How does your favorite manufacturer stack up?

[MilitaryArms]

A recent discussion prompted me to search the Better Business Bureau's website for ratings on some of the top handgun makers/importers in the U.S. Here's what I found, starting with the worst ratings.

Sig Sauer USA:

Honestly, I don't find Sig's poor rating to be surprising given what I've seen coming out of the company the last few years and given the interaction I've had with their customer service dept.

How about Beretta USA?

Ok, this one I found surprising. I've always had a good experience with Beretta products, so much so I've never had to contact their customer service. While I don't think the M9 is the ideal service handgun, I do find it to be a quality built firearm and I own several.

Taurus:

I can't say I'm surprised. At one time my local dealer had a sign up saying if you bought a Taurus handgun and had a problem, you would have to send it to them yourself. They had been burned with so many returns and Taurus at the time refused to pay for shipping on returns, that they were losing money. I think Taurus has changed this policy. I've also seen first hand a number of failures on the range of Taurus firearms when I was a Range Master.

Kel-Tec:

I only owned one, a P3AT, and it was a lemon. A buddy of mine took it off my hands knowing about the problems. He had read all the "fluff and buff" DIY threads on the 'net and was sure he could get it working. He couldn't. But I've also heard people being very happy with their Kel-Tec pistols. I've even read plenty of stories about problems that were quickly taken care of by Kel-Tec.

Now for the good guys in no particular order.

If nothing else, this should give you an idea of what to expect if you purchase a firearm from these companies and find yourself in need of their customer service department. It's something to think about.

 

[kawtech87]

Im honestly surprised that Kimber has such a high grade. I own a Kimber and love the pistol but Ive heard nothing but horror stories about thier CS. Having never dealt with them I have nothing to base it on but hearsay.

Sig being so low really surprises me too. Ive never had any problems from any of my Sigs but again Ive never dealt with thier CS. Disappointing bc they are one of my favorites.

Im glad to see that 2 of my favorite makers are high up there. Ruger and CZ, both make great guns and Ive only dealt with Rugers CS but it was top notch.

 

[Sirshredalot]

I tried for days and days to get though to colts customer service number, and always got some kind of "prompt" or busy signal or anything other than a person on the other end of the line.

So having actually never "dealt" with them, I cant attest to their services...but I can say they need to ANSWER THE FRIGGIN PHONE!

I got GREAT service from the people at Browning.

God bless
-Shred

 

[JohnP82]

Thanks for sharing!

I gotta say Beretta and Sig surprised me.


Glad to see my favorite coming out of GA get an A+ no surprise to me
Also not surprised at Ruger

 

[blamecharles]

Thanks for posting this. I just bought a CZ and its good to see they are what everyone says they are. Also S&W I have dealt with and they deserve the A+ from my experience.

 

[jeremy]

I am quite surprised by Sigs rating...

I have dealt with their CS for years and have found them to always be quick, courteous, knowledgeable, and polite...

 

[04DarkShadowGT]

Im honestly surprised that Kimber has such a high grade. I own a Kimber and love the pistol but Ive heard nothing but horror stories about thier CS. Having never dealt with them I have nothing to base it on but hearsay.

Sig being so low really surprises me too. Ive never had any problems from any of my Sigs but again Ive never dealt with thier CS. Disappointing bc they are one of my favorites.

Im glad to see that 2 of my favorite makers are high up there. Ruger and CZ, both make great guns and Ive only dealt with Rugers CS but it was top notch.

I think the kimber thing is because their reputation comes from some truth and alot of internet bs.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

I tried to look up Ed Brown Products.... Couldn't find anything.

Wonder what it would be?!

 

[BrewerGeorge]

I think BBB is a lot less valuable once you get out of your local area. It also suffers from the same issue as internet forums in that people are much more likely to report a complaint than 500 good transactions.

 

[cedartop]

Sig is no surprise. Ever since since they became Sig USA, not only has their quality suffered, so has their CS. Of course maybe thats just because people need their customer service more now that they are putting out less than stellar quality. I guess the only one that surprised me was Glock. I hear a lot about their supposed bad CS though I have never needed it myself.

 

[MilitaryArms]

I am quite surprised by Sigs rating...

I have dealt with their CS for years and have found them to always be quick, courteous, knowledgeable, and polite...

I've dealt with them twice. Both experiences were bad enough that when I had a problem with my 556R that I wasn't even going to mess with it, I returned the rifle to my dealer who gave me a store credit.

I had a viewer post this recent experience with Sig products and customer service. It was the fear of being treated like this given my past experiences that prompted me to avoid dealing with them and working out something with my dealer.

One has to wonder how their customer service can vary so much from incident to incident. Given their BBB rating, I'm inclined to believe experiences like mine are fairly common, unfortunately.

 

[Easy1]

Nice post and thanks for taking the time to share! Glad to see Ruger among the best! Wasn't surprised, but was for Sig and Berretta.

 

[MilitaryArms]

Sig is no surprise. Ever since since they became Sig USA, not only has their quality suffered, so has their CS. Of course maybe thats just because people need their customer service more now that they are putting out less than stellar quality. I guess the only one that surprised me was Glock. I hear a lot about their supposed bad CS though I have never needed it myself.

Here's a run down of my last few Sig USA purchases and why I will not purchase any more firearms from them until significant changes are made (i.e. Cohen is canned or leaves).

http://militaryarms.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-has-happened-to-sig.html

I've talked to high lever industry people, one name many here would recognize and certainly respect, who work with Sig at an executive level who have confided in me that Sig USA has some serious quality issues. The quality issues can be traced back to Cohen and to things like his sending the manufacturing of small parts to his corporate buddies in Israel for cheap/low quality MIM manufacturing. He did this with Kimber and helped to earn them their reputation for breaking parts (and giving quality MIM a bad name in general). He left Kimber and went to Sig and in a short time Sig started suffering from the same quality issues.

Cohen maximizes profits by lowering the quality of the firearms through reduced manufacturing costs while keeping the high prices of a premium product. Both Kimber and Sig started with sterling reputations only to have them tarnished within a couple of years after his taking over the top executive role.

 

[jeremy]

I've dealt with them twice. Both experiences were bad enough that when I had a problem with my 556R that I wasn't even going to mess with it, I returned the rifle to my dealer who gave me a store credit.

I had a viewer post this recent experience with Sig products and customer service. It was the fear of being treated like this given my past experiences that prompted me to avoid dealing with them and working out something with my dealer.

One has to wonder how their customer service can vary so much from incident to incident. Given their BBB rating, I'm inclined to believe experiences like mine are fairly common, unfortunately.

I am not going to try to argue that their CS is good, or bad. Just that every time I have dealt with them it has been good service.
Maybe, I just called on a good day every time.
Then, again I have not had to talk to their CS since like 2005.

 

[SSGSAD]

S&W A+ YES !!!!!

 

[stewballs]

Wow, never thought of looking them up. Thanks for the info.

 

[MilitaryArms]

I am not going to try to argue that their CS is good, or bad. Just that every time I have dealt with them it has been good service.
Maybe, I just called on a good day every time.
Then, again I have not had to talk to their CS since like 2005.

I didn't think you were arguing one way or the other, only that you were relaying your experiences with their CS - which is valuable input.

 

[jeremy]

I didn't think you were arguing one way or the other, only that you were relaying your experiences with their CS - which is valuable input.

I was also shocked by the Beretta rating as well though...

 

[kawtech87]

Honestly having dealt with the BBB several times I can tell you that you can pretty much take thier ratings and throw them out the window.

Ive worked at shops before with bad ratings but the people who came in the door always said good things.

Normally the people who complain are the very rare ones that just for some reason will not be satisfied until the service is done for free, they are given a refund on parts the tech who did the service is fired, and you give them a full tank of gas. Even if the service was done right to begin with and the problem they are having now had nothing to do with what was just done to thier machine.

Like if I changed the oil and on the ride home they get a flat tire. Its my fault now bc I worked on it.

Then after all that they get online or call the BBB and tell them what kind of low life scum suckers our shop is and how bad we screwed him over.

Then we get a call and the owner chooses not to try to resolve it, BC its not worth it and he isnt a good customer anyway.

But our BBB rating suffers. But all of our loyal customers rave about us and the work we do.

So BBB may as well be called the BSB (Bull S*** Bureau)

 

[Adamz04]

doesnt beretta have some sort of military contract? you would think things like bbb would affect stuff like that.