Browning Customer Service - FAIL

Tried contacting Browning for some information, no responses to anything (couple of weeks now).....nice guns, but I've come to the conclusion they suck for anything else!

That pretty much sums up this review folks! 

How did you try to contact them?  

Send them a message on both their Facebook pages, sent them an email and tried calling their UK distributor.

You would think someone would have responded by now. 

You would. But, this is a topic that gets frequently raised on all the forums that I'm on.  It seems that email is usually the culprit and while I've some sympathy with the importer/retailer etc , there is a responsibility on them, if they publicise an email address, to respond.

However, with all the spam email that many businesses get, I don't find it that surprising that many do not get replied to and suggest that you try again by phone.  One small shop told me a while ago that they get over 200 emails a day asking for prices and can they match this and that.  But, they shouldn't give an email address if this is what happens.

I emailed an organisation through the 'Contact' page on their website recently to cancel my annual subscription.  The £90 sub was still taken by direct debit a month later and when I phoned, the lady who answered the phone got quite snotty with me implying it was my fault as that was not a good way to contact them.  I don't often get irritated, but she know very quickly that on this occasion that she had managed it.  I finally got my money back, but have learned that email and other such contact methods are not the best.  I should have phoned.

Dunc has a point many emails get lost unopened or binned by filters.  My business gets loads of sales nonsence and even if you un subscribe you still get em.

You decide how you wish to be thought of and treated by your responses to customers. If you give an e-mail address then you have to answer them regardless of how many you get, the chances are many will result in a sale of some sort. 

Browning are by now well known for their lacklustre after sales and I personally wouldn't entertain buying a new gun from them as I simply wouldn't be able to put up with not getting a satisfactory resolution to a problem. 

ips said:

Dunc has a point many emails get lost unopened or binned by filters.  My business gets loads of sales nonsence and even if you un subscribe you still get em.

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Very often unsubscribing to a spam email tells the recipient (the spamming company) that the sending email address is active, and therefore gets sold on to other "marketing companies".

It was the same with the PPI reclaim companies that used to canvas by phone. You pressed 5 or whatever to remove your number and in reality it told the fishing company that your number was active, so you got more from them or other people. Most of you should have noticed that these have now stopped as this method of fishing is now outlawed as "unsolicited calling/marketing " and you no longer have to prove that the calls caused harm or distress. Also the penalties for offenders has increased somewhat.

Who else remembers those halcyon days before email and mobile phone were you go off to do your days work without constant interruption and changes to schedule. no wonder were all stressed.

I blame "pagers" that was the beginning of the end of peaceful productive working days.

Aaaah, halogen days ?

PhilS said:

Very often unsubscribing to a spam email tells the recipient (the spamming company) that the sending email address is active, and therefore gets sold on to other "marketing companies".

It was the same with the PPI reclaim companies that used to canvas by phone. You pressed 5 or whatever to remove your number and in reality it told the fishing company that your number was active, so you got more from them or other people. Most of you should have noticed that these have now stopped as this method of fishing is now outlawed as "unsolicited calling/marketing "

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​Very true phil

just to be clear I only unsubscribe from known suppliers etc email address. I never open a link or reply or unsubscribe if I don't know were its from.

Most email programs (outlook, thunderbird etc) allow you to set "rules" whereby emails from certain domains that you set are diverted straight to the bin. Not sure that you can do this on phones though? I'm only familiar with Android so couldn't say about IOS or the new Windows phones.

ips said:

Dunc has a point many emails get lost unopened or binned by filters.  My business gets loads of sales nonsence and even if you un subscribe you still get em.

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​Never ever unsubscribe from something that looks like spam - the spam engines look for an unsubscribe message as a way of telling an active email address, and the loop gets worse.  (on edit - what PhilS said - sorry, I missed that reply)

By all means - unsubscribe from legitimate mailing lists, or credible retailers that send you stuff - you can tell if the unsubscribe process is legitimate by the way it handles your request, sometimes asking for a reason (which is fair), or asking for confirmation (which is also fair). 

The rules behind maintaining a mailing list are quite strict - the one I use for ShootClay has rules about how addresses can be added, how they have to opted in and how people can find out details behind the list and how to leave.  Spammers are not concerned with this. 

Above all else people - invest in mail software that handles spam well. I receive on average 500 emails a day across three mailboxes (work, personal, shootclay) - I see probably 2 spam emails a week. If anyone needs advice on this, PM me - but it's really simple. 

As a side note, I mailed Chris Potters about something, and got a reply in a few days (not expecting anyone to reply straight away, with the volume of e-mails business's get these days as mentioned earlier)....but they did at least respond. 

ips said:

Who else remembers those halcyon days before email and mobile phone were you go off to do your days work without constant interruption and changes to schedule. no wonder were all stressed.

I blame "pagers" that was the beginning of the end of peaceful productive working days.

Click to expand...

​It would appear that they get in the way of your driving ability too !

I have two Brownings and the response from them through a dealer has been good, never tried dealing direct. I have gone through Derek Lees and R and K stock craft and had very good responses from BWM UK. Had a gun repaired under warranty without any issues with a loose pin in a for end and registered a fault with a possible score in a barrel when new, that turned out fine in the end anyway. If you have a dealer with a good relationship with BWM its the best route.