Un-Wanted Repair Return

[halifax]

I received a SA revolver from a dealer/importer in TX yesterday. I had no idea why. Turns out a customer sent the firearm in for warranty repair but the dealer/importer refused to return it directly to the owner because of CA's weird laws. They sent it to me (they did not include a CFLC letter, BTW) because I was the dealer who bought it for him originally.

So, dealers, what would you do about getting it back to the owner?

[kemasa]

The FAQ below does not quite apply, but it is close.

http://ag.ca.gov/firearms/dlrfaqs.php

How do I handle the paperwork when a purchaser returns a defective firearm?

If a firearm is brought to you for service or repair, you may return it to the person who submitted it for repair without undergoing the DROS process. If the firearm must be replaced, a new DROS is required. There is an exemption from the one-handgun-per-month restriction for exchanged handguns.

(PC section 12072 (a)(9)(xi))

There is also 12083 (b)(9), but again is was not given to you.

12078 (e) Section 12071, subdivisions (c) and (d) of Section 12072, and
subdivision (b) of Section 12801 shall not apply to the delivery of a
firearm to a gunsmith for service or repair, or to the return of the
firearm to its owner by the gunsmith.

It is returning to the owner by the gunsmith, but to be safe you should either submit a DROS and charge the customer for not returning it through you or call the CA DOJ and ask them what you should do.

[tenpercentfirearms]

I received a SA revolver from a dealer/importer in TX yesterday. I had no idea why. Turns out a customer sent the firearm in for warranty repair but the dealer/importer refused to return it directly to the owner because of CA's weird laws. They sent it to me (they did not include a CFLC letter, BTW) because I was the dealer who bought it for him originally.

So, dealers, what would you do about getting it back to the owner?

Change of plans, so here is an edit.

#1: Is it the original firearm he sent in the first place? Do the serial numbers match? If so, then the other dealer is an idiot. If they do not match, then he followed the correct procedure as the new gun must be DROSed. He just forgot the CFLC.

#2: If it is indeed the original gun, without a CFLC, you cannot accept it. So you either return it, or contact the sender and have them generate a CFLC.

#3: If they generate a CFLC, since the firearm was not sent through you in the first place, you will need to re-DROS the firearm to the customer. If it is the original gun, had the customer brought it to you first and then you had sent it out, then no DROS. Since that did not happen, you really have no other choice. That is unless you want to claim you did receive it from him and you sent it to the dealer. Personally I wouldn't do that.

#4: If it is the original gun, you can always call the dealer and say, "Hey, you accidently sent this to me when you should have sent it to the customer. If you don't correct your bound book that it was returned directly to the customer, then I am going to have to send it back since you did not generate a CFLC number." Then call the owner to say his package was accidently delivered to your address and he should come pick it up.

Was this gun a direct sale by you or was it a transfer? If it was a transfer, I would be making sure to get some payment out of all of this work as the guy didn't use you to order it in the first place and you should have no responsibility for his warranty screw ups. If it is a gun you ordered for him and it required a re-DROS, I would just charge him the $25. If it was a transfer, I would charge the transfer fee again, or at least a discounted transfer fee rate. I like to encourage customers to use me in the first place as I take care of them. If they want to nickel and dime it, then that is what they get.

[halifax]

I received some unofficial advice from the DOJ via a telephone conversation. I will be contacting the TX dealer to, at least, help them understand what they did was not the best way to handle this repair return. My customer will receive his revolver without any additional cost and my books will be correct.

Thanks for the input. I won't be posting anything further on this matter.