The following is my recent experience with them. It is only MY PERSONAL OPINION, take it as you will.

I will not do business with them again. I had several positive transactions with Shakey's in the past, although they did take longer than they should have. But the last transaction was terrible. I was told it would be ONE MONTH wait time which turned into five months. After calling more than once during the wait, I eventually got an answer back and I was told it would take another two months to fill my order(making it seven months total), at which point I asked for a refund and was met with resistance. Eventually a refund was agreed upon but they are charging me a 10% fee for it and I have to return to their shop in person to get my refund even though I placed the order over the phone. The shop is 45min from my house, that's why the original order was placed over the phone. They told me I have to go there in person to get a refund, if not they would charge me an additional fee to do it over the phone on top of the 10% they are already charging to get my money back. Will not do business with them again

After all this I'm looking for a new NFA dealer in PA. I'm on the eastern side of the state in the Lehigh Valley. I don't mind traveling an hour or two for a good NFA dealer. I'm just trying to get some options other than what I found doing a search and first hand experiences would be great!
Thanks for looking,
Drew

I've never done business with Shakey's, I don't even know where Orwigsburg is, but you should post more detail as to what exactly happened.

There is a lot of waiting in the NFA game, and if you're not willing to deal with that, NFA is not for you.

10% restocking fee is not very high, especially if this was a special order NFA item that most likely won't be moving any time soon.

Thank you for your input. I'll try to better explain. This is not my first NFA item, I understand wait times. This is my first bad NFA experience. I was originally going to order the suppressor from a company who had it in stock. Shakey's talked me into ordering through them because they said they could get it in the shop within a month. I shouldn't have let them talk me into that, that's my fault. During the wait time I contacted them multiple times and was told to wait for a call back. Finally after calling again yesterday and letting them know how unhappy I was and requesting a refund they called me back. They said it would be another two months on top of the five months I've already waited when I was originally told one month wait. The attitude I got when I requested a refund is what I don't like. I understand that sometimes the wait is out of their hands but they should at least keep the customer informed and call me back. Even if the wait time is out of their hands, its not the customers fault either. If they would have answered my questions and returned my calls, I would have canceled long before and not been as upset with the situation. I could have had the can in my hands by now if I went through someone else. Now I have to start the waiting process over again.

ETA: They canceled the order for the suppressor I ordered so there is no "Restocking Fee". The suppressor was never actually sent to the shop or manufactured. The 10% fee is for something else I guess?

now this is a much better description of the problem.

they sold you something that they thought their distributor could get to increase their profit margin and they couldn't

i wouldn't pay them 10% for fucking me over, ask them what the 10% fee is and then contact the BBB. Did you pay with a CC? I'd contact them as well.

All good ideas, thank you. This is my first time dealing with this sort of situation so I'm clueless as to how these things are resolved. I did pay them with my CC because as I said the original order was placed over the phone.

Just got off the phone with them, they said the 10% fee is from me canceling the order and having used a credit card and it's their policy. I was just threatened that if I want to "Push the envelope on this matter" they can enforce their policy of a non refundable deposit and not give me my money back at all... I asked if she was seriously threatening a customer and she said this convo is over and hung up.

contact your credit card company and dispute the charges.

also contact their credit card processing company and tell them that they are charging a "fee" for using a CC which is generally a breach of the service contract

did you pay them in full? did you sign any paperwork agreeing to their "policy"?

Just got off the phone with my CC company. They're going to be contacting Shakey's today to dispute the charges. I put down a $750 deposit on est. $1500 item. I placed the order over the phone and was never informed of their policies or signed anything. If it is not resolved between them and my CC company, the next step will be the BBB. You've been very helpful, thank you again. The people I talked to at my CC company actually laughed at what's going on and how they're trying to charge me an additional fee for canceling over the phone

S/F
Drew

I use Layman's gunshop in East Prospect. Nice People and knowledgable about NFA. It would be a drive for you though.

I bought my supressor from Henry Smith. Good guy to deal with, low key, sells out of his house. Not too far from you.

Contact Info:

Smith Specialty Arms Inc
(610) 767-4670

yup. Henry is cool, been around a long time.

I use Ernie Farabella in Willow Grove PA. Ernie charges $40.00 for his transfers. I have never bought an Item from Ernie. All of our NFA items on our family LLC were purchased by us and sent to Ernie for registration.

Here is Ernie's contact info:

EF Precision
2301 Computer Avenue
Willow Grove, PA. 19090
Tel: (215) 784-0861
(800) 536-3900
Fax: (215) 784-0868

Dane

I recommend and use King's Shooter's Supply

http://www.betterbullets.com/

Quick hop down the NE extension for you.  

Roger and Pat are just great people.   They not only sponsor shooting competitions but Roger comes out and shoots as well.  

Full service class III dealer.

––Fargo007

Check out GunDealerOnline as well. They have a store in Lancaster and are fairly NFA savvy.

thanks! after a pretty lame experience with Autoweapons, I was looking for a SOT that would do transfers without issue.

I can tell you firsthand that the wait may have nothing to do with Shakey's Gun Shop... and I have zero affiliation with them.

I'm and 01/03 dealer in Mt Penn... and while sometimes F3 transfers are speedy (30days or less), others have taken several months.

I ordered 10 cans from a Mfg back in the middle of November... I didn't see them in my shop until the end of February. An order I placed with Gemtech took almost 3 months to arrive... while other Form3 transfers have been 4-6 weeks.

There is no rhyme nor reason for the inconsistent BATF paperwork processing... and there is absolutely NO way to predict or anticipate it. Guns shops generally won't babysit the customer or transaction either. Calling the customer just to say "It isn't here yet" is a bit unrealistic in my opinion. The wait and transfer delays are just as frustrating to a dealer as they are to the customer. Multiple phone calls to check on the status of the transfer do nothing to speed it along... and only amount to disruption of daily business. Already having NFA stuff, you should be well aware of this.

That said... you are throwing Shakey's under the bus for circumstances that may be completely outside of their control... and you would likely have the same wait time regardless of who does your transfer. Now by canceling with Shakey's... you will need to start the process all over again. Knowing all the headaches, phonecalls, paperwork, etc... that's involved with NFA sales, I think the 10% fee is more than fair for circumstances they have no control over. I'm surprised they only ask for 50% up front. I won't special order anything without 100% up front.

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions guys.

Dragracer_art - I understand that NFA item wait times are unpredictable, but that does not excuse them for their customer service, intimidation, actually threatening me over the phone, and hanging up on me. If you read the posts between myself and hellbound, it gives the play by play of how it all went down. That is inexcusable and I will gladly throw them under the bus for the way they treated me as a customer

S/F
Drew

Well, if it means anything, alot of my customers also visit Shakey's and every one of them are happy with how they've been treated.

Again, I have no skin in the game...  I'm just offering my neutral point of view as another FFL.

Just to add...
I have a Gemtech Halo still sitting in my safe. It was ordered from Gemtech on 2/15 and arrived in my shop 5/27. The customer is still waiting for an approved Form4.

As you are welcome to do. As I posted I had several transactions with them before, including an NFA item. They went well, even though Shakey's screwed the pooch on the NFA paper work which resulted in a longer wait time. I didn't mind though, it was an honest mistake. This last time was completely different though and absolutely ridiculous how I was treated.

Just got off the phone with my CC company. Shakey's is refunding my full deposit. Hopefully they won't try that bs with anyone else again. Thanks again for all the help and suggestions guys!

im not sticking up for them or the customer here, but sometimes people need a little knee in thier back to do the right thing.
the dealers will argue thier side, and the customers thiers, but FK if its taking seven months, and they can't get it...
give me my frickin money back...its amazing how it almost has to come to blows to get this done sometimes... i don't want it...cut and dry.
they should be big enough boys and give back the funds. sometimes dealer arrogance can be a pain.

Knowledgable is pushing it for some employees there. One fellow was showing me some black rifles and he felt compelled to tell me that the Army was issuing lefty Stag's to all lefthanded shooters.

If it was done in the last three years then:
He was totally fucking with you.

If you're looking for a new NFA place, hit up Schuylkill Gun Works.  They're in Schuylkill Haven, only a few miles from Shakey's.

I've been back n forth with the TP29 via IM in an effort to help him with his Surefire dilemma...

I'll let him reply with the details of what I was able to tell him... but here is what I did yesterday afternoon to try and help...
The details below were in my last IM to TP29. I haven't gotten a reply yet, so I don't know if my last IM went through or not.

Here's the jist of it...

I called Major Malfunction, who I'm ordering a dozen+ cans from next week. He told me that Surefire is discontinuing the model that TP29 ordered at Shakeys... (the FA556AR) and that it was being redesigned. He said he didn't expect to see the FA556AR's he already had ordered for another 2 months. He also has the FA556-212 ordered and expected in approx 1 month.
Bryon sounded busy, so I didn't ask for any more specifics or details.

I then called Surefire... and was told the FA556AR was being discontinued completely and wasn't being replaced or redesigned. They said existing orders would be fullfilled, but they are not accepting any more orders for the FA556AR.
Surefire suggested all new orders should be for the FA556-212... which incidentally requires a different mount than the FA556AR.

I won't speak for Shakey's, his pricing or his customer service... but I can say without a doubt, the Surefire can in question is difficult to get at best... and for me, impossible. The best I could do is the FA556-212... and even those are a month+ away from delivery to my supplier.
Also, FWIW... many dealers WILL take payment or deposits on items they don't yet have a confirmed source for. (I'm NOT suggesting this happened at Shakey's)
I do things differently. I won't take a dime from a customer unless I have a proven and guaranteed source for an item, even if the customer is standing in my store, cash in hand. If I can locate an item while they are there, I will take full payment and order it right away. If I can't locate the item while the customer waits, I will take his name and phone number, not his cash. If/when I locate the item, I call the customer and go from there. Yes, it may cost me some business, but I don't have pissed off customers waiting indefinitely for stuff. I also don't begrudge a customer that goes to another gun shop to find what he's looking for. If I can't get or don't have what he wants, shame on me, not the customer.

I'm not trying to weasel in on Shakey's business...  just trying to help from a neutral point of view... as I understand how frustrating the NFA game can be... for both customer AND dealer.

I replied to your PM Dragracer_art. I guess it didn't go through, sometimes PM's are hit and miss on arfcom. I was referred to you by another member here who said you were a stand up guy. Through your posts and PM's I can tell he wasn't lying. Dragracer_art is a good guy and isn't trying to weasel in on any business, he is just trying to help out a customer who was wronged, lied to, threatened, and hung up on by another less the reputable dealer(Shakey's).

After I tried to find out why the wait time was so much longer than the one month I was told originally, I never got an answer till five months later when I asked for a refund. At which time they immediately returned my call and got me some answers. I was told by Shakeys that a batch of FA556AR's were waiting to be assigned serial numbers and it would take two more months on top of the five months I've been waiting. I don't know if this is true or another white lie by Shakey's to get/keep my money. Regardless I decided I had enough of dealing with them and asked for a refund. The worker I was talking to became rude and threatening, rattling off charges I would have to pay to get my money back and eventually threatening not to give my money back at all and hanging up on me. As I said before, I had a company with FA556AR's in stock that I wanted to have transfer to Shakey's but they talked me out of it saying they could get the same thing in the same amount of time. Since I had done business with them before I decided to go through them instead of the dealer who had them in stock, that's my fault. Shakey's was not deserving of my customer loyalty and I know that now.

If Dragracer_art can get his hands on one of these cans waiting for serial numbers, if they exist, I will definitely go through him. In the day I've been talking to him, he has given me more straight answers than Shakey's ever did. Also his prices are much better I might add, Shakey's was charging more than retail... I already have the mount for a FA556AR perm attached to my barrel so I'm set on that can, unless the new redesigned FA556AR will use the same mount adapter. If that's the case I'll wait for the newer version as it should be an improved design I would guess.

ETA: I'm sorry if I didn't explain the whole situation thoroughly in my original post. I was too frustrated at the time.

To address this issue...  I was told by Surefire that they were not redesigning the FA556AR at all... and it was being discontinued entirely... so no replacement will be available that is compatible with your current mount.

If you have a mount already perm attached, my best advice would be to locate one of the FA556AR cans on someones shelf and have it transferred to a dealer ASAP before availability dries up completely.

I will forward a link to this thread to Bryon Gaston (Major Malfunction)... maybe he can offer his assistance as well.

Thanks for the help Dragracer_art. In your opinion, the cans I was told by Shakey's that were waiting on serial numbers don't exist at all? As in Surefire hasn't made anymore recently. I'm not drawing any conclusions but at this point I wouldn't be surprised. You can PM me the answer if you like. I've located a local dealer that has a FA556AR in stock, but it's full retail price. I like your prices better but if it's my only option at this point I'm going to scoop it up before they dry up as you suggested.

To be honest, I'm a little fuzzy on what is still in limbo or to be delivered... but Surefire did say they would fill orders already placed. They won't accept any new orders though. If Bryon G has some coming in and they are not spoken for, I can certainly get ahold of one from him.

I emailed Bryon a link to this thread asking for his assistance. He's a busy guy, so give him a few days to respond.

Sounds good Art. Let me know and thanks again!

S/F
Drew

Two years ago, and he was serious, he got that word about Stag's from a friend of his in the Army he told me. He was acting all big showing me this and that trying to educate me on the latest and greatest ebr's. Typical gunshop employee know it all bravado bs. Joking or not (and I give off no vibes when I am in a gunshop that I am there to joke around), It was the last time I was ever in that shop, so the idiot proved himself with lost business from me and bad word of mouth.

Does this have anything to do with Surefire closing their dealer program with Shakey's?

Cant get product directly from the mfg. if you aren't one of their dealers..... just saying.

on target gun shop in frackville, PA is a surefire dealer and not far from your area.

Check your email Drew. I sent you an email on 7/28 and fwd'd it again today after getting your message at the shop.

No Surefire FA556AR's are available from Bryon Gaston, and he doesn't have any more on order.

Your only hope at this point is to locate one and plunk down a deposit before they all disappear.

Update: Found another local dealer with the suppressor in stock and the paper is already to the NFA. I lost the credit card dispute because the whole transaction with shakey's took place over the phone, there fore I don't have evidence and they're keeping all of my $750. The order was canceled and they never even received the item from Surefire, so they just got $750 from me for free... Stealing my money basically. I am filing another dispute, but my credit card company says I have little chance of getting my money back because everything took place over the phone.

Thanks for everyone's help, but it looks like they got away with it.

S/F
Drew

This really sounds like bullshit.  Can you contact the better business bureau?

P.S.
Mods I'm sorry I hit report instead pf quote.

That's what I'm going to do next after I file another credit card dispute which will take another 30 days and I have been told from my credit card company that the chances of me winning a dispute are not good since my order was taken over the phone and I don't have evidence that I was not informed of Shakey's policies. Also called Shakey's to see if I could get my refund minus the 10% they were originally going to charge me, but she said "that offer is no longer on the table" and they would be keeping all of my $750. Once again the lady I talked to at the shop was very rude, saying how all this took place during a time when the owner was in the hospital from a motorcycle accident. I understand and have sympathy but I don't see how that has any baring on how I was treated on the phone, my refund, or is in any way my fault.

Here's a quick synopsis of all the info in this thread so new readers don't have to start from the first post:

After calling Shakey's Gun Shop they told me the offer of giving me a refund minus 10% is now off the table. They will not refund me any of my $750 now, the order they placed with the manufacture was canceled and they never received the item. So they are basically getting my $750 for free. They said I should know their policies since I have bought things in their store before, which I have, but I've never bought a "Special Order Item" from them before. Other items I have bought from them were either already in stock at their shop or were transferred from another dealer and never part of Shakey's inventory so I never actually bought the item from them, I just paid the transfer fees. This was the first item I ever had them "Special Order" for me and I was never told about any of their policies. Below is the sequence of events.

Feb 24 2011 - OVER THE PHONE I put a $750 deposit down on my credit card for half the price of the item. They told me this item would arrive in the shop in 1-2 months. I was never informed of any of their
                    policies regarding a "Special Order Item", nor was I told this was what they consider a "Special Order Item". I never received a receipt or invoice for this down payment either but it was
                    charged to my credit card.

After two or three months had passed I called to ask why the item was taking longer then I was originally told. Shakey's said they didn't know and would let me know if they heard anything. During the next few months I called some more times. Left one message which wasn't returned and talked to one of the workers at Shakey's another time and received the same sort of answer. I do not remember specific dates or details of these calls.

Sometime during July, I called again and asked again why it was taking so much longer than I was told and said I would be asking for a refund if it would be taking much longer. They said they would call the manufacture they placed the order with and call me back. I received a call back and Shakey's said it would be another two months before the item would ship from the manufacture. Making it a 7-8 month wait on something they told me would take 1-2 months. I asked for a refund and she said she would have to call the manufacture and see if the order could be canceled. She called me back quickly and said the order with the manufacture had been canceled and they agreed to give me a refund but said they would be charging me 10% to get my $750 down payment back, I agreed and asked if it could be done over the phone. She said there would be an additional charge for doing it over the phone, so I told them I would come in when I could to get my refund in person. After thinking, I decided to call them back and find out what this 10% refund charge was for. She would only say it was their policy, said something about me paying over the phone with my cc and would not explain it any further. No item was received from the manufacture so this couldn't be a restocking fee. I said I had never been informed of this policy when I placed my order over the phone and I would be contacting my credit card company to see if I was responsible to pay this 10% fee to get my refund. At this point she began to get rude and said "If you want to push this topic further we can enforce our policy of not giving your money back at all" I asked if she was seriously threatening a customer over the phone to which she replied "This conversation is over" and hung up the phone on me. I filed a credit card dispute shortly after her hanging up on me.

After finding out today (Aug 22 2011) that I had lost the dispute, I called Shakey's and asked if I could get a refund minus the 10% charge ($675) that they originally agreed to on the phone. They said that offer is no longer on the table and I could talk to the owner in 5 weeks or more whenever he returns to the shop, but he will say the same thing. Once again the lady I talked to was very rude. As it stands, they're keeping my $750 for an item they never paid for or received. So basically taking my $750 for free. At this point I would except the $675 refund, but they are not willing to give me any of my money back now.

I hope that explains everything, if I missed anything I apologize and once again thank you for everyone's help.

So the credit card company said you are wrong?

Trickpony29; file suit in small claims court.  You dont need an attorney.  Remember the phrase "unjust enrichment".

And find a better dealer to spend your money than with these inbred con-artists.  DragracerArt, for example...

If they do wind up STEALING your $750 wait a year & flatten all of their F'n tires!!!!!!
Paybacks a bitch.

dump the credit card company. some protection they are giving you. When you call the cc company on why your canceling your card i would also file a complaint with ftc.

this ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Thanks for the continued help guys, I really appreciate it. If my appeal credit card dispute gets denied again, I will be going the Small Claims Court route.

S/F
Drew

Wow calling people inbred.I bet you would not say that if people new your name on this forum.Kinda harsh dont you think?

Oh man.now we are telling people to vandalize property.?

They drew 1st Blood!!!!
I hate THIEVES!!!
Almost as much as Trolls with 3 posts.

Lets try to keep this civil and legal guys. Thanks for the continued support.

Based on this thread I will never shop there.

Agreed, they will not be getting any of my business.

+1   ...if nothing else know that your post here has stopped me from spending a dime at their place and I will spreading this story to friends and family as well.

Thanks guys.

S/F
Drew

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