That's jacked up. If the retailer doesn't refund you the full price you paid, you should out them. Here, there and everywhere.
Absolutely not the retailers fault. This is CAI fault. They should have returned gun to him.
This is seriously fucked up.
ETA
If I was retailer, I would send money back to CAI and tell them to keep me the hell out of it. Warranty issues are a problem between them and customer.
The FFL is absolutely at fault if they acknowledged receiving money from the importer and informs the customer they will only return a portion of it.
He should have refunded the full amount or refused to refund. He got a profit for nothing. He is a shit bag.
It's extremely poor customer service on the retailer's end. I've never understood why the firearms business seems to work differently than other industries... I've had to eat the cost on returned equipment before. Sure the manufacturer or distributor will give you a refund on something defective, but you're still out the time and money spent on delivering that product to the customer. It's one of the risks you take reselling stuff. It's always better in the long run to make the customer whole.
That's not to understate CAI's stupidity in this... I would be very wary of buying things from them.
Interesting parallel you bring up. Guns and cars are two items where it is made very difficult by law for consumers to purchase direct from the manufacturer. Of course there are very few FFLs that actually support their regulation, but the dealership associations actively lobby against consumers.FFLs are strict on returns because of the liabilities as a big reason. They aren't different from other industries. Cars being the next one similar. You try buying a car and the returning it to dealership and see if they take the hit or not, good luck. You think the dealership is taking the hit on a recall? Heck no, it's the MANUFACTURER. Another reason it's different is because of the rules, regulations, legal woes, etc.
Agreed the law gets in the way, as usual.Interesting parallel you bring up. Guns and cars are two items where it is made very difficult by law for consumers to purchase direct from the manufacturer. Of course there are very few FFLs that actually support their regulation, but the dealership associations actively lobby against consumers.
I don't think another exists.Why can't the FFL just order another gun from CIA via FFL special price for $350 and then send you that gun.