Sold a broken gun

[mjbskwim]

OK
having read a few of Nwcid's posts over the last couple years,I would say you are a stand up guy.You shoot plenty and I believe you would have noticed a crack in the receiver.Or the cases coming out funny.
Next,used is used and usually sold "as is", "buyer beware
Bad part is trying to be a stand up guy.

Next he should have talked to you BEFORE sending it in.Maybe sending it back so you could inspect it? I'm guessing he already trusted you with his money and trusted you sent the gun,why not send it back?
Then you could have made the decision to buy it back.send it to the manufacturer,or call BS on him.
HE took you out of the loop,it is out of your hands now

The posts I am most inclined to side with are the ones about the home brews.I have heard lots of guys at gun stores talking about not shooting someones reloads cause they don't know what they are doing.

Again,he has had plenty of time to shoot and destroy the gun.
Sure you want to believe the guy is telling the truth,but do you really know the guy?
I mean,say he shot some hot loads and broke his new gun.Hmmm,why not make up a story about how it must have been broke when you sent it? When you lose 1200 bucks,you want to try to recover some.
Seems to be human nature,any more,to blame someone else.

I would ask him about reloads and tell him you are sorry,but he took you out of the picture by sending it off before talking to you.

I'm not as trusting as you,I guess.
I call BS and bad hand loads.

 

[Benihaus]

no deal, he took ownership including sending it away to be replaced.. he made that decision its his gun his problem. You never had the option to refund the money so its his problem. AS IS USED RIFLE.. you buy it you own it unless the seller wants to work with you but if the buyer chooses to do something with it other than ask for a refund then its HIS rifle.

 

[Intention]

So here is a bit of an update.

To the best of my knowledge the gun was in working order when I sold it. Being that it had been sometime since I shot it and I had not throughly inspected it for small cracks (need to call the maker and find out the exact details) it is possible it was in that condition when I sold it. The only reason I am considering paying 1/2 is that I am not 100% sure. Yes it was sold "AS IS" but I am also willing to take care of a person with a problem in the same way I would like to be treated. Buying anything used is a bit of a gamble.

Here is where I start to run into some trouble. Sold gun, about 4 weeks later (I know we all can't make it out to shoot the day we get out new toys) guy emails me and asks me to call. I call him and he tells me that he was shooting and brass came out looking funny. Tells me he sees a crack, calls the maker and sends it in to be looked at, and they tell him the gun is not repairable, then has me call him. I think about what i want to do for a day or two then post it here. At this point I am thinking offer to pay half or let him return it for a refund after talking to the maker. I email him offering the half and the reply I get is "I know you dident want to sell a bad gun. But the truth is I did give you almost 1200 bucks thinking it was in used but shootable shape . I already sent them the money 500 is not asking alot its fair for you and me."

At this point I can't even offer him a refund now so I feel like I am being put on the spot.

My plan is to call the maker tomorrow and decide what to do.

Imho this is where you went wrong by waiting. You knew what was the best option and you decided to see how things would shake out. Also I am looking foreward to seeing all the ads in here for used guns, after reading how great they are with the "AS IS" at the end of the ad.

 

[Deavis]

what make/model?

 

[Nwcid]

Imho this is where you went wrong by waiting. You knew what was the best option and you decided to see how things would shake out.

I have no idea what you mean by this.


Aslo not that it matters but this is not a gun I sold on this site. It sold half way across the country.

 

[Akathepriest]

Imho this is where you went wrong by waiting. You knew what was the best option and you decided to see how things would shake out. Also I am looking foreward to seeing all the ads in here for used guns, after reading how great they are with the "AS IS" at the end of the ad.

Don't make any moron mistakes like shipping the gun off for repair and THEN asking to have the seller foot the bill. You wouldn't be having any issue then, now would you?

 

[Deavis]

who made this gun?

 

[Nwcid]

what make/model?

I saw your post earlier. It is irrelevant to this story so I am not posting it. I will say is a major brand though with a rifle that had been being made for over a few decades.

 

[Deavis]

Sorry, just curious as to what gun with minimal firing has accelerated wear in the barrel and a broken receiver. I thought that might be handy info for fellow firearms enthusiasts, and although not important to YOUR issue could be of value to the rest of us.

 

[Nwcid]

Sorry, just curious as to what gun with minimal firing has accelerated wear in the barrel and a broken receiver. I thought that might be handy info for fellow firearms enthusiasts, and although not important to YOUR issue could be of value to the rest of us.

Again according to the FWD email from the maker it was due to bad ammo, not normal wear.

 

[Intention]

Don't make any moron mistakes like shipping the gun off for repair and THEN asking to have the seller foot the bill. You wouldn't be having any issue then, now would you?

Actually I agree with you 100%. I would never purchace anything from any private party sight unseen. So I can sleep well tonight knowing that someday with hard work and strict dedication I might be accepted into your inner circle of non morons.

 

[ThemGunsThough]

Wow, I just read about 98% of all the posts in this thread. I felt like my opinion swayed from the beginning til now. What I can say is I am very impressed with you, NWCID, as you seem like such a stand up guy trying to back up something you sold to someone who is in another part of the country.

As responsible gun owners, we all know and (should) accept the risks of a purchasing a used gun, regardless of where its bought. Upon reading your initial post, I felt that it was awesome of you, yet fair, to be willing to pay half the cost of the $500 quote from the manufacturer. For me, when I spend over $700 on a USED firearm, I expect it to be pretty darn good and I do understand how excitement can cause one to overlook any blemishes and/or imperfections. However, with that aside, it appears that the crack was in the receiver, in an area that is hard to see with the naked eye. As others have mentioned, 4 weeks is plenty of time to look over your new toy.

I would certainly ask the buyer what kind of loads he shot and how many loads resulted with bent casings. It doesn't seem like there was much emotion regarding the misfortune from the buyer. Personally, if I spend that much on a gun and this situation happened, I would probably show signs of depression and/or sadness in the way I type back to you and I would want to tell you as much as I could regarding the situation. I don't know if the messages were short or not, but if that was the case, I feel that the buyer should have communicated better, especially before shipping off the gun...

Yes, you can be a nice guy but you have to understand that with a robust economy, you can only be so nice.

 

[Botte Hork]

What exactly is "the right thing" at this point? He had the gun a month. Then without contacting me (private guy) sent it to the maker. Then again without contacting me sent the maker $500. Then expects me to pay for it.

Shouldn't the buyer do "the right thing" and let me know there was a problem right off the bat?

Let me start with the disclaimer that I have little to no confidence in humanity. Many people try to make a few (hundred) bucks here and there with a weak story. You stated four things above:

1) He had the gun a month. True.
2) Then without contacting me (private guy) sent it to the maker. Did he really send it to the maker? You believe him without a doubt?
3) Then again without contacting me sent the maker $500. Did he really send money to the maker as well? Again, do you believe him?
4) Then expects me to pay for it. True, but slightly different: He expects you to pay him $500, based on a fishy story.


I see a few options, assuming the thing was fine when you sent it out:
1) He got the gun, wife got pissed or he found that there really was this thing called rent/mortgage/utility bill/car payment/child support and basically needs money. Makes up story, hopes you fall for it.
2) He got the gun, decided to try his buddy's fancy ultra heavy reloaded +P+++++++ ammo and oops gun doesn't like it.

The main things that trigger my suspicion are the timeframe and the fact that he took a lot of action without contacting you.

 

[mjbskwim]

Hey Botte Hork? WTF is that from? (netherlands)
Anyway
Botte Hork,never even thought of the wifey thing. Maybe she OKed $600 and found out he spent $1200 ????
WHATTHE Fck? YOU GET YOUR MONEY BACK!!!

Then come the tall tales to Nwcid.

Send him a link to this thread, Nwcid

 

[Botte Hork]

That's indeed from Holland, just some silly expression I guess.

I wouldn't send a link, just let it die down gently.

 

[raftman]

The time frame is only a little bit suspicious, I don't think it's entirely outside of the realm of possibility that one can go a month without trying out a newly-purchased firearm. It's happened to me; once I bought a rifle that was chambered for an obscure, obsolete caliber and it took about a week just to locate a source for the ammo, and then there were long delays in shipping because they were behind on orders, in the end I said, "Forget it." I cancelled the order for the ammo and sold the rifle. Another time, my shooting spots were all buried in snow during the winter for a couple of months.

Of course, for all we know the OP's rifle is a .223 and it is late summer so neither condition applies, just saying it's feasible to let a few weeks fly by without trying out a new rifle.

However, taking the unilateral action and then demanding compensation is very suspicious. I once traded an untested rifle and within a few days got an email saying it doesn't group remotely as well as should be expected from the weapon, I offered to trade back and the individual agreed, so we traded back and I ended up having the barrel recrowned which fixed the problem. If instead the guy said, "I sent it back to the factory, please give me x-amount for the costs of the repair." I would have been far less inclined to be at all accommodating. If that happened, I'd have no proof that a problem actually existed and for all I'd know, he could have just been trying to get some money/value back.

 

[giddyupgo55]

In your first post you left out alot of info. First off he should have contacted you when he found the problem, and talked to you about it. He should not have sent it in, and had it fixed before telling you there was a problem. While I would have given him back his money to start with, before he had it fixed, I would have to think real hard about it now. When there is a problem with something, the seller should state it up front, if he knows about it. If the buyer should find something wrong after the purchase then he should at lease talk to the seller first and see if they can't come to some kind of agreement on what to do. Good luck

 

[Chee-to]

Aslo not that it matters but this is not a gun I sold on this site. It sold half way across the country.

Was it sold "as is" or was the buyer told it was in "good condition" like 99% of the guns advertised here ?

 

[Nwcid]

Well it has been more then 90 days since it actually sold so the ad is no longer in the system.

I NEVER rate in %, I refuse to. In the day before everyone had a digital camera I can see the need. I had included 7 high quality pics on that gun. Granted the would not have shown the crack. had they I would not have sold it...........

In my ads I sell sold "as is" but I will do my best within reason if there is an issue. At the bottom I always add;


Please ask any questions before bidding.

PAYMENT: Payments must be made with in 7 days of winning.
Payment by money order or personal checks. Personal checks or Bank money orders will be held until they clear.

SHIPPING: If buying a firearm I will only ship firearms to valid FFL holders. I am a private seller please make sure YOUR dealer will accept a firearm from NON FFL holders if you are buying a firearm.
I will only ship where legal. You are responsible for knowing the laws where you live.

Feedback: If you have any problems please let us know before posting feed back.

Feedback WILL be left AFTER you have received your item. The best way for me to know that you
have received you item is to post feedback for me when you get it. I would be more then happy to post
feedback first if you send me an email letting me know you got your item.

 

[davemata]

Again because of the actions of the buyer this is NOT an option. The gun is at the maker, he has already sent them the money.............

Hell, at that point? I'd offer to play ball, but by my rules, he gets his money back, I get the rifle back, and the manufacturer honors their offer to him.

Honestly though, I might be in a fantasy land right now.