What’s going with reloading companies ??

[Texas Gun]

What is going on with lee reloading

problem with customer service? They wanna argue with you about everything.
I stopped buying From them and I’ve been a customer for many many years


RCBS is kind of getting the same way

Hornady on the other hand great customer service Part of my Press broke and they shipped me a new one for free and it was something that should not of Broke Under normal use . It was broke because a stack of 2x4 fell over on it

Dillon the same as all ways just junky to deal with and crappie parts powder drop broken and they will not replace it with out sending the hole thing in and will not sell me the part at a reasonable price aka I can get a new powder drop for less and a better one

[Carrier]

Oh boy I just sent Lee a 6 hole 9mm die to them for really bad out of round bullets.

[schutzen-jager]

after recent problems i will never buy a Lee product again , i have been a loyal customer for years , but never again !

[porthos]

that's why i buy redding. made in USA

[Winger Ed.]

I haven't had to deal with any of the others, but Hornady has earned my loyalty on a couple things.

Years ago, I called and asked to buy a replacement clear hopper tube for a powder measure that was over 30 years old at the time.
They wouldn't let me pay for it.

Last year I forced and broke that ninja star looking thing that advances the plate on my LNL progressive.
They were going to send one for free, but I told them, "This isn't a warranty claim..... I forced the handle like a gorilla, and broke it".
I figured it was about a $25. part. We negotiated for a bit, and the lady finally let me pay $7.50 for two of them.

[jonp]

Loyal customer for years until they asked me to send them a melting pot I got at auction that I clearly wrote in my initial email was modified and all I wanted was a heatshield for it. Surprised but sent it in and then the arguments back and forth started among other things telling me it was modified. No kidding, read my initial enquiry and I said that in the first sentence. I finally told them to throw it out and to heck with them. Wrote about it in a thread here last year I think it was.

[farmerjim]

In 60 years of reloading, I have not had a problem with any reloading equipment company.

[ascast]

^^^^ this has been my experience mostly getting parts for presses etc I got at auction or yard sale. Recently got two Lee hand presses, both missing rams, at yard sale. Got part number from web site, called, spoke to a very friendly woman. She said she'd have to charge me for one, the other would be free as was shipping. I don't see how I or anyone would complain. YMMV

[Half Dog]

The only problem I’ve had was once with MEC but everyone can have a bad day so I don’t hold that against them. I’ve always had good experiences with customer service but I haven’t had a reason to call recently.

[375supermag]

Hi...
Never had a problem with any reloading company's customer service.
Never called Lee because their equipment doesn't work well enough to bother with. I just took it off the bench and replaced it with RCBS and Hornady tools. Never broke anything from them. I did request some primer strips and shell holder inserts for the APS priming system tool from RCBS. They sent the shell holder inserts at no charge. I paid for the primer strips. I generally order some every year as the do tend to wear over time.

[atr]

always had good service from RCBS

[GhostHawk]

I have been happy with my Lee purchases, but considering the price I do not expect a lot out of them.
To me it is kind of like buying a kit. That Kit with some knowledge and experience and work can probably be made to give you what you want.

And 2 cavity molds especially are cheap.

RCBS has been good to me, but you pay for that service up front.

[john.k]

Staff is hard to find,so businesses have to employ the problem children from other businesses .....that finally got fed up and fired them...........You cant have a supervisor listening in on every moment of staff interaction with customers............its cheaper to simply send a new part .

[Winger Ed.]

Staff is hard to find,so businesses have to employ the problem children from other businesses .....that finally got fed up and fired them...........

Years ago, there was a gas station near here that had one of those.
This young woman had angered so many regular customers their business fell off.
When management figured out why--- They put a big sign out in front of the station that read, "She's gone".

[imashooter2]

Richard Lee built a company. It was his baby. John Lee inherited a company. That’s not the same thing…

[Shawlerbrook]

New to hear any problems with RCBS.

[Electrod47]

In 60 years of reloading, I have not had a problem with any reloading equipment company.

Same here. I can't think of a more intense relationship between a provider and end user. It wouldn't last without a strong degree of trust.

[oldhenry]

that's why i buy redding. made in USA

They make great stuff: so great that they have a hard time admitting when they make a mistake.
1. Pro Series .38 spec./.357 die set sent back to them 2 times. They finally (reluctantly) made the requested correction to the seating die. I solved the crimp die problem with a 35 year old Lyman item. The problem: they do not seem to fully understand that cast boolit loading is different from loading J-words.
2. 7X57 die set sent back 2 times. I solved the problem with a Hornady set. However, the separate Redding neck size die is great.

[Carrier]

Richard Lee built a company. It was his baby. John Lee inherited a company. That’s not the same thing…

I seem to be having that issue right now. First time I ever sent something to Lee and so far it’s not looking good.

[Scorpion8]

Hornady on the other hand great customer service

Ditto. Every time I call I get the sweetest lady who remembers me and is always helpful. 2x thumbs-UP!!

[stripe]

I have never had an issue with RCBS or MEC. In fact, several years ago I bought a MEC 8983 that a guy had problems with and had literally thrown the parts in a cardboard box and had it out at a yard sale. It was brand new. I bought it and tried to put it back together and was out of my depth with the thing. Called MEC Customer Service, explained the problem and the guy on the other end spent a solid hour with me and stepped me through the reconstruction process. It works great and I am even more than ever a MEC customer.

[Carrier]

Got a new replacement mould from Lee and it’s worse than the one I sent in. Have to give the kid I was arguing with at Lee kudos as the note he sent with the mould said I wouldn’t be any happier with the replacement one.
With the mould half’s together you can slide a piece of paper through the bottom.
This was the first time dealing with Lee on anything and most likely the last. The two ladies I talked to were really great but not so much the kid in the tech side.
Oh well live and learn.

[gloob]

If you go to Lee's website, find your product, then find the "click here for parts," Lee sells almost every single part for almost everything they sell. It has a picture, product number, and a price. Down to the nuts and bolts.

If you broke the press by dropping a pile of 2x4's on it, why would you want to bother explaining that to anyone at Lee? Do you want an audience for your SOB story, or do you want a new part? Click, click, buy. Incredibly reasonable prices and next to nothing on the shipping?

When I bought a secondhand Hornady die set that needed a new decapping pin, they sent it to me for free. That's pretty cool. But I'd rather know how to just buy one in seconds rather than waiting and talking to someone. I also like to know I can theoretically buy 30 of them if I wanted, for whatever reason. Even though I don't own 30 of these product, nor maybe even one of them.

Think about it if Lyman had this sort of website and philosophy. You could buy any size expander plug, separately, and insert them into your 1 set of M1 and M2 die bodies. If this were the case, I would have bought a lot more of their expander plugs (and done a lot less turning/grinding to make my own custom plugs for their dies). I would have been able to choose plugs that were already lathe-threaded and close to the dimensions I want.

[uscra112]

I haven't been very happy with Lyman over the past few years. I'm too deaf to use phone, so I email, which they mostly ignore. Their stock is so low that I started making my own M-die expanders and also sizing dies.

I use a couple of Lee dies strictly for case reforming, (because cheap). They shipped me spare decapper stems and nuts promptly. But otherwise, as somebody said above, their stuff doesn't work well enough to bother with.

I've never managed to break any of the RCBS equipment I use.

[gloob]

Does anyone else wonder how long Lucy has been the QA inspector at Lyman? Everything I have ever bought from them has been inspected by Lucy.

[Streetwalker]

Hmmm. I checked my Lyman stuff and, sure enough, it's been inspected by "Lucy" too. That begs the question..does Lyman only have one inspector?

[maxreloader]

Oh boy I just sent Lee a 6 hole 9mm die to them for really bad out of round bullets.

What the heck is a 6 hole die???

Max

[Kosh75287]

Their stock is so low that I started making my own M-die expanders and also sizing dies.

I sure wish I had that capacity.

[Winger Ed.]

What the heck is a 6 hole die???

Max

I'd kind of like to get one of those myself.

[Rich/WIS]

Have experience with customer service with LEE, Lyman, RCBS and Hornady. Lyman was not helpful, the others were pleasant to deal with and fully resolved the problem.

RCBS was used twice, once to but handle for aR C that I bought used and the handle punched through the shipping box and was lost. Nice lady tried like mad to get me say it was broken so she could send a replacement for free, I insisted on paying for it. Second was a sizer/lubricator that the die retaining nut and stripped out on. Told me send it in for repair, two weeks later a new LAM II was in my mail box.

LEE was parts for the discontinued Auto-prime II. Nice lady there had them check and although not listed, they found the parts I needed. Ordering parts from them to upgrade my old Challenger press was about as painless as it gets.

Hornady was a scale that the little notches that held the poise were too shallow. Said send it back, again a week or two and a new scale was in my mailbox. Had a set of used dies that had the old style compression nut on the smooth decapping rod. Called to get the parts to upgrade to the threaded rod. Shipped the parts and refused to let me pay for them.

[MOA]

I'd kind of like to get one of those myself.

Inquiring minds want to know what It is too. Been doing reloading since 1980, and had a retail gun shop selling all brands of reloading equipment and never heard of this product.

[Winger Ed.]

Dillon the same as all ways just junky to deal with and crappie parts powder drop broken and they will not replace it with out sending the hole thing in and will not sell me the part at a reasonable price aka I can get a new powder drop for less and a better one


I'd heard Dillon was having problems with people just wanting free stuff and had to clamp down on some things.

The only customer service I'd delt with lately was Hornady a couple years ago.
I broke that ninja star looking thing that advances the shell plate on a new AP.

I called 'em up and they were going to send me a new one for free.
I told 'em 'this isn't a warranty claim.... I broke it. A 9mm brass went up crooked, and I forced the handle like a gorilla'.

I figured it'd be $15-20 bucks.
After arguing for a minute--- she finally agreed to let me buy two of them, and charged me $1.88 each.

[Soundguy]

What is going on with lee reloading

problem with customer service? They wanna argue with you about everything.
I stopped buying From them and I’ve been a customer for many many years


RCBS is kind of getting the same way

Hornady on the other hand great customer service Part of my Press broke and they shipped me a new one for free and it was something that should not of Broke Under normal use . It was broke because a stack of 2x4 fell over on it

Dillon the same as all ways just junky to deal with and crappie parts powder drop broken and they will not replace it with out sending the hole thing in and will not sell me the part at a reasonable price aka I can get a new powder drop for less and a better one

Last dialog I had with lee they were nice enough ( very polite )..just not helpful. I had an older mold of theirs..but the number on it clearly did not match what it was. I called in to see if they re used a number. According to them, no they didn't.... So... Polite..just..something odd... A wrong numbered mold.

[MTtimberline]

I have noticed a change in RCBS ways with customer service in the last year or so. They are still helpful but just not the same as they once were.

[Bmi48219]

I’ve used a Lee Auto Bench Primer for several years now. The plastic assembly that isolates and feeds a single primer to the ram will fail after 10 or 20 K primers. I’m sure I’ve gone through four or five by now and never had to pay for any of them.
As others have said I’ve never had any issue getting replacement parts under warranty from any reloading company. Wish all manufacturers would stand behind their products as well.

[1hole]

In 60 years of reloading, I have not had a problem with any reloading equipment company.

Ditto. I started this stuff in 1965 with mostly Lyman tools but have acquired tools from all current brands (except Dillon) and quite a few from brands that haven't survived the years.

Part of what I've learned is that ALL of our makers make good reloading tools IF they are chosen and used as they should be. I'm not ham-fisted with my tools and in all of those years I've only needed three small parts I had damaged myself, not failed construction.

I have needed some decap pins and one shell holder retaining snap spring. The third "problem" part I needed was to replace (about 20 years ago) was a badly rusted RCBS 7-08 sizer body. I called their customer service lady to buy a replacement die body - not to beg for a free-be - but the very nice lady refused to sell me one, nor would she sell me a complete single new die. She said she could sell me a complete new die set tho, at full retail price! I thanked her for the (expensive) offer but would order a much less costly set of Lee's RGB dies from Midway instead. (I did get a Lee die set and they still work just as well as any other common brand.)

Seems the value of a not quite "free lifetime" parts warranty may be an illusion so it comes down to how many of which parts we break because somebody has to pay for them and that comes at the initial purchase; I don't want to pay for that!

Bottomline, to each his own but if we chose to pay extra for our tools to get a free replacement parts promise and don't need them we're just buying "free" things for those who do break a lot of stuff.

I've saved a small fortune over the last 60+ years by not paying extra to cover "free" parts mostly due to the mistakes of people who can royally screw up a lot of very simple mechanical things!

[Dekota56]

As far as RCBS I have 4. Knowing all I have to do is call them with a problem. They fix it.
I just did in Aug 2022. I was told they will send me a new spring for the primer loader. They said there products have a life time guarantee. I been using RCBS since 1975.
I know there are a lot of high tech fancy loaders out there but I am not

[Baltimoreed]

Had a part break on my Dillon 550 last year, sent them an email and got a replacement right away. The last time I’ve broken anything reloading. Prior to that eons ago for lee autoprime pot metal handles.

[GregLaROCHE]

So where are Lee products manufactured? US or overseas? Maybe both.

[charlie b]

I've used Lee stuff for over 40 years. Yep, not always perfect but for the price I get what I want.

I thought I'd finally worn out my Loadmaster when it stopped indexing properly. I decided to take it apart and clean it, replacing worn parts. Filled out the order on their web site and sent it in (about $40 of misc stuff). When the order was processed I was charged for one item (not part of the press). When I inquired about this in an email the response was that I was replacing worn parts and they are covered under warranty so no charge. I never told them I was rebuilding a press, they just didn't charge me. Yes, I was shocked. Since then they have done the same on replacement parts several times.

And, the end result is that after reassembly and replacement of worn parts the darn thing works great (it is 18 yrs old now).

Yes, some things Lee came up with are less than useful. The on press priming systems have never worked well for me. The one on the Loadmaster I modified and now it works well. The "Safety prime" sucks (I've tried it on two different presses). The bullet feed system was also pretty bad, but, the case feeder works pretty good.

[Scorpion8]

In 60 years of reloading, I have not had a problem with any reloading equipment company.

35 years here, but ditto. They are always nice and polite to deal with. Never had an argument with one, and always amazed that RCBS will send replacement parts for free for their products that I picked up used. Hornady sent me two replacement parts for my 366 when one part was mis-threaded on one press but not another.

[gloob]

Probably just the number of Karens is increasing.

The greatest thing about Lee Precision is their website has an exploded view of nearly everything they sell, showing individual parts with prices. You can just add anything you want to your cart. The prices are stupid low, since this is a self-service that doesn't need to tie up a live agent.

They have started to charge $7.00 for shipping, these days, which increases the cost a bit. But I found that whenever I buy multiple parts from them, the price on many of the parts inexplicably drops to zero. Provided you buy more than 1 part, the price is usually pretty similar as the old days.

Sure, other vendors might USUALLY send you stuff for free, just by asking. But that takes your time. That takes their time. And that cost gets inserted somewhere else. So if you want to have someone to talk to, then don't buy LEE. If you want to be able to fix your equipment forever, without wasting time, Lee can't be beat.

[Baltimoreed]

RCBS has been a good company for the few times i had problems with something they made. I have a few lee dies and an autoprime but nothing else. I used to send lee my broken autoprime handles and they would replace them but then I started jbwelding a piece of aluminum to it and had no more breakage. Sent guns back to Colt, Smith and Cimarron [uberti] for problems and Cimarron was the only one that was a pita about it.

[Tall]

All my dealings with Lee have been great. They have always sent me everything free of charge.

[Outer Rondacker]

I have a feeling this thread is kinda like the old biker saying. There are those who have gone down and those who are going down. We all for the most part had good experiences in the past with most of the companies but our future does not look bright. I too have had years of greatness with everyone one of the companies listed but in the past few years to date can not say the same. The thread starter was right. They want to argue with you like a child because the worker is like a big baby never having there butt spanked and learning respect for anyone.

[gloob]

Loyal customer for years until they asked me to send them a melting pot I got at auction that I clearly wrote in my initial email was modified and all I wanted was a heatshield for it. Surprised but sent it in and then the arguments back and forth started among other things telling me it was modified. No kidding, read my initial enquiry and I said that in the first sentence. I finally told them to throw it out and to heck with them. Wrote about it in a thread here last year I think it was.



https://leeprecision.com/parts-bullet-casting-electric-melters-pro-4-20lb-parts

Dunno what brand pot you bought.

Lee Precision website would sell you the parts down to the nuts, washers, new power cord. It's all there. You could buy all the parts and have a DIY build day out of it.

[W.R.Buchanan]

There is great Customer Service at Buchanan Precision Machine, Except hardly anyone has had any problems with the tool so we don't hear much. It will do anything your bench mounted presses will do.

Randy

[Tripplebeards]

Rcbs is the only company out of the three that will send me non stop parts without even asking questions. They get 99% of my business even though I like lee and hornady dies better. Hornady usually charges for replacement parts till the other day when my new hand held double deburring tool had a wobbling deburring head. They sent me a four prong version vs the 3 prong it came with. The only time rcbs gave me a denial was on a chargemaster lite that the screen started showing black spots on about a month out of warranty. They wanted to have me mail it in on my dime. I just exchanged it with the retailer I bought it from to save the drama.

[lightload]

I never objected to mailing a part back on my dime.

[gifbohane]

Never bought anything Lee but all the rest have been more than satisfactory.

Lyman was unresponsive to an inquiry. It happened so long ago I forgot the details. One of their employees was a regular on the site that I complained on and wrote me. He wanted to help, but by then I had replaced the item and passed on the help. Still have a distaste for Lyman.

[Kestrel4k]

The only really good story I have is sentimental;
My late fathers' reloading stuff included a /very old/ Lyman .223Rem die set. At some point I started reloading .223Rem, and of course (you'd have to know my dad, lol), the die had some interior scratches and I promptly stuck a case. I sent it to Lyman & they extracted the stuck case & polished the interior; no charge. Have done a few hundred rounds with that set, and it's more valuable than any new .223 Rem die set to me. :-)

[M-Tecs]

I'd heard Dillon was having problems with people just wanting free stuff and had to clamp down on some things.

.

People were getting "free" warranty parts from Dillon and selling them on eBay.

[dverna]

People were getting "free" warranty parts from Dillon and selling them on eBay.

I heard that as well…but think it is BS. They can tell if dozens of parts are being shipped to the same address.

Don’t get me wrong. I am a Dillon fan boy. Have owned two 1050’s, a 650, two 550’s, two SD’s and an SL900. The only piece of crap was the SL900. Parts are needed so rarely that I cannot recall it being a big deal and parts have never seemed costly.

[Handloader109]

Well, it wasn't me. I called them looking for a replacement part on my 650 about a year after I got it back in 2015 and I had to pay for it. No free warranty for me. It wasn't much, under $20 but so much for the free replacements BS. I've not broken any of my molds, lee included, and all my lee stuff has served me well for my 10 years of reloading. Heck I've got two or three one and 2 cavity lee molds from the 60s or 70s I've purched from others here and they still drop good. New 6 cavity works and locks up fine. Drops everything without any cajoling, smoking or other nonsense like my NOE molds.

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[schutzen-jager]

over 1/2 a century dealing with many reloading companies + never a problem till recently with Lee , extremely bad customer service + will never buy another Lee product ! -