Another gun shop mini-rant

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

Monkeyleg

Member.
Joined
Dec 25, 2002
Messages
5,057
Location
Decatur, AL
Reading Wedge's "annoying day at a 'gun shop'" thread inspired me to start my own little mini-rant.

For weeks now I've been calling gun shops to offer them a free trial subscription to my website. And I know immediately who's going to say "no" flat-out. The conversation ususally goes something like this:

Dialing Big Trading Company. I have no idea if Big Trading Company is a gun store, pawn shop or whatever else it might be. The listings don't usually go into detail, so the name of the shop can sometimes be misleading.

"Yeah?!"

"Um, may I ask if Big Trading Company is a gun shop?"

"Who wants to know?!"

"Well, I do."

"Whaddya want?"

"I was looking for the owner."

"You got him. So, whaddya want?"

Granted, only about one in twenty shops I call have this attitude, but I have to wonder how they stay in business. If I were looking to buy a gun, I'd hang up as soon as I heard that gruff "Yeah?!"

Anyone else ever notice this?
 
I don't usually call gun shops, but I did get this kind of attitude in person once while window shopping at a gun store I just found here in Utah. I didn't know the place existed, so I stopped in to look over there prices and selection. The guy made it seem like he'd rather have teeth pulled than help a potential customer. So I walked out. Loss of sale from me and all my friends. Sucks to be that guy.
 
I've run into this in so many gunshops I've lost count. I only deal with 3 people in the gun business. Notice, I said people, not gun stores. I have recieved the WORST service and some of the BEST service in the same shop.

Cheaper than Dirt comes to mind. If you deal with one guy, you're golden. But if you deal with the manager named Cody I believe.....you may as well walk out. You'll be offended before you complete the transaction. I was pretty much treated like an illiterate hillbilly with a fist full of "savin's" to buy "me one of them there six shooters". He seemed too bored with the sale to complete it, so I was handed off to about 3 different people. Took an hour and a half.

Then at another place I will leave unmentioned I had the following conversation...

Another one was whenever I come in and ask a question such as "does the Glock 17 hold 17 rounds?" answer "no, that's illegal."

I reply "what about preban mags?"

answer "why do you want high capacity mags? Ten ought to do it."

you get the picture.
 
I have one firearms dealer that I do business with almost exclusively. It's extremely rare for him not to be able to beat other's prices. I've only seen it happen once.

I deal with one ammo vendor for practice and match ammo, he does a fantastic job and will load my ammo any way I want and is VERY reasonable.

I prefer to deal with one leatherworker and have rarely had to go outside for my requirements.

All treat me like a member of the family and have earned my undying loyalty and return business.

I do this because I've run into my fair share of jerks out there who are either not interested in income, or charging way too much for cut-rate merchandise.
 
Crude, where was that?

I'll agree -- if somebody answers the phone with "Yeah!??!?" Then the conversation has ended before it started.

Wes
 
Answering the phone

I'll agree -- if somebody answers the phone with "Yeah!??!?" Then the conversation has ended before it started.

Wes
Click to expand...

That's why I answer the phone that way.

People who don't know me tend to hang up. I like that.

Also, the phone is listed under a cat's name (just the name, no address). A cat that's been dead for maybe 30 years. Wanna find me in the phone book you have to know the cat's name.

Silly cat is currently listed in two different states... :) I don't let him vote, though.
 
There's a particular gunsmith in my area that has the crappiest attitude I've ever seen. It started about 7 years ago:

I bought a new SKS that had a weak hammer spring. I called the guy up and asked if he had any.

"No. Those are junk. I don't work on those."

I asked if he knew where I could find one. He said, "Try a garbage can."

I chuckled and hung up. I thought he was just having a bad day.

Months later, my friend took an old shotgun to him that had been in his family for generations. The bead sight broke off and he asked the "gunsmith" if he could solder it back on.

"You'd be better off buying a new one" he said. "It's not worth fixing."

About a year later, I bought a Ruger 22/45. I'd had a MKII years ago with a very cool scope mount and a red dot. The back of the mount screwed into the rear sight hole, and the front mounted to a clamp that fit around the rear of the barrel. I asked Mr. Cheerful if he could order one for my new 22/45.

"Those are junk. They don't hold zero."

I explained that I used one before with no problems.

"You must not know how to shoot then, because they're junk. The only way to do it right is to drill and tap the reciever and screw the mounts on."

I asked him what he charged. 75 bucks. I told him to get lost. From the looks of his shop, he only worked on $1000+ skeet guns, and I saw a few fancy rifles in the racks (Weatherbys?). He doesn't need my money. I walked out of the pr!ck's shop and never looked back.

At this time in my hobby, I had no internet and didn't know where to buy accessories except for a Gander Mountain catalog I had. I decided that if I wanted to work on guns, I'd better do it myself. 5 or so years later, I don't think there's anything I want done to my guns that I can't do myself. Where I live now, there's a retired machinist up the road with his own shop where he tinkers. If I need a part, he'll make it - free of charge, except for material costs. The company I work for does some business with him, and he said my jobs are "on the house." . He said he used to shoot on a rifle team in school, and he made a lot of his own parts then. The attachment below is a muzzle brake that he made for my MAK-90.
 

Attachments

  • makbrake.jpg
    makbrake.jpg
    3.9 KB · Views: 240
I would love to acquire a relationship like KM spoke of. But as of yet, I have not found anyone who sees me as more than a potential money tree. I tried walking into my local gunshop to BS and window shop, this was back when I was a regular there. And I felt no one wanted so much as to say hello to me. This was back when I was going there twice a month, every month, for about 6 months straight.


Fume, It was a shop called Patriot Arms, it's in South Jordan. A litle shop in a strip mall. It is advertised as being a gun shop/gun smith location.
 
Why are we always so surprised? We should know better by now. John


Sturgeon's Law /prov./ "Ninety percent of everything is crap". Derived from a quote by science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon, who once said, "Sure, 90% of science fiction is crud. That's because 90% of everything is crud."
 
I was in one one of the gun shops in my general area several months ago. It was my first time there, and it does a very large amount of business through the range I shoot at via orders and transfers and what-not. Me and my dad walk in and we are shot, en masse, a dirty look from all five people working there as we walk in the door. Like we weren't good enough to be there with them or something. We look around for probably 20-25 minutes and not one of those worthless turds could be bothered to get up and ask if we might like to look at a gun. In fact, they couldn't be bothered to even speak to us at all. Not even so much as a "hey guys", or a "doin' all right today?"

Now, this wouldn't have bothered me as much as it did, but right before we left, a couple came in and the workers couldn't show them enough guns, and was greeting them before they even got all the way in the door. Being snubbed just like everyone else is one thing, but when you single out my dad and I as a very overt case of snubbing, then you can burn in hell.
 
Oh yeah, been by there... never actually went in, though.

A little while after that I was in "Get Some, LLC" when a guy came in and asked, "Are you guys in with that guy that owns Patriot Arms? I HATE that guy." :D I made no attempt to hide my laughter.

BTW, if you haven't been there, it's a great little shop. Got all kinds of variety and the guys are way cool, too. It's on 7200 South just on the West side of I-15... just a block or 2 from Sportsmans. I highly recommend them.

Wes
 
I had no idea there was a shop there, Fume. I may have to swing by there on my way to work tomorrow and check them out. Thanx.
 
Sadly, the best gun shop I know of in my area (Dean's) went out of business about a year ago - apparently the owner simply decided to retire when his building lease expired. Those guys were friendly, helpful, knowledgable, and reasonable...they even helped me out with some reloading trouble I was having one time.

The next best place is decent, but not spectacular in any way I've been able to find. Then there are places like The Gun Room, whose proprietor seems to think that the way to make money when business is slow is to raise prices. He's had the same handful of M1A mags sitting in a cabinet marked $80 each for about two years...and I just found out today that he'll do interstate transfers for just $45! (a competitor literally 150 yards away does 'em for $30, and a shop a few miles away only wants $25)
 
Everyone is always so easily "offended". It seems we have become a feminized society. Get over it. Did you ever try smiling FIRST? Maybe you'll get a more 'friendly' response....................
 
"Everyone is always so easily "offended". It seems we have become a feminized society. Get over it. Did you ever try smiling FIRST? Maybe you'll get a more 'friendly' response...................."

Wow. I never thought that the customer had to smile first. (Actually, I do smile first, but this is audio, not video).

Don't know if you've ever run your own business, but the customer is always first, and always right--even when he's wrong.

How many times have you called the local hardware store, only to have them answer "what's your major malfunction, numbnuts?" If it happened even once, chances are that store is out of business.

The companies, large and small, who survive in the gun industry do so because they recognize that customer service is first priority. Kimber, Taurus, Springfield, RCBS, Dillon and many other companies saw that years ago. They all get my loyalty.

Some rude and bitter man who doesn't have the common sense to even answer the phone with a "good afternoon" greeting deserves to fail.
 
There was a great little shop that used to be around me where I got my first rifle and my first .22 pistol. The two guys that worked there were both great and always remembered me when I went in. I actually just saw one of them a couple weeks ago while I was out shopping at another store. Must have been at least 4 years since his shop closed and he STILL remembered me. That's the kind of service that I like and I wish that this state wasn't so horrible to gun owners and gun shop owners or he'd still be in business. :cuss: :banghead:
 
Suprisingly, (or not) my favorite gunshop is not a gunshop at all, but a hardware store. They have a large room full of new and used longguns that they let you go and check out and handle for yourself. If you want to order something, the old man that runs the store will be happy to take all of the time needed to find what you need.

My other favorite is in a small town where it has a rival gunshop that opened up a big sporting goods store. The guys in the smaller gunshop are helpful, knowledgeable and friendly- customer service gets my business every time.
 
Everyone is always so easily "offended". It seems we have become a feminized society. Get over it. Did you ever try smiling FIRST? Maybe you'll get a more 'friendly' response....................
Click to expand...

Their business is retail sales. Their job is to make me want to buy something from them. A retail sales person should be friendly, courteous, and helpfull to all customers. Whether he/she wants to or not. Whether the customer really deserves it or not. That's thier job. People who don't understand that basic rule aren't going to make very much money in that business.

The way some gun shop employees treat customers is digraceful. Would you accept that kind of attitude from the waiter at a fancy restaurant? A car salesman? Your doctor? Didn't think so.

Dave
 
Everyone is always so easily "offended". It seems we have become a feminized society. Get over it. Did you ever try smiling FIRST? Maybe you'll get a more 'friendly' response
Click to expand...
Wow, straw man, ad hominem, AND irrelevance. Way to contribute! :barf:

I don't know why it is gun shops seem to fall prey to this kind of crap more than some other stores. You'd think that someone who spends that much money and effort to launch a business would want to try to make it successful. Which means customer service. If all you want to do is hang out with your pals and swap lies, there are cheaper ways to do it. And if your employees are the culprits, then perhaps its time to find new employees.

I've dealt with shops like that, but not for long. Another reason that when you find someone that actually understands what retail is about (service, quality, integrity, etc.), they get your repeat business.

- 0 -
 
Dean's in Denver

Ian, some of the guys from Dean's recently started working at Gunworks near Wadsworth/Hampden. They've set up a big reloading and black powder department, and this shop has always had the best customer service attitide in town, starting with Darren and Bart who set the example for everyone who works there. I highly recommend them!
 
There was one in Dallas a few decades ago- still there but the owner founder is dead. A guy I knew wanted to buy a dan wesson revolver. " Nah! I won't sell it to you, they're made out of powdered metal. Theyre no good. They'll blow up." The guy knew better and the odd behavior irritated him a lot.

On other occasions, " You gotta gun you want to look at?? I'll show you the gun but there are too many people in the store. I'm loosing control of the store. I'm closing the store so they will go away." He did this all the time. Two or three people would be brousing and he would run them off and close the store. This was a pain in the butt when you had driven 100 miles to look at his fairly large inventory.

Some of them have perfected the " I hate your ass" look to such an art that they only have two or three customers
 
I'll add my mini-rant, since it seems to be the thing to do.

I had a relatively simple gunsmithing job I needed done. I would have done it myself had I had the proper tools. Wanting to save the money and trouble of shipping my gun to one of the famous gunsmiths for this simple job, I looked around for a local 'smith.

Purely by chance, I saw a sign for a gunsmith while driving down a local road, so I stopped by.

Went in. I was struck by a stale, depressing mood as soon as I entered. I doubt if the store was dusted in the last 10 years. The "gunsmith" was sitting behind the counter, clicking away on the computer (I'm sure he was playing solitaire or something). He did not acknowledge me. So I asked about my needs, and he says in a slow, slow voice, "I've done it before. Wouldn't be interested in doing it again, though." I was thinking, "so how do you make money?"

He never looked me in the eye, just kept staring at his monitor and clicking his mouse. Neither of us said anything more. I just thought, since you don't want my money, I'll leave.

I ended up calling a store I trusted and got the job done well, quickly, and cheaply.
 
Sorry situation, but glad to see that it is not isolated. There is a shop right up the road that I used to frequent. The owner is nice enough with the members of his pistol team (which is how I got to know him) but his social skills are sorely lacking. Mention his name at a gathering of shooters and you will get an earful about his behavior and manner towards customers, not to mention his prices.
On the other hand, there are two places farther away (an hour or more) that that have a knowledgeable and friendly staff. One is larger and better known, but both are worth a stop when I am in the area. Both have gone out of their way to find items for me or hold onto supplies until I can get there.... that’s how I found my latest joy, a 625, for the upcoming large bore pin shoot season. I told them what I was looking for (I wanted used) and they called me when one came in and told me they’d hold it until the weekend. Of course I couldn’t wait THAT long, so on a Friday afternoon I’m there. The guy took almost an hour going over the gun with me, talking about his pin shooting experiences, and he gave me some useful advice. I came away with a sweet deal, some useful information, and they know I’ll be back because of the experience. Had to go to the other place for the moon clips and reloading supplies, but you can’t always benefit from one-stop-shopping.;)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

J
  • Locked
Gun shop haggling
2
Replies
41
Views
3K
checkmyswag
C
M
  • Locked
Kansas and Nebraska gun shops: what gives?
2
Replies
29
Views
1K
Monkeyleg
M
J
  • Locked
Orlando Area Gun Shops
Replies
11
Views
1K
erice303
E
G
  • Locked
Gun Shops
2 3 4
Replies
81
Views
7K
BilliamB.
B
J
  • Locked
Gun shop cruising
Replies
0
Views
590
jl1966
J
Back
Top