S&W service - they don't answer the phone...and then it gets worse!
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Doesn't appear that the supervisor is calling me back today like she said she would, so i called again and the operator got me through to Denise in their quotes dept. who at least called me back yesterday. I left a message on her answering machine stating that it does not appear that they want to honor their warranty on my gun and it seems the cust. serv. supervisor who she transferred me to is not calling me back like she promised to do, so consequently I would like my gun returned to me in the same condition I sent it to them, and then I will pursue the matter in other ways. I asked her to please call me back.
So now that's 2 s&w employees who probably will never call me - and they have my gun hostage!
So now that's 2 s&w employees who probably will never call me - and they have my gun hostage!
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tubeshooter
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I'm sorry for your frustration, and I can relate.
If it makes you feel any better... I sent my 317 to Smith for service in October of one year and didn't get it back until March of the following year.
I think they make certain parts for certain models during certain times of the year. They won't make a part outside of that time window just for one repair job; you have to wait for them to make that run of parts. At least that is what I was told when I made a similar thread about my own wait time...
If it makes you feel any better... I sent my 317 to Smith for service in October of one year and didn't get it back until March of the following year.
I think they make certain parts for certain models during certain times of the year. They won't make a part outside of that time window just for one repair job; you have to wait for them to make that run of parts. At least that is what I was told when I made a similar thread about my own wait time...
Kate, the customer service supervisor did call back! I wasn't able to take the call. She left a message. She said "he" said the barrel was heavily leaded up and some locktite i used got on the plunger. I don't know what that was all about. i always cleaned the barrel along with the rest. At any rate she sounded much friendlier today and said he fixed it up as a gesture of good will and there will be no charge, and it has already been sent to shipping.
I don't think any of that addresses the actual problem, and i guess it's inherent in this gun, and that is the aluminum cylinder seizes up when it gets hot and dirty, which happens very quickly.
All's well that ends well...sort of.
I don't think any of that addresses the actual problem, and i guess it's inherent in this gun, and that is the aluminum cylinder seizes up when it gets hot and dirty, which happens very quickly.
All's well that ends well...sort of.
George Dickel
Member
Smith & Wesson
2100 Roosevelt Ave
Springfield, MA 01104
CEO: P. James Debney
Write him a polite letter explaining what the problem is and who you spoke with in customer service and when. Let him know that no one answers the phone in customer service. I've done this a couple times with other companies and it got results, quickly.
2100 Roosevelt Ave
Springfield, MA 01104
CEO: P. James Debney
Write him a polite letter explaining what the problem is and who you spoke with in customer service and when. Let him know that no one answers the phone in customer service. I've done this a couple times with other companies and it got results, quickly.
I have had to use their customer service twice.
The first time was on a brand new Walther PK380 that the extractor fell out of the 2nd time we took it to the range. It started off and would FTE about twice a mag and then the extractor disappeared on the floor of the dark indoor range we were at. I don't remember having any trouble getting a hold of them and getting a return shipping label. They had the gun about 3 weeks and when it came back it said they had installed a new extractor and that a "quote was pending". That pissed me off as I was pretty sure that the new extractor being popped in wasn't going to be enough to fix all the failure to feed and failure to extract problems it had, and I had no intention of paying anything for repairs to a gun that had less than 100 rounds through it. In the end, they never sent me a bill and I sold the gun at a small loss.
The 2nd time I called about a broken recoil spring on a first gen shield that had about 700 rounds through it. They answered the phone promptly and mailed the new recoil spring to me free of charge.
So my experience with their customer service is 50/50 and I just hope I don't have to use it
again.
The first time was on a brand new Walther PK380 that the extractor fell out of the 2nd time we took it to the range. It started off and would FTE about twice a mag and then the extractor disappeared on the floor of the dark indoor range we were at. I don't remember having any trouble getting a hold of them and getting a return shipping label. They had the gun about 3 weeks and when it came back it said they had installed a new extractor and that a "quote was pending". That pissed me off as I was pretty sure that the new extractor being popped in wasn't going to be enough to fix all the failure to feed and failure to extract problems it had, and I had no intention of paying anything for repairs to a gun that had less than 100 rounds through it. In the end, they never sent me a bill and I sold the gun at a small loss.
The 2nd time I called about a broken recoil spring on a first gen shield that had about 700 rounds through it. They answered the phone promptly and mailed the new recoil spring to me free of charge.
So my experience with their customer service is 50/50 and I just hope I don't have to use it
again.
Pat Riot
Contributing Member
My experience with S&W Customer Service has been satisfactory but would not have been necessary had their QA people did their job in the first place.
327 Night Guard - barrel crown unfinished. The rifling has burrs. Sent it back. They said “No defect found” and sent it back. Burrs gone and crown looked nice. 2 week turnaround.
60 Pro - could not release cylinder. Good thing it was not loaded. Sent it in. They said the ejector rod had not been properly or completely threaded. It back out a little and locked up the gun. 2 week turnaround.
63 - Now I have to contact them about my 63. The left side cylinder gap is 0.015” and the right side cylinder gap is 0.005”. Grrrr
I just got this gun a little over a month ago.
327 Night Guard - barrel crown unfinished. The rifling has burrs. Sent it back. They said “No defect found” and sent it back. Burrs gone and crown looked nice. 2 week turnaround.
60 Pro - could not release cylinder. Good thing it was not loaded. Sent it in. They said the ejector rod had not been properly or completely threaded. It back out a little and locked up the gun. 2 week turnaround.
63 - Now I have to contact them about my 63. The left side cylinder gap is 0.015” and the right side cylinder gap is 0.005”. Grrrr
I just got this gun a little over a month ago.
mdf9183
Member
This is not unique to S&W, I sent a Rossi 851 to Taurus on 4-1-19 for a recall repair. They told me that it could not be repaired so I asked that they return it to me. I have spoke with them several times and e-mailed them several times and as of 1-24-20 I still have not received the gun and they never replied to my last e-mail.
George Dickel
Member
Received this email from S&W today:
Mr. ...,
I called you yesterday afternoon but there was no answer. I left you a message concerning the
Model 317 revolver. The head of the department reviewed the revolver and found that the
barrel was heavily leaded. The yoke screw plunger was stuck due to Loctite being applied.
The gun has been repaired as a good will gesture this time. In the future, if the revolver is returned
with issues that are not a defect in the material or workmanship of the revolver, there will be a charge
for the repair. The revolver should ship back to you by next week. You should receive an email with
the tracking number once it ships.
Thank you,
...
Customer Service
_________________________
I don't know how the barrel could have been "heavily leaded". I looked in it and cleaned it after shooting every time. I did use locktite on the screw, I always have on guns, but I won't anymore. She said not to use Locktite anymore on her phone message. I don't know how a stuck yoke screw plunger would effect the operation of a gun. Could the problem all along have been the yoke screw plunger and Locktite? The gun always worked fine the first few loadings but then the cylinder seized up. It was that way since the beginning. I thought that it was an inherent problem with the aluminum cylinder on these guns getting hot and dirty very quickly. I returned the gun to S&W once before for the same problem but nothing changed. They said nothing about Locktite and a stuck yoke screw plunger then.
Mr. ...,
I called you yesterday afternoon but there was no answer. I left you a message concerning the
Model 317 revolver. The head of the department reviewed the revolver and found that the
barrel was heavily leaded. The yoke screw plunger was stuck due to Loctite being applied.
The gun has been repaired as a good will gesture this time. In the future, if the revolver is returned
with issues that are not a defect in the material or workmanship of the revolver, there will be a charge
for the repair. The revolver should ship back to you by next week. You should receive an email with
the tracking number once it ships.
Thank you,
...
Customer Service
_________________________
I don't know how the barrel could have been "heavily leaded". I looked in it and cleaned it after shooting every time. I did use locktite on the screw, I always have on guns, but I won't anymore. She said not to use Locktite anymore on her phone message. I don't know how a stuck yoke screw plunger would effect the operation of a gun. Could the problem all along have been the yoke screw plunger and Locktite? The gun always worked fine the first few loadings but then the cylinder seized up. It was that way since the beginning. I thought that it was an inherent problem with the aluminum cylinder on these guns getting hot and dirty very quickly. I returned the gun to S&W once before for the same problem but nothing changed. They said nothing about Locktite and a stuck yoke screw plunger then.
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DustyGmt
Member
Unacceptable. First, I would be asking for a replacement if it was recalled for a defect and couldnt be repaired. Kind of like pumping gas and then going in to find out they cant break a $20, well I guess gas is free today.
Second, that is an inappropriate amount of time for them to hold your gun. I'd be writing letters and emails, phone calls, etc...
LaneP
Member
So on this particular cylinder, is it completely aluminum (meaning no chamber sleeves)?
They sent me a new Taurus 6 shot very similar to the original Rossi. It’s not shiny polished and I liked the grip better on the Rossi, but they did send it out in about 60 days. I also have a Taurus 1911 that had an issue with the slide. The way they finish the slide/bolt face sucks. It had a gouge on the slide from what I believe is a narrow belt sander used to finish the bolt face. I called them, emailed pictures, within an hour they sent me a FedEx return label and by 9:00am the next day the FedEx guy was at my office to pick it up! 6 days later the FedEx guy brought it back, new slide and barrel. Slide still wasn’t finished to my satisfaction but I figured this was probably as good as it was going to get so I got out my Swiss file set and made the slide face look like it was supposed to. Why is it always handguns with service problems? Springfield, Mitchel-Hi-Standard, EAA, and two Taurus. Never a long gun! I take that back, I have a SIG/B. Rizzint TR-20 28 ga O/U that had a safety issue after about 10 shots. Again I called, talked to the Service big shot, he said he could probably tell me how to fix it but would rather I send it to him and he’d be sure that was the issue and fix it. Same thing, emailed a return label, it was back in about a week, hasn’t missed a lick since and it’s had several thousand rounds through it too. I’ve got it’s baby brother.410 too and it’s never missed a lick either. Oh yes, I had an early Ruger Vaquero that you couldn’t hit a 5 gal bucket with 3 shots out of 6 at 10 paces, they wanted me to send it in but I traded it for a Blackhawk instead. Almost always handgun problems!
It is interesting that there are such divergent experiences with customer service and warranty work in the firearm industry. Like many others I have swore off some manufactures based on how the customer service process was handled or the inability of a company to fix a firearm.
In my experience it seems that the technicians that handle warranty work are not the product experts I would hope for, and if a firearm has a functional issue, the factory will not be able to fix it. The technicians will swap parts that may contribute to a problem reported, and send it back with the same issue(s), regardless of how detailed you are in documenting the issue(s). It certainly feels like some of them just want to send it back out ASAP and hope it doesn't come back.
On the other hand I have some firearms that have never needed warranty service, because they always work, so maybe those manufactures would handle warranty work more to my satisfaction.
At any rate there is no excuse for rude, disorganized, or incompetent customer service agents. It really does not seem like a huge imposition to be polite and lookup the cost or process for repair work, or transfer you to someone who can explain the process or details of your request.
Good job with your persistence and I am glad your firearm has been repaired and is on its way back to you. Let us know how everything checks out when you get it back.
In my experience it seems that the technicians that handle warranty work are not the product experts I would hope for, and if a firearm has a functional issue, the factory will not be able to fix it. The technicians will swap parts that may contribute to a problem reported, and send it back with the same issue(s), regardless of how detailed you are in documenting the issue(s). It certainly feels like some of them just want to send it back out ASAP and hope it doesn't come back.
On the other hand I have some firearms that have never needed warranty service, because they always work, so maybe those manufactures would handle warranty work more to my satisfaction.
At any rate there is no excuse for rude, disorganized, or incompetent customer service agents. It really does not seem like a huge imposition to be polite and lookup the cost or process for repair work, or transfer you to someone who can explain the process or details of your request.
Good job with your persistence and I am glad your firearm has been repaired and is on its way back to you. Let us know how everything checks out when you get it back.
Bud's guns has one single review on the (out of stock) 317. This - the aluminum cylinder! - is the problem, not the barrel, not the yoke screw plunger. I told them that in the accompanying letter, both times i returned it, and even asked them to send me a different model if they can't fix it. They just totally ignored it and made up stuff about Locktite and the barrel having lead in it.
"[2 of 5 Stars!]Bud's service was again excellent. Have had considerable trouble with this revolver, however. Quite simply the revolver cannot fire more than 100+ times at the range without the cylinder "overheating." Then the revolver jams and cannot fire until it "cools down." It has already been to Smith & Wesson once, and they replaced the cylinder under warranty, but the problem has reoccured. I have other S&W .22 revolvers, and they have performed flawlessly for many years, so this is quite a surprise. Perhaps, it is because the cylinder and frame are an aluminum alloy. In any event, I do not have much confidence in this particular Smith & Wesson revolver."
Mine never made it to 100.
https://www.budsgunshop.com/mobile/product/26989/s&w+m317+8rd+22+lr++187"
"[2 of 5 Stars!]Bud's service was again excellent. Have had considerable trouble with this revolver, however. Quite simply the revolver cannot fire more than 100+ times at the range without the cylinder "overheating." Then the revolver jams and cannot fire until it "cools down." It has already been to Smith & Wesson once, and they replaced the cylinder under warranty, but the problem has reoccured. I have other S&W .22 revolvers, and they have performed flawlessly for many years, so this is quite a surprise. Perhaps, it is because the cylinder and frame are an aluminum alloy. In any event, I do not have much confidence in this particular Smith & Wesson revolver."
Mine never made it to 100.
https://www.budsgunshop.com/mobile/product/26989/s&w+m317+8rd+22+lr++187"
I have a 617 too. Only trouble is it has a front heavy 6" barrel and I'd rather it had a 4" barrel, or the old model K-22.
LaneP
Member
Knowing the heat conducting properties of aluminum, I'm surprised they would use that metal for a cylinder.
I would guess the thinking was that no one was going to go to the range and shoot 100 rounds at a time through one.
Not canted that i know of, just front heavy.
Mine starts seizing up after maybe 20 or 30 shots. The first time i sent it back it had seized up so tight I couldn't get the bullets of it, and i didn't know what i was going to do because i couldn't ship it back with bullets in it and s&w told me they had no agreements with any local gunsmith. i finally did get it open though.
If S&W were righteous they'd replace the barrel with titanium or steel.
I received the gun back today and just tested it. I was expecting the worst but i am pleasently surprised. Shot 80 rounds - 10 loadings - Winchester 555 white box bulk ammo. Two failures to fire. Cylinders hard to eject after first two loads, but doable. And it kept on shooting without seizing up!
Single action is very smooth on this little super light weight 1 7/8 inch barrel model 317, but it is hard to pull back the rudimentary hammer, especially with my beat up thumbs.
Single action is very smooth on this little super light weight 1 7/8 inch barrel model 317, but it is hard to pull back the rudimentary hammer, especially with my beat up thumbs.
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