Fellow FFls - What would you do?

[MGM Tactical]

I have a customer who purchased a used Glock 23 from me with FS which he handpicked from a large selection. We completed DROS and he picked up on Friday. Upon pick up, he inspected the gun and raved about the excellent condition it was in, then took it home. Two hours later he called to ask where the front sight was and how come the rear sight was chipped. This gun was never touched again after he DROSed and it was put in a standard Glock box in the safe for the ten day wait...no issues whatsoever. I could probably throw that box in the air in my street with the gun in it and cause no damage to the gun.

Now he is accusing me and my partner of tampering with the gun or dropping it, causing the damage. I have offered to replace and install the sights, which as you know cost about $5 total (if that much), but he wants a refund. This thing doesn't make any sense and I feel something fishy is going on. My invoices say "used" guns are sold "as is" and should be checked by a certified gunsmith.

What are my options? What would you do?

If I do refund and take possession of the gun, how does it get logged back in. When can I sell it again to someone else? Restocking fees? DROS fee?

Thanks in advance!

[Tripper]

wild guess would be he was showing it off at home and dropped it.
Option 1: remind him of the part that says its his responsibility to inspect 'his' chosen purchase. then tell him you'll be happy to place it on consignment for him if he'd like to get rid of it. remind him of the offer to replace/install the sites. All going along with the idea of NO REFUND

Option 2: give him a refund, put some new sites on it and put it back up for sale, you'll lose some money on it, but that guy would never be able to say you screwed him, although you didnt, it wouldnt stop him from saying it. All the while, reminding him that he cant buy another gun from you ever.

so if your willing to take a bit of a loss for customer satisfaction, option 2 would be the way to go,
I can imagine him keeping the gun is the best goal to strive for, so maybe sweeten the offer on the sites and offer night sites (sorry i dont know the cost on those, might be a very bad suggestion), or fix the sites and throw in an extra mag or holster thats been sitting in the drawer forever. box of ammo maybe...

if you have 'any' cameras, look at the tapes to see if you have that gun anywhere on tape or picture, produce that as evidence, then you'd have the opportunity to offer him a good deal on a price for fixing those sites for him. what $75 to do that...

oh, dont make the offer and ask him to decide right then, give him time to go home and think about it, that way he has time to justify in his mind or to his wife, that fixing it is the best option.

Good Luck

Tripper

[Tripper]

Sorry, I'm not an FFL

Tripper

[mtsul]

If it had nothing to do with you I say option 1

I too am not an ffl

[guns4life]

As is, is as is. He had the chance to inspect it before hand(twice) and still took it home, stick with the offer to change the sights and that's it. The customer probably found a better deal somewhere, or changed his mind...either way, it's not your bad.



I'm not an FFL...yet.

[PolishMike]

Its a used gun sold as is. You probably have a stock set of sights laying around so swapping those isn't too big a deal. Beyond that its his bad. Don't be afraid to stick to your guns (lol) and say flat out that it wasn't like that.

[jtmkinsd]

I've always had the policy once you take it home, and it's no longer in my possession, it is yours...period. As a customer service issue, I would probably offer to change out the sights free of charge...but as far as the cost of the gun, the only thing I would offer is to take it in on consignment and sell it for him...for a 20% consignment fee.

[Santa Cruz Armory]

His wife probably found out he bought a gun and spanked his butt.

[geeknow]

Nope. Smells like a stinker to me, and a case of buyers remorse.

[ripro75]

Its a used gun sold as is. You probably have a stock set of sights laying around so swapping those isn't too big a deal. Beyond that its his bad. Don't be afraid to stick to your guns (lol) and say flat out that it wasn't like that.

That would be my stance as well. He should have had a real good look at during the safe handling demo before leaving with it anyways. I have my customers sign a receipt before leaving that has terms on it.

[Ron-Solo]

My guess is the wife didn't know about it and the front sight came off when she shoved it up his ......................

As is means just that. You are being very generous to offer to replace the sights. He dropped it. Sights just don't fall off.

Not an FFL, but giving you the customer perspective.

[Gunsmithing]

I would find out more info from your customer. You may find why and can work around it, no one needs bad PR.

Dave

[kemasa]

Your options are to do nothing, to replace the sights (as you offered), refund the money and take the firearm back, take the firearm on consignment and perhaps others.

Doing nothing is acceptable since it is quite possible that the damage occurred while in his possession. It is quite possible that there is some additional damage, so if you take the firearm back, you should have a gunsmith closely inspect it. I would suspect additional damage since he wants to return it instead of just having the sights replaced, meaning that he knows what happened.

Personally, I would either do nothing or replace the sights. I would not take a chance of further problems, which includes a loss of money due to having a firearm that you might not be able to sell.

[thearmedrebel]

I say he dropped it and/or the wedge in the tenon was already out and the front sight fell off. Either way, it is his fault. There's a reason why the new ones screw on like the aftermarket sights. However, one has to take into account several other factors, including the bad PR. Is he a regular customer? Friends with a regular customer?

I'd offer an upgrade on the sights in any event. Having said that, if he bad mouths you for this, regular customer of not, cut him off. If, and this is a big if, he were a regular customer, you believe that he isn't simply suffering from buyer's remorse/angry wife, AND he hasn't bad mouthed you all over the internet/to his friends, I'd buy it back less taxes and fees, perhaps offer a trade. This would all depend on his attitude/demeanor. If he called back sooner, I'd be willing to say he simply missed the damage and the front sight did fall off (the tenon thing), but two hours later? Does he have a good story why he didn't take it home and go over it with a fine toothed comb?

I've never bought a gun that I didn't shoot at the range or detail stripped the moment I got home. Can't imagine I'm unusual in this regard.

Robert

BTW, I too am not a Class 01 FFL. I do have my C&R and am getting everything lined up to be a Class 07 (Gunsmith who will also Manufacturer).

[Table Rock Arms]

This is an unfortunate situation no matter what you do. The best thing for you to do business wise would probably be to refund him the money for the gun as you don't need someone running around telling everyone to avoid you like the plague. You can put sights on the gun and sell it.

The reason you think "something fishy is going on" is because more than likely it is. The real problem is that in our society this type of bad behavior is generally rewarded so there is no reason for this guy or anyone else to stop doing these kinds of things.

I would say if this guy is a regular customer, does not usually cause problems, and is being polite about it you might consider refunding the money to save yourself the headache. If you have never seen him before and he is being nasty about it, You might consider telling him to forget about it and not to come back in your shop just on principal. If he is really being nasty, chances are he is gonna talk bad about your shop even if you refund the money.

Ryan