VR762Shooter 838 Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 (edited) Well I have been in this mess now for about 2 months now so I want to get some opinions so I know I am not getting pissed for no good reason. Well I decided I wanted a small gun in 9mm Mak, and thought well a C&R eligible P64 shouldn't be a bad idea. Small, easy to find steel cased ammo, and able to be shipped to my door, what a deal. It isn't the prettiest but I don't really care about that and with it's design being very similar to Walther's I figure what the hell. Well enter gun number one. I receive my first gun with a great job on the import stamp which looked to have been processed by Ray Charles (this was also noted in one of Stryker's threads as I was thoroughly pissed at the time) so here was what gun #1 looked like: Well I get in touch with Century, as the importer tasked to do the repair/replace and first am denied that I can send the gun back without going through an 01 FFL (which I can) after a few weeks of that, I get my return info and prepaid shipping label. Great! Send it off and get a reply back in a few days that the new gun is ready to be returned. Except now I am told I can not legally receive the gun directly (as an 03 FFL I can). Well after enough back and forth and requesting to just getm my money back after a month of headaches, stress and loss of interest due to the apparent lack of understanding how an 03 FFL works, I finally am notified that yes I can receive it, and the gun will be on its way. Now Century tries to do the right thing. I get a nice box full of swag. Not going to deny I really thought they'd make it right after all the initial isues. Well I get a nice missed delivery label on my door today. Get down to Fed Ex to get the replacement, looks pretty promising and then I disassemble: So the gun has suffered a catastrophic failure. During the failure the slide feed lips (I suppose this is what they would be considered, though they are also a critical part of maintaining headspace) have broken a section off, the barrel has suffered damage as well as the rear of the slide which has also caused frame damage which dented the hammer area of the frame (pics sucked so not posting). So now I am extremely pissed. Not only has this been going on for closing in on 2 months now, but you would expect that if you wanted to maintain a satisfied customer you wouldn't send them a gun that has been seriously damaged in critical (extremely unsafe to operate) areas. Has anyone else had to deal with something along these lines? Am I overreacting? Or am I justified in being considerably angry at this point? All thoughts on the matter are appreciated Edited October 31, 2014 by VR6Shooter Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChileRelleno 7,071 Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 They screwed you hard. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shandlanos 1,470 Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 Yeah, I'd be pretty fucking pissed. Stay civil and demand they make that shit super right. Don't be satisfied speaking to the first person who speaks on the phone - insist on going up a level or two.This kind of shit is something their legal department would probably want to know about. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RockHoundTX 10 Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 With Century it is always a crapshoot. I would have just kept the first pistol especially since it was listed as a G/VG and not just a "Very Good" or "Excellent". I have received rifles from them that were listed as Good that turned out to be near new. Also had the exact opposite experience a few times as well. I got a Mosin listed as VG that the bands were rusted so bad they literally broke in half when I toughed it. Sent that rifle back with a polite note saying that this rifle should have never been sent out and to send a better one. I kind of expected something decent but was sorely disappointed. They must have been getting to the bottom of the crate since the one I got back was only marginally better and was Fair at best. Basically wrote it off as "the risks of doing business with Century". Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spacehog 2,218 Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 I don't blame you. Yes I would be very pissed. +1 on going up a level or two in their customer service. Hope they make it very right. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Matthew Hopkins 1,065 Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 the first gun you received was described as it was advertised, good -VG, so I don't understand why you sent it back in the first place. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sim_Player 1,939 Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 (edited) Bought a Cetme .308 from them, years ago, for $300.00. No complaints except for the front sight being canted beyond adjustment. Fixed it myself. Everything else was perfect. I took a gamble on a surplus rifle and I got what I expected, an inexpensive project gun. It's been a safe queen for about 10 years now.... Edited October 31, 2014 by Sim_Player Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VR762Shooter 838 Posted October 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 the first gun you received was described as it was advertised, good -VG, so I don't understand why you sent it back in the first place. My interpritation of good to very good does not include maring from improper importation stamping. As I discussed at the time of the return, holster wear or natural finish wear is a normal part of surplus guns. When their tech strips it off, attempts to spraypaint it, and the paint falls off getting everywhere but the area that lost paint, then I have an issue. I've received a few handguns imported by C.A.I. and none were that mangled when being marked Quote Link to post Share on other sites
evlblkwpnz 3,418 Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 It doesn't surprise me. The sad thing about it is that there are probably a few talented people in their area that could use some work, but still they have morons doing their warranty work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sim_Player 1,939 Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 That second pistol looks horrible. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mancat 2,368 Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 Wow thats a huge font on the slide. My two CAI imported CZ-82s have a very tiny dot matrix font on the slide thats nearly invisible once you fill it in with a sharpie. Taking the paint off the slide? Ridiculous. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
storm6490 2,768 Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 Jesus jumped up Christ. I have to send a pistol back to them soon and I really don't want to. I have a feeling they will dick it up with the replacement barrel. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VR762Shooter 838 Posted October 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 Wow thats a huge font on the slide. My two CAI imported CZ-82s have a very tiny dot matrix font on the slide thats nearly invisible once you fill it in with a sharpie. Taking the paint off the slide? Ridiculous. My two Toks are C.A.I. import stamped and both are reasonably marked. This was the worst I've ever seen Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VR762Shooter 838 Posted January 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 Just an update for everyone on this. Given the already existent information on CAI, I figured now that I have basically finalized the transaction thought I would update with the remainder of the story. So I lost contact with CAI related to the return of the 2nd pistol about mid November and didn't have anything responded back from them until about 2nd week of December. After a bunch of emailing back and forth with their Customer Service, I got a return shipping label, sent it back and awaited the new gun. What I received back was the very first gun I returned, same serial, just now with a light bluing on the marred area. This time however, it came back with a broken slide stop that impeded the function of the gun. Luckily I purchased a few P64 training guns to have as spare parts, replaced the slide stop and it now functions as intended. Given the experience I would likely just take what I get from CAI unless it is on the verge of blowing off body parts, as the process is much too long and frustrating to be worthwhile. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
IndyArms 10,186 Posted January 21, 2015 Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 As shitty as this is, I find it rather ironically amusing... First gun - Cosmetic issue - sent back... CAI... " Oh... not good enough mister hoidy toidy?!? Heres one to make you APPRECIATE the previous one... YOU... "FUCK THIS, I want another one..." CAI... "Figured you would... heres the first, and worse than before... wanna roll the dice again?? motherfucker?!?" YOU... "Fuck it... cut my losses and deal with it..." They hosed you!!! Just a matter of how much DICKING around you really wanna do... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VR762Shooter 838 Posted January 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 Exactly. Or, it just proves my original feeling that the technical crew at CAI have no idea WTF they are doing. The first gun was inspected thoroughly when I got it and the slide stop was fine, so at some point during their review of it, the tech didn't know how to remove it so he just bent it until it came out. Really going to have to make a decision if anymore C&R guns come up I get interested in if I will want to deal with anything CAI imported or for that matter manufactured. After seeing the apparent C39 headspacing issues might just avoid them at all costs now Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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