Re: WARNING CLYDE ARMORY in GA
This thread was just brought to our attention. We normally do not get involved in internet mud-slinging, but it seems unavoidable in this instance.
Let me first address the error on our part: the incorrect serial number for one of the weapons. Shawn brought this up after we sent him a copy of the Form 5. I told him that he was correct and apologized, as that part was entirely my fault. To help expedite the transfer, I immediately submitted it directly to both our NFA examiner as well as his company’s examiner. I typed an incorrect number on his form and I will not make any excuses for that.
As for the rest of the post, here are the other-side-of-the-coin details:
1. Shawn felt it was important enough to mention in all-caps the fact that we didn’t have the weapons in our physical possession. I guess that might be a big deal if we didn’t make mention of that fact in the very first sentence of our original listing.
2. We will not take any responsibility for anybody’s demo letter being incorrect. We don’t draft them for you; you do it yourself.
3. When a Form 5 is submitted, any and all information is sent solely to the two parties listed on that form. In this case, it was the agency, and Shawn’s company. The ATF cannot and will not divulge the status of those transfers to anybody not listed on the form. So we have absolutely no idea if a transfer is accepted or denied until the agency or dealer tells us. Most people who sell Form 5’ed items know this detail. The most we can do is tell the guy at the agency to be on the lookout for the ATF’s approval or error letter.
4. That being said, let’s address one very important detail. We work with one agency guy on these transfers. And it’s normally not the chief. In this case, it wasn’t. So when the chief told Shawn we never called him, guess what, he was right. We didn’t. We called and emailed the guy who was handling the transfer. So of course the chief wouldn’t have any information for him. As far as any delays in correspondence go, many things can contribute. Most of the time, the person facilitating the transfers is a SWAT or SRT guy. They normally have odd schedules. They normally train, sometimes out of state for weeks at a time. They are normally out on call crushing heads. They are normally NOT sitting at their desk or looking at the mailbox waiting for a letter from the ATF to arrive. We tell them to watch out for it and what ends up happening after that is completely out of our control. They are either on the ball and it goes off without a hitch, or it comes through to somebody else who often-time doesn’t know what it is and will either bury it under paperwork on their desk, shred it, or file it. We told Shawn this detail and he said it was impossible that that happened because, “the transfer had been approved.” Just because it’s been approved doesn’t mean the right guy has the paperwork. And he won’t ship anything until he has the paperwork. We didn’t say he had to wait 30 additional days to get his form. It was 30 total. The ATF won’t give the recipient of an MG a faxed copy of the form until it has been 30 days since approval. This greatly angered him and it appears he took the matter into his own hands and called the agency himself. However, this is a detail that is known by people who frequently deal with agency trades, as it often needs to be acted upon.
5. After much hunting at the agency it was discovered that the paperwork was, in fact, picked up by someone else and filed away in a cabinet nobody checks. The guy who was on the lookout, and as on-the-ball as he could be, had no idea this had happened. This is was one of the exact scenarios we relayed to Shawn. He never called us after that. It’s unfortunate that happened, but we don’t feel personally responsible because we were in touch with our agency contact as much as we could be. If nobody told him, how could he tell us? Believe me, we were in touch with the agency about this transfer.
6. Agencies normally send us guns for a period of under 24 hours so we can inspect them and make sure nothing has happened in the department or shipping. Perfect example- this rear sight issue.
7. We offered Shawn his money back because this whole thing seemed to be causing him a great deal of anxiety.
So it’s come down to this- petty name-calling on a forum. While we did make an error, we owned it and tried to move past it. Stuff happens with agency trades. They are many times much larger than our company- the probability for error grows exponentially. We do our best to ensure it runs smoothly, but some things are beyond our control. The funny thing about all of this is, people who do tons of agency trades never complain when stuff goes sideways because they know it happens more often than anybody would like. Believe me, I would love to make sure every agency transfer goes 100% smoothly.
Shawn was mad. Every single one of his phone calls was mad. It didn’t matter how great or small the issue. Every issue was the absolute end of the world. He only tried using volume on the phone to fix it instead of talking it out civilly. He was outrageously rude to us and apparently continues to be that way online. While it angered us, we weren’t going to go online and smear him for how he personally behaved during the whole experience. But since our reputation has been brought into question, we feel the need to address it to this community and explain the best we can our side of the story. What each reader does with this information is up to him.
Shawn, you said you’d tell all of your friends. That’s fine. Let me be very clear about something- we will never again need YOUR business. I’m willing to bet your “true friends” are just like you and we do not need their business either. There have been countless others who came before you and have had good experiences with us and there will be others to follow.
It is now painfully obvious to us why you are on the list of banned users on Sturmgewehr.com, where the original listing was posted. Do yourself a favor and understand the potential issues of working in agency trades before you try to do another. Your blood pressure will thank you. Don’t bother calling us. Don’t bother emailing us. You will not hear from us again on this forum or elsewhere.
PS, cool grim reaper picture.
