American Spirit Arms blocked by BOA

[camolist]

did a couple searches and i read alot here so i don't think it's a double post if so let me know i'll link to original and lock

someone get these guys in touch with bitpay (or on the unlikely event they would not take this business one of the other processors)

i'm headed out and don't have the time to do anything yet, i'll send them a short email tomorrow when i have time.

http://www.americanspiritarms.com/

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10151384274052790&id=67153142789

"All,
My name is Joe Sirochman owner of American Spirit Arms and I wanted to share my recent experience with Bank of America .(which we have been doing business with for over 10 years)…. Everyone is familiar with the latest increase in guns sales , dealers selling out of inventory , Manufacturers back logged for months , large revenue all generated in the last two weeks …. American Spirit Arms is no exception to the overwhelming demand . What we have experienced is that our web site orders have jumped 500 % causing our web site E commerce processing larger Deposits to BANK OF AMERICA ..Well, this through up a huge RED Flag with Bank of America . So they decided to hold the deposits for further review , meaning that the orders/payments that were coming in through the web ,( being paid by the customer and that were shipped out by American Spirit Arms ),the BANK was keeping (UNDER REVIEW )..as you could imagine this made me furious…After countless hours on the phone with BANK OF AMERICA I finally got a Manager in the right department that told me the reason that the deposits were on hold for FURTHER REVIEW …HER EXACT WORDS WERE …
..” WE BELIEVE YOU SHOULD NOT BE SELLING GUNS and PARTS ON THE INTERNET “
…I flipped the F**k Out and told them that they have no right to make up their own new rules and regs..that we are a firearms Manufacturer with all the proper licensing FFL (Federal Firearm license ), SOT and that we follow all Federal and All
States’ rules and regulations on shipping Firearms and parts ..and that we are also Audited by ATF and Homeland
Security on a regular basis … She said that she understands that but that the deposits will be released After they have a
Chance to review and clear them …I told her that This was unacceptable and the those deposits (that were a week old by now ) needed to be released ASAP, that we are a small business and rely on the revenue to run and stay operational.
After that being said another Manager got involved and released one of the deposits (to help out )… So far to date after
Two weeks of sales only 1/3 of collected internet sales have been released ..I am still pissed and looking for another
Bank and options …
I just thought the public should know ..

I will keep everyone posted on new developments ..

Sincerely

Joseph P Sirochman
American Spirit Arms
16001 N Greenway Hayden Loop
Suite B
Scottsdale AZ 85260
480-367-9540 phone
480-367-9541 fax"

[Phinnaeus Gage]

http://www.americanspiritarms.com/events

January 15th - 18th, 2013
American Spirit Arms will be displaying at the 2013 SHOT Show in Las Vegas at the Sands Expo & Convention Center! Come see all our new products and full line of firearms and components!

Tuesday, January 15th, 2013 8:30am to 5:30pm
Wednesday, January 16th, 2013 8:30am to 5:30pm
Thursday, January 17th, 2013 8:30am to 5:30pm
Friday, January 18th, 2013 8:30am to 4:00pm

Sands Expo & Convention Center
201 Sands Ave
Las Vegas, NV 89109

I wonder what are the chances of one of their reps being in LV on the 11th. Sure would be nice if Tony could talk to them in person.

[BkkCoins]

Two weeks of sales only 1/3 of collected internet sales have been released ..I am still pissed and looking for another
Bank and options …
I just thought the public should know ..

Or better yet, NO bank at all... wink, wink! That didn't even used to be possible. Thank You Bitcoin.

[RandomQ]

Two weeks of sales only 1/3 of collected internet sales have been released ..I am still pissed and looking for another
Bank and options …
I just thought the public should know ..

Or better yet, NO bank at all... wink, wink! That didn't even used to be possible. Thank You Bitcoin.

I'm tempted to drive to the retail storefront, but I don't think it would do any good because they would be so busy right now. Gun stores here in AZ are selling everything they can get. In my town common ammo .22LR 9mm and .223 are sold out at the local stores. I had to wait 20+ mins in line to buy .380 auto yesterday at wally world because they had a line of people buying the 2k or so rounds that was left

[BradZimdack]

What happened to Joseph Sirochman is extremely typical.  If he had known anything about how credit card processing works, he should have gotten very nervous at the first sign that his sales were exceeding his normal levels.

I posted this about the horrors of credit card processing more than a year ago:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=36729.0

As an update, the client who had more than $30,000 stuck in limbo has so far seen only half of it released.  It's been almost 18 months since that account was frozen and we're still basically being told to "check back in another year".

[Phinnaeus Gage]

What happened to Joseph Sirochman is extremely typical.  If he had known anything about how credit card processing works, he should have gotten very nervous at the first sign that his sales were exceeding his normal levels.

I posted this about the horrors of credit card processing more than a year ago:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=36729.0

As an update, the client who had more than $30,000 stuck in limbo has so far seen only half of it released.  It's been almost 18 months since that account was frozen and we're still basically being told to "check back in another year".

Thanks, Brad. The OP just went into my personal log: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=130100

[TheButterZone]

Bank of America? More like Bank of Tyranny. This isn't the first time they've pulled this shit on innocent gun owners and dealers. Every FFL in the country needs to be mailed and drop their BofA accounts YESTERDAY.

[evoorhees]

Reason #14912 to use Bitcoin.

The world will learn in time

[Seth Otterstad]

This is the level of customer service we can expect from heavily regulated industries.

[Stephen Gornick]

What happened to Joseph Sirochman is extremely typical.

I wonder if accepting bitcoin for payment would paint a bigger target on these gun and ammo sellers than they already have (or at least I wonder if that would be a fear these sellers might have.)

These sellers are more dependent on keeping their Federal Firearms License than they are in being able to accept credit card or bank transfer.  (i.e., they currently seem to have more than enough business from customers at their retail locations and gun shows where sales are cash only).

But if this were to escalate to where banks start to outright refuse provide banking service to gun and ammo sellers then bitcoin could become a necessary component for survival of these businesses.