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Firearms Legal Protection

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  1. #1
    I am a Forum User
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    Dillon customer service

    Thought I did a post about Dillon's response to my issue.
    After "only" 40 + yrs. of mostly steady use, The frame on my Dillon 450 broke.
    Imagine my surprise when the ram handle separated from the press, with a soft "snap" sound.
    This happened while seating a primer.
    Contacted Dillon's customer service dept for repair/replacement..I've had good response from them with
    the few small issues I've had since I purchased my press new, back in the mid-late 70's..or maybe early 80's.. (didn't save paperwork back then.)

    I was curious that Dillon was insistent that I return ALL parts that came with the press..powder dispenser, primer bars & tubes, everything.
    So I boxed everything up & sent the package to them .Strange, that I was able to find the original box & packaging that my press came in!

    My loading bench looked bare w/o the Dillon in it's spot... before long, a box marked Dillon 550 arrived @ my door.
    Did they send me a new 550 to replace my 450 ? NO.. (just used a 550 box) as I unpacked my old press,
    I noticed it'd had some parts swapped, as well as a new piece / replacement of the broken part.

    They did several upgrades to my old press.. added a auto primer linkage , so the primer bar works off the ram handle movement.
    The old system required I had to manually move the primer bar, to feed a new primer. They also replaced the powder system with the newer auto
    powder linkage, so the powder bar also moves by action of the ram handle. Previously I had to manually move the powder bar to drop a charge.
    Lastly, they included the auto eject case system, so as the shell plaste is turned, a finished round is ejected into a chute and drops intoa completed round bin.
    This is another improvement, over having to remove a round by hand each time a round is completed.

    I thought this was nice of Dillon, to add these upgrades @ no cost to me.
    I had no idea how expensive these upgrades were to purchase, if I'd decided to order them from Dillon & upgrade my 450 on my own.

    Prices ? The cost for upgrades are : Auto Powder system = $115.00
    Auto Primer system = $110.00
    Auto case extract. system = 70.00

    That's a total of $ 295.00 worth of upgrades they did for me.. Thanks, Dillon!

  2. #2
    MGO Member balrog006's Avatar
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    �� for Dillon!
    “Cui prodest?” Lucius Annaeus Seneca

  3. #3
    MGO Member Tom S.'s Avatar
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    At one time, Dillon did have the best warranty service in the nation. Note the word 'did'. Last year, that reputation started going down hill. You can blame it on a lot of things, Covid, suppliers, USPS, but the bottom line is complaints have been piling up about them. Check out one of the bastions of Dillon users, Brian Enos's web forum. Several people, myself included have reported problems getting warrantied replacement parts from Dillon. One person even stated that Dillon has some parts that have been back ordered for years - something I find hard to believe, but you never used to read anything bad about Dillon and now it's not hard to find complaints.

    joepistol, I'm glad you were the recipient of what used to be standard operating procedure for Dillon.
    Lighten up Francis.

  4. #4
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    maybe I was blessed by my 450 breaking before the virus outbreak ?.

    I recalling reading that Mike Dillon, the originator of Dillon Precision had passed.
    Reading of his passing, I contemplated what effect this might have on the company he had created.
    He did revolutionize the hand loading / reloading industry.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom S. View Post
    At one time, Dillon did have the best warranty service in the nation. Note the word 'did'. Last year, that reputation started going down hill. You can blame it on a lot of things, Covid, suppliers, USPS, but the bottom line is complaints have been piling up about them. Check out one of the bastions of Dillon users, Brian Enos's web forum. Several people, myself included have reported problems getting warrantied replacement parts from Dillon. One person even stated that Dillon has some parts that have been back ordered for years - something I find hard to believe, but you never used to read anything bad about Dillon and now it's not hard to find complaints.

    joepistol, I'm glad you were the recipient of what used to be standard operating procedure for Dillon.
    I had a defective priming system on my new 750..turns out they had a batch batch of them. No official statement, or warning from dillon, no identification what lot or serial # range or production time even had it.

    I randomly stumbled onto a forum post that tipped me off to it. Called Dillon at least 5 times prior to that, regarding priming issues with my 750..no one ever mentioned it to me that it might be an equipment problem. When I called in and mentioned the defect myself, they offered to send me replacement parts for the priming system and said they have no way of knowing if its defective or not, but will take my word for it..like the couple hundred wasted primers weren't an issue in this time.

    For what its worth..I'm happier now, but my "learning curve" was very unpleasant..

    I had some other part that was defective and got replaced pretty quickly too, but it was disappointing to have an expensive new unit like this, with multiple defective parts from the factory...

  6. #6
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    Maybe "teething " problems from new model products from Dillon ?

    Reading the above post, I recalled back when Dillon 1st started making their own reloading die sets. ( this was MANY years ago..in the 80's ?)
    I bought 2 of their new sets, in 9mm & 44 Spec./Mag calibers.
    The 9mm die set was fine. The 44 resizing die was defective.The carbide resizing ring inside the die was too small, creating a noticeable "step" in the case, at he base of the brass.
    I ruined a few cases before I realized what was going on..Dillon replaced the dies , when they were returned to them, along with the ruined cases.
    New dies worked as they should, but my ruined cases weren't replaced..back then, I didn't have a lot of brass, so I was a bit disappointed.

  7. #7
    MGO Member Tom S.'s Avatar
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    My problem wasn't a teething issue - the part was the bottom bell crank of the powder drop that was at least 15 years old when it broke. I sent pictures, which they claim they never got. resent pictures and they asked that I ship the part back to them. I've dealt with them for nearly 30 years and never got the run around I got on this. I'm sure it was "employee" related and any firm can get a bad apple, but I hope for their reputation sake, they got rid of her because I wouldn't want to have to deal with her ever again for anything.
    Lighten up Francis.

  8. #8
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    I'm sure it was "employee" related.. too bad you had to interact with that person.
    It's true..often customer service is great or bad..all depending on who you get as a contact person.
    Explains how some report great customer service from a company, while someone else gets poor service.

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