My experience with Savage customer service

F

Fusion

New member
I have many reasons I love my Savage rifle, the main one being that it's the most accurate rifle I own or have ever owned. It shoots .8" groups regularly at 100 yards with Federal Power Shok ammo, and similar groups with Winchester Power Points. With handloads it consistently shoots .5" or under groups at 100 yards.

That reason aside for liking this rifle, I have dealt with their customer service a few times and as recently as yesterday, and if the quality and accuracy of the rifle didn't sell me on a Savage, the customer service sure would. Let me give you the back story on this rifle. A friend bought it new 3 years ago, and I bought it second hand from him after 1 year. So I've had it for 2. The rifle had a 1 year warranty on it which had run out by the time I bought it.

Now fast forward to my experience with their CS. When I bought the rifle from a friend he had lost the accu trigger adjustment tool, so I didn't get that with it. I called Savage's customer support and explained what was going on to them and that I'd bought the rifle used without the tool. I asked if I could purchase one. Their response was to ask me what my name and address was. I gave it to them and had my credit card in hand expecting them to ask me for the number next. They then said, "we will get this out to you for no charge." I was just shocked. Sure enough within a week I had the accu trigger tool in my hands free of charge and pretty impressed.

Then fast forward to about 9 months later. I broke the plastic trigger guard when reinstalling it on the stock. Well, didn't break completely, but cracked it. I called their customer support line once more and asked about another trigger guard. You guessed it, "we will send one out to you at no charge". Keep in mind this was almost a year after the warranty had run out.

Then, the next thing I had happen was the recoil pad ripped a month or so later. This rifle has one of the P.A.D. recoil pads on it that is super soft, and I will admit that I'm fairly hard on this rifle. This rifle has done a lot of riding in the truck on the farm, being banged around in the woods, etc. So it's not that this soft recoil pad was bad, just that it didn't jive well with the way I was using it. I called them up once more and told them I knew it was out of warranty and needed to see about getting a replacement. They replied, that they would either fix or replace it if I sent it in. Being that it was the middle of hunting season I asked them if I could wait until the season was over. They told me of course. So after hunting season I paid the $2 in shipping to ship it to them. I received back a brand new recoil pad free of charge in very short order.

I shot the gun quite a bit at the range and in the field for the year during the off season. In fact, this was my go to gun and I just used it quite a bit. I even took it turkey hunting with me. I've probably put 700-800 round through it in the last 2 years, and it's been on some adventures with me through rough terrain.

So fast forward to the hunting season this year. The first day of hunting season I ripped the recoil pad once again. The corner of the pad broke off. I just kept on hunting with it as it's still very usable obviously, and shouldering it I didn't feel a difference. It just didn't look too good with the corner of the recoil bad broken off. So yesterday I got around to giving Savage a call again. I explained the issue to them, I told them I was the second owner and the gun was 2 years out of warranty. Then I explained how they had already taken care of this for me one before which I appreciated. I then asked if they was a way I could get a harder recoil pad for it? A friend has a 30-06 in the same gun and the recoil pad on it is a lot harder, like the traditional ones you'd expect to see. I expected them to tell me that I could get one of these and give me a price. Is that what they said? Nope. Their response was, "don't worry I will take care of this for you. We will get one shipped out to you at no charge."

I was shocked to say the least. They were once again sending replacing it for me, and even letting me change to the one I'd asked for. Keep in mind this was a gun out of warranty by quite a bit, and I'm not even the first owner. So they didn't even get to see a dime from me for this gun. I'm just simply amazed that they would take care of me like this especially for stuff that isn't even their fault. That's truly standing behind your product and in this day and age, this isn't all that common.

It's just hard to find this customer service, and if the accuracy and quality of the rifle hadn't sold me on them, this customer service sure did. When I buy my next rifle, Savage is going to be at the top of my list of ones to consider. I just thought this amazing gesture on their part deserved to be mentioned in public. They really took care of me, and I really appreciate it.
 
Great post. I've got a Savage 110 that has been an excellent gun. Never had to use their customer service but it is nice to hear that they take care of their customers.
 
There are still some companies that understand that exemplary customer service is an investment that pays off big time in word-of -mouth advertising and customer retention.

In the internet age, a company's reputation can be made or broken on sites such as this.

I'm glad I've never had to test Savage's CS...but nice to know what to expect if I do. Vortex Optics is in this same class...
 
I had just traded for my 110, and got it home, when I noticed it was missing something. It was the rear Bolt Baffle, for heavens sakes... I called Savage and a nice bright young gal told me it would be in the mail in days, and two or three days it arrived, no charge of course.
That story in it self Will get me to purchase more Savage rifles, no question!! I Love the fact that when you call the customer service of Any American company and actually get to talk to a human, and then they deliver the goods,,, Hell yeah!!!!:)

I won't even talk about the accuracy,,,,, go ahead, buy that Other brand.:rolleyes:
 
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Man, that's awesome. Having worked in retail/customer service at a big box type retailer, I would like to point out that you did everything right while dealing with them. I always hated dealing with customers that were rude and belligerent with me for no reason. That was the quickest way to not get any extra cservice above what I absolutely had to provide.. I was actually one of the more understanding reps, too. Be nice, be polite and try to have some fun with customer service reps and they will often go above and beyond.
 
Like Peetza I really like my Savages a lot and never had a reason to call CS. in over seven years. But never had a reason to call Remington, Marlin, Ruger or Bushmaster either.

Just nice to know they are there for you.
Jim
 
My wife likes to shoot at quarters at a couple hundred yards with .308 rifles. She was schooled at this pursuit by a buddy of mine with a Rock River 7.62 AR platformed rifle. Being on a budget, I bought her a Savage package rifle with a scope but she didn't enjoy it as much since it was bolt action vs. semi-auto. I sold the Savage to a friend who has used it for YEARS in crappy northern VT hunting seasons to down many a winter's worth of venison. Last year he had a minor problem with something trigger related after he dropped the gun. He called Savage. Second owner, admitted his fault with the rifle, explained what had been lost or broken (I am driving myself mad and can't recall) and as it was a non-NFA part, they cheerfully sent him one.

I wish they made ARs.
 
+2

Savage tweaked a minor problem on my Savage Scout 10 yr or so ago.

The guy on the phone and subsequent emails were just fantastic, you could not ask for better attitude, approach or communication.

This summer, I called about a magazine problem for my new 93TR and was told to "send it in and see it it met spec". (the magazine) Not exactly what I expected, but I sent it in and a few weeks later a new one arrived back at the house, that worked fine BTW.
 
Good to hear... I have a MkII and love it. I only wish manufacturers of other industries would follow the good customer service that seems to be reasonably prevalent in the firearms industry.
 
Brought a 5 year old gun up to them a few years ago, in the hopes of a "while you wait" repair for an extraction problem.
When I arrived at the gate and explained what I wanted to the guard, he told me to wait a few minutes, and someone would come out. A few minutes later, a gentleman came out of the plant, and I explained to him the problem I was having, and asked if I could wait for the gun. Without blinking an eye, he invited me to tour their firearms museum, as the repair would take about 90 minutes.
Took a long look around the meseum, (the collection of Savage firearms is beyond anything I have ever seen), bought a copy of the Savage Employees Cook Book, and just about 90 minutes later, I was told that I could pick up the gun at the front gate.
Drove to gate, got the gun back, NO CHARGE, and drove home. Examined the gun carefully when I got home, and found that the entire firearm had been cleaned, oiled and returned to practically new condition.
How in the heck can you top that for customer service?
Needless to say, I buy Savage products as my first choice, every time.
 
Pete
No one could have been more amazed than I was. My wife and I had nothing to do that day, so I drove up there, with her, on a whim. Never expected to even get in the front gate. These folks are the most amazing people I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with.
Even if they didn't make what I consider the most accurate out of the box firearm in the world, I would still buy from them based on their service.
For whatever it's worth, the cookbook sucked.
 
Service counts big time.

Not strictly gun related but does speak of service which is applicable to all things.

My B-I-L was car dealer.

He told me, “My salesmen sell the first car to a new customer. The Service Department sells them from then on.”
 
Yankee Doodle's story is evident of a company that takes pride in it's product- and expects it to last it's customer far longer than the statutory warranty period.

Nothing to do with firearms...I had (still do somewhere in a closet) a thirty year old marine radar unit made by Furuno- a top manuf. of marine electronics.
Seven or eight years ago I picked this commercial-grade unit up on Ebay and couldn't get it operational. I called Furuno and they said to send it in...

They were ecstatic to see one of these old units still in service, and there weren't many techs that even knew how to work on them. They fixed a small problem they found...did a full "tuning and adjustment" on it...and sent it back to me, along with a letter stating it was now functioning perfectly as it did the day it left the factory over twenty years earlier. Not a penny was spent for the repairs or shipping...
 
My Savage 110 in .30-06 is very accurate for these 'ole eyes!. Loves Remington 150 gr (esp. the green tip "ballistic" hunting ammo) These shots were at 200 yd's from the bench, with said ammo.

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