PARA-ORDNANCE/North-Sylva poor warranty service

[soldat52000]

Before buying a PARA ORDNANCE pistol read my story.

I purchased a pistol PARA model 1911, 16-40 LTD, 40S&W calibre on the internet from Ellwood Epps Ontario Canada and paid $1500 for it. Got a very good service from Ellwoods. I took it to the range to try it out. First round fires and the ambi-safety kicks in on its own. So I inspect the pistol closely to find out that the ambi-safety profile is improperly shaped, it’s sitting on top of the grip and touching the slide at the same time. So, in other terms it’s sandwiched between the grip and the slide. So it’s impossible to fire this pistol without it kicking into lock position every time because of the hard rubbing on the slide. So I informed North-Sylva from Toronto Ontario, they are the warranty centre for PARA in Canada. They took my complaint and contacted PARA USA. It took close to 5 months before I got permission to send my gun in for repair at North-Sylva. My request was for them to install the proper ambi-safety to fit this pistol. The ambi-safety on my pistol, when I purchased it, was not the same than the pistol shown on the PARA internet site. The profile of mine was bent down way to much. Mr George Wedge from PARA USA admitted that some pistol left their factory with a wrong match between the grips and the ambi-safety. Anyway, I get my gun back from North-Sylva 3 weeks later and all what they did is shave off a couple of millimetres from the top of the rubber grips and grinded a notch in the ambi-safety below the normal plunger hole so that the safety plunger would hold it better to prevent it from kicking up when the pistol was fired. When I took it to the range for trial it’s needless to say it failed royally. So the ambi-safety is still sandwiched between the grip and the slide. It’s a $1500 pistol, it’s been close to six months now that I purchased it. I was told by North-Sylva that they didn’t have a spare ambi-safety. I really don’t know what to think, this story really pisses me off. On their internet site PARA USA says that their Warranty service is excellent. Personally, in don’t think so. Make sure you think really hard of the warranty service before you buy a gun!
Now I will have to take my pistol to a professional to get it fixed and I will have to pay the money.

 

[David E]

Why not contact Para and tell them about your experience with their authorized repair agent?

 

[soldat52000]

Sent an Email to Mr Georges Wedge and Mr Tomasie in the USA. Waiting for an answer. I'm trying to stay positive. But lets be real, close to 6 months with a new 1500$ pistol that doesn't work, you accumulate some frustration.:banghead:

 

[David E]

I understand your frustration.

If it had happened to me, I would fix this problem myself, especially after the "warranty" work.

1911 safeties are not difficult to install. I'd contact Para, tell them if the experience, then tell them to send me the proper safety and I'll get it taken care of.

If I really liked the gun otherwise or gun law hassle was an issue, I'd buy my own safety if Para wouldn't send me one.

But that's me.

 

[billdeserthills]

Sorry to hear of your trouble with Para,
As an FFL I sold 4 of the Para Carry 9mm guns, unfortunately all 4 were in need of return & repair. I learned my lesson regarding Para's construction & quality control as well

 

[Alberforth]

Yup it's a shame. I'd probably be carrying a Warthog at this point instead of a Glock were it not for their reputation (I know, I know, Glock is trying to catch up but they're not there yet by a long shot ).

 

[soldat52000]

Of course the first thing I asked 5 months ago is to ship me an ambi safety without the bent profile but I was told by North Sylva, NO CAN DO. They have to do exactly as told by para and at the time they were going to replace only the left grip with a modified one. But this would not have solved my problem since I already tried to shoot that pistol without any grips on and it still did the same thing. I told them that the ambi safety was improperly molded and the nesting hole for the safety plunger was basically inexisting. Of course I could have fixed all of this and pay for everything on my own, but that is totally beside the point. A $1500 gun should be impeccable. And I insist.
But I got good news today, an answer from Travis Tomasie, He appears to be a very sharp person. He said he would try to get them to ship me all the parts required to fix my problem today. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Travis Tomasie is their new Pro-Shooter at PARA and he is making a difference more and more everyday. He is often on the para forum answering all the questions from customers.

 

[Alberforth]

Well good luck to him. I hear it takes 10 years to win back consumer trust.