A Tale of Sako, S&B, Bad Luck and Customer Service

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It seems the long action Sako 85 does not work well with non Sako rings and seems to work better with medium height two piece bases and rings and 1 inch scopes from what it is posted on the web . I would be interested hearing from other owners of long action Sako 85's what scopes they have mounted and if they have had problems. I also have a Sako 85 Black Bear in 3006, however I do not have a scope mounted on it since I purposely choose it for the iron sights.
 
Well now, entertaining to say the least.
I'm just curious as to the how come part the lads on the floor didn't bring
the manager into this?

Its unfortunate that you feel so strongly about shopping with us again. I can assure you that if you had asked to speak to the store manager, the situation would have been resolved in your favour.
We have a no refund policy on firearms, and our staff are instructed to follow this policy, however given your circumstances, you should have received a refund.
 
Update to the story:

I've contacted Al Flaherty's and we have agreed on a refund.

It appears that once all the details of the situation became clear the reason clearly won over written policy. I'd glad it did.

In fact after reading the comments in this thread I became way more convinced to take a refund instead of waiting for a replacement rifle. I knew Sako had ejection issue, but it is very unsettling to see so many people saying they or someone they know had this issue. There are also A LOT of people having no problem whatsoever and Sako is performing flawlessly for them, no argument. I know some of them and please don't get into holy war stance over it - I agree that once you get your rig all setup Sako will perform on a premium level.

However I just don't feel that I really understand the nature of the issue so I could make arrangements to clearly avoid it and at the same time I don't feel lucky enough to continue the experiments.
 
kamlooky said:
Well now, entertaining to say the least.
I'm just curious as to the how come part the lads on the floor didn't bring
the manager into this?

Its unfortunate that you feel so strongly about shopping with us again. I can assure you that if you had asked to speak to the store manager, the situation would have been resolved in your favour.
We have a no refund policy on firearms, and our staff are instructed to follow this policy, however given your circumstances, you should have received a refund.
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The main owner/operator/manager was on vacation out of the country, it was a case of the wrong decision by the wrong person based on an incomplete understanding of the situation. I am one of "the lads" on the floor, and I brought this to his attention as soon as I heard there was an issue, likely I wasn't in the store or on lunch when it happened.

It wasn't a situation that should have happened, it's not a situation that can be fixed 100%, but I'm glad we could find some resolution.
 
After all this tale has a happy ending!
It's great Al Flaherty's managers did it right, thanks.May be guy's on a floor should know that there are exceptions some times , so they don't push customers away .I buy from them often, nice guys , but stories like this should not happen .
 
marcoman said:
Hmmm, wonder what would affect your "annual profit margins" more.... giving the customer a justified refund or the bad publicity that your poor customer service has brought to light. Enjoy the fruits of your efforts or rather, lack there of.
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I would answer your question by saying: I purchase firearms and merchandise locally and from online and do look at the sponsoring vendors site's to see what they sell. This thread has effected my perception of two manufacturers, two retailers and one distributor. Thanks to the OP for sharing your experiences, perhaps one of the vendors will use this as motivation to review their policies an "customer service".
 
Thanks for all compliments people, I can now consider my experience to be a public service

"Pro bono gun shopping" so to speak :)
 
I have never had a problem with my Sako 85. It ejects just fine and ejected cartridges never did touch the scope. Must of been a bad batch made or maybe a former Savage employee works for Sako.:evil:
 
I really don't know. What would you like me to break? A friend of mine just suggested Blazer. I can feel that straight pull bolt flying in my face already :)

What would you suggest? Cooper? I have no idea really.
 
Bowie said:
I'm not sure Remington made even 35 model 770 rifles that didn't have issues. The 710 also screams quality. Not to mention the "Remlin" fiasco, the model 870 Express models which are too rough to reliably feed, or their cast bolts which break, or the broken off bolt handles on 700s. I also seem to remember something about 700 triggers...

As far as Leupolds go, it seems Korth gets mentioned here about every week.

That said, I wouldn't generalize and say all Remingtons nor all Leupolds are poor products. I've owned many of both which have been fine. I've also had problems with both.

Fwiw, the only 85 I would own is a Kodiak, but I recognize that the vast majority of Sako products are absolutely "top drawer".

For you to generalize though and say, I quote "#### Sako and #### S&B" is at best, disingenuous.
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No where did I mention Model 710/770's. No where did I mention Model 870. As for broken handles out of the ones I've owned and god know how many my friends have owned I have never seen a broken handle. I've seen threads on the net about them. About as many threads about them as threads about broken bolt shrouds on tikkas, ejection issues with Sako 85s, and general b***** fests on Bushnell optics. S&B is priced top notch. Yet he managed to pull two broken scopes out of the box, in a row. Not "oh I bought 14 S&Bs in the last 4 years and two failed"....two, in a row.


Korth gets mentioned every week. Huh, I must have missed those ones.
 
You stated, and I quote: "#### Al Flahertys #### Sako and #### S&B

Ellwood Epps, Remington and Leupold every day, and twice on Sundays."

You stated "Remington" so I gave you Remington examples.
As I stated before, such generalizations are inaccurate, and moronic.
 
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owlowl said:
I really don't know. What would you like me to break? A friend of mine just suggested Blazer. I can feel that straight pull bolt flying in my face already :)

What would you suggest? Cooper? I have no idea really.
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It's spelled Blaser, and they've withstood pressure tests far exceeding those of most bolt guns. Then there are those who erroneously grab the handgun/shotgun powder for their rifle handloads and blame the explosion on the rifle. You can't fix stupid.
As for Sako, I've had an 85 Finnlight in '06 with a S&B Summit (1" tube) mounted on it and there were no ejection issues. That said, there seem to be ejection issues with certain scope/mount combo's. Apparently there's a relatively easy $10 fix which involves replacing a spring. Regardless, I agree Sako should be addressing the issue, not the consumer.

Your run of bad luck with S&B is definitely unique. I've seen many hunters with literally ancient S&B that have had no issues ever. They are without a doubt one of the highest quality scopes available. Those who buy them are generally unconcerned about what warranty coverage they have. In fact, most high end European scopes don't have that great of a warranty, they usually don't need it.
Leupold started all the "no questions asked/lifetime" warranty. Vortex's is similar, if not more liberal yet. For those who don't think they're paying for it in a roundabout way, think again. It's like free healthcare in Canada.
 
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