I called the "customer support" number it said to call in the Repair Status message about 20 times. All I got is "We are busy, call again later". I finally did not call that number but instead called the general "customer support" number shown at the top of the page. I listened to elevator music for about an hour and a half on speaker phone and finally got a warm body on the phone. He checked my service order. My gun had been reviewed and it was determined that the frame was out of spec and that they are replacing my gun with a new one of the same model, got my local FFL info to ship the gun to. I asked to be notified when the gun ships, with tracking info, and was told they can't do that, not set up to send emails to customers. I was told it can take up to 8 weeks for a new gun to be shipped out, but in my case it should be "much quicker" whatever the h*ll that means ... he couldn't even give me an estimate. So ... the first indication I will receive that the gun has been shipped is when my FFL actually receives it and calls me.
I have sent probably 10 messages in their "Customer Support" pop-up. NOT ONE OF THEM HAS GOTTEN ANY RESPONSE.
Now for what was wrong with the gun: The cylinder would not lock up consistently. I did the normal checks at my FFL before signing for it, and every chamber locked up just fine. When I got home I loaded it with snap caps and proceeded to give it a "good work out". Almost immediately it was obvious something was amiss ... the cylinder came to rest in different positions when shooting DA and was not locked up. Trying it SA the cylinder was not locked up with the hammer fully cocked ... it could spin freely ... and the hammer would fall when the trigger was pulled anyway, with the cylinder completely mis-aligned to the bore. It was FLAT OUT DANGEROUS. I could tell it had been test-fired from the burn marks on the front of the cylinder ... whoever test-fired it is lucky it didn't blow his fool hand off.
I have two other Taurus handguns that are flawless and I love them. One is a .41 magnum tracker and it is absolutely flawless, supremely accurate, wonderful trigger, couldn't ask for more. The other is a little PT22 that has proven to be extremely reliable, over 1,000 rounds through it without a single hiccup. I am sure I will love my 605 too soon as I get one that works properly.
Regarding the quality of Taurus guns and the frequency of faulty guns I don't think they are any worse (or much worse) than any other maker. They all have lemons and they all ship out faulty guns now and then. But their customer support is much better, while Taurus customer support SUCKS.