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

[engineer40]

I don't know if this is so much a Sugar vs Salt conversation... but more talking about what each entity Wants. Everybody's favorite radio station, WIIFM (What's In It For Me).

The OP wants his rifle back in a condition that is acceptable to him.

The company wants to maintain their reputation in the industry that helps them sell more rifles.

So sometimes it behooves you as the customer to remind them how much they are failing at customer service. Most often it only takes a gentle reminder and people will move mountains to make you happy. But not always.

If after a series of reminders, the company still doesn't fix what they messed up... well then I'm thankful for threads exactly like this one so I make sure not to do business with them. Because at the end of the day, we all need to look out for each other too.

Just my opinion. I might be wrong.

 

[Smoak352]

I called Cooper at lunch today because it had been 24 hrs and I still had not received an email of available rifles from them.

The girl that answered was not the normal woman who answers, and she was actually very nice. I explained that I was waiting on a list of available rifles to choose from and asked her to please just email me the list. She explained that she had a list, but was not aware of my situation and wanted to run it by Mike first. I said I understand, but that I was on a time crunch with the upcoming season, and have some expensive hunts coming up and really really need to get this taken care of. She was very understanding and assured me that as soon as the boss arrived that she was let him know that I called and would remind him that I was waiting on the email of rifles in inventory.

This was at lunch today, and no sign of an email or contact. I will be calling them every day until I have my rifle or a rifle in my hands.

 

[Frank in the Laurels]

Your doing it right, I know your frustrated but try to remain calm, it will all work out in the end. Getting upset with an hourly secretary will do you no good whatsoever, now if you get Mike on the phone you could show a little emotion but no one other than the owner. Have faith, the squeaky wheel gets the oil....sugar over salt..

 

[Cuda]

I think at this point I would just ask for my money back! And that would be that! I would not put up with this bull any longer. I would check out a new rifle else where. But would not buy till you get your money back. It does not take that long to get a good barrel. They make many barrels a day so it should be a easy fix. All they should need is chambered to what you want. But at this point that is just what I would do.

 

[Smoak352]

Daily update:

I called Cooper this morning and someone new answered the phone. After I explained my whole story she said that I needed to get in touch with Mike, director of manufacturing. I explained that I have talked to Mike for the last two weeks and absolutely nothing has been done and that I have a very expensive hunt in October that is the whole reason for buying this rifle. She places me on hold for a few minutes and comes back on the line. She said you need to call this number and speak to the owner of the company, Hugo Vivero.

So I call the number and ask to speak to Hugo and he comes on the line. I explain to him the whole story and how nobody over at Cooper gives a crap about my situation. He was a very nice guy and seemed eager to make the situation right and I have confidence that he will actually get things done. He said that he was going to call Cooper and see what they were doing and personally call me back within 1 hour.

Surprisingly, I received a call back from Hugo after about an hour. He said that as we speak, they are adding a new barrel to my rifle and that if it did not shoot that they would send me a new rifle. He said he would personally call me tomorrow and let me know the results.

I have faith that Hugo is a man of his word and I won't have to play phone tag with him all week like I did with Mike over at Cooper. Honestly, I just want my rifle to shoot their guarantee, I don't really want to pick from a random list of rifles because my rifle is exactly what I wanted and how I ordered it. I just need something and I need it soon.

I will update tomorrow as the details unfold.

 

[Barrelnut]

Sounds like the tide is turning for you. Tag...

 

[scottyboy]

my latest hiccup with Cooper came today. again, probably not a huge issue... but the dealer documentation they sent out with twist rates was not accurate. in my scenario, the documentation that Cooper sent out to stated the 7mm rem mag was a 1:10 twist - - when it is actually a 1:9. shame on me for not measuring/double checking? end of the day it all works out as Hammer bullets developed a load for me.. but its still a pretty big "oopps" in my mind when people spend considerable amounts of money on ammo based on a number of factors...twist rate being one of them.

 

[blkdog]

I have four Coopers and I have had some work done there and I have never had anything but the best in service. I have even posted several times about the great service. If you call up there tell Bonnie at the front desk you need to talk to Mike Hutchins. He will get you fixed up I am sure. It is not like
cooper to let this kind of thing go on. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Smoak352]

I have four Coopers and I have had some work done there and I have never had anything but the best in service. I have even posted several times about the great service. If you call up there tell Bonnie at the front desk you need to talk to Mike Hutchins. He will get you fixed up I am sure. It is not like
cooper to let this kind of thing go on. Good luck and keep us posted.

Mike Hutchins is the guy I spoke to for 2 weeks and did absolutely nothing. I had to call the owner of the company in Connecticut to get things done.

 

[Smoak352]

Update:

Well my phone rang this morning and it was a Stevensville, MT number so I had a pretty good idea of who it was. A guy named Adam who was very nice and courteous, explained that they added a new barrel and re-bedded the stock and that it is shooting within their specs.

Hallelujah! It shipped out this afternoon and should be here next week. I really hope it shoots as they say it does because I definitely won't have time to send it back. I am excited as I ordered this rifle in 2014 and went to the range twice, never got a chance to hunt with it.

My conclusion with Cooper is that I am happy that they finally got my rifle shooting right and are sending it back to me, and if it shoots anything like my first two Coopers, Ill be very pleased. I am not rushing to sell all of my rifles but I don't think I will ever purchasing another Cooper based on my experience with their customer service. After calling the owner, I can tell that he cares and he obviously made a phone call and got someone to wake up and take care of me, but Cooper has some issues with their customer service and the owner needs to make some changes if they want to continue as the company they once were.

I will post a range report but it will probably be two weeks. I appreciate all the advice and getting me through this mess.

 

[Mike 338]

Well, I've been considering a Cooper. My LGS stocks them. Reading this however has significantly soured me on the brand. The idea that a customer should wait a year after giving them his money (and no small amount either) and then wiping your feet on him and avoiding him in the way this man has been is just about criminal. A year... Some of us only have a few of those left. To top it off, the best they could do was to return his rifle after mistreating him. I think every time I picked up that rifle, I'd get a feeling like I was holding hands with a girl that had cheated on me.

 

[Smoak352]

I received the rifle yesterday. It was covered in very light surface rust that finally wiped off with gun oil and a little elbow grease. Ordering a z6 swarovski scope and will go to the range in the next few weeks. This rifle looks good and I'm glad to get it back. Hopefully it shoots.

 

[d11r529]

Years ago my now late wife taught me how to handle problems like this. When she called and was given someone who was supposed to handle the problem she would get there phone number or extension so that she could get ahold of them if needed. If they didn't have a number or extension number at work she would insist on speaking with there supervisor and get there info. Once she had that she would call back in a timely manor, like the next day and check to see what was being done, if nothing she would insist on talking to there supervisor and kept it up until the problem was taken care of and yes she would go after the owner if need be. She would not call unless she had at least 2 hours to stay on the phone, always nice to who she was talking to but wouldn't let go until she got some answers. Kind of the same deal here, it wasn't until you got ahold of someone high enough that things got taken care of.

It's sad that they sent it back with some rust on it and glad it came off. I looked at and almost bought one two years ago but after reading this glad I didn't. They are off my list of maybes.

 

[Lonehill]

Sadly, I know first hand how it feels when something like this happens. I ordered a very expensive custom barrel from a company with a suppossed highly reputable track record. I waited over a year for them to make it. Took over dozen phone calls, they kept telling me it would be in the next run, next week, next month maybe, oh we have to go to camp perry, oh we are so swamped... Then it turned into oh we lost your info on your original request form now what was it you wanted again (16 months @ this point) and oh by the way..this will start the waiting process all over again at which point I finally told them just what orifice they could shove all 26" of that fluted stainless up and hoped the hell they had it threaded proper for the purpose. Will NEVER do business with them again!