[tipoc]

Flight Medic, I'm sorry you had trouble. This is just business and what happened here is not uncommon. Neither is how to handle it.

You received the gun and it was not in the condition that you wanted. You had proof of this. The original ad was and is proof of what seller said was the condition. You also had the witnesses in the form of the gun store owner and the gunsmith.

You spoke to the seller and he said he would not accept the gun back nor return the money.

At that point you had the option of contacting the credit card company and telling them to cancel the payment. The reason was that the gun was sold to you and when it arrived it was not in the condition it was advertised as. As proof of this you had the ads, the witnesses of the store owner and gunsmith, and photos. This was adequate to prove to the CC company that you had a case.

You would of needed to speak with the credit card company about when to return the damaged gun to the seller.

You had no reason to send the gun to S&W for a letter. You did not need it in order to get your money back.

Gunbroker also did not need to give you any money as the responsibility did not rest with them but with the seller.

Once you had your money back you could leave very bad feedback for the seller as he was an untrustworthy seller.

This is a simple transaction and a common one, don't matter whether a gun or a vacuum cleaner. You bought a product. It arrived not as advertised. You contact the seller but they do not do the right thing. So cancel the payment, which returns the money to you. At the proper time return the item to the seller. You need nothing else from them. Leave a bad review.

Avoid melodrama.

tipoc