# Hathcock Target Sniper Defect



## burninator

This past Sunday my Hathcock Target Sniper was damaged during routine use. I've sent e-mails and a PM to Bill Hays requesting repair or replacement (I also offered to mail the slingshot to him). It's been a week since my first message and so far no response. This slingshot probably has less than 100 shots through it, zero fork hits. The chip also reveals a surprise--there's a metal core underneath! Surprising given the advertising in this video:






I'm not sure what caused the chip--it wasn't there when I started shooting but I noticed it by the seventh or eighth shot and stopped shooting immediately. Earlier in the week I smoothed the fork grooves with some light grit sandpaper (I planned on trying out tubes and rubber bands but the grooves had a fairly rough finish--didn't want increased wear on bandset). That seemed to be a reasonable thing to do, since the slingshot is advertised to be made from "ballistic fiber reinforced resins" I assumed it to be one homogeneous piece of plastic/resin. But it's not. This resin is merely a thin coating over a metal core.

When a product is advertised to stand up to incredible abuse yet fails after less than 100 non-rigorous shots, that's disappointing. When a product isn't constructed as advertised, that's more disappointing. When requests for repair or replacement receive no response, that gives me little alternative than to make a public post to prompt the vendor to offer a solution. This is my first post and I really didn't want it to be about something negative. I also hate to cause headaches to hardworking vendors who provide a lot to this community. I like a lot of features that this product has, and I want to continue using it.


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## kobe23

I personally this is not a very nice action to take. Bill have reputation, took the sport to an all new level. I believe he have many customer, and the first thing to do at the forum you should have pm-ed him and waited few more days instead.


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## erlkonig

I have same issue before, don't get mad. Just contact him, Bill will take care of it.


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## treefork

I assure you Bill Hays has top notch customer service.He's one man handling lots of custom orders, PM'S a job and family.There's not enough hours in a day for guys like him . I expect your next post will out weigh this one with the result of a positive outcome. .


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## Jakerock

Panicked humanoid! Please be calm.
If an email was your first move, and this post was your second move I would encourage you to contemplate your actions.
Take care, Jake


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## newconvert

Jakerock said:


> Panicked humanoid! Please be calm.
> If an email was your first move, and this post was your second move I would encourage you to contemplate your actions.
> Take care, Jake


very true, just a word about Mr. hays, his email skills arent used much, but he does respond to pm's at this site.


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## Imperial

have some patience , hes a very busy man . pm on the forum is your better bet .


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## strikewzen

This is a friendly forum, i would like to welcome you joining

please don't feel like we're ganging up to defend the vendor, Mr. Hays is our friend and so are you

In my opinion the metal core offer extra security to protect the user, and is beneficial (just my opinion)

what you experienced is one in a thousand (literally)
and yes, Personal Messages are a better way to contact Mr. Hays, because of the crazy amount of emails he receives

If you would like to be refunded immediately PM me your paypal, note i am not in any way associated with vendors, but personally guarantee that each of them back their products with honor


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## burninator

Bill has responded to the PM, and I am sure all will be fine. I don't want a refund, just a repair or replacement, which Bill has offered to do. The product has some excellent features, that's why out of the wide range of products I chose to buy this one, and that's why I want it fixed so I can spend many hours using it.

Best of fortune to all.


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## rem50

glad you got it taken care of.


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## treefork

All is well in the world of slingshotin


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## Knoll




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## Bill Hays

Okay, a replacement has been sent now.

One thing though guys.... as in this case this was a transaction from last August... I keep the current year's shipping info for tax reasons, but not the previous year's, that's with the accountant. So if you have a problem with one of my products... and with as many as we make there's bound to be something at some time....
So, it's a good idea to tell me exactly when it was shipped to you, your full name and address, exactly what was ordered and what went wrong with it.

Like on this one, since we're talking about a slingshot from an order that was from August of 2011... I had no idea who the person was or if it were a legitimate complaint... or if it were simply somebody trying to get something for free (actually has happened 3 times so far that I know of)... which is kind of ridiculous since I give away about 20 slingshots a month for free anyway.

Anyway, since August of last year there have been some changes made to the standard resin Hathcocks... we are always looking to improve functionality and quality of the finished product.
One thing is there is now triple steel rod bracing inside each piece.
The resin now uses a greater percentage of spectra fiber over kevlar (it's been found that over a period of time kevlar can break down and become less efficient).
The casting master used is a touch longer and will accomodate wider single layer bands laid flat (no fold) for even greater intuitive alignment and accuracy.
The finishes used are now polyurethane based as they seem to stick to the frames better, less pock marking due to slickness of the cast piece.


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