How to deal with a non-responsive gunsmith?

[rrwildlife]

Here is the background.

I was looking for advice on a gunsmith back in 2018. One of the prominent members of this forum contacted me via pm and recommended his gunsmith. I contacted his gunsmith and went out to visit him in PA (I'm from IN). Based on that meeting and some research on his match shooting performance I decided to go ahead and have him build me two rifles. One was to be built on a new action and the second was to be built on a action I already owned. He was going to purchase a new action from Borden, build the stocks (from his blank supplier), thread and chamber the barrels, install a bix trigger on the new action, and fit everything together (action ordered on April 5, 2018). Down payment check for 1/2 the action and 1/2 the stock blanks arrives on April 9, 2018. I ship my 4 barrels to his shop and they arrive on April 10, 2018. June 19, 2018 stockmaker mangles his shoulder and they will be delayed. In the mean time he re-barrels another firearm for me and the workmanship is outstanding (turn around time was a little over a month). Stocks show up on July 17, 2018. New Action arrives on Aug 22, 2018. February 8, 2019 rifles are promised to be ready in time for the arrival of decent weather. May 19, 2019 rifle still don't done but suggestions are made to making progress and not compromising on quality. October 22, 2019 stock finishing problems start to develop and problems develop with a new lathe. Jan 23, 2020 text sent indicating good progress I inquire about having them ready to make the first match of the season on 4/4/20. He says they should be taken care of without a problem. May 8, 2020 He indicates he has two hard coats down on each of the stocks. May 15, 2020 and the stock hiccups are supposed to be behind us. October 8, 2020 stock are out for finishing and he's supposed to be working on the remaining metal work. Nov 17, 2020 Guy doing the final finishing gets hit by a motorcycle. April 1, 2021 supposed to be getting close.... Last communication was on April 3, 2021.

A project that was supposed to take 6-8 months has taken over 3 years and now I cannot get a response via text or phone. I have been more than accommodating and have not blown up his phone looking for updates (a call or text every couple of months). If I didn't know the quality of work is outstanding I would never let this go on so long. Since I haven't been able to get a response in over a month I'm trying to figure out what to do now.

Any advice?

 

[Topstrap]

Roadtrip

 

[tac284]

I can relate to this…. 2 years 4 months is a long time to wait for a stock to be made I feel. Texts and phone calls go unanswered. He just happens to be in the PA also. Like Topstrap said, road trip time!

 

[joshb]

Ouch! I started hearing Banjos at October 22, 2019!

 

[xswanted]

I’d leave him a polite message stating you’ll be picking your stuff up and expect to be reimbursed for part of the work so someone else can finish it.

Most likely he’ll respond.

 

[Murray Brook]

I can feel your pain. I have found that to be overly patient with any type of work being done for you be it a gunsmith, contractor etc is counter productive. The worst thing I have ever told a gunsmith was that there is "no rush, take your time". JMO

 

[danny]

Contact the local (in his jurisdiction) law enforcement? Tell him that you will contact the ATF, then do it if he does not respond? Is his FFL still showing as active by the ATF Quick or Insta Check, whatever they call it? These are just ideas I have. I have never had an issue like what you have with this guy.

Danny

 

[Old Navy]

That is pure BS. I wish you well.

 

[bobinpa]

Being on someone's list and not being worked on is one thing.... getting progress reports for 2 1/2 years is totally different. About 2 years ago I would have asked for pictures of the progress...
Personally I would have driven to see him about a year and a half ago. I would drive in and pick up your stuff, no matter what stage it's in. He's lied to you multiple times by now. If you push him to finish now, who knows what you'll get.

 

[jelenko]

Road trip from IN - ugh.
If local law enforcement would be willing to get involved - that would be great.
Just from my own experience, my bet is he ran into personal/financial issues. It would be great if you could get your materials back. It's possible he's already sold them.

On second thought, if he's run into personal/financial issues, being there in person is best.

 

[bobinpa]

I'd be tempted to post his name too. Good guys deserve credit.... the bad ones deserve to be outed. To be fair, there is always 2 sides of a story, but misunderstandings don't take 3 years to iron out either. I'm sure there is someone on this board near him that could let you know if he has problems holding him back from finishing.

 

[Murray Brook]

Road trip from IN - ugh.
If local law enforcement would be willing to get involved - that would be great.
Just from my own experience, my bet is he ran into personal/financial issues. It would be great if you could get your materials back. It's possible he's already sold them.

On second thought, if he's run into personal/financial issues, being there in person is best.

Sounds so much like what happened to me about 10-12 yrs ago.

 

[Nick Caprinolo]

I also think I know who you are talking about. He is a terrific smith and has done great work for me in the past. However he has become unreachable lately.

I would send him a registered letter requiring a return signature.

 

[hoz53]

Here is the background.

I was looking for advice on a gunsmith back in 2018. One of the prominent members of this forum contacted me via pm and recommended his gunsmith. I contacted his gunsmith and went out to visit him in PA (I'm from IN). Based on that meeting and some research on his match shooting performance I decided to go ahead and have him build me two rifles. One was to be built on a new action and the second was to be built on a action I already owned. He was going to purchase a new action from Borden, build the stocks (from his blank supplier), thread and chamber the barrels, install a bix trigger on the new action, and fit everything together (action ordered on April 5, 2018). Down payment check for 1/2 the action and 1/2 the stock blanks arrives on April 9, 2018. I ship my 4 barrels to his shop and they arrive on April 10, 2018. June 19, 2018 stockmaker mangles his shoulder and they will be delayed. In the mean time he re-barrels another firearm for me and the workmanship is outstanding (turn around time was a little over a month). Stocks show up on July 17, 2018. New Action arrives on Aug 22, 2018. February 8, 2019 rifles are promised to be ready in time for the arrival of decent weather. May 19, 2019 rifle still don't done but suggestions are made to making progress and not compromising on quality. October 22, 2019 stock finishing problems start to develop and problems develop with a new lathe. Jan 23, 2020 text sent indicating good progress I inquire about having them ready to make the first match of the season on 4/4/20. He says they should be taken care of without a problem. May 8, 2020 He indicates he has two hard coats down on each of the stocks. May 15, 2020 and the stock hiccups are supposed to be behind us. October 8, 2020 stock are out for finishing and he's supposed to be working on the remaining metal work. Nov 17, 2020 Guy doing the final finishing gets hit by a motorcycle. April 1, 2021 supposed to be getting close.... Last communication was on April 3, 2021.

A project that was supposed to take 6-8 months has taken over 3 years and now I cannot get a response via text or phone. I have been more than accommodating and have not blown up his phone looking for updates (a call or text every couple of months). If I didn't know the quality of work is outstanding I would never let this go on so long. Since I haven't been able to get a response in over a month I'm trying to figure out what to do now.

Any advice?

I’d call the ATF and let them know whats going on. I’d tell them I plan on picking my guns and materials up within a few days. Then before I left I would call the guys local police Dept and see if they will tell you if anything happened to him they know of and tell them you will be showing up in there office in a few days and may need their help. You may need proof of ownership -

 

[nakneker]

Well that’s a nightmare. I think we have all experienced this to some degree, at least if you have a history with custom projects. The time lost is extreme, especially since there have been multiple deadlines missed. It sounds like there have been several excuses or worse yet, lies, along the way, that’s a bad sign. Then the line goes dead and now you get no responses.

I’m not sure what I would do but I think the first thing I would do is try and find a forum member who doesn’t mind stopping by for a visit maybe that gets the communication going again. My second option would be to drive out and recover my components, usually by the time a project has reached this stage the relationship is strained and the odds of getting a high quality finished products start to slim too, might as well get back what you can.

Would I post his name publicly? That’s a hard one, I’d try everything I could first and maybe as a last resort do that. whatever you do I’m sorry your dealing with it, it sounds like you went about choosing him properly, didn’t go in blind. Maybe the member who recommended him has some pull. Good luck, you’ve lost a lot of time and hopefully it hasn't totally killed the joy for the projects.

 

[MQ1]

I had a similar situation that ran about 2 years before I called the local ATF and had them do a health check for me. My unfinished rifle was shipped to me within 3 days. I still can’t believe I let it go on so long.

MQ1

 

[rrwildlife]

Roadtrip

That was my first thought too. Thanks for the reply

 

[rrwildlife]

I also think I know who you are talking about. He is a terrific smith and has done great work for me in the past. However he has become unreachable lately.

I would send him a registered letter requiring a return signature.

I think that is a pretty good idea and one I didn't think about.

 

[rrwildlife]

I want to thank everyone for their input. I believe my thinking was on track. I'm likely going to need to take a road trip. Ultimately I figured my last resort was to contact the PA Attorney Generals office but I like the ATF route even better. In order to function as a gunsmith it's important to have a FFL. I'm doubtful he would want to risk loosing his license so if I don't get some resolution with any of the other options I will call the ATF.

Thanks again for the advice. I really appreciate it.

 

[rrwildlife]

I can feel your pain. I have found that to be overly patient with any type of work being done for you be it a gunsmith, contractor etc is counter productive. The worst thing I have ever told a gunsmith was that there is "no rush, take your time". JMO

Patience is not my strongest virtue. I'm my younger years this was the cause for a lot of difficulty for me. I have worked hard to not fly off the handle at every little thing and to try to walk in someone else's shoes but your post really resonates with me.