My experience working with Taurus - Warning to Others
Hi all, I'm new to posting to the board but have found a lot of your postings very informative and helpful. I am not sure if this is the right spot for this post, so sorry if not, but I felt it was important to share my experience as a warning for others.
I am a first time gun owner and have a Taurus Judge 6 ½” duo-tone revolver that I had to send back to Taurus for warranty work. One of the reasons I had selected a Taurus was due to the lifetime warranty and seeing many favorable reviews about their customer service on message boards. My experience was the exact opposite of what I had read and I want to share my story so that others can be informed. I for one, will never buy a Taurus again and will advise all my friends against it as well.
After only going out to shoot a handfull of times, I had trouble getting the cylindar back into the frame. I did some cleaning and still could not get it to close, so did a full disassebly for cleaning and managed to lose the sear spring and pin in the process.
I shipped my gun to Taurus, which they received on April 19, 2011. Approximately two weeks later, I received a letter from Taurus confirming the receipt of my gun and that it should be repaired and returned in two to three weeks form the time they received it. After three weeks, I called to check on the status as I was going to be out of town and did not want someone to attempt to deliver it while I was out.
Upon calling, I was informed that no work had been started on my gun. The reason for their delay was that I had requested Taurus to ship to my friend’s home because he works at home and would be available to sign for the delivery and I am unable to have a gun delivered to my workplace due to company policy. Again, Taurus had my gun for three weeks, told me I would get it back, but then did no work and did not make any attempt to contact me about it.
I was informed by the CSR at Taurus that I would need to fax a letter explaining where I needed the gun shipped and they would then be able to start. I asked why I was not contacted and was told by the CSR that it was not their responsibility. I typed up a letter and faxed it the next day.
After a week, I decided to call in to confirm they got the fax and there weren’t any other issues. I am glad I called. I was told nothing had been started because I did not include the gun’s serial number on the fax. I was not instructed to include it, but did have the service order number and my contact information. I was told to resend the fax and include the serial number.
I sent the fax the next day and then called, but was informed the fax had not yet been input into their computer system and to call back the next day. I called the next day and was informed that they received the fax, but they also now required a copy of my driver’s license. I had not been asked for this before at any point. I recognized the CSR as the same woman (Lina) I spoke with the previous day and told her that I was not informed of this requirement and she insisted I was. I told her I was certain I had not been informed, and she insisted that she did tell me and proceeded to be condescending to me. I then asked to speak with a manager and was informed that he was “unavailable”, but I could leave a message for him. I left a message for the manager (Ryan) explaining the situation and asked to be called back.
The next day, I resent a copy of my request letter and included a copy of my driver’s license. I called the following day and was informed that he copy was not clear enough and to resend, which I did and after following up again, was told that it was still not legible. I asked if I could email a copy as a PDF, so I could know the picture would come through clearly and was told that they did not consider it a secure form of communication, but I could send a copy via USPS.
The next business day, I sent a copy of my license along with the service order number and gun’s serial number on the paperwork. They did not inform me to include this information, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt. Upon their receipt of the license copy, they finally called me to confirm receipt, but to also say that I should have also included the shipping request information and that they still could not start any work! I was less than impressed and again asked to speak to a manager and was sent to the same voicemail (for Ryan) where I left a message saying this was the second time I have requested to be called and left my contact info and service order number.
I mailed the copy of my license a second time along with the shipping request, serial number and service order number. On my note I wrote and highlighted my request to be contacted if there were any issues and that I was still waiting on a return call from the customer service manager.
Approximately two weeks later, on June 13, I got a call from FedEx. They said they were trying to deliver a package to an old address and needed the current address. The old address was on my license (Colorado doesn’t issue new licenses when you move), so I immediately realized that the package must be my gun from Taurus. When I asked FedEx to deliver to my friend’s (as I originally requested of Taurus), I was informed that could not be done and I would have to come to a FedEx facility to pick up the package.
Today, June 15, I will finally get my gun. Almost exactly three months after Taurus had originally received it. This was the worst customer service experience in my life. Taurus failed to contact me about the issues after they sent me a letter saying they had it and would get it back to me in three weeks. Taurus customer service representatives failed to provide the correct information for me to solve the problem and their customer service manager repeatedly to follow up with me when I requested it. Once all issues were resolved, they shipped it to an address other than the one I requested, further delaying how long it would take for me to get my gun. God only knows if it’s actually fixed or not.
