[mcguyver]

Now, I have informed Chris about my gearbox failure before he left from holidays, and I was told that he would get FCC to send me a replacement. I was told yesterday that this gearbox would need to be returned to FCC and they will determine repair or replacement. Now, it is warranty, and they have that right to repair or replace at their discretion.

However, I have seen this gearbox, and as of yet I am not convinced that it can be repaired. If the gearbox shell is good, meaning the holes for bearings and bushings are precise, then the issue is gear dimensions. Without knowledge of the allowable tolerances involved here, and what FCC has done, I can not comment more on this. It could be simply bad gears. It may also be no fault of the gears themselves, the problem may reside in the gearbox shell. Either possibility leads to damage and a dead gearbox. To further add issues, it may be both, and replacing gears when the problen is also the shell is not solving the problem, and future failure is assured, albeit out of warranty, to bad, so sad.

So, my gearbox and the latest one will be returned to the factory for assessment, repair and/or replacement. How long will this take? Weeks? Months? Never? At any rate, my gun went down June 23rd, I informed Chris the next day, and he moved on it promptly. However, it is now July 13, and my gun will be down until a functional gearbox arrives in my hands. With time allowed for shipping, I think it is safe to say that I will not see it functional again until well into August, but most likely later.

Warranty is nice, but in airsoft if you offer one it must be over the counter exchange, not send to HK for review. I really hate to play Captain Obvious here, but in the world of PTW, my word carries weight, people listen to what I say because I have the technical ability to wring every last ounce of performance out of these platforms. I have also spent many a night fixing everything in these guns from the mundane to the shocking. I have given a harsh review of their products, but it has been a fair assessment and I can back it up with my skill and lots of photos. If there was anyone FCC should be pleasing here, it should be me. Unless they are hoping that it is the silent and grumbling masses who won't complain about their product, while they write guys like me off as being too picky and not worth their time to court with a formal statement or even simply just replacement parts.

I have had to deal with warranty issues for decades now, and our company service when an issue like this arises is to fix the problem RFN, and worry about warranty assessments later on our time, not the customers. FCC may chose to warranty my gearbox or not, but it will happen on my time, not theirs, and the result is a $2920 wall hanger until it does.

If anyone is looking at FCC and wondering about warranty, be it customers or retailers, this is what it is. And still, after two months, FCC has not responded, nor has any of their retailers. In fact, one has been ordered not to respond here. The obvious question is why. The answer, unfortunately, is equally obvious.