A gripe on gun shops

[M47 Dragon]

M47 Dragon, What's the name/location of that store? I'd like to give it a try.

Turner's Outdoorsman in Reseda. I can't speak for their other stores around Southern California, but the one in Reseda has always been good to me. Unfortunately, one of their great gun counter guys recently passed away.
The remaining staff is good, though.

 

[rainbowbob]

Warning: thread-drift

When a customer buys, he offers them a drink (Scotch, Vodka etc - free) and invites them to sit down and relax, have drink and a smoke and watch tv or chat.

Lanternlad:
Man...where is this slice of heaven? In my (nanny) state, they have pretty much driven the old-style cigar shops out of business with the no-smoking laws. We too had shops where you could sample and smoke...but no more. The only ones left sell crap cigars, poorly stored, along with the dope pipes and cigarettes.

 

[Corporal K]

There's a local gun shop that I frequent even though it's on the other side of town. The owner and staff are friendly and knowledgeable and will negotiate.

When I go in, though, I don't ask them to pull things off the rack or out of the case unless I'm serious about a purchase. In other words, I don't waste their time.

Unfortunately, the place is full of gun-shop commandos who fondle things they'll never buy and babble endlessly to the sales guys about 9mm vs .45 or whatever.

A lot of gun shop owners are clueless but so are a lot of their walk-in "customers".

 

[230RN]

LR1 said:

AU
Here in Australia everybody is against us. Yes the whole population so its in the best interest of the gun shops to be nice.

Maybe that ties in with the positive comments from our California friend, above.

Welcome aboard, mate!

siglite, as I said, I got tired of working 70 or more hours a week and sleeping on a cot in the store every once in a while.

rainbowbob, we've still got 'em out here. But I think you have to join a "club" (probably dues are $1.00 per year ) to get in the back room to enjoy/test the cigars. As a third-class citizen, I frequent the place to buy my evil yucchy cigarettes and bought a couple of hygrometers from them to keep an eye on the humidity in my gun storage areas. Had to calibrate the hygrometers (a simple process), but I was glad to find them in the first place. Had been looking for cheap hygrometers for a year.

 

[PAshooter]

I'm blessed to have two great gunshops nearby. The first, also my indoor range, is big, friendly, staffed by helpful knowledgeable folks, and their prices are fair. They do charge a surcharge for credit card use, but I don't like the damned things anyway, and would rather pay cash. Sort of forces me to save up for what I want - not a bad thing. Anything they have (or can get) that I want is purchased there.

Much closer to home (like a block away) is a little bitty Browning dealer that's also a taxidermist and a framing (as in picture framing) shop. They probably stock only a couple dozen rifles and shotguns, but offer a fair deal on transfers. All my Internet and mail order purchases get transferred through them.

So I'm pretty well covered.

 

[rse2]

Biggest gripe = posted NO Loaded Guns no exceptions.

I've experienced all the previous behaviors. My biggest gripe is NO GUN gun shops.

Here in the West Palm Beach area all the shops have decided to "legally" post that they are NO GUN ZONES. No kidding.

One has gone out of business apparently. I walked out and never went back after my first and only visit a few years ago. Yes I asked about the policy. No joy. Had a nice little range I would have gladly joined too.

The others are currently adamant. Citing "safety" concerns. Alternative "safety" postings I've seen work well else ware were suggested and rejected. No Handling, always holstered etc... They all give CCW classes too. Just don't exercise your rights around us.

The only store that respects CCW is the new Gander Mountain of all places. So Gander Mountain wins my dollars.

I had the same problem in Tucson AZ. Found a good one that respected us (just keep it holstered) and they got all my business.

 

[J Star]

Just a couple of things from someone who used to work in retail:

Credit card surcharges: A lot of people don't realize that depending on the method used to accept credit cards, the store can be charged for each purchase. Thus, to accept your credit card, they either eat the cost from the profit, or they pass it on to you.

In the case of gun stores, the markup on a lot of guns is very small. In my case, my FFl dealer charged me $407 for a WASR-10. The dealer price was $327 + shipping, which was about $20. Deduct 8% NYS sales tax of about $32 from that total, and he made about $28.

Would YOU want to lose the 3-5% of that $28 to the credit card companies?

 

[PAshooter]

Would YOU want to lose the 3-5% of that $28 to the credit card companies?

It's actually 3-5% of the $407 selling price of the gun. So he'd make, what, $8?

I have no problem with surchages (which is actually a discount for cash), except when it comes to mailorder and internet stores. A credit card is pretty much your only choice when buying from them, so the cost of using them should be factored in to their advertised prices.

 

[neededausername]

When I was shopping for my Mark III I noticed this attitude at most of the local gun shops. Then I went into a shop that specialized in camping and fishing, and happened to sell guns as well. They were very friendly, and helpful. Didn't mind answering a first time gun owner's questions and didn't seem bothered by the fact that I told them I wasn't buying anything that day. Needless to say, when I did buy my gun, I bought it from them.

BTW, my Brother in law is in the market for a much more expensive gun. Guess where he is going to buy it from...

 

[che_70b]

About credit card charges. The ONLY store around here that charges extra to run a card is a gun shop. Every other place does not, though some have minimum purchase amount to use a card. Your arragement with a credit card company should be treated the same way you treat electricity bills, etc. Factored into you total operational costs not tacked on as an additional charge on a gun.

 

[neviander]

Wow, reading all of these posts makes me feel very blessed to have an uncle-in-law that owns a gun shop with a VERY large selection. Plus the family likes me so he'll order anything I want with no down payment AND he gives me a discount . I've only ordered a 24/7 9mm from him and am about to order an EAA witness E.M. .45 acp (I'm assuming he doesn't have one in stock). He sells AR-15's for about 400 less than Gander Mountain does...pm me if you're in the Tyler area and want the name of the store

 

[WayneConrad]

"No loaded guns" is also my biggest gripe.

I don't know why, but I usually get treated pretty well at gun stores. Today, I special ordered a gun. The fellow had to spend a fair amount of time tracking it down, but he seemed to know who to talk to with his distributors. That kind of service is worth paying for. And this store doesn't make me unload.

There is one gun store I won't set foot in again--they sold my sweetheart a revolver and then told her that the busted cylinder latch thumb piece was "supposed to spin around like that." They could have told her, "Smith and Wesson will take care of it, you can send it to them yourself, or we will do it for you, which would you like?" and I would have been happy with them. But they lied, and it cost them our business forever. By strange coincidence, that store is one of the ones that made me unload before entering. I don't miss that silliness.

 

[coelacanth]

yeah, what WayneConrad said. . . .

lots of gunshops here in the valley of the sun - most pretty good - some laughably bad. The best of the bunch IMHO is the mom and pop store over in Mesa called The Pistol Parlor. No BS, no ridiculous prices, no problem. And no - I am not connected with them in any way.

 

[230RN]

neededausername remarked:

When I was shopping for my Mark III I noticed this attitude at most of the local gun shops. Then I went into a shop that specialized in camping and fishing, and happened to sell guns as well. They were very friendly, and helpful. Didn't mind answering a first time gun owner's questions and didn't seem bothered by the fact that I told them I wasn't buying anything that day. Needless to say, when I did buy my gun, I bought it from them.

To me, that ties in with the lack of training that most larger retail stores will give its employees --as I noted previously. It's also been my experience that if a store happens to sell guns as well as other stuff, the employees are much more courteous and welcoming. Just a general observation, confirmed recently with several experiences with a newly-opened store that mainly sold soccer balls and baseball gloves and the like (Big 5).

Neviander, you got an unmarried sister, maybe? Or even an unmarried grandmother? Or could I adopt you or something? Do you have any relatives at all in Colorado?

Anything? Anything at all?

Help me out, here.

 

[Moonclip]

Some of it is subjective too, on a bad day like we all have one might get the worlds greatest gun shop worker at a bad moment. Turners Reseda is a store where I've received some of the worst service ever. I don't go there much though and I like to think that this has changed since mid 2006 when I bought two guns there, I've bought at least over 20 from other Turners locations.

However a friend of mine called yesterday and got very poor service and attitude. I don't like to bring up the race/color/creed/sex/agething but unfortunately some customers at some stores might get better service due to falling in to a group the owner/worker likes better than another.

 

[Homerboy]

My gripe with gunshops is the crappy money they will give you for a pistol you sell them, then they put a tag on it and mark it up for the next sucker. The one I used to go to offered my 20 bucks for a Ruger SP101 because "nobody wants revolvers anymore". Then, I inquired about selling him a Glock 26 that I had bought FROM HIM a month before. I added night sights and just never warmed up to it, so I asked what he would give me for it. 100 BUCKS! Why? "I have overhead". He would have slapped a $500 price tag on that gun right after I left.

 

[jhoff8487]

After reading through this thread, all of these reasons are why I've gone almost exclusively to buying online. The guys at the local shop know my face and name real well but only because in the past 4 months I've had 5 or 6 transfers coming through.

I go to places like Gander Mountain to browse around, handle the guns, but then I find them online. Even with shipping and transfer I can save upwards of $50 on every gun I've bought(sometimes as much as $200). It almost makes me sick to see what I could have bought some of my first pistols for online and seeing how bad I got ripped off.

I'm all for supporting the small local shops but when they're unwilling to assist you, don't care if you buy from them, and ask me questions like why would I ever want that...I'm done with them. All they'll get is transfers. No ammo, no guns, nothing. If they don't want to sell their products, then I certainly don't want to buy them.

The only real great purchase I've had was from a guy on Gun Broker who owns a pawn shop/gun store. He's the only place I'd really eagerly buy from again. I've tried GunBroker, Buds, and another that lapses me. I really wasn't impressed with their service(other than one dealer on GB)...nothing extraordinary.

 

[turnyourback]

The guy in the shop was condescending and clueless..."why would you want that?...they're terrible!..they're no longer in business..etc etc."

the same thing happened to me when i went into a gun shop a few weeks ago. the guys in there asked me what i was looking for and when i said a .45, they looked at me like i was crazy and said the same thing - why would you want that?! then they made some comment about me being vindictive towards a possible ex-husband (what?) and it was sort of awkward. i guess they didn't expect someone like me (i guess i don't really come off as someone who'd be into guns) to come into their shop actually knowing something about guns and wanting a .45 instead of a smaller, more concealable revolver or something... which is what a guy at another gun shop tried selling me when i was clearly looking at glock pistols.

strange.

 

[Texas Moon]

My biggest gripe is the lack of availability in the local shops.
They always want to "order" something. Heck, I can order it myself.
I want to look and see and feel the thing before I buy it.
I've learned to work around the local shop. They have ONE distributor.
If the distributor ain't got it, you ain't getting it.
So......I find what I want on line...communicate with the seller direct....pay for it...have local doofuss fax the FFL and take delivery.
Its a P.I.T.A. but I get what I want. If I waited on them I'd be old and grey beofre I got what I wanted.

 

[Moonclip]

yeah I like the we can "order" it thing too! I didn't want to order it, thats why I walked in to your store! I wanted some grips for a Colt D frame once and I got the we can order it speech. You can't stock everything but still...

I did know a gunshop that went under that did have almost EVERYTHING evena little attitude thrown in for free sometimes. Obscure calibers in stock and things like 3 shot 1/2 moonclips for out of production Astra and Ruger revolvers in stock.

 

[neviander]

230RN, No one (female) in the family is available at the moment, that I know of...sorry I've been to Golden a while back, pretty town, waaay up there.

 

[230RN]

^^^

Darn!

 

[mhinagoya]

I have a system for shopping for guns.

I take my wife with me. We walk in and her arm is through mine, like you would walk a date in to a prom.

If the man behind the counter won't be polite to a woman, then they are the bottom of the barrel and I walk out. I have no time to waste on a rude, crass individual.

If the salesman is polite to my wife and there is something I want to look at (am considering buying), I ask to see it and discuss it with my wife. A polite man will not interrupt a discussion between a man and his wife. This gives me time to examine the gun as much as I feel necessary. If I am very serious, I hand it to my wife and she will comment on how it feels in her hand.

Try it. You might be amazed at the difference it will make. It also doesn't hurt to realize that most guns are expensive and the presence of a wife along will signal to the counter person that someone may be serious about making a family purchase.

Bill.

 

[jhansman]

Look, I'm all for patronizing my local shop. No one has it tougher than the local B&M these days. Still, for a rifle I am in the market for, my gun shop wants $625 + sales tax (which they have to charge, I know), + transfer fee + DROS. I can order the same gun online for $515, no tax, free shipping, and my FFL's fee of $40. There is no way this shop will pricematch, so what should I do? The last time I priced gun with them and hinted that I could do much better online, the guy shrugged, turned and walked away. Guess where I bought?

 

[AirForceShooter]

+1 for the bringing the wife.
I'm married for 39 years and only bought a gun without my wife twice.
She's fun to take.

And if the clerk pisses her off, we're gone.

AFS