Howa, horrible customer service.

[razorsharptokill]

I bought a 6.5 PRC carbon fiber barreled action from Brownell's. I put it in and HS precision stock and glass bedded the action. It just would not shoot constantly and definitely not under 1 MOA. I sent the action back to Howa (Legacy Sports).

Over SIX MONTHS later they finally replaced it. I never got any updates unless I reached out to them and then it was excuses about there being snow at the range, shortage of staff. etc. It turns out that they only have ONE GUY who is contracted outside their business,to do their warranty testing. What poor management. I was told that they sell 75K long guns a year. If only 1% come back for warranty work that is 750. ONE GUY for 750 guns?? They mentioned sending me something for my troubles like binos, scope rings, etc... that was never mentioned again.

Over all my experience with their product and their customer service department has been a deal breaker for me. Poor communication, excuses, etc. I included the warranty service manager in my emails and never heard a peep from him.

If you buy a Howa, and it's a shooter, count yourself lucky! I have another Howa that shoots pretty good for a light sporter/hunter, I got lucky.

The warranty process at Legacy Sports is awful. Their "Legacy" is one of poor quality control and terrible customer service. Fool me once...

 

[JGRaider]

Good to know. I have no problem calling out companies with piss poor customer service.

 

[Shortschaf]

It's the cheapest carbon fiber barreled action money can buy, and they replaced it for free.

I don't expect any company to immediately hand out free replacements to every single person who claimed their rifle didn't shoot

 

[DangerRanger]

I personally think 6 months to replace a crap product is too long no matter how good of a “deal” it’s supposed to be

 

[MThuntr]

Going to revive this one...sent in a 6mmArc Mini back in late June after a few weeks of no reply then back & forth troubleshooting. I'm pretty sure the chamber is crooked as I could never resize the brass without forming a donut/ring at the case web. Factory ammo was dangerously hot. I pierced a couple primers using ammo they suggested (Hornady Black). They logged delivery in early July. I was told 30-60 days. I think I'm at 75 now so I shot them an email earlier this week with my work order info and no reply.

I was really hoping to hunt with it this year but after reading this I guess I don't have my hopes up.

 

[razorsharptokill]

They replaced my barreled action after 6 MONTHS... luckily it's a shooter but that's the last howa product I will own.

 

[MThuntr]

They replaced my barreled action after 6 MONTHS... luckily it's a shooter but that's the last howa product I will own.

Glad it worked out. They mentioned being down gunsmiths but I didn't realize that it's a contracted out gig and there's only 1 guy.

This is my second Howa. The first is a 223 Mini and it's a great shooting rifle...I was going to grab a threaded version but probably not now.

 

[MThuntr]

In a stroke of random "luck", my barreled action is supposed to be here on Friday. Still haven't seen word on what they fixed. An invoice with a $0 balance was in my email yesterday so it seems that they worked on it. Their return process stated if they don't find something, I would be forced to pay shipping.

 

[SDHNTR]

I bought a cheap barely used Howa in a wood stock a few years ago because the guy said it wouldn’t shoot from brand new. Just looking at it I could tell right away why. The forend was warped and pressing against the barrel on one side. The inletting was horrible and the action barely fit in the stock. I called Legacy and was told to expect 6-12 mo turnaround. And they had to have the whole rifle in hand. No amount of pictures showing the obvious flaws would suffice enough to just get them to send me a new stock. They were uber lame to deal with.

So I got out the Dremel and ate that inletting up. Straightened out the forend with a valve guide rod recessed in epoxy and pulled straight, centered the barrel, hogged out the channel, slopped in gobs of epoxy and bedded it properly. Shot cloverleafs. Easy problem to fix, but there was certainly no relying on Legacy to step up and help.

 

[General RE LEE]

It must be rough being a manufacturer expecting the general public to shoot 1 MOA or better.