umlaut arms - RANT

Joined
Jan 13, 2009
Messages
30,705
Likes
8,680
Location
free hampshire
Feedback: 55 / 0 / 0
i'm a stupid idiot and shouldn't even be having to head out to hooksett when i could be sitting on my porch drinking beer today. the back story here is that awhile back i saw these nifty lowers show up on reddit's guns page, usually known for sucking and the bi-weekly "hey reddit so i just had my first ND":

http://www.northeastshooters.com/vb...ot-everything-on-reddit-is-lame-(AR-15-lower)

i bought one of the lowers and the FFL was offering free engraving so i opted to have engraving done for my trust so i could turn it into a .300BLK SBR. so time passes and by the time the order was done, everything was anodized and it finally arrived at my FFL i went to pick it up and... ****, i've moved. not only is the engraving now wrong for a form 1, it's got to be engraved again with the new address. whatever.

so i wanted to keep things local and had heard of umlaut arms in hooksett, NH and that they do NFA transfers and have an engraving service. emailed back and forth with lars the owner and told him i'd have my fiancee drop it off. wasn't in a rush but there was a 2 week lead time. again, whatever. after three weeks (last weekend) he calls and lets me know it's done. i tell him that i'm busy that weekend but that i'll be up next saturday (today) to pick it up. here's where it gets sour.

i show up right around 12:30 this afternoon after checking his hours of operation on his facebook page:

bc8D1x1.jpg


double checked on google just to make sure the info was accurate:

xo72yow.jpg


pull in to the parking lot and walk up to the door... locked. well that's strange. i call the shop number... nothing. double check the door to the ****ing building which clearly states he's open today and see there's a mobile number. went right to voicemail.

as you can see, his website seems to now be offline, too.

IMqEJAz.jpg


so my jimmies are a little rustled at this point but whatever, i'm parked outside a gun shop. lady atilla and i putz around in riley's for a bit, check out some NFA toys and fondle their AR-180 machine gun. i buy some little shit and a fresh can of OC and it's now about 1:30 so i call the mobile number listed for umlaut again.

straight. to. ****ing. voicemail.

the rustling of my god damn jimmies further intensifies. check the door to the shop again and it's of course still locked. i'm still not in full TRIGGERED mode just yet as i'm down the street from a gun shop, so lady atilla and i head over to shooter's. we get our "aspirational operator" attitude going and dig through the 5.11 clothes, fondle some CZ handguns, and i pick up some ammo for my python and some new cor-bon carry ammo. now it's 2:00 and i call umlaut again.

straight. to. ****ing. voicemail. again.

we head back towards the shop and grab some food across the street before i call again only to have that call again go to voicemail at 3:00. mind you there's no notice on the facebook page, no notice on the company webpage (as it's down), and i told lars the exact date i'd be coming up when we spoke on the phone. this is some fantastic ****ing customer service, dude. i want my ****ing property back, and to ****ing pay you so i can be done dealing with this. the last voicemail i left i told him i'd really appreciate a damn call back and that we'll talk about shipping me my property back as he's wasted my whole afternoon.

it's 4:00 now, his shop is still supposed to be ****ing open and i still haven't received so much as a call back with any kind of explanation. honestly dude if you wanted to ****ing blow me off, i wish you would have pulled this bullshit when my fiancee came up to drop the lower off in the first place so i'd at least still have my property in my ****ing hands and we could give the business to someone who gives a shit about their customers.

here's some gun porn, this is my already registered lower with the upper that's going to grace my donkey show lower with its sweet, sweet 300 african-american-ness.

3D4FEA7E-18AE-4E7A-97BA-2A44C1C3FCD1_zps6eu3cvhu.jpg~original
 
for a shop that's not even appointment-only, and knowing exactly when i was coming up with it being during his scheduled hours of business i'm pretty torqued at this point.

the guys inside at riley's didn't seem to hold him in high regard, talk is cheap however, but it's still the exact opposite of everything i'd heard about his operation up until that moment.

if something legitimately came up and there's an actual reason i will retract all negative statements and call myself an *******. we'll see.
 
I went there on Wednesday after the veto override vote in Concord.
He was there and I got two UPK's from him. Lars is usually pretty good about things.

Malodave
 
I ha e been waiting for mine as well. Waiting for my ffl to paint the woman and all the other stamping. I habe a single digit serial. Sweet.

Sorry you had to deal with that crap.
 
I ha e been waiting for mine as well. Waiting for my ffl to paint the woman and all the other stamping. I habe a single digit serial. Sweet.

Sorry you had to deal with that crap.

Jealous, I was nowhere near the single digits!

A couple of hours drinkin' beer that are now gone forever. Yes, agreed, that sux.

For once we agree. [laugh]
 
I have done a lot of business with him and yea, lately he has often been not around during his business hours. It's very annoying. I've also had emails ignored recently.
 
The site has been flakey for a while, I was going to order an upper from the shop months ago but after looking at the site I decided it was a bit too shady for my liking. Very curious to hear how this all gets resolved. Hopefully it's not a family emergency because I sure as hell would close up shop if a loved one needed me.
 
The site has been flakey for a while, I was going to order an upper from the shop months ago but after looking at the site I decided it was a bit too shady for my liking. Very curious to hear how this all gets resolved. Hopefully it's not a family emergency because I sure as hell would close up shop if a loved one needed me.

Absolutely, and I wouldn't fault the guy if he had something which needed attention. Haven't heard a peep back, I'll update when I sort it all out.
 
I will say that he has definitely been through some family shit over the past year or two, not sure where all that stands now, but he was much more solid back when he was in his Concord place.
 
As much as it sucks, some times things don't work out. He may had to be out for some very good reason, who knows.

I don't know the place, but, if he's always open on Saturdays and closed today, he could leave VM recording /update FB/Update website, yes, there are very few things that can excuse him out of doing so.

I understand how you feel, but, shit happens and I wouldn't drop a business off my list after only one experience, unless they flat out scammed me.
 
Last edited:
Typical "I'm important" reaction. You couldn't wait a few more days to find whether you have a legitimate, though minor, beef. Great job.

As a customer I would think I'm important to the person I'm doing business with. Fortunately I haven't submitted the form 1 on this or I'd be really upset not knowing the status of a title II firearm. The ATF would love that.

Maybe you're just more chill than I am, but arranging to pick up my property and settle the debt for work performed is important to me. Especially when the shop was 1. Supposed to be operating their own regularly scheduled hours and 2. I'd made an agreement to show up to collect my property and pay what I owe.

Anything else and I might not give as much of a shit--but when it comes to firearms it's a little more important than say a broom for the garage, you know?
 
Think how much better ( look at me ) if you had to go back only to find he was playing video games instead. THEN you would have a bitch that was 100%. But no. "I need immediate satisfaction, no matter the reason". Tell us those exact words didn't go through your head.
 
Not tracking your bitching about my bitching. I made arrangements to collect my property and settle a debt. It's not about immediate satisfaction, it's about a business transaction that I've been screwed thus far on.

If it's not such a big deal for you whenever I hear from the shop would you mind sacrificing your afternoon to pick up my lower and deliver it to me? Now that's a little immediate satisfaction I could get in on. [wink]
 
Maybe Lars needs to switch to "By Appointment Only".

Out of the dozen times I've stopped by during Umlaut's posted "Business Hours", shop has been dark at least half the time.

I have done a lot of business with him and yea, lately he has often been not around during his business hours. It's very annoying. I've also had emails ignored recently.
Same here -- I like Lars, bought a lot through him, but he can be difficult to get a hold of. This isn't new behavior, has been going on for at least a year now (haven't ordered anything through him since April 2014).

I was always able to get a response via email, haven't tried lately.
 
Last edited:
Think how much better ( look at me ) if you had to go back only to find he was playing video games instead. THEN you would have a bitch that was 100%. But no. "I need immediate satisfaction, no matter the reason". Tell us those exact words didn't go through your head.

Why make excuses for it? Everyone has personal problems. A lot of people have major problems that seriously effect their work lives. That doesnt give you the pass to blow customers off. If Lars has a personal problem he should of tried his best to reach out either prior or after the issue as soon as he could.

Give me a ****ing break.
 
A business should be open during it's scheduled business hours unless notice is given to customers or at the very least leave a notice on the door with an explanation.

Otherwise, it's a pretty shitty business, one of our stores is still recovering from the previous owner taking 2-3-4 day weekends during every damn holiday.
 
Why people would make excuses for it is retarded. When my father was on his death bed my obligations to my life did not stop 100% without notice to those who it would effect. Work knew immediately that I would be unavailable and friends and family who needed to be in the know were also told.

I didn't say **** it to my day to day life because I was in crisis.
 
Back
Top Bottom