HK customer service headache

[NightFighter]

I am up early today for court and decided to call HK-USA and order an LEM conversion for my spare USP .45f. I called them and was transferred to voicemail. I called them after 1330 hrs their time to make sure people were not on lunch break.

I called back and explained I would like to talk to a human being.

More voicemail.

I called back and asked for a home phone number for someone I could talk to at 0300 hrs. when I am up and do my business. My sarcasm was not appreciated as noted by the sigh on the other end of the phone. The lady sounded like a retired "Hee Haw" extra.

I talked to so many people that calls stretched between Trussville, Alabama, and Columbus, Georgia. The guy I finally talked to when ordering the part seriously lacked customer service skills. I could also barely understand him because of the southern drawwwwwlllllllllllll. (I grew up in Minnesota. Watch the movie "Fargo" and you hear my parents.)

The point is I own 3 of the most expensive police duty pistols out there, yet HK-USA does not staff their offices to handle the incoming call volume. I was told that HK will eventually move out of Trussville to Columbus. How about moving HK-USA offices to a state with higher ACT and standardized testing scores such as Minnesota or Iowa?

Rant mode off

[AGG]

NF,

If you need a part from HKI/Trussville, order and pay for it--- I live near there, will pick it up for you and overnight it to you at no charge!!! :D
Very few of the GSI personnel (very friendly and helpful) transferred to HKI. :rolleyes:

Tony

[Rolan_Kraps]

Well, it should be obvious to you that you were treated that way BECAUSE you were a Yankee. Geeze, it's only been 143 years, we have LONG memories. Watch the movie Fried Green Tomatoes and you'll see GA and AL folks.

Lawd 'a Mercy, and may God Bless you.

[AGG]

Welcome to the site--- funny first post!!! :D:D:D:D:D:D

Tony

[Big Bore]

CS at HK is stretched to the limit right now and for the foreseeable future due to the departure of Travis. Jeff is pretty much all alone there and is running a one man show that deals with repairs, parts orders, customer service in general...
HK's loss with Travis is Steyr's gain for certain, but until HK can hire and train a replacement for Travis things are not going to be running as smoothly as they were.

[Mark71]

CS at HK is stretched to the limit right now and for the foreseeable future due to the departure of Travis. Jeff is pretty much all alone there and is running a one man show that deals with repairs, parts orders, customer service in general...
HK's loss with Travis is Steyr's gain for certain, but until HK can hire and train a replacement for Travis things are not going to be running as smoothly as they were.

Whoa Travis isn't with HK anymore!?!? :confused: What happened?

[Bentonville]

That's a sad revelation, BB. HK needs to match and raise the offer that lured him away.

[Hollywood]

CS at HK is stretched to the limit right now and for the foreseeable future due to the departure of Travis. Jeff is pretty much all alone there and is running a one man show that deals with repairs, parts orders, customer service in general...
HK's loss with Travis is Steyr's gain for certain, but until HK can hire and train a replacement for Travis things are not going to be running as smoothly as they were.

Wow, I may have had one of the last match triggers installed by Travis then. That's cool because I have an older USP9 that actually requires some skill to install.

It would suit me fine if they move to the Columbus office...I'm about 4 miles from there.

[Big Bore]

I am not privy to the actual reasons he left HK for Steyr but I'm sure he felt it was to his advantage to move on. It is indeed sad that he left but I support his decision to leave regardless of what inspired it and I do wish him the best of luck and success in his endeavor. He is a good man and his absence is surely missed at HK and the HK community in general.
So it seems the CS department is already feeling the pinch of his departure so it is going to require a lot of patience on our part until HK can weather this storm. And I'm sure Jeff is going to be swamped so reaching him is likely to take a lot of patience also.

[Biggman]

Yes I vote for Columbus. I am about 2 hours to the east. My son played High School football there. Of course all y'all realize that he had really low ACP scores, or whatever you call them, and he talks really really slow. Day ain't got no real good schuls ober there but they gits by.

You know I'll bet the HK folks are like a lot of others I know.....a little courtesy will go a long way......when you can find it.

Way to go Rolan.

[<Mach1]

departure of Travis.
Most unfortunate (being self centered), when did Travis make the move?

[mugdava]

Really bad news for CS @ HK.

Steyr already has some the best CS in the industry.
_______
mugdava

[AWD]

I am up early today for court and decided to call HK-USA and order an LEM conversion for my spare USP .45f. I called them and was transferred to voicemail. I called them after 1330 hrs their time to make sure people were not on lunch break.

I called back and explained I would like to talk to a human being.

More voicemail.

I called back and asked for a home phone number for someone I could talk to at 0300 hrs. when I am up and do my business. My sarcasm was not appreciated as noted by the sigh on the other end of the phone. The lady sounded like a retired "Hee Haw" extra.

I talked to so many people that calls stretched between Trussville, Alabama, and Columbus, Georgia. The guy I finally talked to when ordering the part seriously lacked customer service skills. I could also barely understand him because of the southern drawwwwwlllllllllllll. (I grew up in Minnesota. Watch the movie "Fargo" and you hear my parents.)

The point is I own 3 of the most expensive police duty pistols out there, yet HK-USA does not staff their offices to handle the incoming call volume. I was told that HK will eventually move out of Trussville to Columbus. How about moving HK-USA offices to a state with higher ACT and standardized testing scores such as Minnesota or Iowa?

Rant mode off

You know, you CAN rant without attacking other people's intelligence. I guess my being born in the Ozarks will disqualify me from even helping you here, but I'll say it anyway... every time I have called HK I was helped right then and there. Guess I am just lucky.

Have a nice day

[AWD]

NF,

If you need a part from HKI/Trussville, order and pay for it--- I live near there, will pick it up for you and overnight it to you at no charge!!! :D
Very few of the GSI personnel (very friendly and helpful) transferred to HKI. :rolleyes:

Tony

Now there's a helpfull forum member!

[NonConformist]

I hear little good from, or about, HK customer service

Ive been fortunant and never really needed them

[Shakey]

I am up early today for court and decided to call HK-USA and order an LEM conversion for my spare USP .45f. I called them and was transferred to voicemail. I called them after 1330 hrs their time to make sure people were not on lunch break.

I called back and explained I would like to talk to a human being.

More voicemail.

I called back and asked for a home phone number for someone I could talk to at 0300 hrs. when I am up and do my business. My sarcasm was not appreciated as noted by the sigh on the other end of the phone. The lady sounded like a retired "Hee Haw" extra.

I talked to so many people that calls stretched between Trussville, Alabama, and Columbus, Georgia. The guy I finally talked to when ordering the part seriously lacked customer service skills. I could also barely understand him because of the southern drawwwwwlllllllllllll. (I grew up in Minnesota. Watch the movie "Fargo" and you hear my parents.)

The point is I own 3 of the most expensive police duty pistols out there, yet HK-USA does not staff their offices to handle the incoming call volume. I was told that HK will eventually move out of Trussville to Columbus. How about moving HK-USA offices to a state with higher ACT and standardized testing scores such as Minnesota or Iowa?

Rant mode off

You'd rather be talking to someone in India? The last I checked Trussville was still in the USA. Just a little heavy with the anti southern bias there don't you think? With Travis gone Jeff will be hard pressed to keep up with the work load. When Travis was still on board I would get the answering machine more often than not. HK needs to add more staff for sure. Maybe they'll hire some personnel out of Boston, or the Bronx. No hard to understand accents there. You could always tell them how you feel about the way they talk in Alabama. That would definitely impress the hell out of them and get you much better service. All HK customers deserve fast courteous treatment don't you think? The last I talked to them the were very courteous, just not real fast and I didn't need an interpreter.

[MaverickHK]

Don't worry, we even out our southern drawl with healthy doses of patience and courtesy, dang misguided yanks and their sarcasm... :90:

[Horseman]

I am up early today for court and decided to call HK-USA and order an LEM conversion for my spare USP .45f. I called them and was transferred to voicemail. I called them after 1330 hrs their time to make sure people were not on lunch break.

I called back and explained I would like to talk to a human being.

More voicemail.

I called back and asked for a home phone number for someone I could talk to at 0300 hrs. when I am up and do my business. My sarcasm was not appreciated as noted by the sigh on the other end of the phone. The lady sounded like a retired "Hee Haw" extra.

I talked to so many people that calls stretched between Trussville, Alabama, and Columbus, Georgia. The guy I finally talked to when ordering the part seriously lacked customer service skills. I could also barely understand him because of the southern drawwwwwlllllllllllll. (I grew up in Minnesota. Watch the movie "Fargo" and you hear my parents.)

The point is I own 3 of the most expensive police duty pistols out there, yet HK-USA does not staff their offices to handle the incoming call volume. I was told that HK will eventually move out of Trussville to Columbus. How about moving HK-USA offices to a state with higher ACT and standardized testing scores such as Minnesota or Iowa?

Rant mode off

If you are trying to say that people in the south are not as smart as Minnesotans, at least use proper grammar. Besides, the last poll I looked at had Obama up by 12 points in Minnesota. I doubt that would happen in Alabama or Georgia. We do have SOME common sense.

[Big Bore]

Most unfortunate (being self centered), when did Travis make the move?
I'm not real sure. He PMed me sometime last week about his departure. Sad to say that was not a PM I was thrilled to see. :(


Come on guys, lighten up about the anti-southern comment. The guy was joking around. Being originally from a state (KY) whose motto is (or should be) "Where men are men and sheep are nervous" one has to learn to take a joke. Like southerners never poke fun at yanks???
You know the difference between a yankee and a damned yankee? A yankee comes to the south, a damned yankee comes to the south and stays! It's all in good fun and nothing to get our southern panties in a twist over.

[NightFighter]

BTW, those "Hee Haw" extras were smoking hot ladies as I remember from my childhood.

HK-USA simply needs to invest more in customer service for consumers and local law enforcement. There seemed to be an attitude that you will be transferred to voicemail and someone will get to you whenever they feel like it. I offered to wait on hold, and they were not even set up to do that.

It would be nice to order a part online at 0300 hrs. when I am up and functioning on a night off after getting home from the 24-hour gym.

Here are a few things I do love about the South: peaches, pecan pie, Kentucky bourbon and sweet iced tea. You all (he he) just talk funny and are rarely on time.

[Sobriquet]

Leaving Civil War tensions aside.... why the heck doesn't HK have a modern customer service department on par with other major corporations?

Granted, HK isn't General Motors, but c'mon. How many millions in revenue do they do in the United States in a year from civilian sales? They can't afford to hire enough people so that if a guy wants to go on vacation or leaves the company the entire department goes into crisis mode?

I love my HK, but the corporate operations of the company absolutely befuddle me.

[Shakey]

...Here are a few things I do love about the South: peaches, pecan pie, Kentucky bourbon and sweet iced tea. You all (he he) just talk funny and are rarely on time.

It's y'all FYI. If y'all had enough good sour mash whiskey in your system the pronunciation wouldn't be such a challenge and time wouldn't matter near as much. Don't forget Moon Pies and cherry cola, pickup trucks and good hunting dogs. More importantly you left out the women. Nothing can beat a young southern gal with that soft sweet drawl. HKs customer service issues go back a long ways and they're not alone in the industry. Good thing they make fine weapons that seldom need service, or repair.

[azpilot06]

CS at HK is stretched to the limit right now and for the foreseeable future due to the departure of Travis. Jeff is pretty much all alone there and is running a one man show that deals with repairs, parts orders, customer service in general...

No discredit to BigBore for saying this...but the failure of an organization to appropriately plan or staff does not place the onus upon the customer to "understand" the present situation. As much money as people spend on HK products in this country, there is no excuse for HK to ever be reliant on a "one-man-show" for any areas of their operations.

This was a while ago, but when my prior department issued the USP, the armorers always had a box of broken guns over in the corner that were awaiting the next Pony Express of parts from Ze Fatherland. They ultimately found that it was easier to issue and officer a new gun, rather than take the gun in for repair, not knowing when parts would become available.

Preference and performance issues and debates aside, this would never happen with Glock or Smith. Unacceptable situation for the civilian and LE markets.

[ARKAY.357]

It's y'all FYI. If y'all had enough good sour mash whiskey in your system the pronunciation wouldn't be such a challenge and time wouldn't matter near as much. Don't forget Moon Pies and cherry cola, pickup trucks and good hunting dogs. More importantly you left out the women. Nothing can beat a young southern gal with that soft sweet drawl. HKs customer service issues go back a long ways and they're not alone in the industry. Good thing they make fine weapons that seldom need service, or repair.


Not being from the south, I'm not certain about this, but when addressing a group as you are here, isn't the correct phrase "all y'all"?

All y'all have a good one;

ARKAY

[Tspeis]

No discredit to BigBore for saying this...but the failure of an organization to appropriately plan or staff does not place the onus upon the customer to "understand" the present situation. As much money as people spend on HK products in this country, there is no excuse for HK to ever be reliant on a "one-man-show" for any areas of their operations.

This was a while ago, but when my prior department issued the USP, the armorers always had a box of broken guns over in the corner that were awaiting the next Pony Express of parts from Ze Fatherland. They ultimately found that it was easier to issue and officer a new gun, rather than take the gun in for repair, not knowing when parts would become available.

Preference and performance issues and debates aside, this would never happen with Glock or Smith. Unacceptable situation for the civilian and LE markets.

Seeing as Smith manufactures ALL their stuff in the US and Glock has some US manufacturing capabilities, I'd imagine parts will be a lot easier to come by than they would be coming from a company that has to import everything from Germany.

However, I do agree with your sentiments regarding the staffing situation at Trussville.


Tspeis

[cueist]

Just a quick thought.

If you are angery about being sent to a voice mail think about this...

How are two (now one person) people supposed to get any work done if they are constantly on the phone answering calls and talking to people.

I would rather be sent to a voice and called back at their convienace so they get get on with their job.

[Sobriquet]

With all due respect, Cueist, I don't think that's why the majority of members are frustrated. There should be enough people to both do the work and field the calls. That's not the fault of the poor guy that's overloaded, though.

[cueist]

With all due respect, Cueist, I don't think that's why the majority of members are frustrated. There should be enough people to both do the work and field the calls. That's not the fault of the poor guy that's overloaded, though.

You're right. There should be more people. However there are not. So we have to make due with what they have and try to understand their situation.

[Big Bore]

Well, blow me down. I just got a PM and it was indeed welcome this time. It seems that HK has hired another CS guy and he is already at work along with Jeff. That did not take too long at all.
He is also a new member of the HKPRO family but I will let him introduce himself should he deem that wise.
I'm sure Jeff will get him acclimated to the HK family soon enough and while he has big shoes to fill, my bet is that he is up to the task.
So, while it may be a bit bumpy for a week or two, I expect to see HK CS back up and running smoothly again in no time. Just relax and give them a chance. No company can survive with excess employees so while it may seem to some outsiders that having only two CS guys is not enough, and maybe it isn't, it is just too hard for me to try and second guess HK's hiring policy, and I don't have the time anyway. All I know is that they (HKCS) have always been there for me when I really needed them and have always gone beyond the call of duty and if given the chance, most people will get the same treatment I have gotten. Sure, sometimes calls go unanswered, but they have 1,000 calls a day to return, and like anyone else, they have to prioritize. Let's see, do I call back Chief Wiggens about his two dozen MP5s that he needs reworked or call back Joe Blow who wants to know how to get a LE/Military catalog even though is not in LE or the military. Hummm, tough decision.
Does HK drop the ball once in a while? Sure they do. They are human and crap happens, but from my dealings with them they drop it a lot less often than most of the other companies out there that I have dealt with.

To the OP, give them a week or two to get things back up to speed and I bet when you call back you will sing a completely different tune, and maybe with a southern drawl this time.;)

[swenk]

My own (and first) experience with HK customer service just a few weeks ago was awesome.
I sent in my USP because the hammer would not stay back for single action. I had it repaired and back in my hands 12 days after I put it in the mail.
Sucks to hear about Travis, hopefully any new people they get wont take long to get up to speed.

[Horseman]

I was never upset about voicemail. I WAS upset when numerous voice mails were not returned. When I did speak to a real person, I was told the CS department was either off "training" or on vacation. This happened on three separate occasions, over several months.

I think in the future it would be wise to just contact Big Bore, as he seems to have their attention.:D