Pistol permit service faulted
By STEVE LIEBERMAN, THE JOURNAL NEWS, 6/19/04
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Albert Alexander heard it wasn't easy to
get a gun permit, so he paid a Long Island-based pistol permit license
service $450 to help him through the process.
An Edelman's Pistol Permit Service
salesman told him in January that gun permits were difficult to get in
Rockland, but added that the company knew the possible pitfalls and guaranteed
success if the application were filled out correctly, Alexander said.
The salesman said the company would
do all the work.
The 35-year-old West Nyack car repair
shop owner said he soon learned that little of the sales pitch was true.
The company, he said, didn't have
a gun permit application form for Rockland and told him to get one from
the county police headquarters. Rockland doesn't have a county police
department, so Alexander asked around and found out that the County Clerk's
Office had the $10 applications.
Alexander said he filled out all the
paperwork and got his fingerprints and photographs taken for a total of
$134. He asked Edelman's for a refund. The company refused. Alexander's
credit card company has the charge on hold until the dispute is resolved.
A County Court judge approved Alexander
for a target shooting permit in May.
"Edelman's misled me to believe
they would do all the work," Alexander said. "Here I am getting
them the original application, which they don't have. They tell you there
are 40 different ways you can be turned down if you don't fill out the
application properly. I did all the footwork. ... I was paying $450 for
them to type the application."
A handful of other Edelman clients
in Rockland and Westchester voiced similar complaints.
The Better Business Bureau of New
York rated the business as unsatisfactory in responding to consumer complaints
within the past year. The state Attorney General's Office received one
complaint from a Westchester resident, but classified it as a potential
private legal action.
Police officers and officials who
handle pistol permits say Edelman's work sometimes is sloppy.
Edelman's president, Robert Ishkanian,
vehemently denied that his salespeople misled clients or promised them
they could receive a permit to carry a gun, a right mostly reserved for
law enforcement officers.
Edelman's contract states the client
must provide all documentation, he said, and those denied gun permits
usually are rejected because they didn't provide all necessary information.
He said his company issued refunds if shown proof that a permit was denied.
Ishkanian wouldn't comment on the
Better Business Bureau's rating, except to say the organization had no
standing. He said his company's fee not only included preparing the application
based on a client's documentation, but also a year's free membership at
its shooting ranges on Long Island, a handgun safety course, discounts
on the purchase of guns and other equipment and National Rifle Association
membership.
"We bend over backwards to make
our customers happy," he said. "If we make a mistake, we correct
the mistake. When we can't make them happy, our contention is no one can
make them happy."
Ishkanian compared his company's services
to an accountant preparing tax returns.
"This is exactly what every accountant
does throughout the country," Ishkanian said. "You bring them
the paperwork. The accountant prepares the paperwork for the IRS. We're
the intermediary. You can do your own taxes for free, too."
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