[Guest]

Briefing:
For those readers that have just joined this thread is in reference to an incident that occurred with Harley 45 and a "blown" Kimber.
It really has gone on long enough and needs to be resolved.
Harley admitted he was wrong and is asking for help.


Although it probably does not surprise you,
I need to say that something must be missing here?

This equation just does not make sense period!

While it is easy to say that it really is none of my business, which it really is not. But personally I have a serious issue with this type of situation.

It is really bothering me, as this should not have been allowed to continue this long and I have a really difficult time believing that the higher ups at Kimber or any other company of worth would allow a situation such as this one to go unresolved.

In the past I have been a very strong supporter of Kimber both financially and personally.

Right, wrong, misquoted, misunderstood, liability, reliability, warranty all aside why would any company let a customer go?

And over such a relatively easy situation to fix?

Kimber is a good company; they have brought a lot of solid innovation, quality, and ease of availability to a specific segment of the shooting sports industry.
The 1911 market that was literally dying on the vine until they came onto the scene.
They make good products and I am sure they do not treat everyone this way.

Why continue with this position?
Why leave an open dispute with a prior satisfied customer who would like to believe in your company and your product unresolved? Why wait for over 2,000 people to read about it?
Will it need to go to 20,000 people before it matters?

Seriously Kimber,
No more shots, no more slams.
My questions to you flat out, no nonsense, no BS, no hiding behind "policy".
Help this man, your customer?
Demonstrate where you’re true concerns lie; show us that our faith in you is not misplaced?

Will you help this customer, he has admitted his mistake in using reloaded ammo, and he wanted to purchase the parts or a replacment pistol from Kimber.
Will you reach out to him?
Or will you continue to turn your back on your loyal customers?


_________________
Think, Plan, Train, Be Safe.
Thanks
David

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: David DiFabio on 2001-07-13 22:48 ]</font>

 

[RMLamey]

I too have remained silent, but have a differing opinion.

From what little i read, Harley was at fault in blowing the slide off with an improper load, is this not correct?????

Kimber offered him a new gun at $500, is this not correct???


Im not understanding why Kimber should have to do anything as the fualt was with the load, NOT the gun....

I may very well be missing something as i havent had the time to sort through the "Kimber" thread.

 

[Guest]

Apparently there was never an offer of a new gun to Harley.

This is not a charity request and it is not a request to give Harley free stuff for something that he did.

It is however a request to acknowledge and rectify a serious customer service issue that has continued for far too long.

Kimber has a great many potential options here, to sell Dane the replacement parts, to sell Harley the parts, to sell a gun to Harley at cost, to take the gun back, to do a large number of things, but to continue to ignore it is just plain wrong.


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: David DiFabio on 2001-07-13 23:10 ]</font>

 

[Gerald McDonald]

Hello, If I have a good customer , the way I show him what good customer service is all about is to make the effort and meet him in the middle. It does not appear to have been done. If customer service is the name of the game it does not matter who did it, it only matters to make an effort, any effort will show concern. If someone does this more than once I could understand indifference, but the fact that Harley is dealing with Burns tells me he might be someone with a little more than a passing fancy toward the product they sell. The powers that be in Kimber would do well to look at Colt and then look over their shoulder at Springfield. The longer you stay on top the closer you come to the day someone will dethrone you.
I believe the problem would have been no problem at all if Kimber had never stated that a new slide would be forth coming. Burns was left holding the bag and did what he felt was the right thing to do. I imagine his good deed will be repaid tenfold with word of mouth business.
Gerald

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Gerald McDonald on 2001-07-14 00:12 ]</font>

 

[Howardk]

David,

This is Kimber's policy and there's obviously not much anyone here can do about it. However, consumers deciding on a new gun should be aware that Kimber doesn't sell parts. (See my earlier posts re: Kimber's refusal to sell me a new beavertail -- they claimed it was a fire control part and they don't sell those parts to the public.) With that, I think the point has been made--Caveat Emptor.

 

[Dane Burns]

I wrote and deleted a similar thought half a dozen times. 5 weeks (IIRC) into this I got private mail offering Harley a new gun for $500. Nice offer...fairly reasonable price but too late from Harley's stand point. Certainly from mine. I am not impressed by an after thought instigated by public pressure. What should have been done, could have been done on day one.

My thought is that one hand at Kimber doesn't have a clue what the other is doing.

No one in business with a lick of sense would treat one of their most vocal supporters...me..or a customer, Harley, in the manner they have.

I have had the current head gunsmith and the exhead gunsmith from the custom shop both suggest Harley and I lied and the EX attack us in public. I have heard a current employee of Kimber lie to me and to another customer on the phone....not once but several times.

All this because I was told something by the same Kimber employee that Kimber reniged on? Because I asked to have a gun repaired or replaced and offered to PAY for it? I asked to buy parts?

My only desire here...make a loyal KIMBER customer. With a back log in the years its not like I need the business fixing broken, used guns.

No, my answer is someone is asleep at the switch and the guys in the custom shop came up (again) with their own version of the truth. Someone in Kimber corporate believes them........again. Some one has to be asleep, no way around it. Or, Kimber is really dumb.

Bottom line is no matter what should have been done...Kimber never came up with a workable, resonable or believable answer.

It would have been easy enough. Could have started and ended here. "Sorry Dane we won't repair the gun". "Sure you can buy a slide, $150." Got a CC#.

No bullshit about not returning the gun, no bullshit about who or what can be repaired or not repaired. No lame ass posturing about who said what at Kimber or company policy. No retired Kimber employees butting in or private emails from Kimber telling me what they liked or didn't like about this web site or my posts. No NY attitude.

Yes, if could have been simple...maybe someone in corporate will get a clue and have a chat with the custom shop.

A good start would be... "Yes sir, how may I help you?"





<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Dane Burns on 2001-07-14 03:50 ]</font>

 

[RMLamey]

Dane, your last post sums it up. Again, i havent followed this thread but it seems Kimber has fallen the way of "any other" big company.

 

[TBob]

RMLamey, et al,

Please see my (final) post on page 5(!?) of the thread that Jake Salyards started. In addition, I simply remind everyone that one datapoint does not define a 4-dimensional space-time continuum. New companies are heroes for breaking into a theoretically closed market, but when they become successful they become the enemy. That just doesn't make any sense to me. YMMV. :roll:

Let me reiterate that other than a few folks on these kinds of boards, I don't know anyone who'se had a bad experience w/Kimber. And I do know a few Kimber owners besides myself. FWIW.

Regards,
TBob

 

[Guest]

Kimber is not the enemy, and they are not being held to a different standard.

All they ever needed to do was acknowledge the issue, offer resolution and move on.

 

[Dane Burns]

Let me reiterate that other than a few folks on these kinds of boards, I don't know anyone who'se had a bad experience w/Kimber. And I do know a few Kimber owners besides myself. FWIW.

Why would the owner of this board , a full time pistol smith who has literally worked on hundreds of Kimbers since day one, would allow a thread like this to continue if this was the ONLY lapse in customer service Kimber has ever made.

It isn't, that is why.

There is a reason Heine stopped selling Kimber sights for a short while and why Vicker's isn't a big fan of Kimber. Care to refresh you memory on that thread?

I did however think that after all the back stage intrigue that went on with this gun and the unsatisfactory way the problem was solved that the spot light should be put on the inaction of Kimber's custom service.

I don't think a list of unhappy Kimber customers is a productive thing on the forum but I do have a list. After all a big share of my business is based on fixing and upgrading Kimber products.