SIG Sauer: The Break Up - Terrible Customer Service - Never Buy Used

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

Tactical Jackalope

New member
So.. I've been waiting a while before I posted this. I wanted everything to be said and done. It finally is.

I have broken up with SIG Sauer after 10 years of swearing by them. Admittedly, an ex SIG fanboy. While this whole thing was going on, I sold all my SIG pistols. The one in question is coming back to me and then I'm going to decide what to do with it when it gets here. Anyways...



P229. "Elite Dark" model. I've had two. One was a full Elite Dark and this one was an "Elite Dark" because that was the frame and slide and what SIG told me before any issues arose and I called to verify. But it doesn't have the "combat sights" so I put Elite Dark in quotations.

First thing I noticed a bit off was the barrel / slide markings. Which I was told was their "tooling".. Okay..


Now, I've used Brian Enos' 'Slide Glide' for as long as I can remember. Heavily enough on the rails and everywhere it needs to be. My P220s, P226s, P229s, P239s, have never had these markings.

I noticed really bad wear marks on the frame. Ones I've never seen before on any of my SIG pistols. Instead of that smooth wear that runs across the frame rails I was getting 4 really bad spots showing bare aluminum.

So bad that if you run your finger across them you feel it stop because it was shaving it so badly. 2 of the worst spots were in the front. So I contacted our friends at SIG Sauer... They said the following quotes:

"Well, it's a 6 year old gun"

"You bought it used"

"Your options are limited"

"Send us pics"

Okay, I'll send pics. So they said they sent me an email to forward them pictures so their "gunsmiths" could look at it.

......No email.....I called back. They said they'll send it again. ......No email...... I called back. And again no email.

Okay, screw this. Sent my gun to Bruce Gray of Gray Guns Inc. The nations best SIG pistol guru.

"The slide is out of spec and the life of the frame is a short one. I would send this to the factory to see if they'd replace it" and "It still has service life on it, but I wouldn't shoot it much."

So I called SIG and told them that my pistol is at Bruce Gray's and what he told me. To which they said:

"It's a 6 year old gun"

"You bought this used"

So which I replied, "Yes, and how would the user before me bend the slide?"

SIG said while laughing "How would you know?"

My response was:

"It was a machining issue on your end. As I've had many and still own many SIG pistols, I've never seen wear like this. When I bought this pistol, there were zero wear marks as the previous owner didn't shoot it much. These happened on my watch. I can assure you I don't have the strength or mental capacity to bend this pistols slide enough in that it would damage the frame."

His laugh was a little toned down. Said I'll have to pay $55 to have it sent there for them to look at. Okay... Not a nice response. But I hung up and said they'd hear back from me.

Called Bruce Gray. He said he'll throw his weight around a bit with them to see about a replacement.


Now I wait. February 2016 <---- Rough draft is over.



As of today 5/12/2016 Bruce Gray has contacted me and his trip was unsuccessful and SIG Sauer will not be replacing my firearm even though it was their tooling / machining fault to produce an out of spec slide which in turn is destroying my frame.

So, I will never buy another a SIG Sauer pistol that is used. I'm not going to even buy anything new for a very long time either, maybe I'll never buy another SIG pistol or product again. Some of you on here know and my close friends on here know darn well how much I used to love SIG Sauer. But I don't plan to stand by a company who doesn't stand behind their product, talks to their customers on several occasions in the same condescending manner, and who is too prideful to admit they messed something up.

People who could buy a "quality firearm" for a good priced used, are urged not to ever do so. If this happens, you're on your own. In one of the exchanges they even went as far as to tell me to "sell it for parts".

I took these pictures with my cell phone before I sent it off. When it gets back I'll take far better photos. For now, these should get the message across just fine.










 
Sad state of affairs. I've had S&W send me parts for pistols made before I was born. You shouldn't have to lie about whether you bought the gun new or used to get service, but that will be the end result of their policies.

One of my early threads here was about an SP2340 that I bought used. The hammer started following the slide not long after I bought it. When I called SIG, they told me they could fix it but I'd have to pay overnight shipping and then another $150 to examine and hopefully fix the pistol. At that point the work they described was more than half of what I paid for the pistol in the first place.
 
Last edited:
I've voiced my opinion of SIG US numerous times. I've been impressed with the SIG handguns which were made in Germany, or the Swiss made ones. I purchased two SIG 1911's in .45ACP, a Target and a MAXX. Also, a p239 SAS Gen 2. All three of the guns are US made and have performed flawlessly; I consider myself lucky.:rolleyes:

However, in dealing with their service/sales dept. I became convinced I'd rather deal elsewhere. My next to my last purchase was a p226 X-5 L1 at $2,000+ (German made). I paid their regular dealer price, plus his markup. It came with non-X-5 magazines; and the magazines did not work in the gun. The magazines had thin sheet metal baseplates, not the thick silver ones of the X-Series. SIG's response: send us the gun and the magazines; we'll make them work. I've always wondered why they didn't make them work to start with. I also wondered why I paid their usual dealer price for less than a spec X-5 L1. I finally wound up buying non-SIG magazines with black (not the X-5 silver) thick baseplates.:mad::mad:

I had a p239 on order during this period and considered cancelling it. But, my LGS folks have been so good me; I accepted it when it arrived.

I also spent more than a year waiting for a p210 Legend Super Target; receiving several updates stating that it would arrive on a specified date. The dates came and went with no p210. Finally, they told my dealer it would never come.:(
 
Screw sig arms (if that is still what the American made sig products are known as). I have heard of spotty quality in the past years, and personally wouldn't buy one. If I want a metal frames DA/SA pistol, I'll be going to CZ
 
Sig Sauer is not the company or product they once were, no matter what the fanboys say.

The good news is that you can still buy used West German-made SIGs, and will be able to for a very long time.
 
Sorry to hear the trouble. I'm not really Sig fan, but I have bought two new pistols in the last few years, really excellent guns and no issues. All were made in the USA.

Anyone can build a lemon. Had a polymer frame fail on a CZ, sent a few guns back to Smith, had an issue with an FN one time. A franken-FAL I bought years ago was a nightmare, but that was a Century. The worst pistol I ever owned was a tie between a Tanfoglio and a 9mm Hi-Point.
 
Last edited:
I had an issue with a ruger revolver (recent gp100), and sold it. Had a S&W M&P40 that had a trigger that was truely a joke. Sold it. Was happy with a glock 20, happy with a cz52, happy with a Walther PPQ .40, and extremely impressed by my current only handgun which is a recent production Springfield Armory 1911.

They all can have issues, and companies these days are more concerned with profit margin than strict quality control and precision. I feel that customer service is hugely important. Ruger excels, S&W goes above and beyond, Springfield treats customers very well; lately I have been hearing of negative experiences with Sig and H&K, it's almost like the more expensive handgun companies (cough, over priced) come with a snooty bad attitude customer service
 
Definitely count me in the camp of happy Ruger customers, as one of the several P95's I've owned through the years actually had a piece of polymer break back near the hammer linkage as the slide was cycling and call the pistol to lock up.

Got in touch with them and told them what the problem was; they sent me a shipping label, had my LGS send it out to them, and within a week I had a brand new P95 waiting on me. Said they could not do a simple frame repair or replacement so ended up giving me a brand new pistol free of charge.
 
Sorry to hear but that is the chance one takes to save a few bucks buying a used firearm or anything else that is no longer covered for the buyer under factory warranty.

It would have been great if they fixed it but I can see why they did not being out of warranty, not original owner, and the age.

I buy almost exclusively new firearms and if patient I can find new at used prices or close to it. Also my LGS has a 30 day warranty for any used firearm they sell and also offered an extended warranty for very little investment after that including shipping to/from manufacturer if needed.
 
Constantine,

I feel your pain. The pictures say a lot and unless you have Godzilla grip, that damage pictured came from the factory.

I have always considered you a rabid Sig man with a lot of knowledge.

I think Sig really crapped in their flathat.

I have never bought a used Sig and have only had a problem with one new gun.

I have an Elite P220 that showed some unusual wear on the front of the barrel and called Sig and they fixed the gun and I have not had a problem since.

I am really sorry your experience was so negative. Sig would have been ahead to fix the gun and save themselves some grief.

The Sigs that I own today show normal wear patterns and I certainly hope they stay that way. I will still look forward to your posts. I read them all.
 
I disagree that this is the risk associated with buying used, or I disagree that it has to be. Certain companies will honor a warranty beyond the original user. And some won't.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Its strange that they would send you back a gun that was out of spec, I would think it would be a liability. Its sad to hear bad news from a company that wont stand behing their product, 6 years old or not. I know Smith and Ruger have taken care of me on guns I have bought used and will keep this in mind next time I'm out hitting the LGS or talking with friends. Good luck.
 
I own 8 sig pistols. All have been flawless with the exception of my 938 and their cs was excellent. Sorry you had issues, that can be frustrating and can turn anyone against a company, but I for one will continue use to buy them as they've been the best handguns I've owned and that includes glocks, Walther, & M&P's.
 
I can understand your frustration and you feel like you have not only given them your money... but your passion also. And that's not easy to repair.

I would have to say though, from my view (and easy for ME to say...) that you are really only hurting yourself by cheating yourself out of old, used Sigs that you like by cutting ties so radically.

Obviously, you have to do what is in your heart and you got where you are not by making snap decisions, but in the end, you lose the ability to enjoy something almost wholly unassociated with the jack wagons mistreating you now... when you swear off something built when those guys were sucking bong water while their Daddy paid their college tuition.

They notice nothing, and you can't enjoy a quality gun from an earlier day.
 
Sorry to hear of your issues. Not sure why I'm sour on Sigs and Glocks. Guess I'm not mainstream. Sig/Glock fans remind me of the "yuppies" in the early '80;s. Turn your collar down and shove you Gran Am where the sun don't shine. So....I own too many Rugers and Henry's.
 
I feel bad for you Constantine because Sig is not treating you right on any level. I do have to laugh, quite a bit, at all the comments I've read over the years from those saying you have to buy a Sig made in Germany. It's totally a load of crap. :confused: Some of the best pistols they ever made came out of Exeter in the mid 90's. I've owned eight or ten of them from their lowest end model made in the states to their highest end one made in Germany.

The older ones are better but you can say that about 98% of all guns on the market. The price keeps going up and the quality keeps going down. Exactly why I suggest most people looking for a new gun to buy a used one made 20, 30 or 40 years ago. I get a lot of funny looks, most just don't get it. :confused:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top