I’ll share my experience with a company I had a negative experience with. I made a comment on a forum member’s (Jwise) thread on lwrifles.com/forum about how his upper wasn’t getting repaired and sent back to him in a timely manner. Since they locked my acct. over there, I haven’t had the opportunity to go around the lockdown just yet. I recall saying his customer experience as “lip service” mainly b/c he was promised something but never materialized.
At any rate, I had issues with my rifle as well. Like any level headed individual, I tried contacting LWRC directly by phone and email. After several tries using both method I got frustrated so I decided to contact one of the head guys who at that time welcomed questions, etc. I’ll just post what I wrote on the other forum after contact was made w/ Darren Mellors…
Fast forward to 04/30/08. After being advised by Darren Mellors, I sent in just the upper back to LWRC. On 05/21/08, I received a message from Jason to return his call. I did but was not able to get a hold of him so a message was left.
On 05/26/08, I sent Jason an email to inquire about the status of my upper since I haven’t heard anything back from Jason. On 06/07/08, an email was sent to Darren Mellors to inquire about the status since Jason never replied. Forgot the actual time frame but within hours, Mr. Mellors responded advising he would look into it.
Still no word on the status of my upper. I called and spoke to Joe on 06/12/08 who advised the first test fire, failed to fire. Joe added work was done to the upper and another test fire would be conducted on 06/13/08. If it passes, it would be sent back to me.
On 06/17/08, I emailed Joe to get an update on the repair/shipping status. Didn’t receive a reply back. I called on 06/24/08 and spoke to Joe. I was informed a bunch of rifles were ready to be shipped out and mine was included in the bunch. I was told I should receive it within 2 -3 days. On 07/03/08, I called again and spoke to Joe since I did not receive my upper. Joe was not sure why mine was not sent out the last time but would be sent out today. 07/11/08, still no upper.
On a side note, the following are messages from Jesse and Darren on the forum in regards to repairs in general:
6/6/08: LWRC Forums Forum Index » LWRC Products
http://www.lwrifles.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2275&highlight=repair
“Call Joe on Monday so you can get issues a RTV/repair tag. Once received we can have it repaired within a day or two.” - Jesse
7/8/08: LWRC Forums Forum Index » LWRC Products
http://www.lwrifles.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2382
“It is not a safety issue, but we don’t know what you have and from when. Quick fix. Repair and warranty issues should be handled quickly now that we got the place together.” - Darren
Long story short, I finally received the upper a while back supposedly repaired. Never fired the rifle after getting it back. The customer service experience or the lack of it left a sour taste in my mouth so I sold it.
With cash in my pocket, I wanted another one to replace what was sold. Changes were being made on the LWRC rifles so I looked into it. I made a post on the other forum asking if I should give this company another try. Bad mistake I should have known better. There are loyal fans but a handful of these guys are no better than a gestapo who will do anything to defend how great of a company LWRC is.
Mistake # 2. I went ahead and ordered another LWRC rifle due to “changes” made. As always, LWRC over promise and under deliver. Order was placed back on 09/23/08 and was advised the delivery date to be 4 - 6 weeks. My ass! I get a call the other day, 12/2/08 from LWRC saying the rifle is ready to ship. Anywho, my advice to anyone looking into a LWRC product is to be cautious about their so called excellent customer service. It very well might be to a selected few but not all.
1st sentence edited to reflect my experience.