Crosman Customer Service...a special kind of stupid.

[PestControl]

Hi all,

On the plus side, it all ended with a working CCS carbine.  Finally.

First purchase, a year ago, and it arrived with the barrel poking out of the box.  It was returned, a new gun ordered, special instructions requesting extra packing material around the muzzle.  This was ignored, but it arrived in good condition.  Due to a couple bad health issues, I only revisited the carbine in late June of this year.  It wouldn't hold co2.  I posted a question, got a few answers, best consensus was to send it back under warranty to fix.  (Problem: load powerlet, cock/shoot until poweret pierced.  First powerlet gave me two shots with outgassing, second powerlet outgassed on puncture.)

Sent back for work.  Took two and a half weeks, the customer reps were polite but never knew exactly what was going on.  Tech services had the carbine, then QC, then couldn't verify if QC had it, then was told to call back for tracking number, then they could not find a trace of it at all, finally got tracking, carbine arrived.  (All that took four calls and they finally emailed the track number.)

First issue: They figured I simply wasn't tightening the end cap enough to capture co2.  MY fault entirely.  However, it would have been nice to get a list of things to try before sending it in from the customer rep, to save all the time and aggravation.  Still, my fault.

Second issue: I put foam on either side of the carbine, to keep the barrel from being damaged.  Upon return, they flipped the carbine around so the barrel slammed into the box.  Observe the pics.  WTF?

Written on a piece of paper was the following: "Tip: Dry fire to pierce co2."  Um, as opposed to what exactly?

So currently it is working, and more accurate than I am at the moment.  However, the level of aggravation with never getting an accurate status and then the packing issue, well, I'll have to think long and hard about buying another Crosman.  That level of, um, 'service' doesn't bode well.

[woody67]

Mole hill in my opinion...not so much of a mountain.
2.5 weeks turnaround sounds pretty amazing, considering it takes them over 3 weeks to even build an initial order.
Things get tossed around in the mail, as long as your barrel isnt bent, id say dont worry about it. I lost an entire barrel once...it poked a hole right through the box and slid out during shipping. Crosman sent a replacement right away, btw.

And 'dryfire to pierce' is on the instructions because some guns dont need to be dry fired for the co2 cart to be pierced. The 357/vigilante for example. The co2 cart is pierced once the knob is screwed in enough. First shot will shoot. The 22xx guns need 2 or 3 shots before the co2 is working properly.

[redpcx]

I had a more satisfying experience...
My 2300kt was well packed, double boxed in fact.  I was rather impressed with the egg crate foam, at the price level.  It arrived shiny and spotless, and secure in its little cocoon.  Well, not so little.  The box was larger than I expected.
I've never called for repairs, or service, but I was pleased with  the parts department.
I also managed to catch a percent off, free shipping event, I think it was 20%?
Yes, my CCS experience was very satisfactory.
I bet you will get years of satisfactory service from your new gun.

[PestControl]

Mole hill in my opinion...not so much of a mountain.
2.5 weeks turnaround sounds pretty amazing, considering it takes them over 3 weeks to even build an initial order.
Things get tossed around in the mail, as long as your barrel isnt bent, id say dont worry about it. I lost an entire barrel once...it poked a hole right through the box and slid out during shipping. Crosman sent a replacement right away, btw.

And 'dryfire to pierce' is on the instructions because some guns dont need to be dry fired for the co2 cart to be pierced. The 357/vigilante for example. The co2 cart is pierced once the knob is screwed in enough. First shot will shoot. The 22xx guns need 2 or 3 shots before the co2 is working properly.

Oh I know I was more peeved than warranted, but I don't think the turnaround is 'pretty amazing', more average.

The barrel thing is more of an issue for me.  The first shipment did mess it up, so when they ignored both a request, then ignored the padding I put in (and was one more good bang before the box went), well, I'm still trying to figure out how they came up with that choice.

Yes, that was my point, on the carbine they returned, it was necessary, so how could it be a tip?

Anyway, I am hoping this is an exception rather than the rule, too many companies are letting stuff slide.

[PestControl]

I had a more satisfying experience...
My 2300kt was well packed, double boxed in fact.  I was rather impressed with the egg crate foam, at the price level.  It arrived shiny and spotless, and secure in its little cocoon.  Well, not so little.  The box was larger than I expected.
I've never called for repairs, or service, but I was pleased with  the parts department.
I also managed to catch a percent off, free shipping event, I think it was 20%?
Yes, my CCS experience was very satisfactory.
I bet you will get years of satisfactory service from your new gun.

Mine was double boxed as well, the first shipment went through both boxes, which is why I made it a point of asking for more packing.  Almost happened this last time as well.  I've had numerous packages ruined by UPS, just trying to avoid it.

Glad to hear it worked out well for you, I'm hoping, should I ever order from them again, that this isn't the rule, but the exception.

[woody67]

Oh I know I was more peeved than warranted, but I don't think the turnaround is 'pretty amazing', more average.

The barrel thing is more of an issue for me.  The first shipment did mess it up, so when they ignored both a request, then ignored the padding I put in (and was one more good bang before the box went), well, I'm still trying to figure out how they came up with that choice.

Yes, that was my point, on the carbine they returned, it was necessary, so how could it be a tip?

Anyway, I am hoping this is an exception rather than the rule, too many companies are letting stuff slide.

They definitely should secure the guns better before shipping. The foam padding is nice, but the guns are able to move if the boxes get thrown around...as you already know..

[BDS]

Calling the Crosman C.S. folks "stupid" in a thread subject like this is uncalled for IMO...

Would you like it if the Crosman customer service folks posted a thread subject on their forums called  "Crosman Customers, a special kind of stupid" after they figured out that you had not tightened the co2 cap enough?

My experience with Crosman C.S. folks has always been good, even when they get confused or don't have the info that I need at their fingertips. They also put up with some real "informed" customers who don't know part numbers for 30 year old guns (even though the part numbers are listed in the Crosman library of manuals and diagrams on-line), who don't know the difference between an o-ring and a seal and who generally think that they are the only customer that Crosman and the USPS have. Try finding the level of service that Crosman provides or even a human being to answer the phone at the vast majority of other airgun makers. And none of those makers provides the archives of data and diagrams for nearly every gun they have made for the past 80 years like Crosman does.

[eric]

they deal with lots of things and are human like you and i ---- you've never made a mistake or had a bad a day at work --- i know i have. stuff happens and it sucks when you're on the receiving end. CROSMAN will go out of their way to right a wrong but the people there might be like F___ it due to whatever, so, their customer service is excellent but the people they employ --- that's a different story .............

[mudduck48]

If this post was on the GTA, it would be locked up or deleted a long time ago. This is an air gun forum, not a soap box to hack venders.
If you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all.

[KevinP]

If this post was on the GTA, it would be locked up or deleted a long time ago. This is an air gun forum, not a soap box to hack venders.
If you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all.

So much true ... if it was on the yellow you would ( at least ) get a time out ....

[rws_53]

I agree with the poor packaging of the Custom Shop guns...both of my shipments had the barrel starting to poke a hole through the cardboard.

I also think I know the Custom Shop has poor quality control.  I received one gun with a bad finish on the receiver and another with grips that didn't fit the frame.  They took care of both problems but was aggravating to have to deal with simple things that could be easily seen and should have never been shipped out.   If it wasn't for Crosman's  good customer service to take care of poor QC I would not chance any more custom gun purchases. 

[PestControl]

they deal with lots of things and are human like you and i ---- you've never made a mistake or had a bad a day at work --- i know i have. stuff happens and it sucks when you're on the receiving end. CROSMAN will go out of their way to right a wrong but the people there might be like F___ it due to whatever, so, their customer service is excellent but the people they employ --- that's a different story .............

I think the above quote sums it up perfectly.  I already mentioned I was more peeved than warranted, certainly having a bad day, but "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" is good advice for life in general, but to never mention bad or poor service, shoddy quality control, cutting corners, etc, that can occur by all sorts of manufacturers...?  I would rather know the goods and bads, and filtering out the tempers I can get a reasonable estimate of how a company works.

[PestControl]

Calling the Crosman C.S. folks "stupid" in a thread subject like this is uncalled for IMO...

Would you like it if the Crosman customer service folks posted a thread subject on their forums called  "Crosman Customers, a special kind of stupid" after they figured out that you had not tightened the co2 cap enough?

My experience with Crosman C.S. folks has always been good, even when they get confused or don't have the info that I need at their fingertips. They also put up with some real "informed" customers who don't know part numbers for 30 year old guns (even though the part numbers are listed in the Crosman library of manuals and diagrams on-line), who don't know the difference between an o-ring and a seal and who generally think that they are the only customer that Crosman and the USPS have. Try finding the level of service that Crosman provides or even a human being to answer the phone at the vast majority of other airgun makers. And none of those makers provides the archives of data and diagrams for nearly every gun they have made for the past 80 years like Crosman does.

Maybe 'clueless' would have been a better way to state it.  I have no problem with Crosman posting a thread calling newbies stupid.  I've already claimed responsibility for my own lack of knowledge. 

I'm happy you haven't had any issues, really. 

[Flex]

While I have not had any issues that required a Customer Service "intervention", I have nothing but THE BEST interaction with the individuals that I have been in contact with when I have questions or am ordering parts from Crosman. Perhaps I am lucky with who answers the phone when I call but I have absolutely NO ISSUES with any of my dealings with Customer Service at Crosman.
Attitude will always set the stage when making a customer service call and I have always tried to NOT put the CS rep on the defensive when I find myself in that type of situation. The bottom line is that THEY have ultimate control of the situation! You may not be happy with the situation that YOU are experiencing but it is unlikely that the person that you are speaking with actually caused the problem! Their job is to mediate the situation. If the problem is truly a fault of the company, it is their job to make it right at their expense. If the problem is a result of customer negligence or ignorance, it is their best interest to help remedy the situation BUT not necessarily at their expense! The mention of "mountains out of mole hills" should always be considered as very appropriate and should be considered prior to making demands of the Customer Service rep. Just sayin'. Flex

[akula8608]

Crosman customer service is one of the best in the biz. Try gamo and see how far you get.