Bad Krag Experience

[Whig]

I didn't quite know where to put this but I thought I could possibly help others by posting this.

I had contacted a KCA member who was searching for a couple of Krag barrels and receivers who wanted a Krag build project to work on. I told him of a couple I had that seemed like what he was looking for. He was definitely interested and, after many pictures and descriptive e-mails, he agreed to buy the two barreled Krag receivers. One of them was made after 1899, so, it had to be sent to an FFL dealer.

This was all done back in late March. He said he was moving and asked me to hold onto them until he got moved. I did so, after packaging them up ready to address and ship. I gave him an excellent price on these two Krags because he was going to rebuild them and seemed nice and very interested.

We kept in touch by e-mail for quite a while, always very friendly, and, finally, he found an FFL dealer near where he moved to in Michigan for me to ship them to.

On July 28 he agreed to send the payment and I shipped the Krags to the dealer.

That's where things turned ugly. Somehow, his 4473 didn't get approved immediately and he was told to wait three days for the feds to check on it. I am an FFL dealer and have had this happen a few times. No big deal- sometimes they have similar names or something that requires an extra check. He got belligerent, evidently, with the dealer. He sent me nasty e-mails with cussing and lots of anger. I called the FFL dealer and checked with him and he was upset at the guy's reaction, too.

So, he may have had some kind of felony history, domestic abuse or it may have just been a typical delay. Who knows.

But, the guy would not respond kindly to repeated e-mails and he never! sent payment. I am out shipping, at least, to and from the dealer shop. I currently have him trying to sell them on consignment but these kind of things don't sell easily in a small gun store.

This guy's name is Patrick Rheaume in Harrison, Michigan. He will not respond at all. I was nothing but kind and friendly to him and held these Krags for him for months before sending them.

If anyone needs any Krag barreled receivers for project builds, let me know. I've tried to help people out before with things I've sold at great prices. This is the first bad gun related deal I've had in 30 years. Of course, in hindsight, I should have gotten paid before sending them but I just didn't see this one coming.

I'm not sure what to do from here. The thought occurred to me to contact the USPS about mail fraud since this involved a scam using the postal service. I have all e-mails preserved and am not fabricating anything, so, truth is truth. Nothing libelous here.

Any thoughts, let me know. Watch out for this guy, though.

[butlersrangers]

Whig, I'm sorry you've had a bad 'selling' experience, with aggravation and expense. We don't hear about this much on the Krag forum.

Where did this jerk live before moving to Michigan? It would be worth contacting his previous State Police to see if he's a Felon.

Harrison is a nice resort area about 2 1/2 hours drive North of me.

[Ned Butts]

We could put a "Feedback" thread in the classifieds I suppose

I didn't quite know where to put this but I thought I could possibly help others by posting this.

I had contacted a KCA member who was searching for a couple of Krag barrels and receivers who wanted a Krag build project to work on. I told him of a couple I had that seemed like what he was looking for. He was definitely interested and, after many pictures and descriptive e-mails, he agreed to buy the two barreled Krag receivers. One of them was made after 1899, so, it had to be sent to an FFL dealer.

This was all done back in late March. He said he was moving and asked me to hold onto them until he got moved. I did so, after packaging them up ready to address and ship. I gave him an excellent price on these two Krags because he was going to rebuild them and seemed nice and very interested.

We kept in touch by e-mail for quite a while, always very friendly, and, finally, he found an FFL dealer near where he moved to in Michigan for me to ship them to.

On July 28 he agreed to send the payment and I shipped the Krags to the dealer.

That's where things turned ugly. Somehow, his 4473 didn't get approved immediately and he was told to wait three days for the feds to check on it. I am an FFL dealer and have had this happen a few times. No big deal- sometimes they have similar names or something that requires an extra check. He got belligerent, evidently, with the dealer. He sent me nasty e-mails with cussing and lots of anger. I called the FFL dealer and checked with him and he was upset at the guy's reaction, too.

So, he may have had some kind of felony history, domestic abuse or it may have just been a typical delay. Who knows.

But, the guy would not respond kindly to repeated e-mails and he never! sent payment. I am out shipping, at least, to and from the dealer shop. I currently have him trying to sell them on consignment but these kind of things don't sell easily in a small gun store.

This guy's name is Patrick Rheaume in Harrison, Michigan. He will not respond at all. I was nothing but kind and friendly to him and held these Krags for him for months before sending them.

If anyone needs any Krag barreled receivers for project builds, let me know. I've tried to help people out before with things I've sold at great prices. This is the first bad gun related deal I've had in 30 years. Of course, in hindsight, I should have gotten paid before sending them but I just didn't see this one coming.

I'm not sure what to do from here. The thought occurred to me to contact the USPS about mail fraud since this involved a scam using the postal service. I have all e-mails preserved and am not fabricating anything, so, truth is truth. Nothing libelous here.

Any thoughts, let me know. Watch out for this guy, though.

[Whig]

Thanks for the replies. I forget where he lived before. I think it was a different area of Michigan.

Ned- this happens so infrequently, I don't know how much it would help. I was too trusting of this guy but, as most of us know, transactions between fellow gun lovers is almost always friendly and trustworthy. As I said, I have never had anything like this before!

I'm not out that much but it was very disappointing. I'm still way ahead of the game with all of the good things I've experienced and learned from my fellow gun enthusiasts, especially here at KCA!