More Stupid Walmart Employees

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Redlg155

Redlg155

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Dec 25, 2002
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NW Florida
Well..another story to add to the saga of stupid Walmart transactions. I finally picked up my Encore 209x50 frame that I special ordered and had the following discussion. This story starts with my inspection of the frame in front of the manager on duty.

ME: Ok looks fine. I'll take it.

MGR: OK, here you go.

ME: Umm..excuse me, but you have to do the ATF paperwork on this frame just like a standard rifle.

MGR: Nope, it's a blackpowder rifle, you are ok.

ME: Look, I'm just trying to be nice here so I don't get called back to the store and to keep you out of trouble. Even though the paperwork states that the frame is for a 209x50 black powder barrel, it is still considered a firearm by the ATF and must have the background check done. Even your book states that it must be considered a firearm.

MGR: Well..let me call Tallahassee. I can't find a serial number on this to log it in.

ME: The serial number is right under that hammer block safety that TC put on it. See that number...

MGR: No that's not a serial number...the serial number is on the barrel.

ME: Do you see a barrel? NO? Then it must be on the frame. See that number? It matches the SERIAL # sticker they put on the box.

MGR: Hold on..let me call Tallahassee.

(Intermission filled by stupid muzac)

MGR: Ok..I still can't find a serial # on this gun, but they said it's ok to take.

ME: Hey..look. The telephone number for TC is on the box. Why don't you call them so they can tell you the same thing I told you? (At this time he gets another phone call. I place bets with the cashiers on who is right. Somehow they dont' want to be against me....dang! :D )

MGR: OK..they guy in Tallahassee say that because it has a trigger and can expode a shell then you have to do paperwork on it.

ME:Well..actually it can't explode a shell...but..forget it. Lets just do the paperwork.

MGR: Ok..now if I could just find the serial #.............. :rolleyes:

About and hour later I finally left the store. He finally took my word on the serial number and halfhearted apologized. I decided to neglect pointed out several procedural errors he made on the sale, part of Walmart policy. Hopefully they will chew on him later. :D

Good Shooting
Red
 
I test people for a living (and I'm not in a very good mood today.) Truth be known, they are hiring the smart ones. The problem lies with the management and the lack of adequate training.

But it's still frustrating, isn't it?

John
 
Don't be too hard on the discount store employees.
You got to remember they sell much more than firearms.

They only know what they are taught by management.
If this guy is not into firearms then he has no clue as to the procedure.

It would be different if you had bought from a gun shop, they should know better.

If you deal with a discount store, you get the level of service reflected by the price you pay.

You did well by trying to educate him.
 
Plan 'A'. Quit buying firearms in a discount store if you want a clerk who may know something.
Plan 'B' Continue buying firearms in a discount store but remember the employees get minimum wage and don't care. Neither does the guy they call 'manager' or he wouldn't be in retail.
 
As for saying "Thank You"and walking, Ohh trust me..I would have gone in a heartheat except that it was a special order and they already had my information on file for the purchase.

Plan 'A'. Quit buying firearms in a discount store if you want a clerk who may know something.
Click to expand...

Trust me...Walmart is the last place I would go if I wanted to actually pick a persons brain about a gun purchase! :D

Good Shooting
Red
 
Plan 'A'. Quit buying firearms in a discount store if you want a clerk who may know something.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, buying firearms at "Gun Stores" doesn't guarantee the sales clerk will have a greater knowledge of the laws.
 
Reminds me of about 8-9 years ago, when I was looking to make a job change...{multiple too-long stories, but essentialy, boss hated me, and wanted to make me quit. knew he didn't have anything to fire me over, but I digress...}

Wally World was opening a new store near home, so I applied. Put down both sporting goods & electronics or even the computer stuff for checkouts, inventory, etc......

Over qualified for electronics, with all my years as a TV Broadcast Engineer

Since I was a hunter/fisherman, O.Q. there, too

Didn't have a Computer Science degree, so under-q'd for the store computer stuff.
 
OK, we all agree that the people who work at Wallyworld are not always the smartest

So why do you still shop there?

DM
 
Wal-Mart has buying power. To save a few dollars.
Click to expand...

Same reasoning here. If I have a question I'll research the answer here before I go anywhere. I dont' trust Walmart or even gunshop information as much as I trust the information from the many sources found here. There is always someone who knows the answer and if someone is wrong another is sure to set things straight.

I got the same frame at Walmart for $50 under the nearest dealer price. I paid $260 total out the door with all taxes included for a blued Encore frame complete with forearm and buttstock. I couldn't get near that price at the dealers here.

But then I have one dealer that wants $295.00 for a standard blued Kel Tec P32!

Good Shooting
Red
 
OK

You saved $50.

That $50 is worth the time and effort that the shop owner put into building the business, learning the trade, stocking the merchandising and all of the other work that goes into running a business.

The hassle and time spent at wallyworld getting the same product make the $50 more than acceptable to me.

Plus in a couple years, when the only place you can buy guns in your area is wallyworld, the teeth gnashing will start again.

I tend to spend my money with people who care enough about my business to learn theres. People who don't have to be directed to the .45acp- eg. no, over to the left, now down, too far now up one -.

I prefer to spend my money with people who live in my community and will keep my money here, not send it to wallyworld headquarters.

The employees at wallyworld are underpayed, forced to work unpaid over time and treated like dung by the customers. They have no incentive to learn their job any better than to just get by. I won't support a business that treats their employees and their customers like that.

And if I ever do decide to subject myself to that type of abuse, knowing the reputation of wallyworld, I will certainly not come to this or any other board and complain about how I was treated.
Just my opinion.
DM
 
The employees at wallyworld are underpayed, forced to work unpaid over time and treated like dung by the customers. They have no incentive to learn their job any better than to just get by.
Click to expand...

I take it you used to work for Walmart??:confused:



Good Shooting
Red
 
People who work at Wal-Mart are no dumber or smarter than people who work anywhere else.
It's just that in a large chain store people are assigned almost randomly. The poor guy probably has no interest or background in firearms or sporting goods. He was just assigned to that department after watching a couple of training tapes. He's doing the best he can to earn a living.

Go back in a couple of months and he'll be over in automotive or hardware and probably know less about those subjects than he does about Thompson Encore rifle frames.

Chain stores are self-serve. If you want to deal with a person with a thorough understanding of a subject, then go to a specialized store - a gun shop - and pay the extra money.

I just think it's unrealistic (and unfair) when people are too cheap to go to a gun store, then spend a lot of time whining about the lack of knowledge of some poor clerk in a chain store.

Would you now be complaining about the price if you'd gone to a small gun shop and then found you could get it $50 cheaper at Wal-Mart?

Consumers have choices. If you want to save money, go to Wal-Mart and consider it self-serve. If you want to pay for knowledge and experience, go to a small gun store. You can't have it both ways.

Keith
 
I have a rather simple solution to all that: I NEVER go into a Walmart store. If it was raining s__t, I'd walk six blocks to buy toilet paper from anyone else. The few times I have tried to do business with them have all turned out badly, with checkers that didn't know what to do when faced with some new problem to managers that wouldn't bother to look up information for a possible sale.

But just think of all the money I save by not giving it to them.
 
What DM said!
Support your local gunshops, even if it means spending a bit more--you'll get than money back in good service and you'll be supporting people who live in your town/area.
 
I just think it's unrealistic (and unfair) when people are too cheap to go to a gun store, then spend a lot of time whining about the lack of knowledge of some poor clerk in a chain store.
Click to expand...


Somehow this thread seems to have drifted a bit. Should someone expect a clerk in a chain store to know much about weapons? Nope.

Should someone expect that a chain store employee assigned to a specific area know enough to maintain BATF compliance? YES.

Does the BATF expect that a chain store employee or chain store maintain BATF compliance? YES.

Does purchasing a Encore frame have anything to do with common firearms knowledge? NO.

I could care less that they know the dimensions, trigger pull weights, type of firing system and options available.

Does purchasing an Encore frame have anything to do with following BATF rules and regulations? YES.

I do care that they keep me out of trouble if they were audited by the BATF. That is a reasonable expectation regardless of where you shop for a weapon, gunshop or not.

It seems that some folks have customer service confused with compliance to BATF regulations.

Good Shooting
Red
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Plan 'A'. Quit buying firearms in a discount store if you want a clerk who may know something.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Unfortunately, buying firearms at "Gun Stores" doesn't guarantee the sales clerk will have a greater knowledge of the laws.
Click to expand...

Not only that, but dealing directly with the FFL at a gun store doesn't guarantee accurate information, not even close... You would like to think they'd know enough to not try to send someone out the door with a unpapered receiver/frame, but you never know...
 
"Should someone expect that a chain store employee assigned to a specific area know enough to maintain BATF compliance? YES.

Does the BATF expect that a chain store employee or chain store maintain BATF compliance? YES."

Point well taken. When enough boneheads screw up the BATF paperwork and WallyWorld gets busted a few times, THEN THE #1 SELLER OF FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION IN THE U.S. WILL DROP THESE ITEMS FROM THEIR SHELVES, thereby screwing innumerable small towns out of the ONLY gun shop they have.
 
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