I picked up a AA Blem from Bud’s a couple of months ago. I had one minor issue with the rifle from the factory and one user induced issue (my doing).
First issue. Ejection door pops open. When I received the rifle I noticed the ejection door would pop open. I emailed Cody at Adams Arms and instantly received a response. An RMA and UPS label was issued to me instantly. I sent the rifle out the same day and I had it back in two days. I live in Florida about 3 hours from AA, so UPS Ground is next day service (which helps). Over the 3 days period the rifle was gone, Cody continually updated me. I was notified when the rifle was received. I was notified when the rifle was fixed. I was notified when the rifle was shipping back and sent a tracking number.
Second issue. I had my rifle and a Samson Evo handguard I purchased Cerakoted. No matter what we did we could not remove the pins from the Gas Block to install the handguard. It is well-known the AA pins are notoriously hard to remove because they are not tapered. I contacted Cody. Though AA was under zero obligation to help out, this past Friday Cody offered to send me a UPS label and RMA to remove the Gas Block, install the Cerakoted handguard, and reassemble the upper. All at no expense to me. This Monday AM I received an email from Cody with an RMA and UPS label. I packed my upper and dropped it off at UPS Monday afternoon. Yesterday (tuesday), not only did Cody notify me he received my upper, he also notified me it was fixed and on it’s way back to me. They had it for a total of 6 hours before shipping it back to me. Today is Wednesday, less than 48 hours from when I dropped it off at UPS, and I just received the upper! Cody also emailed me a video of how they removed the Gas Block!
Guys, it simply does not get any better than this. It is not humanly possible to do better. Huge props to AA!
I have dealt with similar sized companies like Daniel Defense, BCM and so on. I cannot even get a response to my emails or phone messages. It can take weeks to get any kind of service at all. AA deserves to be recognized for their above and beyond customer service. Not to mention their excellent products. Give it up for AA!
I would also like to thank Nick at Blackhawk Custom for doing an amazing Cerakote job. He also manufacturers some pretty amazing 1911 custom pistols. Reach out if you need him: http://www.blackhawkcustom.com/ nick@blackhawkcustom.com
Bud’s has them on sale, supposedly “Blems” for $599. You can;t beat that, so I wanted to try one out. I have 500 rounds suppressed and unsuppressed through it. Zero malfunctions. The adjustable GB is perfectly calibrated. Very little Gas Face. Super accurate as well. I have shot several MOA groups with WalMart Federal Bulk. I have owned many ARs over the years from several manufacturers and this rifle is almost top-tier.
I currently own a couple of LWRCs, a complete AAC 300BLK 9" MPW, Daniel Defense, and BCM. I also have a 22lr AR that I built. The LWRCs have the best fit and finish. None of the ARs I currently own have ever malfunctioned in anyway. The AA runs as well as my LWRCs. While the AA fit and finish is excellent, it is just a slight notch down from my LWRCs. But the LWRCs are above and beyond. The AAC MPW actually has the best finish of the lot. It is very rich and deep. Beautiful finish.
I currently own a couple of LWRCs, a complete AAC 300BLK 9" MPW
You’re a glutton for punishment.
The LWRCs have the best fit and finish.
Fit and Finish is the least critical factor in an AR type rifle. And LWRCi has some of the worst history of any manufacturer there is. Olympic Arms probably is the only company that make worse guns.
The AAC MPW actually has the best finish of the lot. It is very rich and deep. Beautiful finish.
I’ve toured their facilities and T&E’d some of their stuff. They run a tight clean shop, and they make WAY more stuff than you would expect…they are supplying a lot of other people with parts too.
Good people from what I’ve seen, I wouldn’t hesitate to use their products.
Simply here to report an excellent customer service experience. I think when one receives above and beyond service it should be applauded and shared.
No interest in debating all the things you are bringing up. Not the point of this post. Don’t see the need for all the antagonism on your part. But that seems to be your MO. Have a nice day.
Did you read my post? I don’t see how it would be humanly possible to do better than that. I guess if a company did what AA did for me and then sent me a free new rifle, maybe that would be better. But in terms of resolving a problem (which they weren’t even responsible for), don’t see how it could get better than that. I have owned hundreds of firearms over the last 25 years and have dealt with dozens of firearms manufacturer customer service departments, none even approaches what I have experienced with AA. So I will stand by my statement of none better.
And if anyone has had better service than what I have stated above, I would love to hear about it so I can buy a firearm from them. Customer Service is one of the first things I research when I purchase from a manufacturer i have never dealt with before. I had read good things about AAs customer service, but had no idea it was this good.
Exactly - the real indicator for how well a company can do going forward is how well then can make stuff right, and how much of the problems encountered can they solve going forward with revisions to the product.
FWIW, I was told on my tour that the % of stuff that gets returned to them is incredibly small, and that about half of that turned out to be user error…I suppose they could’ve been exaggerating for my benefit, but that is what I was told.
The 3 experiences I have had with AA cust service have been great. RMR label sent the same day. In the height of the scare, Midway had some of there uppers in stock at “normal” price. I put together 3 rifles. One for my Father, Brother In-law, and myself one of there 11.5 uppers. With the issues that came about with those, AA replaced parts and had them back within a week. Not sure if it was a bad run, but ultimately, they took care of me/us, and there turn around time was great. So I would have to agree that there CS was top notch. Ill leave it at that.
Weren’t those the people behind Vulcan/Hesse back in the day ? Before bad rep forced them to change names again ? Their AK parts are the stuff of legend in the AK BIY circles.
on topic -
Glad to hear AA took care of you OP. Good CS seems to be harder and harder to come by.
While I’m not into piston ARs, I do like the color. I had a 74 Dodge Monaco as a young man that was that color, must be why I like it so much. That color brings back fond memories of it’s generous back seat. Have you noticed any problems with carrier tilt?
Carrier tilt is a non-issue in any decently made piston AR. I have not read about an issue with carrier tilt in LWRCs or AAs in the last two to three years. I have 3 piston rifles (1 AA and 2 LWRC) with several thousand rounds through them combined. Not only have I not experienced carrier tilt, I have not had a single malfunction of any sort through any of them.
From the AA website
Q. What is carrier tilt and should I be concerned?
A. Carrier tilt is a symptom of a problem not the actual problem. The actual problem is sloppy or loose tolerances in the receiver. Our one-piece carrier combined with our bolt spring eliminates carrier tilt in even the sloppiest of receivers. For those who have normal mil/industry spec AR’s, the design of our system does not have an issue with carrier tilt. The fact is piston systems on the market vary from manufacturer to manufacturer we believe that ours has several design features that benefit over the competition in the market.
