Pre-Sale Customer Warranty Disclosure & Close of Sale Handouts

[Diddle]

Do any of you dealers explain to the buyer about warranties?

I have a form that all purchasers sign that states that we as the dealer offer no warranties on firearms. All warranty repairs and replacements are through the manufacturer not [Dealer Name]. This is explained in detail when the customer chooses a perticular firearm and before the conventional paperwork is done.
Once everyone is agreement, the sale proceeds according to BATFE guidelines. At the close of the sale the customer is given a folder with copies of the paperwork, some general firearms guidelines, links to helpful sites (such as this) as well as any detailed information specific to their purchase'; reviews. pro and con comments, problem resolution hints, kinks etc.

Am I carring this to the extreme on paperwork?

I like for a customer to leave feeling they have received the best and most honest service available and in a helpful but not judgemental way. Am I doing too much or not enough to level the playing ground for both new and seasoned firearms purchasers?


Thanks for any and all input.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[claude clay]

the store i use to trade with the most would either fix it on site or send it to the factory within the 1st 30 days. used guns that could not be made to run proper had a 30 day exchange
for something else. a form of store credit.

in all honesty, id not purchase new brand names from you if you would not stand behind them...even a little

[Diddle]

the store i use to trade with the most would either fix it on site or send it to the factory within the 1st 30 days. used guns that could not be made to run proper had a 30 day exchange
for something else. a form of store credit.

in all honesty, id not purchase new brand names from you if you would not stand behind them...even a little

Claude, I should have included exactally what you mentioned - Should You Have Any Mechanical Issues With Your Firearm, Withing 30 days of purchase, [Dealer Name] Will Gladly Return It To The Manufacturer On Our Dime For You. Once It Is Received Back We Will Call You to Pick It Up.We CAN NOT however replace your firearm. I failed to include this in my original post.

Thanks, Claude

[claude clay]

than we are good to go.....being that you offer service and reasonable prices

i say reasonable cause i expect to pay a bit extra ( floats with the value of the gun but figure $25, up to $50) for the pleasure of taking it home now vs
waiting on a e-buy. and i want to have my local stores succeed. seen too many small hardware stores get eaten by the big 2 who than raise their prices.
sometimes a manufacturer will send a new gun back with the old serial number on it. id not expect a dealer to do that.

good luck to you.

...whats nice is for a regular you occassionally comp the sales tax on ammo or a small purchase.

[mlr1m]

Remember when the Dealers would take care of warranty claims with the factory for you? Be it guns, furniture, appliances etc. The store you bought it from would take care of the paperwork and return the purchase to the maker for you.
These days it seems this service is going away. Too many times I hear of local business's telling their customers that they, the customer, need to return the product to the manufacturer. That the customer is responsible for making calls and writing letters explaining the problem to the maker.

As far as guns go. I make a point when shopping at a walk in store to point out that I expect them to handle any problems with a faulty product. That I will return it to them and they will handle the return for me. That is why I shop with them instead of going online. I point out to them that service is their only advantage over online stores and that if they do not offer that service I have no reason not to look for cheaper prices online.

Michael

[Diddle]

Good post, Michael. I owned an appliance store back in the 80's. Our motto was, We Service What We Sell - No Questions Asked. It worked well for us. We handled warrantie service for anything we sold. Unfortunately wal-Mart came to town, sold appliances way cheaper than we could buy them. People started buying from Wal-Mart and then calling us for service. We said NO - call Wal-Mart - They sold it, it is their responcibility to service it. After 6 months, and two lost appliance dealers, Wal-Mart stopped selling appliances. (In Berea KY anyway.)

Sorry... Off topic

[RayBar]

I'm surprised that you actually get customers that don't know it's the manufacturers responsibility to warrenty their products. If they think like that,I don't think you can give them too much information.

[Diddle]

I'm surprised that you actually get customers that don't know it's the manufacturers responsibility to warrenty their products. If they think like that,I don't think you can give them too much information.

RayBar, 90% of my customers are new to firearms, firearm ownership and CC. It is not uncommon for someone to purchase a postol, shoot it and decide they don't like it. Then expect to trade it in for 100% of what they paid for it on a new firearm. Also the community I am in is very, very anti. Think small town with a liberal leaning college and ultra-liberal disposition among the citizenry. Only in the last 5-6 years has people here seen the need for personal protection and the days of unlocked cars and house doors became a thing of the past.

Regards and happy 4th.. Be well!

Diddle

[Tubby45]

Do any of you dealers explain to the buyer about warranties?

Am I carring this to the extreme on paperwork?

Nope.

Yup. Make the paperwork an option, but not a standard. Gun owners hate paperwork and you're giving them paperwork to take home. If I was your customer, I'd tell you to toss the paperwork in the trash. Just the gun, the case, and the factory accessories that come with it.

Remember when the Dealers would take care of warranty claims with the factory for you? Be it guns, furniture, appliances etc. The store you bought it from would take care of the paperwork and return the purchase to the maker for you.
These days it seems this service is going away. Too many times I hear of local business's telling their customers that they, the customer, need to return the product to the manufacturer. That the customer is responsible for making calls and writing letters explaining the problem to the maker.
Michael

I'm a seller, not a warranty house. If there is a problem with the weapon it's the customer's problem, not mine. I deal in firearms, not in warranties. If they don't know how to ship a firearm back to the manufacturer, they can bring it to me and pay shipping. Quite a few manufacturers will void the warranty if a gunsmith works on the weapon regardless of how easy a fix it is. Ruger is notorious for it. The "We service what we sell" doesn't work in the firearms industry. I'd rather the factory handle it than me void the warranty on someone's firearm because I worked on it.

I'm surprised that you actually get customers that don't know it's the manufacturers responsibility to warrenty their products. If they think like that,I don't think you can give them too much information.

I've never had a customer that wanted me to handle a warranty issue for them. They always take care of it themselves. And no, my policy isn't stated anywhere because I don't have to. My customers know that you go to the manufacturer if there's a warranty issue. The only ones I get come in and ask me to ship it back for them because they aren't sure exactly how to do it themselves. They'll even have the RA number from the manufacturer to put on the box for me. If customers need something returned to the factory for warranty, they just pay shipping charges. No transfer or handling fee. Saves them a lot of money when dealing with handgun shipping.

[Diddle]

The "We service what we sell" doesn't work in the firearms industry.

That is exactally what my problem / concern is. You see, for the last 30+ years I have sold, Appliances, HVAC, Refrigeration and now Industrial Machine Tool Equipment. In this field, the rule of the roost is "We Service What We Sell". After that being ingraned in me for that length of time it is hard to accept the "All Sales Final" position. Understand, this is a totally new [business] venture for me and it has a completely different set of rules and business practices. I just took the position that it is incumbent on me to do everything possible to create a satisfactory transaction for everyone involved. I know I am green at this and I appreciate everyones input. I just want to be fair, honest and provide the customer with pleasurable buying experence.

Thanks for your time commenting, Tubby.

Regards