angryeyebrows
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If you want to read the first part of this story, you can find it HERE
It’s finally time for everyone to know how this thing turned out. To recap, when I last left you I had sent my ACR back to Questar (at their expense) for evaluation regarding the malfunctions I was experiencing. As well, I had identified a number of components that should have been upgraded had the gun gone in for its mandatory factory recall. These being a separate issue that would require a trip to the warranty centre (The Gravel Agency in QC). Before placing my online order for the rifle back in August 2011, I specifically phoned in to ask if it had been subject to the recall and if it was a current production rifle, to which the Questar sales person on the phone replied that it was current and good to go. Only after a detailed inspection and conversation with Bushmaster did I discover that this was not the case. Questar’s response when asked about this:
Kind of a cop out, I think. I believe a business should stand behind what they sell not pass the buck to their “suppliers”. In any case, Questar agreed to look at the rifle and The Gravel Agency agreed to honor the warranty, despite the fact that the rifle had an aftermarket barrel.
On the 7th of November (2011) I sent the rifle back to Questar (and on to Gravel) for them to investigate the malfunctions. It took until the 13th of January 2012 for the warranty work from Gravel to be completed and the rifle to make its way back to Questar. At that time I asked Scott at Questar to not ship the rifle back until Gravel had produced the full report from the Gunsmith at the warranty centre. In his earlier email (20 Dec 2011) he stated:
This was a very difficult time to get in touch with anyone, on account of the holidays and Shot Show 2012, but Gravel assured me they would send a full report regarding everything they had observed. The report was sent out via email on the 3rd of February to both Scott at Questar and me. I read through it thoroughly and here are the highlights:
- Firing pin and spring were replaced with proper versions so it would be safe to fire
- Gas block was canted (potentially contributing to the malfunctions)
- Misaligned barrel lock mechanism
- Abnormal hand guard rubbing
- Old style gas plug and piston
- Loose charging handle
Important to note the following quote from the report:
I emailed Scott at Questar to see what they were going to do about this, and he replied with the following:
Questar did not even wait to see the report from Gravel. Pretty insulting considering the issues I was experiencing was likely with their barrel and just weeks before Scott said they would resolve any issues found by Gravel. I got the rifle back on the 10th of February and optimistically I took it out to test it out again. Keep in mind that since I purchased this rifle in August 2011, I had only fired (or attempted to fire) 50 rounds through it. As expected, it malfunctioned on the first magazine. This time I took video HERE
I wrote yet another email to Scott at Questar explaining the reoccurring malfunctions and this time including the video. His response:
I am a very patient person, but I must say that by this time, it was wearing thin. I responded to him with a request to see if any other person could deal with this in his absence. His reply:
The interesting thing to note at this point is how he claims Gravel tested the rifle with the Questar barrel which is in stark contrast to the report Gravel sent out. I responded to this by quoting the report and insisting that he take a second to watch the videos I included in the last email. His reply:
To get to the bottom of this I contacted the Rep at Gravel (Jerome) who produced the report and asked him point blank to confirm if they had tested the rifle with the Questar barrel. Here is Jerome’s response:
After reading this, I didn’t know what to believe anymore, but it was evident that Questar was not above lying to try and get out of this issue. I decided to cut my losses at this point and quite dealing with Questar. I was beginning to sound like a broken record and was making no progress. I sent Scott one final email quoting Jerome’s reply and informing him that I would be publicly posting this info.
In order to fix this rifle I had to turn to a reputable third party gunsmith and pay him to completely diagnose and fix every problem with the Questar barrel. This cost me more time and more money, but at least I could be assured that it would be sorted out properly. In a nut shell, the barrel extension needed to be replaced and was misaligned, the gas block was installed incorrectly and needed new taper pins and the gas port was the wrong size. He promptly fixed these issues and shipped it back. When it arrived, it worked like a charm. The gunsmith wishes to remain anonymous, so as not to get in the middle of this, so please do not ask for info regarding this.
Finally after almost eight months, my rifle works the way it should have on day one. I spent over $3000 dollars on this rifle from Questar and they left me high and dry to cover all the repair costs on their defective barrel. I have received no compensation or reimbursement for any of my trouble. I didn’t even get a “sorry”. I will NEVER buy another thing from Questar and strongly encourage others to learn from my experience and more importantly see how Questar treats their customers.
It’s finally time for everyone to know how this thing turned out. To recap, when I last left you I had sent my ACR back to Questar (at their expense) for evaluation regarding the malfunctions I was experiencing. As well, I had identified a number of components that should have been upgraded had the gun gone in for its mandatory factory recall. These being a separate issue that would require a trip to the warranty centre (The Gravel Agency in QC). Before placing my online order for the rifle back in August 2011, I specifically phoned in to ask if it had been subject to the recall and if it was a current production rifle, to which the Questar sales person on the phone replied that it was current and good to go. Only after a detailed inspection and conversation with Bushmaster did I discover that this was not the case. Questar’s response when asked about this:
Kind of a cop out, I think. I believe a business should stand behind what they sell not pass the buck to their “suppliers”. In any case, Questar agreed to look at the rifle and The Gravel Agency agreed to honor the warranty, despite the fact that the rifle had an aftermarket barrel.
On the 7th of November (2011) I sent the rifle back to Questar (and on to Gravel) for them to investigate the malfunctions. It took until the 13th of January 2012 for the warranty work from Gravel to be completed and the rifle to make its way back to Questar. At that time I asked Scott at Questar to not ship the rifle back until Gravel had produced the full report from the Gunsmith at the warranty centre. In his earlier email (20 Dec 2011) he stated:
This was a very difficult time to get in touch with anyone, on account of the holidays and Shot Show 2012, but Gravel assured me they would send a full report regarding everything they had observed. The report was sent out via email on the 3rd of February to both Scott at Questar and me. I read through it thoroughly and here are the highlights:
- Firing pin and spring were replaced with proper versions so it would be safe to fire
- Gas block was canted (potentially contributing to the malfunctions)
- Misaligned barrel lock mechanism
- Abnormal hand guard rubbing
- Old style gas plug and piston
- Loose charging handle
Important to note the following quote from the report:
I emailed Scott at Questar to see what they were going to do about this, and he replied with the following:
Questar did not even wait to see the report from Gravel. Pretty insulting considering the issues I was experiencing was likely with their barrel and just weeks before Scott said they would resolve any issues found by Gravel. I got the rifle back on the 10th of February and optimistically I took it out to test it out again. Keep in mind that since I purchased this rifle in August 2011, I had only fired (or attempted to fire) 50 rounds through it. As expected, it malfunctioned on the first magazine. This time I took video HERE
I wrote yet another email to Scott at Questar explaining the reoccurring malfunctions and this time including the video. His response:
I am a very patient person, but I must say that by this time, it was wearing thin. I responded to him with a request to see if any other person could deal with this in his absence. His reply:
The interesting thing to note at this point is how he claims Gravel tested the rifle with the Questar barrel which is in stark contrast to the report Gravel sent out. I responded to this by quoting the report and insisting that he take a second to watch the videos I included in the last email. His reply:
To get to the bottom of this I contacted the Rep at Gravel (Jerome) who produced the report and asked him point blank to confirm if they had tested the rifle with the Questar barrel. Here is Jerome’s response:
After reading this, I didn’t know what to believe anymore, but it was evident that Questar was not above lying to try and get out of this issue. I decided to cut my losses at this point and quite dealing with Questar. I was beginning to sound like a broken record and was making no progress. I sent Scott one final email quoting Jerome’s reply and informing him that I would be publicly posting this info.
In order to fix this rifle I had to turn to a reputable third party gunsmith and pay him to completely diagnose and fix every problem with the Questar barrel. This cost me more time and more money, but at least I could be assured that it would be sorted out properly. In a nut shell, the barrel extension needed to be replaced and was misaligned, the gas block was installed incorrectly and needed new taper pins and the gas port was the wrong size. He promptly fixed these issues and shipped it back. When it arrived, it worked like a charm. The gunsmith wishes to remain anonymous, so as not to get in the middle of this, so please do not ask for info regarding this.
Finally after almost eight months, my rifle works the way it should have on day one. I spent over $3000 dollars on this rifle from Questar and they left me high and dry to cover all the repair costs on their defective barrel. I have received no compensation or reimbursement for any of my trouble. I didn’t even get a “sorry”. I will NEVER buy another thing from Questar and strongly encourage others to learn from my experience and more importantly see how Questar treats their customers.
