Never deal with KGrips.net / Jerry Kelly! Details Inside

[DonPensfan]

Never deal with KGrips.net / Jerry Kelly!
           
            Short Version:  
            His workmanship is terrible, he is completely unprofessional, and after him stating that I should return the grips and he will give me a refund he now refuses to refund my money saying that I never returned the flawed grips.  I have both shipping logs and delivery confirmation that he did in fact receive then on January 13th.  
           
            Full Details:  I have all email messages, all payment receipts, shipping/delivery logs if anyone would care to read them.
            I was looking to dress up my new CZ SP-01 that I was receiving from Matt Mink.  It was a beautiful pistol and I wanted some nice wooden grips to put on them.  The challenge was that I wanted wooden grips to match the profile of the plastic ergonomic grips that CZ makes.  So I contacted several grip makers to see if the thumb ridge line would be a problem for them.  Only two people said that they could make the grips with the thumb ridge, Dennis Marschal from Hungary and Jerry Kelly / KGrips here in SC, USA.  Getting the ergo grips from CZ to me, then out to Hungary was shaping up to be a problem, so I opted to go with Jerry Kelly.
           
            After several emails discussing the shape of the grips, pics of the ergonomics, etc, we agreed to a price of $65.00 and payment for the grips was sent on 12/17/06 via Paypal invoice created by Jerry Kelly on 12/16/06.  I then ordered the ergo grips from CZ and had them sent to me before I had to turn around and send them to Jerry for him to match the profile.  I sent the ergo grips to Jerry on 12/21/06 and he emailed that he received them on 12/26/06.  I then receive an email from Jerry Kelly on the 01/01/07 stating that they are almost finished and they should be sent on 01/03/07.
           

[DonPensfan]

So 01/08/07 comes and I finally receive my grips.  See image below.  I am thouroughly dissapointed in the quality of work I received.  These things looked like he turned his kid loose in the wood shop for the first time.  The "stippling" was terrible, the shape of the thumb arc was not smooth and flowing like it should be, the tops of the grips panels were rough cut and not at all smoothed, chisel marks were still present, the area that was supposed to be stippled was never reduced in thickness only a thin line that outlined the area, not to mention the thickness of these grips were about 40% thicker than the stock grips.  
           
           
           
            Just so we are all on the same page here, I have received grips from other respectable dealers like Hakan Pek and Omega Grips.  I know what wooden grips are supposed to look like.  Jerry Kelly's were far from acceptable.  I also work with a Violin Maker here in St. Louis as a hobby and I know what it takes to work with wood.  I know what raw chiseled wood looks like, I know what it takes to make the fine delicate cuts for a violin.  Grips should be easy if one is skilled in wood working and takes his time.
           
            So I emailed Jerry Kelly on 01/09/06 to say that I am sorry, but I cannot accept the grips and I outline the reasons why in as positive a tone as I can.  He replies, in a less than professional tone, once stating that I can either return them to be "fixed" provided I send the receiver of my pistol, or for a full refund.  He then sends a second email about 90 minutes later stating that "upon reflection" he changed his mind about "fixing" them and will just send me a full refund via his online banking.  According to Jerry the refund should take 2-3 days to get to me after he receives the grips.  I thank him for his professionalism, wanting to be polite at this time, and return the grips on 01/11/07 via USPS Priority Mail to the same address I used to send the CZ Ergo grips.  In fact his account is stored in our shipping software at work where I shipped them.  I have full shipping logs and a delivery confirmation number.
           
            ==========================================
           
            From the USPS Website:
           
            Label/Receipt Number: 9101 8052 1390 7584 5761 40
            Status: Delivered
           
            Your item was delivered at 2:47 PM on January 13, 2007 in MOUNT PLEASANT, SC 29464.
           
            ==========================================

[DonPensfan]

So fast forward to Friday 02/09/07, nearly a month after he received the grips.  I send a polite message to Jerry Kelly letting him kow that I have not received the refund and that he should have received the grips almost a month ago.  He replies curtly that he has not received then and he will not issue a refund until he does.  I reply with the tracking number, restating the fact they were indeed received on 01/13/07 and ask again when to expect my refund.  He gets even more pissy and states that he hasn't received anything from me and will not refund anything.
           
            It is here that I spell out that I have shipping logs, all email communication between us, and delivery confirmation from the United States Post Office and demand that unless I have the refund from his shoddy work by Friday 02/16/07 that I will make sure that every forum I am a member of will be aware of his shoddy craftsmanship, poor professionalism, and his intent to rip me off.  To which he replies:
           
            "Your Delivery confirmation does not mean that I received those grips.
            I think you are the one that is trying to defraud me, although, for the life
            of me, I can't understand why for a lousy $50.00 you would go thru this
            sham."
           
            I reiterate again that I have every documented word between us, shipping logs for each delivery, and delivery confirmation for the grips being returned.  And now I am pissed that he is calling ME a liar and a sham artist.  I also told him to keep the $65 (not $50 as he mentions above), I'll get my money back from Discover/Paypal and I will make sure that everyone is aware of his reputation now.
           
            So there you go...  His workmanship is terrible, he is completely unprofessional, and this is how he treats his clients after he gets their money.  Avoid him at all costs.  I am happy to provide full details / emails / shipping logs upon request to anyone that doubts my words here.  
           
             - Timothy