Help with getting guns back (Republic Rifle aka Reprif)

[lghnowcrylat]

[Sig so sour of ca]

Post directly on their social media site that you've been waiting 6 months for your stuff. Say you want it back or your reporting it stolento the local PD.

[bugsy714]

Did you fill out the paperwork to leave your guns there? What is the California DOJ policy on this sort of stuff?


Dictated but not read, voice typing plus bad eyes equals typos

[lghnowcrylat]

I filled out some paperwork but I don’t think it was a contract. There Facebook already has comments like that and they stopped posting on Instagram. Plus I think they can just delete any comments they don’t like. More like what’s my name address etc. my question is what kind of recourse do I have? Also I don’t mind filing a police report for them being stolen but That’s more of a lay resort.

[Ross]

knock on their door first thing in the morning?

[lghnowcrylat]

Yeah I’m in NorCal. I’m going to SoCal soon and will try that but what if they don’t answer or don’t have it yet ?

[pacrat]

Long story short, I dropped off some Glocks at this SoCal cerakote store, Republic Rifle / Reprif after seeing some pretty quality work on their Instagram.

So you acted in good faith. And they haven't done the same. Sadly that's the facts, as you stated them. Which does not make their actions a crime. Because "you dropped them off" aka, willingly gave them possession of your property.

I filled out some paperwork but

A contract does not have to be written and signed to be valid. You went to their shop, you discussed what service you wanted, were quoted a price, and you paid the price, and left your property in their care. That has all the earmarks of a "Verbal Contract".

That is not theft. That is breach of contract. A civil matter, not a criminal matter.

And if you file a fraudulent police report against them. The cops first off will likely tell you "sorry, no can do". And if you fib to get them to act on your behalf in such a civil matter. Then the vendor can sue you. And the cops can charge you with filing a false report.

Best bet in your current circumstances. IMO, is to contact them via Email so you have a record of [you said-they said]. And ask what's up.

6 months is not an uncommon backlog in a busy gun repair shop, in this day and age.

BTW, "a couple of Glocks", in todays Covid market could amount to 12 to 15 Hundred dollars.

[SVT-40]

The guns aren't stolen, and the police can't help you. It's a civil issue. Get an attorney

[-hanko]

Did you fill out the paperwork to leave your guns there? What is the California DOJ policy on this sort of stuff?

Federal law says the gunsmith logs the weapons into his bound book, and logs them out when the job is finished and guns are either shipped back or handed to customer.

That assumes customer left the serial numbered frames with the gunsmith.

If they were my guns, I'd call the ATF office closest to the smith and ask if the smith's license is still active.

As was posted, "in this day and age", jobs may take longer than initially quoted.

But "in this day and age", there is NO excuse for not advising the customer if the job will take longer. Based on your issue, I'd say Republic Rifle doesn't have any idea of how good customer service works...i.e., they're azzholes.

[SkyHawk]

No Cerakote job should take more than 30 days. I personally would never contract for one that took more than one day, or a week if it was a pattern (camo etc) type job.

[TKCastle]

Damn. I was about to send them some work. Keep us posted OP

[lghnowcrylat]

Yeah will keep you guys updated. I wonder how long one has to wait before you file a police report? A year? Two years? When does it become “unreasonable”? That was my original question. At the end of the day it’s extremely time consuming and expensive to sue someone. Anyone’s who been on either side would know that. I rather understand why they won’t or can’t complete the work.

[P5Ret]

There is no time period, for when a civil matter becomes a criminal one. The police are not going to act in your behalf to solve a civil matter. Small claims is probably your best solution. It should cost you less than $100 to file. Plus the cost of having them served, both fees should be recoverable in a judgement.

You could always have an attorney send them a demand letter, but results with that can be hit or miss.

They show a 12 week lead time for work once they have the parts. Seems kind of long if you're just having basic work done. Either way they should have been upfront about the time to complete the work.

[TheSierraDrifter]

Sorry you are going through this, I was thinking about sending them a gun or two since the work they do looks really nice. I'm not doing that now after seeing your post. I had wondered why they stopped posting on IG, there might me more to this just due to their absence from social media. Good luck getting your guns back, I hope it works out for you. I don't have any significant advice other than to keep calling, and maybe send them a certified letter asking that they contact you about your guns with more details on a timeline, or tell them you want them to make arrangements to return them to you ASAP. I can't imagine much worse customer service than taking a customer's property, and not communicating about a timeline or when to expect some results, especially when it is concerning firearms. And in this case, since you are not near their shop.

[lghnowcrylat]

Thanks all, I appreciate the advice and I’ll keep updated. I am kinda interested in the behind the scenes. I wonder what happened? Definitely more to their story.