GANGGREEN
45 Cal.
I'm hesitant to reply to this topic because it makes me sad as well but I'm not going to allow someone here to smear another man's reputation after making the threat many months ago to do so and only later having this "dangerous custom build" nearly do him harm.
First of all, I should preface my comments by saying that I'm a friend of Rick's (Gobbler Knob) and that I presently own two of his rifles. I'm very happy with my GK rifles and the quality of the builds was excellent, even though I own the very first rifle that Rick ever built.
I also happened to be somewhat privy to all the early conversations regarding these rifles. As I said, Rick and I are close friends and he shared pictures of the rifles and comments from early emails with this man. First of all, I was NOT privy to the original discussion when the guns were ordered but apparently this guy expected completely identical firearms. Knowing Rick as I do, if he understood this at the get go, I'm sure he would have explained that they could be made with the same guts and furniture and that he'd do his best to make them very similar but that they would not be identical in every way. Well, I'm not a custom builder but these things are hand made and simply aren't going to be identical to every detail, though I believe Rick built them with the same barrels and locks and the same furniture, less the one sideplate that he's already described.
He sent me pictures of the two rifles when they were completed and they were gorgeous builds for the price and I thought how happy the gift receiver would be. I don't recall whether Rick had given the man a discount because of the long wait to receive the guns but I do know a few things. First of all, the original price that the man paid was a steal. Secondly, in regards to the time taken, I'll repeat what Rick already stated. He had a horrible personal tragedy at the time, more than most of us could imagine and he offered to immediately refund the money and the customer chose to wait for the rifles and never asked for a discount at that time (though I think Rick may have offered him one later because he felt so badly about the long wait).
When Rick found out that the man wasn't happy, he told the man that he'd allow him to keep the guns for basically the cost of parts and shipping. I told him not to do so and had I had the money in my pocket, I would have gladly paid him the original selling price, kept one for myself and sold the other. I wish I would have or could have told Rick to immediately get the rifles back from his customer and send them to me. Sadly, I didn't have the money and the customer was being unreasonable about the conditions of a return. I mean, come on, who buys two rifles that he's not completely satisfied with and then tells the builder that he wants a complete refund but that he intends to keep the rifles anyway?
It was clear to me as Rick described the email stream back and forth that this man was an ill-content that wanted something for nothing. It would be my suggestion that Rick post pictures of the original builds along with the actual price that this man paid for the TWO rifles. What he paid for two rifles (after Rick refunded him the labor costs) is less than anyone would expect to pay for one custom built rifle of this quality. Maybe Rick has some reason for not wanting to post pictures or specifics about the price paid but I think pictures would make it clear that this was not the case of a botch job or ripoff artist as has been suggested.
Was there anything wrong with the firearms when they were received? I don't know and neither did Rick, I suppose it's possible that something happened during shipping or that something happened after the man received and unpackaged the guns but before he inspected them fully. Rick never suggested that this guy was lying about the condition of the barrel but he repeatedly offered to make it right and repeatedly asked to inspect it. Considering that the man has continued to tell half-truths and make unreasonable requests, it wouldn't surprise me at all if something bad just happened through nobody's fault (occasionally accidents happen) or, God forbid, if he did something to sabotage the rifles. I know, it seems remarkable that anybody would damage a rifle to make a builder look bad but this man's requests and demands were unreasonable from long before he suggested that the gun or the builder was "dangerous". Perhaps the man had a bad taste in his mouth, was still trying to make Rick pay and he did something unintentional or dangerous in the loading and/or shooting processes. I'm not making any accusation, just saying that stranger things have happened.
I hate, hate, HATE posting this sort of thing because it's just not in my nature to say bad things about people publicly who I've never met but I knew some of the history and again, wasn't going to allow Rick to be slandered on this board. Was Rick's work shoddy in any way? Did he make any mistakes on the builds at all? I don't know as I didn't see the guns but this man could have returned the barrel in question for inspection, he could have returned both guns, he could have taken them elsewhere (before owning them for months, shooting them or doing God knows what else to them), etc.. Rick is a good guy with a very real concern to do right by his customers and offer a quality product. As mentioned, this whole thing is very sad.
First of all, I should preface my comments by saying that I'm a friend of Rick's (Gobbler Knob) and that I presently own two of his rifles. I'm very happy with my GK rifles and the quality of the builds was excellent, even though I own the very first rifle that Rick ever built.
I also happened to be somewhat privy to all the early conversations regarding these rifles. As I said, Rick and I are close friends and he shared pictures of the rifles and comments from early emails with this man. First of all, I was NOT privy to the original discussion when the guns were ordered but apparently this guy expected completely identical firearms. Knowing Rick as I do, if he understood this at the get go, I'm sure he would have explained that they could be made with the same guts and furniture and that he'd do his best to make them very similar but that they would not be identical in every way. Well, I'm not a custom builder but these things are hand made and simply aren't going to be identical to every detail, though I believe Rick built them with the same barrels and locks and the same furniture, less the one sideplate that he's already described.
He sent me pictures of the two rifles when they were completed and they were gorgeous builds for the price and I thought how happy the gift receiver would be. I don't recall whether Rick had given the man a discount because of the long wait to receive the guns but I do know a few things. First of all, the original price that the man paid was a steal. Secondly, in regards to the time taken, I'll repeat what Rick already stated. He had a horrible personal tragedy at the time, more than most of us could imagine and he offered to immediately refund the money and the customer chose to wait for the rifles and never asked for a discount at that time (though I think Rick may have offered him one later because he felt so badly about the long wait).
When Rick found out that the man wasn't happy, he told the man that he'd allow him to keep the guns for basically the cost of parts and shipping. I told him not to do so and had I had the money in my pocket, I would have gladly paid him the original selling price, kept one for myself and sold the other. I wish I would have or could have told Rick to immediately get the rifles back from his customer and send them to me. Sadly, I didn't have the money and the customer was being unreasonable about the conditions of a return. I mean, come on, who buys two rifles that he's not completely satisfied with and then tells the builder that he wants a complete refund but that he intends to keep the rifles anyway?
It was clear to me as Rick described the email stream back and forth that this man was an ill-content that wanted something for nothing. It would be my suggestion that Rick post pictures of the original builds along with the actual price that this man paid for the TWO rifles. What he paid for two rifles (after Rick refunded him the labor costs) is less than anyone would expect to pay for one custom built rifle of this quality. Maybe Rick has some reason for not wanting to post pictures or specifics about the price paid but I think pictures would make it clear that this was not the case of a botch job or ripoff artist as has been suggested.
Was there anything wrong with the firearms when they were received? I don't know and neither did Rick, I suppose it's possible that something happened during shipping or that something happened after the man received and unpackaged the guns but before he inspected them fully. Rick never suggested that this guy was lying about the condition of the barrel but he repeatedly offered to make it right and repeatedly asked to inspect it. Considering that the man has continued to tell half-truths and make unreasonable requests, it wouldn't surprise me at all if something bad just happened through nobody's fault (occasionally accidents happen) or, God forbid, if he did something to sabotage the rifles. I know, it seems remarkable that anybody would damage a rifle to make a builder look bad but this man's requests and demands were unreasonable from long before he suggested that the gun or the builder was "dangerous". Perhaps the man had a bad taste in his mouth, was still trying to make Rick pay and he did something unintentional or dangerous in the loading and/or shooting processes. I'm not making any accusation, just saying that stranger things have happened.
I hate, hate, HATE posting this sort of thing because it's just not in my nature to say bad things about people publicly who I've never met but I knew some of the history and again, wasn't going to allow Rick to be slandered on this board. Was Rick's work shoddy in any way? Did he make any mistakes on the builds at all? I don't know as I didn't see the guns but this man could have returned the barrel in question for inspection, he could have returned both guns, he could have taken them elsewhere (before owning them for months, shooting them or doing God knows what else to them), etc.. Rick is a good guy with a very real concern to do right by his customers and offer a quality product. As mentioned, this whole thing is very sad.
