I have followed this forum for years to get technical info for my guns and have found it to be a great resource with many members posting valuable information. Thanks to all of you who contribute to this site.

I wanted to post a warning to anybody considering buying a AMSEC safe. I am not arguing whether they are well built safes (I own two), I am just letting anybody considering purchasing one to do the one thing we sometimes forget to do. That thing is, check how well a company supports their products after sale. I won’t go into the continued issues I have encountered with my ESL5 lock, they are documented in length at the tail end of this thread, https://www.ar15.com/forums/Armory/UPDATE-AMSEC-TF-series-with-ESL5-lock-RESOLVED-CORRECTLY/46-470193/

I would like to comment on AMSEC’s lack of customer support. A quick search on the internet will bring up many posts or blogs of people who have commented on contacting AMSEC and getting little to no help. I fall into this category as well and currently I am again locked out of my safe. I have tried contacting AMSEC and cannot get in touch with them at all. They are closed and have no message on their website and are not answering emails or phones. (Who in this day and age of information and owning a business doesn’t at least put in bold print on their welcome page information pertaining to their closure??) I get that we are in a pickle currently in this country with COVID 19, but our front line first responders are going to work, our restaurants are going to work for take out, and our stores are doing e-commerce. You would think that AMSEC would at least have CS or Tech Support responding to email or answering phones. This could be done from home. (I tried calling three other large safe companies just to see if they answered....all of them did.) I think this speaks volumes to the type of customer service you can expect from AMSEC after sale.

Outside of TheSafeGuy on this forum, who has been gracious, taken the time to be a wonderful source of information for members of this forum, and intervened on behalf of members when they were at a dead end with AMSEC CS, I wouldn’t expect any help from calling or contacting AMSEC with any issues you may have with your safe. So, buyer beware.

Imagine purchasing a Ford and then having a problem with it.  What do you do?  Call Ford?  E-mail their engineering department?

No, you take the issue up with the dealer.  This is typically how it works with safes too.  If I sell a safe to somebody they call me directly.  I resolve the issue, and if a warranty claim is valid, we work through that process and the manufacturer sends us a check.

Somebody can't solve your problems over the phone or via e-mail.  Just like your car, you need a tech to diagnose the issue hands on.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the ESL5 locks.  I had a brand new safe arrive with a dead lock on it.  I steer my customers away from them.  Sounds like your biggest problem lies between you and your dealer.

You have very valid points, a1abdj, and I am not arguing them at all. The dealer is where you should start.  I also agree with you and will never allow another ESL5 near one of my safes.

I did go to my dealer when I was originally having problems with the lock and was steered to AMSEC tech since they could help with troubleshooting and replacement.

The problem here has been that after speaking to locksmiths on the phone the solenoid has probably been defective since day one and they state that it should have been replaced rather than throwing keypads at it. A quick search on the net shows that this isn’t an isolated issue which to me states “recall” or at least “no questions asked replacement for those that call in with issues”.

If you have problems with your Ford and the dealer tries and you try, eventually you have to take it up with Ford. This does happen and is why recalls happen. I worked for a large company for many years that sold through suppliers. However; we still had a tech team and always did our best to help customers that bought our products. This helped us, our dealers, and especially our loyal customers.

Update....

I was able to finally get in touch with AMSEC this week. The tech I spoke to was helpful, listened to the issue, and immediately sent out a new lock for my safe. He was unable to send out a tech to get the safe open, but was able to give me the name of a tech in the local area that AMSEC recommended and works with often. I understood that it was not in his power to make the call for AMSEC to send out a tech to open an out of warranty safe. However, a quick message to AMSEC management and they promptly responded and said they would have somebody sent out due to the safes lock history.

I applaud AMSEC for standing behind their products and they have renewed my faith in their products and customer service.

I suppose I'm still at a loss.  Why isn't your dealer coming out to rectify this?  AMSEC is sending an unrelated tech?

Warranty on Amsec safes until recently is only 1 year on the lock. My guess is his safe falls within this coverage range, and is now out of warranty. The dealer may not have a technician, or may not be an A+ rated tech. Amsec dealers grow on trees, good safe techs are pretty hard to find. Typically you will only have a few in each region, and they don't always work at a safe dealership.

Snopczyski is correct. I purchased the safe from an established local gun store where I live. However; they just sell the safes. Any tech help or work would have to be handled through AMSEC and any non-warranty work would have to be handled by your choice of a local locksmith or AMSEC recommended A+ rated tech.

Unlike purchasing from you, from what I have read in the forum, where someone would get a more full service safe sale.

I suppose there's a lesson in here somewhere.  I have never understood why a person would buy security products from anyplace other than a local security professional.  Outside of the ability to handle issues after the sale, think of all of the other issues.  I know how we handle customer information, our employees, our insurance, etc.  Plenty of ways the lack of attention in those areas could come back to bite somebody.

We have a local Liberty dealer that is a clothing store.  They hire a number of local kids without any real background investigation.  These people have access to customer names, addresses, and safe combinations.  Doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

This is precisely WHY i bought my Amsec from a local Safe/Lock specialty store who delivers, for free, and supports their product for life.  

I hope the OP gets his problem sorted!

That's why I bought my safe from an actual safe/vault company (dealer). That's all they do. You were a help to me during the process, too.

My amsec safe wagon wheel handles have started to rust in less than 2 years.  The safe is stored inside a house with low humidity but I assume it’s from poor chrome coating and being touched often. Amsec wouldn’t replace the handles.  That’s the extent of my experience with customer service.

My safe is now in service again. AMSEC sent out a local AMSEC authorized safe tech to get the safe open and install a new lock. They did end up having to drill the safe to gain access.

If you are having issue with your electronic lock, I would certainly not lock your safe again until you are sure your lock situation is resolved completely. If I had done this, I would not had to have my safe drilled.