alexm Posted March 23, 2009 Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 What are people's experiences with doing a dealer to dealer transfer (i.e. when you buy a gun from a distant RFD and they ship it to your local dealer so you can go along and do the face-to-face bit)? I had never done this before, always preferring to travel across the country to collect. However I have now, and I was a bit surprised at the outcome! Basically on Friday I saw a nice little .410 I fancied on Guntrader and as it was a cheapy one I decided to just buy it and be damned! So I rang up my local RFD and asked if they would receive a gun for me. I spoke to the owners wife and she said no problem, £20 quid fee. I then rang up the seller (an RFD up North) who were only too helpful. Took my details, took my local RFD details, took my money and job's a good'un! They said they would ship on Monday (today) as they don't like trusting TNT with guns over the weekend (a fair point!). Now, today I got a call from the seller saying that they had just sent my gun off with TNT and then rung my local RFD to let them know the gun was on its way and the proprietor had REFUSED to accept delivery. Please could I talk to him and convince him to accept it! I was livid! I rang up my local RFD and asked them what the meaning of this was and he said "the boss isn't happy". He then put me onto the boss who said "I'm not taking delivery of it because you didn't ask me if it was ok..." and then the bit that really annoyed me "and why didn't you buy it from us?" Unbelievable! I then explained that I HAD asked them first on Friday and that his WIFE had said it was ok, and in any case £20 for signing for a parcel seems like a good deal to me. I also pointed out that the reason I hadn't bought this particular .410 off them was because.... they didn't have one. Furthermore, I noticed they didn't have one WHEN I BOUGHT £150 WORTH OF .243 and .223 AMMO off them last week! He sounded a bit sheepish then.... there was a bit off muffled shouting in the background (probably slapping the wife) then he apologised. I thought I got on ok with this RFD but jesus, what a prima donna! I go to collect tomorrow (assuming he doesn't send the courier away). Should be interesting.... I will update!.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breastman Posted March 23, 2009 Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 Sounds like he was having a bad day to me! With one exception i've found that all RFD's appear to be more temperamental than the average person, one day they're the nicest person in the world, the next they're in a hyper-huff I suppose if you think of all the hoops we have to jump through as shooters when we add to or vary our FAC/SGC's, an RFD must have to jump through 10 times as many, and on a daily basis! Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexm Posted March 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 Sounds like he was having a bad day to me! With one exception i've found that all RFD's appear to be more temperamental than the average person, one day they're the nicest person in the world, the next they're in a hyper-huff I'm glad it's not just me that has noticed.... however I think I have been lucky up until now! I don't tend to recommend RFD's any more because I will go in and get perfectly good service. And I do tend to get about a bit. I think over the years I have bought guns in pretty much every RFD within a 50 mile radius of here and quite a few well beyond. I will then recommend them to a mate and then several weeks later that mate will get back to me and say something like "that bloke you recommended is a gold plated, 24 carat ****!" On one occasion one of my friends was asked to 'foxtrot oscar' from a shop for having the audacity to question a price. The same shop have been nothing but nice to me! I guess it's my turn to get the foxtrot oscar treatment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warlock Posted March 23, 2009 Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 I only ever deal with 1 RFD in Kent, he may not be the quickest or the cheapest but by god he is bloody good at what he does (Gunsmith too). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Fudd Posted March 23, 2009 Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 Sounds like he was having a bad day to me! With one exception i've found that all RFD's appear to be more temperamental than the average person, one day they're the nicest person in the world, the next they're in a hyper-huff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruno22rf Posted March 23, 2009 Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 just done RFD TO RFD today-only an air-rifle but still has to be done this way-went thru Willards in M.K. couldnt have been more helpfull+freindly+only £10-my other RFD in stoney stratford wouldnt budge from £25-will not be using them anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony2 Posted March 24, 2009 Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 perhaps it would be nice to have a reply from an rfd about this topic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clayman Posted March 24, 2009 Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 Hi, I'm an RFD who regularly buys and sells using RFD services. I've done maybe 100 in the last year, and I think you will find that there are many very satisfied PW members who have deal with me and used my RFD services. As one of the people involved in this, first of all £20-00 for receiving is appropriate. The receiving RFD has to verify your license and takes the legal responsibility for filling it out. They also have to do the FLD notifications. The £20-00 is for the admin, and it can take 1/2 hr to deal with your paperwork, so don't knock the fee, its good value. No RFD is under obligation to offer transport receiving or sending services. The gun buyer or sender has to make an agreement beforehand. Sounds like you did do this and the RFD in question is legally in breach of contract now for refusing delivery. It matters not that the Boss was not consulted if the agreement was made with a person in the organisation. If you have to make alternative arrangements and have costs, the original RFD should pay them, a small claims court would agree as long as you can prove on the balance of probability there was a contract for delivery there. I find it incredible that so many dealers are negative about receiving guns, sure they did not sell it but you are in their shop and what else will you buy. I'm sure this RFD has lost your custom for ever, and maybe your mates as well when you tell them of the experience. I have had dealers rubbish the guns sent, and guess what, they have just the one for the customer! Hmmmm.......... too much self interest sometimes. I'm really happy to try to offer a first class service, and keep charges minimal - as I treat it as helping a local who will become my customer for other things. Jerry RFD Sy 396 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexm Posted March 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 UPDATE: Well I have the gun! The guy who works in there was helpful and friendly as usual and apologised again for the mixup. The owner, however, skulked in the back room and didn't come out to face me. He was literally just out of sight behind the counter but didn't acknowledge me at all. Some people. So they have their transfer fee, and I also bought £60 of .410 cartridges but only because the guy who works there is a good bloke. I'll have 7 more slots to fill when I get my variation back and I think it's safe to say the owner won't be helping me fill them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted March 24, 2009 Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 Alex, Street may not be local to you in Somerset, but I would recommend Steve Beatty of Ivythorn Sporting. He's a sole trader (ex-Avalon Guns), cheap, friendly and courteous, and stands by his word. I keep an eye on his Guntrader stock, as he stocks a lot of left-hand guns. His RFD fee was £15. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J@mes Posted March 24, 2009 Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 I have only done it once with Whittlesey Guns near Peterboghorror but had no issue at all - the owner was please that I had bagged myself such a bargain and was very helpful in helping (along with russian_sniper on here) to explain the process of the RFD transfer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humperdingle Posted March 25, 2009 Report Share Posted March 25, 2009 My RFD takes nothing to accept guns on my behalf. Of course I buy 90% of my gear off him! But still, most take at least something. One of the good 'uns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted March 25, 2009 Report Share Posted March 25, 2009 I've had a few guns transferred. It always seems to work ok for me. One time I was asked why I didn't buy the gun from them, and I replied "could you get me a used rifle like this at half the new price and within a couple of weeks?". After that, he never asked again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thumpersniper Posted March 25, 2009 Report Share Posted March 25, 2009 Hi, John Maiden (PW member) and i are having real difficulty with my local RFD, he is refusing to fax a copy of his certificate to John, so that he can send a gun to him for me. He says its a bad idea to send his certificate to a private address and that the guntrade association are advising him not to. I am in Mid Wales, does anyone know of any RFD's near this area who would be prepared to receive a shiotgun for me? i think £20 or £25 wass a good deal for signing a form, especially as i spent £500 at his shop last week! cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breastman Posted March 25, 2009 Report Share Posted March 25, 2009 Unless John is an RFD you cannot do this. There has to be a face to face at both ends, so the way you would do it would be to get your RFD to fax his cert to an RFD near John. If John is an RFD i can't see what the problem is. As far as i know the whole certificate isn't required, just the RFD number, which, again as far as i know, is available for the Police Firearms Dept covering that area. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thumpersniper Posted March 25, 2009 Report Share Posted March 25, 2009 ah ok, no john is not an RFD he was just trying to save a second £25 i think. I will show him this thread and i will have to just pay the £50 for form signing both ends i think. Thanks for clarifying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breastman Posted March 25, 2009 Report Share Posted March 25, 2009 I've done a few RFD to RFD transfers and only the receiving RFD has charged a transfer fee i.e. the person getting the gun pays a fee. When it was me sending a gun somewhere (as opposed to receiving it) the RFD i was doing the face to face with only charged the shipping costs. I don't know if thats normal practice though Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clayman Posted March 26, 2009 Report Share Posted March 26, 2009 If you are a SGC holder and you wish to buy a gun remotely from another SGC you need the agreement of two RFDs, one at each end of the transport. What either charges and who pays between seller and buyer is a matter or prior agreement between the seller and the buyer. If you are buying from an RFD the selling RFD may only make transport charges, as any RFD admin fee would be in lieu of the F-2-F SGC admin anyway. If you are sending a gun to an RFD, no second local RFD is needed. The remote RFD can collect any gun from a verified SGC holder by using servcies such as the Gun Trade Association's arrangements for secure gun transport by TNT. The remote RFD arranges exchange of documentation and then uses TNT to collect and receipt the gun directly from the SGC holder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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