I'm never buying Lee again

[skud_dusty]

Just started casting. Lee mold started casting out of round bullets. Attempted to call multiple times only to be immediately disconnected. I've been emailing back and forth about how to fix it, when they finally said "send it in." After I asked for them to pay shipping they said they would not. After finding out $12 was the cheapest I could ship this $20 mold for, I got angry.

Finally got someone at Lee on the phone after being instantly disconnected all morning. They argued with me about paying shipping because I thought it was ridiculous to spend $12 to ship a $20 part. They transferred me to a technician who said I need to tap the alignment pins deeper into the mold, but they would still not pay shipping if that didn't fix it. Tapping the pins back together worked until I started casting. Once the mold got up to temp and I started turning out good bullets the pins moved back to where they were originally and I started throwing out of round bullets again. All of this happens, of course, after I spend the money to get a 6-cavity Lee mold to speed production.

I'm never purchasing a Lee product again, and I'm going to advise my friends not to either. It's cheap janky junk that is a gamble on if your product will work or not. If it doesn't, you can enjoy spending more money to send it back to the factory only to gamble again on the next one working.

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[scrandall01215]

I agree even though I personally have never had a problem. But you get what u pay for.

 

[AMProducts]

Man, that's super strange, I always get called a hater for saying lee is crap.

Also, what you can do, is tap the pins out, and then drill and tap the holes in the mold (IIRC a #10 machine screw fits) put the alignment pins back in, and then back it with some short set screws. That will at least keep them from backing out as the mold heats up.

I realize the cost is high, but I've never had a problem I couldn't attribute to myself with Magma or lyman molds.

 

[Hook686]

So why do you buy on the internet if you know you gotta pay shipping to return ? Why not support a local gunshop ?

 

[orygun]

The only Lee products I have are dies. I own several sets and they all perform wonderfully.
I've heard that there are quality issues with their other products and have never bought any. I'd buy more of their dies if I needed.

But I can't blame the OP for his thought process. After paying a lot of money for a Kimber rifle that didn't work well, I had to pay to send it back. That was bad enough. The worst part was they didn't fix the problem I sent it in for!
Yeah, I'll never buy anything from Kimber either.

Customer service makes or breaks the deal, doesn't it?

 

[Benchrest]

Your experience with LEE is the opposite of mine - Regardless, I wouldn't purchase anything online that I wasn't prepared to return (at my cost).

Amazon is your friend

 

[etrain16]

Customer service makes or breaks the deal, doesn't it?

You got that right. Customer service is huge. That's one reason why I deal with Amazon for much of my online shopping (plus using smile.amazon.com I get to help them direct some of their donations to OFF's education group) is that they have always taken care of me if I have a problem with a purchase. I don't expect any company to put out 100% perfect products 100% of the time, so I want to do business with folks that I know will cover me in the event something goes wrong.

For example, I recently bought a small fan for work from Amazon. Great ratings on the fan, but the moment I plugged it in, there was a serious problem. So I contacted Amazon, they sent me a return label, which I used to send back the defective one (on their dime). Before my return had reached them, I had a replacement at my house. Yes, it's a hassle to have to package it back up and mail it out, but they covered it, and I do appreciate that. I've had to do that several times over the years - just be sure that Amazon is the seller of your item (which it states on every product listing) - if you get another dealer through Amazon, you may not have the same protection.

As for Lee, I've got a number of Lee products and not a single complaint. I've never tried their molds though, so if I ever do, I'll try to be careful who I get it from.

 

[skud_dusty]

So why do you buy on the internet if you know you gotta pay shipping to return ? Why not support a local gunshop ?

I typically do. The only shop in Salem that carries reloading gear that I'm willing to patronize is sportsman's warehouse. I checked there first, they currently have no molds.

After explaining in email to Lee that they have lost a customer for life and that I'm going to tell this story to anyone who will listen, they offered to replace the mold if I email them my receipt and destroy the mold. I have to send a picture of said destroyed mold. All of this over $12.

 

[Certaindeaf]

That's too bad and warrants note. I feel for ya, man. Seriously. I've never gotten into the gang mold bandwagon and doubt I ever will.. for whatever that's worth. However, when it comes to Lee, the few times I've called them for whatever, the part or device has been sent free to me, no questions asked. I've been using some of their various products for many decades now.

 

[Hook686]

After explaining in email to Lee that they have lost a customer for life and that I'm going to tell this story to anyone who will listen, they offered to replace the mold if I email them my receipt and destroy the mold. I have to send a picture of said destroyed mold. All of this over $12.

So you went ahead and bashed Lee after Lee caved in eh ? All over $12.

 

[Crohnos01]

I haven't gotten into casting (yet) so I can't comment on that particular issue. However I have some Lee dies and I can't say I was overly impressed with the quality of their dies. Most of my stuff I green.... I lost some parts to my Rock chucker and hand primer during a move. I called RCBS and have them the part numbers.. They sent me replacement parts lickety split. When I asked what I owed, they replied "no charge". Just as the OP is turned off on Lee, I will, given the choice, pick RCBS every time now. Customer service like that is a big deal to me.

 

[skud_dusty]

So you went ahead and bashed Lee after Lee caved in eh ? All over $12.

No, I went ahead and told the story of exactly what happened. I could have easily left out the part where Lee responded, but I'm going to give credit where it's due. It was 24 hours after I had informed them how unhappy I was and that I had decided to tell people not to buy their product due to bad customer service that they responded. I shouldn't have to say "you're giving me bad customer service, I'm going to tell people you give bad customer service" to get good CS. It's actually $32 that I would be out, $20 for the mold and $12 for the extra shipping to pay for a product that never should have left the factory.

Doesn't it seem ridiculous to you to pay $12 to ship a $20 item that had a factory defect?

 

[Riot]

So you went ahead and bashed Lee after Lee caved in eh ? All over $12.

I believe this was over a faulty part, not having a phone system set in place to place people on hold or message them saying to "call back later", being told he would have to pay for a replacement part (plus the $12 to ship it), being told to fix it himself, and then (after following their instructions) it still didn't fix the problem.

If you honestly think his issue with Lee is just "all over $12", then I guess I read a different post than you did.

 

[skud_dusty]

To their credit, Lee did say initially that if I shipped the mold in they would either repair or replace it. My problem is I shouldn't have to pay shipping for their lack of QC. I asked them repeatedly for postage to ship it and they refused. I would have had no problem if they emailed me a prepaid shipping label.

 

[Trailboss]

I shipped a set of reloading dies to a friend and paid a few cents over four bucks.

 

[Head Shot]

Erased

 

[joken]

My lee molds work fine. You could probably have staked the pins and saved yourself a lot of bubbleguming. Most companies do not pay shipping. Can you imagine how much stuff would be returned by people that can't or won't read directions.

 

[Silver Hand]

Not saying this is your issue but - Spend your money on molds or moulds that are made of brass or iron. They will take a bit more of beating before the alignment pins loosen up and the sockets warp. That is usually when the blocks go out of round, next the sprue plate will start cutting into the blocks on any mold that receives hard use.

Quality molds like Hensley & Gibbs some from as far back as the 1930s will still drop ten at a time with just a twist of the wrist or at most a light touch on the bench top [soft wood block ] and you are pouring another ten jewels.

Twenty dollars buys little these days and I have heard it said someplace, you get what you pay for.
Silver Hand

 

[gunfreak]

I've used Lee molds in the past and never had a problem. In fact most of what I use for reloading gear is Lee. I've really like all there products and whenever I do have a problem I call them and they replace it with no questions asked. I guess it's kind of like the difference between and ford, dodge, and chevy guy, it's what you prefer.

 

[Benchrest]

I have 12 Lee molds. I lube them properly. They drop freely - No need to beat on them.

I've cast around 2K with the two cavity 356-120, maybe 1K with the 401-145.

No problems so far