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FNH Customer Service - They sent me a Full Auto lower instead of a Semi auto

12K views 25 replies 16 participants last post by  Mk 16  
#1 ·
I have an issue with FNH Parts and I was hoping someone could help me out because to date, I've sent over a dozen emails and keep sending a weekly email to: parts@fnhusa.com, customerservice@fnhusa.com, and sales@fnhusa.com. I've also called and left numerous voice mails with Josh who is the Parts manager for FNH Parts dept with zero callbacks.

I'm not really sure where to go from here.

Here's the background.
I bought a SEMI AUTO FNH SCAR 16S replacement lower from FNH Parts. I gave that lower with my rifle when I sold the firearm, because the factory lower was modified to fit a Magpul grip. The new owner attempted to install the replacement and it wouldn't fit properly. Turns out - it was a FULL AUTO lower, not a semi auto lower. He immediately freaked out, called his lawyer, and doused the lower in gasoline and melted it as he did NOT want to be in possession of an unregistered full auto part. I actually have pictures of it being torched. I feel terrible. The buyer of my rifle was worried I was trying to sell illegal items, and contacted his lawyer about it. It really hurts my credibility! This was a screw-up at FNH Parts side of things. They never should have sent me a Full Auto lower.

To try and rectify the situation, I called/emailed them and explained everything, sent them the photos, explained the screw-up, etc. In what I thought was a good customer service move, they agreed to replace the destroyed FA Lower with a new Semi Auto lower at their expense. Given the screw-up, and the minimal cost of a polymer lower on a $2,000 rifle, I think that was the right action.

FNH Parts was also going to ship this to the new owner, since it is a non-serial numbered item. Unfortunately, it has been 2 months and neither the new owner, or myself have received anything from FNH - not even an email reply, or a callback to a voicemail.

I send a new email at least once per week, and leave a voicemail at least once every 2 weeks. It has been almost 2 months, and I haven't heard a peep. The new SCAR16S owner is being patient with me, but I feel like a complete idiot, because I assured him that FNH promised me via email they would make the situation right and ship another lower out.

I am so annoyed/angry/disappointed/etc. Does anyone have any additional suggestions? I am extremely worried that they mailed out the wrong part - a FULL AUTO part instead of a Semi-auto part. I see that as a major liability and a quality control issue. What if they sent out the wrong trigger group!?!

I own a bunch of other FNH items, and this incident really has me questioning selling them and avoiding this company entirely. I love the products, but support really has been HORRIBLE.
 
#2 · (Edited)
Is the full auto lower stripped or is it complete? Also what you can do is bite the bullet and buy one from Stryker enterprises and ship it to the guy whom you owe the lower to, that way you're just dealing with FN
 
#3 ·
The full auto lower no longer exists, as it was melted. Fortunately, it was stripped, so I do not believe there was technically anything illegal about it since it was not a serial numbered item - however, I fully understand why it spooked the buyer and why he freaked out.

It is a mistake and mistakes happen behind the parts counter, but as far as I'm concerned, its a semi major mistake when you accidentally send out any FULL AUTO parts instead of the semi-auto counterparts. Either way, I have an email from FNH stating they will ship out a replacement, and they never did.

I also sent a link to this thread to Kristina DeMilt / media@fnhusa.com, since I've now posted about this situation here for the public to see.
 
#4 · (Edited)
The full auto lower no longer exists, as it was melted. Fortunately, it was stripped, so I do not believe there was technically anything illegal about it since it was not a serial numbered item - however, I fully understand why it spooked the buyer and why he freaked out.

It is a mistake and mistakes happen behind the parts counter, but as far as I'm concerned, its a semi major mistake when you accidentally send out any FULL AUTO parts instead of the semi-auto counterparts. Either way, I have an email from FNH stating they will ship out a replacement, and they never did.

I also sent a link to this thread to Kristina DeMilt / media@fnhusa.com, since I've now posted about this situation here for the public to see.
Its not a full auto part.They actually are the same and the only difference between the auto and semi is the notch on the lower marked with an A on the top of the lower to prevent a full auto Lower from being readily installed on a semi only gun.
 
#8 ·
Also, if FNH would have said "sorry, buyer torched it, we're not replacing it" from the start I would feel different.

However, FNH owned the mistake early on, and said they would send a replacement part. The issue now is that FNH is failing to replace the incorrect part, and they aren't returning calls / emails, which IS the issue and IS the reason why I posted this problem here. It is a customer service issue at this point, since the purchased part that was sent differed from what was actually ordered and paid for direct through FNH Parts.

Maybe you find it acceptable to be sent the wrong or incorrect parts? I do not. To complicate the issue - I was incorrectly sent Full Auto parts. You might see it as a non-issue, but I think it is a significant screw up. The over-reaction by the buyer is completely irrelevant - I merely wanted to provide the backstory.

This situation is no different than if I ordered a part for my FNH FNX Tactical, and instead was sent a full auto polymer SCAR16 lower.
 
#10 ·
People make mistakes. That's what makes us people. The modules are similar and to the untrained eye, it's not surprising that an order picker grabbed the incorrect item by mistake.

I'm sure it was a PD module as they not marked with 3 fire control positions.

Sent you a PM. I would like to send you a new replacement polymer module free of charge.

All that's needed is your shipping address and the color of the module.

FNH USA has good people and nobody is perfect.
 
#9 · (Edited)
We don't find it acceptable. But the rest of us who KNEW what you had in the first place would have been like "sweet they sent me a MK16 lower" and kept it. At any rate, similar story. A while ago, I sent in a Playstation 3 to Sony to get repaired. They ended up replacing it. However my replacement playstation 3 got lost in the mail and I couldn't get a response from Sony in order to find out if a new one was on the way after the 90 day waiting period before insurance covered it. I received zero response from them, similar to where you're at with FN right now. Frustrated, I had the Legalman on the ship i was stationed on at the time call Sony. I shortly received a new PS3 after that. Problem solved.

Edit: Im not saying sue FN. A Legalman is the Navy's equivalent to a paralegal. But, sometimes when they aren't listening to you, you have to make them listen. As I did with sony.
 
#11 ·
Thank you. FN is blessed to have you as a distributor, stepping up to support the customer, even when that responsibility may not necessarily fall upon you.

I was told that the module actually had all 3 markings, but I fully agree that mistakes happen. I truly hope someone from FN personally thanks you for stepping in to assist with this.
 
#18 ·
for a little humor, here is what a burning SCAR 16S lower looks like.

View attachment 31803
And one not torched, installed and legal :mrgreen:




And a MK17 on a 17s






At least you had someone step up and take care of it and you in the end. :?
 
#19 ·
If I still had the SCAR, I'd have kept it and tried to make it work because it would have been such a unique setup. However, I understand why it would spook a buyer. Who knows if he was going to be the victim of some type of sting operation.

I can't tell you how thrilled I am that Stryker took care of this. I can't even begin to express my disgust towards FNH at how inept they were in handling this situation and the support surround it. To not even reply to an email, or answer a call - there is no excuse. While I'm thrilled that a distributor stepped up and owned FNH's mistake, it never should have gone that far. It never should have been a post here. :(

I am also a little sad, because looking back at my PM history, I originally PM'd Stryker to see what he charged for the lower, and ended up buying it direct from FN instead to save a few bucks. Had I just ordered it from Stryker the first time around, this likely never would have been an issue.

I appreciate the community taking care of its own.
 
#25 ·
:roll: