Brice's Bent Barrel

[tucker301]

Excellent points, mudhen.

I guess it's from the same part of psyches that allow us to watch the evening news every day, often while eating dinner, and not break down completely.

It's somebody I don't know, so WTF do I care?

 

Brice has agreed to allow me to post his PM from yesterday. The Benelli CS rep's. name has been X'd out to protect her from being thought of as the only one there who can't get things done.

__________________________

From Brice:

i have some hopefully good news.

XX from ben cust serv called me this afternoon wanting to get my gun back along with my 28" barrel. said if a can see that the choke tube is off center why her guys cant figure it out. said when i sent the lower reciever to her it didnt make it to her attention or to her head serv guy. now she will have ups pick it up from me with no cost to me and when she gets it she will take it to her head serv guy and call me @ that time to talk over it with me. she also said the both times that i sent the gun to them i was to get back test targets that was shot. neither time has that happened.

she apologized several times for this happening and said she will make it right for me.

after i talk to her and her serv guy i let you know.

brice

__________________________

Brice,

Thanks for letting me share this with the board.

We all know exactly where things stand now, and we're eagerly awaiting the results.

Please post back when you hear from them.

tucker

[treelogger]

OK, even though I'm in California, I wear completely normal and boring underwear. Hopefully not in a bunch. This much for the humor.

 

Originally posted by Nelli Girl:

...First, he sent in the barrel only. We put it on one of our receivers and it patterned fine so we sent it back.

...

And this is where things went wrong. A customer says that his hardware is defective, the gunsmith failed to confirm it. Sending it back as "within specs" was the wrong thing to do. The correct thing to do would have been to immediately contact the customer, and ask for more details. In such a situation, the fault does NOT lie with the customer (who is always right), but with the gunsmith, who failed to understand what was wrong (even if by his rules nothing is wrong, but that doesn't matter). Or simply swallow your pride, throw the customers barrel in the trash, and send him a new one, and send back a note saying "we couldn't figure out what is wrong with your barrel, but just in case, we replaced it anyhow".

 

This may be hard for some of you to swallow but more times than not (try 9 out of 10) when we have an issue like this, where the gun has been looked at several times by our professional gunsmiths and the customer insists that the gun is not working correctly it turns out to be user error.

Wrong. If the user is not getting satisfaction out of the product, it is your responsability to understand why the customer is unhappy, and either make the customer happy, or give him an out (for example, offer to take the gun back and refund the money). Sending a part back as "within specs" is always the wrong answer.

 

This is why people buy Leupold scopes - because of the customer service (and because the scopes are really good too). And it seems that people are happy to pay a considerable amount extra for this kind of service. The problem here is that Benelli makes extremely fine and well-engineered product, but fails in the customer service department. So unlike scopes, it is difficult to have both the finest shotgun possible, and the service that should go along with it. At least, Benelli is not alone in this regard; H&K for example is at least as bad, if not much worse.

 

A few months ago I was talking to an extremely experienced shotgunner (the kind of person who has been going through 50K shells a year for 30 years), asking him in a nutshell what shotgun to buy for the trap & skeet league we have in the office. He told me to stay away at all cost from Benelli and Beretta, because of the problem with service: If the gun breaks during the league, you are out of luck for months, and in California you can't even buy a replacement gun immediately (because of the 10 day waiting period). He suggested either Browning or Remington, because they are both quality firearms, and they can be repaired within 2 or 3 days, and parts are available quickly (and don't have to come on the boat from Italy). He also said that if I insist on an italian B-gun, to at least stock the most important spare parts (in particular firing pins) myself, so a competent gunsmith can do repairs quickly.

 

I am sorry to be so harsh, but that's what I've heard, and from a customer-service point of view, that's the way I see the world.

 

Having been so harsh, let me add a little anecdote about clothing in a bunch. I work for an extremely large and quite formal computer corporation, which has a reputation for being picky about clothing. Today, this has stopped (I wear a T-shirt, jeans that show that I've been helping our neighbor fix his tractor, and sandals). But about 45 years ago, the older cousin of an old colleague of mine was sent home by his manager, and nearly fired. The offense he commited: he had forgotten to put on his sock garters, and his socks were slipping. What do we learn from it? Even in California, it is important to not get your clothing in a bunch!

[sdkidaho]

He's being helped. NO ONE here said that Benelli shouldn't help him. No one. Everyone agreed that he should be helped and taken care of better than he had been, by Benelli.

 

He left word with Tucker saying what's happening. A Benelli rep even came in the thread and said they are talking to him.

 

What more needs to be said? I'm all for a good argument, but you can't get blood from a turnip.

[Butter Bean]

Thanks for being the voice of reason. It sounds to me like Benelli CS is doing quite a bit to help this guy. I think Nelli Girl's point about the 9 out of 10 meant that maybe there was nothing wrong with the barrel and why would Benelli replace a barrel with nothing wrong with it? If the user is not using the product correctly then a new barrel won't fix anything.

 

I'm all for the "customer is always right" but I imagine Benelli has to draw the line somewhere. Otherwise people would be sending back their guns for all kinds of lame reasons.

 

I own a Montefeltro that I've had for about 15 years. My brother and I went out and both bought one after seeing John Satterwhite do a show back when he was the exhibition shooter for Benelli.

 

I also have a SBE, a SBE II, a Legacy 20 ga(old style), a M1014 Limited Edition, SuperSport and an R1. They all have had a decent amount of action, especially the Monte.

 

Not one of these guns have ever failed on me. Not one. Therefore I have never experienced Benelli's CS.

 

I also own several Winchesters, Remingtons, and Brownings. Some I can depend on, some I can't. I've had both good and bad experiences with their CS. I mostly keep them around for sentimental reasons.

 

My point is that Browing and Remington may be "quality" firearms but I prefer Benelli's quality, good CS or bad CS.

 

I spend too much money hunting just to have a gun fail in the field.

 

Butter Bean

 

[ 08-04-2005, 09:16 PM: Message edited by: Butter Bean ]

[turkey]

I've watched this thread develop but stayed on the sideline. As a neutral bystander I have to say that I would bet the farm (or at least my unbunched underwear) that the attention Bryce is now getting is because of this thread. Nice job people. Good luck Bryce and keep us posted. The thread did result in one unexpected side affect....Never before have I heard a bunch of hunters discuss their underwear.

[turkey]

 

 

[ 08-04-2005, 10:06 PM: Message edited by: turkey ]

[tucker301]

Originally posted by turkey:

t....Never before have I heard a bunch of hunters discuss their underwear.

Second time for me, but we were freezing in a duck boat last time

[brice hensley]

User error?

Head gunsmith?

I for one am not afraid to jump out of the fire when the pan gets hot.

#1-the serv paper work sent with my sbe is not from your head gunsmith.

#2-why can i shoot the 28" and not the 24" if it is user error.

#3-the first time i sent the 24" back it was without my kicks. i needed it on my 28" for turkey season.

why do i have to send my complete gun when i know it what is wrong with the 24".

Nelli Girl, i have thrown the gauntlet, if it comes back with out being repaired, i will send my complete gun to either company of your choice and i will incure all expenses to have Carlsons or Nitro test my sbe with both barrels and my kicks choke tube. only if afterwards if it is proven by them benelli can pay for my expenses and replace my barrel. yes i feel this strong about this.

I also understand that your within spec may be 40" circle @ 21 yards and if it hits within it it may be okay for you or wing shooting or for law enforcement.

But i am a turkey hunter and your within spec doesnt jive shooting @ my 25 yards and its even worse @ 40 yards.

I tell you what, i can drive out there with you and we all can shoot it so you know its not me flinching!

I know i have posted a lot on here that prob makes your pretty little head spin but i can back myself up. I have family, and the man that sold me the gun then sold me the xtra 24" can see what is wrong with it.

you have to face the facts, the choke threads are not centered with the barrel. now that benelli is going to get my gun with both barrels i hope they test for point of impact by not just shooting 1 round through each barrel. to get a true POI you must fire at least 3 rounds to establish pattern characteristics. trust me i have done this.

guess this enough for know.

well chat later

 

brice [QUOT]Originally posted by Nelli Girl:

OK gentlemen, don't get you panties in a bunch. I realize your rants make for a good thread and sometime fact gets in the way of a good ***** session but here's the scoop.

 

I talked to our head gunsmith and here is what has been goin on with Mr. Hensley's gun.

 

First, he sent in the barrel only. We put it on one of our receivers and it patterned fine so we sent it back.

 

Then he sent the barrel back (again without his receiver). We phoned him and asked him to send the receiver as well. He did and we tested his whole gun. Once, again it patterned fine.

 

We are still working on this issue with Mr. Hensley and we will make it right just like we always do. (Just so you know, we would take care of Mr. Hensley gun regardless of your poll)

 

This may be hard for some of you to swallow but more times than not (try 9 out of 10) when we have an issue like this, where the gun has been looked at several times by our professional gunsmiths and the customer insists that the gun is not working correctly it turns out to be user error.

 

Nelli Girl

 

PS - sdkidaho I like your Mr. Whipple reference

[Nutt]

Originally posted by treelogger:

Having been so harsh, let me add a little anecdote about clothing in a bunch. I work for an extremely large and quite formal computer corporation, which has a reputation for being picky about clothing.

Interesting little anecdote. I believe that I work for the same "quite formal computer corporation" as you do.

 

So what has happened with this barrel issue in the last few weeks?

 

Resume "lurker mode"

 

[ 08-16-2005, 02:15 PM: Message edited by: Nutt ]

[tucker301]

I believe Brice, having taken all of the accusations he could stand, took a stiff toddy and proceeded to lambaste his accusers.

Hopefully, he has since shipped the weapon, the choke tubes, the targets, and maybe even one of those cousins to Benelli CS. And HOPEFULLY, they are resolving the problem, even if it means sending Brice a new cousin AND a new gun!

[sdkidaho]

Wait! No one told me we could exchange family members!!