What's The REAL Issue (Umarex Warranty)

[Sfttailrdr46]

Unfortunately even though the warranty should rest with Umarex  the retailer (POP) also has responsibility as a brick and mortar store it is in their best interest to have satisfied customers. Since most brick and motor businesses survive on repeat business if the return is in under 30 days they should have offered a replacement or refund no questions asked unless they have clearly indicated an all sales are final policy. As far as manufactures warranty is concerned unless free shipping both ways with lower end AG's the cost and time involved in ground based shipping can quickly equal the purchase price.

My take is chalk it up to experience and move on

[scrane]

I'm really glad others are able to help, because personally I can't make heads nor tails of this whole situation.

[MarkBrumbaugh]

I'm not sure I would buy another umarex anyway.   Both that I've had were terrible guns, one a 200+ dollar replica HK P30 pistol.

[MarkBrumbaugh]

I'm not sure I would buy another umarex anyway.   With the sole exception of my LGV.   Otherwise  both that I've had were terrible guns, one a 200+ dollar replica HK P30 pistol.

[Oneshotwillie]

I'm really glad others are able to help, because personally I can't make heads nor tails of this whole situation.

I have been thinking the same thing as I read through this!

[Bryan Heimann]

And that's why I deal only with reputable vendors to buy new stuff.  And I never settle for warranty repairs on an air rifle- especially for seals and springs because they are dirt cheap and easily replaced.  Better to do it yourself right than to spend a lot more shipping it back where some sweaty kid is gonna booger up your stock screws, or worse.  And every time I get a new rifle, I wring it out well over the first weekend to ensure that it's not defective.  I normally lube tune them shortly after the return period.  The only time I have called on the factory warranty is once I received a rifle that shot really well but came with a defective scope.  They just sent me a new scope, told me to keep the old one no questions asked.  That was a Stoeger branded rifle.

[Methuselah]

I guess I missed that.  How did the "bargain outlet" get the product in the first place? 

Umarex called the store I bought it from.  They were told it is either freight-damaged or a clearance sale item.  You can rule out freight damaged (they have).  Any more than that your guess is as good as anyone elses.

As to the ongoing debate, all I can attest to is the condition.  I have better closeup vision without magnification than most people do looking through a magnifying glass ... I can say there were tells indicating it was new.  One of them was the grease on the pin that engages the lockup pin under the barrel.  It was "dabbed" and had not yet "caught" or spread.  There was zero dust/fingerprints and if they were wiped you know how the grease looks in areas like the barrel pivot when you try to wipe up the excess?

Forgetting all that, it is my understanding they honk like a goose if the piston seal is dry and it tends to go on for the first 50 to 70 rounds.  Well - bingo...

The real story is simply that Umarex agreed to take care of me on it, that is, until they got their hands on it.  Not the first time they did that either, just read through the (12) BBB complaints.

I'll post a link to the complaint when the BBB makes it public, but until then just be aware as the complaint is being answered that Umarex has re-written the facts several times now.  That's a good thing, because it exposes more of the truth each time they do it!

[steveoh]

You'd think that in this day and age of folks getting noisy on the internet about a company's poor customer service, that Umarex and their ilk would get off their high-horse and just take care of you. Is it worth a long drawn out public thread that points out how boneheaded they are, before they come to their good sense and make things right? Or are they just going to continue to along their road to ruin? I suspect the latter.

I tend to be the squeaky wheel when a product fails to live up to any reasonable standard, and I will contact the company. If they do not act in good customer service then I step up my request to a demand, and if I still get no reasonable response then I  bring it up publicly and increase the noise. Then I pass on the word to my friends and family, and pretty soon the company involved loses a good chunk of business. Most certainly they have lost mine.

So, Umarex... dig in your heals, and this community takes notice, and spends their money elsewhere. Or step up to the plate, take care of your customer and perhaps you can keep this from becoming much larger than fixing one air rifle.

steveoh

I guess I missed that.  How did the "bargain outlet" get the product in the first place? 

Umarex called the store I bought it from.  They were told it is either freight-damaged or a clearance sale item.  You can rule out freight damaged (they have).  Any more than that your guess is as good as anyone elses.

As to the ongoing debate, all I can attest to is the condition.  I have better closeup vision without magnification than most people do looking through a magnifying glass ... I can say there were tells indicating it was new.  One of them was the grease on the pin that engages the lockup pin under the barrel.  It was "dabbed" and had not yet "caught" or spread.  There was zero dust/fingerprints and if they were wiped you know how the grease looks in areas like the barrel pivot when you try to wipe up the excess?

Forgetting all that, it is my understanding they honk like a goose if the piston seal is dry and it tends to go on for the first 50 to 70 rounds.  Well - bingo...

The real story is simply that Umarex agreed to take care of me on it, that is, until they got their hands on it.  Not the first time they did that either, just read through the (12) BBB complaints.

I'll post a link to the complaint when the BBB makes it public, but until then just be aware as the complaint is being answered that Umarex has re-written the facts several times now.  That's a good thing, because it exposes more of the truth each time they do it!

[Can-o-cide]

I'm really glad others are able to help, because personally I can't make heads nor tails of this whole situation.

+1

[Geoff]

Steve,   I don't think that the majority of GTA members would pass on all Umarex guns because of 1 complaint or even a couple of them.   I know it would take more than 1 complaint to stop me from buying from a company.  I would bet you can find 1 person upset with any of the airgun makers out there over a customer service issue.

I am not about to grab a pitchfork and tar over this particular issue.

I do hope the OP gets things corrected to his satisfaction and can get out to shoot.

[Bryan Heimann]

If I had the spare cash laying around, you better believe I'd have a RWS 34 on the way.  It is what it is!  But I'd be dealing with pyramyd, and they would send me an RMA and ship the old gun back and ship me a new one at no additional cost.  Been there, done that, with another gun.  If you got the deal of a lifetime on a basically new Diana and they dry fired it right in front if you, you should have either tore it down as soon as you got home or asked for a different rifle inside the store. If it's the only one they had, roll the dice at your own risk.  Just like buying a used gun no telling what is going on with that deal...

[packard8]

If I had the spare cash laying around, you better believe I'd have a RWS 34 on the way.  It is what it is!  But I'd be dealing with pyramyd, and they would send me an RMA and ship the old gun back and ship me a new one at no additional cost.  Been there, done that, with another gun.  If you got the deal of a lifetime on a basically new Diana and they dry fired it right in front if you, you should have either tore it down as soon as you got home or asked for a different rifle inside the store. If it's the only one they had, roll the dice at your own risk.  Just like buying a used gun no telling what is going on with that deal...

^^^+1^^^

I was in the photo/optical business for 30+ years both as a retail store owner and a manufacturer's representative on the wholesale side. There are definite advantages to buying from an authorized/franchised retailer. For products manufactured outside the USA, the factory usually relies on an importer to distribute and service it's products in the United States. I believe this to be the relationship between Dianawerk Germany and Umarex USA.  When a distributor/importer receives an item for warranty service they generally try to determine if the item was imported by them (not gray market) and sold through their network of authorized dealers, as they are the only retailers who can legitimately sell product as new if the distributor has exclusive import rights on that product in the USA. They are not eager to pay their service people to work on items brought into the country illegitimately or sold by non authorized retail outlets. They usually require the Sales Receipt to determine that it was purchased from an authorized dealer, and the person requesting repair is the original owner. I can see why, you wouldn't expect a Ford dealer to do warranty work on a Chevy. 

The service department also tries to determine if the needed repair is caused by a defect in materials or workmanship or a result of abuse, modification or misuse. Damage caused by impact, dry firing etc is not covered by the warranty. In this case, we don't know the exact history of the gun in question. We do know that it was not sold by an authorized dealer, we do know that it was dry fired and we do know that it suffered an impact sufficient to break the muzzle brake/front sight.

In my experience, the Service Department does have some discretion in approving No Charge repairs on equipment that does not otherwise meet warranty requirements. This accommodation is more likely to be granted to a customer who is up front about the cause of the damage than one who threatens action through Consumer Agencies.

As Grandma said, "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar". 

[Booger]

As Grandma said, "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar".

Doggie poo works well too.

[Methuselah]

Steve,   I don't think that the majority of GTA members would pass on all Umarex guns because of 1 complaint or even a couple of them.   I know it would take more than 1 complaint to stop me from buying from a company.  I would bet you can find 1 person upset with any of the airgun makers out there over a customer service issue.

I am not about to grab a pitchfork and tar over this particular issue.

I do hope the OP gets things corrected to his satisfaction and can get out to shoot.

Geoffrey,

+1

There were 12 complaints, 8 closed out in epic failure fashion, and given statistically speaking only one it ten will go through the trouble of a BBB complaint when unsatisfied with a company, that probably equates to over 120 complaints in three years (40 a year).  Given the nature of the complaints - overall I still agree with you - this ISN'T a boycott situation, not even close.

But I do hope others can learn from my mistakes.

[Bryan Heimann]

The fact of the matter is, I can get a German breakbarrel, with a half decent scope and drooper, shooting 14-15 fpe right out of the box, and accurate enough to win in field target for about $300.  And that gun is imported by Umarex.  The limited lifetime warranty of the gun doesn't even matter to me.  If it's gonna have lockup issues I will figure it out before the end of the return period.  Anything else that goes wrong, I'm gonna fix on my own because shipping the gun might get damaged and I can get a Maccarri spring, seal, moly and tar shipped to my door for what it costs to ship my gun.  Besides that, you nver know who if they might screw your gun up more.  I doubt they have top guys doing their warranty work.  So what makes sense to you, obviously doesn't make sense to me!

[Spark Master]

A note on that company,

I googled them and found an employee rating site, here is 1 post, not from your store, but it says a lot. And as far as being bought from an authorised dealer, well if the importer takes back returns then sells them as repos they still should cover them. Since THEY the distributor is selling them. All uns going to a single distributor, should have identifiers in the seriel number, that is easily done and is done in other manufacturers lines. That is why a store can say WILL NOT BE UNDERSOLD ON ANY MODEL WE SELL, because the makers (think washers and dryers) will make the tags that go to Sear different then the ones that go to Walmart. It even happens with food. Ground turky from Stop'n'Shop has a differernt UPC code then the identical product from say King Kullen markets. I know because I mixed up to identicle packages returned the wrong turkey at one store. The employee has a reciept and a sealed good date , but the upc's don't match.....I did get the cash back, and figured it out when I got home and found the other receipt and two different upc packages.

herewith the posting, remember same store different state of the union.

current employee (Current Employee), Hendersonville, tn – May 16, 2014

Pros: can't think of any

Cons: name it

Horrible!! Upper management only cares about their perks. Most all positions are part time and not enough hours to survive on!! They say sales are down so they have to cut everyone's hours, then they keep hiring people and giving them 8-9 hours a week! Rules only apply to certain employees. Miserable, most items are defective or used. Pay for anyone other than upper management (who do nothing) not worthy!!! If you apply and get hired, prepare to work like a grunt for minimum wage and very few hours a week.