Got called a "jerk off" today

[JLBIII]

We had two young customers come in today that had a problem with their red dot sight mounted on an AR. I told them to bring the rifle in so we could help them out. It was sold to them as a "new" Century Centurion 15 AR at the VF gun show last week. The red dot had a dead battery. We showed them how to replace it and asked if they'd had the rifle apart for cleaning. They told me they weren't sure how to take it down and could I show them. When I popped the take down pin, I noticed an Accu-wedge in the lower and an excessive amount of play between the upper and lower receivers. I popped the front take down pin to show them that they had a large pin upped on a small pin lower. There was no offset bushing in there, only the Accu-wedge. I explained to them the difference between the small and large pin receivers and how the bolt can close prematurely from the resulting gap when the Accu-wedge wears down. When I extracted the bolt carrier, I saw it was a worn M-16 style bolt carrier that had been cut (hacked) in both the front and back. You could see where the front cut was being peaned over thru firing and may cause the large flanged firing pin to protrude from the bolt face when the bolt is closed causing a slam fire; a condition that could be made worse by the looseness of the receivers. I expressed my concerns to them about it possibly being unsafe and the use of substandard and modified parts. I did show them what the parts and fit and a new AR should look like. To say the least, they were displeased with their purchase.

The purchaser went out to get his sales receipt from the dealer at the gun show he purchased the gun from. He came back into the store and called the dealer on his cell phone to find out what kind of "new" gun they had sold him. Since the purchaser wasn't sure of the how to explain what the problems were, he asked me to. I introduced myself to the person on the phone, then described what I had found and how there could possibly an unsafe condition with the parts in the rifle. The person on the other end of the line told me to "Hold on, he's going to get the shop owner." I introduced myself to him also, then started to describe what I had found and believed to be an unsafe condition. The shop owner asks me if I'm a qualified gunsmith to make that determination. I told him I didn't need to be one to see that there is something obviously wrong with this rifle that needs to be checked out and brought up to spec. I also told him that just because the rifle fires, doesn't mean that it is safe. At this point the owner tells me he should then be talking to the purchaser. I hand the cell phone back to the young kid. The kid starts making faces as the owner is tlaking to him and then puts his cell phone on speaker phone. The owner is cursing everything and everyone. When he says"You tell that fucking jerk off behind the counter..." the kid hands me the phone and I respond with "Sir, I am not a fucking jerk off..." and the line went dead. I've been called worse by people with a lot more class than that.

Sorry for the long rant but it's dealers like that that give the rest of us who actually care about our customers and the products we sell a bad name. I can see now where the gun show horror stories come from.

JB

[Pa. Patriot]

Well... you did ruin his little scam........... you F#^%#$ Jerk!

[markheck1]

yeah really!!!! How is this guy supposed to cheat someone out of their money, when you keep screwing it up?

[JLBIII]

My bad. Won't happen again...NOT!

I do feel bad for the kids spending their hard earned money on a POS AR. Hard lesson to learn.

[markheck1]

that's why I am kinda shakey on buying an AR at a gunshow.....haven't played with them enough to know what to look for, don't want someone else's problems

[PA Rifleman]

Sellers like that make us all look bad.

He got caught passing off crap, plain & simple.

Sounds like a great opportunity to make a loyal customer. I'd be tempted to tell the customer something like "...if he won't make it right, stop back here and we'll give you a clear picture of what this gun needs, and discuss options even if it means sending you to a competing shop."

Any guesses where your young customers are going when they make their next purchase?

[LowFlyer]

Would you be willing to post the "seller's" name (if you know it) so others here are made aware to not purchase from him?

[RocketFoot]

Originally Posted by LowFlyer

Would you be willing to post the "seller's" name (if you know it) so others here are made aware to not purchase from him?

My thoughts exactly! Post it up so we can avoid that dealer!

[normanvin]

Good job on your part. That is one of the reasons I don't buy guns from gun shows.

[Roscoe]

Originally Posted by LowFlyer

Would you be willing to post the "seller's" name (if you know it) so others here are made aware to not purchase from him?

good idea...I say. or even a shop location would help.......