Agree!!
It's just common courtesy in any retail business, to step back if you you are just BS'ing with the clerk when an actual customer approaches. Otherwise is just plain rude!
A day in a gun shop.
- Thread starter Ditchtiger
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Agree!!
It's just common courtesy in any retail business, to step back if you you are just BS'ing with the clerk when an actual customer approaches. Otherwise is just plain rude!
blarby
Member
S'ok- just let me know when you are going to be there next if you can !
I can think of no better way to kill a saturday afternoon.... other than behind the trigger !
I can think of no better way to kill a saturday afternoon.... other than behind the trigger !
sappyg
Member
Sometimes I feel sorry for the guy behind the counter at an LGS.
There's that mind numbing chest beating bravado BS I overhear from some of the customers and the guy is simply stuck behind the counter having to listen.
A good exchange I had this week end with a gun salesman
Me: I just don't need another gun
Overweight counter guy: I don't need another cheeseburger but if someone puts one in front of me I'm gonna eat it
Me: get the paperwork
There's that mind numbing chest beating bravado BS I overhear from some of the customers and the guy is simply stuck behind the counter having to listen.
A good exchange I had this week end with a gun salesman
Me: I just don't need another gun
Overweight counter guy: I don't need another cheeseburger but if someone puts one in front of me I'm gonna eat it
Me: get the paperwork
Aww, you got butt hurt. Did it ever dawn on YOU to ask to see something, or bring to the clerk's attention you'd like to be helped? You've got a mouth too, right? Maybe your wandering around and body language sent him the "no, just looking" message. Retail clerks hear that about 80% of the times they try to offer assistance.
I have a saying, "Everyone should have to work at least one retail Christmas. The world would be a better place.
PedalBiker
Member
We just had a new shop open in town. They are hopping busy all the time. I've bought quite a bit of stuff there, but many times I just need to get out of the office. I don't want to chat, I just want to look at guns and de stress. I have a reasonable budget, but I just can't make a purchase every time I'm in the store.
jimmyraythomason
Member
In 1994, just after Clinton's semi-auto ban was passed, I went into a shop in Tarrant(a suburb of Birmingham) with the intent to buy an AR. A clone would have been fine. I had $1200 in cash to spend and a couple of hundred extra for a cushion. There was an elderly gentleman working the counter alone. I told him what I was looking for and he said he would have to get the owner as he didn't know anything about ARs. The owner was in the back eating his lunch but came out when the older gentleman called for him. Longer story short is the owner proceeded to get the most expensive all dolled up target model he had priced above $2500 dollars. I told him I didn't have that much to spend. This for some reason angered him. Never even looking at me, he put the rifle back up, told the older gentleman not to disturb his lunch again and stormed into the back. The older man apologized profusely but it was too late. Just for good measure I showed him the cash I had to prove I came in to buy and left. I went to a neighboring town and bought a Bushmaster for $860. That shop was happy to help me out. FWIW the shop in Tarrant was known as The Birmingham
Pistol Parlor.
scbair
Member
I've been an active shooter and hunter for more than 50 years. I have a pretty good library of reference materials on firearms, history, etc., and try to keep abreast of new developments in the field. I recently retired from the corporate meatgrinder, and began part-time work at the LGS.
Things I've learned:
1) Check each weapon to ensure it's unloaded, before handing to a customer (lots of them don't, and muzzle discipline is too often nonexistent).
2) Check to ensure unloaded before returning to the display case (just in case the next employee forgets....).
3) If advice is sought, offer it. If the customer is absolutely, positively determined to purchase a .500 S&W for concealed carry, just sigh and do the paperwork.
4) If a customer enters the store and heads directly to a specific firearm or genre (especially AR 15s), it's almost certain that customer knows more about that particular model / genre than I do. It's simple: Customer wants model X. Customer performs extensive research (Internet, magazines, fellow shooters, etc.) and learns about model X from A to Z. I have to maintain familiarity with all the rifles, handguns, shotguns, ammo, components, reloading gear, accessories, etc., the LGS offers. Just don't be too proud to admit I have no idea whether the 16.5" M4-config barrel from manufacturer A is as good as the 16.75" lightweight barrel from manufacturer B ...
Most customers are great to deal with. Some I worry about. I have only encountered one "bad" customer. He was furious about being delayed by NICS; got loud and abusive. The manager and I invited him to do business elsewhere, and he never took possession of the handgun he wanted to buy.
It is definitely a different world, behind the counter. I'm fortunate that I only do it to keep engaged and active. The day it stops being fun, I'll tender my resignation.
Things I've learned:
1) Check each weapon to ensure it's unloaded, before handing to a customer (lots of them don't, and muzzle discipline is too often nonexistent).
2) Check to ensure unloaded before returning to the display case (just in case the next employee forgets....).
3) If advice is sought, offer it. If the customer is absolutely, positively determined to purchase a .500 S&W for concealed carry, just sigh and do the paperwork.
4) If a customer enters the store and heads directly to a specific firearm or genre (especially AR 15s), it's almost certain that customer knows more about that particular model / genre than I do. It's simple: Customer wants model X. Customer performs extensive research (Internet, magazines, fellow shooters, etc.) and learns about model X from A to Z. I have to maintain familiarity with all the rifles, handguns, shotguns, ammo, components, reloading gear, accessories, etc., the LGS offers. Just don't be too proud to admit I have no idea whether the 16.5" M4-config barrel from manufacturer A is as good as the 16.75" lightweight barrel from manufacturer B ...
Most customers are great to deal with. Some I worry about. I have only encountered one "bad" customer. He was furious about being delayed by NICS; got loud and abusive. The manager and I invited him to do business elsewhere, and he never took possession of the handgun he wanted to buy.
It is definitely a different world, behind the counter. I'm fortunate that I only do it to keep engaged and active. The day it stops being fun, I'll tender my resignation.
Scarpia
Member
...then there's the know-it-all guy behind the counter who was a gunsmith. This guy at one of my LGS's lectures everyone who steps up to the counter. You can't say a word without this guy blabbing about his knowledge and wisdom of everything related to guns and shooting. Heaven forbid if you say something like "lever" instead of "ambidextrous slide release". When I walk into this shop to check for something I can't live without, I turn around and leave if this clown is working the counter.
Al Thompson
Moderator Emeritus
If that was in Columbia on Broad River Road, he wasn't lying.
Potatohead
Member
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- Mar 9, 2013
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Put me in this group...same thing at one my LGSs.
Joe Demko
Member
I've mentioned this in many other threads on many other boards. Gun shops are retail sales. Guys go into it because they like guns. Problem is, it ain't about guns. It's about dealing with the general public. Everything from stupid questions on down that gun store workers complain about, except maybe getting muzzle swept, you will hear retail workers from any other shop of your choice complaining about. Retail is retail and it takes real people skills to make it a career. Too many gun store owners and employees lack the necessary people skills. They thought working in a gun store would be about guns...alas it is about people.
HexHead, I think you have this all wrong. A salesperson is getting paid to sell, not wait to be called upon while he's talking to his friends. It's a business, not a social club. What is the "no just looking" message? How could you possibly know if you don't ask? You can't.
Even if you don't make a sale 80% of the time, if you don't don't talk to your customers, you're not making a sale 100% of the time. There are plenty of other gunshops.
Even if you don't make a sale 80% of the time, if you don't don't talk to your customers, you're not making a sale 100% of the time. There are plenty of other gunshops.
I disagree. When I go into a store to look for something, I don't care about someone coming over to help me, unless I want help, and then I'll ask. I don't feel the need to get my butt kissed wherever I go.
I'd rather see five guys standing around to ask for something I need than stores like Sears where you can walk around for ten minutes just looking for someone to check your purchases.
It's not butt kissing. It's assisting a customer. Suppose it is a large store. If a salesperson comes up and asks, "May I help you find something?" You say, "No thanks, I'm just looking". Salesperson says, "Well if you have any questions, please let us know".
It's called customer service. Salespeople are there to guide customers in the correct direction. I'm pretty sure nobody wants to kiss your butt.
It's called customer service. Salespeople are there to guide customers in the correct direction. I'm pretty sure nobody wants to kiss your butt.
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ljnowell
Member
You ever try to make friends with " the old codgers?"
I gotta tell you most of my friends in the gun world are 20-30 years older than me, some more. I've learned ore from a particular 80 yr old fella than I have anywhere else. When they realize you want to bs a little they usually make room and sometimes pour you a cup of coffee. Give it a try.
Some of my best shooting experiences have come about from hanging out at the gunstore "with the old codgers". I got introduced to IDPA, invited to join a private gun club where I'm now secretary taking over for one of the "codgers", introduced to the world of high powered rifles and the new hobby of reloading. Some of those guys are among my closest friends now.
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