I would have been bugged by that as well. It's not about the twenty bucks.

I also would calmly relate this experience to the owner, and give them a chance to rectify.

If they still took the hard line over this, I'd simply drop it with them.

Then I'd set their asses on fire all over the internet. That $20 would cost them.

I think my answer is "It depends." I've several LGS' w/in reasonable driving range. One of the farther from me is a discounter, one of the closer gets top dollar.

If it was the discounter I'd expect them to nick me on such a thing, because I expect they're operating on low margins. If it was one of the others--particularly one where I've done repeat business, I'd be annoyed.

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.

If all he was doing was a transfer then maybe the 20 bucks would be acceptable. He wasn’t. He was buying another gun too. So all of the paperwork and any BG check was already being done. Literally all the gunshop did extra was enter the Ruger into their books and then write that on the already completed 4473.

Dispute the charge on your card. I can tell you that the CC companies are biased toward the consumer (based on my experiences).

I had a very similar situation not too long ago, in fact, I posted about it here in SIGforum.

I bought a new Ruger GP-100 in .22 caliber. Took it to the range, where it fired one or two rounds and then locked up. Observation: it seems to me that I have heard several failures of new Ruger revolvers recently, wondering what's going on with Ruger production and QA.

I corresponded with Ruger customer service. They sent me a pre-paid shipping label to return the revolver to Ruger, who decided to replace it rather than repair it.

As I understand, if it had been a repair, Ruger could have sent it directly to me, but a replacement with a different serial number had to be sent to an FFL.

My local Pawn Shop Guy is more convenient to me than the out-of-the-way dealer where I bought the original (failed) revolver, so I had Ruger ship it to him.

I scanned the receipt for the incoming transfer fee and sent the PDF image to Ruger customer service. They promptly issued a check to reimburse me for my cost.

My suggestion to 92fstech: Contact Ruger customer service, tell them the whole story (probably no need to mention the S&W purchase, it has nothing to do with the Ruger situation and will just muddy the water), and politely ask them if they will reimburse you for the cost of receiving the replacement for the original defective handgun. That is an entirely reasonable request.

I would expect not to be charged a transfer fee in your situation. Even though the defective Ruger was not their fault, as the dealer they should carry a responsibility to the customer for the products they sell.

I don't think I would get too upset over it, its not really a big deal, but unless the S&W was a smoking deal I would have told them to forget about it just to let them know how I really felt. I would not even boycott them or even try and trash them on-line, just remember how they conduct business and move on.

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.

Neither did the customer. The gun shop should have handled any loss on the back end with Ruger (you know, the people whose product was defective ). Never mind the fact that $20 is 10% of the cost of the gun. Fuck businesses that want to nickel and dime a person with bullshit "because we have bills too". Not the OP's problem.

Burn their asses every which way you can 92fstech. If they have a booth at a gun show, I'd stand next to it and tell everyone your experience and kill a few sales. Hopefully your "new" Ruger works.

If you hadn't bought anything, I can I was going to say if you hadn't bought anything, I would have accepted the $20 transfer fee but that didn't sit well with me. Throw in that you bought another gun, they should have waived the transfer fee on the replacement gun.

At that point, I would have asked to talk to somebody and use the fact that I intend to buy another gun as leverage. It would have been a feel good gesture on their part.

quote:

Originally posted by Graniteguy:
Contact Ruger and have them make it right.

THIS!

Yeah, a short-sighted and stupid move on their part. I’d give the shop a chance to make it right, and if they don’t, tell them they’ve see the last of your business and burn em on social media.

I don’t know if you are just having a bad day fredward but if you stand by your post I would never do business with your shop. What a load of shit. It’s a warranty return. You don’t get to charge a fucking second transfer fee. I would have told that shop to go fuck themselves and ship back to Ruger and do it a different way.

I have done many warranty returns. Off the top of my head, Ruger (SP101 in 22), Beretta (Cougar cracked frame), S&W (Walther P99 cracked plastic doohickey), and of course a metric shit ton of Sigs (320 “upgrades” lol). In Maryland for the most part, not a gun friendly state. Every single one, every single one was shipped signature required right to my door. It’s warranty work, even with a new frame and serial number it’s warranty work. 100% legal to ship back to your door.

Yea, fuck those guys.

in line to get breakfast this morning on the drive through window a sticker read "Non Cash Adjustment Fee 4%" This was a Krystal.

credit card fees passed to the consumer are becoming a pretty regular occurrence.

23 years in the gun business from A to Z and I will say that them charging you a transfer fee is total bullshit.

True, it's not their fault that the Wrangler was defective, but it's also not your fault. Getting money back from Ruger might be like getting blood from a rock.

The shop should have eaten the cost as a manner of good customer service, especially since you were buying another gun.

To break it down, you paid $20 for a clerk to enter two lines of info into an A/D book, one line of info on a 4473, and fill out a multiple handgun form. Worth $20 sure, but definitely not the best business practice.

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.

Tunnel vision like this is what costs you customers. And, who the hell takes an hour to do this? You act like none of us have been around a shop and see what's going on.

quote:

Originally posted by Dreamerx4:
This was a poor way (for them) 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.

Edited to correct my poor wording and show I felt shop was wrong, not 92fstech.

^^^^^ And, write a local review. A negative review is more helpful to potential customers, imo.

Imagine the FFL was required to enter the receipt of the firearm into their ATF books, and as such, they are transferring the gun from the FFL to the OP. Since it has a different serial number, its similar to buying a new firearm. So they do have work to do and requirements by ATF/state.

Nonetheless charging for it wasn't a smart move, since he didn't buy it on gunbroker or online and have it shipped in. Agreed I'd have done the transfer on the gun, got a receipt and left the Smith.

Stating displeasure should be to management and Ruger. Be interesting to see what Ruger does.

I think it's BS. It wouldn't have happened at either of the two local stores I frequent. I've had warranty repairs returned through each of them for guns I bought from them. I didn't pay a transfer fee. In the OP's situation, I would have just paid the $20, expressed my displeasure, and would never give them any business again. I also wouldn't have bought the 65-3 from them, no matter how much I actually wanted it.

Anybody who is okay with this, how would you feel if you bought a new car and then had to return it under "lemon laws" for a replacement, and then got charged delivery/prep fees again on the replacement? You'd be pissed, plain and simple.

Warranty work is part of your overhead, no matter the business. When Walmart accepts a return for exchange, they have incurred additional costs, but they don't pass them along. Let's face it, there's almost no money in selling a new gun. The shop should have donated their time doing the transfer, made the customer feel great, and try to sell him some accessories that do have a decent margin. Indeed, the OP was already purchasing a used gun which already had a better margin. Pissing him off over $20 is a bad business decision, imo.

My store does NOT charge transfer fees on warranty exchanges, but I am saying there is expense involved for the store. Many people don't want to consider the cost of what they demand. Last week, for example, I had a man bring in a compound bow he bought at a garage sale for less than a hundred bucks. He was angry when I told him what it would cost if parts were available. I was leery of working on it because some brands of that era had a bad habit of "exploding" when the limbs are compressed to install a string. He cut his losses. People call wanting me to tell them "a fair price" to pay for, for example, a Garand rifle. I tell them I can't do that over the phone, and how various factors come into play. Many get irate.

Think about it. An individual wants to buy something from another individual and wants a third party retailer to tell him what to pay. When I suggested he and the seller come to the store and we would give a free retail and wholesale appraisal, he said the seller wouldn't do that. Uh, dude, doesn't that tell you something?


Anyway, I've said my piece. My personal opinions have nothing to do with my employer or his/her policies, they are simply my opinions.

As far as the 3 percent credit card charge, my store doesn't so that BUT the retailer bears the cost of the credit card service, and they do charge at least 3 percent. Additionally, card benefits like air miles and other goodies are born by the retailer, although the credit card companies lure customers with them. Nice work if you can get it, huh?