Monday, December 31, 2012

Glock Customer Service and Repair Service

Sometime earlier this year, I sent my Glock 26 into Glock for a reapir. I had Trijicon night sights on it and the front sight had dimmed thus making it almost impossible to effectively aim in low light. Never having realized that the night sights could break or just dim like that was a real eye opener for me. I decided to use the KISS principle when getting replacement sights for it and requested that Glock install their standard Glock 26 sights on it instead of new Trijicon night sights. I mean, what could go wrong with a nice sturdy set of steel sights right.

When I go my slide back, that is all I had needed to send them for the sight replacement, I noted that the replacement sights were made of polymer. I was pretty disappointed because as far as I had known standard Glock sights for the Glock 26 had always been made from steel. When I bought the gun, directly from Glock a few years ago, the only sights I remember them offering were their standard steel sights, Glock Night Sights and Trijicon Night sights – at least for law enforcement sales. I opted for the Trijicon night sights back then at considerable cost over both the standard steel sights and Glock night sights When I took the Glock Armorers course about 2 years ago, no one instructing us ever even hinted that Glock used polymer sights as their standard sights; so I am guessing their standard sights changed from steel to polymer sometime with the last two years.

With about 3 weeks of wearing the Glock, with those new fangled polymer sights, I had dinged them when I walked to close to a steel door jam and the rear sight slammed against it. Yes, I can be a klutz. No, these sights were not for me. So, after a few to several months of having the Glock with those plastic like sights on it, I finally got around to returning it to Glock to have them replaced with sights to these specs: standard sized Glock 26 sights, manufactured by Glock, made from steel. I also asked for the sights to be without a white dot/outline system if they met the other criteria I just mentioned but if they only had the ones hilighted by white that would be okay.

It only took Glock a few weeks to turnaround and get the slide back to me with the new sights on it. When I opened the box, I took a look at the invoice. It said that “GNS” had been installed. Maybe that is secret code for standard sights but I had always thought it meant Glock Night Sights, so I was a little anxious when taking the slide out of the box to look at the sights. The sights were a white dot/outline sighting system, front sight with white dot the rear sight with white outline. Oh well, at least they appear to be steel. I have no clue if they are of actual Glock manufacture because it does not say on the invoice. I am pretty happy with the new sights, so far. I say so far because I have to see if I can hit the target with them at 25 yards; that was something I could not accomplish with the polymer sights on the size target at which I was shooting. I was about 8 inches off to the left shooting at a 12”x12” target; that was absolutely unacceptable. Since I shot well within that same target with my Beretta 92FS, I figure it was the sights on the Glock that had me off like that. I will get to the range with the new steel ones as soon as I can, maybe this coming Saturday.

I am kind of on the fence about the quality of the service performed by Glock. While I was pretty happy with the communication that Glock employees gave me and for the short turnaround and that the sights seem to be steel and appear to have been installed properly (they took out the pin system and converted to a screw in sight I think) there are some disappointments. The first time the sight change was free but not this time. While the charge was only $20.00, I felt it should have been done for free. Those night sights that needed to be replaced and were still under warranty; that according to Glock when I sent them in to be replaced the first time around. Back then, I asked for replacement with standard sights and had their standard sights been changed, I think they should have advised me of it. When I bought the pistol it came with steel or night sights – nothing else as far as I can remember. They never told me their standard had changed and thus I had no way of knowing they would install polymer sights as standard. Yes, the steel ones I just got replaced the polymer ones but all due to them not letting me know the standard had changed otherwise I would have specified steel the first time round to replace the failed Trijicon night sights. Those Trijicon night sights cost me a whole lot more than $20.00. I could have just as easily asked for them, the first time around and they would have had to put them on for free at a much higher expense to them than for the both sets of the other sets of sights combined. I would have thought they would have understood the confusion over my asking for standard sights and not wanting standard polymer sights and thus would have replaced them with steel for free to keep me a happy customer. I guess I was wrong on that one.
 
I am also not too happy about them sending me an invoice that seems to me to incorrectly states the service that was performed on my slide. It would be nice to have the proper replacement product listed on the invoice for my records, then again maybe "GNS” is code for Glock Steel Sights but I doubt it. Whatever it stands for, it would also have been nice had they written it out instead of giving an abbreviation so as to leave no confusion. As for my getting the white outline/dot sights, maybe that is all they offer that is made by Glock as to steel sights (and hopefully the new steel sights are actually of Glock manufacture).

Maybe those are small gripes but it is getting the small details done right that I think is indicative of excellent work and outstanding service. Glock's customer and repair service averaged out to being fair to good, somewhere around a B- to a B, overall by my own personal estimation.
 
All the best,
Glenn B

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