I've tried to support the company even with all the bashing but wow their customer service is terrible.

Let's not even get into their quality control or that I've had two frames crack... Ill just use this post
To complain about the most recent customer service.

They rebuilt my gun after the most recent frame crack and the gun ran ok still some minor issues I couldn't get resolved.  Tried to get them to help and they told me its probably a mag issue.  Took it to a smith who fixed some stuff.

I tried to buy hi caps and they refused to sell them bc I'm in CA.  I then tried to buy mag rebuild kits which are legal so I could rebuild the mags, they refused.  I sent all my LE paperwork and they again flat out refused.

Finally after several months I talked to someone who was willing to help... Somewhat
I explained the law regarding rebuild kits and he stated that was illegal.  After informing him on the law he changed his statement and said its compAny policy... Ok fine don't say it's the law if it isn't.

Go thru the same thing with going the LE route... It's the law... Oh wait we are idiots and don't know the law.... Oh it's company policy...

They finally let me buy a mag but then tell me it has to go to a California FFL that can accept hi caps.  I think they were hoping I wouldn't find one.  Well I did.

Then they said there system wouldn't allow it but they would try.

Well it's been a month and it hasn't even shipped



If you didn't want to read my rambling

Paras service sucks and they make up stupid anti gun rules

There are much better 1911s

Maybe an Arfcommer could sell you a few mags?

If I had Para stuff I'd send it your way.

Yeah, if I was Para I'm not sure I'd sell you mags either.  If they followed Barret's policy, you wouldn't even get your frame serviced.  You are a tiny part of their market & your own organization stands to throw them in gaol if they violate your state's unconstitutional laws.  It's probably better for the rest of the country that police departments learn what will happen if their state goes stupid.

Two issues.

One, order Wolffe Spring kits and if it's a Gov model ( .45acp )size also order Wolffe 18.5lb springs.

I had over 12,000 rounds through mine ( Para p 14-45 ) with 4 ftfs total. 3 due to weak factory mag springs and one to my mistake of not replacing a recoil spring when it was time, thinking I had already done so since I had the new one in the pile of parts when I was cleaning it. All three were on the same mag , so I ordered new springs for every mag I had as one other was getting sluggish. I even got the POS cheap MecGar and whatever the other was to run with Wolffe springs.

The second.

Good on them for not selling you something the regular folks can't have just because you're an LEO.  Not trying to be an ass , but , our country is supposed to have rights equal for all, not select individuals. I hope you understand this is not against you, but it is the way it is. If I owned a company that sold firearms or related parts, I would do the same as some other brave owners and refuse to sell to LEO where the citizens couldn't be trusted with them.

They did sell to me bc I'm LE.

They don't sell replacement parts for hi caps which is perfectly legal

Either way steer clear of para

Do STI mags work?
http://www.stiguns.com/products/parts/magazines/

I don't think so but ill look into it

To think I sold my all steel P14 and four mags for a little under six hundred. It was an ok gun, I bought right before the AWB  went into effect in the 90'S. After buying a couple of single stack 1911'S I wondered why I even bothered with that double stack in the first place. It was heavy and an overkill. I didn't shoot it enough that's for sure. A friend of mine had the p12 and went through similar issues with the frame cracking and finally gave up and sold it also. Gun was a novelty item at best. I'll never forget, it came with one mag so I ponied up and bought another mag for 75 bucks, when they handed me the gun with it's case there was a coupon in it for two mags at a discounted price. Real scummy shit from the Gun shop. Guy I sold it to was real happy with it, ran into him after and he couldn't stop raving how accurate it was.

After more than 10,000 rounds, my P14-45 Limited started acting funny with some failures to feed, and ejection issues, so I replaced the recoil spring and ejector and it's fine again. No sign of cracks.

Para-Ord had been through some rough times, re-organized. I wouldn't be surprised if they simply went under. The 1911 market is saturated, especially with low end imports flooding in.

Every maker has issues.

I had a Kimber which sometimes would not feed the next to last round.
I have had bad Smiths (a revolver with trigger issues and an AR with bad magwell machining), a bad Walther P22 (horrible safety, feeding and magazine issues), a bad Springfield XD-S (in recall as we speak for possible unintended discharge issue), a bad Glock 19 (bad rear rail steel recall), a Ruger LCP which had been recalled and a Ruger 22 pistol which would eject the mag mysteriously when almost empty... a bad USPFA 45 SAA revolver with messed up cylinder advance... SGW AR lower with bad alloy, replaced with new lower with out of spec pin holes.... a Colt AR with really bad dremel marks in the metal, that's just what I can remember...

I'm not sure if other firearms companies will send a mag parts kit to California. Maybe they will and maybe they won't. You might be better off complaining to the ones who write your prohibitive laws.

This is really disappointing to hear.  I am in the market for a 1911, and i really liked the Para stuff.  their product looks and feels great, just very disappointed that i have seen so many complaints about their customer service....may be taking my business elsewhere...

Well this will be good and bad. I bought a Para Expert stainless about two weeks ago. Everything felt and looked good except for the thumb safety finish. I ran 96 rounds of WWB and Federal FMJ through it and it was accurate and performed flawlessly. I emailed Para about the thumb safety and they said they couldn't send me one but they'd be happy to get the pistol back in and replace it. I pondered for a couple days if I wanted to send it back just for that. In the end I decided the pistol looked so good that I didn't want that to detract from it. So they sent me a prepaid label and it's on it's way back. I'm happy with the fit and finish, happy with the performance and happy with the customer service.

This is what it looked like

http://imageshack.com/a/img30/6855/xnvc.jpg

I think you guys just talked me out of a Para.

Good for Para, Looking forward to picking up a new Pro Comp

Same here.  Glad to see Para supporting the 2A for EVERYONE and not giving special treatment to anyone in Communist states!

That sucks you're having a horrible experience.  I've had nothing but good things from Para's customer service so far.

LOL!

You... actually.... sent......... it............. back....................for...........................................this?

BWAHAHAHAHHAHHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This right here, is the reason customer service sucks. Imagine being Para (or anyone else) and getting this guys phone call bitching about something like this? I would have told you to fuckoff, seriously.

People like you are the reason why when someone with a real legitimate problem call in they get bad CS, because they are sick and tired of dealing with whiney bitches, when someone with a real problem calls they are so sick and tired of talking to anyone at all that they just don't give a fuck anymore. I worked in CS for many years and people like you sicken me.

If you wanted a safequeen, you should have bought a Kimber. I hope when you get your gun back from Para its filled with ejaculate.

Well thanks for your insight. I understand some customers can be a pain. I didn't call, I emailed. I didn't bitch, I asked if they could send me a replacement. After they said no but to send it in I replied I'd probably just buy one. They encouraged me to send it in. As I mentioned I didn't really want too. Because of how they handled it I'm pretty sure I'm buying one of their double stacks later this year. Also, If I need any upgrade parts for it in the future, I'm going to buy them from Para if I can. If they had told me to FO from the beginning the way you would have, I would never have bought anything from them again.

Steer clear and run from Para....!!

...I'm still looking at the picture to see what the problem is....

Is this supposed to be a presentation-grade gun?

Not really a great picture. The black finish wasn't covering the edges and part of the top of the thumb safety. It was also uneven on the flat section. It had sort of a brass/copper color showing. Obviously not a presentation piece, that series is just an inexpensive entry level 1911.

Do I feel like I was nit picking to send it back? A little. At the same time I know if one my customers has a legit complaint, even if it's a small one, I want to fix it. If things are leaving my shop that aren't right, that's a problem that I need to address. I wish they could have just sent me a replacement though.

I have a Para single stack I like it and never have had a problem out of it YMMV.

I get what you're saying OP, when you guy a new gun, you want it to be as G2G out of the box as possible.  Something like this, I would have tried to talk Para into just sending ME another safety, instead of sending the whole gun back.

I've often found that if you talk the CS guy into it, they see the advantage of just sending you a replacement part.  They save the time and effort it takes to ship and receive the gun, get it into the repair dept, fix it, and send it back.  A lot of them much prefer to just send you a part and be done with it.

I tried, this was the reply:

"Sir:
I cannot send a safety out under warranty. I would be more than happy to get the pistol in and fit a new safety for you."

Jeez.  They don't make it easy do they.  I suppose its fair since the safety is a part that is supposed to be fitted.

They wouldn't budge off that. Not sure if there are actual legal reasons involved or if they just want to avoid any.

At any rate the thread started about the customer service and I had a good experience. I suspect they or a supplier had an issue with some batches of coating. I know of two other people who had slide stops that had the same look as my safety. It happens even to the "better" manufacturers. I didn't feel like it reflected badly on Para. I happened to able to compare two other Para's against an RIA locally and I liked the Para's better. A friend just bought a Para last week after shooting minel and he likes his. I haven't had a single issue with mine, it runs great. I like that the RIA Tactical II has adjustable rear sights but other than that I like the Para better. I'm sure someone else feels differently.

I bought a 14-45 Black Ops last year and it came in with some discoloration on the engraved lettering and the extractor wasn't properly adjusted. I made a post about it on the 1911forum and Travis Tomasie jumped on top of it and sent me a shipping label. Once they got the gun he actually laid hands on it, decided he didn't like the fit and finish and proceeds to have a new one built by their top gunsmith. During the process he goes ahead and upgrades the internals, barrel bushing and hammer to EGW parts. Allows me to change from the night sights to adjustable rear target sight and fiber optic front sight. Adds the new PARA skull wing logo before it was out and before they shipped it asked if I'd like it personalized in any way with laser engraving. I asked if he could add a jack o'lantern face ( I was born on Halloween) to the rear of the slide. I get a email showing me a picture of my gun being hand fitted with the engraving and it looks sick as hell. Week later I get the gun and they've included an extra mag and added the jack O'Lantern engraving to all 3 mags. Others have posted their issues with various makes and models and every time Travis responds with a quickness and gets them taken care of and often exceeding expectations like the experience I had. I never called their customer service line and probably never would. I plan on getting the new 10mm Hunter soon and if by chance there is an issue I will notify Mr Tomasie knowing he would take care of it. I can honestly say the experience I had with them was the best customer service I have ever received. Maybe I lucked out and posted in the right forum to get Mr. Tomasie's attention? I was thoroughly impressed when he went above and beyond to fix a minor issue and ended up with a customized gun for no extra charge. Might be worth posting the issue over there to see what happens? Travis is their Product Manager and Pro Shooter and seems dedicated to getting the company on the right track and taking care of any issues in the transition.

http://forums.1911forum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=33

I bought one of the special MIL/LE PRX14-45s a few years ago.  Had issue after issue with it.  Sights were too tall, for fitment, and then the hammer started following the slide forward....yep.

The first trip to Para was before their changeover, and it was awful.  They kept it for 3 months and didn't fix anything.

The second trip (when the hammer started misbehaving) was afterwards, and it was like night and day.  They kept it for a week, replaced all my mags with the new Para-branded ones, and replaced everything inside the pistol except the barrel.

Now it works like it should, and is still one of my favorite guns.

I know they have a bad rep, and I was definitely on that bus, but my latest experience has helped somewhat.  Hopefully they keep it up.

I really like some of Para's designs. But I've known too many unhappy Para owners. Mil group buys from them a lot, and there seems to be multiple issues in each lot. Then they have to try to sell their OIF/OEF customized Para piece of shit that they got $80 discount on. No thanks.

That's a phat-ass gun right there....congrats (the BlackOps high cap 9 that is)....