XDM ELITE 10MM COMPACT POOR FINISH & TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE (2024)

2 weeks ago, I found the new XDM ELITE @ my LGS. I'm a 10mm addict, so it was impossible to resist.
Brought her home, field stripped, cleaned & lubed and went out to my range.
It was a function check session as I only had time to run 1 box of Blazer 180 through it. She performed well for a 1st date. Took her back inside and cleaned and lubed.
Thats when I noticed that the finish had more than normal wear, especially in comparison to my HELLCAT that has 1K rnds of service.

This morning I had time to contact SA and was horrified as to the response from them. He told me to send it in (did NOT offer a shipping label) and warned me that I MAY BE RESPONSIBLE FOR PAYING FOR A REFINISH ON THE BARREL! WTF???
He said that the warranty is only on the gun internals. I asked if the barrel is not inside the gun and was meet with silence.
This is a quote from the SA warranty page ... " We guarantee your purchase will be free of defects in workmanship or material — for life. Period." They do state that "normal wear and tear" is not covered. But its my contention that this is NOT normal wear.

I asked to speak to his supervisor and was transferred to her voice mail, where I left a polite & detailed message.

I buy quite a few firearms. This year, I've bought 4 and may purchase my 5th today. I have never seen wear like this.Ii also understand that "stuff" happens and that I expect the maker to stand behind their product WITHOUT a bunch of BS.

To say that I'm disappointed in SA's response would be a gross understatement. I can only hope that the response from the supervisor is better.
Stand by.

The only way to keep the finish on the barrel brand new is to not use it. That is normal wear, google barrel smilies.

The Nitride metal treatment is in the metal, so even if the black rubs off it is still there. Famously Glocks that even when the black from the slide is worn the metal is still rust resistant.

Customer service told you up front that it was normal wear and if they refinish it, you would be responsible. At least they told you upfront. If the front edges of the slide start to show wear from a holster, would you expect a free refinish? Normal wear and tear. The other thing is that you don’t know how many times the gun store racked the slide before you got it Accelerating the wear.

terdog said:

2 weeks ago, I found the new XDM ELITE @ my LGS. I'm a 10mm addict, so it was impossible to resist.
Brought her home, field stripped, cleaned & lubed and went out to my range.
It was a function check session as I only had time to run 1 box of Blazer 180 through it. She performed well for a 1st date. Took her back inside and cleaned and lubed.
Thats when I noticed that the finish had more than normal wear, especially in comparison to my HELLCAT that has 1K rnds of service.

This morning I had time to contact SA and was horrified as to the response from them. He told me to send it in (did NOT offer a shipping label) and warned me that I MAY BE RESPONSIBLE FOR PAYING FOR A REFINISH ON THE BARREL! WTF???
He said that the warranty is only on the gun internals. I asked if the barrel is not inside the gun and was meet with silence.
This is a quote from the SA warranty page ... " We guarantee your purchase will be free of defects in workmanship or material — for life. Period." They do state that "normal wear and tear" is not covered. But its my contention that this is NOT normal wear.

I asked to speak to his supervisor and was transferred to her voice mail, where I left a polite & detailed message.

I buy quite a few firearms. This year, I've bought 4 and may purchase my 5th today. I have never seen wear like this.Ii also understand that "stuff" happens and that I expect the maker to stand behind their product WITHOUT a bunch of BS.

To say that I'm disappointed in SA's response would be a gross understatement. I can only hope that the response from the supervisor is better.
Stand by.

Click to expand...

Ok so it’s disappointing that you were met with a bad experience with Springfield customer service I’ve never experienced that, I will say based on your photo you do have some wear on the finish however I had more on one of mine and didn’t think much about it since it couldn’t be seen until I took it apart to clean it. My first question is how did it shoot? Any issues?

HayesGreener said:

I cannot comment on your experience with customer service, but all my semi-autos got those smilies on the barrels PDQ, especially with the heavier calibers. The picture looks like wear I would expect to see after 50 rounds or so. Your barrel actually expands a tiny bit when the gun is fired so there's a little more friction during firing than you would get with cycling the action by hand.

Click to expand...

That is exactly right, I think. The wear pattern will be different for 10mm and his hellcat.

And who cares? it is only visible when you disassemble the firearm.

I like my XD, but these are not pretty handguns. I you want that, get something made of steel to start with.

xdman said:

Customer service told you up front that it was normal wear

Click to expand...

Interesting comment as they didnt even see it.

Keystone19250 said:

My first question is how did it shoot?

Click to expand...

It shot well enough. I do like the gun, but of course that does not excuse it from problems.

Annihilator said:

you have no ideal how many times the slide has been racked before you got it I

Click to expand...

This is true. But I DO know how it looked BEFORE I shot it, right? Especially since I field striped, cleaned and lubed it as stated.

I compared it to my HELLCAT due to it also being made in the same factory.
My Kimber Micro9 has thousands of rnds down range and the wear on it is much less.
My G29 doesn't show that much wear after hundreds of the same ammo.

Do we not have the right to expect quality?

Overall, the biggest disappointment was the customer service. He was less than a professional IMHO.
The supervisor, Lisa, called me, had me email her the pics, and she forwarded them to her "Tech" dept. They of course proclaimed it normal.

Oh well, live and learn.

terdog said:

I compared it to my HELLCAT due to it also being made in the same factory.
My Kimber Micro9 has thousands of rnds down range and the wear on it is much less.
My G29 doesn't show that much wear after hundreds of the same ammo.

Do we not have the right to expect quality?

Overall, the biggest disappointment was the customer service. He was less than a professional IMHO.
The supervisor, Lisa, called me, had me email her the pics, and she forwarded them to her "Tech" dept. They of course proclaimed it normal.

Oh well, live and learn.

Click to expand...

I think the answer directly after your first post demonstrated that this was indeed normal. That you had never experienced it before means it was not normal for you, which I understand. But, that does not mean it isn't normal wear.

terdog said:

2 weeks ago, I found the new XDM ELITE @ my LGS. I'm a 10mm addict, so it was impossible to resist.
Brought her home, field stripped, cleaned & lubed and went out to my range.
It was a function check session as I only had time to run 1 box of Blazer 180 through it. She performed well for a 1st date. Took her back inside and cleaned and lubed.
Thats when I noticed that the finish had more than normal wear, especially in comparison to my HELLCAT that has 1K rnds of service.

This morning I had time to contact SA and was horrified as to the response from them. He told me to send it in (did NOT offer a shipping label) and warned me that I MAY BE RESPONSIBLE FOR PAYING FOR A REFINISH ON THE BARREL! WTF???
He said that the warranty is only on the gun internals. I asked if the barrel is not inside the gun and was meet with silence.
This is a quote from the SA warranty page ... " We guarantee your purchase will be free of defects in workmanship or material — for life. Period." They do state that "normal wear and tear" is not covered. But its my contention that this is NOT normal wear.

I asked to speak to his supervisor and was transferred to her voice mail, where I left a polite & detailed message.

I buy quite a few firearms. This year, I've bought 4 and may purchase my 5th today. I have never seen wear like this.Ii also understand that "stuff" happens and that I expect the maker to stand behind their product WITHOUT a bunch of BS.

To say that I'm disappointed in SA's response would be a gross understatement. I can only hope that the response from the supervisor is better.
Stand by.

Click to expand...

Non-issue. Doesn’t affect function, not a whit. Isn’t going to rust/etc, since the nitride finish is on the metal itself.

The barrel is a wear area…you shoot it, it’s gonna show wear.

terdog said:

I compared it to my HELLCAT due to it also being made in the same factory.
My Kimber Micro9 has thousands of rnds down range and the wear on it is much less.
My G29 doesn't show that much wear after hundreds of the same ammo.

Do we not have the right to expect quality?

Overall, the biggest disappointment was the customer service. He was less than a professional IMHO.
The supervisor, Lisa, called me, had me email her the pics, and she forwarded them to her "Tech" dept. They of course proclaimed it normal.

Oh well, live and learn.

Click to expand...

Honestly, you can’t compare guns from different manufacturers to each other, you can’t even compare two guns of the same type and manufacturer, it’s just a finish, nothing to do with how the firearm functions. Like I mentioned earlier, no gun manufacturer will warrant a guns finish.

terdog said:

It shot well enough. I do like the gun, but of course that does not excuse it from problems.

Click to expand...

“Shot well enough” I’ll take that as the gun shoots without problems.
Let’s say you were driving home a brand new vehicle from the dealership and following another vehicle at a respectable distance and it kicked up a stone and it chipped the paint on the hood, would you blame the manufacturer???
Run your gun.

BTW...9mm with a couple of hundred rounds through it. So...the wear of the OP is COMPLETELY normal.

Some might note the upgraded front sight for use with the RDS (that red pipe kept pulling my eye rather than the red dot).