Gun store rudeness?

[Jaybird78]

Gun shops are no different than other stores. I've been treated rather well by one. Refuse to patronize another after only 3 experiences. And the last mom and pop has been a mix of good and bad.

I buy my accessories online due to poor selections at the shops.

Gander, Dick's, Wal-Mart.........well, I don't live in earthquake country...but I can dream.

 

[41magsnub]

I've walked out of gun stores in situations when I was ready to point to a gun on the wall and say "start a 4473 on that one" but could not get somebody at the gun counter to acknowledge my existence and tear themselves away from a BS session with their cronies.

I've done that at other stores too so while it seems a little more prevalent it is not exclusive to gun stores.

 

[TomTerrific]

Around here it seems gun stores are manned by college age males. I am 70y old so these kids are usually deferential to me as that is the way they are raised.
My one complaint is they are so enamored with autoloadings that they don't know squat about revolvers. I wanted to look at a Taurus 608 the other day. The poor kid was trying to be helpful, but he just didn't know the gun. At least he tried to be helpful.

Tommy in Baton Rouge

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"My favorite large gun is the 105mm howitzer (SP). It even has a .50cal mounted on it."

 

[againstthagrane]

I think age, gender, percieved socio-economic status and race have a lot to do with your treatment at certain gun shops around my part of town.

So I have a strategy when I'm ready to make big purchases. I dress down and don't shave that day. I usually end up just wandering around while the bubba's and tactical ninjas talk about how ar-15s jam and ak's poop out nukes. I then leave and hit up the ole interwebs and wonder to myself why I didn't just do it in the first place.

 

[Tim the student]

The people at Scheel's are helpful, but a bit too pushy when it comes to buying a gun.

I don't think they are too pushy at my Scheels personally. I generally like the salespeople there.

However, there is a gun store on the SW side of Cedar Rapids that I refuse to give business to. I don't like that guy at all - but I have heard his son is better. Too bad his pops ruined his chances of ever getting my business again.

 

[Cactus Jack Arizona]

My town has about a half dozen gun shops. Most are stand alone shops. One or two started as pawn shops that eventually added guns to their inventory. My favorite place to buy, sell, and just hang out during their slow times is a pawn shop. They're not a real big store, but they do have a great selection of both new and used, the best prices in town, the friendliest and most knowledgeable help. They are very professional and therefore do not rely on the constant barrage of stupidly hyped stories in order to sell a gun.

A couple of others have decent customer service. The rest, well, let's just say they definitely have that god-like superiority that makes one want to gag and puke, both at the same time.

One really bad shop was shut down by the ATF. It was so sad.

 

[duns]

I've been treated rudely and talked down to in all kinds of shops. I just ignore it and make my own decision on whether to buy or not and what to buy if I do buy.

Disclaimer. I've never bought a gun in a gun shop. Always researched extensively online and then when I decided what I wanted, I shopped online for the lowest price.

 

[stickhauler]

I live outside Columbus Ohio and deal Mostly with Vance's and its sister store Buckeye Outdoors.

I've went there once, I doubt I'll ever go there again. I live over in Dayton, and checked out their sales circular on-line and saw they had a good price on a Mosin-Nagant, so one Saturday morning I grabbed up my wife and son and went over there. I have a C & R license, went in and asked about the rifle. The dude brought one out, and pulled up a 4473 and told me to fill it out, and to give him my drivers license. I told the guy I had a C & R license and he insisted that they weren't allowed "by law" to sell me that rifle on a C & R license. I asked to talk to the manager.

He comes out and told me I had to run the purchase just like usual, with a 4473 and they'd call in for the background check. I showed him my unsigned C & R license, and he said I still had to run the purchase through like a new gun. He claimed there wasn't such a thing as a C & R license. Needless to say, I left there without the rifle.

On a positive note, my favorite local shop, Olde English up North of Vandalia, Ohio is always a good place to shop. Several of the folks who work there are the sons and grandsons of the guy who started the business, and they're a joy to deal with. They all know I have a deep love for M-1 Carbines, and if they get one in on consignment they'll call me and let me know they have it, and they'll hold it until I get a chance to get up to the shop and check it out.

I bought a Ruger SR-9 C up there a few weeks back, and didn't really like the stock sights on it, and ordered a set of XS sights off the Ruger website. I called up there this past weekend and asked Andrew, he's a Glock armorer, and works on most anything I know of. I told him I had a set of sights I needed him to install and he told me to come in and ask for him. Went up and he took the pistol in the back, worked on it for likely a half hour, brought it back out and when I asked what I owed him, he told me "it's on the house, you've always been a good customer." Not many places go that extra mile to keep their customers happy.

 

[SpamHandler]

If they are being rude then the only reasonable response is to take your business elsewhere.

 

[LibShooter]

He comes out and told me I had to run the purchase just like usual, with a 4473 and they'd call in for the background check. I showed him my unsigned C & R license, and he said I still had to run the purchase through like a new gun. He claimed there wasn't such a thing as a C & R license. Needless to say, I left there without the rifle.

If you liked the rifle and it was a good price, I don't understand why you didn't just fill out the 4473 and leave with the gun. I do understand how incompetence and rudeness can frustrating, but I wouldn't let it get in the way of my getting something I really want or need. After a bad experience at a store don't go back... but once there, make the best of it.

 

[nitetrane98]

These threads are always the same. I think some people have a notion of a gunstore as some Norman Rockwell painting with oldtimers sitting around a wood stove drinking coffee and playing checkers on a cracker barrel. Anyone entering is greeted heartily and offered to pull up a stool and chat for a spell. A couple of kids are drooling over some .22 rifle and all is well with the world.

A very quick perusal of this very forum will reveal that gun owners are among the most opinionated folks in the world and relish the opportunity to defend their choice of equipment to any and all comers. They don't want to be sold anything because they already know what is best.

It seems like unsolicited advice is the usual culprit. I think a clerk would do well to keep his mouth shut in many instances. And even if asked something, unless an opinion was specifically asked for, stick to the facts regarding any particular item. Most of the time when somebody asks for an opinion, they are really asking for an opportunity to argue their point of view.
Probably most of the bad situations at a gun store are really based on the fact that a salesman didn't agree with the customer's opinion or offered an opinion without being asked.

 

[Bubba613]

Best post yet.

 

[Ky Larry]

I usually do business with Buds or Gilberts Gun Shop in Frankfort. Very nice folks at both stores. We live in a dollar democracy. Our dollars decide which businesses succed or fail. If you don't like the way you're treatd, just take your votes somewhere else.

 

[wep45]

several years ago, i patronized a gun shop in plainfield, IL. big, modern and hundreds of guns and ammo of all kinds. the only thing larger than their inventory was their attitude. i realized very quickly that the store policy was.............."if you are a customer, stand quietly and wait until we feel like recognizing you..........and when we do................be prepared to buy quickly or dont waste our time."

more recently, i discovered a small "mom & pop" type gun store in lockport, IL. i am always greeted as i come into the store. every employee i have encountered is friendly and helpful. if i just want to look around, but purchase nothing.............it's OK. a few months ago i wanted a new pair of grips for a recently purchased revolver. i looked at the various types that hung on the wall, but wasnt sure how they would fit my gun or feel in my hands. the clerk took a few grips out of the packages and made it much easier for me to make a choice.

needless to say, this is the ONLY shop i patonize for guns, supplies and range target practice.

 

[Knockdownpower]

If you are in north central Florida, there are several shops to choose from. One that stands out is Good Time Outdoors. They actually make their own version of the AR-15/M16 rifles, and are a class 3 dealer. They generally have more ammo than anyone else, and will order any thing that you need. Their customer service is top notch and they are very knowledgable about all kinds of guns. You wont find any gun store clerk arrogance there. Here is thier info:
Phone # 1 (352) 401-9070

www.goodtimeoutdoors.com

 

[lot21]

This topic comes up all the time, so where's smoke, there's fire. I play a little guitar and get the same thing in many guitar/music stores I visit. It seems to me if you don't have the right "look", forget about good service.

I usually visit these places after I leave the office so I'm dressed in Dockers and a polo shirt. Plus, even though I'm 45, I have a baby face that makes me look about 30. Soon as I walk in everyone stops and stares at me with a "what the hell are you doing here" look on their face.

With guitar shops you need to have at least half your body covered in tattoos and piercings. In gun shops you need something camo, a ball cap with a logo of a gun maker or Realtree, and jeans. No shorts.

 

[MCab]

Here's been my experiences:

Back in New Orleans: Puglia's and 10-8 are superb. Very helpful, very polite. The 10-8 guy is a former cop, so that helps. Puglia's has a ton of staff members, so there's not much waiting. Both have large selections and you could spend all day there looking at stuff.

Baldwin-Taylor Hardware used to be great when one of the owners was there. He showed me a Sig 226(or 5? it was a 9mm) and it melted like butta in my hand. Too bad I was short on cash for it. He was always willing to order stuff for me too. He's not there anymore and they usually sell surplus stuff.

Shooter's is another good store, polite, but wouldn't be my first place to go.

Jefferson Gun Outlet used to be horrible, now they are good place to not only purchase but to shoot.

Donovan's is worse than any store named in this thread. I don't care what gun store people go through, this behavior from the clerks there is inexcusable. I called them on the phone and was dealt with rudely. Word has it that this guy just has his FFL to support his hobby.


West Virginia:

The owner of Mountaineer Guns was very polite, but he fleeced my ass, so no more of that. He also refused service to my buddy, who's jewish.

The owner of Edward's doesn't have the manners to feed grits to a three-legged dog. Won't be going there either.

Fenton's Pawn shop was good, they were friendly.

Flat-Top Arms in Beckley is superb, with one of the best gunsmiths around.

 

[GEM]

Same experience - in the fancy CHEESE store! Such attitudes.

However, in town here - there is the fancy jerk clerk store and the nice clerk store. The latter has sold me 4 guns and accessories.

Another jerk clerk store advertized as THE place for guns and training. Now they are a Maytag store. They washed out.

I wonder if some males desire a testosterone beat down in a store to prove that they are in a 'warriors' place. I've seen it. Those who are higher in the dominance hierarchy and self-confident don't need that crap.

Just a theory for today.

 

[searcher451]

I've found this to be somewhat true in the big box/chain store operations far moreso than at the Mom & Pop shops. Consequentially, I deal at the local Mom & Pop stores for most all of my gun needs these days, from purchases to transfers to advice to just shooting the breeze. I still prowl the WallyWorlds for ammo, though; a clerk's attitude doesn't matter to me in that regard, and I haven't run into anything negative there, either, comes to that.

 

[Joe Demko]

I repeat, a lot of the jackassism is because guys work at/opened gun stores because they like guns and thought it would be working with and being around guns all day, every day. Alas, they found that retail is retail. Answering the same questions over and over. Running credit cards and making receipts. Counting out the register. Taking inventory. Stocking shelves. Sweeping the floor. For the owner, paying creditors, filing taxes, meeting payroll. Of course, there is also the record keeping for BATFE, which doesn't get more entertaining with repetition. If the shop does gun shows, there is also the packing everything up, unpacking it at the show, repacking what doesn't sell, and unpacking it again back at the shop. Oh, and you basically really don't get to play with the guns to any great extent. Most gun guys expect NIB when they buy a new gun.
So, try to overlook their bitterness-driven attitude. They thought they'd be living out a gun enthusiasts wet dream. Instead, they are working at Payless Shoe Store, only with more paperwork.

 

[JIM BOB]

Colfax Gun and Ammo in Colfax NC.Even with a full store they have time to talk to you.Good selection of guns and accessories and will deal.

 

[Shopping A Round]

What is an ass fleecing?

 

[Gun nutt]

The problem with rude gun store employees is the aren't just rude. They want a verbal fight. They know they can throw a person out of the store over a disagreement (which I have seen).

 

[Hawthorne2k]

So, try to overlook their bitterness-driven attitude. They thought they'd be living out a gun enthusiasts wet dream. Instead, they are working at Payless Shoe Store, only with more paperwork.

That makes a lot of sense, and it's probably the reason why I've found that most small gun stores are run by people who'd much rather shoot the breeze about guns, etc, than help customers.

 

[Maverick223]

Glad to hear you have had a really good experience with Eagle guns in Concord! I read your last post about Hyatt guns and I completely agree with everything you said. As I stated in that previous thread... I always go to Eagle Guns or Gun Works when it comes to ammo or anything gun related. Also I just purchased a Draco pistol from Eagle Guns which they even lowered the price on to $400 just to keep my business. I love that gun shop. They are the friendliest gun people and are always very helpful. I've never been let down by them.

I was up there the other day and mentioned you. Told them about our Hyatt adventures. They had some bulk 5.56 military rounds, don't remember what kind, but it was 1000 rounds for $300 some. Check it out if you're up there anytime soon.

Hyatt's lost my business long ago. Their elitist attitude, snide comments, and poor character made me search for a new shop...and I am glad I did. Their prices are the highest in town, their gunsmiths are quite frankly idiots (at least two of the 3+), in addition to the poor quality CS. I'll not be back given other options...and there are quite a few left. Another shop with poor CS (not as bad, but not good either) is Lake Norman Sporting Arms...the name should tell you all you need to know about them. Carolina Sporting Arms (Charlotte) and the Aisle Pawn Shop (Mooresville) are some good ones, but Eagle is the best I have been to.

I patronize Eagle Guns by far the most of any gunshop...I have funny taste (just ask any of the folks there...especially Dustin who always has to track down my newest fancy), don't always buy from them, but most everything is at least transfered through them. Every one in that store is courteous and helpful, some you have to get to know, but most shoot straight right out of the box. Mike is one of the most honest and fair men I know. He may not have the cheapest price around, but he isn't the biggest volume dealer either, and he will show you what he paid for it to prove you're not getting ripped-off. It is a little bit of a drive for me (from Huntersville), but I try to frequent the store when I can, in fact i'll be picking up a new rifle from them tomorrow.