What qualities bother you most about businesses which sell firearms?

What qualities bother you most about businesses which sell firearms? (Choose up to 3.)

  • Lack of selection.

    Votes: 30 15.6%
  • High prices.

    Votes: 80 41.7%
  • Lack of technical knowledge.

    Votes: 32 16.7%
  • General ignorance/stupidity.

    Votes: 55 28.6%
  • Prejudice/bigotry.

    Votes: 20 10.4%
  • Unwillingness to deal.

    Votes: 23 12.0%
  • Overly political.

    Votes: 18 9.4%
  • Pushy salesmanship.

    Votes: 11 5.7%
  • Being made to feel unwelcome.

    Votes: 50 26.0%
  • Gossip.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Being ignored.

    Votes: 42 21.9%
  • The spewing of flat-out bad advice.

    Votes: 50 26.0%
  • Crusty gun shop curmudgeons.

    Votes: 31 16.1%
  • That special "deliverance" feeling.

    Votes: 2 1.0%
  • A "stressed-out" atmosphere.

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • Poor organization.

    Votes: 5 2.6%
  • A dirty store.

    Votes: 10 5.2%
  • I don't care for big-box stores.

    Votes: 13 6.8%
  • Extremely expensive transfer charges where applicable.

    Votes: 22 11.5%
  • An overly "tactical" feel.

    Votes: 25 13.0%

  • Total voters
    192
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I like one local store and visit often, the old codgers who hang out are okay, except for one old geezer who drops the "N" word or some other seriously politically incorrect crap all day. He has been asked to leave more than once and since he is a "friend of the family" he continues to return. I like my curse words and labels as much as the next guy, but there is a time and a place for off color comments. In public, in a business you do not own is not cool.

I'm sure this has cost a few sales over the years.
 
High prices: They have to turn a profit, I get that. But if they're significantly higher than their competitors there better be a good reason for, something extra that their competitors don't offer.

Overly political: I don't go to a gun shop to discuss politics. If someone wants to talk about a piece of legislation involving firearms, okay, but other than that I'm just not there for that.

Being ignored: I'd rather deal with an owner/worker who's a little grumpy than the ones that can't be bothered to assist me. I don't need someone to hold my hand. But when a customer walks in an owner/employee should ask if they need assistance or at the very least be visible and willing to assist a customer if the customer asks for help.

Predjudice and bigotry should be a given for everyone. Lack of technical knowledge bothers me a little, but I typically research something (not just guns) before I go to buy it anyways. Spewing bad advice bothers me but it doesn't effect me, I just worry about "noobs" taking that bad advice.
 
The two main LGS's I frequent I don't have any quarrels with at all, else I wouldn't go there.

One of those is a well known mid Atlantic store by the name of Green Top. Top notch store and by far my favorite.
 
I've gone in a few mom and pop stores where they seem like they'd be just as happy never to have customers come in as to help anyone, and I've been in some where I've had wonderful experiences. Big box stores have their problems as well, usually with uninformed workers, but sometimes the opposite is true and you come across an exception to the rule.

About 6 or so years ago a buddy was looking for a .308 bolt gun. We stopped in a local mom and pop shop and they wouldn't give us the time of day (maybe we looked too young or weren't one of their "regulars"). He asked what bolt guns they had in .308 and was told "what you see is what we got". We said the hell with it and left. Went across the street to Dicks and he ended up spending about $1500 on a rifle, scope, ammo and accessories. The gentleman at the counter was very helpful getting him all squared away and bore sighted in. I don't think there's a set pattern I've experienced, it's different almost anywhere you go.

But for me I selected high prices (I'm a big online shopper), being made to feel unwelcome and poor organization. I have a touch of OCD and some stores I can't even shop in without a slight panic attack.
 
One of the choices that absolutely blows me away is "Being made to feel unwelcome." Why in the world do people who work in sales make potential customer feel unwelcome? That's really utter idiocy.

I went into a shop once on vacation and the guy that should have greeted me completely ignored me. That's OK, I wanted to browse. I took a look at everything and a used Remington 550-1 .22 caught my eye. I stood in front of it, waiting for help to no avail. I kept waiting, nothing. Finally I nicely said "I'd like to take a look at this rifle, please." The guy finally said harshly (without turning his head) "which one?", followed by a sigh. I replied with a doubly harsh "never mind" and kept browsing.

A very pleasant guy came out from the back in shirt/tie and asked if I had been helped? I said that I would like to "shoulder" the 550-1. He smiled, took the gun off the rack and handed it to me, followed by a bore light. I asked "what's the price?" and when he told me, I couldn't believe how low it was. I bought it. This guy was an extremely smooth pro. He gave me his card -- he was the owner. I thanked him for his service and for the more than reasonable price. He smiled and gave me that knowing nob -- I suspect he may have cut the price on the fly.

Why he kept that other guy around still boggles my mind?
 
Posted by Hanz just above:

About 6 or so years ago a buddy was looking for a .308 bolt gun. We stopped in a local mom and pop shop and they wouldn't give us the time of day (maybe we looked too young or weren't one of their "regulars"). He asked what bolt guns they had in .308 and was told "what you see is what we got". We said the hell with it and left. Went across the street to Dicks and he ended up spending about $1500 on a rifle, scope, ammo and accessories. The gentleman at the counter was very helpful getting him all squared away and bore sighted in. I don't think there's a set pattern I've experienced, it's different almost anywhere you go.

When the above occurred should have taken the gun to the first store and said "lookie what I bought at xxx store," and show em the cash reg receipt. Wouldnt have to say they lost the sale, theyed figured it out.
 
I try to patronize my local LGS even it they are generally higher than any other place. Once I bought a Vortex scope from them. After I mounted and zeroed the scope the magnification ring would not turn. I took it back to the LGS and the owner backed away from me like I had leprosy or something saying he couldn't do anything for me, and if he shipped it back to Vortex I would have to pay his costs. In a nutshell I don't like stores that won't back their products. Now, I am less inclined to support this LGS and to shop around more.
 
Poll needs more than 3 selections, I would have clicked about a dozen of em'.


My main pet peeve is where they think they know more about what I need than I do.

.
 
Am I the only one who hasn't experienced this pretty much everywhere? I really like your threads Solomonson, but this one has me lost. I suppose my 3 answers would be similar to any store selling anything.
 
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A recurring problem I have with the "big box" stores is that everything is broken up into departments, and there's nobody around in the department I want to buy something for. So I go wandering around until I can find an employee who can page someone to the right department. Someone eventually shows up, but they don't have the key to the ammo cabinet, or can't sell a firearm, or whatever. And after half an hour or so of trying to get someone to sell me something, I'll wander back home.

Most of the "sales associates" could care less if you buy anything; they get paid either way.
 
I could have picked all of 'em, having been on both sides of the counter, but I went with lack of technical knowledge, spewing of flat-out bad advice, and overly "tactical" feel, especially, as FL-NC pointed out, from those who know nothing of the kind.
 
General ignorance bothers me. I have seen customers being incredibly stupid as well as store owners.

Another is a general disrespect of customers. My wife was having problems with one of her firearms and wanted to bring it in to a store with a gunsmith on duty. Before she even got the problem described, the owner of the store had grabbed the box, took out the firearm and said she was limp wristing it and to buy a Glock instead. The ear chewing he got from my Army veteran wife for being a "wannabe operator podunk redneck cop" was hilarious.
 
Honestly, I've probably been in at least 100 gun stores and I can think of about 2 that I'd recommend. There was a 3rd, but it went out of business. The large majority of them have outrageous prices and horrible customer service. I don't mind paying a little more if I get something in return, but at most of these I get worse service than I do from stores like Walmart or online stores, and they expect me to pay significantly higher prices for their poor service. I'm also not willing to pay an extra $100-200 on a $300 gun, yet most of the small shops seem to think that's acceptable. Just recently two of our local shops went out of business. One had been around for almost 30 years. I honestly don't miss them at all. If they hadn't tried to rip all of their customers off they would probably still be open.
 
When my wife decided to buy her "very own" handgun, we stopped at Kittery Trading Post (Maine)
we looked around, she saw a handgun she wanted to look at (under glass in the display) and stood there and stood there and stood there
I came over to see how she was doing (after a good 20 minutes) and immediately a "salesman" came over to see if he could help me.
I said "This lady was here ahead of me" and he said something to the effect of " Women take too much time" or something to that effect.
No money from us since for those @ssbags!!
 
I've heard some really "out there in space" political stuff in gun stores over the years that made me just want to leave and never come back. One of the not quite local places had a regular who just was so offensive that I'm surprised someone hadn't taken offense and popped him upside the head. He spouted off about blacks, jews, arabs, Mexicans, and for some reason, he really hated Puerto Ricans, even though I don't think I've ever met someone from PR around here. One funny thing though, he stammered and stuttered like he was going to stroke out when I told him that people from PR are US citizens. He's in a home now, in the "memory unit". The store is a much more pleasant place to stop into now that he's gone. There is another guy who spouts ignorant stuff all the time, but he just seems to be generally stupid and not really understanding what he's parroting. He makes me laugh, sometimes while I'm talking to him. Uncomfortable, yes, but amusing.
 
I didn't see it listed, and maybe it is, and I am just not seeing it in the same wording. The one thing that will guarantee me to not return to a store is when you ask about a particular firearm, and the employee responds with, "You don't want that, you need this." The local shops all have different products that are better deals than their competitors, so I will hit all of them if I am looking for something in particular, but don't presume to tell me that you know my needs better than I do. I once watched an employee tell the woman in front of me that the firearm she wanted was too much for her. Her husband corrected him, and I left before I wasted any more of my time.
 
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