New TVM............

[Tony Logan]

you need to call them. at least they put the lock on the correct side. send it back, get it straightened out and you will be happy in a couple of weeks. a week or so wont matter come this November when your sitting on the deer stand admiring it. get it like you really want it, you will have it for a long time

 

[Macon Due]

T.O.
I guess you are right.The finish kinda sucks and now with the missing toe plate to boot........I was thinking maybe I was being too critical but after going back thru other's posts...I can see I got an inferior rifle. I am really sad after all this wait but guess I can't live with it this way. I just kinda had a sinking feeling when I saw the 'Super Packing Crate' was a cardboard box with 2 boards in it and filled with paper. Part of me says........"Why Me??" Reckon I will call em tomorrow.....wonder how long it will 'really' be till I have it back?
Macon

 

[Macon Due]

Vern
Man,were you wrong...... I'm prob. the only customer not 100% satisfied with TVM.
Macon

 

[Tony Logan]

I don't know what happened, but they will make it right. I will be shocked if you get the "run around" like some of the other builders have given customers on the forum lately. Put that out of your mind. That aint going to happen. Heck you might call them right now. The shop is at their house. you might sleep better.

 

[Macon Due]

I sure hope you are right T.O. cause I'm feeling pretty low right now. I can't believe an 8 month wait and then receive this........ Now I even think the dovetail for the rear sight might be cut a bit deep on the left side as the rear sight seems to lean to the left. I'm sorta getting a bit sick to my stomach......
Macon

 

[roundball]

I'm prob. the only customer not 100% satisfied with TVM.
Macon

FREE ADVICE #1:
Anybody can make a mistake...the test is how they stand behind their work when its brought to their attention...and unfortunately it appears there have been a couple of oversights, but easily corrected.
Remember, they read forums, the MLF in particular, and nothing good will be gained by trash talking them on public forums about legitimate mistakes, before you've even had a professional courteous conversation with them as the builder.

FREE ADVICE #2
Compartmentalize your disappointment off to one side.
Calmly analyze the total situation factually and professionally.
Document it clearly and unemotionally compared to your original written work order.
Review it one more time in the morning before Emailing it to them, along with a courtesy phone call...notifying them that they need to send UPS back for a pick up and take the rifle back to correct some issues.

FREE ADVICE #3
And just 'let go' of it...assume you won't get it back in time to sight it in and hunt it this fall...and begin making contingency plans to hunt with something else instead.

 

[rabjr]

:shake: Sorry man, I know how much you were lookin forward to getting it...definitely call them and have them make it right.

 

[Le Grand]

According to their catalog, the TVM Early Virginia doesn't come with a toe plate. Did you order your gun requesting one?

 

[Macon Due]

La Grand
I ordered an Early Lancaster not an E.V.
Roundball........Trash talking them is not my intention at all. I was just so disappointed when I saw it I could not help discussing what I saw. Everyone else opens the box from them and seems overjoyed.......I wish I could have been the same.
Also I am still trying to figure out if I am too critical...if perhaps I expected too much?
I tried to call TVM last nite but it was past thier regular hours. I left a message and will call them today when I get home.Like I said....no disrespect meant to Matt & crew,there are some really nicely done features on the rifle.But after the 8 month wait and the joy of receiving it, when I opened the box it was like getting hit in the face.
Macon

 

[Tony Logan]

keep us posted,you got the right to be disappointed. I am sure you have been looking at some very nice rifles built by TVM on here for eight months. you will get the rifle you want, they will make it right.

 

[Macon Due]

T.O.
I forgot to reply to you ....I do not expect to 'get the run around' from them. Anyone that has ever talked to Matt & Toni knows how nice Toni is and how you could talk to Matt for 30 min. and enjoy every second of it. I am just thinking that with a big backlog of work that somehow mine slipped out, not up to thier usual standards. Like I said before.....the reddish finish was my idea based only on pictures of TVM rifles so they might just be a lot darker than I thought? Hopefully TVM can lighten it up a bit when they install the toeplate ect?
Macon

 

[Noeyebrows]

If it's any consolation, my rifle was not totally free from defects either. They were not immediately apparent, and I could not bear to send the rifle back for a couple small things. Like you, I thought mine must be an unfortunate exception. For the record I have not contacted TVM yet. First thing I noticed was that the barrel channel must not hug the barrel along the whole length. It is secure where pinned, but has a floating effect where not pinned so that the stock will push in slightly where pressed. No big deal. The thing I was most irked about was the rear sight dovetail. The sight was so loose, I could move it back and forth with my fingers without any tools. After I got it filed and dialed, I used some JB quick weld and filled under the sight, the color matches the aged steel exactly. Lastly, the middle ramrod pipe is a bit loose. All this aside, the gun arrived as ordered, parts and finish correct with very good wood to metal fit. After 120 rounds, it is an absolute tack driver, eats bullseyes out 75 yards off my lead sled rest. Overall I am very pleased, but I guess I should contact TVM.

 

[RBrooks]

When my Early Va arrived Aug 12, I also was holding
my breath on stock color, but thankfully, I ordered
a light honey maple stain, and it came with a beautiful light carmel candy look, allowing the stripes to come out.

It so easy to have a rifle stained too dark, but you just don't want that wood not showing thru.

TVM over browned my barrel, but like Roundball said, shooting it I don't concentrate now on the barrel color. And it was just not knowing how
barrels are browned...I didn't make any request to Matt otherwise...so he's not at fault.

Anyway, I bet it will shoot like a dream. Go back to the Aug 23 post (Another E.Va Born) and you can see the color of my stock in the photos

 

[Mike Brooks]

There just isn't alot of stripe in that piece of wood, changing color isn't going to make any difference. If you want more curl you better buy a better piece of wood.
BTW, 8 months is no wait at all. A gun I finished a couple months ago was ordered about 5 years ago! :shocked2: Not all my fault, the owner fell on hard times and wanted to be put back on the list a ways. :wink: all worked out to his schedual in the end.

 

[Macon Due]

No eyebrows
I just spoke with them at TVM and you could not ask for nicer people to deal with.I have no concerns now that it won't be exactly like I expected,when it returns. I think you should have let them know about the rear sight....perhaps there is an equipment malfunction of some type or a supply of not so great sights came in? I hear you on sending it back but as much as I hate to ....
Lead487
Yeah I bet the carmel color does really show the grain well. i have seen pictures though of the reddish color that also shows the grain really well so I think it just turned out a bit darker than expected.
Mr.Brooks
I ordered thier best grade of wood and in strong light there seems to be quite a bit of curl.I really think the dark finish is just hiding it?
Anyhow it is going back and after speaking with them I feel better and am confident that it will return as the rifle I expected.
Macon

 

[hanshi]

Roundball is correct. TVM will stand behind their work and see that you're satisfied.

When My fowler was delivered it came in a cardboard box reinforced with wood on all four sides. It, too, was packed in bubble wrap and buried in shredded newspaper. No sign of damage showed on the box. Nevertheless, the cock on the flint lock was broken off. Wasn't TVM.s fault as it was an assembled Chambers lock. I sent the lock back to TVM and got a replacement pretty quick. The figure on the stock was nice but the dark stain (I ordered the dark stain, by the way, yeah, stupid alright). The only "mistake" was that I had ordered brass furniture but got steel. A miscommunication, it was. It was a beauty and I didn't want to send it back for brass replacement. The trigger was a dream and the build was superior.

Things happen. After purchase service is as important as the initial product.

 

[roundball]

I just spoke with them at TVM and you could not ask for nicer people to deal with. I have no concerns now that it won't be exactly like I expected,when it returns.

Good for you...in the long run you'll be glad you did...and its hard to put a price on that peace of mind.

When we think about it...we're entrusting a total stranger, whom we'll probably never meet, to build a more expensive toy than we normally get for ourselves, based on a couple phone conversations, that is then shipped across country to us months later, etc...a fair bit of risk there for sure, certainly the first time.

Once you've had one built by TVM and realize the quality treatment and support you get...from that point on there's no compelling reason (for me) to even consider the risk of asking some other builder make one...and as a result of the way Matt, Toni and company have dealt with me, they now have 4 of their builds in my house, and will continue to get any repeat business I might have.

The only thing I wish is that TVM's operation was larger...so I could place an order and have it arrive just a few weeks later.
:grin:

PS: You might also urge them to ship the rifle back to you in one of the study, protective, wooden shipping crates.

 

[stone knife]

I ordered the run of the mill maple on my Tennessee rifle with dark brown stain. I kinda want mine to come out looking a little rough. If I ordered the best grade It would be disappointing if i couldn't see the grain.

 

[Macon Due]

Hanshi and Roundball
You guys are correct,I do feel much better and look forward to not only getting this rifle as I expected but in having a Fowling Piece built when funds permit.
Roundball...I discovered the shipping crate is a $75.00 option on regular rifles [included in the price on Grands]
Macon

 

[roundball]

Must be a dollar threshold that gets crossed and triggers the use of them then...because I never knew that or specified crates, and none of mine are 'grands'...