Is this bad behavior in a gun shop

[Nushif]

The haggling and not coming down wouldn't be an issue to me.

But the moment he puts his arm around me and "tells me how it is" he'd get angry Nushif. And angry Nushif is not cordial, laid back and happy Nushif.

 

[Serenity]

The touching you part is what bothered me the most. Of all the places for someone to get in people's personal space.

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

He would have lost me the moment he put his arm around me. Unless you're an actual friend or family, don't put your hands on me.

 

[HOOfan_1]

It's your money, spend it where you want to spend it. If you gave the whole story, then you didn't do anything wrong. If you feel he mistreated you and you are upset about your previous deal, if the gun hasn't come in and he can't give you a specific time...get a refund, if he won't give it, tell your credit card company to cancel the charge.

He can run his shop however he likes within the law, he can also watch it crash and burn as he loses customers. His shop, his choice. Your money, your choice.

 

[tekarra]

Very condescending behaviour on his part. Pick up your gun, then tell him you will never darken his doorway again and tell him why.

 

[sig228]

Sorry but I'm going against the grain on this one. You are willing to pay gunstore price on a gun (vs a Davidsons or Gunbroker deal) and then haggle him over a $30 magazine which another poster noted that you COULDN'T buy any cheaper online???

If I was the owner I would have thrown you out, refunded your deal (less a fee of course) and asked you not to return.

You probably embarrassed him in front of other customers. You disrespected him in his own house. You deserve everything you got plus more.

I'm not a gunstore owner but I would NEVER throw out the "cheaper online" argument. I would simply look elsewhere.

Local gunstores are a dying breed because of attitudes like yours.

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Telegraph operators were a dying breed not too long after the telephone came out too. It's called creative destruction.

 

[theautobahn]

I'm not a gunstore owner but I would NEVER throw out the "cheaper online" argument. I would simply look elsewhere.

Why not? It never hurts to ask. You shouldn't own a retail establishment if you're going to be insulted every time someone makes you an offer. When I buy tires, I bring the tirerack price (with shipping) and most of the local tire shops will match it.

My LGS has extremely low prices on new and used guns. Most of his used guns are priced extremely competitively. Even so, my buddy will often throw out stupid, lowball offers on used guns. Sometimes they're met with a detailed description of what he can do with sand, but sometimes they lead to some haggling and an even better deal.

 

[HOOfan_1]

If I was the owner I would have thrown you out,
.

Wow...that is a great way to submarine a business....

THAT would be embarrassing. If I were a customer in the store and saw the owner throw someone out for asking for a reasonable quantity discount, I would walk right out the door

I worked full time retail management for 5 years. I heard a bunch of off the wall stuff. Yes some of it even offended me, but I certainly knew how to say no in a way that didn't run paying customers off. Sometimes if it was in my power I even worked out a deal with them.

 

[GLOOB]

If I was the owner I would have thrown you out, refunded your deal (less a fee of course) and asked you not to return.

You probably embarrassed him in front of other customers. You disrespected him in his own house. You deserve everything you got plus more.

So aside from being receiving false promises, paying higher prices, and getting thrown out AND ripped off if one were to unintentionally cause you to feel embarrassment over your uncompetitive prices, what would be the benefit of shopping at your store?

 

[HGM22]

1. You actually are supposed to pay the tax.

2. If a gunshop owner told me he couldn't order something, but the place up the street had it, he'd gain my respect for putting customer service ahead of profit.

 

[rspeters]

Wow, it's pretty apparent who in this thread gets good deals and who doesn't

 

[Tex4426]

i work in retail and the policy is the customer is always right.. period....you make them happy they come back...so what he sells you 2 mags for say 52 bucks then your back in there buying a gun..if i was a owner and i had to take a few dollars less profit on a magazine to keep someone happy then im gonna do it..its called business

 

[JohnBT]

"When I buy tires, I bring the tirerack price (with shipping) and most of the local tire shops will match it."

The tire store guys I know are already well aware of what tires cost on tirerack, etc. They hear it everyday and know what it takes to be competitive.

The gun store guys I know are well aware of what gun stuff costs on line. They have the internet at home, too.

At least the dealer took the conversation outside instead of saying his piece in front of other people. Maybe I'm just not thin-skinned enough to be bothered by some stuff. Maybe I'm just hard of hearing.

 

[S&W620]

Attitudes like the one displayed by the shop owner are why LGS's go out of business.

Most of the smaller gun shops in my area are manned by mental midgets who seem to know everything about everything....except common courtesy and the difference between fact and opinion. Most of these guys seem irritated when asked to do anything other than spout off opinions.

The rare shop that does employ friendly, courteous guys gets my business every time, if for nothing more than a transfer fee if they can't match a price.

As far as asking to match a price, that's part of doing business. If the guy doesn't want people to ask for a better price, don't offer goods/services for sale. It's kinda part of the deal and certainly not "offending him in his own house" as has been suggested.

If these type of owners want to take the "my way or the highway" approach, that's fine, most folks will ultimately take the highway.

 

[Gtimothy]

I support my LGS as much as my wallet can tolerate. If I'm looking for something in particular and my LGS has it at a reasonable price over an internet price, I'll buy from them. Reasonable price translates into; price of the item + sales tax + 10%. If this price does not fall within five or ten dollars of the cost to do an online purchase, I pass. I work hard for the few dollars the government lets me keep and I have to spend wisely. If that means I take my business to the competition, so be it!

 

[buck460XVR]

1. You actually are supposed to pay the tax.

2. If a gunshop owner told me he couldn't order something, but the place up the street had it, he'd gain my respect for putting customer service ahead of profit.

That and the fact that because most LGS's don't charge full MSRP for new firearms, they make little profit on new guns. They need to make a profit somewhere to stay in business. Folks claim they want to support the local mom and pop shops, but then whine when they charge what they do to make enough profit to stay in business. Don't matter how nice they are to customers if they don't make a profit. Many times small LGS's can't buy accessories like mags for the price the big internet store can sell them for. Hard to blame a business man for not wanting to sell an item at a loss or zero profit. Gettin' in his face and tellin' him that you can buy it cheaper on line is not news to him.....it is just plain rude.

I always wish when I read these types of threads that we could hear the store-owners side of the story.......

 

[W L Johnson]

I ask if he has any in 5.45 he says no and tells me I could go to JG sales up the street. I ask why he doesn't have any he then tells me some crap about how that round isn't going to be around long, and that it's not proven ( as if it just came out yesterday ).

It only been in front line service for, what now, 38 years. Actually longer than the 7.62x39 was in front line service with SU/Russia.

 

[Calhoun]

The second he made physical contact with me he would have lost all future business, as well as getting a polite but firm elbow to the ribs. Being a condescending <NOT NICE GUY> is one thing, crossing into one's physical space is completely different.

 

[DarkswordDX]

I manage a gun store in the midwest.

I have to resist a burning itch to slap customers in the face when they start talking to me about "online prices." Two things:

A: If it's a new gun we don't run that much of a markup on it, and I don't have any wiggle room unless you're buying a bunch of stuff or placing a big order. We have bills to pay, and if you want us to stick around and have cool stuff to sell you, then we need to be paying them.

B: The internet is a PISS POOR price reference on guns. The majority of the websites that sell firearms on the net all do the same thing: They will list the inventory of one of their big distributors, like RSR, as their own inventory. Then drop-ship the firearms to your FFL from the distributor. These guys have no overhead. No storefront, no warehouse, just a couple jerks with a website and a shipping computer or ten. They pay a fraction of what we pay to stay in business, so they can sell the same gun that I'm selling with a 3% markup and still make money on volume. I have to mark it up by 12% to make the same relative profit after overhead costs.

C: Some online sales, like new guns on Gunbroker, will be posted by other dealers who have been sitting on that gun and are unable to move it, so they'll blow it out on an auction at their wholesale cost to get their money back and clear the shelf space. Yes, I'm going to price match the guy who is selling it at (sometimes even below) cost. I don't like food or gasoline or paying the electric bill or anything.

If you want to haggle with me in our store I'm amiable a lot of the time. But like most shops, the rules of etiquette are:

1: Bring cash. Not debit cards, but paper bills.
2: Be nice about it. Even if I have to shoot you down I'm still cool with you as long as you're a nice guy about it, and if I can I'll try to hook you up with something we can make a deal on.
3: Make your offer reasonable. I'm a lot happier to nibble a chunk of that sales tax off for you than telling me you want my $1100 Sig for $900 because someone online has it cheaper. That extends to:
4: The first time you say "Blahblahblah has it cheaper!" in front of my other customers expect to be told "Then you should go <deleted> buy it there. Don't bother coming back you rude little <deleted>." If you're polite enough to ask me in private I'll be happy to give you an idea why our prices are higher. If you seem like a cool guy sometimes I'll even recommend places you can go that I KNOW can beat our prices, just to help you out. Once in a blue moon I'll even show someone who doesn't believe me our distributor catalog and they can SEE what our cost is for themselves.

We have a sign in the corner of the shop that says "Prices and Availability are subject to change according to customer's attitude." Your demeanour and our wholesale cost is what decides if I can make you a deal or not. If you wave someone else's prices in my face, expect them stuck somewhere and to have to find a new store. Customers can vote with their feet, gun shops can vote with their boots. It's all about attitude.

 

[S&W620]

Darksword, it sounds like you are a bit upset at the fact that those guys have a better business model than you, or so it seems anyway.

You say the price reference is PISS POOR, but that's not true. The only thing that sucks about using internet pricing is that it doesn't benefit you.

No offense, and this isn't personal at all, but I don't give two you know what's about your electric bill, food, gas or store front. That's for you to worry about. I'll worry about my own food, gas and electric bill and order the product online, as you (and those like you) suggest. Then I will find a COURTEOUS LGS owner/manager to make a few bucks on the transfer.

But yeah, you really showed us a thing or two by telling us to <deleted> off.

 

[Nushif]

Darksword, it sounds like you are a bit upset at the fact that those guys have a better business model than you, or so it seems anyway.

Not neccesarily a better business model. He may be catering to buyers who actually like going home with their gun, who like walking into a store, comparing products or even like actually holding a gun and getting *that one.*
Is it a cheaper business model? Sure! But does it provide the SERVICE that a brick and mortar shop does? I could buy a gun online for cheaper. But I want SERVICE with that gun, but I do pay for that.
"Better" "Worse" "Always" "Never" ... harsh words that aren't very useful coming from the human condition, I like to think.

 

[PRM]

We have a sign in the corner of the shop that says "Prices and Availability are subject to change according to customer's attitude."

Nuff Said


LGS... I quit going to them in our area years ago. Got tired of the condescending "know it all" attitudes. Seems to be a reoccurring theme in the smaller stores. My shift away from the LGS to the internet was twofold. First: better prices, Second: was an ordered gun. My LGS ordered a new firearm for me and when it came in, it was defective. It was a breech loader, that would not lock up correctly. I had a pretty heated discussion with the owner's 19 year old son over the sale. He was upset because I would not accept the gun. Even stated in "his time" he had shot lots of breech loaders that were loose and did not lock up tight. I'm always amazed at the lack of people skills some people have and stay in business.


I'd get my money back ~ and not darken their door again. Too easy to get what you need these days to put up with attitudes.

 

[S&W620]

Nushif, if you have no problem paying for that service, more power to you. I'm more of a bottom line type of a guy. My problem with the gentleman's point of view is while he may not be able to compete with internet pricing for a slew of reasons, he (and those like him) may still offer those customers, such as myself, who are more bottom line driven than others, the option of transferring the gun. Sounds like a better option to me that alienating a customer with a good ole "<deleted>"

As far as the "better", I was referring to the fact that the business model requires less overhead/capital/risk to make the same profits. That is, in fact, a better business model. Whether or not that is the type of business that a business owner chooses to use is up to them, but the facts remain the same.

 

[JohnKSa]

Darksword, it sounds like you are a bit upset at the fact that those guys have a better business model than you, or so it seems anyway.

It's a different business model. If you want to do all your business online, you're welcome to do so, but not everyone wants that and those that don't need to understand the reality that the same things that can make an LGS preferable to an online dealer in some respects also make it more expensive to operate.

What Darksword is upset about is people who want it all. They want all the service/interaction they've come to expect from an LGS AND the prices that they see online. It just doesn't work that way. It CAN'T work that way.

...LGS owner/manager to make a few bucks on the transfer.

If everyone thinks that way, it will soon get pretty hard to find an LGS to do transfers. And the ones that do stick it out won't be doing transfers for "a few bucks."