Why Lyman will never sell me anything again.

The following is email correspondence with Lyman about a 4500 I bought from them.




> Message: a few months ago I purchased a 4500 with Heater/ I tried to use
> it last night but it wouldn't accept the H&I sizing die it wouldn't go all
> the way down it stuck up above the hole about 1/16 of an inch therefore
> the it wouldn't adjust properly for sizing and lube. What can we do about
> this?


Is the die a Lyman or RCBS? If Lymans, then please return it to us for
evaluation. We will evaluate it then contact you with your options. Please
include a note on exactly what is wrong, and your contact info. If its a
RCBS, then you need to contact them on die dimensions.




its lyman dies but its the press not the dies. I have a lyman 45 and also several other dies none of them fit



Please return it for evaluation. We will contact you after we've seen it. There is no charge for the evaluation. Please include a note on exactly what is wrong, a copy of your receipt ( for warrenty ), and your contact information.

Lyman Products
475 Smith St
Middletown, CT 06457
Attn: Repairs


My question is I dont have the reciept from Midway but I believe I can get it. and who is going to pay for the shipping for their poor quality? the answer Is ME> RCBS would have just sent me a press and said I am sorry. Well I hope Lyman enjoys the 200. they got from me because they will not be getting anymore.

Oh yea well I emailed them back and told them I thought they should send me a postage paid box along with a pdf of the receipt ... we will see what they say but they have already pissed me off. I will be buying a rcbs in the near future.

Midway should still have record of your purchase if you have a online account with them....you may be able to print a duplicate receipt.

It seems as though dies, presses, scales and a few other task specific tools always need to be sent in for evaluation or replacement, regardless of who manufactured it. Pretty much, if there is extensive and exacting factory machining on the part...they want to see it.

I had the same problem with my RCBS neck turning tool.....they sent me all the parts they thought I should need to repair it except what I really needed...I had to send it to them for replacement since it was the main body section.

I couldn't hurt to send it to them for replacement...better than having a $200 sizing press you can't use.

well I will if I have to ... Personally I think they should send me a postage paid box JMO

I guess the RCBS is just better at "evaluation" over the phone than Lyman is. Maybe you could offer to help Lyman by using your camera to show them pictures or movies of it.

Well Lyman said that I have to pay the shipping and they may reimburse me for it if I ask for it in writing. So all I can say is If your thinking about buying Lyman I would seriously reconsider it. RCBS may cost you a dollar or two more but IMO if you run into this RCBS will take care of you.

wow that sucks.... I had a problem with my dillon... I called them and they sent UPS to my house to pick up my press.... they got it back and called me and said the new one was one the way two days later new press and back up and running... cost to me nada....

you know reload if you paid with a credit card you can always reverse charges and send the package postage due on delivery... I had to do this with another item was not reloading related but a return... i am not saying this is the best solution but I agree if it is their fault they should send postage payment...

I had a bad incident with Lyman myself. Bought 2 moulds, one from midway, one from midsouth. Both moulds dropped smaller than what was stated. One mould a 45, the other a 44. I contacted midway, they said to send it back, and they replaced it no extra charge with the RCBS mould. I contacted lyman about the one from midsouth. Lyman took it, suppose to have recut it and sent it back. Again, dropped too small. Midsouth said I could send them the mould, they would refund me half, they would take a loss because once the manufacture recut the mould, they would not get credit, but would split it. I told them no, took 3 months to get a refund. Lyman told me in an email, "We can not gaurantee the diameter of the bullet that drops from our moulds. We use Lyman #2 lead, that is what we build the moulds from, any other recipe of lead, they can not guarantee it.

I won't buy from Lyman, unless it is a tumbler. I have their Magnum Pro 2500, best dang tumbler I have ever owned...... I just love how quiet it is....

yup Tommy it is not good business to alienate your customer base....

iv seen and read alot of bad stuff about lyman the the only thing iv got is there calipers never had any trouble out of them! iv seen pour cut molds poor cut dies and now a poor press i want buy anything lymans thats for sure!

I have very few items from lyman, for that reason. been loading for yrs. way back when herters sold stuff.
now I go with lee stuff never had any problems with molds or dies/ presses too. there very helpful too.
Don

I have a lyman universal drill press trimmer.... I love it it is really a good product and yup you guessed it, discontinued why cause it worked?

I just want to make it clear, my post may be somewhat misleading. My gripe in this thread is with the way Lyman deals with their customers. The point where it took 3 months for a refund as they did not want to issue one and the way they handled the situation. Yes the moulds were bad, however, you can get a bad mould from anyone else. It is how they handle the problem.

Lyman still makes some good products. The Lubrisizer I had from them was flawless as well as the tumbler. They have good media for polishing.

I want to appologize to anyone that may think I was brand bashing. That is all.... As you were.....

Daywalker wrote:I just want to make it clear, my post may be somewhat misleading. My gripe in this thread is with the way Lyman deals with their customers. The point where it took 3 months for a refund as they did not want to issue one and the way they handled the situation. Yes the moulds were bad, however, you can get a bad mould from anyone else. It is how they handle the problem.

Lyman still makes some good products. The Lubrisizer I had from them was flawless as well as the tumbler. They have good media for polishing.

I want to appologize to anyone that may think I was brand bashing. That is all.... As you were.....

I 100% agree with you. any company can have a bad item slip through. The good companies make it good I am still fighting with Lyman over this. and the bottom line is they are done I dont have to use their product there are others out there. I will be getting a RCBS ... Only problem is I couldn't dump this turkey on anyone else and live with my self.

PM with what you would need to get out of it. I am looking for small projects to do in my down time. Currently as of this writing, out house guest has somewhat been persuaded to move and I am setting up my reload room back again!!!

until i send it back to Lyman to see if they will fix it I couldnt sell it with a clear conscience. It will not take a size die. who ever got it wouldn't be able to use it.

One thing you could do, and a person should not have to in order to make a company do the right thing, however, it had helped me on another forum a while back.

In your next email to them, send them the link to this thread. Let them know your a memember of a forum and there are others watching this thread to see how a company is going to handle the situation. For the most part, they do not like negative advertisement.

If they want more customers, then they will at least make this right....

I guess what really breaks my heart about the whole thing is Lyman used to be the Reloaders Company. They wrote the Data they made the Dies Molds that set the industry standard. I have probably 10 Ideal lyman molds every one of the top notch first rate quality. I have several sets of Lyman dies Top notch first rate quality. Have a question email them first rate answers fast response. Now this?
I dont know this to be true just an assumption. Did they quit making their stuff here and out soruce it to a third world country to provide them with cheap knock offs to offer for sale, They know they are bad but are stuck with what they can get now?

I don't know what to tell you there man. I have heard excellent things back when they were IDEAL. Would not mind having some of their older moulds...

Congrats Tommy on recapturing your reloading room . Now maybe we can
catch up on conversations and comparisons. LOL

Their stuff probarly ended up over here............... My first Lyman .308 dies, the sizing die was BADLY machined on the inside. Scraping the hell out of my brass. I took that set back to the gun shop and he still had a very old set on the shelf and he swaped the sizing die out. Now it's working good.

And.... I bought a 2 cavity lyman mold for my 9mm. The cavity's aren't perfectly round, a bit undersized. I just added some aluminium tape on the inside, now it works "ok-ish"

I really want to buy their 147gr. 4 cavity mold, but if this is what i have to put up with, i'm thinking "HELL NO"

for me if I buy a new mold its going to be RCBS or MIhec there really isnt but about ten dollars price difference and I dont want to take the chance on Lyman any more. even If Lyman makes it right which the jury is still out on that. I am out weeks its a good thing i have an old lyman 45 or I would be SOL.

Well I sent the 4500 to Lyman and they replaced it but they did not refund my postage. Which to many may seem petty but I don't feel that I should be out money to make up for their poor quality. So yes I have a functioning Lube Sizer now. But It cost me more than it should have. So if you put it all together I should have just bought a RCBS OR Saeco or Star

yea i agree with you thats just piss poor service

I'm glad to hear they replaced it for you....sucks you had to pay the postage. they should have thrown in some goodies to try to make it good.