Another Gun Shop Rant

[Jim March]

Ummmm...I hesitate to mention this, but the new 135grainer 38+P load is a Gold Dot by Speer versus a Golden Saber by Remington.

Cor-Bon is indeed doing a 100grain Pow'R'Ball though .

 

[Elarski]

I don't care what kind of business I patronize, if I receive bad service, I just leave, and never come back. If the owner can't get good help, that's their problem, and their business. It's sometimes worth paying higher prices when you get good reliable service from a knowledgeable and caring staff.

 

[BluesBear]

Just tell Mr No-they-don't that Pow'R Ball is the Cor-Bon ammo in the Red & White box not the Blue & White box.

At least you didn't hear what I heard in one of my local shops today.
I was told that "Colt is Chapter 13 again and hasn't made a single gun in over a year." This is because "Firearms is only 10% of Colt Industries and that 10% is causing the other 90% to operate at a loss and the stockholders are insisting that they stop making guns."

 

[TheEgg]

Yup, all us gun shop employees are illiterate hicks that don't know jack about jack.

Maybe my reading comprehension is slipping, but I did not see anyone suggest on this thread that the problems mentioned apply to "all us gun shop employees". Or are you implying that this type of thing does not happen?

Tamara, I don't care if the employee does not know, nor do I expect them to know everything. What drives me nuts is when they don't know that they don't know, or they lie about it. It seems to me that some gun shops have a plethora of employees that either believe they know everything there is to know about guns, or are loath to admit that they don't. Often, when I encounter these types, they also get very belligerent if you try to suggest that maybe, perhaps, they might be in some small way be uninformed about the subject in question.

Also, just because someone works in a gun store does not exempt them from belonging to the group that will "enlighten us about their days killing gooks with laser rifles in the 'Nam with SEEL Team 37.5".

The gun shop I frequent most regularly has very smart employees -- smart enough to say "I don't know, but I can find out". That is the kind of employee I respect.

BTW -- this applies to all retail/service enterprises out there. No matter what the product or service is, there are plenty of people out there that will feed you BS and try to tell you that it is chocolate pudding!

 

[TBeck]

I recently had a wonderful experience at Bill Jackson's in Clearwater, FL. Bill Jackson's, a sporting goods store, has been around a long time and they have a top notch inventory. My wife is looking for a pistol so we went in for a long gun-fondling session.

The guys behind the counter have always been good and the one that day was no exception. I wanted my wife to handle a wide selection of pistols and get a good explanation of the pros and cons of each. I soon realized that he knew whereof he spoke and I felt comfortable leaving my wife with him while I took the kids to a more interesting (for them) part of the store.

When I came back my wife had settled on a Glock 19 but was uneasy about the recoil issue. The clerk allowed her to shoot a magazine of ammo on their indoor range at no charge! She did very well and left knowing that the G19 is a pistol she can easily handle with confidence.

When we buy the gun I will buy it from them. I could probably save a little by shopping gun shows and other shops but the professional and courteous treatment we received more than makes up for a marginally higher price.

 

[Carlos Cabeza]

Sheesh.................Wal-Mart or Gunshops. If I got upset everytime I had a "less than desirable" experience, I would be a very bitter old man. Don't be so thin skinned. Sometimes you just have to let stuff roll off your back and move on....................................

 

[Braz]

Gotta watch 'em,

We have a chain of fishing and hunting supply stores here in LA. They hold weekly sales that are some of the lowest prices in the area. Many times they show you a gun from the counter, then rather than retrieve a NIB version from the back of the store, they send off to their warehouse for it. We have to cool off for 10 days in California anyway.

Twice in the last 12 months, they have received the wrong gun. Both times, the store, expecting the right weapon, recorded the serial number they saw on the form, not the actual number off the gun. It was only upon inspection after dros, that I noticed the switch. They were happy to find my real purchase, but I could have walked out with incorrect paperwork.

Strange, the incorrect guns are always the basic model. They also bait and switch by advertising a line drawing of a top of the mark model, then showing the basic model at the store and saying it was a mistake. Another store nearby showed me one brand of SAA and then sold me another from the back that was a cheaper brand of the same model. They also made it right, so no hollering was needed.

I understand the thin profit margins gun stores around the country and particularly in California are dealing with. It must be a dangerous job, and attracts idiot customers like flies. But I sometimes feel like I'm in a used car dealership rather than an gunshop nowadays. But I'm not sure I'd pay higher prices to get better service. Prolly just try and watch 'em closely.

 

[Elarski]

Braz: I sympathize with your experience with the "T" chain. I go there only as a last resort... some of the older guys are okay, but the majority of the younger employees at the Reseda store have way too much attitude for me. I had to wait fifteen minutes for a couple of boxes of ammo once...

I've also been in the store during some of their DROS screw ups; to see the pissed-off look of the buyers. That's why I use private FFL Dealers; no screw ups.

 

[Weimadog]

that come through the door every day to enlighten us about their days killing gooks with laser rifles in the 'Nam with SEEL Team 37.5,

They are not being truthful with you, Tamara

 

[19112XS]

In some cases, bringing a perceived problem to the owner's attention will do no good. The perceived problem may be a result of the owner's misguided policy, which leaves the hourly paid employee the task of enforcing a policy he or she disagrees with. I'm sure many of us can recount situations where the staff is much more knowledgeable, courteous and patient than the owner. Much good should be said for a staff that can maintain under such conditions. Skol!

 

[Joe Demko]

Yup, all us gun shop employees are illiterate hicks that don't know jack about jack.

Not really, but an awful lot of people are in the gun business who shouldn't be. They open gun stores or go to work in one because they like guns. They like guns so much, in fact, that they forget that there is a business to be run. I suspect if you take a look around THR, you'll find that gun enthusiasts tend to be (*gasp!*) somewhat opinionated about things gun-related. Moreover, though I know this is tough to believe, they can be somewhat abrasive in presenting those opinions.
As should be obvious, the gun business is nothing but retail sales. If a person doesn't like being a retail salesman, then the gun business isn't likely to make that person happy. I honestly believe most of the cranky, unpleasant JO's that are behind the counter in gunstores thought it would be all about guns when it is really all about sales. The disconnect between what they thought running/working in a gunstore would be like and what it is really like results in the bad attitude we carp about at places like THR.

 

[hillbilly]

I am not a knowledgable car guy.

I have never ever been insulted or treated rudely in a car parts shop when I go in looking for some kind of car part that the folks behind the counter have to explain to me.

I am a slightly experienced scuba diver. I have never been insulted or treated rudely in a scuba shop when I asked dumb questions or had to ask a ton of questions or asked to see and fondle all the new scuba gear.

I have never been insulted or treated rudely in a camera shop or in a pet shop.

The retail outlets where I have been insulted and treated rudely the most for asking a question, or asking to actually see one of the products for sale are all gun stores which I no longer go to.

I have been treated rudely and insulted at a car dealership exactly once, and that was in Montana. I have been to many, many other car dealerships since then without the experience repeating itself.

I have been treated rudely at exactly one motorcycle related shop, and that by a one-legged old geezer with a reputation for being a real arrogant jerk, and who was the main reason I went to that shop in the first place, to see how true the stories about him were.

But I have been around enough to think that yes, there are some folks in the gun business who get full of themselves and their uber-macho-expert tacticality and who get chips on their shoulders.

I'm not sure why, but I have seen it happen. I have experienced it and seen it done to others more than in any other kind of stores.

And no, Tamara, I am not saying all gun dealers are illiterate hicks.

But for some set of reasons it seems worse to me in the gun business.

hillbilly

 

[JamisJockey]

Congratu-bleepin'-lations... You knew something that the gun store guy didn't know.

You missed the point. The gunshop guy was a jerk to the customer when asked a question. The fact that the customer knew what he was looking for makes it even worse.
Get your butt back behind the counter and sell some ammo, boy!

 

[theCZ]

I've found that ALL of the gun stores in the closest town to me have a similar attitude. I was thinking of selling my Anschutz 22-Hornet to buy something else, and out of the 3 gun stores I visited, only one person even talked to me. The other two I was ignored. The one person that talked to me had a shop with maybe 10 guns in it, all over priced. So I skipped on down to Carson City to Silver State Arms. I came in, the shop had people browsing, the owner was talking to someone. The minute he saw me he said, "Be right with you." He looked up the value of my gun, told me how much he would give for it, and then suggested that I put an ad in the paper because I could get more for it that way. Now that's what I'm talking about! I ended up buying some ammo from him because it felt so good to be treated like a customer.

Another gun store I can highly recommend is "Frontier Liquor and Guns". Yeah, funny name, interesting store. Probably the only store I've been to that has alcohol, tobacco, and firearms in the same store! Better prices than most of the stores I've been to in Reno, and he'll order something for you if he doesn't have it in stock. Kinda makes up for all those other jerks I've dealt with (and not bought from!).

 

[theCZ]

Oh, and that last store is in Fallon, Nevada

 

[Elarski]

Probably the only store I've been to that has alcohol, tobacco, and firearms in the same store!

Ah, the good ol' days... Believe it or not, we used to have those kind of stores in CA at one time... "Can I help you sir?"... "Yes, I'll take a six pack of Brew 102, a bag of Beer Nuts, a Mod. 94 Winchester, and a box of .30-30 to go with it."

 

[Archie]

All sorts....

I was once in a discussion with another customer and two gunshop employees regarding ammo.

The other customer wanted "Hollow Point Semi-Wadcutter" ammo for .38 Special. Salesman "A", the ammo expert, said no such ammo was made by any commercial concern. Salesman "B" looked at me and asked "Arch, you ever heard of such a thing?"
Being the dummy that I am, I said yes, I had. It was made by both Winchester and Federal at one time. It was called in various locations the "Chicago" load, the "FBI" load, and some other thing, I don't remember.

Salesman "A" repeated there was no such thing and never had been. He also pointed out the FBI carried 10mm. As if they had done so since the dawn of time.

Instead of showing him the speedloader in my pocket, I turned 180 degrees, grabbed a Gun Digest off the rack, opened it to the factory ammo section and showed them all the listing for Federal ammo as described. (Winchester had ceased production, or it wasn't listed for some other reason.)

Salesman "A" then looked askance at the book, and says he'd never heard of it. His tone gave the distinct impression that his being informed was a crucial aspect of its existance.:banghead:

This conversation took place in 1999 or 2000. Salesman "A" was/is just slight younger than me. The 158 grain HPSWC load was extremely popular and well known among shooters up to the middle '80s. I find it amazing this fellow, who presented himself as a knowlegeable man in the ammunition field, had no inkling of the round.

On the other hand, he did know for a fact the store stocked no such ammunition. He did have some alternative suggestions for such a choice (defensive ammo). He is by no means an illiterate or moron. He just got his ego in the way.

To be fair to gun store clerks and owners, I have heard several (more than I care to remember) purported "customers" ask for "Riot Pump Guages" and "40 Magnums" and "Super Killer" whatevers :banghead: and "That gun like Quigley had."
I witnessed one "customer" in the process of buying a UZI carbine (1975 ish) ask if he could use the owner's machine shop to convert it to full auto. Either a real dope or an ATF undercover sting.

I remember a very dear lady who worked in the PX at MCAS El Toro in 1971. She was a very competent gun seller and sold me my first Ruger Mark I Target Model. She knew about the guns in her case, and could discourse about most things firearmical (pardon the made up word).
One day we were talking about defensive pistols. She opined the Browning Hi-Power was the best thing going. She especially liked that it was single action and had to be cocked for each shot.
There were two of us at the counter... we asked just to make sure. Her P.35 had to be cocked for each shot and not just for the first shot.
Yes, cocked for each shot.
It took the two of us several minutes to convince her to take that pistol to a gunsmith, because it should not work like that.

So... whereas not all gunshop employees are dummies, some have "gaps". Is that fair? Like everyone else, some have bigger gaps than others. Everyone gets to have a bad day; some abuse the privilege.
And the biggest problem both ways is ego.

Like the guy who didn't know about the HPSWC; how dare he not accept my word?