DON"T GO TO THIS GUNSMITH!!

[bep.40]

Hey Yall,
I am new to this site and am posting this so others won't have to go through what I did. I sent my prized handgun to Hank Fleming, a gunsmith in Austin, Texas, to get a custom finish on it. Everything was going well in the beginning, he said that it would take about three weeks to finsih which I was ok with since he said that he was busy. After 5 weeks I called him and he told me that he has not started on it yet and will do so this week. I was irritated at first and let it go because I thought he was busy. 2 weeks after that I called him and he said the same thing again. I thought fine, I want the work done right so I will wait. 2 and 1/2 months later he calls me and said that it's done and I was very excited since he showed me the pictures and I like what I saw. Since I live in California, to send the whole Gun I had to do it through a FFL dealer. When I went to pick up the gun, they told me that since it has been out of the state for 1 month I have to re-register it and wait another week and pay another $25.00. As I was filling out the paperwork in a very pissed off mood the dealer told me that the serial number can't be read easily and they can't let me take the gun back. After pleading with him he Ok'd it and 10 days later I had my gun back. When I got my gun back, it was nothing like the picture and nothing like it was supposed to look like. I was obviously very irritated but let it go and thought about getting it re-done in the future. Over the next 5 months, I noticed that the finish was slowly coming off and I finally got in contact with him and he said that was not normal and I need to send it to him again and I would only have to pay for Shipping and Handling, I thought fine, at least he is willing to do it. He told me that he would redo it and send it to me the next week. Exactly 2 months later, I got it back, and again it wasn't the right finish ( apparently it was done and he just didn't have time to send it out even though I paid for return UPS shipping). When I got it back I noticed that the decocker wasn't working properly and called the manufacturer who said they would fix it free of charge and all i need to pay is for s&h. I called the gunsmith and he said HE wanted to look at it and he would pay for s&h this time. I thought **** that, I am sending it to the manufacturer and he agreed to pay for s&h. I thought OK and when I sent it to the manufacturer he fixed the problem (apparently he forgot to put the spring back in the decocker) and told me that whoever did the finish did a really crappy job and he hasn't seen anything that bad. When I was cleaning it I noticed that once again the finish is coming off and he said he didn't know what the problem was and didn't do anything wrong and he can do a hard chrome but I would have to pay another $190 to get that done and my response was **** that why should i pay for YOUR mistake. So I called the manufacturer again and he said that he did not place the finish on properly. I thought Ok I am done with this guy just give me my money for the shipping and he said that he is not paying me for the shipping because "I got tooken by UPS" and he is only going to pay me $30, I had to pay $140 to ship their and back and all I get is $30, **** you. Up til now I have not recieved any money and am going to send it to the manufacturer to do the work instead of him. I know this was a long read but believe me, I am never sending him anything and hope everyone learns from my MISTAKE.
Regards,
Happy Shootings

 

[ArchAngelCD]

The only way to stop a person like that from doing this again is to sue him. You see, if you file a Small Claims case in your home State he will either have to come to your State to answer the charges or lose by default. Either way he will be very put out and deservedly so for putting you through all this over the past 6 months.

Remember, sue for EVERYTHING, all the shipping back and forth to him twice and to the manufacturer, the original price of the work and the charges for the manufacturer to fix what he broke. Don't forget to add the charges you incurred by having to re-register the gun twice because it was out of State more than a month when he said it would be only weeks! It is your right to get all your money back. JUST DO IT!! He deserves the grief.

 

[CountGlockula]

Wow. That really takes the fun and passion out of the hobby of firearms. I would keep protesting against his services so other patrons won't come to him and eventually, be out of business.

Sorry about your ordeal friend. Would it be possible for you show us what the gun should've looked like?

 

[azredhawk44]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience.

May I recommend a good aftermarket finishing company?

I got a well-beaten Charles Daly 1911 refinished by Arizona Expert Arms (www.azexarms.com), in Gilbert, AZ. They did a fantastic job on it with a quality Parkote after bead-blasting what little bluing remained on the gun. Even came back with a better SA trigger pull, although I am sure that is just coincidence.

The finish has so far lasted about 3 years and about 2000 rounds. It has withstood sweat (100+ degree summer days blasting in the desert), and holster friction on hiking trips. Cost me about $125 + shipping, IIRC.

 

[Outlaws]

I have had bad dealings with a couple "gunsmiths". Seems like anyone who thinks they can tinker with a pistol is somehow qualified to charge money for it. I think there really needs to be a more heavily certified system in place to sort all these chumps out from the few really good ones.

 

[Jim K]

How did you hear about the gunsmith? If you read an ad or saw something in a gunzine, you may have some leverage through the magazine. Writing them and telling them about the experience might bring some pressure. They have an interest in happy customers of their advertisers.

You can sue in small claims court, but it will be nearly impossible to get satisfaction if the gunsmith simply ignores the out-of-state court order.

Jim

 

[bep.40]

I heard about the gunsmith via the internet, I was trying to find someone to do a gunkote for me and I saw his previous work on his website and it looked pretty good. Although now I regret because you you can sometimes edit those pictures to look nicer. I am still looking for a good gunsmith and will look into those that were recommended here. I appreciate the support and will give any new updates when i have them and also post pictures.

 

[BAT1]

Hank Fleming usual

I live there and wouldn't send him anything to be worked on. Slow as all get out, and junky workmanship.

 

[drannor]

He was at one time affiliated with a local gun store, I think they've severed that connection due to issues like this. I had him do some very minimal work for me years ago and the customer service was such that I decided to not deal with him in the future. Fortunately there are options in TX. Highly recommend cruising around here for recommendations on other smiths.

 

[Troutman]

This link

http://hankgun.com/

Is this the G.S. in question?

TYIA, for your community watchdog alert.

 

[carterbeauford]

I've heard nothing but good things about this refinisher:

http://www.fordsguns.com/

 

[mwpslp]

Unfortunately if you do sue him it would have to be done here in TX. The law here states that a person has the right to be sued in either the county they reside or do business in. Man that stinks. What about the victim's rights? If you can please post some pics of the before and after to keep us updated.

 

[Axman]

Two words, "Judge Judy"!

 

[10-Ring]

I've learned the hard way to trust smiths that are local & I can inspect 1st hand guns that have already been done. I'm glad I know 2 smiths that I can trust that do very very good work!

 

[ravencon]

Unfortunately if you do sue him it would have to be done here in TX. The law here states that a person has the right to be sued in either the county they reside or do business in. Man that stinks. What about the victim's rights? If you can please post some pics of the before and after to keep us updated.

From the facts given the aggrieved party resides in an other state from that of the gunsmith. If the customer properly brings suit in his home state he should have no problem asserting "long arm jurisdiction". This is a garden variety interstate commerce issue. Texas law regarding jurisdiction is not controlling if the plaintiff's assertion of jurisdiction is valid in the state in which the action is brought.

However, collecting a judgment is another matter. There is the law and then there is the real world.

 

[CraigJS]

What ever you do document EVERYTHING, courts like it when there's paper involved to prove what your saying..

 

[bep.40]

I unfortunately don't have a digital caera so can't post pictures but the silver gunkote is supposed to look like a chrome/stainless color and when he was done with it, it looked like crayon silver, an ugly crayon silver. also when it started to come off it became all patchy, there were little dark spots that started to form along the back of the grip and by the time I had to sent it back, the entire grip was darker than the rest of the gun, the trigger was also a different color and the top of the slide started to get patchy as well. After it ook him two months and i got it back, sent it to the manufacturer to get my decoker fixed (Which Hank forgot to put the spring back in causing the internal rod to fall out) and got it back from them, the first thing I noticed was that the patching had started again. It is ridiculous and I am still waiting on any reimbursment and he refused to re-coat it again since "It's not HIS FAULT" but it doesn't matter cause I wouldn't send SH*T to him again. I am currently looking into the gunsmith's mentioned here and will send my gun back out after christmas. Oh yeah, when I was speaking to the manufacturers they also told me that he had put too much coating on certain parts of the gun. I also appreciate the advice and support I recieved here and nice to know I am not the only one that thinks he is horrible. I have yet to recieve any money from him for my s&h which he said he would re-imburse. Updates in the Future and merry x-mas to all.

 

[nvshooter]

He can fix it...

Terry Tussey of Tussey Custom in Mound House, NV can fix any .45 that any clown has boogered-up. Contact him at 775-246-1533. Mailing address is 24 Moonlight Road, Unit A in Mound House, NV 89706. I know Terry. My target rifle was built in his shop. Terry is the best .45ACP man there ever was. I don't know his website offhand, but just search "tussey custom" and you'll find it.