Avoid Irvington Arms

[Malthusian]

No point beating up a vendor as everyone knows we have more customers than vendors

Two issues here.

#1 - All FFL should open boxes in front of the person transferring, unless there is some sort of understanding. this can also be done when the client is picking up.

It requires a little coordination, but is no extra work. Additional benefit is that client gets to take all the packing/stuffing material with them.

#2 - Once a client picks up the stuff and walks out the shop, it will take a very generous business to entertain any claims. It is very unusual and highly unlikely that any business will entertain this sort of claim.

If it was me (assuming I walked out without checking), I will reach out to the shop but will hold no expectations of compensation in the event it is not found.

Sorry for your loss.

The one time I had a long gun shipped
The FFL presented me the package un-opened and "I opened the package" for him to record the serial number

Of all the FFL's I have come to like Irvington Arms the best

I hate to play Devil's advocate, but per the previous post
There is no way to prove "any" of the three possible scenarios

As a gesture Irvington Arms could have offered to order a new bolt at "cost"
or maybe chip in his $50 fee at most, but that would be up to them

I do find it odd that they did not question a rifle without a bolt and either contact or mention it to you before you arrived or at the time of pickup

I am sorry for you loss and hope you are able to resolve this

[ke6guj]

No point beating up a vendor as everyone knows we have more customers than vendors

Two issues here.

#1 - All FFL should open boxes in front of the person transferring, unless there is some sort of understanding. this can also be done when the client is picking up.

It requires a little coordination, but is no extra work. Additional benefit is that client gets to take all the packing/stuffing material with them.

The one time I had a long gun shipped
The FFL presented me the package un-opened and I opened the package
for him to record the serial number

Realize that an FFL only has a limited timeframe in which he can have that firearm boxed up like that. The firearm needs to be logged into his bound book, so he has to open the package as some point (24-48 hours) in order to note the serial number, make, model, etc

edit: normally, they must log it in by the end of the next business day, but if it comes with a commercial record (sounds like it would be to be invoiced from a dealer with all the important info on the record), they have up to 7 days to log it in. So, in the OP's case, it appears that there would have been no "commercial record" so it would need to be logged in by the end of the next day, so they had to open the package. That doesn't excuse losing parts though.

Q: How much time does a dealer have to record acquisitions and dispositions of firearms in his or her “bound book?”
Generally, licensees have to enter the acquisition or purchase of a firearm by the close of the next business day after the acquisition or purchase and shall record sales or other dispositions within 7 days.

However, if commercial records containing the required information are available for inspection and are separate from other commercial documents, dealers have 7 days from the time of receipt to record the receipt in the “bound book.”

If a disposition is made before the acquisition has been entered in the “bound book,&rdquo the acquisition entry must be made at the same time as the disposition entry.

[27 CFR 478.125]

[Chiney-K]

I'm sorry, but all I've ever gotten from Irvington Arms is a bunch of shady looks and a BAD attitude. For a Firearms Industry that always needs help, you would think stores would GET something as BASIC as customer service. I felt NO respect during my entire experience there.

[norcal77]

Sucks to hear...hate when things go wrong...

I've used Irvington a couple times with no problems..they weren't the friendliest but they weren't rude either..just straight down to business.

[nagorb]

I'm sorry, but all I've ever gotten from Irvington Arms is a bunch of shady looks and a BAD attitude. For a Firearms Industry that always needs help, you would think stores would GET something as BASIC as customer service. I felt NO respect during my entire experience there.

I think a lot of shops, especially older shops, are used to a time before the Internet, when they were the source of all gun info. Now we can find much more and CORRECT info online and they don't like it.

[andalusi]

buyer needs to sue the hell out of irvington,sue them for the bolt-loss of use of gun-mental duress and anything else....

LOL Suing in small claims for the cost of a replacement bolt, okay, but
mental duress? Loss of use of gun? "Su[ing] the hell out of Irvington?"

[tenpercentfirearms]

I ship quite a bit of materials and I like to package up parts that might get discarded into larger plastic bags to keep them together. In this case taping them up to the rifle would have been a good idea too.

Now, let's say that had been Ten Percent Firearms that had shipped the rifle to Irvington Arms for transfer. Does the buyer have any expectation that I would deliver the goods as promised? Does the seller in this case have partial responsibility to make sure the customer gets what he ordered?

I sent a complete rifle to that place that went out of business in Northridge and the customer told me that it didn't have a buffer or spring when he got it. I know for a fact I sent a buffer and a spring in a complete rifle. I went ahead and replaced it and then decided never to use them as a transfer dealer ever again.

In the end, both Irvington and the seller might want to work together to get the customer what he was promised. Irvington definitely needs to be more careful when receiving firearms and the seller needs to make receiving the firearm fool proof.

[Juice5610]

Thanks for the heads up OP I will not be buying from Irvington arms and will advise others to do the same. I hope this spreads all over the internet and they get their **** together.

[264charlie]

The FFL received the package and should have taken the time to check it's contents against the packing slip. Since they accepted the package the responsibility is on them.

I have had two experiences of lost items at FFLs. Both times the FFL made good no questions asked.

TenPercent: Left out a BG on one of my ordered. I did not realize it for a few weeks. When I called up they replaced it no questions asked... First Class guys.

B&G, I bolt know walked away from time I DROSD to pickup. Not have a replacement they just paid a fair cost...

[zman]

I've only ever had great experiences at Irvington Arms and they've bent over backwards for me on a number of occasions even though 9+ out of 10 visits, I'm only there to look and don't spend money with them.

Shops make hundreds of transactions without altercations. It's that one-in-a-hundred unfortunate incident where you can gauge a shop/shop owner's true skin.

I ship quite a bit of materials and I like to package up parts that might get discarded into larger plastic bags to keep them together. In this case taping them up to the rifle would have been a good idea too.

Now, let's say that had been Ten Percent Firearms that had shipped the rifle to Irvington Arms for transfer. Does the buyer have any expectation that I would deliver the goods as promised? Does the seller in this case have partial responsibility to make sure the customer gets what he ordered?

I sent a complete rifle to that place that went out of business in Northridge and the customer told me that it didn't have a buffer or spring when he got it. I know for a fact I sent a buffer and a spring in a complete rifle. I went ahead and replaced it and then decided never to use them as a transfer dealer ever again.

In the end, both Irvington and the seller might want to work together to get the customer what he was promised. Irvington definitely needs to be more careful when receiving firearms and the seller needs to make receiving the firearm fool proof.

Excellent post

[Greg-Dawg]

Have you posted this concern on the Vendor's section? They have a "Ask Irvington Arms" thing.

[Subotai]

Yes, send them a certified letter asking for a replacement bolt, when they don't respond file in small claims and take the seller as a witness.

[biglou]

I never dealt with IA so I can't comment on their service. They are in the Vendors Forum so I know they have read this. I would like to hear their take on this situation. It's easy to Monday morning quarterback, but I'm also not sure why the OP did not inspect everything their at the store so he could confront IA and call the seller/shipper if there was a problem.

[professorhard]

I had a single sub-par experience with IA as well, so now all my money gets spent at J&R in livermore.

[plan-b]

Seems to be a lot of knee-jerk reactions to a story that was only directly experienced by a handful of people. I don't have any business relationship to Irvington Arms other than as a satisfied customer.

This is my most recent dealing with them:
I met a fellow CalGunner there late on a Friday evening to do a PPT. When the paperwork was done, I started looking over their consignment case and saw another gun I really wanted. Later that night, I realized that the extra mags that came with the first gun were left on their counter while I got distracted by their consignment guns. I went back the next day and as I started to ask about the mags I stupidly left behind Dave gave me a big smile and pulled them from behind the counter.

It really sucks that the OP is out a rifle bolt right now. And yes, IA should help make it right. But like many businesses, there's usually experiences that span both ends of the spectrum.