Ever get ripped off in a fraudulent internet firearms purchase ? How did you go about getting your money back ?

Had a couple firearms arrive that weren't in the condition advertised, and one arrived with a stock broken in transit. In the case of the first two, the condition issues weren't terrible, but I have no doubt the seller intentionally misrepresented the product, knowing that my cost to ship the rifles back would make it a hard decision for me. I learned a couple lessons there.

In the case of the broken stock, the seller who did a schitt packaging job did pay me to have it professionally repaired. Now, I insist any purchase made be sent in a hard case.

I'm talking about sending your funds and not receiving any firearm, seller and shipping FFL ceased responding to e-mail.

Haha

You got foucked

Many years ago, through the old Gun List ,pre internet, but yeah, Broken Arrow OK Pawn Shop ripped me off bad. Ordered a 700, .308 silhouette..got an incomplete, non firing, group of 700 parts, visibly worn bbl was screwed in finger tight. Hostile, argumentative owner, no negotiating. Let's see, pawn shop? Serves me right.

A Sako I bought never existed. Kept myself from driving 500 miles to have a surprise meet up after getting a valid address. I knew that every mile I drove I would get more and more pissed off and it would end bad for both of us.

I contacted my state's attorney general's office with receipts, correspondence etc. They said they couldn't do much but they did send him an official letter.

I got my money back within days of him getting the letter. A lot of folks that were past members of the Sako Collectors Club knew him. I made sure to contact a bunch of folks and told them not to deal with him.

This was during the glory days of Gun List. I got him blacklisted there so he could no longer run ads.

Not a big deal but it made me feel better.

Wait till you get skrewed, we'll see how funny you think it is. Till then feel free to GFY

My dad did. He found some model 94 winchesters on gunsamerica or some other such site. Sent $2500 for them, and the guns never showed up. Dad told me he got an email from the guy saying he got mugged while taking the rifles down to be shipped. Lost them as well as the $2500. I asked my dad to send me all the emails between him and the seller. Looking through them it was obvious that he'd been scammed. Just not internet savvy enough to realize it. He sent the money to an address in a town in Indiana. A search of the house showed a real estate listing for a chit box run down house with a mail box in front. They were using that address to collect the money without it going to their address. I called the local PD and got the usual "we'll look in to it" never heard anything back.

LAUGHING


Gunwizard PMing me

“Please don’t make fun of me getting ripped off”

How much $$$

Is this a real set back for you?


Will there be more month left vs Alpo?

No. Been very fortunate in buying, selling, trading. And made some good friends along the way.
Sorry to hear of your being taken advantage of.

That's not what I said and you know it, ya f'n troll.

Oh boy....

Threatening me via PM


lol


What a knee slapper.

All you have to do is call BATF, since a FFL is involved, and things will happen pretty darn quick.

Try your State's AG office for starters.

Ya got put on ignore Mr. Smartazz, so play your fu ktard kiddie games all you want.

Not necessarily. I tried that since I had (have) an FFL and they didn't do anything. This is more of a fraud issue.

You can still try though.

If you have him on ignore don’t toggle his comments and look it kinda defeats the purpose.

Sorry to hear you got ripped off. I’ve not experienced that yet, but I’m sure it’s a matter of time.

I hope you find a resolution!

With an FFL on the "shipping" end, and party to the fraud, they have to.

You were on the receiving end, and if the shipper was not an FFL, I can see why they said for you to deal with it in civil court.

The law always pushes it off to being a civil case if there is any way they can avoid getting involved.

We had a nice PM

Things are all patched up now. Just funnin.

Yes, I sold too damned low!

Sold more than I bought.....

was lucky with the shipping/FFL part of the deals

Bought guns from GB.....lucky I guess never issues

Never got screwed on any deals from 24HR !

Which state were they in?

Nope. I’ve conducted hundreds if not a thousand online firearm sales and purchases and I don’t recall ever having an issue with money. I’ve also done a lot of deals with the good men here and NEVER had any issues, in fact I’ll often send the item before receiving payment if it’s going to a “regular” member (no liberals...I won’t sell anything to a known democrat) and I’ve always received timely payment as well as the added advantage of getting to know the members better. 👍

When I had my shop I was discerning about who I sold to and told more than a few people that I wouldn’t sell the item to them. Either something they said tripped my alarm bells or their body language concerned me. I was never so desperate to sell a firearm that I ignored my gut instinct. It didn’t usually go over well with the “customer” but I didn’t care, I didn’t want them as a customer anyway.

Surely, a "famous" 'smith, could not be fooled !

I bought my pardner pump online. I'd rather they just stole my money and I avoided the disappointment and nuisance.

bought a SXS once and the forend #'s didn't match...he could'a told me that beforehand

Whew. I didn’t want this thread to go 25 pages.

Y’all be meeting up at the Waffle House to settle it.



Ok. That is funny.

Never bought a firearm online.

Bought and sold a few dozen. Some minor condition issues. No financial issues. Did take three weeks to get two different ones, but that was the USPS.

Not everybody’s got connections....

Buying out the trunk of a car in back the bowling alley.

No, got ripped off on some bullets once

I buy all my firearms from crackheads from my roofing crews or randoms in parking lots.

The benefits of hiring criminals.

You put in orders??

Have sold some and bought MANY things on here. Never an issue but I read their posts to make sure they aren't liberal posters or otherwise corrupt.

I knew this Chinese guy who is a world famous scientist in his field of embryo transfer type stuff, idk what. He bought an ice shack off Ebay and it did not match description at all. He said to me, "Ohno! I world famous scientist, I get took on Ebay! Some scientist me." Lol

Never, that implies intent


But a man could has been known to double his paycheck on Friday

I put my FFL on Gunbroker a while back. The first xfer was good. The second was an attempted straw purchase. The next few were OK. Then I got a Savage 99 with an obliterated serial number, followed by a semiauto shotgun but the guy bought an O/U.

I deleted my FFL from Gunbroker.

Nope but had 2 go missing from the seller via UPS.

They delivered one to a vacant house,the police know who had just moved out and so for about 16 years nothing has been said.

The other was found.

The only time i got ahold of the ATF was when a rifle was shipped but never delivered.

It was an older Winchester in 30-40.

They asked me if i knew for a fact that the rifle was packed up and shipped,i said no,then he told me i had no standing that it would have to be turned in by the shipper.

Hope it gets figured out.

After about 30-40 buys over the last 6-8 years via GunBroker and through folks on this forum, I’m batting 1.000 on the ‘Fire and only a couple less than stellar experiences in GB.

Paid $900 for a Browning HiPower back in the Fall that was in “excellent shape and that’s not holster wear it’s just the reflection of the light”. Well....it was holster wear. Not a big deal because I was gonna eventually Cerakote it, but had hoped to have a nice looking shooter for a while.....Now it’s been at the shop since mid Oct and the ‘smith keeps coming up with new excuses why it’s not done. First excuse was they got way behind trying to Cerakote an AR in purple glitter and it was complicated and his paint booth “looks like a stripper blew up in it”. Latest is his Cerakote tech has COVID. He seems like a good guy and he made me laugh with the “stripper blew up” comment so I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt for now.

Bought a KelTec Sub 2000 “new in box” from a dealer about a year ago and it was filthy like the boys at the shop fired a couple hundred rounds down the tube and put it back in the box.

Ordered a CZ-75 Compact PCR from “Shooting Surplus” on Dec 12th and paid for it via credit card same day. After a month of telling me it had “processed and was awaiting fulfillment” they sent sent me a note this week that it really wasn’t available. Next day they credited my card. Nice way to get free access to working capital.

WINNING!

The entire responsibility for online firearms sales falls on the receiving FFL, who in most cases is just some schmuck trying to get into the gun business.

For example, lets say the buyer purchases an O/U 12 gauge online. He pays the selling FFL who then logs it out if his A&D book and ships the gun to the buyer's FFL.

Then the buyer's FFL receives the box, opens it up, and discovers a semi-auto shotgun. At this point everything is in limbo. Now the selling FFL has his money and the gun is logged out of his A&D book and the buyer's FFL has a gun logged in his A&D book that his customer did not order.

What happens next depends on the sellers committment to customer service but based on my 11 month experience in the online gun sales game most of them are not in it to make customers happy, hence the reason I got out of it.

I do very little online buying of used goods. The few transactions I have had have all been favorable. I am in the middle of one now, and it all looks like it's going to end well. I have as much apprehension as a seller as I do as a buyer. As a seller, my reputation is on the line. I offer a money back guarantee when I sell. The item will be in the condition I portray it to be in. If for some reason you aren't happy, you won't have to pay. I most recently sold a stock. I had confidence in the buyer as a long standing member here. I told him that I'd ship the stock to him for his inspection. If he wasn't happy he could ship it back. If he was happy, he could send me a check or money order. he got it, was happy and got a money order for me. He took a picture of the money order and told me it's on the way.

I do not like being ripped off. If there is any way at all for me to get back at someone who rips me off, I will.

Gunwizard is a whiny cundt, but I think it's wrong for him to get ripped off, and I hope that he is made whole.

I bought a somewhat rare collectable Sako AIII Varminter Heavy Barrel rifle in 25-06 from a man in Texas. He packed it well even double boxed it and still fuqking FedEx managed to break the stock in half at the wrist. This Sako varminter stock for the AIII Long Action Heavy Barrel would be damn near impossible to find few of these rifles were ever made. I let the seller keep what I paid for the rifle I think it was 1100. So I submit the claim with FedEx along with an estimate from McMillan Fiberglass Stocks for what it would cost to re stock the rifle in their Sako style varmint stock they offer. They were kind enough to run it up to about 1700 with custom paint, free floating, aluminum pillar bedding everything I could come up with. So FedEx paid up and I sold the barreled action back to another guy from where else, Texas. So I made out well on this "unfortunate mishap" LAUGHING!!!

Almost. The very first PM I had on the 'fire here in 2010 was from Safariman when I was looking for a reasonable 30-06. True story

Fairly sure I never even had a close call. That being said communication stands to go a long ways to screening out fraud. I am of the persuasion that the scammers seldom if ever are really knowledgeable about the firearms they are looking to give the impression they have for sale. a few conversations are good insurance. If the seller is not able to engage in the communication, may be a good clue to back out.

Quit buying from individuals on line awhile back. Bought a $2,500 shotgun and the guy packed it so pitifully the barrels banged the butt too [bleep]. Had to pay to have it repaired.
Bought an anschutz off rimfire central, guy through the bolt in loose, took a chunk out of the fore end. Bought a steyr mIII professional, stock in half broke at the wrist, and lastly a colt 6920 with the barrel literally sticking out the end of the box 2” and the flash hider dinged up.

Said it before, and I’ll say it again..... the average human being would be WELL served with a mini mag behind the ear.

The OP is a prime example.

Had a meth addict employee ask to borrow $300 one time. He offered to bring his four wheeler and let me hold it for collateral.
I figured wtf. Never saw him again but still have the Polaris 8 years later.

And some finance company is probably still wondering wtf it is.

Do they really do that or do you just say that to taunt them?

Hahaha! It weren't his.


He became a fence.

He PM you too?

🤪

I had a very nice Tikka Master Sporter simply vanish while at the North Houston USPS Sorting Facility. They found the shipping box stashed somewhere but the gun was never seen again. Luckily the seller was a quality guy and gave me a full refund immediately - he probably didn’t get any $ back from the postal service for months!

Am in the process of a transaction right now on a Sig P227. Been following the tracking from upstate NY to MA over to Syracuse and then to Rochester and am thinking what the heck? Today I look and it shows having been delivered to some small town by Buffalo so I go to Gunbroker to look up they guys phone # but since the transaction is complete I can no longer see it. Starting to stress out at this point and remember Id called the seller last week so I scramble through my call history and the number is literally the next one to be bumped out of the history. Call the guy and he picks up on the first ring and I inquire as to why my gun just got delivered to BFE NY. He apologized and said he must’ve given me the wrong tracking number and will resend once he goes home. Starting to sound like a scam and then he drops the fact that he’s a judge and at court and has to get off the phone. My BS meter is tingling by this point so I dig out the Money Order receipt and Google his name plus judge and NY. At about the same time as I’m reading an article about him becoming the judge of some municipality his text comes through with the proper tracking info. Twas quite a rollercoaster of being suspicious, worried, pissed off and relieved all in about a span of 5 minutes. I was just sure I was going to have to fight gunbroker for a refund on a decent amount of $ there for a bit but was jumping to conclusions.

Hahahahahaha!!!!!

Three friggin times already!

That's one of the things that concerns me about a seller.

That’s cause you look like a teddy bear.

Maybe he needs a hug.

These are all reasons why I value a seller who does everything right, and why I always take time to name them in the "good guy" section of the classifieds. It's a good reference.

Fool is in the eyes of the beholder.

I have purchased quite a few guns online from private party members, but I dont think I have bought one in the last 3 years or so. Over the last 15 years or so I have had a few transactions that scared me and I thought I had been taken. All of them work out. One was a very esteemed member here. I bought a very nice Browning BPS shot gun from him. During the transaction, he became pretty ill. He was an older fella who lived alone in a remote location. I didnt know many people here on the forum and when I contacted Rick Bin about it, he reached out the seller and made contact. It all worked itself out fairly quickly. The gentleman almost passed away due to illness and there was nobody around his place to make contact or return my attempts at contact. I felt like a heel afterwards because he was somewhat of a legend on here, but I didnt know that. On another one, I bought a semi custom elk rifle and for some reason the transaction took about 3 weeks longer than it should have with poor communication. The rifle eventually showed and was in great condition as described. With better communication there would not have been much worry. I have not bought a private party rifle for probably 3 years or so. I just dont want the hastle of going to an FFL to pick it up etc. If I found something I had to have, I would sure do it again though!

Life IS a gamble....

I've had good luck for too many years even those Gun List & Shot Gun News day before Internet. So far, like GB due to ratings over Gun International, I check out buyers and deeper if private parties and don't deal with Pawn Shops.

A friend bought a gun out of state, sent seller cashiers check then no response from the seller. The buyer called his local field office and had 2 agents make a courtesy call to the address given by the seller. The seller didn't know the buyer was an FBI agent, the buyer received a refund in 2 days.

Not on firearms, but had some poor luck with stock wood. Question: Any cracks? Response: No. Two of three purchases were returned with my shipping cost being about 1/2 of the purchase price due to obvious cracks. I will never buy another sight unseen.

The only time I really got screwed online, I made a guy a holster, shipped it to him, and never got paid. He’s the outgoing sheriff in Oconee County, Georgia. This was on another forum. He left the forum and hasn’t been back. I got suspended for a week because I called him out.

I got semi screwed on a water heater replacement.

Realtor sent me out to replace one that was leaking, the overseas owner didnt transfer money to escrow.

I gave it 90 days, house went into foreclosure. It was on lockbox so I went over one afternoon with a couple of no-neck goons. Repossessed my 40 gallon water heater.

Piece of cake

EXCEPT for the nosey neighbor that thought I was stealing a water heater. lol

Ended up putting my charm on that dude, within 15 minutes we were inside that neighbor’s house having a cold drink and him showing us a bathroom he contracted us to remodel.

^ ^ ^

For GW

Charming bastid...

~ 20 years ago I went to a local gun store, because I heard they rip people off, and ordered a cheap gun from Shotgun News to that FFL.

They took the money and ordered the gun C.O.D. but refused it each time it arrived.

It seems they were trying to hang on to operating cash.

Yup, they were crooked. Good cheap experiment.

Then they ripped off members of the Woodinville Police department [the city they were in] on gun transactions.

I don't know it they skipped town or went to jail, but the place was empty a few weeks after ripping off cops.

About nine years ago, I bought here on CF a NIB scope from someone in western NC for ($765 in those days) with pics including box-end label. I sent him a certified check from my bank. I didn't hear from him for about ten days and figured that was long enough, so I called him - to which he replied that he had just cashed the check and mailed the scope the day before. I never get the scope and I called and left messages repeatedly for the next three weeks. Then I posted on here that I had apparently been taken to the cleaners by someone in Buncombe County, NC. A fellow member who just happened to be local law enforcement in that area PM'ed me to get the details and offered to go by this guys house and "have a chat". The next day he calls me and said that he couldn't get the money back but he did see the scope, said it looked brand new with all the papers, etc, and that he "gave" the guy a ride to PO to mail it out. Got it three days later.

Maybe there's someone in LE local to your creep, that would volunteer to have a chat with him.

I can't believe y'all buy and sell all these evil firearms. I lost mine in a horrible boating accident.