Taurus Customer Service

[toml]

I had no issue with the quality of my Stainless PT1911. It was a fine product. This was a cosmetic defect of the barrel. My frustration was with the performance of their CS processes at the time (hopefully things are better these days).

When they quickly agreed to replace the barrel and bushing and had me send them in, they did NOT tell me that those parts were not in stock. They could have easily told me to hold onto the parts so that I could continue to use the pistol until the parts were available, but they didn't do that.

On subsequent phone calls, depending on the rep I talked to, I either got a canned answer about "a couple of weeks" or a honest statement that they had no idea at all, and were at the mercy of the folks in Brazil.

I had sent the barrel and bushing to Taurus in early June. When I finally did receive parts in early August, the bushing was blued instead of stainless.

I immediately contacted Customer Service, and they agree to promptly send out the correct part. A short time later, having not received anything, I again contacted customer service. Over the period of a few calls I was first assured the part had been sent, then told that was not the case but it would be, and finally (and incredibly) that the part was simply not available.

Not that it was not in stock. It was simply not available. I asked if an order could be placed for it, and they replied that was not possible. This they verified with the Customer Service Supervisor. Their suggestion was that I call back periodically and eventually it might become available. When I asked how often I should check, they suggested once a month.

Since the only contact point I had was their 800 number and that wasn't getting results, I resorted to what the folks at Consumerist.com call an "EECB" - Executive Email Carpet Bomb.

I did a lot of sleuthing online and finally was able to determine direct email addresses for David Blenker, Taurus VP, and Maria Pernas, National Marketing Manager (who I have learned passed away last month - may she rest in peace). I sent an email to both of them hoping to get things moving.

I got no reply to that email, however the correct part did arrive a short time later.

[sigarms229]

Originally Posted by Cuba
I honestly don't understand all the negative Taurus CS bashing I read about on the net

Well as someone that use to work in a gunshop I can tell you that in years past their customer service sucked.

We sent back many pistols that didn't function properly. Back then getting someone that spoke good english was all but impossible. They would take an average of 3-4 months doing warranty work. They wouldn't cover shipping to them but would cover shipping back.


I'm glad to hear they've gotten better because for awhile we were warning customers that while their gun had a lifetime warranty, it might take half your lifetime to actually get it fixed if it needed it.

[harold63]

for awhile we were warning customers that while their gun had a lifetime warranty, it might take half your lifetime to actually get it fixed if it needed it.

It was just about that bad for a while. I started buying them when they were getting it together, yet a lot of the junk they built was still in circulation, unbought. If I buy one, now, I call their CSD and find out exactly when the gun was made. "Shoot Straight", (where I purchase my Taurus firearms) out of FT Myers, FL, has a high rate of inventory coming in, so they never have a Taurus firearm that has sat around with trapped demons.

[normanvin]

Well as someone that use to work in a gunshop I can tell you that in years past their customer service sucked.

We sent back many pistols that didn't function properly. Back then getting someone that spoke good english was all but impossible. They would take an average of 3-4 months doing warranty work. They wouldn't cover shipping to them but would cover shipping back.


I'm glad to hear they've gotten better because for awhile we were warning customers that while their gun had a lifetime warranty, it might take half your lifetime to actually get it fixed if it needed it.

Got to love this one. Taurus's service sucks, but here is the new gun I just sold you.

[Yoder]

Glock customer service is......Oh yeah, I've never had to call them.

[sigarms229]

but here is the new gun I just sold you.

When you have customers coming in asking for a Taurus (because they don't want to pay more $$$ for a better firearm, you end up selling them a Taurus.

We rarely had problems with their revolvers or their PT92/99 and PT100/101. Anything other than that was questionable.......(and the PT1911 wasn't on the market yet).