deewayne2003
AH elite
Gentlemen,
No matter how embarrassing it may be, I feel it is my responsibility to convey my experience with Dan Pedersen of CLASSIC BARREL & GUNWORKS in Prescott Arizona; so that others may avoid the quicksand I am currently trapped in.
January 2021: I called Classic Barrel and Gunworks to inquire about having a rifle converted to .404J and to my surprise the owner Dan Pedersen himself picked up the phone after only a couple of rings and we began discussing the project.....
BRNO ZKK602 .375H&H - Rebore & rechamber to .404J, open the bolt face accordingly, feed/function work on the action & install a barrel band swivel to replace the cheap clamp on one.
Dan explained how he had new help in the shop and that he could have it turned around in 6 months and I double confirmed that with him as this rifle was needed for an October 2021 Water Buffalo hunt in Australia.
He assured me that it would be no problem, so I shipped the rifle to him the next day.
August 2021: I start calling about my rifle and my calls are eventually returned and Dan proceeds to tell me that he has had medical issues and he is back to one man in the shop but the rifle is progressing through the work order. I am disappointed but there is nothing I can do and COVID canceled the Australia hunt so I decided to be patient.
January 2022: We are now 100% overdue for delivery and I call the shop and Dan returns my call "It's in progress and moving along in the work order, I'm back to a 1 man shop you know." I bite my tongue and let it ride as I am getting ready to move.
May 13th 2022: My patience is wearing thin and I call the shop and I'm surprised that someone actually answers the phone and it's a gunsmith I will call "C"(for his privacy) - I explain to C that I have a rifle there that should be ready at any time and that I have moved and wanted to update my address as well as get a progress report; C says he will call me back shortly, which he does only to inform me that my rifle hasn't even been unboxed yet!
Well C seemed to be quite embarrassed at the situation as well as motivated and knowledgeable so I gave him the go ahead to start and a few minutes later I get a text message pic from C of my rifle on his bench with "The journey begins" as the caption
May 29th 2022: I am contacted by C "The barrel boring didn't go well, so I started making you a barrel from scratch out of 4140CM and I need you to send me the stock so I can fit the new barrel to it."
I was rather puzzled by this since I wasn't contacted before the new barrel was started or I would have suggested just going up to .500J instead of starting a barrel from scratch; but that was not an option because he had already destroyed the factory barrel taking the sight parts off.
May 31st 2022: I ship the stock to them
June 16th 2022: I get a text from C telling me that he has been called up on a government job and that he will be out of the area for a few months and that I would have to deal with Dan on getting my rifle finished and that he had a long talk with Dan about getting my rifle completed. He gives me a complete progress report of where the rifle stands with pics.
June 31st 2022: Dan finally returns my calls and begins to tell me about all the progress that has been made and work that has been done as he starts to tell me the current state of the rifle and how little work is left to do with it.....
I cut him off and tell him that he has described the exact same condition that C left the rifle in weeks ago and that I was past tired of the situation and I wanted my rifle back ASAP regardless of what issues are present in his life and business, to which Dan Pedersen replies "Your rifle will be ready to ship July 15th guaranteed!"..... and hangs up on me.
July 28th 2022: After multiple attempts to contact Dan by calling his shop and cell, with texts and voicemails, I send Classic Barrel & Gunworks a letter (registered mail) demanding the return of my property along with multiple phone numbers where I can be reached as well as my new legal address.
This notice is signed for on 8/2/22.
August 8th 2022: With no contact from Dan, I send a second letter, this one with full description of my rifle including serial number and demand of its return regardless of condition or progress; the letter is signed and notarized as well as stating the Police report # for the larceny charge that I attempting to file on him. This letter was sent registered mail delivery restricted so that Dan himself has to show ID and sign for it.
This is where things get weird.... Shortly after returning home from mailing that 2nd registered letter, my personal phone begins to ring and it's showing Dan's cell #, I excuse myself from the business line that I was on and pick up my personal cell phone... I can hear Dan's muffled voice and some chuckling in the background, but it sounds like a "Butt Dial" so after repeated attempts to get someone to answer I hang up.
I then call back the county clerk I was speaking to and after a couple of minutes my business phone starts ringing and it's Dan Pedersen on the caller ID; I excuse myself for the second time to the county clerk and pick up the line for Dan..... Same thing as when he called my personal cell, just random noise and chuckling in the background.
These calls continue back and forth between my business and personal phones 3-4 more times; I documented this by video and I'm adding it to the police report.
Remember I am sharing this to save anyone else the trouble of dealing with this nightmare situation and before any of the armchair quarterbacks start popping off about..... "I'd do __________________ if I were you!"
1. The Prescott police is very familiar with this and have been dealing with it for years. Believe me they are just as tired of it as anyone but you need an attorney willing to file charges...... And after all, if you return a rifle YEARS late then it's not fraud - just poor business practice.
2. The ATF could not care less!...... believe me, I contacted them to file a complaint and was simply told "this is a civil matter"
3. Civil action.... You could buy a new rifle with what an attorney would charge and the small claims limit in Arizona is $3,500; no subtract air travel, filing costs, hotels, serving fees, etc...... Even if you got a full judgement you would still be in the hole and that is not even considering time opportunity cost.
How people like this stay in business is beyond me, I was speaking with a gunsmith about finishing the work if I can ever get my rifle back even if only in pieces and he said......."Yeah I'll do it, good luck with Pedersen though, the only work I ever sent him was a barrel and it took me 6 years!"
No matter how embarrassing it may be, I feel it is my responsibility to convey my experience with Dan Pedersen of CLASSIC BARREL & GUNWORKS in Prescott Arizona; so that others may avoid the quicksand I am currently trapped in.
January 2021: I called Classic Barrel and Gunworks to inquire about having a rifle converted to .404J and to my surprise the owner Dan Pedersen himself picked up the phone after only a couple of rings and we began discussing the project.....
BRNO ZKK602 .375H&H - Rebore & rechamber to .404J, open the bolt face accordingly, feed/function work on the action & install a barrel band swivel to replace the cheap clamp on one.
Dan explained how he had new help in the shop and that he could have it turned around in 6 months and I double confirmed that with him as this rifle was needed for an October 2021 Water Buffalo hunt in Australia.
He assured me that it would be no problem, so I shipped the rifle to him the next day.
August 2021: I start calling about my rifle and my calls are eventually returned and Dan proceeds to tell me that he has had medical issues and he is back to one man in the shop but the rifle is progressing through the work order. I am disappointed but there is nothing I can do and COVID canceled the Australia hunt so I decided to be patient.
January 2022: We are now 100% overdue for delivery and I call the shop and Dan returns my call "It's in progress and moving along in the work order, I'm back to a 1 man shop you know." I bite my tongue and let it ride as I am getting ready to move.
May 13th 2022: My patience is wearing thin and I call the shop and I'm surprised that someone actually answers the phone and it's a gunsmith I will call "C"(for his privacy) - I explain to C that I have a rifle there that should be ready at any time and that I have moved and wanted to update my address as well as get a progress report; C says he will call me back shortly, which he does only to inform me that my rifle hasn't even been unboxed yet!
Well C seemed to be quite embarrassed at the situation as well as motivated and knowledgeable so I gave him the go ahead to start and a few minutes later I get a text message pic from C of my rifle on his bench with "The journey begins" as the caption
May 29th 2022: I am contacted by C "The barrel boring didn't go well, so I started making you a barrel from scratch out of 4140CM and I need you to send me the stock so I can fit the new barrel to it."
I was rather puzzled by this since I wasn't contacted before the new barrel was started or I would have suggested just going up to .500J instead of starting a barrel from scratch; but that was not an option because he had already destroyed the factory barrel taking the sight parts off.
May 31st 2022: I ship the stock to them
June 16th 2022: I get a text from C telling me that he has been called up on a government job and that he will be out of the area for a few months and that I would have to deal with Dan on getting my rifle finished and that he had a long talk with Dan about getting my rifle completed. He gives me a complete progress report of where the rifle stands with pics.
June 31st 2022: Dan finally returns my calls and begins to tell me about all the progress that has been made and work that has been done as he starts to tell me the current state of the rifle and how little work is left to do with it.....
I cut him off and tell him that he has described the exact same condition that C left the rifle in weeks ago and that I was past tired of the situation and I wanted my rifle back ASAP regardless of what issues are present in his life and business, to which Dan Pedersen replies "Your rifle will be ready to ship July 15th guaranteed!"..... and hangs up on me.
July 28th 2022: After multiple attempts to contact Dan by calling his shop and cell, with texts and voicemails, I send Classic Barrel & Gunworks a letter (registered mail) demanding the return of my property along with multiple phone numbers where I can be reached as well as my new legal address.
This notice is signed for on 8/2/22.
August 8th 2022: With no contact from Dan, I send a second letter, this one with full description of my rifle including serial number and demand of its return regardless of condition or progress; the letter is signed and notarized as well as stating the Police report # for the larceny charge that I attempting to file on him. This letter was sent registered mail delivery restricted so that Dan himself has to show ID and sign for it.
This is where things get weird.... Shortly after returning home from mailing that 2nd registered letter, my personal phone begins to ring and it's showing Dan's cell #, I excuse myself from the business line that I was on and pick up my personal cell phone... I can hear Dan's muffled voice and some chuckling in the background, but it sounds like a "Butt Dial" so after repeated attempts to get someone to answer I hang up.
I then call back the county clerk I was speaking to and after a couple of minutes my business phone starts ringing and it's Dan Pedersen on the caller ID; I excuse myself for the second time to the county clerk and pick up the line for Dan..... Same thing as when he called my personal cell, just random noise and chuckling in the background.
These calls continue back and forth between my business and personal phones 3-4 more times; I documented this by video and I'm adding it to the police report.
Remember I am sharing this to save anyone else the trouble of dealing with this nightmare situation and before any of the armchair quarterbacks start popping off about..... "I'd do __________________ if I were you!"
1. The Prescott police is very familiar with this and have been dealing with it for years. Believe me they are just as tired of it as anyone but you need an attorney willing to file charges...... And after all, if you return a rifle YEARS late then it's not fraud - just poor business practice.
2. The ATF could not care less!...... believe me, I contacted them to file a complaint and was simply told "this is a civil matter"
3. Civil action.... You could buy a new rifle with what an attorney would charge and the small claims limit in Arizona is $3,500; no subtract air travel, filing costs, hotels, serving fees, etc...... Even if you got a full judgement you would still be in the hole and that is not even considering time opportunity cost.
How people like this stay in business is beyond me, I was speaking with a gunsmith about finishing the work if I can ever get my rifle back even if only in pieces and he said......."Yeah I'll do it, good luck with Pedersen though, the only work I ever sent him was a barrel and it took me 6 years!"
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