Good or lousy? You be the judge!
I e-mailed them on March 31 in need of a wee tiny, inexpensive little part -- an extractor pin. This is a solid pin that's 0.08" in diameter and 0.57" in length. It's length is the width (left-to-right) of my thumbnail. It's not a universal part, however-- my best research indicates that it fits only two models of handguns in their line, last built in 1990. Was attempting to fix a 26 year old pistol of mine.
They e-mailed back on April 3rd with what appeared to be an automated e-mail which said "Dear Customer, we do have that part in stock, please call us M-F 8am-8pm to order the part."
I will say I was hoping they would say "Hey! We've got one, where shall we ship it?" right through e-mail, but... okay.
I called April 8th and waited for 5 or 6 minutes on the phone system... getting worried that it would be a run-around, but to my surprise, I got a human voice and the guy was extremely easy to deal with. His computer told him that my research and his computer agreed and that it was a part that only ran in two models and not since 1990. He also said that it would cost more to ship it than the part would cost itself, so he was simply going to drop it in 1st class mail for no charge whatsoever. And I was extremely happy with this. He issued me a reference number for this "transaction."
I called again May 15th as I'd heard nothing, received nothing, and it had been more than a month. A similar wait on the phone system, and then another human voice. Also a nice guy to talk with, he took my reference number and told me the file was still active/open, and as I certainly knew... it had not been filled. They had sent nothing.
He was very frank and told me they were doing inventory and it was unlikely that it would be sent in the next week, so I would be looking at at least another couple weeks.
Gotta say that I was still allright with it, as it was *FREE* and at least now I knew that it hadn't gotten lost at S&W or lost in the mail.
The part finally arrived on Jun 10. No charge, and though I have no idea of the relative "rarity" of the actual part, it's not one they used in scads and tens of thousands of guns.
(arguably) the largest handgun maker in world history and certainly one of the biggest gun companies currently operating on this globe and it took them two months-plus to send me a part that's about the size and weight of a heavy duty staple.
Me? I was looking forward to reporting on my experience just to pass the word to others. I'm still quite happy that they sent me what I needed for zero dollars. I suppose if they had told me ahead of time it would take two months, I'd have groaned a bit but rolled with it.
But it sure seems excessive.
I will go back to them if/when I need to in the future, and I'll do it with a decent & hopeful attitude, but I really wanted to post a more favorable review here.
So torch me if ya think I have no business "complaining", around here that's likely to happen anyway! but I still wanted to share the experience.
I do love the handgun... and I've got a number of S&W products and I'm always shopping for more of them.
I e-mailed them on March 31 in need of a wee tiny, inexpensive little part -- an extractor pin. This is a solid pin that's 0.08" in diameter and 0.57" in length. It's length is the width (left-to-right) of my thumbnail. It's not a universal part, however-- my best research indicates that it fits only two models of handguns in their line, last built in 1990. Was attempting to fix a 26 year old pistol of mine.
They e-mailed back on April 3rd with what appeared to be an automated e-mail which said "Dear Customer, we do have that part in stock, please call us M-F 8am-8pm to order the part."
I will say I was hoping they would say "Hey! We've got one, where shall we ship it?" right through e-mail, but... okay.
I called April 8th and waited for 5 or 6 minutes on the phone system... getting worried that it would be a run-around, but to my surprise, I got a human voice and the guy was extremely easy to deal with. His computer told him that my research and his computer agreed and that it was a part that only ran in two models and not since 1990. He also said that it would cost more to ship it than the part would cost itself, so he was simply going to drop it in 1st class mail for no charge whatsoever. And I was extremely happy with this. He issued me a reference number for this "transaction."
I called again May 15th as I'd heard nothing, received nothing, and it had been more than a month. A similar wait on the phone system, and then another human voice. Also a nice guy to talk with, he took my reference number and told me the file was still active/open, and as I certainly knew... it had not been filled. They had sent nothing.
He was very frank and told me they were doing inventory and it was unlikely that it would be sent in the next week, so I would be looking at at least another couple weeks.
Gotta say that I was still allright with it, as it was *FREE* and at least now I knew that it hadn't gotten lost at S&W or lost in the mail.
The part finally arrived on Jun 10. No charge, and though I have no idea of the relative "rarity" of the actual part, it's not one they used in scads and tens of thousands of guns.
- So it cost me no money at all
- Both different guys were knowledgeable and friendly
- The second guy was quite frank about the timetable
(arguably) the largest handgun maker in world history and certainly one of the biggest gun companies currently operating on this globe and it took them two months-plus to send me a part that's about the size and weight of a heavy duty staple.
Me? I was looking forward to reporting on my experience just to pass the word to others. I'm still quite happy that they sent me what I needed for zero dollars. I suppose if they had told me ahead of time it would take two months, I'd have groaned a bit but rolled with it.
But it sure seems excessive.
I will go back to them if/when I need to in the future, and I'll do it with a decent & hopeful attitude, but I really wanted to post a more favorable review here.
So torch me if ya think I have no business "complaining", around here that's likely to happen anyway! but I still wanted to share the experience.
I do love the handgun... and I've got a number of S&W products and I'm always shopping for more of them.