TC refuses to do an upgrade

[ebiggs1]

The T/C of today is not the same T/C that we grew up with, or even the one from a few short years ago. They will not do warranty work, and it is difficult at best to get spare parts. If you have a T/C you are pretty much SOL, unless you can find replacement parts someplace else.

This is simply nonsense. :bull: If you are a TC customer the warranty is exactly as always and honored exactly the same as it ever was.

 

[Greg Blackburn]

Well, I made a call and received an email and aparently, this company doesn't have any lock parts in stock so I guess they no longer make the guns in house.

Should I post a copy of the email?

Greg

If I was wealthy and a gunsmith I would consider trying to fill the void TC's exit from the market left....

 

[ebiggs1]

Re-read the warranty statement I quoted for you. (above)
Not being the “original owner” anything TC does for you is a gift.
You need to decide if is the right thing to do.

 

[Sperit de bois]

Package the locks up,write out what is wrong with them, send them in, The most that will happen they get replaced,,the worse they get sent back.
Cut to the chase!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Stumpkiller]

Is the original lock broken? I don't see where an "upgrade" would have anything to do with warranty work.

 

[bill22222002]

They replaced a frizzen for me years back for no charge and I didnt even have to send the old one back. supposed to be lifetime warrenty smith and wesson should honor it

 

[Greg Blackburn]

Well anyway, I think the new frizzen that I ordered "backordered and we [TC] doesn't know when it'll come" and the English flint from Possibles Shop will fix any lock issue....right now I'm much more upset over the very rusted and pitted bore!

What I thought was rust was instead pieces of ripped apart patches!

Greg

 

[Greg Blackburn]

With both the phone call I made and the email I sent, I specified that I was "not the original owner and offered to pay for any parts or work."

Greg

 

[matt denison]

Re read what Stumpkiller said.

Is your lock broken/doesn't work? Or are you just trying to get the "uprade" that everyone talks about for free? or just the Heck of it? What is wrong with the lock that you have?

 

[zimmerstutzen]

TC catalogs Nos 8 and 11 both include the same language as to the warranty. It simply says "Thompson Center made with a Lifetime Warranty" After the language touting quality control it says ..we care about quality and that we emphasize this concern by backing each finished firearm with a Lifetime Warranty"

Take note it doesn't define "lifetime." No where does it say life of the original purchaser. It could just as easily mean life of the firearm. Nor does it say only the original purchaser if the original purchaser is still alive but he sold it to someone else.

I figured Smith and Wesson would begin cauterizing this financial wound in the warranty dept. Start coming up with ways to deny the work.

Some were right in that an "upgrade" is not warranty work.

I understand they have been denying many Patriot Pistol warranty claims saying their fire destroyed some of their tooling for the Patriot. Well, the warranty still applies. Fix it under warranty or get sued. In PA, improper denial of warranty work leads to treble damages plus attorney fees as an unfair consumer practice.

If it wasn't for the generous repairs and replacements TC did over the years folks would be saying that TC flinters are POS's. Wonder what step S&W will take next to restrict the warranty dept.

About 8 months ago, the owner of my local shop/gun smith called TC about replacing a broken mainspring under warranty. TC refused. We wrote a letter to TC with a copy of the warranty from the 1981 cat and they fixed the problem after that.

Frankly TC goofed up by not specifying what the lifetime warranty meant when they started advertising. The generated alot of good will and reputation for their firearms over the years with that warranty dept.

 

[Cheyenne]

Re read what Stumpkiller said.

Is your lock broken/doesn't work? Or are you just trying to get the "uprade" that everyone talks about for free? or just the Heck of it? What is wrong with the lock that you have?

Kinda what I was wondering????

 

[Greg Blackburn]

All of my posts have been clear but I will try again. In both the email and phone call made to TC, I indicated I was not the original owner and I offered to pay for the so-called "improved lock."

At the time I didn't even have a TC, but was bidding on one with a rusted pan. I had hoped to get a new pan if I won the auction. I did not win the auction. It is moot however as the fifle I did get has a seemingly OK lock but a mischaracterized bore. The rust, pitting, and roughness was not disclosed but instead described as "clean, very good rifling."

Greg

 

[Geraldo]

Re read what Stumpkiller said.

Is your lock broken/doesn't work? Or are you just trying to get the "uprade" that everyone talks about for free? or just the Heck of it? What is wrong with the lock that you have?

He said in the post above yours that he was willing to pay for a lock or work.

TC has not always replaced locks outright. I have an older lock and a few years ago I called and asked about buying the newer cock and frizzen. The woman I talked to on the phone said, "just send it in, we'll replace it for free." I sent it in and got it back saying that some internal parts were replaced, but not the parts I wanted.

Also, I ordered vent liners and nipples in July. The vent liners came, nipples are still backordered as I write this.

While the warranty remains the same as it ever was, to me it seems like the writing is on the wall. The choice is a Hawken .50 in flint or percussion, or a plastic stocked flinter. Meanwhile you can order one of three bolt action rifles and at least an equal number of inlines. You do the math.

 

[Greg Blackburn]

THANK YOU!

Apparently at least a few people still read posts.... :thumbsup:

Greg.

Yes it seems TC is fading away.....hopefully someone will step up and fill the void!

 

[sleeperNY]

I believe that those of us that use a traditional ML have all been forgotten by TC. My guess is that they (TC bean counters) decided that more money could be made with the NEW rifles. To many company's forget about the older models, even though they still sell but not like they did for just making the new because that is what is hot out in the market right now.

Jim

 

[Greg Blackburn]

It's a niche market for sure, but supplying a niche can really be profitable!

If I had the capital...I'd start a factory!

Greg

 

[walruskid1]

the two traditional rifles t/c still carries - the hawken in .50 cal and the flintlock .50 cal firestorm(?). think i got the flinter name correct thats it - sad remains of a tradition

 

[ebiggs1]

I can't believe the lack of reading comprehension on this forum. Read the warranty,...slowly. It makes clear what is required and what is not. Below I have quoted from my 2006 manual, the oldest I have available here to copy. This is well before S&W.

LIMITED WARRANTY
THOMPSON/CENTER ARMS provides a warranty for all factory finished
firearms for the LIFETIME OF THE ORIGINAL CONSUMER
PURCHASER. Any firearm, or part thereof, returned, postage paid, to the
factory at Rochester, New Hampshire 03867, will be repaired or replaced to
our commercial standard free of charge, and returned to the consumer purchaser
postage prepaid. This warranty is established by return of our authorized
warranty card which should be done within (30) days of purchase.

This warranty does not cover any damage caused by custom alteration of the
firearm! Thompson/Center Arms reserves the right to refuse to repair or
replace firearms, or parts thereof, damaged by abuse or misuse.
This warranty does not cover “Kit” models. While Thompson/Center
does guarantee the quality and workmanship of the parts contained in each kit
(and will replace any part which is proven, by our inspection, to be faulty in
either workmanship or material) we have no control over the final finishing
and assembly of these products. Therefore, no responsibility for either the construction
or use of kit models is implied or assumed. This warranty gives you
specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights which vary from State
to State.

This warranty is established by return of our authorized warranty card which should be done within (30) days of purchase.

Was this done by the original owner?
Nobody here can say with any validity that TC has not bent over backwards to make people happy. Even going well beyond what was required or implied by the original warranty statement.
Just how many companies would consider to repair or replace an item that has been used, misused and abused plus maybe bought and sold several times? Maybe this is the reason TC has decide to re-word the “lifetime warranty”. :hmm:

 

[zimmerstutzen]

That is fine for those who [purchased guns in that particular year.

But I posted the warranty language from Catalogs 8 and 11 which contained NO such language. There were no such qualifications and TC cannot impose or change the contracts established back then.

So while you can cite that language, it doesn't exist in the case of those who purchased guns sold before Tc incorporated those restrictions in their warranty. When I purchased a Tc Hawken in 1978 it just said LIFETIME WARRANTY. no card to return, no limitations to original purchaser or for the life of the original purchaser. It was for the life of the gun.

Don't try impute lack of reading comprehension to those who purchased TC guns before that limitation was imposed by TC. And if you knew anything about the Uniform Commercial Code, you would know that in most states any requirement to return a registration or warranty card is void as against statute. So as for the card requirement, TC is just whistling Dixie.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

This is the sum total of the warranty language from Cats nos 8 and 11 in case your reading comprehension is lacking.

"Thompson Center made with a Lifetime Warranty"

After the language touting quality control it says ..
"we care about quality and that we emphasize this concern by backing each finished firearm with a Lifetime Warranty"

TC's back peddling is obvious. Their older flintlocks were manure!