Having worked in customer service for the past 6+ years, allow me to explain a couple of things. First off, unless you have sent in the warranty card that came with your revolver and S&W has already received that card (unlikely given the timeframe you describe) they have absolutely no way of knowing what guns you own. There is no national handgun registry and the only information that S&W has about guns they produce are what distributor they are shipped to.
Because of this, S&W has only your word that you did indeed purchase the gun new and that the grips are defective. Having worked in customer service, I can tell you that it is not uncommon for people to fabricate very elaborate stories in order to get things for free. If S&W simply took the word of everyone who ever called them demanding replacement parts or warranty service, they would quickly be out of business.
Given these facts, I don't really think that its all that unreasonable for them to at least want to examine the defective grips before sending you new ones. If they simply sent out new grips with no questions asked, they would have no way to ensure that the grips in question had not been ruined by the owner or that you are not simply someone who bought a standard 686 (which does not come with the grips in the picture) and wants a set of fancy grips for free.
As for your experience on the phone, as has been mentioned S&W's customer service line has a rather detailed phone tree with numerous automated prompts so, by the time you talk to a real person, there shouldn't be much doubt about what company you've called. I suspect that the reason it takes 48 hours to send you the email is that Mel has to submit a ticket to the proper departments within the company and your claim has to be processed. S&W isn't a small business and I very much doubt that Mel can simply email you the label, walk across the room, and drop your new grips in an envelope. As for Mel laughing, that could have been any number of things. Mel could have been thinking to himself "if only it were that simple" or one of his co-workers could have been making funny faces at him for all you know. To be perfectly honest, if one of my customers was still irate and demanding more even after I'd offered to replace a part I've never even seen at absolutely no cost to the customer, I'd probably have to resist the urge to chuckle a bit myself.
As for S&W quality control, please understand that S&W did not make the grips in question. S&W hasn't made their own revolver grips in several decades but rather contracts with outside sources such as Hogue, Pachmayr, Ahrends, Altamont, and Eagle. Anytime you have a product in which subcontractors are used for various parts, the incidence of QC issues will be increased. If S&W is going to subcontract anything, I would prefer it be the grips because that is a part that, by and large, does not affect the function of the gun and, should I not like the stock grips, can be easily and relatively inexpensively changed to something that better suits my taste.
If you think that S&W's customer service is substandard, you're certainly more than free to buy guns from other companies in the future. However, if you're this upset over the situation you describe, I think that there are a lot of other manufacturers that will disappoint you as well.
Because of this, S&W has only your word that you did indeed purchase the gun new and that the grips are defective. Having worked in customer service, I can tell you that it is not uncommon for people to fabricate very elaborate stories in order to get things for free. If S&W simply took the word of everyone who ever called them demanding replacement parts or warranty service, they would quickly be out of business.
Given these facts, I don't really think that its all that unreasonable for them to at least want to examine the defective grips before sending you new ones. If they simply sent out new grips with no questions asked, they would have no way to ensure that the grips in question had not been ruined by the owner or that you are not simply someone who bought a standard 686 (which does not come with the grips in the picture) and wants a set of fancy grips for free.
As for your experience on the phone, as has been mentioned S&W's customer service line has a rather detailed phone tree with numerous automated prompts so, by the time you talk to a real person, there shouldn't be much doubt about what company you've called. I suspect that the reason it takes 48 hours to send you the email is that Mel has to submit a ticket to the proper departments within the company and your claim has to be processed. S&W isn't a small business and I very much doubt that Mel can simply email you the label, walk across the room, and drop your new grips in an envelope. As for Mel laughing, that could have been any number of things. Mel could have been thinking to himself "if only it were that simple" or one of his co-workers could have been making funny faces at him for all you know. To be perfectly honest, if one of my customers was still irate and demanding more even after I'd offered to replace a part I've never even seen at absolutely no cost to the customer, I'd probably have to resist the urge to chuckle a bit myself.
As for S&W quality control, please understand that S&W did not make the grips in question. S&W hasn't made their own revolver grips in several decades but rather contracts with outside sources such as Hogue, Pachmayr, Ahrends, Altamont, and Eagle. Anytime you have a product in which subcontractors are used for various parts, the incidence of QC issues will be increased. If S&W is going to subcontract anything, I would prefer it be the grips because that is a part that, by and large, does not affect the function of the gun and, should I not like the stock grips, can be easily and relatively inexpensively changed to something that better suits my taste.
If you think that S&W's customer service is substandard, you're certainly more than free to buy guns from other companies in the future. However, if you're this upset over the situation you describe, I think that there are a lot of other manufacturers that will disappoint you as well.
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