Getting robbed by the Gun dealer

[Highbird70]

This its just happened to me, , I would like to know your views on this matter, my apology for my poor written english, I know there is some english teachers among us...;-)

 

This letter was sent to the Gun Shop owner, I have blanked some details, I want to wait for an aswer from this well known Midlands shop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quotation for repairs to SHOTGUN sn⁰*****

I'm writing to you with respect of the quote/bill settlement regarding my shotgun SHOTGUN sn⁰******, that I left in your shop on the 9^th of October 2012. I arranged with your employee, for the gun to be return to GMK workshop, to investigate the reoccurring problem of the misfiring of the second barrel.

I explained the situation to your employee, making myself very clear, that the gun should still be repaired under warranty and in case GMK didn't agree to repair under warranty, I would have needed a Quote of the cost of the repair, parts or adjustments. Your employee, wrote on a "to be repaired " note my instructions and inserted the note into one of the barrels, he also informed me, that if I wasn't going to repair the shotgun after the quote (if it wasn't repaired under Warranty), I would have still had to pay the RFD transport costs, that I did agree with.

The first time that the problem with the misfire happened was 4 weeks after I bought the shotgun from you, the shotgun was sent to GMK for repairs and after inspection, GMK sent a brand new shotgun back.

After 18 months of practically shooting no more than 200 cartridges with the new exchanged shotgun, the shotgun started to misfire the second barrel, again the shotgun was sent back to GMK for repair, exactly with the same problem.

Now the same fault as happened again, which lead to me bringing it back to the shop on the 9^th October as previously mentioned.

On the 9^th October 2012 I also contacted GMK myself via e-mail, to explain what had happened with this shotgun and the reoccurring misfiring fault. On the 12^th October 2012, I received a reply from Andy, (GMK Supervisor gunsmith), informing me that the gun had not arrived yet, but as soon the shotgun arrived, he would look into it and informed me that ****** has a 5 years warranty on parts and shotgun itself.

On the 17^th October 2012 I received a further e-mail, informing me that shotgun had arrived and they were looking into it and the turnaround for repair would be within 10 days if needed.

On Tuesday, 30 October 2012, I phoned Andy GMK workshop, to have an update on the repair of the shotgun, he informed me, that the shotgun had been repaired and sent back to the **********shop and the repairs were made under warranty, he also sent me an e-mail about the work carried out as detailed below.

 

 

Breakdown of the repairs carried out under warranty:

• Adjusted sears & inertia blocks
  
• New top lever spring
  
• Test Fired
  

 

On the same day my wife received a phone call from ************ shop, your employee asked my wife if she could pass a message to me, stating that the shotgun was back from repairs and the total bill for these repairs was £145.

My wife promptly phone me and passed on the message. I could not believe that I was being charged this amount. I immediately thought that it must have been a mistake because the standard RDF charge is approximately £50 return. I decided to go straight to the shop, I also needed to purchase some cartridges.

My wife and myself arrived at the shop and went in, your employee that I had the original conversation with regarding the shotgun on the 9^th October greeted us politely, but didn't recognize me as the owner of the shotgunin question. I asked for some cartridges and bought them with my debit card, when asked if it was possible to check my shotgun certificate, he recognized me as the owner of the shotgun.

He informed me that the shotgun had arrived from repairs, I acknowledged this and asked if I could inspect the shotgun, he went to the back of the shop and brought out my shotgun. He then told me that I would not see anything due to the fact that the repairs were internal. Once I had inspected the shotgun, I put it away in the gun slip that I had brought with me and placed it over my shoulder.

At this point I asked how much did I owe, I was told that the total cost was £145, so I then asked for a breakdown of the cost, your employee did not understand what I meant, I tried to be more specific and asked how much was the RFD transport costs and the work carried out and if any parts where changed, your employee replied that he didn't have the breakdown of the costs and as I did expect at this point, your employee's facial expression changed and he asked me why I needed this information.

At this point I told him, that there was a 2 issues, and that I was definitely not impressed with and how unprofessional he was not knowing the breakdown of the repair costs.

Fist issue: I reminded him that when I took the gun in for repairs, I specifically asked for a quote.

Second Issue: I informed him that since I had handed the shotgun over to *********** SHOP, I had been in contact with GMK workshop all along, and I had been informed by Andy, GMK (gunsmith supervisor) that the shotgun had been repaired under warranty , he confirmed this by e-mail and in a phone conversation made earlier on the morning of 30^th October.

Your employee, as expected, changed from being polite to quite arrogant, he told me that I never asked for a quote for the repairs to be carried out on the shotgun, I reiterated that I did ask for a quote and no repairs were to be carried out before my approval. I informed him that I was not going to pay the repairs but I was ready to pay for the RFD transport cost, but he refused my offer, and he asked me to hand the gun back. I refused to hand back my shotgun, he said that I was stealing the shotgun, I replied, that it wasn't possible due to the fact that the shotgun its registered to my name and I'm the rightful owner, so I can't steel from myself. Again I offered to pay the cost for the RFD transport.

He then rudely asked me to leave the shop immediately. I asked again, how come you don't have a breakdown of the repair costs, the reaction was the same...red faced man just been caught with the his hands in the cookie jar...he couldn't reply to that. I did ask him to call GMK workshop, so we could both speak to Andy, to check what I was told earlier in the morning, but of course he refused, no surprise there. I also asked him, if I could speak to yourself, he said, that he wasn't prepared to do that, because you where on holiday.

I then reiterated that I did ask for a quote, he then said, "Excuse my language but that is a bare face lie", so now I am getting called a liar too.

As me and my wife were walking out of the shop, your employee not satisfied of the big hole that he dug himself into, said that to prove that I was a liar, he would check the repair note on the computer system that you have been using for 3 years. Me and my wife stopped in front of the door while he checked what was written on the system.

He opened up the file about my shotgun repair and started to read loud and clear...

"The Customer as asked for a quote prior shotgun to be repaired, customer has been advised that could be up to £200"

 

Me and my wife at that point laughed and informed your employee in a grateful way that I really appreciated to be called a liar....not, none the less he still insisted...even if he wrote that himself on your system, I was wrong, and I should have expected to pay that repair cost.

At that point I informed him that I wasn't running away from the shop for not settling this farcical repair cost and if his employer wanted to contact me at any time, they have all my details and phone numbers, so Mr******* can always come and visit me for a further explanation...if you can make up one of course and then walked away.

 

Mr *****, there are two scenarios that I can foresee happening now:

 

Fist scenario:

You will contact GMK and you will inform them that because one of their employee's has told me that the shotgun had been repaired under warranty, he has landed you in this very awkward situation, that you tried to make money from a non payment service and you have been caught red handed and now you're not going to make a huge profit on the repair because it has been repaired under warranty. I only feel for Andy, who will probably be reprimanded for informing me in good faith, something that you not familiar with. But let's not worry about Andy for now, due to the fact that GMK will be informed about this. Plus your employee might change the note on the system to save his face. Then you will come back to me, blatantly lying about all this situation, that I should have paid up, and that I am a liar and so on and I'm no more welcomed in your shop.

 

Second scenario:

You will contact me, explaining to me what went wrong and that there was a mistake in trying to charge me for the repair and apologise for my unfair and insulting treatment by your employee.

 

I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Yours sincerely

[oscarsdad]

Well worded and to the point. I hope it is not the gunshop local to me as they have always been very good and I spend a fortune in there.

[killer_pigeon]

if the shop approved the repair with GMK without your prior consent, or approval that is their fault and they should foot the repair bill and you cover RFD charges.

 

I think in the first year of warranty the shop has to cover RFD costs also, but thereafter the RFD costs may be down to you as stated above

 

keep us updated with what happens

[Nicky T]

That is a very well written letter and one that provides ample opportunity to right any wrong doing.

 

Best of luck and keep us informed on how you get on!

[al4x]

Its also worth putting in that you are also passing the details onto GMK and your local trading standards as its definitely not legal to try and charge for work done by the manufacturer under warranty.

[jackinbox99]

Sounds like you have had a terrible experience there. Will be interesting to see what the owner of the shop says. Clearly there should be no repair charge if its been done for free under warranty, and only the RFD charges to pay, which if they come to £145 then thats extremely steep!

 

Hopefully there has just been a mix up and hopefully the shop will sack that employee for his attitude.

 

Good luck.

[rimmie]

Name and shame !!!

[TCarn]

Name and shame !!!

 

+1, no one should be allowed away with it... disgraceful

[Will Poon]

Spill the beans, go on you've told us this much , so it's only fair to name and shame

[B725]

When my Lanber was sent back to GMK it never cost me a single penny.

[P~MX]

the cost of return carriage from GMK to your RFD is nil/0 silczh -- so they were tryin to rip you off there too, and as already said if your gun was within the first 12 months of it's warranty the RFD is responsible not you.

name and shame for the sake of your fellow shooters !

[Thunderbird]

All this returning to manufacturers within the retailer/statutory warranty period is a load of balls.

 

I had a mate buy two Pointers (yeah, I know...) off a shop and when they both double-discharged he let them (for the sake of harmony and being out of his comfort zone) let them fanny him about for months and months and months on end (whilst he had no gun) sending them back and guess what, when they came back they did exactly the same thing.

[Whitebridges]

Highbird70 get in touch with GMK. E-mail them if you can and send them a link to this post. They as a distributor need to be having a word in the ear of their retailer.

[Highbird70]

Gents,

 

The owner of this shop will receive the letter before 1pm on Monday, I will wait till Thursday for a repply from the owner, I will name and shame, but not for vegence, but to avoid some other fellow shooter to get ripped off by these people. It will be unpolite if I name and shame before the owner receives his letter.

Also I will send a copy of the letter to GMK and I will give them the link of this forum, so that it will be notice that its not a single person thinking like minded but several and surely, they don't want to look like they were involved in any wrong doing, when they did do the right thing, repairing a gun under their warranty.

 

Mark

[bullet1747]

Name and shame

[artschool]

Tldr

[njc110381]

I think you've gone about this in the most polite manner possible and the owner should be very grateful for that. It's hard to judge when staff are involved as the boss could well be a decent bloke. Time will tell.

 

I think I would have acted in the same manner. Asking for a quote before the work is undertaken is a pretty simple instruction to follow. As it didn't cost them anything other than getting the gun (that they sold you in the first place) to GMK, the charge is very unreasonable.

[Hardwoods Green]

Brierley Guns is my guess, a friend of mine got charged £365 to the pins changed in his DT10. He then rang GMK to see what the retail price would be for such work........£140!!!

[Andy135]

Brierley Guns is my guess, a friend of mine got charged £365 to the pins changed in his DT10. He then rang GMK to see what the retail price would be for such work........£140!!!

 

£365??? For 30 mins work? Holy ****! I should go into business... http://forums.pigeonwatch.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/223574-replacing-the-striker-pins-on-a-browning-citori/

 

[Highbird70]

Brierley Guns is my guess, a friend of mine got charged £365 to the pins changed in his DT10. He then rang GMK to see what the retail price would be for such work........£140!!!

 

No, its not them, but WOW...thats as bad as mine experience, pure greed

[Highbird70]

More thoughts...

 

If you take your broken gun to a gun shop, taking for granted that they are not gun smiths and they will not repair the gun, so "us" as a customer we are using this shop only for the RFD transport service, that normally its £50 circa (return), plus put £20 of a little profit for the shop for the time used to send the shotgun, total should be £70-80, for me that would be more than accetable, the repair of the shotgun, in warranty or not as nothing to do with the shop that you sending from, hence when you go and pick up the shotgun you should have two invoices, 1 for the RFD and 1 from the shop that as repaired the shotgun to keep for further warranty in case it reoccurs.

[RED BEARD]

very well worded,and you've given them plenty of space to back pedal out of the hole they've dug for them selves.

[shaun4860]

I think its unfair to "name and shame"

 

the owner of the shop so far as I can see has done nothing wrong as he has been on holiday,

 

Its his member of staff who is at fault.

 

Once the shop owner has the letter and been given time to respond, then see what the outcome is before "naming and shaming"

 

why should he lose his reputation over something he, as far as we know has had nothing to do with.

 

by all means get in touch with GMK to verify the work was done under warranty, they shouldnt have any qualms about that.

 

just my tuppence worth

 

[brian28]

If the gun is in warranty why should you pay rfd fees .

 

they sold you something that did not last past warranty .

 

Sound like a bunch of crooks to me

[Highbird70]

I think its unfair to "name and shame"

 

the owner of the shop so far as I can see has done nothing wrong as he has been on holiday,

 

Its his member of staff who is at fault.

 

Once the shop owner has the letter and been given time to respond, then see what the outcome is before "naming and shaming"

 

why should he lose his reputation over something he, as far as we know has had nothing to do with.

 

by all means get in touch with GMK to verify the work was done under warranty, they shouldnt have any qualms about that.

 

just my tuppence worth

 

 

The owner was well aware of the gun been sent to GMK.