Tippmann 98 Rental?

Hi!
I'm in a kinda sticky situation, and thought that I'd check if someone here could help me out with some advice.

I just started with paintball, and thought that i'd buy my own marker so that I don't have to rent a marker whenever i want to play. I found a power-pack at one of the two paintball-stores (which by the way has a worse reputation than the other store, but it was cheaper) in the city i live in, and bought the package. I got everything i needed, the marker, 12oz co2, mask, rep kit and barrel condom. I played once in the woods with a friend of mine, which also bought the same package, and it performed rather well.

Yesterday I went to the other store in this city, because it was just by the road on my way to a reball-match. He refilled my Co2, and i asked him if they had a red-dot-sight in stock. I showed him my marker, and he got pretty upset. The marker which i had been sold was a Tippmann 98 RENTAL, not a Custom. It is a 98 rental with act, and the seller at the other store never informed me as a rental. Their websites says that it's the same marker as a custom, and they buy them in bulk and sell these producs as a package. The guy at this other store said that the rental was performing way poorer than the 98 custom, and would get worn out faster.

He got very upset by the fact that they had sold me this marker, and said that by Tippmanns rules they're not even allowed to sell me a rental-marker. He told me to go back to the store and demand either my money back or at least a 98 Custom basic. I though my maker were upgradable as any other 98 Custom and would be performing just as well, the website of the store who sold me the marker says that

wasteland paintball store wrote: this is the rental, which means my buy them in bulk, which results in a lower price, but has nothing to do with the quality (rental or not rental)

The guy at the second store told me to demand my money back and "(direct quote)tell them to burn in hell". I've posted this same story at a norwegian forum, and most say that it is a normal 98 custom, but someone is sceptic and so on, i never get an answer, just speculations.

I uploaded some photos of my marker at the forum, browse this topic to view the photos further down. Click the photos for full-size version.

What do you think? Is the rental a fully upgradable marker like the 98 Custom ACT, or is it a poorer performing marker? What should I do, demand my money back, or keep the marker?

Thanks for every informative answers!

Thanks for a quick reply! I sendt Tippmann a mail yesterday and are currently awaiting reply from them. The guy at store #2 said that their shops are the only real importer of Tippmann in this country, and that the shop where i bought my marker get their markers from some seller in France. He also said that there are no warranty on the retail markers, and if something screws up inside my marker it would be pretty expensive for me to have it fixed, he (as certified tippmann tech serviceman) would charge me 60$ per hour he worked on my marker.

He also mentioned something about a letter from Tippmann's manufacturer in USA which he would get from Tippmann hopefully within next week, which states that no rental markers are to be sold random individuals, signed by Tippmann.

Wether he was a seller who just wants me and my friend to buy a marker at their shop (which was about 75% more expensive than what the rental costed me) or actually ment that I've been totally ripped of is hard to judge.

The marker seems (as in pictures) brand new, but the two screws in the grip are getting pretty rusty, as also shown in the pic. The outer shell is split into two pieces on the left side, just as the 98 Custom Platinum. The 98 Custom ACT does not seem to have split shell on the left side according to the photos @ tippmann.com.

So, i would like to get a flatline barrel, a collapsible stock, response trigger, maybe a rail and a red-dot-sight, the parts for a 98 Custom ACT would fit right on my 98 rental?

Thanks!

Thanks, hehe, seems like i'm getting some different opinions here aswell. Noone has yet managed to pin what marker this is, but you're right K Hop, the apperance of the marker is much alike the 98 C Platinum, comparing it to the images at tippmann.com.
Is it possible to install aftermarket rails to the marker, and then put on a red-dot-sight?

I wonder if the marker has the same internal componens though, i paid 1699,- NOK (aprox. 270$) for the marker including stock 200rnds ammobox, 12oz CO2-tank, and a basic single-glass V-Force mask. In any Norwegian webshop the 98C Platinum is priced 255$-260$, and that is only the marker. The shop with the sceptic guy had priced the T98C basic with 0,8l HPA, same ammobox and double-glass mask for 2500,- NOK (400$), and it seemed pretty obvious that he was raising the 98C basic way over and as a way better marker than the rental i had.

By the way, it hit me that i can just copy the urls from the post at this other forum and post them here, click the image for hi-res!









Thanks helping me clear up this mess!


Edited by MannYboi - 12 October 2008 at 4:49pm

Basically what you have is the Platinum without some of the accessories. Rental guns don't need the top rails or sling mounts, so Tippmann is leaving those off of the guns that they sell as rentals. FYI, there should be no distinquishable performance or reliability difference between what you have and a retail pack gun. However, the shop you get them from is most likely not an authorized reseller and the place he got the markers from may get a call from Tippmann if they find out who they are.