Savage customer service.
 

I think Savage makes great rifles for the money and I love my 220f but damn I just had to argue with them for 30 minutes to get a simple estimate for putting a new barrel on my slug gun. Telling me they won't know how much it cost until they get it.

I had to talk to a supervisor and finally threaten to spend my money elsewhere just to get a simple estimate.

Very frustrating, The first person I talked to was prepared to lose my business rather than just give me an estimate.

Well, that's just plain sucky. I've never been too hot on Savage, but they (oftentimes) have a cult-like following. Good luck.

Would I be out of line to think they should put the barrel on for free?(after I pay $200 for the barrel)

Sometimes I think that a few people in customer service that are like that should be a janitor instead of in that position. The only way it can be cured is to go up the ladder all the way to the President of the company if you have to by letter or email so that someone in authority can look into things. To answer your question about putting it on for free I would say if it's just a simple on/off, then yes. If it takes tools or any length of time, then no, not unless it's being replaced because of a defect in the original barrel.

Was the gun under warranty? What happens to the old barrel?

No warranty and the problem was 100% my fault.

The barrel has to be screwed on and head spaced.

Just seems like at $200 for barrel it would be good business to just throw it on for free.

Ive spent thousands of dollars with savage.

It just seems like a good way to lose business to gain a few bucks IMO.......I'll still buy Savage but not as loyally as I would had they really taken care of me.

They said "approximately $36" to put the barrel on,

My real complaint is having to fight with them to get an estimate. I'm not mad about the $36 but they could have made me a much happier customer by putting the barrel on for free.

Maybe if you tell what you went through if you order the barrel they might throw in the installation in free. Ask for the same supervisor you dealt with that final helped you.

Rockport---I know we've had our differences, but you don't just "throw it on for free" when it needs special tools to remove and put on the new barrel, check and adjust the headspace, etc. I'm surprised the charge wouldn't be at least $50 and the company is in business to make a profit. Doing many free repairs like you suggest when it wasn't their fault in the first place would not result in very many happy stockholders. May I ask what you did to screw the original barrel up that caused this situation in the first place?

[QUOTE=rockport;4116108]
Just seems like at $200 for barrel it would be good business to just throw it on for free.

Ive spent thousands of dollars with savage.

It just seems like a good way to lose business to gain a few bucks IMO.......I'll still buy Savage but not as loyally as I would had they really taken care of me.

They said "approximately $36" to put the barrel on. [QUOTE]

You can bet if they installed the barrel for "free," a new barrel would cost $236. ;)

I was shooting at a deer and the first shot just the primer fired and like an idiot I just shucked another one in and shot again. Well the first slug was still in the barrel.

I didn't even realize what had happened until later. Its just a little swell about halfway up the barrel. It could have been a lot worse, The gun actually still shoots just fine.

I understand what your saying about profit and $36 is not a lot of money. That is just not the way I would run my business. The real profit comes when I spend thousands of dollars on savage products not from a $36 install.

I won't quit buying savage because of the $36 but it would have gone a long way towards really securing my business in the future which is where the real profit is.

Like I said I'm not mad about the $36...After all its just $36. I just think its a little nickle and dimeish to do that with a loyal customer. The profit is in the $500 gun and the $200 barrel.