Radio silence from Marbles

[Sgt H]

Having a problem with a Marbles tang sight purchased a few months ago. Have called Marbles a number of times and have yet to actually speak to a person. Left messages, no call back. Sent email, no reply. Has anyone else experienced this? Need to get the issue addressed but if this is is what I can expect for customer service, it is probably going in the trash and purchase something else. Another competitor at a match I shoot every month was having a similar problem with his and said Marbles took care of it. Did not get any details on how he accomplished this.

[Castaway]

Out of character for Marbles. Was always a place where a person answered. The armored was out one day and he called me back. They’ve sent set screws and bearings to me with out charge. Also fixed a tang that got sloppy and wouldn’t index firmly, again at no charge. Marbles has always been a first class operation

[MrWolf]

Please keep us posted on what happens. Was thinking about a Marbles purchase soon.

[Doughty]

I dealt with them some this past winter. Always answered the phone and even called me back when their tech guy was away.

[Sgt H]

Update- still no reply from Marbles by phone or email. Have also called a number of additional times and a person never actually answers the phone.
On a side note I called Buffalo Arms where I purchased the sight and they are going to repair or replace the sight. BTW an actual person answered the phone at Buffalo Arms within a few rings. Given my experience with Marbles so far, if you are considering one of their sights I would chose something else unless zero customer service is OK with you. Even after the sight is fixed I am likely to replace it with an MVA, Lee Shaver or similar, much more expensive but then there is that old saying- you get what you pay for.

[JSnover]

For what it's worth, I've often had better service from the vendor than from the manufacturer.
Sometimes I think the shops are fairly small and just don't have time/personnel to deal with individual customers; they need to knock out 500 units for Midway or some other distributor. Vendors (presumably) have an office with Customer Service people who aren't bothered with the problems of running machinery or stuffing boxes.

[Sgt H]

Another update- finally received an email response from Marble. Took about a week and was instructed to return the sight and they would repair/replace and turn around would be about a week. Never got a return phone call though. Don't know what has happened with Marble lately, got in touch with some other folks who use their sights and they were surprised at my recent experience, indicating it was uncharacteristic. Will send it off Monday and see what happens.

[Valley-Shooter]

I know a lot of small companies will shut down for a month this time of year for hunting season. The bookkeepers won't answer the phone.

[Sgt H]

Update- Repaired sight arrived in the mail today. Sight functions as it should now. Total time was 19 days from sent off to return. Just ii time for a match this Sunday.

[FergusonTO35]

I've always had good luck contacting Williams by phone but never once have they replied to an e-mail, even for the most basic question.

[Sgt H]

Update- Repaired sight arrived in the mail today. Sight functions as it should now. Total time was 19 days from sent off to return. Just ii time for a match this Sunday.

[BLAHUT]

Update- still no reply from Marbles by phone or email. Have also called a number of additional times and a person never actually answers the phone.
On a side note I called Buffalo Arms where I purchased the sight and they are going to repair or replace the sight. BTW an actual person answered the phone at Buffalo Arms within a few rings. Given my experience with Marbles so far, if you are considering one of their sights I would chose something else unless zero customer service is OK with you. Even after the sight is fixed I am likely to replace it with an MVA, Lee Shaver or similar, much more expensive but then there is that old saying- you get what you pay for.

I have a lee shaver sight. Any time I need something he charges. His sight gets loose, he charges. I pay shipping both ways. Keep in mind. Not much in customer service for me.

[bosterr]

Sgt H... I'm curious. What was your problem with your Marbles sight? I have one on my original Marlin 94 I shoot at local Pistol Caliber Lever Action silhouette matches. When I fold the sight down, the windage knob turns with the rest of the sight. When I move the sight back to erect, the windage knob doesn't return with the staff. It was slowly ratcheting the windage out of adjustment so much I was missing a lot of easy targets. My fix was to paint a pair of tiny white dots as witness marks so I could tell the windage was remaining correct. I didn't see a way to fix this from happening.

[Sgt H]

The issue from the onset was the windage adjustment was very stiff and a bit difficult to feel the clicks. I soaked it with some very thin oil and it got a bit better. I centered the sight, installed it and zeroed the rifle. At a recent match we had very strong cross winds and when I tried to move the sight to the left to compensate it became increasingly hard to move and then stopped about .060" short of the frame on the left side. This represents about 7moa with my sight radius or about half of what it should have. Upon checking further I found I only had 49 clicks of windage from full right to the point it bound up going left instead of the 66 it is suppose to have equating to 28moa of total windage. I am still looking at replacing it with an MVA #108 at least for matches. The standard staff on the Marbles only gets me to a bit over 300 yards and I have to change to the longer staff, kind of a pain. The MVA #108 should get me to 800+, enough for the buffalo at the Q.