Gun Shop Conduct with consignments?

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gusss

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I took my 30 year old mint Astra A80 that I bought new and never shot it once to a local gun shop. I'm not a dealer, but I considered it new. They took it on consignment.

They sold it to an old woman who wanted the 45acp for in home defense. They paid me for it and three days later I got a call from the shop telling me that the firing pin was bent and that they took it back in and sold her a new 1911 of theirs. He asked me if they had paid me for it and when I said yes, he said I guess we bought the Astra.....long pause, I said sure does.

The story there - the old woman took it to the range and the 'new' gun would not fire and the expert at the range told her the firing pin was bent. The gun shop salesman told me HE took it apart and straightened the firing pin. BS!

I have to go to the shop to pick up a 22cal I left there for them to research the price to ask for it. They also have a Remington 30-06 of mine on consignment. What is coming is pressure to give them back the money on the sale.

First I don't believe an of the story about the gun being broken. I suspect the buyer didn't like it or decided she paid too much for it and they traded her up to a new gun.

Conditions of a consignment were not discussed but every used gun I ever bought was 'as is'. I feel that if the gun shop allows returns that is their guarantee but my sale is final, especially for a new gun in mint condition. I don't know what was done to the gun by the customer, the expert at the range, or the salesman in the store, or what was ammo was fired in it.

Is it normal for a gun shop to allow the return of guns on consignment?

Whatever the outcome is, I learned to write on the consignment receipt. Sold as is! It seems that consignment is a bad deal after all, if I had not been paid for he gun I would have a damaged and scratched up new gun.
 
Well, I do work in a gun shop, so I can tell you what we do.
All used guns, whether consignment, or bought outright by the shop and sold, are sold "as is".
We do not test consignment guns. The owner of the shop broached that subject with me, and once he realized both the expense from ammo, and troubles with having to fix guns to sell them, plus the possibility of something going awry and he having to "eat" the gun, testing was dropped. We make any potential customers clearly aware that we have not tested the guns, and are relying on the consigning owner. We will test guns bought outright from a person and then sold as used.
We do not allow dry firing of older or used guns. Long gun actions are tied open. Typically, bolt actions have the bolt removed.
There have been a few (only a few) times where a gun has come actually broken. If it cannot be proven that the customer broke it after purchase, we have fixed it at the consignors expense.
I have seen a couple bent firing pins, not many. Most break first. A few have warped from fatigue, and will snap if an attempt is made to straighten it. You don't actually want a firing pin really hard, at least at the hammer end, or it will eventually shatter or chip.
Mostly however, they are straight, or broken.
 
OK, so they claim the gun was defective and that they took it back from the buyer.

If so, why didn't they contact you to make the "repairs?" It seems odd that they'd have incurred the cost in labor to do so. Something doesn't add up.
 
Thanks..........

You guys are great. I also feel an 'as is' policy is understood universally, stubby little-hardened firing pins don't bend, too many hands in my ex-new gun, and I was not given the opportunity to examine it before people started screwing with it.

Obviously they treat consigned guns as if they owned it. If a buyer is not satisfied they offer to trade up to one of their new guns and the owner of the consigned gun if stuck if there was real damage done to it.

Thanks for the responses.
 
The shop has an excellent customer service policy and are to be commended.

As far as who broke/bent the firing pin, you really do not know. If you had never fired the gun, it could have come that way when you bought it. Brand new broken guns are not unheard of, just read the forums here.

I have bought a few used guns over the years from pawn shops and if there was any problems I or the shop was unaware of when the gun was sold, the pawn shop either paid to have them fixed or took the gun back and gave me a refund.

The fact that another person worked on the gun with-out your knowledge makes it the "old womans" responsibility.

Not being familiar with that specific handgun, is it possible to put the firing pin in backwards?
 
Here are my answers:

1. You intend to continue doing business with this shop: Take the gun back, give the money back but make them give you better terms on consignment i.e. sell it straight out for no commission after you verify that gun is operable. If gun has a problem with it, get it fixed first. You can't, in good conscience, sell a gun on consignment if you know it has a problem.

2. You never intend to step foot back in the shop. Go to the shop and look at the Astra to see if it really does have a bent firing pin. If it does, then unwind the deal - I doubt the old lady bent the firing pin by putting a few rounds through it. If it doesn't, then tell them to go pound sand after you pick up anything else you have on consignment in their shop.
 
As-is.

I have seen one bent firing pin on a used gun. I suspect it was bent while the gun was dis-assembled. Gun smith claimed he straightened it outwith a "hammer and anvil." He originally told me he would have to turn a new one at ~$60 and I agreed. He didn't charge me anything and the gun worked after he "flattened" the old one. I didn't question his genius.

There are lots of good reasons they could take the gun back. The womans relative, friend, RO, etc could be a great customer. The RO is likely a peson with a lot of influence in the firearms community. They might have thought it was dangerous and didn't want the liability(not sure how though). They could have pocketed more on the trade for a new gun. None of that has anything to do with you though.
 
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