Question about selling airsoft gun in classified

[LIL'WEI]

Hi, recently I sold one of my AEG, rarely gamed.

Before I ship it I took the gun to a gun doc to inspect the gun, after making sure the gun functions well and able to fire after some test, I took out the battery and ship the gun right away to the buyer.

Few days later the buy(very friendly) received the package and he told me the gun won't fire and ask me to pay for the repair which is 60 dollars, he also doubt the credibility of the gun doc I took my gun to. He later gave me a detailed invoice as I request it saying "no parts needs to replace but still need some work to make it work".

So my question is, when buyer ask me to pay the repair fee for the issue that did not present when I ship the gun (The gun can fire fine when I ship it), do I need to pay it or is there any other ways to deal with the problem? I am willing to pay for it but still feel a bit upset since I have to pay for something that did not happen on me and the gun was already a really low price(already losing money) when I sold it. Thanks.

[MultipleParadox]

Depends on the "problem"

If, for example, the problem is "bad shimming" (very common issue with lots of new guns) but the gun works, and you sold a "working gun" and not a "perfectly tuned and crazy accurate gun... This becomes regular upgrade stuff and not really your problem

If the gun really doesn't fire, and you had it tested, that's a different story. The question is, why all of a sudden it stopped working? Buyer fiddled with it, broke it and wants to pass the doc feed onto you?
You doc lied? His doc lied?

You'll need to dig into that a bit more

[siggypoo]

You did your part, and the item may've been dropped during shipping. Out of your control. However, the kind thing to do would be to split on the repair costs. If the buyer will not accept that, then refuse outright.

[Laurel]

I would split the cost with the buyer, so $30.. and that is being fair since you even took time to make sure it was in proper working order...

[LIL'WEI]

Well I fired the gun myself before I ship it, because last thing I need is problem like this.

this is what his said:
"I took the gun to the gun doc and the good news is that no part was irreparable. He there is no need to replace any parts.

When gun doc was loosening the buffer tube screw, the piston decompressed. Apparently the spring guide got caught on the gearbox and jammed the piston therefore compressed the spring and locked it.

When we looked inside the gearbox, there were metal shavings. There was obvious scratches on the gearbox, gears, and piston gears were spinning with the pistol locked."

I am not a gun doc so I am really not sure these issues are serious problem with the gun or not, or if these issues need 60 dollars to fix. But let me know what you guys think, if this issue indeed are that serious I guess I will pay him, but I swear the gun fired fine when I ship it.

[Spike]

What did they say the problem was? "Some work" is super vague.

Was it the G&P that we tried at the store a little while ago? It was shooting when you left.

[LIL'WEI]

Originally Posted by Spike

What did they say the problem was? "Some work" is super vague.

Was it the G&P that we tried at the store a little while ago? It was shooting when you left.

this is what his said:
"I took the gun to the gun doc and the good news is that no part was irreparable. He there is no need to replace any parts.

When gun doc was loosening the buffer tube screw, the piston decompressed. Apparently the spring guide got caught on the gearbox and jammed the piston therefore compressed the spring and locked it.

When we looked inside the gearbox, there were metal shavings. There was obvious scratches on the gearbox, gears, and piston gears were spinning with the pistol locked."

[HKGhost]

It sounds like the spring is binding within the piston and spring guide. This can be due to a spring that's too tight around the spring guide, or the piston's guide rails are too tight within the gearbox. I would expect the later if the piston has been changed, and that would explain the metal shavings. If that's the case, filing the rails down is needed. I don't know what the second gun doc charges, but if I had to do the work, you'll be looking at around $25-$40.

[LIL'WEI]

Originally Posted by HKGhost

It sounds like the spring is binding withing the piston and spring guide. This can be due to a spring that's too tight around the spring guide, or the piston's guide rails are too tight within the gearbox. I would expect the later if the piston has been changed, and that would explain the metal shavings. If that's the case, filing the rails down is needed. I don't know what the second gun doc charges, but if I had to do the work, you'll be looking at around $25-$40.

Kk, noted, thanks for the info and Dat avatar......

[pestobanana]

Sounds like a problem that is not his fault nor your fault. Instead of simply unjamming it, the tech probably should have done something to prevent it from reoccurring.

$60 for such simple tech work sounds pretty steep, but I'd pay half since its not really your fault or his.

[MultipleParadox]

Could it be that the buyer shot a bit in full auto, left the spring compressed and sent it as is to the doc. Doc assumed the spring was released, tried to open the GB and all he'll broke loose?

[lurkingknight]

60 bucks sounds rather high for just opening the gun, but that's all about who's your preferred/trusted guy to work on it is.

Spring binding on the spring guide/gearbox DOES happen, I've seen it, so it's not out of the question that this is what happened.

If the piston bound at the back while the gears tried to turn, there wouldn't be metal shavings... there'd be pieces of the piston rack all over the inside of the gearbox if the rack was plastic. IF it was metal, (and more often than not if it was plastic) the motor would just jam and pin the piston back, unable to turn.

The shavings could be just from wear and tear, or could be from the piston slowing on the rails and causing premature engagement, gears grinding on the rack as the piston comes forward cause the cycle is too slow by the time the gears start another cycle.

Shavings are also more likely to come from bevel/pinion gear meshing or just gears wearing. If they're not directly from the piston, that can be attributed to poor shimming/wear and tear.

There's definitely some investigation work to be done to pin the cause of the jam and fix it so it doesn't happen again. Since it's one of those more bizarre issues, it can take some time to figure it out and apply the fix, especially if the technician takes is time to do it right. The price is not outside the realm of reasonable.


Several things need to be considered for the loosening of the buffer/release of the spring to happen:

If the piston were jammed and released by loosening the buffer tube screw:

the sector gear would have to be outside of the piston rack, which means the piston is jammed FULL back beyond contact with the release tooth. Springs and spring guides can jam the inside of the piston when it comes back at the top of the stroke.

The gun would sound like it was turning with a stripped piston though. He described no function.


If it was jammed MID cycle with the sector engaged in the pistol, the buffer tube screw might dislodge it a tiny bit, but the ARL would engage and catch it until you flipped it open, then the piston would release.

Metal shavings in the top of the gearbox near the piston would indicate the release tooth was being chopped at. If the shavings were at the bottom of the gearbox, that's from the pinion/bevel.

Gears free spinning would not cause scratching unless there was material caught between gears and gearbox shell. If there's a circular pattern ground into the shell, that would be from a bearing failing and the gear falling into the side, out of alignment. But the invoice stated no new parts needed.

I recently serviced a gearbox with a spring guide that unthreaded itself and the bearings came lose and out of alignment, opening enough gap for the spring to slip into and come out of alignment. This caused the piston to jam mid cycle. Pulling the trigger would make a click and motor whine as the motor tried to pull through the jam, but it wasn't strong enough.

[Fenrir92]

I am the buyer of the gun. I said the gun did not fire however I did specify to Lil'Wei that the gun made a whirling noise when the trigger is pulled.

When I took the gun to the gun doc, he thought the sound was from a stripped bevel gear. When he was taking apart the gun, the piston decompressed when the buffer tube screw was loosened. There were scratches on the gearbox, sector gear, and spur gear. There was also damage to the metal teeth of the piston. The gun is stock other than the spring change that Lil'Wei did to comply with indoor FPS limits.

The $60 was to cover the inspection fee, investigation as to what is causing the jam (the gun doc said is an unusual case), AND ELECTRICAL WORK due to a damaged wire. The first thing the gun doc and I noticed was that one of the wires was slightly cut. Lil'Wei told me that there were wiring issues before he shipped it but he had it fixed by a gun doc.

To Lil'Wei: If you feel that $60 is too much, I don't mind splitting the cost.

Let me know.

[siggypoo]

Sounds like a perfectly reasonable request. It happens, and is likely neither person's fault. It's something you both can be happy with.
I've bought items that were completely unfit for my use, but the customer service involved was so exceptional that I resolve to buy from again. A good experience is at least as important as a good product.

[LIL'WEI]

Originally Posted by Fenrir92

I am the buyer of the gun. I said the gun did not fire however I did specify to Lil'Wei that the gun made a whirling noise when the trigger is pulled.

When I took the gun to the gun doc, he thought the sound was from a stripped bevel gear. When he was taking apart the gun, the piston decompressed when the buffer tube screw was loosened. There were scratches on the gearbox, sector gear, and spur gear. There was also damage to the metal teeth of the piston. The gun is stock other than the spring change that Lil'Wei did to comply with indoor FPS limits.

The $60 was to cover the inspection fee, investigation as to what is causing the jam (the gun doc said is an unusual case), AND ELECTRICAL WORK due to a damaged wire. The first thing the gun doc and I noticed was that one of the wires was slightly cut. Lil'Wei told me that there were wiring issues before he shipped it but he had it fixed by a gun doc.

To Lil'Wei: If you feel that $60 is too much, I don't mind splitting the cost.

Let me know.

K I will make sure we both have a good arrangement in the end