14inch Mossberg 590A1 Help!!

I just checked my 14" Epps-bought Mossy (just like yours). My front sight seems ok, but you can see where they drifted it in. Mine actually sits flat and straight. Detent ball is present. See-thru channel under the front sight assembly seems the norm.

Someone definitely butchered that front sight. Must have been stubborn, so they used a bigger hammer and pounded it in. Not nice....

For the 30 seconds it would take to give these a quick once over before shipping, seems like the least they could do. oops....Thats the chance you take buying something sight unseen I guess.
 
For the CGN public in general:

I become somewhat agitated when I see these forum postings over and over again slagging our customer service without any understanding of the procedures and policies that are put in place to address those issues, or WHY those procedures or policies exist in the first place. Do I get upset? Absolutely. This is my job, we're talking about here, and I take a very large measure of pride in what I do, and how well I do it. Unfortunately, there are times when the ability for any of our staff to deal with a given issue is limited by the guidelines that dictate how our store and how our industry is run.

That, however, is not something that the majority of anonymous posters here on CGN care to think about.

It is far easier to hide behind a keyboard and claim "Your service is terrible because. . . .!", or "You should do it this way, or I'm never shopping there again!", rather than make any effort to understand or accept the methods that lead to the issues at hand.

If you don't believe my statements, ask yourself why I bothered at all to responded to not only this thread, but to the previous thread regarding a certain customer's complaint about the service they received over a Beretta shotgun (thread now locked down).

For Can-down:

Your point is taken, and yes, that is exactly what we do. If a trend of defects is seen in products we carry, we examine the remaining items in inventory and determine whether those items should be returned for repair or replacement. In or around 2009 we noted a severe issue with Remington 750 semi-automatic rifles, and in the end we returned every example we had in stock to our Remington distributor to have them replaced with new models.

We did the exact same thing with the bulk of the Marlin rifles that exhibited such poor workmanship in 2011-2012.

With regard to the 14" Mossbergs, however, we did not have a large number of these guns in stock at any time. The issues we did see with them, and heard from our customers reached us long after the bulk of those guns were sold, and only a few remained in inventory, or were on hold for customers who had already purchased those models by telephone or over our online system. Most turned out to be just fine, but I do believe 1 or 2 went back to the distributor with notable issues.

As for how many guns we sell in a year? The average from 2010 is somewhere around 9,500-10,000 firearms. About 1/2 of those are ship-outs rather than pick ups from our store.

As for shipments leaving the store, add in ammunition, scopes, powder, primers, other accessories, and the estimated number of packages that left our store in 2014 was 10,500 items via Canada Post, CanPar, UPS and FedEx combined.

So yes, if we had to inspect each and every single item that left our store, the math logic that you laugh about would escalate to a pretty unreasonable sum, don't you think? Again, at some point the Quality Control departments of the companies that build and supply these products have to be brought into question. The problem is, the retail sales counter is the front line between the customer and the product they purchase. Therefore the Shoot The Messenger mentality becomes the easier track to follow, rather than addressing the real issue back to the manufacturer who produces and distributes flawed items in the first place.

Remember the old Hanes underwear commercials: Proudly Inspected by Inspector #11? Wouldn't it be great if every company had to identify the personnel who actually inspects their items before they are released to market, and holds those persons accountable for releasing flawed or faulty products to the consumer level? A wonderful notion, but not likely to happen in the foreseeable future.

Thanks for taking the time to reiterate your position.
I have lot's of firearms that came with inspectors signatures and targets shot so the Hanes days are not over yet!
I find it amazing that a company in the US can manufacture and sell something to an Importer in Canada, that can then be distributed to a retailer, and then at the end of that long line..... it's the consumer that discovers a poorly indexed barrel, a crocked front sight or some other obvious flaw!

10'000 guns a year is impressive!

I think if you go back and re read my previous post I suggested that checking every package of bullets and sniffing the gun powder is probably over kill. Also as you suggested it makes more sense to target suspected items for a final quality control check before being sent to your customer. A bit like customs at the border if you like..... impossible to search everyone so they use intelligent strategy to find suspects within the larger system.

I've been a Carpenter for about as long as you've been a salesman and I must say I enjoy the fact that I still don't know it all.
It's refreshing to learn a new technique or work method after all these years and an elastic attitude helps keeps me young in my mind and body.

Taker easy and strive to do better!
 
I can never understand the attitude from a retailer or business when they say things like "we don't have time" or "you don't understand how things work as a business. It costs us this and this so we're not gonna do it because we lose money". To me that's just excuses for poor customer service. Also, taking pride in your work doesnt mean you are never wrong. It's great that you take pride but what makes a business stand out from others is when they listen to customers feedback and complaints, and either take action to address those issues, or graciously take the high road if someone is truly unreasonable.

No one is asking you to inspect every box or product as they come into the store. That would be unreasonable. I just can't see why you won't take 30 seconds to do a visual look-over when you ship a gun out to someone out of town. That 30 seconds could potentially save you lots of emails, phone calls, and more time spent on forums defending your business. Many other vedors do this so why can't you?

If I bought a new shotgun in this condition and was told to go deal with the warranty center myself, you bet I'd flip at the retailer and complain on this forum. If I were the OP I'd send this back for a refund. That front sight blade is mangled and looks like it'll take more work than simply hammering it back to be centered.
 
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Worse case scenario contact Casey at Tactical Ordnance / I assure you he can fix this issue for you ( granted not under warranty), he has my Mossberg 590A1 14 in barrel & is building me a full house custom VangComp shotun..

gadget

After borrowing Hans' personal 14" for a week long course I needed the same done to mine. Casey does an awesome job.
 
I am ticked off by the excuses posted in this thread. The excuse for sending out defective product sounds the same as what I received from two other site sponsors. There are people at Epps that have the time to take multiple photos and e-mail those photos off to potential customers, so why no time to glance over new items? I admit that I am impressed with the communication for the used inventory, but the policy for new firearms is completely unacceptable.

The excuses in this thread have probably cost Epps more business than what it would actually cost them to inspect each outgoing parcel. If you get complacent with your business once it reaches a high volume, it doesn't take long to start losing some sales due to taking your customers for granted. That is exacting what it is. I am calling a spade a spade, without trying to start an argument. Unless the excuse is retracted, I will no longer give them my business, albeit only one firearm per year on average. I had a very good impression of Epps up until this point.
 
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