I talked with Alan last week and had arraigned to bring in two lowers to have the castle nut staked.  I've misplaced my punch and wanted these builds completed.  "Just bring them on in"  says Alan.  Done.  I've been in his shop a few times over the last couple months and have purchased a couple small items for reasonable prices, so I was expecting a smooth transaction.  

I was charged $90 (yes ninety dollars) to stake two castle nuts.   Apparently this 5 minute job has a billing rate in excess of $1000/hr to which Alan quoted his policy of 1hr minimum for all gunsmithing.   Fine you got me on a technicality, point MGT / customer = 0.  BTW I know of ~15 gunsmiths in the area that all charge $60/hr. I have used their services many times and wanted to give you a chance.  Your price is not close to reasonable and boarders excessive.

Once I confronted Alan I was told MGT did me a favor by not billing $90/each lower as is his standard practice.  Alan expressed no desire to rectify the situation and was unwavering in his assertion that $90 was a reasonable price for mere seconds of work.  This price was about 5 times what I had discussed with Alan on Friday evening.  In trying to be fair, perhaps something was lost in translation from that late Friday call.  If this was a simple misunderstanding, I'd assume MGT would place forth some effort to rectify the situation, nothing.   You see this is where most shops will be cognizant of customer loyalty and try to work to find a mutually agreed upon solution.  Not MachineGunTours, completely confrontational.  

So the $90 bill was paid and MachineGunTours is whole for the massive amount of resources he had to dedicate to my little project.  After all "I have to make money too" says the small shop owner.      

Alan may be a great guy to know, he seems to be an excellent resource for this board, he may even be an excellent husband/brother/son/father, however it is transparent to me that Alan could give a shit less for his customers once he has their money.  I know of very few industries that can justify $1000/hr, apparently knocking a hammer into a punch is highly skilled labor in these times and mandates top dollar.  

Alan I sure hope you feel $90 is fair justification for your time.  You knowingly took in a 90 second job with full intention of billing the hell out it, I congratulate you for finding a sucker.  But.......this sucker doesn’t take well to being overcharged.  You see, just yesterday I went with a friend to pick-up a case of receivers from the FFL.  He is building ten rifles and planning on leaving two receivers virgin.  I am finishing seven separate builds (one of which you staked) and have three more colleges who have asked for my assistance in the process of their builds.  One of them even came down to your shop last week to pick up some items (per my recommendation). You should be expecting a return because he was livid when I told him of this ordeal.  Prior to this incident, all of my contacts had been told to go visit your shop and help the local guy.  You could have been reasonable with your time but you were not.  Now you will loose business from at least 20 builds, your arrogance will cost you ten fold.  The suppressor which I planned to purchase in the next two weeks will go to an SOT I trust.  Baring some kind of public retraction/apology, you loose my business for life.  

I encourage all ARF’ers to avoid Alan’s shop, we don’t need his kind of ‘help’ especially in today’s economic climate.   Good riddance!

If it is so easy, why didn't you just do it yourself?



I just bought a suppressor from him, and to be honest with you, it was the smoothest transaction I've done.



Sorry to hear about your problems, but you should have agreed on the cost to you before you handed over your parts.

I know of very few industries that can justify $1000/hr, apparently knocking a hammer into a punch is highly skilled labor in these times and mandates top dollar.

obviously well beyond your mechanical skills. Myself, I always get a firm quote + - $10.00 prior to doing any work, be it smithing, painting, etc.
DISCLAIMER:
           I have worked with Alan at many gun shows so my response may be considered biased. YMMV

I think you're out of line here.
You knew the charges before you went in.
He may be more expensive or less, but you agreed to it and he agreed to it despite probably having a backlog (all gunsmith's do, I'm sure he does too) on short order

he has tools, knowledge, a shop, rent, utilities, taxes, etc all to pay to be there when you needed it

My minimum charge (I don't do gunsmithing, but i do run my own business) is a lot more than that.

if you call a plumber or electrician or HVAC guy, even if it takes 5 minutes, you get charged for an hour.

Do you complain about them too.

I don't know either of you, but as a businessman, YOU are out of line.

There's also such a thing as the "Go Away" price, you know...  

sounds like a bit of a shit deal.  their prices are nothing special, and in fact, aren't even competitive with other smaller shops, so why go there?

I can't figure out whose fault it is that the OP did not get a clear idea of the charge when he arranged for the work.  However, I think that I am not sympathetic.  

And I wasn't really a fan of MGT to begin with.

I charge for my time too and am not outraged.

Ouch- I am at $60.00 per hour with a $25.00 minimum. Staking two castle nuts would rate the minimum. For both of them

OTH- You did know his rate when you contracted for the work to be done.

I do feel though at a $90.00 minimum there wont be a lot banging down the door to have work done. That is more the rate for work on a fine double or drilling by a specialist in the field.

You're "building" seven rifles but do not have the knowledge, skill, or the $5.00 in tools to stake a castle nut?  Really?

If you are really "building" that many rifles then you should already know that staking a castle nut is one of the easiest jobs.

You knew his shop charge and went anyway.

This is chock full of fail.

And I think that is enough