Gun Shop Customer Service

[ObsidianOne]

Normally I have terrible experiences at gun shops around here, I suppose it could be due to the fact that I look younger, despite being 21.
Even though I've made a $150 purchase at one, and a $300 at the other, I still seem to not be looked upon as a customer, and it's rather irritating.

However, there is a new gun shop that opened up down the street from my work in a really strange location. They're in some suite with totally unrelated businesses.
I decided to take a peek the other day. they have about a 15' x 15' office and ~15 guns, small amount of ammo, Glock bags, etc.
As soon as I walked in, the guy greeted me and instantly made me feel welcome. I noticed his prices on some things were considerably lower and told him so. He had a Ruger LCP for $290, instead of the retail of $340 that I keep seeing everywhere. He said that he is trying to keep his prices low, as his rent and his overhead is low and doesn't have to worry about large expenses, and plans on keeping it that way.
He said that he does have a limited stock, but can order anything I want and said that he would charge 15% over the price he gets for his profit for anything under a $1,000, and 10% for anything $1,000 or higher.

I work in customer service myself, so I have rather high standards I suppose, but next time I go to buy a gun, I'm going to this guy first. Even if he charged the same as everyone else, just because of his welcoming attitude and non-elitist attitude I'll be a returning customer.

 

[therewolf]

It's called "voting with your wallet".

Businesses only get the chance to treat me badly ONCE.
Then I cast my "ballots" elsewhere...

 

[Bubba613]

Someone who actually gets it. That's rare in this business.
Yes, competitive prices (not "the lowest anywhere"), friendly attitude, knowledgeable staff all make for a good retail environment. This seems like it ought to be a simple thing to accomplish but somehow many dealers just don't get it.

 

[brandon_mcg]

i'm glad you found a good one. its nice to have someone you can go to at the gun shop who will help you out. i try to be as loyal as i can to my local shop as they have low prices, excellent help, and also order anything that i can think up.

 

[Florida Cracker]

My local gun store is quite different from their competitors. They have a small store (maybe 14 x 30) and support group buys on everything gun related (from guns to targets to holsters).

Once a month, they have a group buy social where everyone comes to pick up their purchase and socialize over a burger and a soda.

 

[midtennpawnstar]

I always try to be sociable and helpful to customers and most importantly insightful especially since recently there are alot of new buyers who dont know alot about what they want and how a gun works...i had an elderly lady who said she was comfortable with a 22 or 380 pistol come in and after talking with her she told me down the road a guy had tried to sell her a .45! She could barely pull the slide back on a walther p380 and i doubt a 45 would have worked right for her.

 

[TH3180]

I'm lucky I have a great shop by me. It's called the Gunstop. One side is guns the other side is reloading. Great people, great prices and usally a dog or two laying on the floor just waiting for someone to pet them.

 

[ObsidianOne]

Someone who actually gets it. That's rare in this business.
Yes, competitive prices (not "the lowest anywhere"), friendly attitude, knowledgeable staff all make for a good retail environment. This seems like it ought to be a simple thing to accomplish but somehow many dealers just don't get it.

Yeah, he also told me that he'd meet-or-beat any prices in town.

I'm lucky I have a great shop by me. It's called the Gunstop. One side is guns the other side is reloading. Great people, great prices and usally a dog or two laying on the floor just waiting for someone to pet them

It's funny that gun shops and dogs go hand in hand. Seems they always have at least one lol.

 

[Shadow 7D]

Surprisingly, the ones that treat you nicely seem to get your business.

 

[FROGO207]

There is one in the mid state area that is on the second floor above a restaurant here. The guy will buy ANYTHING and his resale prices are INSANE. I have shopped there a couple of times and do not plan on going back. For example I asked about a box of 303 JSP bullets that I wanted for reloading. The box was opened and only had about 3/4 of it's tarnished contents left. He wanted $28 for them after a 10 minute search on the net while I kept busy looking at other things!! I then stated that a box of the same only NEW and FULL were $21 up the road and he said "Get them there then." and went back to polishing an old beat up scope. My comment on leaving the store was "What are your relatives going to do with all these guns after you die anyway." I don't think he got it either as he just waved me out the door with a snort and grunt.

 

[LawScholar]

My favorite gun shop is also a very small outfit, place called High Plains Guns in Laramie. He has a pretty solid selection for such a small store, and is more than willing to chat with you and answer questions. Eminently patient guy, very welcoming. I have helped him sell 4-5 guns by word of mouth to family and friends.

 

[Hendiadys]

There is a local shop that I have made purchases from despite knowing full well that I MIGHT find a lower price someplace else. But: 1) I would just rather give them the business because of their friendly, courteous attitude and 2) Often times, by the time you run around fretting and quizzing about prices, you will have eaten up what little price difference there usually is.

 

[potmetal]

Too many shops are opened by hobbyists that have no business sense, or guys who think they will get rich quick off of gun sales.
I've seen a few come and go around here. We had a young guy open a shop in a great location, but he over extended himself quickly, trying to become an authorized dealer for all the major brands, he just couldn't make enough and "disappeared" one day. Literally, the shop was open on a Friday and full of guns, the next Tuesday I went by there and the place was empty, signs gone, deserted.
I appreciate the shops that treat their customers with respect, and the guys who are honest enough to admit they don't know everything about every gun. I go back to them and feel good spending my money there.

 

[Liberty1776]

TH3180 - Gunstop

TH3180 - LoL... when I started reading the thread, I thought to myself, "thank God we've got the Gunstop..." It's a great place, the guys are nice, helpful and don't jump on you when you walk in the door. They let you browse to your heart's content...(mainly cause they know many, many guns are impulse purchases, and we didn't know we needed them till we saw them..." They also special order anything and no hassle about small orders or anything. It's the only shop worth going to anymore around here...

 

[david58]

Someone who actually gets it. That's rare in this business.
Yes, competitive prices (not "the lowest anywhere"), friendly attitude, knowledgeable staff all make for a good retail environment. This seems like it ought to be a simple thing to accomplish but somehow many dealers just don't get it.

Happy that someone does in fact get it - it's those that don't that drive folks to the "lowest price anywhere" internet sites. We have three shops in town here, one declares he's the "Mercedes of gun shops", the second I have had very bad experience with, and the third would rather shoot the breeze about his former cop career than help someone look at guns to make a purchase. I buy from shops in another town that both get it - honest, fair prices, helpful, and understand that for brick and mortar folks it takes more than price to sell a gun, or they get lookers that cruise on over to the internet.

And sadly, even this guy has to deal with the less-than-good shops - like the proverbial used car dealer, the bad shops make a bad name for all local gun stores.

 

[Bubba613]

and the third would rather shoot the breeze about his former cop career than help someone look at guns to make a purchase.

And in less than a sentence you have put your finger on the biggest problem with the small retail stores: people from other careers who open gun shops because they like guns. No people-handling skills, no retail skills, no business savvy. And yes, shops like that make people go to the internet for all their (mis)information and pricing.

 

[david58]

I disagree - the biggest problems I have seen is gun shop owners that feel like the guns are their personal collection and you should be honored to get to shop there, or shop owners that know it all but (like any of us) don't. Neither inspires me to buy, neither gets my business.

 

[OneBigDude]

I have a local shop up here that I've been into a few times but they never seem to have what I'm looking for. Its the only gun shop within 40 min of me other than a Gander Mtn and I would rather give my money to a local store even though their prices are high. I'm 23 and the few times I've been in there the guy that owns the shop seems annoyed that I'm there. I asked him last time if they had any of the Marlin X series bolt guns and the guy said they didn't but they had a Colt Lightning. He handed it to me and the action was really rough. When I handed it back to him he was angry I wasn't going to buy it. After that he walked away and I couldn't get his attention to let me check out the Stevens. I was the only customer in the store. I have a lot of gun buying to do in the future but it won't be there.

 

[ultradoc]

sounds like you found a winner there.

 

[wishin]

My first reaction was, what a mature approach to this for a young man! You're on your way to becoming someone to reckon with. Be sure to tell everyone you know about this shop. I suspect the store will wind up in bigger and better digs once the word gets out and business begins to boom.

 

[gym]

I found one here in Melbourne, and it's basically the same story. $200 a month rent, appointment only, you save 20% or more, over the local stores. I saw the Lcp locally at $359.00. I paid $259.00. That one was at a gun show, there were so many guys seling them that they had to undercut each other just to move their stuff. It sucks to see a pistol you just bought for 30% less someware else the next day. Some guys just don't shop around, it's their own fault. If you want to pay $650.00 plus tax, for a $500.00 gun, there are plenty of folks that would love to take your money, and you can't blame them in this economy.It's like leasing a car, one guy pays $280.00 a month, for it and another pays 400.00 for the same car, same equiptment, only difference is, one did his homework.

 

[Bubba613]

I suspect the store will wind up in bigger and better digs once the word gets out and business begins to boom.

Be careful of that!
A friend of mine says gun shops go through three phases:

Phase I: Guy opens up. He's running around making deals like crazy trying to move inventory and stay in business.

Phase II: Guy is successsful and hires counter help. Everyone wants to talk to him since he's the only one who can make decisions on trades etc. He spends more time in the back on the phone.

Phase III: Guy is gone most of the time. Sour-faced counter help grunts, "gun rack, cash register, front door. Any darn order you want."