Here's what I've found from dealing with folks who have had to return guns to the manufacturer.
It is fairly common for the manufacturer to have the customer pay to ship the gun to them if there is any question at all as to whether the repair is a warranty issue or not.
If, after receiving the gun, the company determines it's a warranty issue, the customer can request a refund on the shipping and will generally get it.
If it's obviously a warranty issue from the beginning then the company will almost always pay shipping both ways.
If you have ever worked in customer service, you would instantly understand why it's not routine to pay shipping on all returns as a matter of course. For every valid issue, there are many more where there's no problem at all or the problem is obviously the result of abuse of some sort.
It is fairly common for the manufacturer to have the customer pay to ship the gun to them if there is any question at all as to whether the repair is a warranty issue or not.
If, after receiving the gun, the company determines it's a warranty issue, the customer can request a refund on the shipping and will generally get it.
If it's obviously a warranty issue from the beginning then the company will almost always pay shipping both ways.
If you have ever worked in customer service, you would instantly understand why it's not routine to pay shipping on all returns as a matter of course. For every valid issue, there are many more where there's no problem at all or the problem is obviously the result of abuse of some sort.