Posted: 1/28/2005 6:40:43 AM EDT
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I made a deal through the equipment exchange on January 14th with a fellow AR15.com member for a rifle I was selling. At the time, he asked if I would mind him paying once his FFL was received in the mail. I explained that I had a trade deal pending, but if he was sure he wanted the rifle, that I would go ahead and do that. He then offered me a $100 'good faith' deposit which was paid to my PayPal account on 1/15. I received the FFL on 1/19, and the remaining balance on the rifle (again through PayPal) on 1/22. My local dealer (who I always ship through because of numerous problems with UPS saying that the will only ship from an individual to a FIREARM MANUFACTURER) travels to gunshows on the weekends so he only works Tuesday through Thursday at his shop. I dropped the rifle off on 1/25 asking that the dealer send me a tracking number when he shipped it. I did not receive anything from my dealer, so I went to pick up some FFLs and found out that the rifle had not shipped because my dealer was busy preparing for the Shot Show. He said he would get it out before he left for the show (which I am pretty sure he did), but I did not receive a tracking number to forward to the buyer. This morning I received an email from the buyer who is concerned because 6 days have passed, and he still has no confirmation of shipping, and letting me know that he wasn't far from taking action of some kind. I emailed my dealer, copying the buyer, and asking for confirmation of shipping, and a tracking number - and responded to the buyer to that affect, asking him to call me so that we could discuss further. I have a good reputation through several exchanges on this website, and would hate to jeapordize that. Unfortunately, once I drop the rifle off at my dealer's shop - it's somewhat in his hands, and I have to rely on him to follow through. Anyway, I completely understand where the buyer is coming from - so I thought I would ask this out here in General - how long is a reasonable time to wait for the rifle (If it went out Thursday, the gentleman will receive it before my dealer get's back from the Shot Show - and unless he is checking his emails from Vegas, possibly before I get confirmation/tracking info from my dealer) ? What would you do if you were in my situation (other than shipping in a different manner in the future) ? In this community, your word and good reputation are about all you have - and I've worked hard over the last year to try and build that through numerous successful exchanges via the EE. Thanks in advance. |
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Doesn't seem like a big deal to me - it's not your fault that your FFL dealer screwed up (and next time send rifles through the post office  ).If the guy is really pissed off (and I can understand how some might get a little frustrated at the delay), maybe you can offer to pay for the shipping (if the price for shipping was originally included in his price). However, since you did everything with good intentions, I think as long as you explain it, he should hopefully relax and chalk it up to "shit happens". Good luck. |
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Thanks - I actually agreed to pay for shipping with the original deal. He agreed to pay PayPal feels. Fortunately, this situation seems to have resolved itself. I just got tracking info from my dealer and forwarded it to the gentleman. Looks like the rifle will be there on Tuesday. I understand where the buyer is coming from. With the recent trend of theft and fraud here on AR15.com, I'd be worried as well. I also know that my dealer has been busy as hell, so I'm not blaming this on him. As for the post office - What does that entail ? Are they willing to ship any firearm anywhere ? I'll be looking into that from here on out. Thanks again. |
Post office cannot be used for handguns unless it is dealer to dealer (FFL to FFL). But, Post office CAN be used to ship long guns from individuals to FFLs. Some post offices do not realize this, and occasionally try to blow smoke up your ass, but it is laid out very clearly in their own manual (Domestic Mail Manual). Basically, the section is DMM C024 3.0 says that mailing long rifles is fine as long as the rifle itself doesn't violate any laws and it is "non-concealable) (C024 1.2) and has a barrel of 16" or longer (C024 1.1e) (so I guess SBR rifles cannot be shipped by post office, but are treated like handguns and must be shipped by UPS/FedEx or some other carrier.) Since the regulations also say that the Post Office MUST be allowed to inspect it to ensure it is unloaded, I take that to imply that you are REQUIRED to inform them that it is a firearm. (Some people may differ on that opinion, and I am obviously not a lawyer). The regulations also clearly state that the box cannot be marked (by your or by the post office) in any way that indicates that there is a firearm inside. |