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Trijicon Customer Service Report

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RifleDude View Drop Down
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    Posted: May/14/2019 at 14:02
I want to share my recent experience with Trijicon's Customer Service.

In mid-Dec, 2018, I purchased a Kahr MK9 on Gunbroker. The pistol came with XS "Big Dot" night sights installed, the version with the tritium post in the rear sight. When I received the pistol, the tritium in the rear sight was dead and the front was very dim. These sights were made back when XS Sights had partnered with Trijicon (more on that later) and had Trijicon's logo on them.

I called Trijicon and asked them for pricing to "re-lamp" the sights. I thought the fee was very reasonable, much less expensive then buying new night sights. Since the front sight on the Kahr pistols can sometimes be a b!+ch to remove, the design of the XS front sight for this pistol makes using a sight pusher a little risky (thin base and tendency for stuff to get bent when under pressure), and I wasn't in the mood to put my slide in a vise and bang on it with a punch, I shipped my slide with sights still installed to Trijicon.

Within a couple days of shipping the slide off to Trijicon, I received an email from them stating that they would relamp "under warranty" and therefore at no charge to me. Very cool!

Two months pass without me hearing anything, and I finally receive an email notice that my slide was shipping back to me. Since this wasn't a gun in my carry rotation and the Christmas and New Years holidays occurred during this time period, I wasn't too concerned about the turnaround time.

I received the slide back the second week in Feb, 2019 and... it was exactly the same as it was when I shipped it back in December! The invoice said they re-lamped the front and rear sights and the invoice total said "no charge," yet nothing was done! I called them, and the lady I talked to was extremely nice. She apologized profusely and requested I ship it back, so I did. They gave me a return label so I didn't pay for shipping this time around.

Another 6 weeks goes by with no word from Trijicon. I called them to check on status and talked to the same lady, who again was very nice and apologetic over the phone. She checked with their service department and told me they said they were "waiting to hear back from Kahr" on the sight bodies. I didn't understand that statement, as 1. Kahr doesn't manufacture the night sights they use, 2. They don't partner with XS for the night sights they supply with certain pistols; they partner with Meprolight, and 3. I thought "re-lamping" sights meant to replace the tritium vials within a sight body, as opposed to replacing the whole thing. I ask her why they would be waiting on Kahr for anything for the reasons stated. She didn't know either. I let it go and just requested that they please come up with a resolution soon and get me back in business. I didn't make a big issue out of it since the "re-lamping" was supposedly being done under warranty.

Fast-forward to the last week of April, '19. I hadn't heard a peep from Trijicon, so I called again to check on status. Talked to the same lady, who was again very nice and very apologetic. Once again, I got the same "we're waiting to hear back from Kahr" excuse for why nothing had progressed any further since my last call. At this point, I explained to them that Kahr has had and should have zero involvement in the transaction, since they neither supplied the XS sights, don't manufacture night sights, and Trijicon's logo was on the sights as sent. I explained that I could pick up the phone and order a replacement set of XS Sights right now, which were currently in-stock. She then informed me that Trijicon had discontinued their partnership with XS sights and can no longer "re-lamp" their sight bodies. I asked her why it had taken over 4 months to reach this conclusion and why I wasn't contacted about other options, to which she had no answer. I don't understand why "re-lamping" one sight body differs from another and why it matters what pistol the dovetail dimensions are designed to fit from the standpoint of replacing the tritium part, but OK... I told her that I wasn't dead-set on XS night sights and would consider other options. Since they don't offer any night sights for Kahr pistols, the lady said "we want to make this right. Do you have another pistol that you could use some night sights for?" Since all of the pistols I own for which they make sights have various night sights already, I told her I wasn't in need of any other night sights.

I then requested they just ship my slide back with no work done. I received the slide on 5/2.

I'm pretty forgiving of mistakes. I consider myself pretty easy to please, and I'm not one to nitpick customer service. As long as I'm treated fairly, I don't expect the red carpet treatment. I don't expect lightning fast turnaround time, and I'm not even upset that I'll be out the money to buy new night sights. This isn't an issue of money for me. What irritates me about this is:
- They initially told me they were replacing my tritium under warranty AFTER THEY ALREADY HAD THE SIGHTS IN HAND. If they were unable to do so, why did it take them four and a half months to arrive at that conclusion?
- They shipped the slide back to me in Feb without doing anything, claiming to have made repairs, and it somehow passed through however many sets of eyes with nobody bothering to verify that the night sights were, in fact, actually glowing.
- 2.5 more months passed without Trijicon bothering to inform me of status, as they "waited to hear from Kahr," which was totally unnecessary and doesn't even sound reasonable. Even if they did require some input or action from Kahr for whatever reason before proceeding with my repair, I don't believe that they've been unable to have a simple conversation with Kahr in all of that time from which to determine how to proceed. Had I not called and expressed my dissatisfaction and told them to return my parts, I have no doubt they would still be sitting on my parts right now.

FWIW...
Ted


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supertool73 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote supertool73 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/14/2019 at 14:40
Nothing is more frustrating that shoddy CS.  And it sounds like yours was just laziness to me.  It appears they just didn't care enough to deal with the real issue and to simply contact you. 

Not sure if they make sights for Kahr pistols, but I just got and installed a set of Truglo TFO sights for my XD, and I really like them.  Fiber optic with tritium.  Back sight has a nice big square front for single handed malfunction clearances too. I got a set for my Kimber 1911 as well as it is almost 15 years old and the Mepro light night sights are getting a bit dim.  But for 15 years old, they still work. 
Lifetime warranty and excellent customer service don't mean a thing when your gun fails during a zombie attack.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rancid Coolaid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/14/2019 at 15:25
Sorry to hear this. Trijicon's products are often great; but every time I have had an issue that required interacting with their CS or technical groups, everything went sideways immediately - and almost every time they completely avoided taking any responsibility for the issue.

I now list them as " buyer beware" for this reason. If they have something I really, really want to try; I understand that I am trying it at my own risk.

Good luck in getting new sights.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/14/2019 at 16:22
There isn't a wealth of night sights available for the various Kahr pistols, and I like the XS Big Dots as well as or better than the other options. So, I ordered another set of Big Dots identical to what was on it, and have already installed them no problem. Took approximately 20 minutes. I don't know why this was such a big ordeal for Trijicon. Even if they don't manufacture any sights for Kahr anymore, they could have just spared me the wasted time and BS as soon as they realized this fact and advised me of such. I would've been fine with that. I didn't expect anything for free, I just expected some modicum of due diligence and concern shown. Just simple communication.

I agree with Jason; the only explanation that makes sense is "laziness." 

Trijicon offers some products I really like, so I won't go so far as to say I'm done with them. This experience will be remembered and will give me pause the next time I contemplate buying a Trijicon product, however.
Ted


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rancid Coolaid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/14/2019 at 16:24
I hope it gets better. For me, it did not.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SVT_Tactical Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/24/2019 at 08:13
seems like they could have still replaced the vials like you said.
"Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds up to be" - Abraham Lincoln
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/24/2019 at 11:05
Yeah I know.

But they didn't. 

Again, I wasn't even expecting it be done for free. I was fully willing to pay for whatever needed to be done. Either you can repair or replace the product or you can't, and if you can't, contact the customer for options as soon as possible. Arriving at that conclusion doesn't require months of sitting in limbo. To do that even AFTER sending the product back to the customer with no work done and no explanation for same is simply unacceptable. A shame because I like several of their products. 

I guess they have plenty of business and can afford to burn bridges.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kickboxer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/24/2019 at 11:40
It's a common thing these days...
Opinion,untempered by fact,is ignorance.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rancid Coolaid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/24/2019 at 11:51
Sadly, this has been a corporate policy for at least the last 5+ years. Or so my experiences would indicate.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BillMaine Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/29/2019 at 11:35
New here but wanted to confirm RifleDude's comments of Trijicon's CS treatment. I won't bore you with details other than to say after Trijicon's refusal or inability to repair their sight, they thereafter would not respond to any of my e-mails asking for further information or help with the sight other than that I should just buy a new one. The first one didn't make it through four years on a 9mm (hardly a punishing platform for any optic). To follow their suggestion would fit the definition of insanity.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote supertool73 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/29/2019 at 11:45
I bet most of their income comes from military and police contracts.  So they probably don't care a hole lot about us consumers. 

I have several trijicon optics and really like them, but hope I never need their CS in the future.
Lifetime warranty and excellent customer service don't mean a thing when your gun fails during a zombie attack.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 3_tens Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/29/2019 at 16:08
Glat to have read this today as I was about to replace the Trijicon sight on my Glock as the lamps are faded away. Now for the next better choice.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Scrumbag Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June/10/2019 at 01:53
Well, this dumps Trijicon out of my search for a reflex sight...
Was sure I had a point when I started this post...
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