S&W service - they don't answer the phone...and then it gets worse!

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F1

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S&W Model 317 .22 revolver with 1 7/8" barrel. It jammed so I sent it back to S&W once and they sent it back with no apparent changes. It jammed up again and I sent it to them again two months ago and asked them to send me a different gun, like their new model 43C slightly heavier .22 revolver, if they can't fix it (but it seems the new model has the same jamming problem).

S&W has had my gun for almost two months without a word from them, and their customer service never answers the phone. I did once get through to a human there a couple of weeks ago by dialing O instead of S&W cust. serv. He looked it up and told me it was in their "performance center". He said I should be hearing from them within two weeks. He said the customer service phones weren't being answered because they were all backed up post Christmas. Well it's 2 more weeks now and I just called today and hung on for 15 minutes of "please hold on" recordings and elevator music. I then tried the dial O trick again, but the lady just connected me back to the music.

I just called again, tried the O trick again - got a man who said he'd get me "priority" service. Someone actually answered the phone this time...and insisted he has no record of ever having received my gun!

Then i found the "work order number" the man I had spoken with 2 weeks ago - who had no trouble finding my gun - on Jan 9th gave me. I called back with that and did the O - priority trick again. This time a woman answered the phone. She found my gun OK. She said it was logged in Dec. 3rd. She told me S&W had sent me a "quote" a week and a half ago. I never received anything. Why a quote I asked her? It is supposed to have a lifetime warranty. The last time I sent it in - when they apparently did nothing - it was covered under their warranty. She said if I want further info I need to speak to a person in their "quotes dept." She switched me to that person's answering machine. I left a message and that's where it stands now.

S&W phooey!
 
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Quotes Dept. called me right back. Said they want to charge me 200-something dollars for a new barrel and i forgot what else. What about the warranty, asked I. The gun has had the same problem from the beginning, and many other people have had the same problem with that gun as you can see online. Quotes Dept. lady then connected me with a Customer Service Supervisor who said she'll ask the man who makes the decisions and call me back tomorrow with his final decision, and no I can't speak with him directly, and whatever he says is final with no recourse.
 
That's sad to hear.

I had a nightmare of an issue with a 9mm PC Shield a few years ago. Mine came with a clearly flawed barrel and I sent it back (after having to argue with the CS woman and talking to her supervisor) and it took a couple of months to get it back with another flawed barrel. I took a chance on a M&P40c last year and it has been OK.
 
Ugh...not good to hear. I had a Model 60 (still have it) that I bought new in the 90's before the "lifetime warranty" and only discovered after the one year warranty expired that it was out of time on 2 of the 5 chambers when using the trigger to cock and fire. I was just over the one year mark by a month or so but they said no-go, I have to pay for a repair.

I tossed it in my safe where it sat for nearly two decades before I broke it out and called S&W. They wanted me to mail it to them so I did and got a $75 quote to "fix" and return. After sending them my money they returned the pistol a week later and it still did the same thing. If you use the trigger to fire, on two of five chambers the bolt doesn't lock the cylinder before the hammer drops, resulting in failure to fire with off center firing pin hits.

So this past summer I dug into this pistol and after a thorough examination, determined the hand didn't push the cylinder sufficiently in the direction of travel before the hammer dropped. There is no such thing as an extra wide hand for the J frames as there are for K and N, so I ended up annealing the hand and gave it an ever so slight bend to the left at the top.

That was all it took. I can now shoot 5 shots with the trigger. But I had to fix it myself.
 
F1

Quotes Dept. lady then connected me with a Customer Service Supervisor who said she'll ask the man who makes the decisions and call me back tomorrow with his final decision, and no I can't speak with him directly, and whatever he says is final with no recourse.

Well doesn't that just give you a big, warm, fuzzy, feeling about their Customer Service!

Please let us know what His Royal Highness, Sir Incommunicado, has to say in his Final Decree.
 
S&W has had my gun for almost two months without a word from them,

I sent a 44 back last year. I contacted them via email and got my RMA. I also got zero communication after that. Fedex sent me an email saying it was delivered and then another saying it was too be delivered back to me one day but smith never said a thing. In the box with the fixed gun was a piece of paper that said "replaced yolk".

They did fix the gun though. And it was only a couple weeks turnaround . So good luck.
 
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I got the bill from S&W today. They are billing me $211 for "replacing damaged barrel, clean, oil and replace springs as needed, and range test."

What was wrong with the barrel? Nothing as far as I know. Of course, as CJWils says on the Model 317 thread linked above, it's the aluminum cylinder that's the problem. That's what jams up. The barrel worked fine when the cylinder wasn't jamming...and so much for S&W's "lifetime warranty". I'll see what the S&W Customer Service Supervisor says if she calls me tomorrow like she said she would, but I can make a pretty good guess right now.

Any suggestions on what to do when a company won't honor its own warranty?
 
I got the bill from S&W today. They are billing me $211 for "replacing damaged barrel, clean, oil and replace springs as needed, and range test."

What was wrong with the barrel? Nothing as far as I know. Of course, as CJWils says on the Model 317 thread linked above, it's the aluminum cylinder that's the problem. That's what jams up. The barrel worked fine when the cylinder wasn't jamming...and so much for S&W's "lifetime warranty". I'll see what the S&W Customer Service Supervisor says if she calls me tomorrow like she said she would, but I can make a pretty good guess right now.

Any suggestions on what to do when a company won't honor its own warranty?
Never go back.
 
Yes of course - and I found that BBB website above. S&W seems to respond to the complaints on it.
I had a similar situation attempting to contact a firearm manufacturer once. I sold said firearm for less than half what I had invested and was glad to get rid of it. That mfr has a couple guns I think I would like to own, but once burned, forever turned.
 
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Customer service quality at S&W is wildly variable. Some get great service, others awful and it's totally at random.
I sent them a 29-2 with a forcing cone that was defective from the factory.

When I got it back, it had deep cuts/scratches in the barrel as if they'd either used a tool improperly or just carelessly tossed it around. My subsequent interactions with customer service were to put it mildly, "unpleasant".

Long story short, a lawyer friend contacted their corporate counsel and things got more or less sorted out sans litigation. I had to replace the barrel at my own expense and they refinished it on their own dime. I got a factory letter saying they did the refinish, so I don't know if it's effectively worthless or not. It's a home defense gun now, so if I ever ventilate somebody with it, they'll have the satisfaction of knowing they were greased with a really pretty (albeit possibly worthless) gun.
 
I’ve sent two guns back to Smith... my L frame 686+ and a new-to-me m66-1.

The L frame was fixed in a couple of weeks. The long out of warranty 66 took 121 bucks to fix and it took several months to get back from the performance center.

Every time I called all went well. I guess your experience wasn’t as good as mine. I hope it gets better and the 317 gets back in action. I like my 3” version, it’s a cool little piece.

Stay safe.
 
Any suggestions on what to do when a company won't honor its own warranty?

Contact them once again. Tell them your points again. Ask who is ''in charge'' of their complaints dept, get a address to write a letter...

Write out the letter, print out this thread:scrutiny: and attach it with letter, stamp & mail.

Wait.
 
threads like this are the reason my 686-6 6" hasn't gone back for a canted barrel, yet. I'm afraid they'll make it worse, or just in general make the experience a disaster.

also stops me from getting other S&W revolvers i'd like to own.
 
Any suggestions on what to do when a company won't honor its own warranty?

Are you the original owner? The lifetime warranty only pertains to the original owner. Lately, any new S&W I buy gets registered(gifted:)) to my youngest son, so the warranty will live longer than I do(hopefully).
 
Are you the original owner? The lifetime warranty only pertains to the original owner. Lately, any new S&W I buy gets registered(gifted:)) to my youngest son, so the warranty will live longer than I do(hopefully).



Yes, I am the original owner and the gun was purchased long after they started their lifetime guarantee policy in 1989, maybe about nine years ago. I probably have the original paperwork someplace. It was very rarely used.

So far they haven't called today as promised, but the day's not over.

"Contact them once again. Tell them your points again. Ask who is ''in charge'' of their complaints dept, get a address to write a letter..."

E
asier said than done. Try it yourself. Here's their number. See if you can reach S&W customer service. They don't even answer the phone. The only way I've been able to get through to anyone is using the tricks I mentioned above. S&W: 413-781-8300 (watch - they'll answer his call first ring - murphy's law!)

Anyway they seem set up now just to blow off the customers. I don't think their complaints dept. - Fat Louie the security guard - will be any different than the customer service supervisor I spoke with yesterday.

I'm a long time customer of theirs - I go way back - but now with this, the way they treat customers now, plus their Hillary locks, and their diminished quality, never again.
 
Maybe dial *67 before the number. Maybe they have called ID and know it's you. Can't hurt to try.

Yes, I am the original owner and the gun was purchased long after they started their lifetime guarantee policy in 1989, maybe about nine years ago. I probably have the original paperwork someplace. It was very rarely used.

So far they haven't called today as promised, but the day's not over.

"Contact them once again. Tell them your points again. Ask who is ''in charge'' of their complaints dept, get a address to write a letter..."

E
asier said than done. Try it yourself. Here's their number. See if you can reach S&W customer service. They don't even answer the phone. The only way I've been able to get through to anyone is using the tricks I mentioned above. S&W: 413-781-8300 (watch - they'll answer his call first ring - murphy's law!)

Anyway they seem set up now just to blow off the customers. I don't think their complaints dept. - Fat Louie the security guard - will be any different than the customer service supervisor I spoke with yesterday.

I'm a long time customer of theirs - I go way back - but now with this, the way they treat customers now, plus their Hillary locks, and their diminished quality, never again.
 
No, *67 doesn't help. I just called back and as usual no ans on S&W cust. serv., but the O trick worked again, and the operator switched me over to S&W supervisor Kate's ans.mach. and I left a msg. on it. It's 2:50PM their time. I asked her to please call me back like she said she would.
 
I have had the worst customer service from S&W in the industry. Have a family heirloom I've tried to get fixed on (4) seperate occasions with their service dept. (4) Times because I gave up after getting so discouraged. Never made it past talking on the phone each time. They wouldn't even let me handle my claim. Try talking a GS into handling a claim for my problem on something I didn't buy from said GS because it has to be shipped through them......That being said I will never own or purchase another S&W product. Ever. Very sad to open the safe and be reminded about something from your family that doesn't operate, that you can't get the manufacturer to fix.

I feel your aggravation!!!

I've had other great experiences with other companies that have fixed products that didn't work correctly with no issues.
 
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