Guns: The Thrill of Warranty Repair

I was shooting my CZ Kadet .22 LR conversion kit last weekend when I noticed my accuracy was going south. Thinking I was just having a bad day, I pressed on until one of the bullets actually hit the side of the target holder(!). "I'm not that bad," I said to myself, and as I looked down at the gun I noticed the barrel had shot itself loose from the slide. Crap.

Guns, like all consumer goods, break down from time to time. Unlike most consumer goods, however, most come with fairly extended warranty periods, provided you keep the receipt of the original sale (I always do). Most companies will ask that you call them first so they can provide an RMA (and, in most cases, they'll pay for shipping). Then, you FedEx the sucker back to them and hope for the best.

By far the best customer service in the business is Smith & Wesson's. The turnaround is always fast, and they've been willing to replace entire revolver frames for me (which is essentially like getting a new gun). The worst customer service I've ever had has been from Kel-Tec - it took a more than a month for the work, and the problem wasn't even fixed (to be fair, they are a much smaller company with a rapidly expanding consumer base).

So now, I wait.