Sent in rifle for service one year ago - still working on it

[Smoak352]

I am currently on my third Cooper rifle. The first two rifles were flawless and I experienced great customer service anytime I called with questions. I love the company and have bragged about their rifles to friends and family. However, I am getting frustrated with their service and I am no sure how to proceed.

The third Cooper rifle has not been as great as my initial experience. I purchased the rifle in the summer of 2015 for an Elk hunt in the fall. I mounted Zeiss Conquest HD and went to the range. I made two loads and neither shot very well. I called Cooper and they were very nice and suggested I try a few more loads.

The next weekend I made three more loads and I could not get the rifle to shoot better than 3" at 100 yards. Again, I called Cooper, as always they were very accomodating and they told me to send it in for warranty as this is well outside of their accuracy guarantee. Keep in mind this rifle is only a week old.

That was August of 2015, they have had it for a year now! I have called every few months and they always say that they are working on it. Apparently they had a new barrel made which takes time, but its been a year that they have had it and I really want to hunt with it this season.

Im not really sure what to do at this point. I have been very nice whenever I call but I am getting a little frustrated. Is this normal? Any suggestions?

 

[ramrod79]

1 year to re barrel I would be less than nice now there are a lot of smiths turning out full customs in that time or less , but I would be calling and talking with some upper management on this at the price they charge for a rifle it should have been back already.

 

[gusd]

I agree with ramrod79. Being a business owner for the past 15 years I have dealt with a lot of customer service issues. I have found asking customer service for their manager then asking the manager for his boss gets things done.
I would never be that patient anymore what happens as time goes by is unless you took great notes or recorded calls things get forgotten. Giving their customer service more excuses thus drawing the issue out even longer.

 

[WildRose]

I'd call them again and tell them that we're way past anything resembling a reasonable time frame so it's time to either send you back your rifle repaired and ready to go or to replace it.

You pay a premium for a Cooper and there's no excuse for not having your problems resolved by now. I wouldn't put up with this kind of service from anyone.

 

[352mattf]

I have known Smoak for many years and I also own a couple coopers. A mtv m52 270 Win and a Phoenix m22 243 win. We coordinate range trips often and enjoy hunting as well as bench shooting. He has put his situation quite mildly. His 7mm cooper shipped to him brand new with a bolt that would barely close. When a round was inserted into the chamber it absolutely would not close. Cooper refaced the bolt and sent it back to him with a large chunk missing from the crown. He then sent it back in and they returned it with a new crown. These issues were taken care of in a timely fashion but you have to ask yourself how either could take place. Watching him go through his latest problem on his newest Cooper gives me serious doubts as to what's going on up there. The guy purchased his 300 wby and almost 2 years later (build time + 1 year of service work) he had an employee tell him they can't find his rifle. I say all of this never personally experiencing even the slightest dissatisfaction with either of my rifles. Both shoot in the neighborhood of .25 inches at 100 yds and function flawlessly. I'd like to believe this is an isolated incident but when someone purchases 3 rifles and two have major issues its hard to maintain that theory. I did fail to mention that his 1st cooper (25-06 Excalibur) had its extractor fail on our first range trip with it. This in my opinion could happen to any firearm and was fixed immediately by cooper. I have experience with basically every major factory rifle manufacturer and a handful of rifles built for me by gunsmiths. I still maintain that my Cooper rifles are some of the finest rifles I've ever been around. I wear my Cooper badge with pride but eagerly await witnessing Coopers solution to his current problem.

 

[engineer40]

The squeaky wheel gets the grease! It's not in my nature speak harshly to people in customer service positions. But I can't deny that when you are not being taken care of, it helps.

And document everything! All conversations...

I got a Jeep replaced once, and didn't even need to go to court for the lemon law. They gave me my full price back towards another vehicle. It took a year. Finally a regional manager drove over from the other side of the state, took me to lunch, and told me they'd finally own up to their mistake and take care of me. He said it was the only time in 15 years at Jeep he's seen the company give all of the money back to a customer.

I had every encounter with them documented. And the final straw was I typed an email explaining how I was going to register a domain called www.JeepF**kedMeOver.com and vinyl letter the entire Jeep vehicle with that website where I would tell my well documented story.

Sometimes you just need to kick them in the balls to make sure they know you mean business. Companies don't ignore you intentionally. I too am in a role where I need to make sure my customers are happy. I want them all to by happy... but I have let a few down unintentionally. We all just get busy. But when they let me know how much I let them down, boy I bent over backwards to make sure we didn't lose any future business because of their unhappiness.

Hope this helps!

 

[Smoak352]

I called on Monday and asked to speak to the head person there. I was transferred to their line and left a voicemail.

Its Wednesday, and no response. I just called again and left another voicemail. Curious to see how long this will take. I'm getting tired of this and have a trip planned in October. I need to get this thing back so I can mount some glass and start on loads.

Will keep you guys informed.

 

[Dr. Vette]

I called on Monday and asked to speak to the head person there. I was transferred to their line and left a voicemail.

Its Wednesday, and no response. I just called again and left another voicemail. Curious to see how long this will take. I'm getting tired of this and have a trip planned in October. I need to get this thing back so I can mount some glass and start on loads.

Will keep you guys informed.

At this point I sure wouldn't be leaving any voicemails. I'd be calling back until I spoke with someone in charge and with a pulse.

 

[Smoak352]

I called back again and they tried to transfer me to a technician but I insisted on talking to the boss, Director of something.

He was pretty understanding but said some questionable things. He said they tried 3-4 barrels on the gun but could not get it to shoot. Also he said they have had some issues with guns shooting their guarantee in the 300wby caliber.

I said I either need the rifle back now and it shoot your guarantee of 1/2" @ 100 yards or send me something equal to or better than what I have.

He said he would get to the bottom of it and let me know. We will see how long this takes and what they end up doing. This will definitely determine future purchases for me and probably friends and family.

 

[Frank in the Laurels]

There's no call for that !! Shame on them...

 

[lilharcher]

I'd call them again and tell them that we're way past anything resembling a reasonable time frame so it's time to either send you back your rifle repaired and ready to go or to replace it.

You pay a premium for a Cooper and there's no excuse for not having your problems resolved by now. I wouldn't put up with this kind of service from anyone.

Well said!

 

[Frank in the Laurels]

I'm betting they lost it in the shuffle !

 

[Smoak352]

I'm betting they lost it in the shuffle !

A few people have said that as well, which I am beginning to think may be the case.

How can a rifle take longer to fix than it originally took to build? You would think they would be bending over backwards to make this right, but I have yet to see that from them.

 

[rhouser]

I own one Cooper built in 2012 and am very pleased with it. I too am watching your story unfold because companies can change management and/or management philosophy and the customers are left holding a really ugly bag.

I hope this is an oversight that does not reflect on their product. Cooper has had a great run. I hope they continue to do so in the future.

Smoak352, hang in there brother.

rch