Does Customer Service factor in your Handgun purchase?

Does customer service factor in your handgun purchase?

  • Yes

    Votes: 106 77.9%

  • No

    Votes: 30 22.1%
  • Total voters
    136
  • Poll closed .
T

TennJed

New member
Ok this is kind of a piggyback off of my other poll, but like I said I work in customer service so I fnd these types of questions interesting.

under normal circumstances (I know sometimes a purchase may come up that breaks your "rules") purchasing a handgun, does the manufacturer's customer service rep. play (what you would consider an important) role in making up your mind?

It does for me. There are too many quality firearms being made by comp. with good reps (ruger, kel tec, ect) to support comp. with spotty customer service (Taurus, Karh, ect).
 
tj, 5/30/11

Customer service is definitely a big factor in pistol selection. For example, I had two new EAA Witness .45's which both broke frames and slides with low round counts and EAA refused to honor their warranty. So now I never, ever consider another EAA pistol. Most other brand's customer service have run the range of great to acceptable (I've used SW, Springfield, Taurus, CZ).

best wishes- oldandslow
 
Absolutely.

For example, Taurus offers some handguns and some long guns I'd like to own. Except that they are made by Taurus, and I won't ever buy a Taurus product.
 
Absolutely.

For example, Taurus offers some handguns and some long guns I'd like to own. Except that they are made by Taurus, and I won't ever buy a Taurus product.
Click to expand...

Couldn't have said it better myself. That hits what I was trying to get across. Even though they have a "lifetime warranty" I have heard/read to many bad things to (so far) pick up a Taurus. Lifetime warranties are only good if they are backed by a cust. friendly company (IMO)

If you own a Taurus you must choose no:D
 
My vote is no. Maybe I am just negative, but I assume no matter what customer service I call, I will end up getting crapped on so I don't really consider what the customer service reputation is when deciding on one manufacturer compared to another. Sometimes I buy guns that I know full well I won't have any kind of customer service available.
 
My dealers stand with me if I were to have a problem.
I have had NO problems with any gun that I have purchased :eek:
So, Customer Service has not been needed.
Maybe I am lucky, I don't know :D

But I have recently been researching my purchase quit well.
In the past I only bought name brand guns, Smith, Browning, Glock, Ruger...

Lateck,
 
"Dont buy junk."...

I voted no, but to be honest, if I read forum posts or heard a lot of horror stories, it'd make me think twice. ;)

A few years ago I read a magazine item by gun press writer/use of force instructor Massad Ayoob about how he was permantly banded from the property of 2 US firearm companies. Ayoob did not state which firms he was not allowed into either.

In short, I'd save up or buy a high quality firearm over a med/low end brand that isn't known for quality or customer service.
 
I wanted to say no, but I voted yes.
Yes only in that from stories that I have heard here from other TFL members about some companies customer service (Taurus) I won’t buy any more from them.
Personally unless it’s a company that has a good track record (again from others that have commented here) I would rather spend the money and have a quality gun smith that I know work on the gun.
If it’s a carry gun and it’s broke from the factory, I won’t trust or carry it again.
TennJed, good question!
 
under normal circumstances (I know sometimes a purchase may come up that breaks your "rules") purchasing a handgun, does the manufacturer's customer service rep. play (what you would consider an important) role in making up your mind?
Click to expand...

Yes, but it's not decisive.

I have owned and do own handguns with no manufacturer support. In the one case, a milsurp gun no longer made (Makarov), in the other the maker is completely gone (Star). You do your research, and take your informed chances on acquiring parts, if needed, and fixing it yourself or paying someone to fix it if needed.

From a customer service standpoint, when I contemplate and research a purchase, I look at warranty, and reputation of the company. A lifetime warranty from a company sound enough that it will probably be there if needed, decades down the line, is very reassuring. This will cost you, up front, because it costs the company to be able to provide that. There's a reason why the XD is a more expensive gun than the HS2000 was. Same gun, but backed by an unknown company, with a 2 year warranty.
 
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Absolutely, Parts and service reputation is everything to a successful firearm manufacturer as it is to me the customer. I factor in the warranty duration, turn around time, and those companies that may throw in a little something extra for your troubles.
I spend the time reading input here and on customer service sites before considering the purchase.
Internet is such a great tool
 
I do not let customer service enter into my decision making of which gun to buy if I never have had any personal contact with that particular company, regardless of what positive or negative experiences others have had.

However, once I have a personal experience with a particular company, youbetcha. For example, I have had contact with Kimber on a couple of issues. I have found that customer service to be friendly, courteous, knowledgeable, and expedient. Everything I would desire in customer service so Kimber becomes high on my choices when it comes to buying a new gun. Same with Bushmaster. I had a question about a part and their customer service bent over backwards to make sure I had all the information I was asking for and even followed up to ensure I was satisfied with the way they handled the situation.

Good customer service will bring me back as a customer whereas bad or non-existent customer service will lose me as a repeat customer.
 
I own it; I'm responsible

I prefer to send guns to professional pistolsmiths, so 'factory' support means nothing.
To me.

I had a poor experience with EAA service in 1994, and chose to utilize a professional pistolsmith for further service.
Until last year, 2010, when I decided to 'test' EAA service again (mainly to confirm or dispel for myself whether the continued internet bashing was still deserved, or just internet 'lore').
While my phone conversations were not all full of flowers, my two pistols were returned promptly, and the service exceeded my wildest expectations (which were NOT artificially low).
The cost was ludicrously low. I'd anticipated one gun still fell under 'warranty', but the modifications I'd performed voided it.
Hence that less-than-flowery phone conversation, when they called to ask for more money. ONCE the caller understood I was not arguing, but merely wanted to know "how much?", things smoothed over.

Kudos to modern EAA service (okay, perhaps their customer interfacing needs a bit of polish, but as far as I'm concerned, BFD.
Fix my gun right; happy. Snarl on the phone; don't care.).
 
Original quality is my first concern, if you buy a quality product you should not need to find out how good or bad the company’s customer service is. Any company can make a mistake but the test of their commitment to the customer is how they handle any problems that arise. From what I understand Colt, Ruger, and S&W are very good at this. Sig and Walther are not so good, and then there is Taurus.

Have a safe Memorial Day all, and think of all the brave young and women who are protecting the rest of us.
 
Absolutely not

Other than the caveat that I prefer American made guns, if I am not after a specific model. Not because I expect to use their customer sercvice, but if I should need to, I like haveing both the gun, and the maker in the US, subject to US law.

This may skew your poll, but compared to a lot of folks (from what I read on the forum), I have NEVER had to use factory customer service for any handgun I had owned over the last 35+ years. Probably a good thing, as the majority of my handguns are either discontinued models, or have had their makers go out of business.

I have yet to buy a gun sight unseen, and I know what I am looking for. And, I do look, before I buy. If I can't look, no sale.

If minor things need fixing (because sometimes, things do break), I fix them myself. Never had a major part fail (knocks on wood) to date.

Ok, I'm not a cop, not in a situation where I have to carry a duty handgun, day in, day out. Not a competitor, only a (former) hunter and casual plinker, so maybe my guns don't see the use and abuse that some of yours do. And I no longer shoot as much as I did when younger, so even my most used guns don't get multiple thousands of rounds in a couple years time. Some haven't even been shot more than a few rounds a year. That could be why I never had the need for factory service, and perhaps why it plays no part in my decision to purchase specific guns.
 
great point

The 9mm Witness I sent last year had at least 80K rd-ct, much of it experiemental, and some of it in 9x21, 40 S&W, and 41 AE.
The 45 version had over 20K (40K?), some in 38 Super, and most of its ammo was definitely 'experiemental'.
 
Yes and no. Generally speaking, I know that S&W, Ruger and Springfield will stand behind their product. After a terrible experience with Taurus, I've stayed away from a lot of second tier guns as a result. Customer service is one aspect, but I also expect reliability and quite frankly, if you buy a well made gun, your interaction with the customer service department will be hopefully be few and far between.
 
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