John,

Thanks for the contact information.

In January, David e-mailed me that a mould would take 4 to 6 weeks to make.  I sent a check for a mould the end of January and it was cashed 2/12/11.  Have not heard from him since.  Also sent e-mail and called and left message.  I'm about ready to call the state attorney general's office of consumer protection.  Enough is enough!!

I called last night @ 10:00P hoping he would be in the shop or pickup at home - call went to voice mail.

Called again about an 1/2 hr ago - same.  Call went to voice mail.
Over the span of close to a month - 3 emails, no replies 
All I'm asking for is a status and then let him tell me why the delay.  This last call, asked him to put a post on ASSRA

40 Rod, are you saying that his home or community was hit by a tornato?  If so, I could understand the delay but I called him and sent a letter prior to the storms so I should have gotten a response.  No excuse!!!  It appears this man is just a common thief!!

Rich

40 Rod,
If David would just answer the phone, make a post here or send a post card saying why he is two months late, I could understand.  But not saying a word or responding to my letter and call is totally unacceptable.

Rich

I cannot reply to any one else's problems, only my experience. I will say that based on my years spent as an artisan, I understand frustration felt by customers when their money is on the line.
During the past few months Dave placed an ad for "in stock" moulds at reduced prices. I responded, got specs from Dave (promptly) and via email ordered the mould from his wife and received it promptly. I have no complaints regarding my dealings with the Mos' ( I understand this is an off-the-shelf mould vs. a newly ordered one) 

Being a thinking man (?) I wondered why would a guy sell a mould(s) of this quality level for $90.00 (!!!) delivered? Sounds like liquidation to me. I won't pretend to tell anyone else how deal with things but I feel something big is going on in their lives as has happened in my own life. I choose to pray that the Mos' are OK and that thing work out for them. I spoke to a local smith about having some work done. He said it would be a while as he wasn't feeling well and had had about every kind of test done. I have tried several times since to call the gent to see if he is back to work and get no response- not even a recorder. Lord I hope he is OK!
JUst my thoughts.

If you look back at my posts, you'll see the links and the video to Mena, Arkansas.  Totally plausible that the tornado has impacted David's completion of open orders.

Also, way back in the posts, ... 'David has a new job and overtime is mandatory'  OK, which is it?   

The tornado was April 10th ...The whole town of Mena was not wiped out.  The telephone service and highly presume Internet is currently operable.  Telephone calls have been made since April 10th and received by his answering machine by me and I know of one other person since April 10th.

I only asked ... give me a call, send me an email or put a post on ASSRA ... what's the status of the open orders.

I don't believe that my asking this was an unreasonable request.  Give me an honest answer and I can live with it and wait if it doesn't extend for months more.  But to totally avoid any communication is not respectful - PERIOD!

BTW, the tornado went through the the center of Mena with extensive damage to the Polk County courthouse and municipal buildings, and to the downtown business area.  David lives 6.2 miles from the municipal building at 1282 Polk Rte 71 and the municipal building is on Mena St in the downtown business area

40_Rod wrote on May 11^th, 2011 at 12:36pm:

Without naming names I will tell you all that my experience is that gunsmiths and moldmakers typically take an almost-infinite amount of time to produce work. I had gun/barrel work by a guy off Rt 20 in western new york that took so long that he forgot that it was paid for. Just by luck I found the USPS M.O. receipt, informed him, sent copies, and I KNOW that he thought I put something over on him. Moldmakers? As slow as farmers. 
It is a joke, and demonstrates the absolute fact that todays mechanics are no better businessmen than H.M. 
Another western new york gunguy explained the enormous delays by his need to work overtime at $1.5X per hour. I pointed out that shooters would gladly pay $3X per hour for the work, and he didn't understand.
I'm thinking of going into the custom mold and action business. Send me the money and wait. I'm 73, I'll have the money, and either I or you will be dead by typical delivery time, and I'll be just as fast as these bozos.
This also goes for the Cody, C. Sharps, Shiloh Sharps companies. None of them understands how to schedule, hence the silly delivery times.
Starting with H.M., most of the gun/mold guys have been horrible businessmen. Else why no Hoch, Peregrine, Miller etc available hen there's a clear demand. Bufoons.
The Italians and Japanese seem able to make good guns quick. 
And good. 
Stop the nonsense.
joe b.