Rant of the Gun Store Owner

[superscribe]

Hello, welcome to the gun shop. Maybe you're trying to impress me with your knowledge of guns. Maybe you don't know what you're talking about it comes to guns, but you don't want me to know you don't know what you're talking about. Here's a couple of tips

1) When i check the magazine, and chamber, and then hand it to you, and then you check the magazine and chamber, it makes me feel better
2) When i hand the gun to you, and you can't rack the slide, it makes me nervous.
3) when you complain that you can't find the hammer on a glock, it makes me nervous.
3) When i hand the gun to you, and you pop the magazine out and let it clatter to the floor, it makes me nervous.
4) It's Nineteen Eleven. Not one nine one one. Now i'm nervous
5) Yes it's a grip safety. No they aren't new. They've been around for a hundred years now.. You giggling over how weird it is makes me nervous, and i have no faith in your competence with guns now.
6) When you try really hard to pull the trigger on the 1911 when it's not cocked... it makes me nervous.
7) no, i will not let you chamber a bullet to make sure everything works. Not a chance in a cold cold hades.
8) If you thought the desert eagle only came in .50 and that's the first gun you want to see, then now i have to admit... i'm a little nervous.
9) You correcting me about how the gun is an H AND K when i hand you the USP doesn't impress me. What would impress me is if you finally figured out how to drop the mag.
10) I know it's okay for some guns, but dry firing that very expensive sig x-5 over and over again really irritates me.
11) I know it's not a big deal, but pull the slid, don't depress the slide stop. Especially when you do it like 5 times. That's just irritating.
12) No. Please stop. That large bullet is not a style of dress. It's not even spelled the same. It's too big of a round for you anyway. I am no longer answering your questions. I'm irritated
13) Yes, there are several bullets between .45 and .50. There i also a style of gun called a revolver. Maybe you've heard of them. They've been around for a while. Now I'm irritated.

Sorry i had to get that out. How's everyone doing today?

 

[Birdmang]

This attitude turns off people to shooting.

 

[Bubbles]

1) This probably belongs in General, not Handgun.
2) If you want to commisserate w/ folks who understand, sign up at The FFL Only Forum - by dealers, for dealers.

 

[BCRider]

I'd say that the ones that act like superscribe described are not going to get the message anyway and would continue to consider themselves Shooting's Golden Haired Boy in any event.

Note that he didn't say anything about the folks that come in and say "I'm not familiar with this style of gun. Why is there no hammer?" or something similar about a lot of topics. To which I'm pretty sure he would respect their attitude and be more than happy to explain it to them.

I was looking at a used Single Six some time back and asked if it was OK for me to remove the cylinder so I could check the barrel and ensure that it was a .22LR cylinder and not the .22Mag. The shop guy said yes and I reached over and drew back one of the gun mats to put the parts onto. He thanked me for that bit of consideration. Apparently it's not uncommon for folks to all but drop the handguns on the glass case and on some guns that tends to make the finish on the edges show signs of this treatment. When I asked for a .22 snap cap and he said he didn't have any. I then asked for a bit of card that we could fold up and use to cushion the hammer fall. He smiled and said "Good idea, I never thought of that".

There's helping beginners that admit they are beginners and then there's having to deal with self proclaimed knowitalls. And frankly I don't have any patience with the knowitalls in any field either.

 

[Sam1911]

I've moved this to General, but I'm not sure we need ANOTHER dealers -vs.- customers thread. (Though, it is only the 1st of the month. Guess we maybe are due for one. )

We all know dealers are dishonest swine without the intelligence to find their own butts. And we all know gun shop customers are theiving, bottom-dollar sniffing rats without the intelligence to find their own butts with both hands and a map.

But, does this help or promote our goals here at The High Road?

General, "you guys suck," threads don't play well here.

 

[Vyacheslav]

i would guess you don't sell many guns...

 

[Robert]

This attitude turns off people to shooting.

Spend some time behind a counter. Most of the folks you encounter are not nearly as smart as they think they are. I have had some great times behind the counter and learned some wonderful things from customers who really knew their stuff. Most do not. And yes, there are a ton of folks that work at gun stores that have no idea what they are talking about either.

 

[Birdmang]

I have worked behind a counter for a few years. I didn't know that much when I started but I learned more than I ever expected from my fellow (mostly very old and knowledgeable) employees. If any of them came off like this to customers, no guns would be sold.

There isn't any other business that I know of where (some) people selling you a product are this arrogant and still expect to make sales. Sadly this is normally at local mom and pop stores, if this attitude was given by an employee of a big box store, the employee would be fired.

Thankfully I got out of the business and now can see it from the consumer side.

 

[jonmerritt]

I don't have to be behind the counter, I have stood next to some of these people, they make me nervous!

 

[oneounceload]

There isn't any other business that I know of where (some) people selling you a product are this arrogant and still expect to make sales

Go into any high-end store, like a Rolls Royce car dealer, designer boutique, or similar. Those folks are everywhere - on BOTH sides of the counter.

I watched a new girl at GM tell an uneducated buyer that it was OK to use 357 in a 38 only revolver because the 38 was bigger. I politely stepped in and gently told her she had it backwards......

"An educated consumer makes the best customer for everyone"

 

[Rshooter]

Really I do not see what superscribe said that is so insulting. I have seen some real good and some real bad dealers but I have also seen the same in customers. I mean he has a point about dry firing and he makes several other good points.

 

[Robert]

are this arrogant

mmmm I didn't get that vibe when I read it. But you may be right.

 

[Birdmang]

Of course having an opinion and venting on it is different than telling how you feel to a customer, so if he (OP) is a good salesman and just deals with crap people, then thats a different story.

I had a bad experience with a local mom and pop shop, although a LARGE shop, when I first bought a rifle from a store. It pushed me away from local stores and to online sales only. Itd be nice to find a friendly local dealer to support rather than large walmart types.

 

[scchokedaddy]

Yeah I understand where op is coming from, have had many days like that. These are things you would like to say, but don't. At least not if you want to survive in retail. I have just as many of you have seen the reason for the frustation between the lines on both sides of the counter. How many times have you shook your head and walked away from well meaning but way off base customers you see at gunshops. After all they read it in a magazine it can't be wrong. I have been working in gunshops off and on for 8 or 9 years parttime and seen some real doozies. But I can usually stand there long enough to figure out what they are trying to say and gently lead them back to reality. The only times I get real testy is when they mistreat a weapon. This is when I get very serious and call them down. Yes, they usually get atitude. This is when I ask them if they would want their weapon mistreated like that. Usually wind up showing or telling what and why they did wrong, most common reply I hear then is " I did not know, no one ever told or showed me". I still have faith in people, And try to have faith in my ability to help them to the best of my ability. Don't this was meant to be a bash by op, just venting off frustation. My take on his op any ways.

 

[MrOldLude]

The OP wrote all of this as if I should care. I don't.

#1 Price. Either firearm, equipment, or transfer fee.
#2 One simple line of customer service. "Can I help you with anything?"

That's it. I'm not interested in impressing or being impressed by the seller. Some sellers are smart, some are blathering idiots. Just like customers. Either deal with it, be more proactive about the merchandise, or get out of the business.

 

[HGUNHNTR]

I have been on both sides of the counter. Instead of getting nervous, ask some questions, show some interest in the person. Your recommendations on how to handle a gun, and eagerness to share information will be more readily accepted.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

There are idiots in every line of work from the Hardware store to the Auto lot. I don't understand why Gunshop owners don't understand that and accept it as being part of doing business. I could rant for hours about the idiots I meet in the Ministy or in School teaching. For example I have seen screaming parents telling me little johnny should be getting an A when he hasn't done a lick of work all the past 6 weeks and I have email, mailed and called the parents 1-3 times every 2 weeks through out the 6 weeks.

Gun Shop Owners not every customer that comes in going to be Elmer Keith or Col Atkins some will be Elmer Fudd.

 

[rellascout]

I can tell already that this one is going to end badly. The door swings both ways. For every ignorant customer there is an ignorant FFL. I have been in more bad gun shops than good ones. The good ones stand out because to be honest there are sooooo many poor shops.

I have owned a company and have done direct to consumer sales for over 20 years... I would love sales if it weren't for all the damn customers... LOL If you own a business you can either take the negative attitude that the OP has or you can attempt to educate and correct people while still making a living. I am willing to bet he does not refuse to take these peoples $$$ but has no problem coming here and talking about them in a negative light.

Honestly what does the OP think he is accomplishing with this thread.

 

[dogtown tom]

Personally, I love the OP's attitude.

Gunstores with staff like his drive customers my way.

 

[Grey_Mana]

Hey Superscribe, you don't need that much irritation and aggravation in your life. Time to retire from selling guns, and get a nice job as a high school teacher, or a job helping folks transition from welfare to employment.

When is the Gong Out of Business sale? More importantly, how much of a discount do THR posters get?

 

[essayons21]

I chuckled. As a customer, those actions would make me nervous, no matter what side the counter they occurred. I have been in some larger stores where even the gun counter employees exhibited some of the behavior described above.

I don't get this one...

12) No. Please stop. That large bullet is not a style of dress. It's not even spelled the same. It's too big of a round for you anyway. I am no longer answering your questions. I'm irritated

Care to elaborate?

 

[CoRoMo]

The OP sounds nervous and irritated.

 

[Yo Mama]

OP, stop yelling at me! Your third post, wow. You want to know my rant? No? same here.

 

[Glocked&Loaded]

I agree about the safety related things but most of the OP'S list just comes off as elitist. Pardon my potential ignorance but what is so bad about using the slide stop lever as opposed to pulling back on the slide?

 

[Sam1911]

Enough. "Rant" threads are not what THR is about.

And we aren't going to pick through the OP's list and debate his points, either.

He was nervous and irritated. Maybe he feels better now. Hope so.