Bad experience in gun store in Georgia

[medic_guns]

I went to Bullseye, a gun store in Lawrenceville, Georgia last week, and I will never return for the following reason. I walk in and start looking at the holster basket and I see a holster that I may be able to use with my jframe. It had a thumb snap, but my gun is hammerless. I walk up to the counter and say to the "kid" working there "What do you think about using this holster with this gun; it doesn't have a trigger." I misspoke, and I meant to say "hammer," obviously, and the smart-mouth says, "Your gun doesn't have a trigger? How do you shoot it? You mean, it doesnt have a hammer." I say, "I misspoke, sorry." I let that go, and I start talking to the older man that works there, and he says, "Well, really, that gun doesn't have hammer on it, but I guess you could use it." The old guy was not very friendly. He acted perturbed when I tried to ask him the question. I guess he was too busy eating his sandwich. Anyway, I say to him, "I really want one of those Mitch Rosen holsters for it," and he replies, "Well, why don't you buy one," in his best 'I'm too busy to chat with you' voice. After that exchange, I was about to leave, but I wanted to look around for a few minutes more, but I start to think that I should not spend any of my money in this place since the smart-mouth kid is such a wise *** and the old man acts like he could care less. Well, I start to think about options for carrying spare ammo for the j frame, but I don't like the speed loaders. I began to wonder if someone makes something that can carry five rounds, but it must be a flat profile. So I ask the kid, "Is there something besides the speedloader for the wheel guns," and he replies, "Like, loading the bullets one at a time by hand?" I came very close to telling the guy what I thought about his level of customer service, but I realized that it was non-existant, so I said, "Forget it, I'm through here."
Let me say this. I once purchase a preban AR there about 5 years ago, and just this year I dropped over 3200 dollars in that place IN ONE VISIT. I did visit the range and use it from time-to-time. I have purchased different supplies there every so often, but I cannot bring myself to return to that store ever again. It is a small establishment, and usually small stores emphasize customer service in order to keep a good following. I guess they don't believe in that . I know one thing, I needed an M1 Scout and a Wilson CQB, but you better believe I will NOT buy them there. Their weekend staff is totally different. They are some nice guys. Maybe they should work there all of the time.
Regards,
Ric

 

[eatatjoes]

wow.

when i'm home from school i usually go there for some range time and the people are usually friendly and always chat a little about what i've brought in. i've never had any problem with anyone there and this is pretty suprising.

 

[Shane333]

Maybe you should send off an email to the store owner/manager and explain about the poor service. Maybe they'll make some staffing changes once they find out how much these guys are hurting their business. Beyond that, I don't blame you for not wanting to go back.

I'm not going back to a gun store near me because the owner gives me the creaps. Also, I asked about a couple of firearms and if the store carried them. The owner told me that the guns I asked about were junk and that I should buy others that he had on hand.

Two weeks later I stopped by to look for ammunition, only to notice that the store was now selling both guns I'd asked about earlier. It just goes to prove two rules my Father-In-Law told me about salespeople.

1. A salesman always lies.
2. When a salesman is telling the truth, refer back to rule number 1.

 

[Shane333]

I admit that I have found a few gun stores where they tell me the truth. Those are the stores that get my business.

 

[El Tejon]

Unfortunately those in the business of gun stores do not see it as a way to make money.

 

[P95Carry]

medic_guns ..... from your description I could only call the derisory service.......... DESPICABLE ........ and yeah, if there is an owner to write to - do it!! I get insensed when treated this way and am ''out for blood'' I am afraid ...... to find some way to have the assistant's a$$es.!!!

It is inexcusable.

Outa interest ..... I'd guess with the expenditure you made there before, you are hardly a particularly young guy ..... but just wonder if you are or look especially young. That of course in no way would condone the behavior you have described - but it does seem at times gun shop people treat younger people very badly and almost with contempt! No way to win a lifetime's business eh?!

My local shop is pretty good ... mind you, with what I have had from and thru them ... they need me too!!

 

[OH25shooter]

This topic has been discussed several times. I feel bad for you because you are just seeking information from the staff of the business and it appears they are the a** of the day. I hope you are fortunate enough to live in or near a large city. This has happened to me, but I'm able to drive to a different gun store and drop my cash. It's amazing how some gun store employees have this "attitude" problem. To this day I can't figure out why. You don't have to be to smart to figure out if the customer isn't treated well here (at a particular store), he will go elsewhere to spent money.

 

[gulogulo1970]

I tell you bad customer service has led me to buy my past 3 guns on the internet. Why pay more for the same gun and as an added treat get angry with the poor customer service. I guess you can get burned with buying guns sight unseen but I've been lucky, so far. Plus I've saved money and paid no sale tax to boot. I know, "support your local shops," but what if they are rude? I cannot reward that behavior with my hard earned money.

I'll never understand how a place selling items for hundreds of dollars can treat custmers so poorly. If I walk into a electronics store, looking for a TV, I have to beat the salesmen off with a stick. Walk into the aveage gun store, and I might as well have the plague. I will not put up with that.

Medic, I say spend your money with a faceless stranger online. It's really less frustrating.

 

[Quintin Likely]

If you're willing to drive down to Columbus, I can't recommend Shooters of Columbus enough. Their prices, granted, are a little stiff compared to others I've seen, and they don't have a few things (like M1 S90 Benelli Tacticals...grrr...) in stock, but John and his staff are top notch straight up folk.

Unfortunately, businesses like Bullseye don't understand that if you treat one customer badly, they'll go off and tell their friends, and their friends will tell their friends, and so on and so forth...

-Quintin

 

[cool45auto]

Sorry about your bad experience. I don't blame you for not wanting to return.

Oh, and welcome to THR!

 

[Mad Man]

Well, I start to think about options for carrying spare ammo for the j frame, but I don't like the speed loaders. I began to wonder if someone makes something that can carry five rounds, but it must be a flat profile. So I ask the kid, "Is there something besides the speedloader for the wheel guns,"

Bianchi Speed Strips (model # 580. Oddly enough, I cannot find any mention of them on Bianchi's web site).



You can load one or two rounds at a time with these things.

Dillon Precision also offers a pouch for carrying them.

 

[Standing Wolf]

The Bianchi site is a wretched user-unfriendly mess with no search function!

 

[Average Guy]

Management can't do a thing about it unless they KNOW. So fire off a letter (the text of your post will do nicely). And if they already know, then it's their tough luck.

The rule is, a happy customer will tell 1 or 2 people. An unhappy customer will tell 9. (And an unhappy customer on THR will tell thousands!) There's no excuse for poor customer service. Rudeness is just plain unacceptable, says I (a guy with more than 10 years of front-line customer service).

 

[Atticus]

That seems to be a common trait among gun store employees. It's not, "great... here's another customer" - It's more like, "great.. here is someone I can show off my gun knowledge to and belittle them in the process."
A few years ago I went to buy a 1911 from a store where I frequently window-shopped (cash in pocket). When I asked the owner to take it out of the case so I could see it- he looked at me and said, "we prefer to keep our guns pristine for the person who buys it." I could not freaking believe he was talking to me. I had just gotten off from working third shift and was wearing surgical scrubs. I pulled seven hundred bucks out of my jacket pocket and counted it on the counter -then I picked it up and told him to stick his pristine gun in a safe and dark place. Luckily he sold the shop, and it is run by some nice guys now.

 

[BIGJim223]

This kind of treatment in gun shops is just getting more common, IMHO. I have a shop near my house (21 miles) that would be so easy for me to deal with. But the owner ALWAYS makes everything so difficult. Last year, I did 3 transfers through him, nice easy deals, where all he had to do was make a phone call and when the pistols came in log them and collect his transfer fee. In all 3 deals he just ran me around, I ended up making extra trips to his shop with out getting my guns even though they were there, and just getting the run around every time I go there. So no more. I now drive 70 miles (one way), pay a bit higher transfer fee, but I get GREAT service, and get treated like a regular guy, instead of like they are doing me a great favor, and get notified if the gun has been delivered or not, as promisied. I actually look forward to going to this shop, instead of dreading the purchase, like I do with the "local" guy. My money is as green as any other guys, plus I know exactly what I want, and where I want it to come from. It's a no brainer, talk to me , take my money, get the gun. I have done all the homework, don't try to talk me out of the gun for something you have on the shelf, I KNOW what I want!! If you had it on the self I would buy it!!
Tomorrow, I will make the 140 mile round trip to pick up a $700+ gun, buy ammo there, maybe a new holster,and have some conversation with the help.
I did this whole deal over the phone, no problems.
Seems the guy down the road 21 miles would see that my money would be in his cash register if he would provide me with a little customer sevice and respect! Some guys just don't get it!
My 2 pieces of copper...
BIGJim223

 

[treeprof]

Hmm. I've bought some stuff there and usually had pretty good service; they've done well for me on some trades. But, having said that, there are only one or two guys there with whom you wanna deal. Some of the kid clerks are complete punks; real tactical posers and know-it-alls, as is a lot of the clientele there. The owner is a pretty nice guy (Glenn, I think), and one of the older fellas with whom I've dealt a few times, but I don't know that guy's name. Have you ever tried Dixie Guns on Brasleton Hwy? It's abt 15 minutes from Bullseye. The owner, Cleve Stanfield, is a tremendously nice and honest fella. His inventory is pretty small, but I don't mind waiting on the order a few days for good service. His prices on guns, ammo etc. are pretty competitive (tho his prices on pre-ban mags are thru the roof). I'd still write a letter, but all the help there is pretty cozy w/one another and it might not accomplish much. Sorry for your bad experience.

 

[medic_guns]

More to add

I know of another store that is much closer to me. It is called Shuler's Cooler, and it is located in Gainesville, Georgia. If you are ever in this area, I suggest you visit the place. There is a fellow there, his name is Casey, I think, and he is really friendly and knowledgable. They sell firearms and archery equipment, safes, ammo, etc. They are located out on Cornelia Hwy. I bought a Glock 36 there this year. May'be I will pay a visit this weekend.
Ric

 

[JohnBT]

"Dillon Precision also offers a pouch for carrying them"

Thank you!

I didn't know that. I need 3 or 4 right now.


I think some of these store owners must be on a second career after being fired from a job driving a cab in NY.

John

 

[ILLINI]

Bernie's in north Atlanta has good prices, service, and selection. You can usually find them at the Atlanta gun shows.

If you want a great indoor range, go to Eagle Gun Range in Macon. The owner, Hamp Dowling, is a really nice guy. His gun prices are a little high, but he will deal with you. His range is 40 minutes south of Atlanta... Illini

 

[hillbilly]

Several years ago, I went to a certain gun store looking for a Taurus revolver in .357.

A few months before, Taurus had come out with their revolvers with the rubber Pachmayr grips as standard features.

I was in that certain store, looking at Taurus revolvers, when the old guy behind the counter tried to tell me that Taurus revolvers were actually made by Smith and Wesson, and just sold from Brazil under the Taurus name to avoid taxes of some sort.

I just ignored him and continued to look at the guns. Then I asked the salty old guy if they had any Taurus revolvers with the rubber grips.

He snorted, shook his head back and forth, and said in his best grizzled old gun store a**hole voice, "Son, them rubber grips is called PACK-MARS. The only way you can get PACK-MARS for that gun is to order them separate."

I put the gun down on the pistol rug, thanked him for his time, and have never, ever, ever been back since.

In fact, the first few guns I bought after that, I made a point to drive past that store with the new purchase in the car just out of spite.

hillbilly

 

[P95Carry]

Interesting ....... much of this exemplifies the fact that - for the most part most of the THR type, longish term gun-owners, almost certainly have more ''savvy'' than many a gun shop clerk!!

Seems so often some of them spout utter BS ... and then couple that with poor ''attitude'' ... and - oops .. there goes another lost customer.!

To balance things out - I'll be first to admit .. in shops generally - and gun shops too, probably no exceptions - there are many customers who are downright a***oles ..... so being fair, that does give another perspective.

The key aspect tho IMO is ... at least initally when you go in .. you should expect .. and GET .... courteous attention and no headbanging efforts to ''blind you'' with (false?) knowledge.

I'd guess some of these bad cases would die a 1,000 deaths, if they knew just how much business they had lost - thru bad attitude and methods.

 

[Travis McGee]

Life is too short to give your business to rude a-holes. You are right to deny them your future business.

 

[Travis McGee]

Mad Man:
Here's another tip for carrying spare wheel gun ammo. Six rounds of .38 or .357 fit almost exactly in a plastic film can. Five one way, the other in the middle in the other direction. The black cans are best because of the way their gray lids "peel" off easily.

To carry 12 extra rounds, take two film cans and butt them together at their bases. Use wide clear plastic packaging tape for this, 2 or so times around them both.

This 12 pack of bullets is very "handy" in a fanny pack or purse. The plastic lids are secure, yet they peel off quickly to dump six rounds into your hands in a flash. My "go kit" includes 2 speed loaders, but also another 12 rounds in the double film can ammo holder. Try it, you'll like it.

 

[Parker Dean]

I'd guess some of these bad cases would die a 1,000 deaths, if they knew just how much business they had lost - thru bad attitude and methods.

I would suggest that such jerks don't give a damn. IME, they tend to rationalize the loss of business as being the customers fault. In their view nothing could possibly be wrong with them or their methods.

 

[Amegatek]

Wow! I must be really lucky. The two shops I mainly deal with, all the employees are very friendly. Although, I always make it a point to do extensive research on the firearm I am eyeballing before buying. Then, I can ask "informed" questions before forking over the hard earned money. I asked a question once, and the clerk didn't know the answer. Instead of trying to BS me, he asked the manager to come over and answer my question. That really sold me on the customer service in that shop, and that is why I frequent it.