I recently purchased a Century Arms Polish Tantal.  This video documents my experience with Century Arms' warranty service.

Yeah, century is hit or miss, no pun intended.

Another excellent review. That really stinks though. I was looking at getting that exact rifle but I'll think I'll give my business elsewhere. I just got their new catalog in the mail too. I had atleast three firearms circled for possible purchase, but now I'll file 13 said catalog.

Keep the YouTube reviews coming!

Given their position in the market, that wouldn't be horrible if they stood behind their products.  They obviously don't.  It would seem to me they are only willing to do the absolute bare minimum to meet federal regulations regarding warranty work.  Their warranty policy is obviously in place to reduce their financial liability as much as possible and may actually be in violation of the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act.  But given the relatively low cost of the rifle, hiring a lawyer to force the issue with Century in federal court doesn't make financial sense to most people, myself included.  I'm sure Century banks on this fact.  So they get away with their predatory business practices.



If you watch my other videos, I was VERY objective and gave Century every opportunity to make this right.  My first review video before shooting the rifle was actually quite complementary.



 

I had this exact same thing happen to me with a yugo m70. They start their year warranty from when they sell the gun, not when you buy it. They have the worst warranty I have ever encountered. They wouldn't even do work on the rifle if I sent it to them and paid for it.

It will catch up to them.  It's amazing it hasn't already, but as the internet gains in popularity and more people turn to it for reviews before purchasing, they'll eventually pay for their business practices.



 

Good video.

I was unaware that Century’s warranty starts the day it leaves their factory, instead of the day it lands in the end consumer’s hands.  That is definitely not the industry norm, to put it mildly.

I think you handled the situation well, too.  Kudos to you for standing up and telling them that their policy was unacceptable to you.  No reasonable person would think that a rifle they bought brand new from a FLL only a few weeks prior, might be out of warranty.  If more people would call “BS” on this, perhaps Century might be forced to rethink its policy.

BTW, this is exactly why I now only use a credit card when I buy new guns.  I sometimes have to pay 3% more, but I know I always have the leverage of doing a chargeback if I run into a manufacturer or dealer who doesn’t want to make good on a defective product.  

With a smaller company, I would agree.  But unfortunately, when you're the 800lb gorillia of the surplus/cheap firearms industry, you can get away with a lot more unsavory stuff than a smaller company can.  After all, where else are you going to get a "new" $389 AK?

And really, most people who have even a fairly basic knowledge of this industry, already know that Century produces hit-or-miss quality.  Yet, as far as I know, that hasn't hurt their sales to any great degree.  And there's a reason for this: the "average" Century consumer makes their buying decision on price, and price alone.  This consumer couldn't care less if a significant percentage of Century rifles have some sort of problemm, just as long as the rifle they get has no problem.

Century counts on this type of apathy to stay in business.  Unfortunately, it's a pretty safe bet on their part.

(And your post got me to thinking.  I'm done with Century now, too.  While I have a couple of their rifles, and those rifles work fine, I wouldn't be true to my own values if I sent money to them again.)

Unfortunately they won't. A large majority of those people who buy century products are not the same ones who surf gun boards or do any research before they buy a product. They simply look at the price tag and see that century offers the cheapest product and/or talk to a gunstore employee who will tell them anything they want to hear. People are always willing to take a gamble and buy the cheapest option even if they know that quality could be hit or miss because the idea of paying a little extra and getting quality to avoid the headache of poor QC is a very foreign concept to most americans.

"buy once, cry once" is not in most american's vernacular. This is the reason why big box chains like walmart and cheap furniture retailers like IKEA are doing so well.

What's worse is that a good deal of those who do buy century and get a bad rifle do not know enough about firearms to even recognize a problem when its right in front of their face. I bet 5 out of 10 people who bought a wasr with canted front sights do not even know they have a problem and wonder why they can't hit the paper at 50 yards.

Century banks on the ignorance of its customers and frankly "business is booming!"

You're absolutely right.  Chances are they'll continue to pawn their wares off on gunshops across America.  Given the low price of their products and the fact many consumers who buy them either don't know or don't care about their quality issues.  I knew they were "hit or miss" but I made the mistake thinking they actually stood behind their products.  I was very shocked to learn their warranty clock started ticking the say their guns leave the factory.  I would say most Century products on the shelves of guns shops around the country have been there months meaning a huge chunk of your warranty (if not all of it as in my case) is already gone by the time you take it home.  I would be willing to bet most people don't know that, even the more savvy buyers among us... I didn't.  Until now.



I too have other Century products but I will never buy another, not even second hand.  And any time they come up in a thread, I'll post a link to my videos.  I'm sure they don't care, as long as they make money they don't care about their reputation or how happy their customers are.  I can't support such business practices.

I have a Century GP1975.  The first one I purchased, I inspected thoroughly at the local gunshop.  All looked good.  But upon firing, it had feeding problems.  I called Century and they gladly accepted the rifle back and sent me a brand new one.  I thought the first one was good (on visual inspection), but the replacement is even better.  I have had no problems what-so-ever with the replacement after shooting several thousand rounds.

HOWEVER, after watching this video review I do not plan to buy another Century, even though I am 100% satisfied with my current Century.  Simply because of the warrantee policy that might give you an "out of warrantee" product on the day of purchase!  That is totally unacceptable.  No excuse for it.  None.  Normally I take rants against a company on the internet with a grain of salt.  However, this particular video is not a rant or an "I read that someone else read that there was an anonymous post on the internet about this".  This video shows an intelligent and well spoken individual doing an honest review.  Every word said is totally believable, and the report is coming from first hand experience, not the typical parroting of "something I read somewhere".

I will say that my experience with Century DURING WARRANTEE was perfectly fine.  Just about to the point of being "outstanding".  I was pleased with their friendly help, no hassle acceptance of the problem, and quick turnaround.  However, this report of an "out of warrantee" ??? experience on a BRAND NEW GUN tells me just how stupid the management of this company is.  Century probably makes many more good guns than bad ones, but this boils down to basically a "no warrantee" policy in my view (unless you're lucky enough to get a fresh one), and that policy is unacceptable and will prevent me from buying any of their products again as long as that warrantee policy stands.  If Century management comes to their senses and installs a normal warrantee policy, then a future purchase may still be a possibility.

You know, in looking at Century's Waranty policy, I don't believe they are at all clear that the end user may not be the beneficiary of the full warranty.  To wit, they state:

"All firearms/receivers sold as “new”, or manufactured/assembled by Century have (1) year repair/replacement warranty from the day the firearm/receiver was shipped from Century’s warehouse to the customer, unless noted otherwise. Repairs or replacements are determined at Century’s discretion.  The (1) year period does not start over if a firearm is repaired and reshipped."

Century Warranty

However, Century does not define "customer" as being the first person to buy that gun, which Century presumably knows in many (most?) cases is simply a FFL that is going to re-sell the gun to an end user on a "new" basis.  Certainly, if I buy a "new" Century gun from a FFL, I am going to assume - reasonably I think - that I am the "customer" for that "new" gun, and that the warranty period starts ticking the day I take possession.  And the primary reason this is a reasonable assumption on my part, is because that is the industry norm, if not also a norm in commerce in general.  I have never heard of any other company offering a warranty that didn't actually apply to an end user who purchased that product on a "new" basis.  A product either has a warranty or it doesn't, and if it does, commonsense and marketplace norms would dictate that the full warranty applies to an end user who purchases that product "new" from a licensed seller or reseller.

In other words, if someone did challenge this in court (knowing it wouldn't be cost effective to do so in the first place), I'm not at all certain a judge would buy Century's argument that they don't have to honor a full warranty on any of their products that are subsequently re-sold as "new" through a licensed reseller.  And if Century is going to disclaim this warranty on the basis that the end buyer isn't the one who bought it as "new" (according to their definition), then it seems to me that any FFL reselling a Century product would have to sell that product only as a "used" firearm.  

I'd be curious to know if there is any legal precedent on this subject.

Oh, I talked to an attorney about this already.  My neighbor is an attorney and I photographed his wedding in exchange for lifetime legal advice.  :)



He said I have a case, but fighting it in court would far exceed the cost of the rifle.  It will take someone really PO'ed at Century to make an issue of it and throw cost to the wind.  I suspect if I filed a lawsuit against them, they would simply refund my money.  I haven't considered doing that yet, I'll see what happens if the rifle keyholes.  If it does, I may file a suit since it doesn't cost anything to file.  Perhaps that will prompt them to action, or perhaps it won't... I have no idea what to expect from them honestly.  I'm sure they're threatened with lawsuits all the time and likely ignore such threats until one actually goes to court, then they probably settle out of court for a couple hundred bucks.



But I'm speculating.

Well, if you end up at that unfortunate point, it cost about $40 to file a small-claim suit in most states.  You could easily represent yourself.  Do this, get your court date, and then plan a vacation in Florida with a couple hours set aside for this "business" (which means you might be able to deduct from your taxes some of the costs of this vacation "business trip"...talk to your accountant).

well im glad mine worked.

Wow.  Every time I reconsider my stance on Century, something like this comes along.  I'm thinking we need a Century Arms PSA thread linked at the top of the page to warn newcomers, and remind the rest of us.



Plenty of people say their Century works fine.  My SAR-1 did.  The guy I sold it to is offering to sell it back to me for 250.  I'll probably take him up on it, but its obvious that my rifle was the exception and not the rule.

That gun was built at Cugir in Romania, using Romanian parts. Century only imported it. I wouldn't buy a rifle that Century built, but importation, I'm not too worried about them there.

This is unfortunately sad but true, I wish Wal-mart wasn't such a big fish & couldn't afford to take back/exchange all the foreign junk they sell. Then just maybe people would shop else where.

While I an sympathetic to the OP, I thought everyone knew Century's policy. Many times while I'm at a gunshow, & I'm looking at new Century guns, I look at the white paper attached to the trigger guard. It shows the date the warranty starts, & I'm surprised to note that many of the "new" guns being sold are already out of warranty, as a year has already passed. There are other companies in other fields that do the same thing. Also, if a product is sold with a 1 year warranty, that's all you get 1 year. If you return a defective part, the 1 year clock doesn't start again. When I worked for GM, if a customer purchases an AC compressor, & it fails 3 weeks before the warranty expires, they get a new compressor for free, but it has a guarantee of only 3 weeks, as the warranty expires 1 year after the original purchase. Otherwise people would make it fail on purpose & try to have a lifetime guarantee. Century is a huge company with lots of legal representation. It wouldn't pay to take them to court. I hope it works out for the OP.  GARY  N4KVE

Lets not hate only on Century Arms. Arsenal is not too far behind these guys on fixing problems on their rifles eather. I had a brand new SGL21 with canted everything, front sight, gas block, and rear sight were all canting different degrees to the right. Was like the entire barrel was turned to the right when it was installed. They said as long as it shoots ok, they don't care that everything is canted. So don't feel bad just cause your front sight is canted. It can be easily fixed. Thats what I had to do after the dude at Arsenal told me "sorry man".

I don't believe that because Arsenal gave you the run-around that excuses Century's actions.



 

OP, that is a really shitty situation, and I bet if half the folks knew what they are doing, they would loose a ton of business.  I've had a few minor issues with them in the past few weeks, just trying to get my C&R FFL on file with them, I can imagine trying to get a replacement rifle

I guess now, if I do decide to buy another century product (not saying I will) I will make sure to check that hang tag on the trigger guard.  Matter of fact, i just checked my M70ab2t's tag, to see how old it was fortunately, I'm good till Nov, but still really that's not the point, it's a really shitty policy, that 99% of folks don't care, or know about till they get screwed

As you said OP, it will come to bite them in the ass.....

Century is like Ford and their Tantal is like the Pinto. The Pinto could blow up if hit in the rear and the Tantal keyholes. Millions of Pintos were sold in a nine year period. Even though the car had issues hundreds of thousands of units were sold every year. All because it was cheap..... Don't get me wrong I like cheap guns ,as long as they work..... The Century Tantal isn't that gun.



I hate to say this but this has been an ongoing issue for several years now and there have been so many threads on the Century Arms Tantal keyholing that it is crazy. Even Tantals that have been produced more recently are hit or miss and more miss than hit, there is no way in hell I would have taken a gamble on that rifle.



As far as the front sights being crooked. If the gun does not keyhole why not just fix it yourself. It's about a $1 worth of parts form Home Depot and 20 minutes of your time. It's extremely easy. By the time you ship it to the Century guy and pay his $60 and ship it back your into to for another $100.



When I see threads like this it makes me happy that I bought a complete parts kit and had it built and finished professionally, $700 seemed  like a alot of money to invest into a Tantal a few years ago, but I got a lifetime keeper.....



If I needed to buy a cheap AK right now, there is no doubt in my mind that it would be a Century WASR or WASR2, while some of them have issues they are usually easily addressed.  The fact that they are made in a real government run arms factory with mil-spec parts seals the deal for me.

No...but both Arsenal and K-Var have a growing customer service problem.  Again, its why I say the best bet for someone wanting an AK is to go the Saiga route.

I bet it keyholes.

You are wasting your time if you think Century gives a crap about you.

I'm not here to defend Century in any way. I have never even considered purchasing a Century product just because of their horrible reputation. But, I don't see this as a Century mistake because you didn't understand the conditions of what you were buying. I bet the next time you purchase a rifle you will read and understand the warrenty that come with it BEFORE you make your purchase.

I agree with the OP...I don't think most people are aware of this policy.  He wasn't aware of it.  Neither was I.  And I've been buying Century guns for years.  

And what other companies do this, in or outside the firearms industry?  I'm not aware of any.

Picture this: You drive down to your local Ford dealer.  You're interested in a new Ford, which comes with a 5yr/50,000 mile warranty.

So imagine that when you're doing the paperwork to buy it, your local Ford dealer says, "Well, it looks like you've got 4 years and 5 months remaining on this warranty."  What would your response be?  Let me guess...you'd have a problem with that, wouldn't you?  And that's because Ford states that it's new vehicles have a 5yr/50,000 warranty, which is what you expect when you're buying a Ford that is being presented to you as "new", right?  

So what if that dealer says to you, "Well yeah, it's a five year warranty when it's "new", but the car stopped being "new" the day our dealership bought it from the factory.  You see, this dealership buys Fords from the factory, and we usually sell them within six months or so.  So you get whatever warranty is leftover from the date we bought it "new" from the factory.  But, even though the car is now not technically "new" (according to the factory's definition of "new"), we are going to sell it and represent it to you as "new!"  

Yet, this is essentially what Century is doing.    

As for it not paying to take them to court, don't be so sure.  For someone who lived close by, $40 and a couple hours of their time is all it would take.  If it was me in that court room, I would use Century's own words against them.  Their warranty is vague, and does not adequately distinguish who the "customer" is within the context of an initial FFL purchaser who intends to resell the gun as "new".  As I said above, could you imagine Ford trying to use Century's "logic" to claim that the stated full term of the warranty wasn't valid on a Ford being sold to you as "new"?  Absent some vagary in the law, I have a hard time imagining a judge would side with Century on this.

Your logic is flawed in this regard:

1.  Century states its new guns come with a 1-year warranty

2.  When you buy an unfired Century gun from a dealer, it is advertised as “new”.

3.  Ergo, most people assume –very reasonably – that since they are buying a “new” Century gun, it comes with the warranty that Century applies to “new” guns.  Go figure.

4.  #3 is further validated by the fact that in virtually every other venue of commerce, when a reseller buys a product at wholesale to sell to an end user, that end user – and not the wholesale buyer - is the beneficiary of the full warranty.

5.  Ergo, Century is trying to have its cake and eat it too.  They are trying to claim that their products have a 1-year warranty when “new”, but that for warranty purposes the gun stops being “new” when it is bought by the wholesale reseller.  Even so, Century does NOT prohibit its wholesale buyers from re-selling the guns as “new”…even though Century itself does not, by definition, recognize the guns as “new” at that point.  Like I said, Century is trying to have it both ways in order to weasel out of any warranty work that might need to be done.

6. Because of this, Century needs to do one of three things:

- They need to honor the 1-year warranty from date of end-user purchase; or
- They need to instruct people who buy guns from them to resell to label the guns as “used”, since Century itself does not consider the guns “new” at that point; or
- They need to nix their warranty altogether.

What they're doing now is not acceptable.  It's pretty shady, if you ask me.

Once again we agree, Stephen.



When dealing with a reputable manufacturer they typically ask for a receipt for proof of purchase.  The proof of purchase verifies the purchase date at which time the warranty clock starts ticking.



I have never dealt with a company that started their warranty clock ticking the day they manufactured their product or the day it shipped from their facilities to a distributor/dealer.  Keep in mind, Century told me that my rifle was manufactured on 5/13/2009 therefore my warranty was expired the day I bought the rifle.  They didn't say "the day it shipped".  So in my case they started the warranty clock ticking the day they made the rifle.

My other hobby is ham radio. The big three there are Yaesu, Kenwood, & Icom. Yaesu is just like Century in that the warranty starts when the store gets the radio. However in that business, most radios fly out the door as quick as they come in. I've never heard of anybody being burned by Yaesu using these same warranty policies.  GARY  N4KVE

+1 This surely is unacceptable , I will not purchase a Century firearm now that I am aware of this!

well said/ and enough said id say

Given how many of these tantals they have sold I wonder if a class action suit would force them stop the predatory business practices.

Or at least stop shipping out products that they must know to be defective. They do test fire them after all.

I don't work for Century, and have no care at all as to whatever, but here's my tales:

Yugo AP M70AB2 canted FSB and loose U/F stock - told Dunhams to ship it back for repairs as they do not take returns, they did, it was fixed to perfection, no problemo.

Had a new WASR-10 with hairline crack in the upper handguard. Called, they sent me a replacement HG, no need to prove via receipt, just S/N.

Had a year-old but still unfired WASR-10 in my stash - with arsenal dated trunnion that is one of my keepers. Discovered a problem with the BCG and jumping the rail on what could be full recoil. Wrote a polite, professional e-mail requesting help. Provided S/N, no receipt, got an RMA, sent WASR directly to CIA, fixed and returned directly to me.

Snagged a sweet C93 from Dunhams, developed a bolt-gap issue inside a few hundred rds. Wrote a polite, professional e-mail requesting help. Provided S/N, no receipt, got an RMA, told Dunhams to ship it back for repairs as they do not take returns, they did, it was replaced with a new C93, no problemos at all with new C93.  

Yeah, I'd roll the dice on another Cent product - like their milled Polish.

Good story. Most of America is under the "Fast food mentality" they want there shit 5 minutes ago. Most companies are able to fill that order with great customer service and good QC. Century just has a different idealogical view on how they run thier business....people just need to understand that and realize they are flipping a coin when purchasing Century products. I've had trouble in the past with them....but now I understand their philosophy of business and I'm prepared to flip that coin. Free Market......that is whats left of it.

I have a few century products... I ignored all the horror stories because any problems on my centuries were minor and fixable. Then, despite good advice and my better judgement, I bought a cetme. Everything that could be wrong with a cetme was wrong with mine. When I say everything I do not exagerate. It is completely unsafe to shoot and surely never was. Needless to say, Century was fully uncooperative in honoring the warranty.

I gave up on them and my cetme, which would require reassembly from the ground up and a variety of new parts. It would literally be cheaper to buy a new one than to fix mine. Its now hanging on the wall behind me as an expensive reminder not to get screwed by those jokers again.

Man would I love to be in on a class action against Century. Its astounding that has not occured yet...

tag for results of new rifle.

the best thing to do when considering a CAI gun is to do research, and then do more research.

Well 2 Fal's and an M1 Garand I bought as Century built kit guns told me never to buy a kit built gun from them again, I would still take a chance on a WASR though.The sad thing is 10 minutes of range time I think would help fix many of the problems their guns have I know it would have mine.

For those of you who do not read the fine prints of Century's warranty service policy, they also do not warrant against barrels that key hole, regardless of whether the warranty time period has expired or not. Century attributes such keyhole problems  to customers matching wrong bullet weight with wrong twist. This is precisely the reason why they have 3 different twists for their Tantal. This of course is  BS, as anybody w/ 2 bits of knowledge of external ballistics will know. If you shoot a 55 gr 5.56 in a 1:7 barrel, will it keyhole? Of course not. If you shoot a 53 gr or 60 gr 5.45 in a factory Bulgy barrel (not American made), will it keyhole? Of course not. This is Century's ploy to cover up an out of spec American made junk barrel. As such even if the OP's gun was still w/i the warranty time period, Century can still deny warranty service.

Incidentally, I have a Beowning HiPower that the factory does not even require me to fill out a warranty card. Talking about service!!!

Well at least you can say you saved 300 bucks compared to the first price and I do agree they dont have high quality rifles but you get what you pay for... My frist Ak was a Century i purchased at a local gun store and spent another 200 bucks correcting and installing what I wanted before I learned and got the guts to build them my self.... In my business we have a moto on our advertising and thats   The pride of a low price never equals the sting of poor quality....And boy i have done that several times in my lifetime.... I purchased a rolex on the streets of mexico, I believed my frist girl friend when she said she was a virgin. I purchased a Centruy, and I purchased a VW...... Damm Germans......

The major difference between a firearm and a new car is: You buy a car from a franchised dealer. As a result, the manufacturer can determine with absolute certainty when you purchased the car. therefore it's easy for it to determine when the warranty period began.
Century doesn't have franchised dealers. The gunshop has no obligation to report the sale of a Century rifle to Century, so they have no way to determine when you purchased the rifle. That fact creates the potential for abuse. Century has chosen one method of eliminating that potential by starting the period on the only date it can determine with certainty - the date they shipped the rifle. You may disagree with the method, but comparing two very different situations doesn't support your choice.

Not to change the subject but do you have to pay to have this sent back to them aswell?  Can you ship it to them or does it have to go through an FFL?

Is there any way to tell the diffetence between a rifle that was imported and a rifle that was built by them?
Any import marks or build marks?

Interesting, do you now or have you ever drawn a paycheck from Century?    That's nearly verbatim the same line their customer service gave to me.  The initial customer service rep (not Anne) said "we have no idea when you bought the rifle or what happened to it after it left our possession".  I mentioned I had a receipt, but she went on to in essence to accuse me damaging my own rifle then trying to get it fixed for free.  I what, rebarreled my brand new rifle with a defective barrel that keyholed then called up Century to see if I could get a barrel replaced?  That's beyond ridiculous.  When I was told this, I knew they were charlatans and I was in for a bumpy ride.



If I go to my local mom and pop electronic shop and buy a Sony receiver, Sony will warranty the item from the date of purchase.  You seem to forget that retailers give receipts with their purchases which, among other things, captures the date of the sale.  That's why most reputable companies ask for this receipt.  I have a receipt, but Century wasn't interested in seeing it.



Century isn't worried about abuse. Century is trying to limit their financial obligation to fix their products which they know to be defective.  They don't want to invest in QC and they don't want to invest in having to fix their defective products.  If the government didn't mandate that manufacturers offer a warranty, you can bet your life Century wouldn't offer one.





 

They will not pay for return shipping.  You can ship it directly to them via UPS.  They did pay shipping back to me.  While not ideal, it is common for the buyer to pay for the first trip back.  I did the same with a defective DSA rifle. However, on the second trip DSA paid for shipping.  DSA are good people.



 

What the hell do you think your receipt is for? It is a proof of date of purchase.

On my Draco it says:



MADE BY C.N. ROMARM S.A./CUGIR

IN ROMANIA

IMPORTED BY CAI GEORGIA, VT



So it has the manufacturers info and CAI's info as the importer.  I know the Draco is imported as is and CAI doesn't do anything to it other than sell it.





 

No need to ship a long-gun thru an FFL for repair/gunsmithing work. They in turn can ship it directly back to you.

I shipped my WASR back on my own nickel, but due to the expense, I forced Dunham's hand to ship the other 2 back when they needed warranty service. (Sure wish I could find those dealers out there that seem to take returns for refunds - Dick's, Dunhams, Gander Mtn - no returns.)