Taurus Warranty stinks

[Guest m&pc9]

UPDATE

He got his gun back on monday the 23rd. He is wanting to shoot it this weekend so I will let you guys know if it is good to go. Thats not to bad almost 4 months.

[Guest RISC777]

...almost 4 months.

D*** it.

Had Academy send mine in for me.

They said the last was a two week turn around.

hmmm...

[bulm540]

No wonder they have a bull for a symbol ...Its a lot of bull. LOL

Edited March 28, 2009 by bulm540

[lowbud]

Picked up a new Tracker 44 on March 20th. Shot it the first time and the barrel cracked and bulged at the porting/muzzle. They sent a fedex box and logged it in on the 25th of March.

As of today they are working on items recieved on March 21st. So I might see it by the end of May.. If I'm lucky.

crappy pic below.. I know.. my phone was the ony cam I had at the time... but you get the idea..

[musicman]

Dang!!!! That's scary! What kind of .44 load were you shooting?

That looks like something pretty serious... maybe skipping the heat treating or something?

Did the round make it to the target?

[lowbud]

I was shooting the only ammo I could find at the time. Federal Hydra-Shok. It did make the target. I didn't notice anywhere the bullet touched comming out so it appears to have been from the pressure.

I dunno.. never seen one do this before.

[musicman]

Hm. I'll be very interested to see what they say caused the problem. Best of luck to you!

[dralarms]

Beefcake, You are promoting a felony. I would advise not following your suggestion since if caught you would loose all gun rights forever. The law states you HAVE to tell the shipper its a firearm. period.

Edited May 9, 2009 by Shima

[Guest RISC777]

Originally Posted by m&pc9

...almost 4 months.

D*** it.

Had Academy send mine in for me.

They said the last was a two week turn around.

hmmm...

Back today, 8 weeks.

Slide and frame re-worked and re-blued.

[Guest m&pc9]

Another update he got his gun back on 3-27-09. He took it shooting around the middle of May, well one of the screws fell out of the plate above the trigger so the cylinder would come off when you were loading it. He called Taurus and bought some screws, he got the screws they were not the right ones. still waiting to this date on the right screws.

Last weekend he came down to shoot again and brought the .357 so he shot the gun about 50 rounds. Then he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn so we looked at the gun and the barrel is twisting. I think it is the light weight aluminum over the hard barrel that is twisting. The front sight is on the right side like a gangster Glock. So my sister called Taurus and had to raise h3ll to get them to send Fed Ex after it.

Sum it up. He got the .357 at Christmas he has shot it 4 times (@ 100-200 rounds total). This is the 3rd time going to the factory and the other time the screw fell out. And it is like pulling teeth to get them to pick up the postage.

I know a lot of people like Taurus and have good luck with them. But when you get a bad one their customer service sucks.

I think he is going to get it fixed and sell it and buy a Smith he likes my 442.

All you Taurus fans put your money up it will be for sale soon.

[DaveTN]

well one of the screws fell out of the plate above the trigger so the cylinder would come off when you were loading it.

That’s the screw that holds the yoke in. Did he remove it for cleaning and not tighten it properly?

so we looked at the gun and the barrel is twisting. I think it is the light weight aluminum over the hard barrel that is twisting. The front sight is on the right side like a gangster Glock.

The barrel is coming unscrewed.

Don’t try to tighten it unless you have the proper tools or you will bend the frame.

I know a lot of people like Taurus and have good luck with them. But when you get a bad one their customer service sucks.

Whether it is pistols or revolvers; there is a reason there is a price difference.

All you Taurus fans put your money up it will be for sale soon.

I’m sure they will all be standing in line to buy it after your glowing review of what it has been through.

It’s a shame that Taurus or the dealer won’t take care of him and someone is going to get stuck with this lemon.

[TomR]

You can tell a lot about a company from the service they provide their customers. My Ruger LCP was recalled. Although I was not happy about the need for the recall, Ruger handled it very well. When I contacted customer service, they were friendly and did everything possible to make the recall go smoothly. Ruger sent a box with packing instructions, contacted UPS to pick up the LCP at my home, and had the gun returned to me in 7 days. They not only fixed the problem associated with the recall, but made all current updates to the gun and included a new magazine to boot. This is the way you develop brand loyalty.

[Guest benchpresspower]

I like Taurus myself but I will agree, their customer service sucks majorly. It took me 2 weeks of calling everyday just to get someone to answer the dang phone so I could ask a simple question about ammo and even then they acted like they didn't want to talk to me. Must be something with people in Miami. lol

[Guest m&pc9]

That’s the screw that holds the yoke in. Did he remove it for cleaning and not tighten it properly?

As far as I know he never took it apart

The barrel is coming unscrewed.

Don’t try to tighten it unless you have the proper tools or you will bend the frame.

Quote:

He is sending it back.

[Guest m&pc9]

It’s a shame that Taurus or the dealer won’t take care of him and someone is going to get stuck with this lemon.

My sister had to buy it from anonline dealer from some place in Texas. They were the only ones that had a hammerless snub nose in a .357. And after all this crap I learned my lesson, I will only buy from a local dealer.

[Guest Jeremey]

It took over 6 months to get a disassembly latch for a friend of mines PT140.

He is currently try to sell it for a different brand.

[Guest dizzielizzie]

Damn, I was wanting a Taurus judge, but now I'll take that off my want list! Sorry to hear all of the problems everyone had with Taurus and their warranty. I would think if a gun manufacturer wanted to stay in business, they would honor their warranty with flying colors & jump through hoops! Especially if there's a problem with the barrel like in lowbus's post!

[whiskey]

Sorry for the tough time your nephew is having. This thread screams two things at me. 1) Taurus needs to improve their customer service. 2) Only buy guns from a quality dealer that will fill in when the manufacturers customer service leaves off.

[Guest Risky Ruger]

I had the same problem with a .38 special. so i traded it straight for a hammerless same gun and it happened again. I did away with Taurus and went to S&W

[Guest MinorKey]

I bought a NIB PT1911 that i should have lubed before trying to fire it. well the 13th round must have gotten stuck in the barrel because after the 14th round fired, the slide stuck. (barrel was bulged) the slide was suck open about a quater inch and there was no budging it! I verified there was no round in the chamber with a pencil before using a flashlight to inspect the barrel. well even though i was not the original owner they said "NO PROBLEM" and i shipped it to them the next day. it got to Miami in 3 days and was shipped to the factory in Brazil. I received it in the mail just over 3 weeks later with a brand new barrel and no further issues. I felt like i had a really good experience and would buy from them again. It is hard though being patient enough to wait for it to get there and back.

YMMV

-MK

[Guest mudduck]

i had a small problem with my pt111,and unfortunatly i had to pay to ship it to them,$24,i got it back to my house in 1.5 weeks after i sent it out,i have had no problems with it since then,i cant complain about taurus or thier customer service,i have 3 taurus' with no problems

[DavidD]

Well, I guess I'll add my Taurus Customer Service Novel to this mix....

I stopped in a small Gun shop on the East Side of Nashville more to window shop than anything. The guy that owns the place had some used S&W model 60's at one time for around $300 and I thought I might get lucky and find one. Turns out, it appears to have been a one time deal. While BS'ing with the owner he showed me a new Taurus PT845 that he'd just received. I had seen these advertised in American Rifleman and liked the looks as well as the 12 round .45 ACP capacity. The guy handed it to me and stated it had the best trigger reset he'd ever felt. Sure enough, I pulled the trigger, racked the slide while holding the trigger, then felt it. The reset was barely 1/16"! Wow, I was impressed. While not a huge fan of Taurus, I have a PT-92 (Berretta 92 clone) that I bought back in 1991. I kept it over my Berretta 92 purely because of the frame mounted safety. The gun has been more than reliable with only one ore two FTF's in what I'd guess to be around 10,000 rounds. Anyway, after seeing what I could buy this new PT 845 for, I figured what the heck. Nothing like an Impulse Buy when it comes to pistols.

I was literally on my way to a sailing regatta at KY lake so there wasn't anyway I was going to get the opportunity to shoot it that weekend so I just brought it along with me to show it off to a buddy. While fondling my new toy while driving down the interstate ( yeah, I know ) I noticed the serial numbers didn't all match up. The Box, Slide and barrel had a serial number of xxx3249x yet the frame had a serial number of xxx3294x. Someone was obviously dyslexic. I called the Gun Shop and the owner said he'd be more than happy to refund my money, exchange it or at least return it for me however I decided I'd see if Taurus's customer service was as bad as I'd heard. Surely on such a cut and dry issue they could take care of it quickly. So I called Customer Service while I was driving to report the Serial Number discrepancy on Friday, May 1st. I Spoke with Michael who was very nice and apologetic. He didn't understand how this made it past quality control and put me on hold to go and speak with a supervisor. Upon returning, he stated that they would have to replace the handgun as it could not be repaired and he scheduled a Fed-Ex pickup for Monday, May 5th between 12:00 and 5:00 PM. Instructed me how to fill out the Way-bill and told me that they would bring a box. He also told we to write a short letter explaining the problem and to use the Serial Number that was on the Box, Slide and Barrel, not the one on the frame. I told him I had heard about the "Black Hole" Reputation Taurus Customer Service Department had gained and he assured me, "this shouldn't take anytime to rectify." Here is a short chronicle/timeline of the events

05/04 Shipped it via Fed-Ex next day air back to Taurus. Tracking shows it received 05/05.

05/11 Called Customer Service to inquire about how long it was going to take and spoke with Axel. He said he would speak with a Supervisor and call me right back. He never did.

05/14 Called back since I never heard back from Axel. Spoke with Rob who said no one had looked at them yet. I must say Rob was the least "customer friendly" person I have spoke with at Taurus yet. Received two (2) identical letters in the mail later that afternoon. Letters were dated 05/07 and said "Processing should take 5-6 weeks from the date of receipt. Also, the letters noted the frame serial number (xxx 3249x).

06/09 Called Customer Service and spoke with Axel again. Said he'd send someone to check on it and would call me back. I reminded him that he never called me back on 05/11 and he promised he would this time. He did in fact call back about an hour later and said the pistol would be replaced. I informed him that Michael had said the same thing on 05/01. I asked that they upgrade me to a stainless steel slide for my troubles and he said he'd put it in the system.

06/22 Called and spoke with Axel. He said the order had been placed however it was showing as backordered. Axel then put me on hold and came back and said that it had NOT been ordered yet. He then told me that Frank is the "expediter" and he'd is out today but Axel said he'd email him and he should be able to get it on order tomorrow.

06/22 I mailed a letter to Bob Morrison, CEO of Taurus International Manufacturing. The letter had the above facts and timeline and closed with the following paragraph:

I'm writing you for several reasons. First, you need to know how bad your customer service department is as well as what many gun enthusiasts are saying about your company. I can attest now for myself that those things are indeed true. As a business owner myself, I can tell you that I would truly be ashamed. I attempted to contact your office on 06/22 however the operator would not put me through to anyone but customer service. I informed her that I had a complaint regarding Customer Service and I'd like to speak to someone, anyone in your office. I even asked her for an email address so I could at least send you or anyone else besides Customer Service an email. She said she was not allowed to give that information out. Secondly, both Michael and Axel should be commended for their due diligence in trying to take care of your customers. It is obvious that they are constantly attempting to make up for some other weak link in your customer service department. Last, I have purchased my last Taurus firearm, unfortunately. Your company has several other models, including it’s 1911 that I’d truly be interested in purchasing however this experience has shown me how you stand behind the products you manufacture and sell. In the last 20 years, I have sent firearms back to Smith & Wesson, Walther (S&W), Ruger and Beretta either for repair, modification and/or custom work however this experience was by far the worst.

06/23 Got a call from Axel who said my pistol was being shipped today and that I should receive it tomorrow. I asked him if it was a Stainless slide and he said no, the did not have any.

06/25 Seven weeks later, I received my pistol. It did not require repair or shipment to Brazil. All Taurus needed to do was simply replace it as their Supervisor originally determined on May 1st.

To this date, I have not received any response from Bob Morrison or anyone else from Taurus regarding my letter.

Edited July 28, 2009 by DavidD

[Guest tnpanscraper]

This is sad to hear, I had almost talked myself into a 24/7

You know that I have a 24/7 in .45 acp. You also know that the trigger pis is coming out. After reading this thread, I think I'll have a local gunsmith do the work and bump the idea of sending it back to Taurus.

Other than the TP problem, I love the gun...

[Guest FiddleDog]

I've always liked Tauri, but they desperately need to have an overhaul in their customer service department. People are far more forgiving on product flaws if they get sympathy and understanding. Taurus has had a long road back to hike, and they will not get the recognition that their products deserve as long as the 3 or 4 guys at customer service keep acting like they'd rather get back to their game of solitaire or internet surfing.

[Guest MERRILL]

I am in the market for a 9mm handgun and after reading the posts about Taurus and their service department they are definitely off my list. Thanks for the advice.