen the gun and is there to help.

 

[M29since14]

You may get better results by calling customer service and calmly explaining the situation.

Good advice in that post. I have never had to go further than the service department, but once in a great while it has taken a little persistence. Sometimes you get a knucklehead, or maybe someone just having a bad day (maybe he just had to deal with a snotty customer?

). When that has happened to me, I have always thought of an excuse to end the conversation and just called back later.

Hope you get your revolver fixed properly, and soon. I am sure following ENH's advice is the best course. Good luck!

 

[VM]

Am I being unreasonable here?

Absolutely not.

I've had good service in past and reccomended alot of people back to S&W. This is an embarrassment.
The worst thing they did was lie about a new frame (and you can see the old number - they didn't even hide it well).
As others have said, take some good pics and document everything to this point.
This is disturbing.

 

[rbert0005]

I would call Customer Service and give them the history. The conversation would probably turn into a few laughs and we would be refering to a Monday morning repair job.

I feel I could get the desired results and have a few chuckles at the same time. It really is not the end of the world.

No one likes crappy work. I am sure they will take care of you.

Good luck,
Bob

 

[Old Navy]

As suggested I wouuld call customer service just as I did when I bought my 610-3 that had a gouge in the side of frame under the cylinder and was very polite and made with some humor and also stated that the gun looked like it was polished with a stiff wire brush and had thousands of scratches all over the gun that looked what you car would look like if you took steel wool to the paint or with years of washing and no wax from the car washes. We had a few chuckles and I told the guy that I didn't want a new gun, just the old one fixed the best they could as the gun was nothing but a range plinker and not a musem piece.

The UPS ticket came about 4 or 5 days later I shipped the gun the next day and 10 days later it was back, with a beautiful polish job that was in my opinion satin with no swirrel marks and the gouge gone (I have repaired worce myself) and when I tried the trigger I said wow!!! They gave the gun a trigger job, no over travel and about a 3 lb SA pull. I was very pleased to say the least.

 

[andyo5]

S&W quality has definitely deteriorated over the past few years. I have a revolver in there now for service due to inaccuracy which I suspect is due to a bulged barrel. I can feel it when I clean the gun. I must admit I am now a bit nervous over what I will get back. When I bought this gun, I first rejected it because it looked as if it were used. A S&W rep was at the dealers shop that weekend, and explained that the black surfaces on the frame were due to sloppy finishing rather than from shooting. He finished them off with a brass brush. I have two new guns with visible tool marks on them. Not bad enough to warrant sending them back, but not a sign of good quality control.

 

[Fulton722]

If S&W has "obliterated" the serial number on your revolver, they have committed a federal firearms violation. To be in possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number is also a federal offense which I'm sure you want no part of. You may want to discuss with S&W that your next step will be to call ATF and discuss the situation with them.

 

[mississippi revolverman]

Bud I too would be pissed. Doesn't sound like the old S & W of old. Call the main switch board and see if you can get a directory. Attempt to locate a VP in sales/ marketing or production. I feel sure they have no idea crap like this is going on below them

Let us know what ahhapened and who you contaced in case any of us get the same BS

 

[1006smith]

Something is not right here. If S&W was going to use the same frame, why did they go to the trouble of changing the serial number and then lie about the correction? Why not just state what was actually done and leave the serial number alone? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[Careby]

Originally posted by Fulton722:
If S&W has "obliterated" the serial number on your revolver, they have committed a federal firearms violation. To be in possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number is also a federal offense which I'm sure you want no part of. You may want to discuss with S&W that your next step will be to call ATF and discuss the situation with them.

That was my first thought, so I did some casual checking, and it seems that manufacturers are not held to the same standard as mortals when it comes to the sacred nature of serial numbers. But that doesn't mean I would want to be in the position of explaining to police why my gun has one serial number applied over another not quite fully removed one. I have several unanswered questions, including wondering why they had to apply a different number on the same frame. If refinishing rendered the original number illegible, and a number had to be re-etched or stamped, why could it not have been the same one? Surely it was not done to deliberately pass off a refinished frame as new.

 

[maxxpower]

My advice is to treat this like any other consumer complaint. The most important thing is to make sure you have a documented paper trail. Hopefully, things get resolved to you satisfaction quickly. If they aren't you'll wish you'll need that documentation to have any leverage.

 

[m657]

"It is unnecessary to attribute conspiracy theory to issues which mere incompetence will satisfactorily explain"....

 

[shawn mccarver]

Originally posted by Fulton722:
If S&W has "obliterated" the serial number on your revolver, they have committed a federal firearms violation. To be in possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number is also a federal offense which I'm sure you want no part of. You may want to discuss with S&W that your next step will be to call ATF and discuss the situation with them.

What you say is NOT correct for a licensed manufacturer.

 

[Careby]

Well I've cooled down after a couple of days - good thing the gun was delivered on a Friday. I looked it over again today and am thinking it would be less stressful overall for me to keep it, shoot it, enjoy it, and use it as a reminder to think twice before buying another S&W product. I have purchased six new S&W revolvers in the past six months, so I think I was a pretty good customer. I appreciate the advice to let S&W customer service have another shot at making it right, but the truth is that I just don't want to go through that process again. S&W quality control was lacking when the gun was made, and again when it was repaired, so what are the chances the next time will be any better?
I intend to post pictures of what I see as problem areas so anyone interested can make their own judgment as to whether or not I am unreasonably picky.