Horrible Experience- Layman's

[penguinland]

This isn't my first bad experience at Layman's Gun Shop in East Prospect york county but I had 22 rifle that I needed to get the barrel threaded on. I should mention that this whole saga starts back in May and I dealt with Terry the owner exclusive with the exception of when I picked up the barrel. While he was nice as pie before he had my money that soon changed. I thought my previous bad experience was because of poor help, I guess not. Since the receiver was press fit to the barrel it either had to be done in state or through an FFL. I figured I would give Layman's another try. I was told 6-8 to get it threaded and it would be $90 for the threading and the custom matched thread protector. After 8 weeks I started calling and was told that it had been shipped back to him and was on the UPS truck, he would call when it was in. After 10 weeks I call again and I get that it should be in any day and he would call when it was. At 12 weeks I call again and I am told that it's in. I stop to pick it up and there is no thread protector. The sales assistant calls Terry to find out where it is and I am told that it is in the mail and should be about 3 days, Terry would mail it when arrives. I pay the $90 since that sounds reasonable. A week later I call and I am told that the gunsmith is still working on it. I have called every few weeks and got varying stories about how long it will be and one excuse was that the gunsmith was waiting on the metal to make them. He's taken my phone number twice and my email once. I never received any communication from him. I called again today just to point out that it has been exactly 6 MONTHS since I dropped the barrel off. Now I guess that he has figured out that he can't keep track of his lies about a delivery date and just says that he has no idea when it will be in. I suggested that he refund me $30 and I will have someone else make me one. He then starts to get annoyed and tells me that thread protectors only cost $10 ( midway has them for $15.49 plus shipping and that is just a generic, not the custom matched one ) He also now says that he gave me a discount to start with since the barrel was stripped and that it should have been $120 !!! I figured I should just cut my loss and ask for the $10 which I did and he agreed to. I stopped in earlier and he gave the money to his assistant to give to me. In the end I'm glad that this was just a thread protector and not a firearm or a class III device that I was dealing with. I will never step foot in that shop again since I have found another place to get barrels threaded and I have a better class III dealer that I deal with now. When talking gun shops I will gladly spread the word about great places like Hakes, Backwoods and Stoneybrook. I will always end the conversion with "any place but Laymans"

[egon12]

I have to agree with you 100%. Laymans is one of the last places that I would do business with. Unlike you I still go in there from time to time to get powder or other small items when they are not avaliable elsewhere. And, I do that with some hesitation on my part. I usually spend most of my time and money in Backwoods, Stubby's and Stoneybrook. Compared to the other dealers in the area his prices are outrageous. Granted he needs to make a profit, but his profit margins look more like highway robbery on the majority of the items in stock. So in the end I usually buy my big ticket items elsewhere.

[Seventy4Blazer]

i talked to them at a show at the fair grounds... i wasnt impressed enough to stop by the shop at all...

sorry you had bad dealings with them though.

[Arch007er]

Man did you ever hit the nail on this one. Those Assholes are just like you said, sweet and nice until you buy something. My pops had that problem a few years back the woman that worked there, and I had bought a gun from there earlier this year and called back with just a simple question (i cant remember what it was) about the gun, but she was just so damn defensive about it and just a bitch.

[PureRockFury]

Wow, sorry to hear all the negative experiences. I was recently tracking something that seemed all but imppossible to come by in the "rush." Layman's was the only shop within two hours that had what I was looking for at a reasonable price ($10 more than Backwoods, where it was not available, but $50 - $100 less than the "big" guys).

I had never heard anything of them before, but had a very positive experience. They had lots of stuff in stock at good prices (granted not everything was a good deal, but deals were there). Everyone was cordial, knowledgeable, helpful etc...

In fact I have been reccomending them to friends based on my experience. I hope I have not been steering friends astray. Your points have been noted, but until I or one of my friends have bad dealings with them, I'll have to go by first-hand experience.

Just my 2 cents.

[87th PVI]

WOW sorry that some of you had bad experiences, but I shopped around for my latest handgun and got it at Laymans for $11 less than the next lowest place. The only drawback was that they had to order it which took all of three days Vs I could've gotten it right away if I had driven to Gettysburg where the one was in stock for the extra $11.
I also bought a shotgun there about 10 years ago & I had shopped around for that as well & they were the best price on that too. It currently needs a slight adjustment, which I e-mailed them about recently. They told me to bring it in after hunting season & they'd fix it for free as long as it was what they thought the problem was & they could do it there.
Just to be totally balanced... I did have a friend who ordered a gun from them as they were apparently changing ownership. He said they never called him & then later when he called after the management had changed, he was told they either wouldn't or couldn't get the gun... not sure since it happened to a friend & not me personally.
Anyway, they have yet to make me unhappy.

[gander215]

Nothing nice to say about them since they "lost" my father's pistol for almost 6 months and it was some how quickly found after BATFE was contacted and advised of the situation. -BB

[gdragon]

Last time I was in the dickhead owner was telling me about the 65 pound coyote he shot.

[40 cal]

i've never went there. But, people that did have good experiences. They were nice to because they know they arnt well liked on this forum lol. So, They are trying to get there Fan base back. haha. Just my 0.02 cents

[87th PVI]

I was in there today & was treated VERY WELL. I've purchased a couple guns from them ranging from 10 or 12 years ago to as recently as November. Great service every time, whether looking or buying. I was referred to them by a friend & I've referred friends there and we all have made gun purchases from them.
They have always responded to my e-mail inqueries and answered my questions without being condescending like some places I've heard stories about.
Today we were looking for a revolver for my wife & out of the four places we wanted to go, Layman's was the ONLY one open on Mondays. It may be weeks before my wife & I will have time together during normal gun shop business hours to shop again. Even disregarding all the other factors & great experiences I've had there, Just being available when we wanted to shop is a big advantage Layman's has in my book.

I mentioned the forum while in there, & they acknowleged that they knew of us. I only brought it up in order to relate something I was talking about at the time, but in hindsight, I'm glad I let them know that I was a member here... word of mouth (or nowadays e-word of keyboard) does much to increase or decrease traffic to a business. So far I've appreciated their great service to me and I'm happy to help them by giving them the good word here.