When Should a Gun Be Restocked

[Burbur]

We concluded an interesting chain of events yesterday.

In early May, a first time customer buys a used Llama but does not start the DROS due to a conflict in his pickup window. In June, we follow up and he assures us he will be in next week. In July, we follow up again with no response. By the end of July I have given up, restocked the pistol and placed a credit on this guys account. Over three months have elapsed.

Friday, November 3rd, he walks in to "pick-up" "his gun". Six. months. later.

Well, the firearm was resold and according to him "this is no way to run a business". How long do you hold firearms waiting for M.I.A. customers to do their paperwork?

[OCArmory]

We finally had to put a sign up that firearms left after 1year are considered abandoned. We make every effort to contact the customer and not on the firearm slip date and time of calls. We also put up a storage fee sign. That being said we had a customer show up 4 years after we received a firearm and thought it was normal as they were busy.

[emtmark]

Yeah I have no sympathy


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[kemasa]

I consider the firearm abandon after 45 days. Storage starts after 30 days, unless prior arrangements are made, but start from day 1 if it is over 30 days. The storage fees add up quick as I don't have a lot of room to store things, so it is quite clear that they don't want to go down that path.

The bottom line is that you have to be very clear. If you don't have any policy, then people can expect you to do anything for free.

[Burbur]

We finally had to put a sign up that firearms left after 1year are considered abandoned. We make every effort to contact the customer and not on the firearm slip date and time of calls. We also put up a storage fee sign. That being said we had a customer show up 4 years after we received a firearm and thought it was normal as they were busy.

I am a fan of percentage based fees. 100% of the gun value after 1 year can easily be prorated into 1/365th per day.

Looks like another sign is in order. It'll go right next to the "if you change your mind, you can't return your gun for a refund in full after taking the gun out and shooting it"

[kemasa]

Should the value of the firearm factor into the storage charge? Should the storage fee for a cheap gun be less than an expensive gun?

Are you willing to hold a Hi-Point as long as you would want to hold an expensive handgun even though the space taken up is the same?

To be honest, I have harsh policies so that I don't have to enforce them. If the person knows that it is going to cost them a lot, they tend to communicate and do the right thing. I don't want to have to deal with an abandon firearm or to charge storage. If the storage is cheap enough, the person might not care. If the person can leave the firearm for a long time with little cost, then they may do it.

[therealnickb]

We concluded an interesting chain of events yesterday.

In early May, a first time customer buys a used Llama but does not start the DROS due to a conflict in his pickup window. In June, we follow up and he assures us he will be in next week. In July, we follow up again with no response. By the end of July I have given up, restocked the pistol and placed a credit on this guys account. Over three months have elapsed.

Friday, November 3rd, he walks in to "pick-up" "his gun". Six. months. later.

Well, the firearm was resold and according to him "this is no way to run a business". How long do you hold firearms waiting for M.I.A. customers to do their paperwork?

Did he pay in full?

Regardless, it's your business. Run it as you see fit. I always remind people in situations such as this, you don't need everyone to be your customer.

[ugimports]

I consider the firearm abandon after 45 days. Storage starts after 30 days, unless prior arrangements are made, but start from day 1 if it is over 30 days. The storage fees add up quick as I don't have a lot of room to store things, so it is quite clear that they don't want to go down that path.

The bottom line is that you have to be very clear. If you don't have any policy, then people can expect you to do anything for free.

Our policy is similar to Kemasa's. I didn't have to post / start enforcing it until last year. We are basically:
Storage starts at $10/day after 30 days unless prior arrangements made.
After 90 days your firearm is abandoned and becomes property of UG Imports.

Obviously, there are cases where we do not enforce the above. Those are where there has been clear communication with the customer so something isn't in "limbo". I have some customers that like to get a few purchases stacked up over 3-4 months and DROS once a quarter or so to save on DROS fees, etc..