WC145:
That is the really odd thing that I find with the post from VTRich. Never does he even mention anything at all about contacting Bob Serva regarding his difficulties.
And to instead attempt kludge fixes himself on a custom gun? Doesn't make much sense at all to me.
I thought the same thing but I can't speak for anyone but myself. My gun was, for all intents and purposes, brand new when I got it so when I had problems it made sense to go to the guys that built it, but that's me. And, that's what warrantees are for, right?
Most remarkable about the service I got was that Bob went waaaayyy out of his way to help me work out the issues before sending the gun back in order to save me the time without it. It was labor day weekend and not only did he communicate with me via email throughout the weekend but sent me his phone number so I could call him on Labor Day Monday to discuss the gun and what to do with it. I can't imagine he'd be any less accomodating to someone that had actually ordered and purchased their gun directly from his company.
My gun is great - it's the right size, weight, caliber - a really nice package. It's put together right with terrific fit and finish. If you know what you're looking at you can appreciate the subtle melt job, the checkering on the front strap and MSH, undercut trigger guard, radiused frame butt, etc. However, when you get past all of that, it's one more 1911 like so many others. So, as a Fusion gun, what sets it apart from the rest of the crowd? Bob Serva and the service I received, not only from his company but
from him directly. I try to buy quality stuff but I can't imagine that the CEO of Land Rover is going to tell me to call him this weekend over the frame issues I'm having. If one of his guns isn't right Bob Serva takes it personally and sees that it is fixed. IMO, that personal service is what sets Fusion apart from their competition.
Hopefully Serva does get his company straightened around!! I speak negatively about them all the time because they are currently spotty as far as QC goes. That should not be an issue being discussed when pricing pistols like they do. Bob can build a heck of a pistol, he just needs to lay down the law on his employees or get his butt back in the back and show em how it is done. I wish the best for every company! I speak negatively about them, kimber, and Taurus, but for good reason. All these companies need to do to be successful is: Fusion needs WAY BETTER attention to detail to stop QC issues, Kimber needs to lower their prices, $100 on most models and $200-250 on some because their are better options in every price point that their company makes guns for, and Taurus just needs to stop advertising that they have all these custom features on their $600 gun!!! They make a sub standard 1911 which is a decent shooter and decently reliable in most circumstances, but is fit poorly from small sparts to slide to frame fit. If all 3 did this, they would be much better off IMO
All very good points. That's one of the reasons I brought up my S&W 1911 earlier. It's got good fit and finish, not custom house level but very good. The gun looks great and, more importantly, it runs great. Everything works, it's accurate, 100% reliable, and S&W probably made as many of that one model as Fusion did total guns last year.
It's true that Bob makes sure things are right in the end but if S&W can make sure their guns are right before they leave the factory then a small builder should be able to do it too. If he can work that out then the skies the limit for Fusion.