Don't Do Business With RGuns.Net

As promised...

LET IT BE KNOWN THAT THE PUBLIC BEATING HAS NOT GONE OUT OF STYLE.

This is the second one of these that I've had to write. It's a bit embarrassing to me, because this is twice now I've been taken fool by a vendor, and I'm letting everyone know just what a fool I've been.

But say what you will about my faults -- and there are many, to be sure -- I cannot be accused of not owning  up to my mistakes. When I screw up, I admit it. And I screwed up by not thoroughly researching this company.


I first encountered RGuns while searching for AR uppers back in December. This was just after Sandy Hook, when the crusade against dem ebil black gunz was in full swing, and my mother had said to me "I think we should finish building your rifle before they become impossible to get," and then offered to pay for it.

Now, I was of two minds about this. On the one hand, I didn't think that an AR ban would ever go through, and since there was a run on AR patterns anyway, finding an upper in a reasonable price range was becoming a unicorn hunt. I figured that eventually the hysteria would die down, and the units that had been built during the demand would flood the market and prices would stabilize.

On the other hand, I had someone offering to bankroll half a gun. This happens approximately never.

So yes, I got a bit greedy and decided "What the hell, let's see if I can find something within the price range I've been given."

It took me several weeks, but eventually I found an AR upper that had everything I was looking for*, and was only slightly more than I had been allocated. So I dipped into my own savings to make up the difference.

I would like to state, for the record, the following facts:

• The item I ordered was listed as being in stock. 
• Per the RGuns webpage, there was a delay in processing the orders, but they clearly state, and I quote: 3. RGUNS does not charge a credit card used for an order until it is ready to be shipped.  If your card has not been charged, we have not shipped your order.
• I did indeed look online to see if the company was reputable or not. Maybe I did not dig as deeply as I should have; I will not argue that. However, I feel (perhaps wrongly, perhaps not) that I performed my due diligence. The website was recommended to me by a gunnie friend (name withheld to prevent embarrassment), and a casual Googleing did not indicate "HOLY SHIT DO NOT BUY FROM THESE ASSHOLES."  Yes, there was the usual bitching on Arfcom that the owner was rude and the service was slow, but nothing indicated to me that they would violate their terms of service by charging me for something and not delivering. 

So, on January 6, I placed my order, received the confirmation email, and tried my best to be patient.

Time passed. Days turned into weeks, weeks to months, and winter became spring. The package never arrived, but then mom's card hadn't been charged either, so no harm, no foul.

In mid-March, mom showed me her Visa statement, and it indicated that as of 03/13/2013, she had been charged the requisite amount. Hooray! I was thrilled! Maybe I would get an AR upper as a late birthday present!

March ended; no AR upper. Okay, that was two weeks, maybe they were behind in getting the stuff off the loading dock or whatever. 

Mid-April; still no upper. After 4 weeks, I had begun to wonder. Mom sent them an email with a copy of the confirmation, asking if we could get an approximate ETA on the upper, and they didn't bother to reply. I called them on the telephone, and get a message that is so curt that it is just this side of being rude, basically saying "If you placed an order in December, chill the fuck out, it will get to you eventually. DO NOT MICROMANAGE YOUR ORDER." That last line is a quote, by the way. Their telephone number is 847-428-3569, call it and hear for yourself.

I left a message with our order number etc and asked them to call back. Did they? Of course not. 

At this point, it had been 6 weeks. Mom had gotten her second Visa statement, and didn't like the notion of paying for what is had effectively become Schroedinger's Upper. I was starting to get a bad feeling, so I did some more Google-ing, and lo and behold!  Since the end of January, lots of complaints have been levied against RGuns. They even have an F rating with the Better Business Bureau, with 28 complaints (out of 30) in the last 12 months!

Mom asks me what we should do. "Call Visa and tell them you want to begin chargeback proceedings," said I, because the 60 day limit for disputes was fast approaching. 

"Don't you want Visa to see if they can get your upper to you?" she asked. 

"NO," I thundered, fist upraised with lighting striking dramatically in the background. "They have taken our money and ignored our legitimate queries. For this they must be punished! Begin the chargeback forthwith, such that they not only lose our business but also must suffer the chargeback fee from their merchant bank! AND LET THIS BE A LESSON UNTIL ALL WHO WRONG ME THUS! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHH!

Because, you see, I understand that fecal matter occurreth. I understand that shipping is slow, and demand is high, and maybe they were swamped with orders. If they had just taken five minutes out of their busy schedule and replied with a simple "Hey, I'm sorry, we are running behind, but you are totally going to get your upper by X date," then it would have been fine. But they ignored us, and if you read those reviews I linked you will find multiple instances of people ordering things that don't show up for 6 months or more, and when they call to complain the owner cancels their order and charges them a $100 cancellation fee.  I have no idea how RGuns stays in business, and frankly, it doesn't deserve to.

We began the chargeback process on Monday. As of today, the charge has been cancelled, and mom has received credit for what she already paid. So we aren't out anything, thank God, except for whatever little trust I may have held in online vendors.

Now that I've been burned twice, I'm closing the book on "Erin Builds an AR." People would rather steal my money than legitimately sell me a product, so I'm done shopping. Maybe in several years, when/if the market bottoms out, I'll be able to buy an upper at a gun show or from someone I personally know -- but unless I can pick it up and take it home right then, to hell with it. I'm done with spending my money on promises that turn out to be lies.

DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM RGUNS.NET

*For the curious, what I ordered was: 16 Inch Upper with Fluted Barrel, M4 Handguards, QuadRail Gas Block and Vortex Flash Suppressor.

Don't do business with Simple Survival

LET IT BE KNOWN THAT THE PUBLIC BEATING 

HAS NOT GONE OUT OF STYLE.

I do not relish having to write this post, but I feel it is necessary to warn people NOT to do business with Simple Survival (simplesurvival.info, not to be confused with simplesurvival.net, which sells camping gear and nor AR-15 accessories), their front man Nicholas O'Bryan, or their employer, The Tarra Designs Group.

I was first introduced to Nick by none other than Oleg Volk (who no doubt regrets this, for reasons of his own that I hope he will list in the comments) back when I was trying to get a carry pistol. Nick said that he had an online store that supplied weapons, ammunition and firearm accessories to local police, and that if I were to buy my Glock from him, he would give me a good price for it if I mentioned his store in my blog. 

I said that sounded like a great idea, but I hadn't yet decided upon which kind of pistol to get. 

No problem, he replied, I have some blue guns here that I can send you so you can decide which of them fit your hand and your carry method. 

Great, I said, and sent him my mailing address. That was March 1, 2012, and I never heard back from him for months after that. This should have been my first indication that he was a flake. 

Fast forward to the summer. Nick had surfaced on July 2, chatting me as if everything was normal, trying to sell me things like ammo for my Glock or Mosin. I turned him down because I was able to get them in bulk for less. This "courtship," if you will, lasted the better part of two months, and towards the end of August I had bought my stripped AR lower and, flush with some writing money, was looking to buy a Lower Parts Kit. 

Again, he quoted me a very low price -- $126 for an LPK, 6-position stock, buffer tube & spring, 2 magazines, and a set of pin punches.  Again, I should have known better due to the combination of his previous flakiness and the price being too good to be true, but I decided to risk it on the off-chance that maybe he just had some bad luck during the spring. 

He wanted a check or a money order or a credit card over the phone. I didn't like that idea, due to my insecurity and desire for OPSEC.  When he later told me he had a PayPal account, I was thrilled and used that (and oh, am I glad that I did.)

On September 7, I sent him $126.00 via PayPal with the understanding that he had ordered the buffer spring and was waiting for it to arrive. The following is what happened, told in screenshots so you don't think I'm exaggerating:

Please note how, once he has my money, he is nothing but excuses: 

• "Waiting for the spring to come in."
• "They sent the wrong spring."
• "Will be running to Fed Ex tomorrow."
• "I was going to go, but had a headache, will definitely go this weekend."

Also note how I ask for a tracking number and never get it:

So that was September. By October I am starting to get bitchy, because he's had my hard-earned money for almost a month and all I have gotten is excuses. 

Note how he promises me "extra stuff" in the hope of keeping me quiet. At any rate, I have been given the semi-hard date of "Wed or Thur" for the arrival. Does my purchase arrive?

Nope. Still no tracking #, either.

This is me finally getting nasty. It is the Tuesday after I was promised the materials would arrive. I finally tell him to refund my money or provide proof that they're in the mail.

And this picture is proof that he saw my demand. 

Care to guess what happened?

Not a damn thing, that's what happened. So the next day, I filed a dispute with PayPal. The way disputes work is that I open a complaint where I say "I paid money and haven't gotten my stuff back" and PayPal sends an email to the seller asking them, "Hey, do you want to tell us your side of the story?"  I was encouraged to wait a set number of days to give Nick a chance to reply. 

Did he?  Nope. So on Monday, October 15, I escalated it to a claim, which involves PayPal doing some research and basically acting as a mediator for the dispute. 

Again, Nick never replied to this (even though his Facebook page is full of activity, so I know he hasn't been in a coma or anything like that.) 

On the 25th, PayPal ruled in my favor and refunded 100% of my money. This ruling is why I am in a generally good mood and not throwing down tons of invective -- which is what I might have had to do if I had gone with a personal check or a money order or credit card. 

Believe me, I was ready to contact the Post Office and the FBI for interstate mail fraud. I'm happy that I didn't need to, because any time you have to involve the government in your business it is never good for anyone. 

I honestly don't know if Nick is a fraud, or just lazy. You would think that even fraudsters would attempt some kind of explanation as to why they should be allowed to keep your money. I'm inclined to go with "Lazy, incompetent, and has no business running a business."

Yes, it's embarrassing for me to admit that I screwed up. But that's the way fraudsters continue to make their living: they rely on the shame of their victims to keep them quiet. 

And if there's one thing I lack, it's shame. 

So, in short:  Do not do business with Nicholas O'Bryan, his online store Simple Survival, or anyone associated with the Tarra Designs Group. They will take your money, promise you that your purchases are in the mail, and then promise you anything in order to shut you up. 

If anyone has had similar experiences, either with Nick O'Bryan/Simple Survival or another company, please leave a comment. Thank you.


EDIT:  As of 3:48 today, I got a message from Nick:  "gee thanks..."

No apology, no explanation, just trying to guilt trip me. Won't work, buddy.


Edit 2:  Oleg Volk describes a similar problem he had with Nick O'Bryan in the comments below.