Advice needed about how to deal with a warranty claim at S&W

MXD

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I sent my new M&P340 back to S&W for a really weird and potentially dangerous issue (see: http://www.northeastshooters.com/vb...ith-my-new-M-amp-P-340-***UPDATED-(page-3)*** ) They called me yesterday and the CS rep told me they needed an FFL to ship it to because they replaced the frame and cylinder and now it has a new serial number. I asked if they knew what caused it or if they just replaced the damaged parts. He said he didn't know. What if the issue was the barrel? I really would like to talk to the person that looked at it before I accept it back but they aren't really giving me that option. Based on anyone's experience and the problem I described in my original post, what is the likelihood that my problem was in the barrel and not the frame/cylinder? How would you proceed?
 
If you don't have confidence that they replaced the correct parts, take it to a local gunsmith and have him look over the gun

I would but that costs more time and money out of my pocket. Its not that I don't have confidence, I just want someone to tell me "yes, we saw what went wrong, we fired it after we fixed it and its good to go". All the CS guy has told me is "we replaced the frame and cylinder" When I asked if there was any description of what the original problem was he "I don't see any but it looks like they replaced all the damaged parts". I will have all the confidence in the world if someone can just tell me what went wrong so I know its fixed. Right now I'm not sure if they fixed it or just replaced the damaged parts.
 
More specifically, I guess my question is should I accept it back or refuse it until I can speak to someone with more knowledge of my repair?
 
As to speak to a supervisor or a manger - tell them you won't accept it back until you have a failure report. Any company doing warranty work tracks the failures/causes.
 
As to speak to a supervisor or a manger - tell them you won't accept it back until you have a failure report. Any company doing warranty work tracks the failures/causes.

Exactly. I'd imagine it's much like in an FDA-regulated industry. All complaints and repairs are well documented and followed through to find root cause and resolution. I'd be surprised if S&W (and the firearms industry in general) doesn't follow similar procedures.
 
My bet is if it has a new frame they probably gave you a new gun, or a gun that is very near new.

My advice: Just take delivery of the thing and start shooting it again.

-Mike
 
Exactly. I'd imagine it's much like in an FDA-regulated industry.

No, it's not (and thank god!) other than from the gun control aspect (BATFE) and that by itself is bad enough. If the government had CS regs on firearms, guns would cost 20% more and several prominent manufacturers of low > junker class guns would be out of business.

All complaints and repairs are well documented and followed through to find root cause and resolution. I'd be surprised if S&W (and the firearms industry in general) doesn't follow similar procedures.

[rofl]

Many gun companies are pretty mum, especially whenever something is their fault. If they put together a crappy gun, they're not going to admit it publicly... it's just a fact of life. None of them want to come out and say "Yeah, we had a bad run of 200 frames or so" or "Joe Mecklenburg" in QC was drinking on the job and messed up. Glock has had a bunch of upgrades (worthy of being called recalls) but they are never announced as
such. It's life in the industry.

All of the major manufs have had serious gaffes that they will never admit to, and even obvious design flaws. S+W has had some product runs and part failures. They probably ARE documented internally, but forget about the public ever finding out about it. Most of the manufs have had the
same.

Doesn't really matter to me, though.... cause I know with S+W if I buy something and it sucks, they generally will make it right.

-Mike
 
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they're the experts. If they say it's fixed, why not believe them?

They didn't say it was "fixed" they said they "replaced the damaged parts". My question to the CS guy was "can you tell me what caused it?". Simply changing the damaged parts might not have fixed the problem. I asked a very reputable gunsmith what likely caused this and he said it could either have been a misalignment of the cylinder or the barrel. Since the barrel and the grip are the only 2 pieces used from my original gun I just want to hear from them that they discovered it WAS the cylinder. I escaped any injury this time but I would be leery of firing it again if there was a chance that the cause of the problem was the barrel. Keep in mind, there were lead shavings flying out of the cylinder/forcing cone gap so fast, they gouged the frame and then the cylinder fell out. I think I'm pretty lucky to have not had a piece of lead cut into my hand or worse.

If they tell me "yes, it was definitely the cylinder and we checked the barrel again once we replaced everything then I will be 100% confident.
 
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No, it's not (and thank god!) other than from the gun control aspect (BATFE) and that by itself is bad enough. If the government had CS regs on firearms, guns would cost 20% more and several prominent manufacturers of low > junker class guns would be out of business.

I guess I've just been working in medical devices too long. And I dare not wish the same regulations on ANY other industry. I'd say 30%+ of the cost of our products is directly or indirectly attributable to dealing with and conforming to regs.
 
They didn't say it was "fixed" they said they "replaced the damaged parts". My question to the CS guy was "can you tell me what caused it?". Simply changing the damaged parts might not have fixed the problem. I asked a very reputable gunsmith what likely caused this and he said it could either have been a misalignment of the cylinder or the barrel. Since the barrel and the grip are the only 2 pieces used from my original gun I just want to hear from them that they discovered it WAS the cylinder. I escaped any injury this time but I would be leery of firing it again if there was a chance that the cause of the problem was the barrel. Keep in mind, there were lead shavings flying out of the cylinder/forcing cone gap so fast, they gouged the frame and then the cylinder fell out. I think I'm pretty lucky to have not had a piece of lead cut into my hand or worse.

If they tell me "yes, it was definitely the cylinder and we checked the barrel again once we replaced everything then I will be 100% confident.

to me it's one in the same and i think your reading to much into the wording of it. if they "replaced" the damaged parts then they "fixed" what was damaged. if they didn't "replace" a part it is because it was not "damaged". i'm sure they did not just decide to replace X part, just because. they must have looked it over, tested it etc and decided what needed fixing and fixed it. As in replaced it. if the barrel had anything to do with it they would have replaced that too.

















unless their test gave out false positives [wink]
 
I doubt that they used the same barrel or any of the parts. It sounds like you got a brand new gun.

According to the CS guy who called me back this afternoon, they definitely only replaced the cylinder, crane and frame. The barrel and grip are from my original.The best he said he can do is go fire it himself and confirm that its ok. To me that sounds rediculous. Why can't someone there tell me what caused the problem and tell me it is 100% fixed. When I asked the CS guy today, again he said to me "all I can tell you is we replaced the cylinder and frame. I have no notes in the file as to what the original problem was". That does not work for me.
 
Sounds like the timing was off. A new cylinder and frame would certainly fix that. I would imagine anything wrong with the barrel would be pretty obvious. I wouldn't worry too much - shoot it and enjoy it. (Or if you're really that freaked out I'll trade you for my 642. [wink])
 
Sounds like the timing was off. A new cylinder and frame would certainly fix that. I would imagine anything wrong with the barrel would be pretty obvious. I wouldn't worry too much - shoot it and enjoy it. (Or if you're really that freaked out I'll trade you for my 642. [wink])

beat me to it. i was going to offer to take it off his hands, for cheap of course, there may be something wrong with it.
 
I think once you receive the revolver back from S&W, you are going to be one happy camper. I really don't hear many negative reports about their warranty service.

And they certainly aren't going to put something back into your possession which could cause major problems for the S&W name.
 
Why can't someone there tell me what caused the problem and tell me it is 100% fixed. When I asked the CS guy today, again he said to me "all I can tell you is we replaced the cylinder and frame. I have no notes in the file as to what the original problem was". That does not work for me.

They don't do failure analysis, get over it. Something was wrong and they are doing the right thing and making you whole.

If you wanted to find out why something happened you should have kept it and sent it to Quest Engineering and Failure Analysis Inc. along with a big fat check. Sixteen months later you would get a 237 page glossy report written by guys with credentials after their name saying your gun broke.

B
 
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