Very disappointing customer service

[Timing]

It would appear that clint aka slash refuses to stand behind his product when it doesn't work as promised.

It was his suggestion (both in e-mailed conversation as well as his advertising) that his car10 buffer and spring would work with a magpul UBR stock.

However after experiencing failure to chamber on every round, when I contacted him about it he passed blame to the company that built the upper receiver. After sending the upper back they tested it and determined that it functioned properly. They returned it back to me (at no charge). They recommended that the problem lies with the buffer/spring combination.

I removed slash's buffer and spring and installed the original. The rifle ran flawlessly. Re-installed slash's buffer, failures after every round.

I contacted clint w/ heavy buffers and was told that I could return it for 80% of the price minus shipping and that the spring I purchased through him per his recommendation is un-returnable as well. Unless it was within 10 days of purchase, which had already passed after sending the upper off to be looked at.

This is some piss-poor customer service in my opinion. I would expect better from an advertiser on this site.

[Slash]

And now for the rest of the story...

Your order was shipped on 10/25/2011.  Over four months later, on March 3, 2012 @ 12:19 AM I received the following email:

I recently purchased your car-10 buffer and spring for use in a 308ar w/ ubr stock.

I am having a lot of failure to feed malfunctions with the new round getting jammed about 60% of the way chambered.

I'm thinking this problem probably lies with the upper receiver/barrel ext/bolt combination, however I am in the process of eliminating all other variables.

Is it possible to tell me the proper length and/or # of coils that the spring should be/have?

Is there a chance this might be buffer related?

---

I responded 25 minutes later, as follows:

The spring should have ~29 coils.

What type of gun?

What kind of ammo?

Are you using known good magazines?

Is the BCG well lubricated?

---

And the follow up went like this:

Thanks for the reply. Yep 29 coils,

Its a dpms lower, built upper,  pmags, plenty of lube, just for giggles I swapped your buffer and spring with the original ones (28 coils) and am still jamming up in the chamber. Eliminates that variable. On to the next. Thanks for the help.

---

Now, in my mind, that would seem to indicate that no further action was due on my part.  I certainly NEVER passed blame to the manufacturer, or anyone else.  Your email also directly contradicts the claim in your post that swapping buffers & springs resolved the issue.  So, we fast-forward to 6/1/2012 when I receive an email inquiring about returning the CAR-10 buffer & spring.  I replied with a cut/paste from my website.  This policy is clearly posted and has been the same since I started doing business almost ten years ago:

I offer a lifetime replacement warranty on any buffer found to be defective. Satisfaction is guaranteed. If you are unhappy with your purchase you may return it within ten days for a refund. There will be a 20% restocking fee for any other returns. Shipping, springs, buffer tubes and custom-order buffers are not refundable/returnable.

---

A few minutes later I receive this missive:

Okay I had a feeling it was going to be this way. So essentially what you are telling me is that even though you directly told me this buffer and spring combination would work in my specific application, and now that I have discovered it will not, I am on the hook for returning it at a 20% loss and out the cost of the spring and shipping? Or I can have it replaced under warranty, in which case you will replace it with the same product, after receiving that it most likely will not function properly, and we repeat that process indefinitely?

---

I replied with an offer to help diagnose the issue, but instead of accepting my offer you started posting libelous blather on an internet forum. This neither cures your problem nor gets you any closer to a refund. 

Magpul has recommended using CAR-10 buffers in .308 ARs with their carbine stocks for years, prior to that they bought the buffers from me and sold them on their website.  I've sold hundreds of these buffers to civilians, military units and law enforcement units.  One major manufacturer has purchased CAR-10 buffers for use in foreign military contract weapons. This is a tested and proven product.  If there were some design flaw it certainly would have reared it's ugly head sometime in the last decade. 

Is it possible that your buffer is out of spec?  Yes, that possibility always exists, and if the problem is on my end I will make it right.  I've always stood behind what I sell, and many can testify to that end.

I have thousands of satisfied customers, but I realize that I can't please everyone.  Maybe you are the "one".  I offered assistance and you chose another path.  Where this goes from here is up to you.

[Slash]

One more thing -

Even after all of this, I don't know exactly what "jamming up in the chamber" really means.

I do know that failure to feed is not commonly caused by the buffer.

[Jgun]

Not wishing to add fuel to the fire here, but I ordered an AR 10 carbine buffer and spring from Armalite last year, and, not sure if it was due to an error on my part or due to the salesperson not understanding/knowing my component combination, but when it arrived, within 5 min I realized that it would not work because it was too long. I never fired the gun, only tried to charge the gun once and then removed the parts, They had no marks on them and were as new (could be resold). I called Armalite immediately, this is the day the parts arrived. They told me the same thing "No problem on the return, 20% restocking fee and shipping is on you" . I still have them in my possesion. They made no offer to assist me in resoving the issue as Slash has done. If it had been me I'd have held on to the parts for another build, because I know them to be of high quality, and have functioned in every gun I've used them. You could also have posted them for sale here and on SH and I'm sure that you would have been able to sell them with little problem. Sorry they didn't work in your application, and I'm not trying to disagree with your diagnosis of your problem, but I have not found a situation where one of the heavy buffers did not function in a gun as long as it was physically the correct size for the application. in some guns that are working properly a heavy buffer is not needed, but generally will not cause any function problems, but I'm not sure if it's fair to expect Slash to guarantee that his product will solve a problem, diagnosesd by you, on a gun he hasn't tested, and when it doesn't solve your problem, expect him to give you a full refund. I'm sorry it didn't work for you, but if it were me, I'd hold on to them, because they're good parts, and will be of use to you in the future.

[Slash]

Exhibit #2: http://308ar.com/forum/building-a-308ar/magpul-ubr-stock/msg24232/#msg24232

Posted by TIMING on: February 09, 2012, 09:42:18 PM

Magpul recommends Slash's buffer for the UBR with a 308. I believe he is a member and sponsor here. Not cheap but it works as advertised.

Things are getting curioser and curioser... ;)

[imschur]

FYI - Im locking this as both sides have had their say. As this is Heavy Buffers board per the rules he can choose to handle the thread as he wishes. Unlock it, delete it whatever.