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View Poll Results: Best Customer Service in U.S. Handgun Industry
S&W 50 28.09%
Ruger 39 21.91%
Sig 5 2.81%
Kel Tec 14 7.87%
Beretta 1 0.56%
Hi Point 10 5.62%
Glock 10 5.62%
Kimber 1 0.56%
Heritage 0 0%
Cobra 0 0%
North American Arms 2 1.12%
colt 0 0%
Phoenix 0 0%
Taurus 2 1.12%
FN 2 1.12%
Springfield 26 14.61%
Wilson 6 3.37%
STI 3 1.69%
CZ 4 2.25%
Heckler & Koch 3 1.69%
Voters: 178. You may not vote on this poll

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Old May 29, 2011, 08:09 PM   #1
TennJed
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Best Customer Service in U.S. Handgun Industry

Who, in your opinion, has the best customer service in the U.S handgun industry? This is just for fun and to get some conversation started. It can be based on experience, research, family/friends experience, ect.

I work in customer service so it is a topic I am interested in.

I listed the top manufacturers based on 2008 total sales. This was the most recent info I could find. I think I kept them in order, but I ommitted some to include others because, well this is my thread and I can
http://www.shootingindustry.com/Pages/SpecRep02.html
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Old May 29, 2011, 08:13 PM   #2
hoytinak
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From my personal experience

I've had nothing but great customer sevice from:

Seecamp
Ruger
HK
Kel-Tec

I've had VERY bad customer service from:

Kahr
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Old May 29, 2011, 08:37 PM   #3
BarryLee
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I voted SIG based on my personal experience. However, I have also heard excellent reports about S&W, SA and Ruger.
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Old May 29, 2011, 08:47 PM   #4
TennJed
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I have had 2 good experiences with:

Ruger
Kel Tec

No bad ones (yet)
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Old May 29, 2011, 09:00 PM   #5
bdb benzino
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I'll cast my vote for S&W and add that Rock Island Armory should be on your list and probably would be a runner for #1 as well.
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Old May 29, 2011, 09:01 PM   #6
hanno
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I've had great customer service from:

CZ
Dan Wesson
S&W
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Old May 29, 2011, 09:07 PM   #7
Aguila Blanca
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Since you don't list ALL manufacturers, and your poll doesn't include "Other," it is incomplete and I can't vote. IMHO the best, without any hesitation, is Advanced Tactical, the importers of Armscor/Rock Island pistols.

Last edited by Aguila Blanca; May 29, 2011 at 11:43 PM. Reason: Typo
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Old May 29, 2011, 09:15 PM   #8
TennJed
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Good point I am limited to selections so I am going to edit one out and list other.............question can you edit polls?
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Old May 29, 2011, 10:01 PM   #9
Lateck
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I have not used customer service for nothing else but buying accessories...
And three companies SIG, Ruger & Kel-Tec have ALL been outstanding.

So, I have not voted and you can only vote for one any-ways.....


Lateck,
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Old May 30, 2011, 12:37 AM   #10
EdInk
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Smith&Wesson is going to (deservedly) be the landslide winner.

Ruger and Springfield are well known for having good service too.

The Colt logo is a horse. The Taurus logo is a bull. Their customer service are their mascots' feces. (Horse**** and Bull****)
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Old May 30, 2011, 12:40 AM   #11
Don Glock
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springfield and s&w are the two best i've encountered. hard call, but i guess i'd give the edge to SA

ParaUsa was the worst. "gold medallion lifetime warranty" my ass.

Glock's is in between: kinda crappy, but not too crappy lol
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Old May 30, 2011, 04:46 AM   #12
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I've had to deal with Springfield's customer service department and Ruger's. Both were excellent. My issue with Springfield was minor but their people were great to deal with.

My issue with Ruger involved my LCP during the recall. Basically they returned my LCP with another slide and barrel on it after recall work. The finish on the they returned to me was worn down to bare metal. The barrel looked like it had never been cleaned.

I contacted them and they offered to reblue the slide. Since this was a virtually a new gun, I declined and asked to elevate the issue. I spoke to a supervisor, he offered to replace the entire upper portion of the gun. I had a shipping label that afternoon and had my gun back in three days. While I was ****** at the time, Ruger handled every thing professionally and did the right thing without fighting me to do it.

Ruger really impressed me with the LCP fiasco.
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Old May 30, 2011, 06:55 PM   #13
Chard
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I have had dealing that were very good with S&W, Ruger and Springfield Armory. More with Springfield, and they have all been positive.
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Old May 30, 2011, 07:09 PM   #14
30-30remchester
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The company that wins, hands down, the customer service award, is the company that takes such pride in their product and built said product with such fine materials, that there is no need for a customer service department. Unfortunately, I can think of no such comany in the last 20 years.
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Old May 30, 2011, 07:11 PM   #15
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Quote:
The company that wins, hands down, the customer service award, is the company that takes such pride in their product and built said product with such fine materials, that there is no need for a customer service department. Unfortunately, I can think of no such comany in the last 20 years.
Seecamp comes close IMO. When I called about a problem I had with my LWS380, the owner, Larry Seecamp answered the phone himself and took care of it.
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Old May 30, 2011, 07:15 PM   #16
.300 Weatherby Mag
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Since Remington is just re-entering the handgun business with the R1 1911... I anticipate they develop a crappy reputation soon... After dealing with them with a problematic Remington 870 Wingmaster and 700, I can tell you their customer service is near the bottom..
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Old May 30, 2011, 07:52 PM   #17
HKFan9
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I deal with all of them because of my job. Springfield gets my vote because they have quick turn around times, guns come back right... and on the phone they are more than helpful. Not saying others are bad... but Springfield is very nice to deal with.
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Old May 31, 2011, 07:59 AM   #18
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"that there is no need for a customer service department"

If they didn't have a customer service department then how would we order springs and grips and other parts and stuff from them?
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Old May 31, 2011, 08:10 AM   #19
dajowi
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Since I had always purchased quality firearms it wasn't until my experience with Colt in trying to get a .380 repaired that customer service became important.

My one poor C.S. experience was with Colt.

An average C.S. experience was with Kahr.

My best C.S. experience was with Springfield.
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Old May 31, 2011, 08:21 AM   #20
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Oops I messed up. I thought the poll was for busiest customer service and voted for Hi Point LOL.
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Old May 31, 2011, 08:50 AM   #21
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I may be just lucky, but I had good luck with Kimber. I was dealing directly with the custom shop though.
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Old May 31, 2011, 10:14 AM   #22
30-30remchester
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JOHNBT, good question but it is the very point I was trying to make. It is amazing the placid approach people have when reguarding service and warrenty. Seems nobody cares that the item they bought needs instant service. If I spend my hard earned money for ANY item and it need worked on just to make it work I will never purchase another. I am a range officer and have been for 30 plus years and see litterally many thousand rounds of ammo, and at least 100 different guns shot anually. It seems about any older QUALITY arm doesnt need repair. The internet is full of testimonials of good service plans and good service which is great, but my question is why is their product built in such a manner as to need service? Smith & Wesson for instance has many people touting their good service, yet all my older, pre 1980, Smiths have seen literally many thousands of rounds of ammo and never so much as stuttered. Yet the new ones seem to need far more service and care. I have had old Winchesters from the late 1800's that were used so hard and so much that they were completely devoid of stock finish or bluing, yet show no evidence of ever having a screwdriver touch them. Anymore, sadly to say, our busy schedules and domestic lives seldom lend itself to heavy firarm useage. Seldom few people, myself included, actually use their gun for intended purposes. Occasional trip to a tree stand in a padded case and a couple trips to the range is the life of most guns, yet they need service? I have 2 friends, both guides and trappers who used guns everyday, for years and in severe conditions. One is a lion guide using an older Smith model 19. He got it used, wore the finish completely off the gun, a friend had it refinished for him, has since wore the finish off again, the grips have no checking left and he doesnt ever recall cleaning it, yet it has never had any work done on it mechanically. Another old friend was an active woodsman and trapper and had a pre war Colt Woodsman that was used so long the grips had litterally been worn through exposing the metal underneath, yet never had any mechanical problem. Both guns are still in use today. Just my ranting.
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Old May 31, 2011, 01:11 PM   #23
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"Seems nobody cares that the item they bought needs instant service."

It's funny, but as aggravating as it is to have to send a new gun back to the maker, I usually feel like I will have a better gun after they work on it. I think of it as quality control; maybe they'll catch other things that need fixing while they have it apart. I've had a few manufacturers do more work than what was required.

Ruger for instance did a 2.5# trigger job on an early 22/45 that was put together out of beat up parts. The bolt ears looked like they'd been used to drive nails. They replaced most of the gun and did a perfect trigger job all for free.

One more; my father bought a Python in 1990 and decided that the front sight was tilted a touch. Colt fixed that and tossed in a trigger/action job. I didn't even know at the time that they offered a trigger job on Pythons.

Compare those cases with my new $40k-sticker Toyota Highlander. Now that dealer ticked me off. I ordered it and when I went to pick it up they had neglected to install the satellite radio and two or three other little things like mudflaps. "Oh, we can get that done Monday." No, they'd cashed my check. I got a loaner and they had it ready by five. Idiots
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Old May 31, 2011, 01:53 PM   #24
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Smith & Ruger got my vote. From first hand experience, they both promptly take care of any problem....no stress or arguments, they just remedy any complaint.

I have a Springfield & Glock but so far no issues, so can't speak first hand about their CS.
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Old May 31, 2011, 02:19 PM   #25
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Hard to say who gets the "best" title but, smith & wesson, ruger, sig sauer, FN herstal, and springfield all have great CS from my understanding. I have only had personal interaction with sig & FN, both of which did a great job.
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