I recently spoke to a young gunsmith about removing dents from a doublegun I acquired. He told me in a very nice manner that he charge $40. per dent, but slight dents he would not charge that much. He also told me his turnaround time was 3 days on dent work. Now the wait from June 7th till sometime in the future is not very significant, but his request, when I called him about June 20th, that I "call him in two weeks to remind him to do my barrels" set me aback a bit. Then there was the fact he had to check to see if the barrels were in his shop too! As you may have noticed, at this point, I nolonger had my barrels and he (a relief) did, I followed his instructions and called him June 30th to remind him to do my barrels. He curtiously thanked me and said he would get to them when he returned from the 4th of July weekend. Now when I decided to send him the barrels I had based my decision on his statements(previous) on dent removel and that my gun had two dents and to my very honest evaluation, two more very slight dents I wouldn't have even bothered with, but for the bargain of a fraction of $40, to remove them. To this end I wrapped masking tape around the barrels and with a pen drew arrows directing to the 4 dents to be done. On July 6th I found a message on my machine to the affect that my barrels were dent free and to return the call. I called minutes later to be informed that he had found seven dents, had removed them, and was charging me for five. My bill was $200 plus twenty dollars shipping. Now I know there are many who visit this sight to which $200 is not much money, I am happy for you all, but I would like all of you to consider this. If you make an evaluation on something and a decision based on what you want done and how much you expect to pay, considering the information you have requested and are given, doesn't it kind of tick you off when someone decides to go beyond what you asked for and charge you for it, to boot- and they have the barrels of your gun that you know you can't get back unless you pay up? It makes me feel like I'm dealing with a credit card company! Thanks for your time, Kurt

Kurt you are right and he is wrong.

Having said that when I am playing my best game I call the gunsmith ahead of time and visit with him as you did. After I hang up I immediately write an email to him and state my understanding of the conversation. Then I print out the email and pack it along with the gun in the box and send it on it's way.

After a week or so I email him to see if he received my gun. I try to check in with the gunsmith on a fairly regular basis. I leave the frequency up to you but certainly one a month is not too often for me.

I would call your smith and tell him what you wrote here and see what he says. Of course "minor dent" is not a defined quantity and could be in the eye of the beholder. However "Repair four dents as marked on the barrel by masking tape" is a defined quantity.

I have been in your spot several time in the last few years and you have my sympathy.

Best,

Mike

If it makes you feel any better, I had a relatively scarce but not particularly valuable Miroku O/U (12ga, 30" bbls, hand cut engraving, 99% condition) in to the gunsmith to have a new pad fitted. He ported my barrels by mistake, but did not charge me any extra for the porting. I hate ported barrels, and have never shot the gun since.

He should now own that gun...........and you should have your money, plus extra for the aggravation.......

Next one you get, you can 'leave the pad OFF'............

He offered to buy it, but I couldn't stand to part with it because it took me so long to find that one. Sometimes I'm a dope.

Oh my! That's terrible Replacement!! Who was the smith? I'm fortunate as I've not had any terrible incidents with gunsmiths, but I have heard of a few bad ones. I've found a couple here in Texas that a fantastic and I use them when I have a need. We have a good relationship and they always know my number when I call their shop. I suppose I truely am fortunate for that.

Ben-T- That's a horrible story too! When my smith tells me it'll take 3 days to do the job, I reasonably expect that he'll have to finish other projects in front of mine, but he should have at the very least told you as much. You said the smith was young. I suspect he won't be around long if he continues with that kind of service.

First, Thanks for the replies. Now I must amend my earlier post to state that the young fellow left a long message on my machine today, first: the jist is he is insulted at my position, second: he intends to "throw my check in the garbage" and third: he is to some extent apologetic. I insulted him? I have not gotten the barrels back, but I assume his work is good. I intend to communicate with him and see if we can reconcle. I will not do business with him again, but if he doesn't cash my check I am going to publish his name here!

Is the smith insulted because he is reading this thread, or just because you questioned the actual work vs the discussed work?

Re my ported barrels, I have used this guy for years, I consider him a friend, and he offered to make it right. Now, when I take a gun to him, it always has a label stuck to the muzzles that says "DO NOT PORT". The label irritates him, but I can live with that.

Replacement, I am definately going mad! I just got off the phone with the young smith and and I told him that his extra work is worth something, so I have agreed to send a second check, he destroyed the first. Trust is a big deal in doing business, though many in business don't know it. I will send the check with uncomfortable confidence that he did tear up the first. I will wait for my barrels and hope I have learned a lesson? I hope he has too, and it is more than to stay away from customers like me? I hope my lesson doesn't end up being; sell the shotguns and invest in sniper rifles? I learned to hate buying cars too. I will not be giving out his name.

Welcome to dealing with Gunsmiths, honestly you got out pretty much unscathed.

If he gets his barrels back in nice condition.....if he's lucky maybe they'll come back Teague lined .

This type of "gunsmith" only gets one shot at me. Scares hell out of me when they're that careless about a customer's request and the understanding reached. Run from this feller like the plague!

Why would anyone deal with a gunsmith who ports barrels?

He's a barrel guy, and he's good at it. Another customer wanted his Citori target gun ported and my Miroku barrels got mixed up with the Citori barrels.

Six days since smith said he was returning my barrels? He is in north eastern PA, I am in south western PA. I am certain he has gotten my second check by now (he destroyed the first). I feel like a fool for pampering this slacker. Rome, Pa to Greensburg,PA shouldn't take six+ days? This kid isn't doing his boss any good. I can only hope he is perhaps redoing my barrels to make them perfect? He said they were done July 6th. I sent them to him June 7th on his promise of a 3 day turn around. I am getting ticked because he said he was sending them registered mail so I'm waiting for the mailman to sign for them!! He better do really good dent removel or I'm calling and asking for the boss!

Time for Prayers....?.......



Good Luck Kurt
Best,

Ben, registerd mail could be the delay I have had it take 10 days to get to places that are normally 1 day away by 1st class.

Good luck

Mark

I received the barrels today. If the expense and time was not so great I would have been happy with the job. I will not use this gunsmith again because of all the trouble. It is unfortunate because this shop is in PA and seems to do acceptable work, but this young fellow need instruction in customer service and has a skewed notion as to what service is. Sort of a combination of "I know best and you get what I want when I get to it" kind of thinking. I don't know what his older "pardner" or "boss" thinks of this, maybe he is unaware or thinks it great? They are both named on the website though. Anyway I have my barrels and have learned a lesson here. Just a shame.