Kudos to Ruger

[cabezaverde]

I am impressed.

A while back I mentioned here that the transfer bar broke on my convertible Blackhawk. I called Ruger, and they sent me a replacement transfer bar, which turned out to be the wrong part. Back on the phone again, they sent me a prepaid label to return it.

With nothing to lose, I included both cylinders complaining that the throats were over sized.

Fed Ex just brought the revolver back, and Ruger fit a transfer bar and two new cylinders!

That's customer service.

[megasupermagnum]

Best in the business.

[DougGuy]

Many years ago they paid shipping both ways for one of my convertibles that had .456" throats, I asked them for .4515" and sure enough they replaced both cylinders with throats *exactly* .4515" never charged me a cent!

[Wheelguns 1961]

I have sent a few back for various reasons. They have always made it right, and paid for the shipping too. Service like that kind of takes the guesswork out of buying sight unseen. I would still rather handle the actual gun, but it is reassuring that ruger has my back.

[cabezaverde]

Just checked the new cylinders. Looks like both are .4515".

[Conditor22]

Ruger's customer service is great!!!!!

I had 2 9MM's with bad barrels from the factory (gunsmith told me).
I called Sig Sauer, told them what my gunsmith said, and told them the gun was in like-new condition; they said they only warrant their guns to the original owner but for $150 they would look at it!!!! I bought a barrel online and now I'm getting good groups.

I called Ruger and they sent me a shipping label, 3 weeks later I got the gun back with a new barrel, a target with the 5 shot group they shot with it at15 yards, and an oiled cleaning rag. Ruger was both knowledgeable and friendly.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy a used Ruger again BUT I WILL NEVER BUY A USED SIG AGAIN!!!

[9.3X62AL]

SIG-Sauer's warranty service is AWFUL, even for original purchasers. They act insulted when an issue is brought to their attention, like doing so is some personal affront to them. The phone wonks come just short of calling you a liar. The issues are few and far between, I'll grant that--they put out mostly decent firearms. But when they don't, it's a PITA to get them to accept responsibility for the few lemons they have produced.

Sturm, Ruger & Co. and Glock both do customer service graciously and efficiently. Both companies live and work in the real world, and take care of their customers.

[megasupermagnum]

SIG-Sauer's warranty service is AWFUL, even for original purchasers. They act insulted when an issue is brought to their attention, like doing so is some personal affront to them. The phone wonks come just short of calling you a liar. The issues are few and far between, I'll grant that--they put out mostly decent firearms. But when they don't, it's a PITA to get them to accept responsibility for the few lemons they have produced.

Sturm, Ruger & Co. and Glock both do customer service graciously and efficiently. Both companies live and work in the real world, and take care of their customers.

I've never had to deal with SIG, but Glock good customer service? The way Glock does it so so wonky, I'd never buy one just on that alone. They make you go to a Glock sponsored "armorer", basically a fancy FFL, and when that guy refuses to send it in, there's nothing you can do. I swear Glock has one policy, does it go bang? If yes, then it isn't broke.

[FergusonTO35]

The reason I have 5 Glocks is not because they are "perfection", they are not. It's because I can get any part I need dirt cheap from many places. Not many guns you can say that about.

[Ledhead]

Gotta love Rugers customer service. I had a case stick due to a split case, bent the ejector rod and broke the screw wile trying to remove it. Called them and got a new ejector assembly 4 business days later, no questions asked.

My grandfather had a LC9, he accidentally knocked it off the hood of his truck and broke the trigger guard. He called Ruger they sent him a prepaid box. He sent the gun back to them and received a repaired handgun 4 weeks later at zero cost to him.

[Dan Cash]

The best customer service is when the manufacturer gets it right the first time.

[Petander]

The best customer service is when the manufacturer gets it right the first time.

My thoughts exactly.

[ironbrew]

I read this thread with hope. Why? Because it makes me hope that Marlin's can be a firearm worth buying again. I went to Henry, and while I love it, their attitude of 14" LOP or nothing, and stocks that aren't easy to shorten yourself will probably mean I don't buy another UNLESS I get a heck of a deal. Very irritating. At the rate I'm going, by the time I'm ready for another lever, Ruger should have production up and running, and issues sorted out.

[megasupermagnum]

Why would you say a Henry stock isn't easy to shorten?

[ironbrew]

Because of the inlayed butt plate. If you get one that is the wooden stock with the recoil pad, yes. But most aren't. I have a wooden one with a recoil pad and it is going to be shortened. It was the plastic one before but I chose to swap it to wood. The sidegates are all relatively easy (from the photos) but the "originals" have metal butt plates fitted to the stock. I don't even want to mess with that.

Oh. And when I spoke to Henry, the attitude about shorter stocks sucked. So... I'll move back to Marlin for the next lever. The attitude lost me.

[megasupermagnum]

I can't say I blame them. In a shotgun, 14 1/4" to 14 1/2" is about ideal for me. I'm ok with slightly shorter in a rifle, but too much less is no fun. It's way easier to cut off a stock, than try and put it back on. If by original you mean the $2500 model, I'd suggest paying a gunsmith to shorten it for you. I can't imagine it being more than $100. What's 100 bucks when you just spent $2500?

[Idaho45guy]

The best customer service is when the manufacturer gets it right the first time.

Heretic!

Posted a thread on a gun forum about why it seems that Ruger customer service threads seem to come up so often. Perhaps it's because they put out a lot of defective guns. It devolved into pages of people calling me names because I dared to imply that Ruger puts out a lot of defective guns.

Do they? Well, gun manufacturers don't release how many warranty claims they get, so there is no way to tell matter-of-factly just who makes the least troublesome firearm.

People can chime in with their specific experience, which unfortunately, is useless. The sample size is just too small.

I've been buying handguns for 30+ years and have only had to return two to the manufacturer. Both were S&W autos. Does that mean that S&W puts out junk? Probably not.

I think the closest you can come to determining any sort of trend is to see what the rate of return is on various firearms at a large gun shop. I asked my gun shop about the Sig P365 when it was a few months old a few years ago and they said they were having to return a large number of them, and even had a couple with dead triggers right out of the box.

I asked them again just before I bought one about a year ago and they said they haven't had any come back for quite some time. So I bought one and it has been perfect.

Still, not science, but better than my personal experience with two defective S&W pistols and now claiming that S&W makes junk.

[ironbrew]

An example of the type of stock I'm talking about would be the 410 sidegate. It's a hair over $1000 MSRP. I guarentee you couldn't get a smith to do that properly up here for $100.00

I asked about cutting the plastic stock that was on my rifle (essentially I wanted to know about putting the screws back in or if I needed to epoxy a piece of wood in there) and was told "don't shorten it". It was that attitude that really put me off. I like my rifle, but the attitude really irked me. OK. I get it. You guys are tall and you like long stocks. When you are short and are wearing a heavy coat (hunting temps can range from 60F above to below 0F) and hunting in grizzly country, you definitely want a shorter stock that is faster to the shoulder with less chance of snagging on the coat. After all, that's a big part of the reason I chose a 45-70. To be told "don't shorten it" isn't a plus. If you are going to tell people not to shorten the stock, offer a youth model or something

[ironbrew]

OK. So with the new models they released today, the stocks look much easier to modify. I don't have an issue with that... I think the attitude got up my nose before...

[Alstep]

OK, Back to the subject of Ruger.

I bought a used Ruger MKII that just refused to function reliably. Called them and they sent me some new parts. No go, so called them back. Very nice lady had UPS pick it up for repair. That was Nov.30th. Got it back yesterday, Dec.15th. Ran a mag through it, functioned flawlessly. Now in 16 days including shipping, they made good on a gun made many years ago. Totally rebuilt it. Can't beat that kind of service.

Compare that to S&W. Sent them a Model 19 that came with a cylinder gap of .017. Asked them to take it down to .003 to .005. Got it back 3+ months later, with a gap of .008 and a bill of $150.

When I go to buy my next pistol, I'm going with a company that backs up their product. Thanks Ruger.