Don't buy a Smith & Wesson

[BearTitan]

Recently (three weeks ago) the frame on my Smith & Wesson 669 in 9mm cracked. That's right, cracked. I called the factory and they sent me a UPS label to send it back. I was told that they would either replace the frame or give me a new gun at no charge. That sounded like a good deal to me.

A week after they received the gun, I called to check on it. Smith & Wesson said that they had received the gun, but no one had looked at it yet.

This morning (another week later) I called Smith & Wesson again and was told that the repair bill would be $200. I asked about the warrantee and the guy told me that because the gun was manufactured more than 20 years ago (21 to be exact), that the lifetime warrantee had expired. He then proceeded to lecture me and suggest that I had overshot the gun with +P loads. For the record, I have shot about 2000 rounds of regular factory 9MM ammo through the gun in the past 21 years. He said that I could pay the money or they would send the gun back to me with the cracked frame.

For those of you considering handing your guns down to your children and grandchildren, don't buy a Smith & Wesson. The warrantee only lasts 20 years.

I know that I will never buy another Smith & Wesson gun.

Do any of you know any of the higher-ups at Smith & Wesson? I would like to write a letter of some sort and it would be helpful if I had a name.

Thanks.

[JustinM]

Originally Posted by BearTitan

The lifetime warrantee only lasts 20 years.

Fixed it for ya

That's messed up. They have a lifetime warranty that only lasts 20 years, wtf?

I'm not buying from them. I buy form alot of companies solely on their customer service. Glad I found out about this.

[BearTitan]

Yeah, I'm pretty surprised. I did not know that Smith & Wesson was known for poor quality and bad customer service. I would think that they would not want one of their guns in curculation with a cracked frame. I am now faced with a decision. Do I put $200 into a gun that is only worth $300, or just write it off.

The good news is that I found the crack and didn't eat the slide!

[TravisBickle]

I recently bought a 686 that had a short firing pin. I was having misfires every third shot. I sent it in for warranty work, they replaced the firing pin and had the gun back to me in a week. I was happy with the customer service, although I'm a little bit pissed that they would let a defective gun leave the factory like that.

Sorry to hear about your experience. I thought lifetime meant lifetime. I guess it's kinda like how life in prison actually means 20yrs, huh?

[ChamberedRound]

Closing this thread, it's redundant with this one:

http://www.pafoa.org/forum/pistols-4...ith-669-a.html

I'll move a copy of the posts here to the thread above, so the discussion can continue in one place.

Thanks!

-CR