Taurus changed my mind

[skidder]

I recently purchased a brand new 44 tracker. The Gun arrived with several defects. The worst being the hammer rubbing a grove into the frame (top-right). The grip was torn; not once, not twice, but 9 times all the way through to the inside!!

I called them immediately. They were real polite and sent a Fedex guy to my house the next day. The gun left with a detailed letter describing the problems. I received the gun back today in worse shape than when it left. The grip was not replaced, same grip with all the tears. They left a noticeable mark in the hammer trying to center it, but it looks like they went the wrong way and made the rubbing even worse. Oh yah.... it came back with greasy and dirty finger prints all over the grip, barrel, and frame .

I'm afraid to send it off again for fear of it getting worse!!!

I love my target 22 Tracker, it has been a great handgun, the very reason I purchased this one. The finish, action, and tolerances were nothing like this 44, having the same frame, grip, and cylinder. They sure went down hill the last 10 years.

I once defended Taurus, but now I see the light and grieve with all the others who have purchased these piles of crap. Where the heck do they get their Gunsmiths? I'm madder than an old red hen, and I better quite before I get censored.

[FrankenMauser]

I'm afraid to send it off again for fear of it getting worse!!!

It's a valid fear. It can be worse than just getting the same firearm back in worse condition.

My father bought a matte stainless, 5-shot snubbie in .38 Special - for Concealed Carry. With less than 5 shots, the barrel started rotating (unscrewing itself)!
He had to pay to send it to Taurus, and couldn't get any of their "customer service" to give him any information on it for several months.

After months of horrible (or no) communication from Taurus, they sent him a letter (didn't call). The letter said his revolver couldn't be fixed, and they were sending a replacement. He received it a few days later....
In the box was a nickel-plated, 7-shot, 3" barreled revolver in .357 Mag.
Rather than what he had purchased, they sent him a nickel-plated sissy pistol, that was completely inappropriate for his use.

He called to explain their error, and let them know they sent the wrong model to him. Their response (so eloquently telling him he's screwed) essentially boiled down to:
"We don't make that model any more. When you sent your pistol in, you agreed to our repair terms, which can include replacement of the firearm with a similar product. The 7-shot, nickel model is the closest we currently produce. You WILL NOT get your old revolver back, and you cannot exchange the 7-shot model for anything else."

Further calls repeatedly yielded the following summary:
"If you are unhappy with our repair process, please try returning the firearm to the dealer you purchased it from. Our repair center cannot do anything further, unless you have having problems with the model we sent you."


...Because dealers let you return pistols that are not what you purchased from them.... 6 months later....

[Eagle0711]

Best of luck with your problem. Not to be rude but this is par for the course with Taurus. I know, many are happy with them, but I would try to buy/trade for something made in America.

Hope that it all works out, sorry to hear of your experience.

[Kreyzhorse]

As a former Taurus owner, I'm not surprised to hear your story but I am sorry for you. It just sucks. Good luck getting this thing straight.

[KennyFSU]

I also owned a Taurus they had to be sent in for repairs. They actually did repair it and send it back in a timely manner, however, I quickly sold it because I'm just not comfortable with depending my life on them anymore. Sorry to hear.

[pesta2]

Yep, been there done that, but we are just a bunch of Taurus bashers as others call us. I say 'Welcome to the Taurus Bashed Club” the amount of members grows every day.

[madmo44mag]

The only Taurus I have ever considered where used from a satisfied owner that simply wanted to trade into another caliber.
Out side of that Taurus can keep them.
I have seen and heard way to much bad press to consider buying one new.

[Water-Man]

If you visited Taurus in Miami, you would understand. You would also think you were in South America.

[kylen]

Im sorry to hear your sad story. Perhaps you should contact them and speak with a supervisor and explain the situation in full detail. You will get better answers there instead of bashing Taurus here...

[youngunz4life]

I have one taurus. It had some issues but did make the cut, fit, 'jimmy-rigged' with me, whatever you want to call it. It is reliable for myself after my finangling, but I would never buy another one. Just my take but I'm satisfied with the one I have because it works when I need it+will when I need it.

[roaddog28]

Where the heck do they get their Gunsmiths?

After my experience with Taurus I am convinced they don't have any Gunsmiths in their warrenty department. I bought a brand new Tracker 627 fired a box of 357 ammo and the shell casings were sticking so bad I had to pry them out with a screwdriver and pliers. I took it back to my gun shop and their gunsmith looked at the revolver and he said to me "this is the worst machining work I have ever seen on a cylinder". My gun store sent it back to Taurus and after two months I received the revolver. Guess what? They did not fix the problem. Sent it back again and a month later it came back and still the revolver was not fixed right. My gun store was good enough to take it back and sold me a used S&W model 28-2. I lucked out. I would never recommend a Taurus firearm to anybody.
Howard

[Squibb]

Sorry to hear about your experience. Sound so familier though. It's always worse when you think about giving them you money, as well. I sold mine after CS failed to fix it. Never again.

[aarondhgraham]

For a long time I couldn't understand why all the Taurus bashing,,,
That was because my 990 Tracker performed perfectly,,,
Then I bought a second Taurus revolver,,,
That's when the problems started.

I had the same problem with their service as you did,,,
Send it back and nothing got fixed,,,
Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

I sold my two Taurus guns and won't get another.

Aarond

[nefprotector]

I dont believe your story. I have a Taurus m44 .44mag. Never had a problem with it or my Taurus .357mag. Mine have taken alot of abuse and neglect due to not cleaning. Still work 100%


My guess all these bad Taurus revolvers come from Tinkerers.

[Baba Louie]

I dont believe your story.

But I and others do. Once you lose that trust in a product or company, it's gone gone gone. A lot of people seem to have issues, with no tinkering whatsoever thank you very much.

As a young buyer with little cash in my youth, I played the Taurus game. So far so good. Only had one go bad on me out of 6. Won't return it, won't sell it, can't shoot it. Won't buy another.

I thank the good lord that the money spent was minimal... which is probably the problem to begin with.

I do have a couple of the little bulls that shoot quite well. But one bad apple...

[aarondhgraham]

My guess all these bad Taurus revolvers come from Tinkerers.

Nope,,,
My 970 was bad out of the box,,,
After two trips to their repair facility,,,
They still hadn't fixed it so I sold it and my 990.

My LGS has almost quit stocking Taurus,,,
I'm pretty sure he wasn't tinkering with the one,,,
That had a barrel that was rotated a bit more than 90 degrees.

If you (anyone) has a taurus that works well,,,
It will probably work well forever and ever.

The problem is not with the design of their handguns,,,
It's with the overall slipshod quality control,,,
That allows bad guns to be shipped.

Aarond

[Shadi Khalil]

I dont believe your story. I have a Taurus m44 .44mag. Never had a problem with it or my Taurus .357mag. Mine have taken alot of abuse and neglect due to not cleaning. Still work 100%

Your the one with the unbelievable story.

[Kreyzhorse]

My guess all these bad Taurus revolvers come from Tinkerers.

The only tinkering my NIB Taurus M85 had was that it was cleaned prior to shooting it the first time. It was then cleaned afterwards. At that point, the second time out, the gun it froze up solid with less than 250 round through it.

I appreciate that you have a Taurus that works great for you but that doesn't mean that others haven't received firearms that are, let's face it, very poorly made.

[HKFan9]

Unfortunately all these stories do not surprise me when talking about Taurus. I sent one of our store guns... a judge... back to the manufacturer we refused to sell to a customer. The thing was very crudely finished even by their sub par standards, the cylinder would barely turn. To my dismay they sent it back to me a few weeks later, in the same condition, with out any paperwork stating what they did, if anything, to it.

One of the other local dealers I am friends with literally just stopped stocking them NIB in his shop. He literally turns away business if people come in asking for one. He told me it was because his personal dealings with their customer service. You know its bad when i private shop owner is turning away profit because he hates dealing with a company that much, sadly I am not making this up.

If you think Taurus is good... ask most anyone working behind a gun counter what they think... or better yet ask a gun smith how their build quality is. There is a reason most gun smiths won't even touch a Taurus.

[Eagle0711]

What distrubs me the most on this subject is all the gun magazines give them high marks when reviewing this brand. Can't trust them to tell the truth.

Thankfully this forum is an opportunity to get another view. We're not all liars.

[publius]

Why don't they get it?! They make some desireable products but many of us wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole b/c of their awful QC and customer svc. If they would just hire two senior managers to be in charge of QC and cust. svc. to crack some heads they could clean it up. Pay each of these guys 150-200k and they would make their money back the first morning. They could probably even keep most of the employees, they just need to be redirected. I guarantee I could whip the cust svc. dept. into shape the first quarter.

[abber]

My old man won a Taurus 1911 at a dinner held by his CCW club in Nevada. He took it to his local gun pro and asked him what he thought of it. "It's a Taurus, I would get rid of it", was the reply. Well, that just frosted the old man's cake, so he doesn't go to that guy any more.

Funny how incensed we get when somebody talks that way about something we like. My old man knows very little about guns, and in spite of the CCW, he can't hit a bowling pin at 7 yards with a 4 inch revolver (not exaggerating).

Just a funny story. I have no experience with Taurus at all, so I can't speak one way or the other. I told the old man we should take the Taurus out, and shoot the livin krapp out of it, then decide if we like it or not!

[8shot357]

I got one thing to say! Ha Ha Ha!

[dougbull]

the last three taurus revolvers, I had brand new in box froze up solid on me at the range. sent them all back to the factory, waited forever got them back sold them. never got to 250rds on any of them. I did have a pt 911 and a pt 99 that were perfect,semi autos

[skidder]

I'm going to call the sporting goods store tonight. In all fairness I will not push them, both guys at the counter tried to talk me out of a Taurus. I went for the gamble because of my other Taurus, but the dice did not land in my favor. I appreciate their honesty and will not push them one bit. They should not have to be stuck with a pile that they warned me about.

As for -nefprotector- I used to defend Taurus but I never went around calling people liars. I hope you can learn a little respect .... God Bless.