Do I have any recourse?!?!?

**jeo556** · November 11th, 2009, 05:12 PM

In May of this year(2009) I dropped off a Polish Tantal AK-74 kit along with full payment to a local builder. I also had a No Dak spud reciever shipped directly to him as he is a FFL.

At the time I was told that the build would take approximately 5-7 weeks. It has been well over 25 weeks at this point and no gun yet. For the first 18 or so weeks the gentleman actually answered the phone and gave me what seemed like very reasonable excuses as to why the build hadn't been completed yet. These excuses included his basement flooding, which I know to be true for the area he is located in, and that he was building guns for local police departments for the G20 summit. For the last 7 weeks he won't answer his phone and his voice-mailbox is full. Does anyone have any advice as to what I should do?

I thought about showing up at his house but I'm concerned that may cause him to get aggitated and possibly call the police as he seems to be rather unreasonable at this time. I also thought that I may, dare I say, get the ATF involved as the reciever is technically mine(I paid for it) but still on/in his books having never been transferred to me. Has anyone ever had this type of expierence before, what did you do? I would especially appreciate any help from someone that knows PA state and federal firearms laws as I'm pretty sure that the fact he has my reciever is something that the ATF would want to know about.

Thanks in advance for any help & advice. Happy Veterans Day!

**o1dakota440** · November 11th, 2009, 05:27 PM

i'm not sure what you should do, but as far as the reciever is concerned. it is legally his untill you go in and do the paperwork.

**normanvin** · November 11th, 2009, 05:32 PM

Did he give you a receipt for the receiver when he accepted the job?

**jeo556** · November 11th, 2009, 05:42 PM

I ordered the reciver directly from No dak spud, so I don't actually have a reciept. But I do have a credit card bill that shows the transaction and a mailing slip that shows he signed for it.

The example that I keep going back to is......If you bought a gun over the internet and paid for it in full, you would still have to ship to a local FFL. That FFL transfers it to his/her book, then transfers it to you. They never paid a cent for the gun so don't I still technically own it?

Maybe I'm just reaching here but I cannot stand to think that I'm going to lose a very nice tantal kit as well as a reciever and $420. I'm getting sick just thinking about it. Thanks for the responses guys.

**Rural Ruger** · November 11th, 2009, 06:21 PM

I wouldn't jump to conclusions too quick, though like you I'd be pretty darn agitated if it took that long. Something may have come up...serious illness, car accident, etc. I doubt the police would do much either, and the ATF probably even less. HOWEVER, if the situation continues I believe you'd be justified in bringing a breach of implied contract and/or conversion (non-criminal version of theft) lawsuit against him. He is possession of your property (cash and gun) with the understanding that he was to work on the gun for you within a reasonable time. He has failed to do so, while also failing to return your property. If I remember correctly, you would be entitled to your property as well as any lost "bargain" that you originally got from "hiring" him (i.e. any money saved from working with him vs another FFL).

**gnbrotz** · November 11th, 2009, 06:24 PM

You could post his information here, so that others don't end up at the end of his apparently long work que. If he's not willing to be upfront and/or honest about a general wait time, and unresponsive to inquiries, others should be warned.

**fingers80002** · November 11th, 2009, 06:24 PM

Go knock on his door, and get your kit and $ back.

**HiredGoon** · November 11th, 2009, 06:26 PM

Originally Posted by gnbrotz

You could post his information here, so that others don't end up at the end of his apparently long work que. If he's not willing to be upfront and/or honest about a general wait time, and unresponsive to inquiries, others should be warned.

And maybe he's a member here or somebody here knows him and can provide more info about his situation.

**knight0334** · November 11th, 2009, 06:30 PM

The receiver is legally the FFL's until the 4473 is filled out and the receiver is transferred to you. What is legally yours is the parts kit and the money value of the receiver.