Do I have a right to be annoyed?

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ccsniper

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So today I went to visit a friend who works at a gunshop. He was behind the gun bar and we were talking when another associate to his right asked us both a question in regards to the sks paratrooper he was attempting to sell to an older gentleman. I know a decent amount about sks's and chimed in. Turned out the sks has never been fired (since arriving in country at least) it was still caked in cosmoline, I pulled the thing apart and it oozed out of the piston housing. The wood didn't look to great but I think that was the cosmo. I looked at the tag and it said 250 which to me is a pretty good deal (I bought mine for 200 nearly 10 years ago).

I had made my mind up that if the old man didn't want it, I would buy it. I was trying to be polite seeing that the old man was expressing interest in it and I was going to let him buy it if he wanted because he was there first. As he was drumming his fingers on the table thinking it over, another associate comes over and says "that man just bought this rifle, he is filling out the 4473 now".

I looked over to see a man who had not even looked at the rifle filling out the paperwork. He bought the gun right out of the old mans and my hands! Now, am I being irrational or do I have a right to be annoyed at this? Has this ever happened to you?
 
Annoying, yes...something you can or should "do something" about? Not so much....but cash rules the market, and especially the way things are at this moment, one shouldn't be surprised to see a fairly priced "assault rifle" fly out the door as if it had wings of its own.
 
I figure it this way. If I am in my local gun shop and see something I like being looked over by someone else I simply announce that if you don't buy it for that price I will. Recently did just that with a S&W revolver I wanted. If someone wants to procrastinate cool with me but I have no reservations with announcing my intentions loud and clear.

If you had an interest you should have made it clear rather than disassembling the gun. Obviously someone else wanted it and was ready to buy it on the spot so they did.

Just My Take....
Ron
 
Your buddy had all the power to wait and see if that rifle was still available. The guy who pinched it from across the room was a greedy jerk. The older guy who was waffling probably wasn't going to get it, but he still had first dibs. There is a chance that the dude across the room had talked to another salesman before, and just came in to do the paperwork, but the fault still falls in the lap of the salesman who grabbed it. Can you tell how much I love salesmen? This store would NOT get anymore of my business.

If this was a SHTF situation and the rifle was a loaf of bread or a bottle of bleach for his family, this would have ended up much worse. We need to grow up and be the mature and deliberate men we expect others to be. We should walk the High Road every day in all of our affairs.
 
Immediately tell the sales person "I'll buy the gun if this gentleman doesn't."

That puts your offer first in front of the third party.
 
My LGS actually has a policy to prevent this.
A weapon off the rack or out of the case is off the market until returned to the rack or case.
 
the guy across the room bought it...?

To purchase any item from across a room, while being handled by another customer is very rude.

If I was the clerk dealing with that customer, I would have said he must wait until the current handler decides shortly. Sounds like the store operates on employee commission.
 
if it happened like that .... and the Salesperson did not intervene ... i´d be telling them this has absolutely no style. And never go there again.
 
So the guy doing the paperwork - this paperwork started while older guy was (first) handling the gun? The OTHER sales guy said sold it in the middle of the old guy's thinking?

That's just wrong. The other sales guy should have said wait.......I tell you that's a lousy practice.

Say I order a gun. I go to the shop and start looking at it, checking it out. And some other sales guy sells it to someone else??? What??????:fire::banghead:
 
You don't have a right to be annoyed, but the old man does. The other associate that sold the gun outta the old mans hands is an asshat and should have been told that by your friend. He also should have told him that the old man still had first dibs. Sounds like a gun shop I'd stay the 'ell outta.
 
So we have clearly established the actual buyer started the paperwork AFTER he saw the older gentleman fondling the gun?

The reason I ask - I just remembered my buddy several years ago was doing a transaction (paperwork) with a used gun from the display case, set the gun down on the mat, moved 3-4 yards down to do the paper work and another guy came in the fun shop and wanted to buy that very gun. There should be no dispute, but the guy got all upset saying he was going to buy it all along.....just really childish.
 
Yes, you are permitted to be annoyed. I used to see this happen all of the time at the large gun shows I used to work at. The thing is , there are no rules and not a lot of courtesy left anymore. A lot of gun shops don't really have a system in place regarding dealing with lots of customers who really want to buy crowding into their shop. With our current situation in this country it's probably going to get worse. The more I deal with people the more I respect my dogs.
 
The guy who bought it from across the room could have been in earlier and told someone he was going home to get the cash to buy it. When he came in and saw 2 guys looking at it, he immediately bought it before it was too late. You snooze, you lose. It may seem a bit rude but the whole story isn't known. On the other hand, if he walked in and saw 2 other people fondling it and just plopped down the cash then he should have been told he has the next shot at it if the guy fondling it did not buy it.
 
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if larryh's scenario were actually happening I'd expect the shop to at least have the courtesy to tag the firearm in question with a "hold" of some form. couple hours? a day? If I had cause to "run out to get the cash" I'd ask them to do that very thing, and if possible put a deposit down on it.

it is true, only one side of this story is known though.
 
Based strictly upon the OP info, I see a possibility that the "Old Man" was being shown a rifle that was already sold.
 
I would have asked what the heck just happened. If the dude had dibs, the rifle should have been taken off the racks. If he didn't have dibs, then yes, I would have been very annoyed. Maybe things were just too busy or maybe the store doesn't have a policy.

I still believe in what my kindergarten teachers taught me-get in (a straight) line. I hate it when people cut lines.
 
I don't think you were screwed, but the old guy was if he decided he wanted to buy it. I would be pretty pissed if there was a rifle on the shelf and I asked to look at it, then before I was done inspecting it, they told me it was sold.

If the rifle is being held for somebody or in the middle of being sold, it shouldn't be on the rack. At the local Academy the other day, we were like sharks on the other sides of the counter. But as soon as somebody placed an interest in a firearm, it was taken of the shelf.
 
bikerdoc said:
My LGS actually has a policy to prevent this.
A weapon off the rack or out of the case is off the market until returned to the rack or case.
Click to expand...

Same here. The OP documented a very bad way to run a business. You may have made one customer happy, but really angered at least one other. If the "buyer" had been told that he could have it if the older guy didn't want it and got mad, I wouldn't have wanted him as a customer anyway. Entitlement issues.

Matt
 
Sure you have the right to be annoyed, this reminds me of buying a used truck on 4th of July weekend a few years ago, I was not planning on buying a truck that day, had just been casually looking for a cheap used truck for the family farm and saw a deal. I asked the salesman to hold it for me for a couple of hours so I could go home and get my checkbook, he said he would, when I got back he was in the process of selling the truck to someone else. Needless to say I was UPSET, I did end up getting the truck though, the other customer was nice enough to back out of the deal (he really wanted /needed a larger truck, but was buying this one based on price) when he found out what was up. The salesman said he did not think I would really be back, so I told him and his manager he should not promise to hold things if he was not going to do it. After all I had just driven 90 miles round trip for a check book.
 
If the rifle is being held for somebody or in the middle of being sold, it shouldn't be on the rack.
Click to expand...
Totally agree with this. At my FLGS they pull the gun before you even start the paperwork. If things went down as the OP said, the other salesman displayed at miniumum a lack of common courtesy and owed the older gentleman an appology for letting his waste his time inspecting a gun that was no longer available.
 
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