Smith & Wesson's Customer Service

[Tomcat088]

I own a Walther P22 target model, which has a 5" barrel, the last inch and a half covered by a stabilizer. In case you didn't know, Smith & Wesson are the people with all the import rights and who services Walther pistols here in the US. The stabilizer is held in place by 2 allen screws, one of which ended up stripped (I bought the gun used). I called and asked for some specs, so I could get some screws that wouldn't loosen so easily after a bunch of rounds. Now the guy that answered the phone, wasn't the smartest because he told me to put lock-tite on the screws. If I put the type that formed a permanent bond, it could be a huge problem because you have to take off the stabilizer every time you clean the pistol, lol, so that wouldn't work out too well. He then gave the phone to someone who did know what they were talking about, and this particular man was very helpful. He got the screws to me in 3 days, no charge. Very helpful, even if the first guy wasn't that specific about what he was telling me, and could really cause someone to screw up their pistol. Anyway, they were very quick, and courteous. Just wanted to pass that along.

[starblazer]

In a nutshell then, you were pleased with their service? I didn't know they did the Walthers, doesn't matter much to me though since I don't own any, yet. Thanks for sharing what seems like a good experience.

[Tomcat088]

Yes, I was pretty satisfied with their customer service. They were really nice, courteous and especially speedy. They also didn't charge me a thing, when some companies might have tried to sell me a part, etc.

[Frenchy]

http://www.highbeam.com/library/docF...D=1G1:19767928 The Glock vs. Smith & Wesson lawsuit is history. After nearly three years of legal posturing, S&W has agreed to a multimillion dollar settlement and a slight modification to the Sigma Series Pistols.
To no one's surprise, Glock sued Smith & Wesson in early 1994. claiming "tortious acts, including without limitations, patent infringement, federal unfair competition, common unfair competition and deceptive trade practices."
S&W returned the salvo with "We firmly believe the suit to be totally without merit and will act accordingly."
Glock also sent an ultimatum to its dealers, giving them 15 days to decide on which to ca,y, the Glock or the Sigma. "If your decision is to continue to distribute Smith & Wesson products, your contractual relationship with Glock Inc. will be terminated," read the message.
In the end, Smith and Wesson agreed to "remove the surface located below the sear in the Sigma Series Pistols, which Glock contends is a positive guide means, and Glock has agreed that such a modification would resolve the patent infringement claim."
While no one in an official position is willing to say how much S&W will pay Glock, informed sources put the figure at between $5 and $8 million.

Can you mimagine this, S&W's Sigma series per Glock is too close a copy yet after having to pay millions in fines, and court fees, the Sigma remains about half the price of the Glock. I can imagine how much their advertizing must cost them as you have about Glock every where.

I own a Sigma 9mm and can say so far so good, for me the fit is much better then the Glock, the grip is rounder and fits my hand much better.

Service side, I have never had a problem with S&W. In my model 66 I had a broken sear from the time i purchased it 2nd hand. Seems the person who owned it before me wanted a longer sear hand and struck it with a hammer, when i explained this to S&W, they promptly sent me a sear and sear hand FOC. All i had to pay was shipping and that was minimal.

No wonder Smith & Wesson is an American Icon, and so many others are trying hard to get a piece of their market.

[Tomcat088]

right. I can't believe the price stayed the same either, and never knew about that lawsuit. I believe Smith & Wesson is an American icon and will remain it for a while, because those of us who have had experiences with them are very pleased. I mean how many people are that happy when they have to get some replacement part, and here we are giving them free advertisement. BUY SMITH & WESSON, IF IT EVER BREAKS, THEY'LL HOOK YOU UP!! lol

[halfrunner]

Smith & Wesson quality contol and customer service is lousy! I purchased a new M&P 15A (rifle) amost three weeks ago. Was sold on the name, the dealer said it was hand fitted and tested at the factory. Well, I tried to test fire it at home using three different brands of ammo. Would not fire one round. I took it back to the dealer (largest gun dealer in Cincinnati). Their gunsmith looked at it but could not determine what was wrong. So the Smith&Wesson regional rep was called.
Said no problem wil get you a return call tag to return to factory. I called the dealer again and was told yeah it should be coming in a couple of days. (It has been almost three weeks since I put out $980 for this gun and still don't even have authorization to return it to the factory). The dealer just laughs and says that it takes up to 6 months for S&W to return firearms to him! The dealer has my money, the S&W Rep just doesn't care, and calling customer service at S&W only gets me a "we can't do a thing until the gun is returned! I'm left with a cheap plastic gun case, a cheap manual and a made in china lock for $980!!

[H22ate]

Now the guy that answered the phone, wasn't the smartest because he told me to put lock-tite on the screws. If I put the type that formed a permanent bond, it could be a huge problem because you have to take off the stabilizer every time you clean the pistol, lol, so that wouldn't work out too well.

Loc-tite is fine as long as you dont use "red" thats the heavy duty stuff. If you were to put the blue on it, it would be fine. Loc-tite does not form a permanent bond. But yea I also have a Walther and just got a can for it and AAC recomends using loc-tite to hold the barrel adapter on and the can to the barrel adapter. Thats fine and well but I surely dont want to clean my threads everytime i take the gun out shooting for cleaning purposes. Also YES S&W does have great customer service, atleast they did for my dad when his 20yr old model 41 was stove piping and FE. They have an authorized smith in washington at ACE sporting goods. They did all of the work in about 4 weeks and then everybody wanted to buy the damn thing.... thats about the only complaint hes has with his 41 "everytime I take it out somebody wants it".