doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Cook-Winston

When did GunsInternational become the arbiter, or standard, for refund policies?

SRH

they are for guns listed on the GunsInternational site and that's where the Cook-Winston website directs you to see their guns.

I agree with that, but GunsInternational does not set an individual company's policy, unless they OWN Cook-Winston, and it's just a "straw-man" business. I have not made a study of all gun dealers who use GI as a host site, but they do not all have a certain return policy that GI "holds them to". I bought a trap gun from a private individual in MO last year, listed on GI. It wasn't as advertised, I returned it, and received a full refund, not in-store credit.

I would never buy a gun from someone with that policy.

SRH

I don't see anywhere the 3 day inspection part. But that's standard procedure for most dealers if it's a question of a gun they've shipped to you. If you go into the store and buy it, maybe they give you a 3 day non-firing inspection, maybe not. But if you buy a gun and decide you want to return it several months later, there aren't many dealers that will give you trade value equal to the amount you paid for it. For a long time, Cabela's had a no questions asked return policy on used firearms, where you could take it back and they'd give you a full refund. I think that was pretty unique in the gun business. But they also dropped that policy several years ago.

GunsInternational doesn't own Cook-Winston but by listing their guns on the GunsInternational website they are agreeing to abide by the website's conditions for selling. Those conditions include the three-day inspection.

from the GI policy: "Upon the receipt and inspection of the returned gun, the seller agrees to issue a prompt refund."

KY Jon posted this yesterday.

Where'd he get that...from the Pope ?

No Joe, unlike others here I just picked up the phone and called him. Looked at his inventory and there was one gun that interested me. Best way to find out about his return policy was to ask. Here is what I learned. The inspection period does come with a money back return, not a credit or trade in on another gun. Period, end of debate. Now you do have to pay shipping but I expected that as a cost of doing buying and changing my mind.

All this speculation and interpretation, of a few words on a web site, is no substitute to personal contact. I'd rather talk directly with someone than try to figure out the meaning of a few words but that may just be because I am not a lawyer. Also by talking to someone you can get a feel for if you want to do business with them. If I don't like the first impression or the way a conversation goes I am very unlikely to deal with someone.

Heck of a nice guy by the way. Very reasonable to talk with. He said that if its not a new gun he even would allow me to shoot the gun during my inspection period. That's rare. Now he did not say the gun needs to be returned without damage but that is just common sense. If I needed a longer inspection period just let him know. He understands buyers sometimes need to have a gun vetted by our chosen smith and that sometimes takes more than three days. The gun I asked about had been checked by a very well know British trained double smith and deemed in good condition and the inspection did include measuring the wall thickness which he offered to give me. Straight forward with answers and flexible which is all anyone can want.

Some of his inventory is on consignment so his ability to deal on price may be limited but it never hurts to make an offer. I've bought several consigned guns for far less than the asking price by just making an offer with cash in hand.

Face it if you are selling cheap guns you might want to deal in volume and not deal with any returns. If you are trying to deal in high end stuff you have to be more concerned about repeat customers and your reputation as well as buyers telling others good things about you. You are not on GunBroker where you are trolling for suckers.

KY Jon, regardless of what you were told over the phone, their policy on the GI ad was "store credit". SoTwin also misinterpreted their policy. "store credit" is worthless to me. If I buy a $30,000 Purdey from these guys and I don't find it acceptable, what are my chances of finding $30,000 worth of merchandise for my "store credit"? KY's over the phone promise is worthless unless he gets it in writing.

Eightbore I asked about "3 day inspections period" and returns explicitly and was told money was returned, not store credit. The store credit was if you came back six months later and wanted to deal on another gun or just return it because you changed your mind. And I understand that, if it's a consignment gun, once the deal is done it's not like the first owner is going to return the money to them so they can return it to you. I think a lot of their high priced inventory is on consignment like a lot of other dealers is. I think they are just trying to keep people happy and thinking most people will use the credit to upgrade to a higher priced gun. Repeat customers are what all high end retailers are after. Look at what car dealers of high end cars do for you. Pick you up, give you a loaner and put up with a lot of silly things just to get you back for the next big sale.

Their policy on GI reads three day inspection period which is the standard GI terms. Does not get into money returned or credited, on GI listing. Might be better if they did. You have to call them to find out what that means. Where the credit comes in is from reading their website. They offer to give you a credit, for full purchase price, of items you have bought from them if you are looking to buy something else from them. This is a very common sales tactic in the jewelry business. Buy a diamond form us and will will credit the price you paid later if you decide to buy a bigger diamond.

What good is a promise in writing when the person is a thousand miles away? Yes I know you can take them to court but it's not like doing it locally and having done that I know what a pain in the A-- that can be. Worse is to get a judgement and have zero ability to collect it. I've got several from when I lived in MD. Six figures of judgements and zero bucks to date. If a man's word is not good enough then how much better is his promise of any type. Again the seller was straight forward and answered all my questions directly. No splitting of words, no hesitation, nothing to give me the least alarm bell going off in my head.