Thanks for the posts guys. It is kind of nice to know that I am not too far out of line here. I got an interesting call from Joe in the custom shop today. He left a message on my machine.
Joe wants a letter from me outlining the exact nature of the malfunctions. He also wants me to specify in the letter that I want him to test fire the pistol in order for him to "become involved". On the surface, this seems like a reasonable request. However, I wrote Kimber a letter before in which I outlined the problems. The Kimber representative told me he had the records from the initial complaint and the remedy performed. The dealer also has a letter outlining the problems. I have left messages in their voice mail outlining the problem, and I discussed the problems at length with the National Sales Manager, Ryan Bussey. Unfortunately, Ryan had received a pretty good butt chewing from my dealer before I called him. He was in a bad mood when I called him and it showed. If I was his boss I would probably suggest he seek employment elsewhere if he insists on pi$$ing off the customers.
Anyhow, my dealer has the pistol and a letter from me summarizing the events so I called him and told him to get with Joe and come up with a game plan. I wonder why they can't just perform what the typical 1911 smith refers to as a "total reliability package". Go figure.
I have to admit, Joe was very courteous and professional and he sounded sincere. I suspect he just inherited the mess and I think he will take a serious approach to fixing the pistol. Chances are the guys in the custom shop are just working stiffs like us trying to make a living. I hope they don’t get caught up in what might turn into a bit of a pi$$ing match.
The dealer made a comment about how I might get my money back from Kimber but never from him. Of course, Kimber made it clear that they will fix the pistol, but a refund is not in the cards. I hope Kimber will get it right this time but I am not very optimistic. Today, I called the Consumer Protection Division of the Wyoming State Attorney General's Office and the Clerk of Courts in my county. If the pistol is not satisfactorily repaired, the dealer and Kimber will be learning about some of the best consumer protection laws in the nation.
Anyhow, these threads have probably run their course. Even though I bought a problematic pistol, I still think Kimber makes some of the finest 1911 style pistols in production. However, mine isn't one of them and I will never buy another product from Kimber or from Dean's Sporting Goods in Casper. Now that I have "dropped names" on he World Wide Web, I suppose the moderators will get nervous and lock the thread.
[This message has been edited by Ankeny (edited November 23, 1999).]
