doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Caveat Emptor re Russ Gould of doublegun hq

Caveat Emptor, Re Russ Gould of Canby , Oregon, operating as Network Retailing LLC, doublegunhq, bigfivehq, etc.

I have intended to post this for a long time but these events occurred during our deer season, then we had a death in our immediate family, then Christmas, and other problems. Today I see where Mr. Gould has posted a warning on the Doublegunbbs concerning someone that he feels treated him unfairly. This reminds me that I am overdue in warning others as to how I was treated in a transaction with Russ Gould.
In late October of last year, Mr. Gould had advertised on his website, a used Americase, 2 takedown gun case, with Orvis label, which he described as “excellent condition apart from one rub mark in one barrel compartment”. On October 27, I contacted him by telephone, and agreed to purchase the case at the advertised price of $295 plus $29 shipping costs. On Monday, November 6, Mr. Gould sent me an e-mail which read “I have your payment Ron. Will attend to this first Mon”. However, Russ Gould did NOT ship the case to me on Monday as he promised. Instead, without consulting me, he used the case which was now legally, morally, and ethically, mine, as a shipping container in which to ship two Westley Richards guns to a customer in California. He probably figured that I would not find this out, except that on Friday, Nov 10, I asked him to confirm that the case had been shipped and to supply a UPS tracking number in case I needed to trace the shipment. His response was “The situation is a little complicated. I shipped a pair of WR 16 ga guns to a customer in CA in that case with a forwarding label addressed to you. He got the guns yesterday so your case should be on its way to you today”. In fact, that case did not leave CA until Monday, exactly a week after Mr. Gould was to have shipped it to me.
When the case finally arrived here, it had been wrapped only in a single layer of brown Kraft paper which was torn to shreds. It had been dropped at least twice, on two of its corners which were battered and full of concrete particles. The rub mark was a half inch square in which the felt lining was completely gone, exposing bare aluminum. There were six other tears in the felt lining, ranging from minor up to two which were ¾” three-cornered tears. There were no keys for the two keyed locks. At some time, the combination lock had been jimmied and it was now not possible to reset the combination. I sent Mr. Gould an e-mail detailing these problems, advising him that I would need to have the case relined, and asking if he would help defray my costs. His only offer was: “Please take a $25 credit toward any future purchase for the inconvenience”. I would have immediately returned the case for a full refund, but I had paid a $97 customs and brokerage fee which was non-refundable. To say that I was extremely pi$$ed off is an understatement and I let Russ Gould know that in no uncertain terms.
Here is some of Russ’s correspondence with me:
1) “I feel that the condition of the case is commensurate with the price. I can’t spend much time on a $300 item. I manage around 2000 items and I spend a lot more time detailing the high dollar stuff than I do on used accessories.
2) “I stand by my description of the case as being in excellent condition. And no, I don’t believe your exaggerated criticism of the case, I think you are just mad as a snake because of the delivery delay and are trying to get something for nothing. I offered you more than TWICE the amount you paid for shipping to settle that”. So, first of all I am a liar. Then I’m looking for something for nothing. Then, the $25 which he offered is more than TWICE the $29 which I paid for shipping. Strange math that Russ uses.
3) “You got a good deal at half the price of a new case”. This is an Americase model 3011. The price of a new one, on their website today, is $421.12. Again, interesting math that Russ uses, where $295 is half of $421!!
4) “I suggest you take the $25 and get on with life”
5) When I told Mr. Gould that I intended to post this caveat, he told me “And be careful what you say, you may be hearing from my brother who is a lawyer in Toronto if you cross the line.” I guess that Mr. Gould does not understand that even in today’s litigious society, one cannot be sued for speaking the truth.



I telephoned Americase in Texas. They are SUPER people to deal with. They were helpful, polite, and certainly are service-oriented. I highly recommend them. They sold me two new keys, a new combination lock, and enough green felt to reline the case two or three times. I have since gutted and relined the case myself, so I learned two things from this:
A) How to line a case. B) Have no further dealings with Russell Gould.
P.S.: Anything shown above in quotation marks is a direct, verbatim quote, not a paraphrase. I have saved all correspondence in this case as proof of what transpired.

Some people must think that others won't heed your advice. Thanks for the heads up , I won't forget. Ken

Ron, Thanks for the heads up. I will be sure to add him to my list of Used Car Salesmen.

LOL....the gall he must have to use a case he has already sold to ship a gun to someone else. I'm glad I didn't buy my house from him or there might still be some other people living in it.

Here's a clue, Russ - the law, and general morality, does not differentiate between a $300 sale and a $3,000,000 sale. If an item does not sell for enough to make it worth your while to behave like a big boy, don't sell it.

As for your troubles with that guy in Kentucky, I felt sorry for you until now, but here's what I would like you to do. Print the saying below, blow it up until it completely covers your forehead, then go have it tattoo'd, well, on your forehead.

"What goes around comes around"

Ron, you're in the clear on this one re defamation, libel etc but persons are sued successfully all the time for telling the truth. There are some things you can't say in certain circumstances about other persons, however true.

I've said this before, but I'll say it again - I've never met such a bunch of bed-wetting ninnies as the gun crowd when it comes to getting their feelings hurt. What kind of wuss threatens to sue someone? What ever happened to the good old public ass-kicking or even a shoot-off?

I'll bet your average baseball fan, NASCAR fan, or concert flautist would have more backbone.

Somehow the thought of some argyle-sock, sweater vest wearing, nose-hair growing, pipe-smoking old ninny suing someone for slander makes me want to hand in all my guns and never admit I ever owned a gun.


Dirty Harry has two bullets left. He's faced with three people - Hitler, Hillary Clinton and a slander-suit happy old ninny.

Who does he shoot? The ninny, twice.

Ron Vella, I'm sorry to read your post regarding Russ Gould. You've made your case very well. If there is anything further to the matter, I hope Doublegun HQ will respond. I have respected your posts on this forum since I've been keeping up with it, but Doublegun HQ has also been of value in his posts. You and he both are respected members of this forum. Perhaps if you were to post the expense you incurred with Americase in getting things staightened out maybe Russ would be willing to make that expense good. Just a thought...Geo

You mean like this. guy who is not going to take it.

Here is a picture of the case I sold to Mr. Vella.

http://networkretailing.com/jsarrietapr1.jpg

Yes, it's true when I shipped the case, I shipped it via a customer in CA who bought the pair of WR guns from me. This was not very good judgment on my part but I needed a way to get that pair of guns to CA and I didn't have another double case. This did cause a delay, longer than I thought it would, but in any event our terms of sale state the item will be shipped within 10 days of the order being received and I believe we complied with this. In any case, I did apologize to Mr. Vella for that and offered him a store credit for the delay as a goodwill gesture.

From the above description, you would think I shipped Mr. Vella a piece of junk. The picture suggests otherwise. I still believe my description of the case was accurate and my customer in CA concurred with me when I forwarded him Mr. Vella's original emails to me noting multiple tears in the lining etc. I thought perhaps the case had been damaged en route but that was not the case. The guns were cushioned in bubble wrap when I shipped them in this case to CA. So it's highly unlikely that any damage occurred en route.

There was a patch of felt that was worn through in one of the compartments from a receiver rubbing against the felt. That was clearly stated in my description. There may have been some very small imperfections in the felt elsewhere but neither I nor my customer in CA noted any such tears. It was a very nice case when it left here.

Since there was such a large discrepancy between Mr. Vella's description of the case and my and my customer's recollection of it, I admit I didn't believe him, and I still don't. He never sent me a picture of the damage to the interior of the case. I challenge him to post one here. He never informed me of the shipping damage to the exterior of the case, this is the first information I have had regarding that. And if it were damaged in transit, it was insured and I would have been willing to submit a claim to UPS for the exterior damage. (Why would I not be, I paid the insurance.) I could not have claimed interior damage (and UPS would surely not have paid for it); in any case I don't see how there could have been any interior damage in transit as the guns were bubble wrapped from here to CA and then the case was empty from CA to Canada.

I offered to refund Mr. Vella"s money but he refused. Anything we sell can be returned for any reason or no reason, for a refund, except brand new items which can only be returned if we ship the wrong item. (He also refused my offer of a store credit..perhaps a clue to his temperament).

Regarding the combination, it's possible it was jammed. I got it set to 0000 and that's the way I shipped it. I opened and closed it several times but I never reset it. However, given the rather large credibility issue here, and the fact that he brought the combination lock up in his second or third tirade, I frankly put this down to the customer being mad at me for the delay.

So, I sincerely believe that what we have here is a combination of a guy who is a. a perfectionist; b. who has a very hot temperament; and c. who is vindictive.

The tone of Mr. Vella's emails to me was uniformly condescending and vitriolic. I believe I kept a civil tone in all me replies to him, regardless.

Perhaps my customer in CA will read this and add his two cents worth. I don't want to disclose his name without his consent.

Oh My!!! I have bought several excellent guns from Russ. I found him extremely easy to deal with, and very accurate in his discription of the guns and accessories. I shot one of the double rifles today and it was ever more accurate that his sale comments stated.

I have found him extremely fair, easy to deal with, and extremely informative. I stand behind him.
Captain John Alfred Svensson