GWS - Gunsworkshop - RIPOFF!

[bal541]

I'm pretty much out of luck and out $1700.00, but I want to post this so others will know.

 

I've never had issues ordering from Hong Kong, and have purchased from Gunsworkshop(GWS) before. I have been an FAL fan my whole life, and this was pretty much my dream gun. I ordered a custom made/painted FN FAL with scope, silencer, and extra mags. Total, including shipping, was $1700.00.

 

 

The gun took a 3-4 months to make, and I was very patient. Finally GWS let me know the gun was ready and shipped the gun to me. The gun entered customs, and was being inspected. I thought no problem, gun will pass through customs. However, a week goes by, then 2 weeks. I call customs and get the runaround, but eventually I talk to someone.

 

They said they knew the gun was a toy, and there were no issues with the receiver like some gas models. However, they told me that the orange tip was flaking off by itself. As you all know, the orange tip has to be permanent. Customs told me the gun would be destroyed, that the tip did not look even slightly permanent.

 

I e-mailed GWS and let them know what happened. For a company that has been in the airsoft business for a long time, how could they ship a gun to the US(especially a custom one) with paint that falls off by itself? I asked for a refund or another gun made, since it was GWS's neglience and they are at fault. GWS said all they could do was give me a discount on a future gun. They really just want your $$$.

 

So all in all, horrible experience. I have emails backing up all of this. I'm out $1700.00 and I cannot dispute since it took months to make the gun. GWS won't do anything either.

 

Buyer beware, GWS are not professional and do not care about the gun getting to you. They just care about the $$$. Definitely learned my lesson. Hope this helps somebody.

[spetsnazdave87]

That's pretty *fruitcage*ed up man, can Customs not return the gun to GWS?

[magic_golem]

thats seriously *fruitcage*ed up, any chance of customs painting the flash hider?, or if thats a hazy one getting them to hold it (ideally not loosing it) and have gws send out just a new front part that Should be iffy looking?

[Armourpiercing]

It's not down to a retailer or seller to insure that an item passes through customs in the recipients country, there are dozens every day just have orange painted tips.

AP.

[bal541]

That's pretty *fruitcage*ed up man, can Customs not return the gun to GWS?

 

No, customs can't return the gun. They said because the tip was clearly removable, it has to be destroyed. The customs guy was pretty helpful and nice but he said his hands were tied.

[bal541]

thats seriously *fruitcage*ed up, any chance of customs painting the flash hider?, or if thats a hazy one getting them to hold it (ideally not loosing it) and have gws send out just a new front part that Should be iffy looking?

 

I tried talking to customs about that as well. They said they deal with containers of airsoft guns sometimes. They can't help because it would take too much time to go through each gun individually that broke the rules.

 

He said that he has seen many guns get seized that were purchased from Hong Kong. In many of those cases they just wanted the $$$ and the customer was out. The customs guy actually has a son that plays airsoft. He sympathized but said he couldn't help beyond telling me what was going on.

[bal541]

It's not down to a retailer or seller to insure that an item passes through customs in the recipients country, there are dozens every day just have orange painted tips.

AP.

 

It is. If you ship delicate/fragile items, you don't just simply dump them into a cardboard box. You use bubble wrap, foam, newspaper and use a reliable shipper.

 

GWS did not package my gun correctly, the tip was not orange painted. It was flaking off. Customs opened the box and the tip was barely covered(words of the custom guy).

[frogfish]

First of all I am very surprised your package got inspected at all, it must have been shipped freight and not with a package service like FedEx or SpeedPost, those companies have brokers that expedite the "inspection" process so that very few items actually get inspected.

 

 

Did you specifically request a permanent blaze orange tip, if you did, you have it in writing, and you have them explicitly saying they understood you could file a claim in an HK court, US courts aren't going to help you with dealing with GWS. It really rests with customs, I have seen replicas without blaze orange tips pass right through inspection, and I have seen painted ones as well. You also need to look very carefully at the laws, I believe the tip does not have to be permanently affixed, it only needs to be affixed for the shipping process. You can also make a claim that they were going above and beyond what normal wear and tear (in a shipping box) would do to remove the paint.

 

Lastly you need to go through the appeals process, call the guy back and tell him you are going to get a lawyer and appeal their decision. You may not get your replica back, but you might get a check from the gov for what they destroyed.

 

You shouldn't always listen to the government, the don't always know what they are talking about, and sometimes, someone just wants to screw someone else over because they feel like it. You need to try to push back and use the laws carefully and cleverly to your advantage. Their hands are not tied, you have a period to make a claim and appeal, and they are supposed to notify you of this, if not you can sue the customs dept for illegal destruction of property.

 

Depending on how much money you are willing to throw at this you can get your gun back, but at a minimum you should be able to make a case to get your money back from the government.

[Danke]

What was the port of entry? From the news coming out of the Pacific North West it seems some customs agents have a hard on for airsoft. Their standard for entry may be very high. They were picking out gas guns but maybe they've widened the net.