Anyone have experience with delays for getting parts from Smith and Wesson?

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eldenhiemer

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Nova Scotia Canada
So I have a really nice S&W 586 L frame .357 that I dearly enjoy shooting. However last year I suffered a bad round (factory loaded ammo) that damaged my cylinder…or maybe it was just time for it to go. Long story short after sending the FA off to the canadian warranty centre for SW they informed me the cylinder is unrepairable and would require a replacement. Much to my happiness however this falls under warranty of the FA and that they had started the order for the parts. I had hoped this would have been the start of a great experience with the people at SW, as I had heard about their great customer service and warranty; however I can say it has been less than so. Suffice to say, 9 months later I still have no revolver, and there has been no parts shipped to the gunsmith and /or for that matter they can not get SW to give them a delivery date of the parts. Last month I contacted SW via their email QA section and requested info on this delay. I received a computer generated email stating their target is to respond in 2-3 business days. Now it being over 14 bus days later and still nothing from them I am again having to try and contact them to see what the situation is.
I am just curious if anyone else has experienced huge delays in getting parts for warranty work to be done on their FA from SW. The only other warranty/recall work I have had to have done on a FA of mine is the trigger in my REM 700 which I had to ship to the service centre in Canada, and still had the work done and returned to me in under 2 weeks.

Anyone have insight into the problems with getting parts of warranty work on SW guns?
 
The only people who love S&W's warranty service are in America, there's nothing the warranty centre can do about it, when it comes to shipping parts, Smith sucks. The good news is the folks who do the work are first class, unfortunately without parts there's nothing they can do.
 
I can honestly say that the Warranty centre here in canada has been very good to deal with. They are understanding of my issue and have done their best to direct me to the email for SW and etc. I look forward to their work when I get it back….
 
Probably 10-12 years ago when my 686 7 shot had cylinder cracking issues ,at the front of the cylinder, before the projectile jumps the gap and goes into the forcing cone,and then down the barrel.Took it to Whortners' Gun Works in Chatham,Ontario and he told me there was a factory hardening issue with the 7 shot and a new cylinder would be needed.If I recall about 2 weeks later I was called and told the revolver was ready,went to pick it up,and it's been shooting great ever since.Didn't cost me a dime.
 
So did you say that just to brag? LOL. I have finally heard back from Smith and Wesson about the delay, their answer was short and sweet. The stock parts for 10 years only and since the FA is older then that they have to "track down the correct cylinder" and that they are "sure i can understand the long lead time for this repair". I returned that with a message of my own stating that I am sure they can understand my position as well…in that as a new shooter at the time one of the reasons I went with a S&W was that there was good talk around their warranty and customer service. And although i understand that this is not a regular stock part I think that the 9 months is quite a bit longer than an "understandable long lead time". I inquired as to the process for them to track down this part, and how /what they have to do to get it so it can be sent to the warranty centre here for repair…or if for that matter they have to mill a new piece from some sort of mythical iron that they can only find in the mountains of mordor…..and if so..what is the time frame for that! They have tried to direct me back to the warranty centre in canada but since the delay is on their end I am holding them accountable for it and wish to get information directly from their parts division. We shall see….
 
Up to a few years ago I had no problem getting parts. I have two friends who work there with one retired now but he still has connections after 36 years. They got parts on their company discount. and mailed them. They can't really do that now but .
 
I am waiting on parts for my M&P9, it's taken at least 3 months. Since this started I bought a Ruger to play with as I expect my Smith will take many more months.
 
Yes this is far from an ideal set up on their behalf that is for sure. I have since been emailing one of their international sales managers about this issue. They intially tried to send me back to the warranty center here for the issue, but I frankly told him that the delay isn't in the service from the warranty center here it is in SW supplying the parts. The rationnel I was given was that since the revolver more than 10 years old they don't stock parts, but instead need to "start from scratch" and engineeer and machine the new part in small runs that intertupt regular production. So I responded by saying..."well if you haven't had time to do that in the last 9 months I guess there is little hope that means it will get done soon". I went on to tell him this only proves that they are more interested in selling new product and not servicing their existing customer base who will continue to move away from them with service like this. I mean I know Canada is a relative small market for them compared to the US, current increased sales in face of their fear of gun control, etc.. however the customer service is what makes a company. This may all be lip service for me, but at least I can voice my oppinion to them. I am at this point trying to ruffle as many feathers as I can. lol. Time to start saving pennies for something new I guess.
 
eldenhiemer said:
Yes this is far from an ideal set up on their behalf that is for sure. I have since been emailing one of their international sales managers about this issue. They intially tried to send me back to the warranty center here for the issue, but I frankly told him that the delay isn't in the service from the warranty center here it is in SW supplying the parts. The rationnel I was given was that since the revolver more than 10 years old they don't stock parts, but instead need to "start from scratch" and engineeer and machine the new part in small runs that intertupt regular production. So I responded by saying..."well if you haven't had time to do that in the last 9 months I guess there is little hope that means it will get done soon". I went on to tell him this only proves that they are more interested in selling new product and not servicing their existing customer base who will continue to move away from them with service like this. I mean I know Canada is a relative small market for them compared to the US, current increased sales in face of their fear of gun control, etc.. however the customer service is what makes a company. This may all be lip service for me, but at least I can voice my oppinion to them. I am at this point trying to ruffle as many feathers as I can. lol. Time to start saving pennies for something new I guess.
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After my gun had been in their hands for a year and a half i flatly told them i would NEVER buy another Smith product again and would tell my story to anyone at my range, funny the gun happen to be processed/repaired the next week and i had it within 2 weeks. lol!
 
Yeah, last email he mentioned he would contact the parts department and "prioritize" the part...to which I responded in question if that meant a few days or next few months/years. I also had mentioned that I am leery of ever buying their product again and that I have and would continue to tell all people at clubs, shoots and etc...(alot of whom are club presidents, FA instructors, etc) about the trouble I am having with their "excellent customer service". All the people I have told now consider that to be a good reason not to buy SW and have concerns about their own older SW FA that they may someday need parts/work done to. I hope this gets similar result as did with yours..lol
 
I went through a similar experience with being a Canadian customer and needing warranty service. I had an out of battery discharge on an M&P 15-22 which sent the extractor and other bits flying off the rifle never to be found again. This was after less than 500 rounds. End to end it took almost a year to get the bloody thing repaired. I ended up tracking down their CEOs email address and actually got a reply....long story short we are too small a market to really care about was my experience.
 
The CEO eh...feel free to PM me the email for that.....Everything about this experience so far has been junk....the fact that it happened, the delay in getting parts, lack of info...I don't think I will purchase SW again... The market is small here...you are right about that...but what are our options? Are there any large scale manufacters in Canada that can make a decent and afforable pistol, other than some shop that can "custom" an existing model for 3 times the price?
 
wow this has me worried. My wife just bought her first handgun, a S&W SDV9E...however, at only a few hundred dollars, if this sort of situation comes up you just scrap it I guess. Still, she will be very unhappy and will lose interest in firearms if this were to happen. I have never seen her like a firearm as much as she liked this SDV9E. Hopefully it is a nice little work horse for us.

made in America isn't the same thing it used to be eh?
 
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