PHOENIX (Legal Newsline) - Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne announced a consent judgment on Tuesday against a Phoenix area weapons dealer resolving allegations that the firm violated the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act.
Horne's office filed a lawsuit in December against Lancaster Arms LLC alleging that the company failed to provide consumers with promised services and merchandise for which it accepted advance payments. The company allegedly subsequently failed to provide refunds to the customers and, in some instances, failed to return unassembled weapons kits to the consumers.
"Consumers have a reasonable expectation that when they pay for something, they will get what they paid for," Horne said. "In this settlement, the company is agreeing to pay significant restitution to customers who were owed goods, services or refunds but never got them. My office will always be vigilant to enforce these kinds of violations."
Lancaster Arms represented to consumers on the Internet and through verbal representations made by Chester Durda, the owner of the company and a co-defendant, that it sold weapons, accessories and parts. The company said that it provided weapon kit assembly services for consumers who sent Lancaster Arms their weapons kits.
Since at least February 2009, Lancaster Arms allegedly failed to provide weapons to dozens of consumers who paid thousands of dollars in advance, failed to provide the consumers with refunds, sold weapons subject to a limited lifetime warranty and failed to repair the weapons when returned, and failed to provide refunds to the damaged and un-repaired weapons.
Under the terms of the agreement, Lancaster Arms agreed to pay $67,000 in restitution to 48 consumers, comply with the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act and pay $3,000 to cover the state's costs.
The defendants did not admit to Arizona Consumer Fraud Act violations as part of the agreement.
Lancaster Arms reaches agreement with Ariz. AG Horne
