How much patience?

[red_cedar]

Opinions needed here.
I have a situation where an out of state 'AK builder' assembled a kit supplied by me and applied a polished blued finish on the rifle. I received back the gun within a reasonable period of time I was told it would take to complete.
Some of the riveting was not done so well, so after a bit of time and mulling over the flaws I asked for the flaws ( some rivets ) to be corrected.
I was told no problem, send the gun and it will be returned to me in a short period of time 1 week or so.

Its now been a month and have inquired on to the status 3 times. Each time the reply is with a response of a week or a week or so also some reason to why the delay and it being resolved.
Last Friday I called his home and emailed with my wish to have it returned. I have not heard back from him.

Like I mentioned, its been a month for service work. How long should one wait over the amount of time one is told?
I am actualy getting a little worried because its sounds like there's a problem.
There have been stories of fraudulant individuals not returning firearms.
This guy is an FFL holder.
Should I start an inquiry to the solution to my situation to the BATF and the Attorney General of his state?
Opinions would be appreciated

 

[rbernie]

Calling the ATFE is like nuking from orbit - don't do so lightly.

While it is not likely that anything is amiss (sometimes life happens, even to the best of us), you can always ask the local gendarme to get involved if you do not get satisfaction in a reasonable amount of time. Of course, the big question is what defines 'reasonable'.

For me - I would give him as long as it takes. Chances are, he is really busy right now due to the buying panic, and warranty work falls to the bottom of his work queue. I would not let him go more than two weeks without returning and email or call.

 

[seale]

Good gosh "red cedar" relax man. Just relax. You're spinning out of control in a cycle of impatience that will only make things worse at this point.

You've imagined all sorts of sinister behaviors with this man who A. has already provided you with a built weapon, and B. has been GIVING RESPONSES (getting a response at all is a good sign).

Correcting a rivet problem is about a thousand times more difficult than putting IN a rivet.

Give him a week of peace and quiet before you contact him again.

If you haven't gotten your weapon back when he's had it for six months, then it's time to go into the next level of action.

Red Cedar, why on earth would you even THINK of contacting the atf? Seriously. This is a civil property issue that hasn't even risen to the level of releasing the hounds yet.

I'll bet at this point he's sick of you bothering him and has put the gun at the bottom of his "to do" pile, ASSUMING he is able to fix the problem with the rivets, which he might not be, and which he might be embarrassed about.