A few months back, I bought a Ruger Wrangler for my son. It was my day off, and we were out running some errands out of town and stopped in a shop about 30 miles away that I've been to a few times, but had never bought anything from before. They had a good price on the Wrangler, so we picked one up.

Long story short, the gun didn't work. It had to go back to Ruger, and they had it for about a month, and ultimately decided to issue a replacement. Because it was a new S/N, it had to go through a dealer to be transferred to me. I decided to have them send it to the shop where I'd purchased the original gun, as that seemed like the most appropriate way to go about it.

Today I went up there to pick it up. When I walked in, there was a sweet little 3" S&W Model 63-5 in the case, so I told him I'd take that too. We got all the paperwork done, and then the clerk told me that He was going to have to ring them up separately as different transactions. I said that was no big deal because the Ruger was a warranty replacement and should be free. He said no, they had to charge a transfer fee since it was coming through the shop. I asked him if that was the case even though it was a warranty replacement for a new item that I had purchased in their shop, and he said yes, he'd talked to his manger earlier, and this was the way it had to be.

I was pissed, but there were a lot of people in the shop, I had stuff I needed to do today, and I didn't want to make a huge scene, so I paid up (plus a 3% CC fee...I know CC processing costs money, but literally no other type of retail outlet does this) and left with my guns.

I'm still kinda pissed, though. I felt like this was a crappy way to treat a customer. They sold me a defective gun (not really their fault, but they're the dealer), I had to go trough the hassle of sending it in for warranty replacement, waiting around the house all day for UPS to pick up the defective one, then drive all the way up there to pick up the new one...only to get dinged with an administrative fee for a function that costs them nothing. They even ran the check on the same 4473 as the Smith I bought today, so there was no extra paperwork....and if it had just been the Smith, there would have been no transfer fee at all since I bought it off the shelf.

Am I off-base here? I'm thinking about sending management a letter explaining why I'm done with their shop, and how I'll be spreading the word to everyone I know about how they do business...but figured I'd bounce it off you guys first to see what you think.

Dang, to lose a customer that walks in off the street and buys on a whim over the price of a transfer is bad business.

I think your displeasure is totally justified.

If it were my shop, I would never have charged a costumer to transfer a warranty replacement. To me, that charge was taken care of for my shop when you purchased the original firearm. That shop double-dipped. I'd shop elsewhere.

Justified indeed.

Curious as to the amount they ripped ya for the transfer?

I would be pissed. I don’t know what I would’ve made a scene, but I would have probably said something like “Are you serious? Then let the manager know that this will be my final expenditure here with you for that reason right there.”

Something about shearing and skinning sheep comes to mind. Email, and if that doesn’t work, leave bad feedback on their Facebook page.

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
Justified indeed.

Curious as to the amount they ripped ya for the transfer?

It was only $20...well, $20.60 after the stupid CC fee...so not too terrible as transfers go. But it's the whole principle behind the thing, and it leaves me feeling like they don't give a crap about supporting me as their customer. I get the need to make a profit, and I don't object to transfer fees on internet purchases. But this was for a gun that I bought in their shop which was defective out of the box...you'd think they'd stand behind their product a little bit.

Hmmm. $20. I will qualify what I posted above with the fact that transfers go for about $50 around here.

I still wouldn't have been happy.

Definitely justified. Not only was it a warranty replacement, you bought another gun thereby demonstrating that you are a repeat customer. I would have told them to keep the S&W and congratulated them on losing today’s sale and any future business from me.

It can be hard to get new customers but so easy to lose one. This is just a stupid business decision. That type of thinking does not bode well for long term viability.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
Hmmm. $20. I will qualify what I posted above with the fact that transfers go for about $50 around here.

I still wouldn't have been happy.

Around here $25 is the norm. So it's cheaper, but not significantly so.

Surprised you didn't stop the transfer for the other gun then and there if you were that mad. That may have changed their minds.

Roughly where are you located in the cornfields?
Just general area...
I want to know if said shop is close. As to know who doesn't care about their customers and who too avoid.

My LGS has a good way of handling the CC fee. The advertised price of a gun is what what you'll pay, plus tax, if you use a card. You SAVE 3% if you pay with cash or check.

Definitely justified. Especially since they were selling you another gun and sold you the original. The CC fee on top of the transfer fee is just a slap in the face. I don’t like when dealers add 3% to a gun but occasionally I accept it. I wouldn’t shop at a place that added 3% to every purchase including transfer fees.

On a few occasions I have ordered multiple firearms or lowers in a single order and every time my LGS just charges me the transfer fee once instead of charging me for each item.

Give them a shit google, yelp, FB and whatever other review site you can.

Publish it everywhere. Warn everyone. Shit has consequences.

Contact Ruger over it and demand your fee back from them also.

Let Ruger know you are EXTREMELY dissatisfied with the way it was handled and they had failed to inform you that you would be charged for them correcting their mistake.

Squeak loud, squeak often.

I'm willing to bet the employee pocketed the transfer fee and the owner is unaware.

Receiving and transferring a firearm costs money. They gun must be received, entered into the system, logged into the book, a 4473 completed, maybe a background check, the rung out, then the sale logged. It takes about an hour of labor to complete. 20 bucks to offset those expenses may piss you off, but the shop did nothing to be penalized either.

quote:

Originally posted by KSGM:
My LGS has a good way of handling the CC fee. The advertised price of a gun is what what you'll pay, plus tax, if you use a card. You SAVE 3% if you pay with cash or check.

I'm pretty sure there's a legality problem with doing it any other way. Or at least to the point of how it's worded.

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
Receiving and transferring a firearm costs money. They gun must be received, entered into the system, logged into the book, a 4473 completed, maybe a background check, the rung out, then the sale logged. It takes about an hour of labor to complete. 20 bucks to offset those expenses may piss you off, but the shop did nothing to be penalized either.

Part of doing business when dealing with a warranty issue!
Did you miss the part where the 4473 was done anyway, since he purchased another pistol?

They also sold him the original pistol which was defective!
Neither party knew of the defect or are responsible for said defect (manufacture is taking responsibility), but any reputable retailer would have covered the expense.

It's called standing behind and supporting the products in which you sell.

Contact Ruger and have them make it right.

This was a poor way to handle this situation.

I would call and speak to the owner, explain what happened, and why you are upset.

Don't threaten, don't go off, just matter of factly explain why you feel this was wrong.

If owner, still says tough... then say thank you for your time and don't do business there again...

Also, come back here and tell us and everyone you know the shop name so we don't get stuck in the future.

I sent them an email expressing my displeasure. We'll see where it goes from here.