SHOT Show 2019 has had exhibits from just about every company even tangentially related to firearms, except one. Hudson Manufacturing, makers of the popular H9, did not show up to their booth at SHOT. In fact, they’ve been a no-show on social media recently as well.

Customer Service Woes

Hudson has apparently been experiencing lengthy delays in their customer service department, with many users on their Facebook page commenting that they have been experiencing malfunctions and breakages, to no response. Commenters have reported waiting several weeks for a response. In some cases, they are reporting no contact from customer service in months.

Other users have sent their H9s in for service from Hudson’s warranty department, and are also unable to contact from the company. At least two users state on Facebook that their last contact with customer service was in November. Their H9’s are still in Hudson’s possession.

cambridge Valley Machining Lawsuit

More worryingly, Hudson is apparently the defendant in a lawsuit from Cambridge Valley Machining Inc. (CVMI). That complaint can be found here. In the complaint, CVMI states that Hudson contracted them to machine the parts for their handguns, and placed an order totaling $1,687,500. These parts included 10,000 each of grips, barrels, and strikers.

Hudson received these parts but apparently failed to make payment on an outstanding balance of $384,730.99. In addition, CVMI apparently had machined an additional $184,070 worth of parts that they have withheld for failure to make payment. This means Hudson currently owes CVMI $568,800.99. Further, CVMI’s contract stipulates interest on unpaid balances at a rate of 1.5% per month. CVMI is also pursuing late fees, collection costs, and attorney’s fees. All told, Hudson’s balance due to CVMI could reach $750,000 or more.

In a later court filing, dated December 17th of last year, Hudson responded to  CVMI’s allegations with their own. In the filing, they claim that CVMI failed to provide adequately machined parts. Specifically, they claim that CVMI had “continued quality and production issues”, that resulted in Hudson having “cash flow issues, inhibiting [their] ability to produce the H9”. The filing alleges that between 2017 and 2018 they returned shipments of barrels and grips due to “massive failures in quality production”. It was these quality failures that Hudson says constituted a breach of contract, and for which they refused to pay.

h9owners.com

As a response to Hudson’s lack of contact with customers, an aggrieved H9 owner by the name of Josh Supnick has created H9owners.com. In a Facebook post, he announced that any owners in need of repairs on their H9 should access this website. The headline of the website reads

This site is dedicated to gathering information regarding outstanding warranty claims for Hudson H9 owners. Whether your firearm is in need of repair, or already in the process of it, we’d like to hear from you so that we can try to help you recover your property and also provide updates and news on the ongoing situation.

He also mentioned that he is working on obtaining legal counsel to “provide reprieve for affected consumers”.

In an interview with the author, Josh expanded on these comments. The owner of a broken H9, he has received no contact in over a month. He intends on forming a class action and says that