Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/19/2025

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  In late February, I purchased an item from Franklin Armory, under the impression that it was returnable. I formed this belief because the company prominently mentioned a restocking policy. However, when I attempted to return the item, the company refused, claiming it was an older model from 2024. They further stated that the listing clearly mentioned the item was non-returnable.While they were correct that the listing included this information, it was buried deep within the description, making it easy to overlook. When I contacted the company, they admitted that the non-returnable nature of the item was not clearly noticeable on purpose. Despite this acknowledgment, they refused to accept the item back.I find this practice to be highly deceptive and feel the company does not advocate for its customers. Their tactics resemble "bait-and-switch" strategies, which should be made transparent to all potential customers who consider doing business with them. I would like to get my money back and an apology ,

  Business Response

  Date: 03/24/2025

  Hello Mr. ******************* trigger you purchased is a 2024 Legacy Model and the description states that the trigger is on closeout and is being replaced by the **-Elite. The trigger product description clearly states exactly what the trigger is, what firearm the trigger is intended for, and why the trigger is at a steep discount.
  During our phone call you stated that we lied and tricked you into purchasing the wrong trigger. The trigger is the correct model for the ** platform that you desired to install the trigger into, all purchasing is completed online by you, and you received exactly what you ordered.
  
  During our phone conversation when you stated that we hid the non-returnable statement, we informed you that the statement is clearly seen in the Warning section of the product description. The Warning section provides clear statements regarding the purchase of our products and is prominently displayed so that customers will read it and make educated decisions. It is unfortunate that you chose not to read the very important Warning section.
  
  No one here made the statements you claim were made and the website clearly shows your statements to be inaccurate. While we understand your frustration as people inherently do make mistakes, we cannot condone the false statements you are making nor the way you treated our employees. Given the fact that the terms of the purchase of a closeout item were not only clear and in plain view, but also emphasized with the term warning, we will not be issuing a refund.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/07/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Franklin Armory sells products thru third party distributors. I purchase from Palmeto State Armory in **************. After purchasing a trigger upgrade for a specific firearm the product did not work. They gave me a possible solution with 3 tries. No luck. Told to return complete trigger assembly to their facility. Their resolution was that their product did not work in my particular assembly but works fine in one of theirs that I could purchase for an additional $100.00 I am already into their product for $325.00 and did not desire to give them any additional funds as it felt like some type of extortion. I asked them to return it. After over a week I inquired about my return and was provided an invoice for the original purchase apparently at their cost, no idea? I finally received my item today completely disassembled in numerous blister packs. I now have to determine if I actually received all my parts back. Their response has been none other than selling me another item for $100.00 I find this interesting that during my original review their site did not caution about this might not work in your particular firearm it was manufactured for and they do not offer a resolution except you can purchase a complete unit from them for close to $500.00

  Business Response

  Date: 08/08/2023

  We at Franklin Armory are always striving to provide our customers with the best service and products. We hope to resolve this issue for you.

  
  Lets go over the details of the issue you are having for clarity and accuracy.

  
  You tried to install a Franklin Armory trigger by yourself, instead of having a gunsmith install the product in your firearm as was recommended in your instruction manual. It failed to function and you contacted our customer service team a few times. On each interaction they tried to walk you through ways to resolve the issue. They then issued you an RMA so that we may professionally inspect the product here to determine if it was defective.

  
  You sent in your factory (not Franklin Armory) trigger housing and our trigger. Our team evaluated our trigger, installed it in your housing, another factory housing (made by the maker of your firearm) and our housing. It worked perfectly in every housing except the one you provided. The logical determination was then made that the housing you provided was somehow dimensionally inconsistent with the other housing from the manufacturer of your firearm and with the housing Franklin Armory makes for that firearm. Franklin Armory cannot control manufacturing variances in other makers firearms and parts. We build our triggers to accept the widest variances in tolerance possible while staying well within the limits of safety and function.

  
  Customer service then contacted you with 3 different options to proceed.

  
  Option one was for you to get another factory housing from the company that produced your firearm (not a Franklin Armory product) and that would resolve the issue. We even offered to professionally install the trigger in the other housing for you free of charge.

  
  Option two was to purchase a housing we make here at Franklin Armory. We designed our own housing based on requests from our customers for a precision tight tolerance option with updated features. We also offered to professionally install the trigger at no charge in this option as well.

  
  Option three was to send your trigger back to you with your housing and that you would handle it from there.

  
  You decided that option 3 was the way you would prefer to move forward. We then placed your triple tested parts into the proper bags to keep the parts from being lost and shipped the product back to you.

  
  We are happy to continue to offer you both options one and two if you would like to take advantage of them. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/09/2023

   
  Complaint: 20433351
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Their response is not fully honest nor does it include some pertinent information they either neglected to include or decided it did not make their response appear as positive.  

  I am a licensed gunsmith by BATFE and got my original license in 1980.  My current license ******************** has the title of Gunsmith as the business name.   So I am not sure of the relevance and further their response never says the item was improperly installed.  They are correct in that they gave a recommendation that did not appear to be valid in my opinion but I followed their instructions that required complete disassembly of the trigger group 3 times and again there was no change in performance and the unit still did not function.  Their response was to have me send the completely assembled trigger group to them after waiting 2 days to get authorization and then ship the unit at me expense. 

  Three weeks after they received it they sent me an e-mail to call them on July 21 .  They then informed me it was my *** housing.  They supposedly tried the original part in another *** housing and it worked and it also worked in one of their housings.  Funny how I would have initially tried another unit in my *** housing to verify that first but that was not done.  They suggested I get another housing from the *** (housing supplied to them was from *** and they have no idea why it does not work but suggested first I get another one).  They offered to sell me one of their housings for an additional $100.00.  I told them I was not interested in giving them an additional $100.00 to fix their problem and just return the housing.    Understand that this item has an MSRP of $399.95 or more depending on the third party supplier.  Being an FFL I was able to acquire the item for around $300.00 with shipping and tax. Adding another $100.00 puts their item at roughly the cost of the complete firearm from the ***.  They do in fact offer a completed unit with all their parts for around $500.00 for someone not knowledgeable to gunsmithing.

  After telling them to return my item on 7/21 I sent another e-mail on 8/1 asking if they were waiting for me to provide the shipping cost for the return of my item.  On 8/2 I received an e-mail saying my order had been fulfilled????  I finally receive a package on 8/7 that contains my housing, along with blister packs containing parts.  Understand that their item requires use of their parts along with some parts from the *** housing so it was incumbent on me to determine if all the original parts for reassembly of the *** housing was actually included.  Luckily they were so I assembled the unit back to original condition.  

  Not once during this entire period of over 5 weeks did they offer a refund.  As far as purchasing one of their housings for another $100.00 I consider this unacceptable and just another way to acquire business.  And again as an FFL I can purchase a complete *** trigger assembly for half their stripped unit allowing me to provide a customer with both an *** and a modified assembly.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

  Business Response

  Date: 08/10/2023

  Management spoke with the customer this morning and they are working with the customer on resolution.