Highsmith Guns

[LPMan59]

As some of you guys know, I have a SA Loaded that shoots really low because I replaced the original target sights with fixed ones. After months of procrastinating, I finally took INGO's recommendations and made the trip out to Greenfield.

Having never been to the town, I will say it is a pretty quick drive from the northside of Indy. The shop is easy to find, which is good for a guy like me. The shop itself does not have a large inventory, but everything is neat and tidy, which I like. Everyone working there seemed very nice. I was greeted immediately and was helped right away.

Obviously I had to leave my pistol there, so I will withhold my final evaluation until I pick it up. But so far so good and I left feeling satisfied.

 

[LPMan59]

I dropped my pistol off on Saturday January 29. I was told that they were really busy, so it might be one week until the gunsmith had time to look at it. I was told I would receive a phone call in two weeks, worst case scenario.

I called Highsmith Guns at 4:00pm on Tuesday February 15, as I had heard nothing from them. I explained the situation with a gentleman, adding that I am not really in a hurry, just that I like to be kept informed of the status. I was told he was "very busy" and that "there [was] no way" he could find out for me today, but "maybe" I'd get a call on Wednesday. What a shock, I never received a call.

I drove to Highsmith Guns at 10:30am on February 28 to pick up my pistol. I explained the situation to the gentleman I had originally dealt with on Jan. 30- how I received no updates, even when I called to check. The employee retrieved my gun, telling me he believed that new sights had been ordered. After a little digging, it turns out nothing had been to my gun. It hadn't been test fired to see how low it was shooting. In fact, I would bet my life the case hadn't even been opened. I was then told again how busy they were and how my gun "must have been forgotten."

Look, I don't care how talented someone is. And I don't care how busy someone is. If you tell me 2 weeks, then I expect two weeks. Or at least give me a phone call to tell what the issue is. Don't play phone tag and don't make me drive 45 minutes to your shop so I can hear your excuses.
I could have sent this gun to Springfield Armory and had it back by now, which I suppose is what I will have to do.

If you're that busy, hire more help or limit the number of projects you take. Don't tell the customer about you forgot about him. They can rest assured I will not forget about them.

So a big -1 goes out Highsmith Guns.

 

[redneckmedic]

Although there are some good folks there, and they have quite a bit of talent in the smith room, this place is def ran by a gunsmith not someone with a Masters in Business. Customer service is just as if not more important than a perfect product.

 

[Don]

I will -1 them as well I asked about sights for my gun and seen they were about $100. I asked if there was any charge for installation. Now EVERY time I have bought night sights there has been no charge for the install as it takes 5 (five) minutes and isn't all that demanding of brain power. These clowns had balls to tell $20 for the damn install. No thank you. You can keep the sights.

 

[SKSnut]

I had a shotgun worked on there recently. Checked back after 3 weeks and found nothing had been done, after that got a call in 3 days and it was finished. He has an insane backlog(not excusing, if he told the op 2 weeks, he shoulda called back) I had a good experience with them.just my

 

[IndyGunworks]

Ron,

first off i apologize on behalf of the shop, i have no idea why you were quoted 2 weeks, we are backlogged by several months.

second, when you brought the gun in you said it was shooting low. also your gun had a trijicon front sight, and a factory rear sight which was more than likely your problem. however when a customer brings us a pistol and says its shooting low we like to test fire the gun first because more often than not, its the shooter not the gun. not saying it was you, in your case it probably wasnt but more often than not, it is.

once we got it you hit the waiting list to take it to the range next time we went to test fire, but if you remember right it was during the icestorm and we had the access cut off to our range. you called before we were able to test fire it, and talked to someone who didnt know the status of your pistol. i only work a few days a week in the shop and your gun was on my list of things to do when the weather got better. we did not forget about your job, it was merely a lack of communication between me (a part time employee) and a full time employee. if we called everytime there was a status change in a job, then we would never get any work done.

that said, when you left here we were trying to make you a happy customer and you said its no big deal you would take care of it, yet here you are making a big deal out of it.

if you want to bring it back to the shop, i will personally see to your project at my first opportunity, though i will not garentee two weeks. I apologize you had a bad experience but we do good work out of the shop, i am sorry you did not get to see that side of this place.

Before you posted a negative comment about our place, we wish you would have called and talked to the owner. Mark takes great pride in making his customers happy, but the day you called he had taken off for his birthday. he has expressed that he would be more than willing to discuss this occurance with you if you would call the shop during our business hours.
317 462-6292

sincerely
the other gunsmith at highsmith guns.

 

[Praetorianseven]

I don't know what got LP Man upset but I've had nothing but great experiences with Highsmith. That operation is honest and up front. I wouldn't trust a firearm to any other shop in central Indiana. Most work dropped off will take a month but it will be done correctly and they'll stand behind the work.

 

[LPMan59]

I don't know what got LP Man upset but I've had nothing but great experiences with Highsmith. That operation is honest and up front. I wouldn't trust a firearm to any other shop in central Indiana. Most work dropped off will take a month but it will be done correctly and they'll stand behind the work.

really?

 

[redneckmedic]

really?

5 posts in the last 2 years? I'm guessing he got wind of this thread and he is the other of the other gunsmith at Highsmith Guns

 

[WebSnyper]

that said, when you left here we were trying to make you a happy customer and you said its no big deal you would take care of it, yet here you are making a big deal out of it.


Before you posted a negative comment about our place, we wish you would have called and talked to the owner.

I understand your points, but to be fair he posted a good initial post and didn't edit it, etc but rather posted his follow up experience. I don't think that is out of line.

I also understand that there were a number of what you indicate are out of the ordinary things that happened with this particular transaction, and that you deal with may customers and many guns. However each customer only has their experience with your shop to compare to.

I'm not bashing, but I'm glad that he posted his experience and that you replied, as it provides the community here some info.

Seems to me what actually needs to happen is that you or someone else in the shop needs to make sure that the folks taking in guns for work provide reasonable and accurate time estimates to customers.

 

[LPMan59]

just to follow up on this:

I ended up sending the pistol to Springfield Armory's Custom Shop. I shipped the gun on March 14 and it was delivered on March 15. I received a call on Friday, March 25 that the work had been completed. SA shipped my gun March 28 and I took possession on March 29. The invoice including everything done- bore sighting, sight replacement and test firing.

Obviously I paid a fair amount for shipping, but I think it was worth it given the 2 week turn around and Springfield's awesome customer service.

Now I just need to find the time to shoot it.

 

[indyartisan]

Glad Springfield got you taken care of LPMan. Sounds like a miscommunication between the counter and the gunsmith may have occurred. I have had work done by Mr Highsmith on several occasions and found him to be a knowledgeable and talented gunsmith.

 

[308jake]

He may be talented as many folks claim, but my personal opinion, based upon 3 trips to the store, is that his customer service is lacking. In my opinion, they need a business manager to run the shop and interact with customers so the gunsmiths can focus solely on what they do best, which is working on guns.