Rock Island Armory - Customer Service

[Glenn B]

I bought a RIA 1911 A1 Full Size 45 Auto back in October. Took it out of the box looked at it and put it away to shoot another day, maybe a rainy day as I would not mind shooting a rainy day. Anyhow, I never ran even a round through it and when my son moved to AR I planned to send it to him or bring it there myself. I took my road trip to see him in May and brought it with me. While I was showing him how to disassemble and reassemble it, I realized I could not reseat the slide lock without manually depressing the slide stop plunger with a plastic pick or in my case a mixing straw. I got in touch with RIA and they said that is not normal. They asked me to bring it to a gunsmith to check it and if the problem was verified to send it to them and they sent me a FedEx label. I brought it to a local gun store and verified the problem. Sent it in through the same LGS.

Got an email yesterday, from RIA, saying they were going to charge me $40 for shipping because their gunsmith found nothing wrong with it. I composed a return email but was no all that composed myself as I was just about fuming. I had to rewrite the email three or four times so as not too sound like a pissed off cantankerous customer even though it would have been righteous for me to appear as such. So, I basically explained that they told me to send it in but first to check with a gunsmith and I had done so and only then sent it in after the problem was confirmed. I then briefly described the problem again. I also think I left in the part about me doubting it magically got better since I had shipped it. I asked that they give the gunsmith my number and have him call me and explain how it was not a problem.

Surprisingly, I got another email from the same RIA representative the same day and this is what he said:

I spoke with the gunsmith and he did find that the slide stop needed some work to make it easier to install. I have him going over the firearm now to make sure there are no other issues. We should be shipping it back to your FFL this week.

I must say, I am reservedly happily impressed. I will be completely happily impressed when I get the pistol back and find out the issue actually has been fixed and everything works. Then I am going to shoot the heck out of it. If my son wants it, he will have to send me the cash for the FFL fee up here. (Yes, I know most New Yorkers can send it directly to an out of state FFL but not if you live in Nassau County. It is in their handbook that it must go through a NYS Dealer in firearms; yet, no one at the NCPD can quote me the law on why they insist it be done that way - FFL to FFL.)

Anyhow, I am really happy that the rep had a RIA gunsmith go over it again. Customer service like that seems hard to find nowadays.

 

[Bananabandit]

Did he have an accent when he replied in his email?

 

[Glenn B]

Did he have an accent when he replied in his email?

I think it was southern.

 

[kev74]

Their US office is in Navada.

 

[Podmonkey]

After what they pulled in Illinois they can go pounds sand for that alone. I will never purchase any of their products. Or those of Springfield Armory.

 

[Doc8404]

Don't see why you would be happy with this service. I wouldn't be one bit.

"Got an email yesterday, from RIA, saying they were going to charge me $40 for shipping because their gunsmith found nothing wrong with it."

 

[Glenn B]

After what they pulled in Illinois they can go pounds sand for that alone. I will never purchase any of their products. Or those of Springfield Armory.

You got that all wrong sir! You are thinking of the wrong company, the company you are thinking of - in cahoots with Springfield Armory - was ROCK RIVER ARMS. Rock Island Armory, on the other hand, was not one of the companies in question relative to the dubious shameful dealings. What a sad state of affairs it is for Rock Island Armory that their name resembles the other company's name - Rock River Arms.

 

[Glenn B]

Don't see why you would be happy with this service. I wouldn't be one bit.

"Got an email yesterday, from RIA, saying they were going to charge me $40 for shipping because their gunsmith found nothing wrong with it."

I am happy because they took the additional step of reconsidering what the customer was saying and they checked into the issue again. How many companies today would do that - very few in my experience. If you want a perfect world, to make you happy, then you can expect it until you die and never will see it and will remain dissatisfied forever. I am happy they made amends and reportedly got the problem fixed instead of telling me to politely go fuck myself. By the way, that should now mean they are not charging me anything for the shipping since it was indeed a warranty repair. They were only going to charge me because at first they found nothing wrong with the pistol.

 

[Doc8404]

Whatever floats your boat.
I agree they fixed it.
They essentially told you that you were wrong.
You pushed back and then they decided to do their job.
Great!

 

[Glenn B]

Whatever floats your boat.
I agree they fixed it.
They essentially told you that you were wrong.
You pushed back and then they decided to do their job.
Great!

If that is how you care to see it, what more can I say beyond nothing.

 

[ArmedCorgi]

What matters is that you are up to now, happy with the responsiveness of their CS. Yeah, it would have been nice if maybe they spent more time with the handgun initially to replicate the problem rather than check it once and try to charge you for the shipping. I mean, seeing as how they asked you to have the problem confirmed by a gunsmith first, which you did, should have waived any shipping charge even if the problem didn't happen for them. As we all know, anytime you complain of a symptom to a mechanic it naturally doesn't do it for the mechanic. I'm glad you are happy with them. Keep us posted on how the handgun functions when you get it back!

 

[Carlos Hathcock]

Their US office is in Navada.

Our country has no such state.

 

[kev74]

Our country has no such state.

I stand by my incorrect spelling.

Nothing but a bunch of degenerate, gambling, Filipino hooker arms dealers, anyway.

 

[ArmedCorgi]

Nah-vah-dah

 

[Glenn B]

Their US office is in Navada.

Their US office is in Navada.

Yes it is but his accent in THE EMAIL sounded southern

 

[Glenn B]

What matters is that you are up to now, happy with the responsiveness of their CS. Yeah, it would have been nice if maybe they spent more time with the handgun initially to replicate the problem rather than check it once and try to charge you for the shipping. I mean, seeing as how they asked you to have the problem confirmed by a gunsmith first, which you did, should have waived any shipping charge even if the problem didn't happen for them. As we all know, anytime you complain of a symptom to a mechanic it naturally doesn't do it for the mechanic. I'm glad you are happy with them. Keep us posted on how the handgun functions when you get it back!

You got it, what I said was never I was happy with the mechanic kind of a thing or his work or lack of it. I was happy though with the customer service representative listening and double checking. As for the gunsmith who initially looked over my gun, either he did not read my issue, misunderstood it or did not give a crap. The second gunsmith who checked my gun apparently saw the problem. Could have been the same as the first one - who knows. Hopefully they will send it back in better condition than how I sent it to them.

 

[Glenn B]

I stand by my incorrect spelling.

Nothing but a bunch of degenerate, gambling, Filipino hooker arms dealers, anyway.

My kind of people.

 

[Glenn B]

On June 28th, I contacted Rock island Armory (aka: Armscor) about the status of my RIA 1911 A1 Full Size Pistol to find out if it had shipped back to my dealer yet. They replied to me yesterday telling me that my pistol will not be shipped back to me! Here is what they told me:

Hello Mr. Bartley, I do apologize but we have not sent out your firearm yet. We had an inventory last week that delayed all shipments. That plus the holiday weekend has set our repair process back. Also, after examining the firearm our gunsmith did find further issues that made it necessary to replace the firearm for you. The replacement should be sent out in the next few days.

So, I am not getting back a repaired pistol but evidently will receive a new one. While I am still happy with the customer service guy, I am not happy with the initial appraisal of the issue by the original gunsmith who supposedly checked for the problem for which I had returned it. He initially said nothing was wrong with it and they were going to return it to me at my expense! Luckily the customer service rep listened to me and had it checked again. I also am happy that the second gunsmith (could be the same as the first or maybe someone else) found and fixed the problem that I had at issue and then was astute enough to check it over well and discover whatever other problem has obligated them to see fit to replace the whole pistol. Hopefully they will answer my inquiry of today asking what was the problem that mandated a replacement.

I have got to point out am not all that happy with their quality control either. I guess time and shooting of the replacement pistol will determine if I ever feel good enough about it to give it to my son as I had planned to do with the original. If I do give it to him it will probably be with the stipulation that he never use it as a carry gun.

 

[ArmedCorgi]

On June 28th, I contacted Rock island Armory (aka: Armscor) about the status of my RIA 1911 A1 Full Size Pistol to find out if it had shipped back to my dealer yet. They replied to me yesterday telling me that my pistol will not be shipped back to me! Here is what they told me:



So, I am not getting back a repaired pistol but evidently will receive a new one. While I am still happy with the customer service guy, I am not happy with the initial appraisal of the issue by the original gunsmith who supposedly checked for the problem for which I had returned it. He initially said nothing was wrong with it and they were going to return it to me at my expense! Luckily the customer service rep listened to me and had it checked again. I also am happy that the second gunsmith (could be the same as the first or maybe someone else) found and fixed the problem that I had at issue and then was astute enough to check it over well and discover whatever other problem has obligated them to see fit to replace the whole pistol. Hopefully they will answer my inquiry of today asking what was the problem that mandated a replacement.

I have got to point out am not all that happy with their quality control either. I guess time and shooting of the replacement pistol will determine if I ever feel good enough about it to give it to my son as I had planned to do with the original. If I do give it to him it will probably be with the stipulation that he never use it as a carry gun.

Well, hopefully you can get the information you require about your original pistol. A good company would disclose whatever the issue was that warranted full replacement. The silver lining is that they are opting to fully replace the pistol instead of sending you the "repaired" one with the hopes you don't find the other issue(s). I'm no expert but it seems to me full replacement isn't something most companies necessarily want to do. Any way, keep us updated!

 

[Glenn B]

Well, hopefully you can get the information you require about your original pistol. A good company would disclose whatever the issue was that warranted full replacement. The silver lining is that they are opting to fully replace the pistol instead of sending you the "repaired" one with the hopes you don't find the other issue(s). I'm no expert but it seems to me full replacement isn't something most companies necessarily want to do. Any way, keep us updated!

I am happy they are opting to replace it whatever is the problem. Much better having that done than shooting it down the road and having a catastrophic failure of some sort. I hope they do tell me what was the problem that caused that and imagine they will do so. It could lead to bad press not to divulge such info. The downside to this is that now I have to pay to have my license amended twice, once to remove the old one and then to add the new one.

 

[ArmedCorgi]

I am happy they are opting to replace it whatever is the problem. Much better having that done than shooting it down the road and having a catastrophic failure of some sort. I hope they do tell me what was the problem that caused that and imagine they will do so. It could lead to bad press not to divulge such info. The downside to this is that now I have to pay to have my license amended twice, once to remove the old one and then to add the new one.

Are they aware of that inconvenience? Granted telling them may make them want to try to fix your original so as not to cause you any administrative headaches. On the other hand, you may be able to milk it and perhaps get some extra mags or other swag for your troubles....

 

[MilesTeg]

Don't forget I think you will need to have the new one sent to your FFL in order to do all the permit amending. God I hate NYS.

 

[Glenn B]

Don't forget I think you will need to have the new one sent to your FFL in order to do all the permit amending. God I hate NYS.

It was sent to them from my FFL as required by Nassau County and was to be returned to him. So nothing different there I would hope.

 

[MilesTeg]

It was sent to them from my FFL as required by Nassau County and was to be returned to him. So nothing different there I would hope.

Well for warranty work your allowed to ship from your person to the manufacture so I didn't know if you did that or not. Besides that make your FFL knows this is a different firearm than the one he shipped out because he will have to do the paper work for amendments to your permit to stay 100% legal. It's probably going to be a little bit of a pain on his end.

 

[Glenn B]

Well for warranty work your allowed to ship from your person to the manufacture so I didn't know if you did that or not. Besides that make your FFL knows this is a different firearm than the one he shipped out because he will have to do the paper work for amendments to your permit to stay 100% legal. It's probably going to be a little bit of a pain on his end.

Yes you can in most of NY State but no you cannot in Nassau County. I triple checked with NCPD and each time they insisted it be sbipped through an FFL on my end regardless of it going in under warranty.


There is little my FFL has to do. I have done this before when a pistol I had was changed due to a recall. The manufacturer supplies paper showing the gun was exchanged and the dealer does his normal thing just with a new gun. It is relatively easy for the dealer.

 

[MilesTeg]

It's probably more common than I realize then. I commend you for checking with the PP office because I can tell you I would have just shipped it out myself and not thought twice about it.

 

[Glenn B]

I on

It's probably more common than I realize then. I commend you for checking with the PP office because I can tell you I would have just shipped it out myself and not thought twice about it.

l only checked with them because I had seen, in the latest NCPD Pistol License Section Handbook, how they had changed the requirements for shipping to someone out of state if you sell a gun to that person. Has to go FFL to FFL (actually NYSLDF to FFL).

Sell or transfer the firearm(s), whether within or outside New York State, ONLY through a NYS licensed dealer in firearms,

Now, you might not consider me sending it in for repair as a transfer but NCPD certainly dos and they base it on this definition, also from the current NCPD Pistol License Section Handbook:

DISPOSE OF: In addition to its ordinary meaning, to give, give away, offer, offer for sale, sell, transfer or exchange.

As it was explained to me by one of the officers at NCPD, why take the chance of having my license revoked and firearms seized if the gun got lost in shipment and I had to report that to them. He said I might even be prosecuted - although, for what he could not say.

Yes it is convoluted - so much so that NC even created a new meaning for the words "Dispose of". In fact, the state police licensing division told me that I only need ship it from me to a dealer (subsequent to that handbook being published) if I want to sell it out of state. So, I would think that should apply likewise to a gun being sent in for repair but Nassau County government has become a den of rights hating scum and the powers that be apparently ramrodded this requirement through the system.

 

[Glenn B]

So RIA got back to me today to tell me what was the problem that is the reason for them replacing my pistol instead of repairing it. I am very happy they caught it, sounds like something that could cause a catastrophic failure sooner or later:

The gunsmith found that some of the internal dimensions of the frame were milled out a little more than they should be. It was something that would have caused problems later on after time and use.

After reading that reply, I tend to think that the first gunsmith who looked at my pistol and the second one to look at it are not one and the same person since the first one never even saw the problem I described and the second one found not only the issue I described but other flaws that would take a good looking over to find.

This whole thing makes me wonder how many others went out in the same condition!

 

[ArmedCorgi]

So RIA got back to me today to tell me what was the problem that is the reason for them replacing my pistol instead of repairing it. I am very happy they caught it, sounds like something that could cause a catastrophic failure sooner or later:



Makes one wonder how many others went out in the same condition!

Glenn, that is indeed very concerning and I am glad they caught it and were forthright enough to inform you of why. It makes me wonder if they might issue a recall? In any case, I'm glad they caught that issue and are giving you a replacement pistol. Hearing that news would make the inconvenience of having to amend your permit worth it.

 

[Glenn B]

Got my RIA 1911 A1 Standard FS pistol back Friday. Well, I did not get the same one back, in fact they sent me a replacement. I took it apart and cleaned it Saturday evening, everything went back together as it should so it did not suffer the same original problem as did the first one. As for the subsequent problem that Armscor discovered, with the frame not being milled correctly, I can only hope this one does not suffer from that.

I took it to the range last night (only handful of shooters there at 645PM on a hot summer's night), fired 150-175 rounds, seemed to work okay for a 1911. Had one failure to feed, maybe shooter error (limp wrist) or maybe just cause it needs to be broken in - Armscor recommends 500 rounds to do so). Then, there were two times the slide did not lock back after last round (probably a problematic mag and I forgot to mark it). Shooting to the left somewhat with it, about 4 inches at 25 yards and a couple at 10 yards. Do not think that is due to shooter error as I made sure to check my grip and amount of finger on trigger and the groups were just that - groups - and they were decent at that too. Will have to drift the rear sight a bit but will shoot some more to see if it is me that needs correction before I do that. I will test to see if it is me by firing this gun and others and comparing how I shoot with each. I they all go to the left, it's me, if only the RIA shots to the left, it's the pistol.

Anyway, much happier now than when I found the original problem.

Will shoot it more next range trip and see if it or me needs improvement to achieve accuracy.