Service with an attitude Vs. Service with a smile

[DustyVermonter]

Alright, I for one am getting very sick of the "were doing everybody a favor" attitude that is becoming more and more prevalent in gunshops, and apparently across the united states. I thought it was more of a my area, my age thing but as I read others thread's I see its not just me. Its like because the anti's and the Bradys are acting like its a privilege that they can take away, when its in fact a right, the shop owners seem to think we have no choice but to come to them, which is not the case for others but is the case to me...to a certain extent, as there is only one FFL in my area and he doesn't have jack squat for selection, so I have to go 30 minutes to the next closest FFL.

I have received an attitude of sorts from these people, and it seems like they have made a special effort to show me that they won't acknowledge me as a semi-regular customer, as I have definitely made an impression there from all the money I've spent over the years, but still constantly card me for ammo, when they know full well who I am, or at least should know.

The inciting incident that prompted me to write this thread was this: A friend of mine, not that it matters but he's 28yo and kind of a happy go lucky guy, is a major gun enthusiast, who literally has more guns and ammo than this place even has in its shop, about 150 guns between rifles and handguns, again, not that its important but these are the facts, he goes in, and with his lifestyle and attitude he's shootin' smiles and lookin' to spend at least $500 easy. So he proceeds to shop, even after no smiles were returned by the owner or the co-owner/clerk, he's getting so much stuff that he has to set about a good armload onto the counter, he returns to shopping and looking around, pickin' stuff up and the owner says, very snottily: "can I help you with something?" And he looks up and says: "no, no thanks I'm findin' just about everything I need actually" and the owner says: "NO, what are you doing?". And my friend looks up confused and goes: "just looking" and the owner replies: "looking with your hands?" So needless to say he walks out and on his way out he says "nope, not anymore I guess, I like your shop, good luck with your business" and walks out and leaves everything behind on the counter.

Now, that is just flat out blatantly turning away business, it's very disappointing that in this day and age, with all the corporate businesses out there, you'd like to be appreciated for your support because there is a sense of civility in supporting the little guy and showing patronage, but I literally have no preference now, and I will just buy it where I can buy it the cheapest, because these businesses have proved to me over and over and time and time again that they don't care or know how to conduct business and don't deserve my patronage.

Its very discouraging, there is no pride in business ownership anymore, I just want to have a good ol' shop that I can go in and shoot the breeze, talk guns and get what I need, but I I'm having no such luck. I'd like some advice, but there is really nothing one can say, these are the times we live in, and I guess its time to bite down hard and get adapted. As stupid as it sounds, and the fact that good business practices should be a given, provided people want to do business, the fact is, for all who enjoy your experiences at your local shops, be grateful.

 

[Losov]

I've been a guitar player for well over 40 years, longer than I've been into shooting.

In NYC, there were two shops, Manny's and Sam Ash who treated anyone - who they did not recognize as a studio or Broadway pit guy - like absolute ****. I put up with this a bit when I was young, but in the intervening years have spent literally tens of thousands on guitars and related gear. Not one penny to Manny's or Sam Ash or their various corporate successors.

I know guitars are not guns. But retailing is retailing. I do not accept that treatment from any retailer regardless of product.

 

[lobo9er]

If its like you said don't shop there anymore. Sad Guns will be a big box store only for the most in the future. I do know the attitude you are talking about sometimes you want to show them your credit card on the way out and mention your were about to give it a work out but they changed your mind. Knew a guy laid out a big wad of money on a counter once and then calmly said "was going to spend this here." happens at all type of stores though.

 

[1911Tuner]

Got a little time on my hands so I'll tell a little story that was told to me at a Chevorlet dealership. I was romantically involved with one of the sales staff at the time, and she thought this was a real hoot.

I'll keep it brief.

19 year-old Kid walks in eyeballin' a Corvette on the floor. No sticker on the showroom cars, as per dealer policy. Asks how much, and was ignored. Much trash talk amongst the bored staff, and finally...one walks over to him just for chuckles. The others take off for lunch. Slow day. "Mary" is with a customer, or she'd have approached him. She was genuinely nice, and had a soft spot for kids with a dream.

The kid says that he wants to buy the 'Vette. Salesman can barely contain his amusement. Kid whips out a credit card and says get it ready. Salesman humors him and checks on the credit card that belongs to daddy. A call to daddy confirms that Junior has his permission to buy the car. Daddy is a heart surgeon in a midwestern city, and that his son is a pre-med student at the prestigious Wake Forest U.

"Let him have the car."
"Yes sir!"

The deal is done, and a 30,000 dollar car is bought with a credit card. The grinning youngster is pulling out just as the lunching staff is returning...puzzled at the sight of the kid driving off the lot alone in the 'Vette. (Whiskey Tango Foxtrot???)When the story is told, jaws drop and faces go pale because the commission on a Corvette is substantial. Especially sweet when the transaction didn't take up more than about 30 minutes of the salesman's time.

True story. Happened at Modern Chevrolet in Winston-Salem, NC in 1989.

 

[DustyVermonter]

Yeah, that calm,cavaleir, non-chalant "was going to spend this here, but your clerk over there just helped me realize that I should hold out for better service" attitude needs to become a given from now on to help shopkeepers all over remember the value of 'service with a smile'.as opposed to 'service with an attitude'.

 

[hardluk1]

There is a store in our little community that is a real general store, and sell anything most anything you might need around the house or farm + guns. He is not a gun guy at all . I am not a regular by local standards ,only lived here 13 years but have bought some stuff there and do buy all new guns there. You go in one time and spend money with him and he now knows your name. Next time in he will call you by your name and sells all guns at 10% over his cost. To many places to do business with to deal with an ass in the business world. Just go some where else an spend your money. In my little corner of the world this store is called Prices Creek General Store but locally known as " Bellews "

 

[Old Shooter]

What you might do is look thru the yellow pages for gunshops, firearms, etc. You might be surprised to find some smaller shops around that you never knew existed. A Google search might do the same thing also. I did this and found several nice shops, not too far from me that I didn't know about and had never even heard of. I frequent two of them on a regular basis now and have a good time whenever I visit.

Good luck.

 

[CZ223]

one of the most succesful shops

here in Maine was a place where a lot of guys gathered for coffee and to shoot the breeze on Saturday morning. There were quite a few regulars and the owner greated everyone by name unless he didn't know you. I think that the friendly atmosphere made most newcomers to the shop feel welcome. Anyway, that shop is gone now, the owner wanted some time to do other things. I am fortunate that I have found another shop like that but they are fewer and further between these days.

 

[DustyVermonter]

Sam1911, sounds like a few people learned some very valuable lessons that day, that's for damn sure. It sucks people have to learn the hard way, but better late than never. I have had upwards of $1500 in my pocket with every intention of leavin it there, and walked out with all of it, not the same as the commission off a vette, but similar.

 

[Stenner302]

I feel really lucky now. For a while I was going a half hour out of my way to go to a semi-large gun shop where I was always treated poorly. A shop then moved in last year about 10 minutes from my house, and though it is small, they are fantastic guys there that always greet me by name when I walk in and will go out of their way to be helpful. Anyone that lives near Harrisburg (Palmyra), PA feel free to PM me if you don't know the good one I'm talking about.

 

[CHEVELLE427]

some guns shops here are the same , they act like they have made all the money they need for the week and don't need anymore
i drive 45 min to go to a gun shop out of state because there friendly and always call me by my name. i can even call and ask about some gun i was thinking about say a week ago and the owner will put it up till i can get back to take another look, and most of the time ill buy it. as for in town we have around 10-12 shops but only 1 i have / will buy from

1911tuner

car story reminded me i was looking once it was a slight rain going on i was standing out in the rain looking at a Lincoln and no body wanted to come out to help. stuck my head in the frt door and yelled , any of these cars for sell out here, some manger said YES THEY ARE , i said well send someone out her to sell me one.

they couldn't get the umbrellas up fast enough.

no i didn't buy one just because of what i had to do to get help but i did ride back by to show the one i did buy across the street.

had about the same trouble buying a truck once till they found out it was a cash deal, would have walked that day to but i really liked that truck they had.

oh for the good old days again

 

[DustyVermonter]

There is one about 50-60 minutes away that I don't mind, the guy is a little hit or miss when I go in there as far as attitude, but you can tell he really wants to give you all the info he has on whatever subject, and that's good enough for me I guess. I don't need the shop owner to greet me at the door, kiss me on the lips and do a curtsee, but a lil common decency on any human level would be nice. The only thing about the shop I kind of like is that I can only buy rifles, as its in New Hampshire one state over and I'd have to screw around with transfers and fees.

 

[DustyVermonter]

Plus, the first time I ever went to the shop in question(shop I don't like) my wife came in there with me and she had her keys attatched to her purse, and when she swung it around to switch arms, she kinda whacked it of the glass case, didn't crack or break or anything. I said "babe, whatch what yer doin now" and glanced up and said "sorry bout that" only to find him staring blankly at me, like I should have grabbed her by the hair and pulled her outside and gave her a good slapping.

 

[Onmilo]

Ever heard the old saying,,,
"You'll attract more flies with honey than you will with vinegar."

Good advice.

Every customer a King, every King a customer.

 

[CHEVELLE427]

Ever heard the old saying,,,
"You'll attract more flies with honey than you will with vinegar."

think some forgot the vinegar saying and substituted it for crap as THAT will draw flies also.

don't think it is working well for most as i like HONEY BETTER

 

[ms6852]

Here in San Antonio I went to this particular gun store that seems everything is overpriced, especially the used part of fire-arms. Any way I had taken 2 of my 1911's to have trigger work done. A couple of months later I needed a mounting base for a savage 110 model C in left hand position. No one in San Antonio had one so I went to the Gun store I had my 1911's worked on. The sales guys who seems to be part of the family that own the store did not know what I needed exactly. They called out their gunsmith and I explain the situation. He went out looking through alot of clutter and finally came out with some old warne extention rings and bases. I got talking to him and let him know that I had loved the work he had done on my 1911's. He was pleased that I was satisfied and started walking away. I asked him how much for the stuff and he turned around and said...Just take it. Never have I gotten anything for free before that time.

 

[HOWARD J]

I went to the same gun shop for many years---the father passed on & the son & mother took over----still very friendly place.
Then the mother retired & the son got sick.
Then the relatives took over---they knew nothing about a gun shop & didn't care if they learned.
They reminded me of a coiled rattler & about as friendly.
The son is back now( in wheelchair) & I am back also.........................

 

[heron]

think some forgot the vinegar saying and substituted it for crap as THAT will draw flies also.

Man, I had to catch my breath after that -- thanks for the belly-laugh!

Back on topic -- my LGS is pretty decent, there's usually only one guy in there, but he's pleasant and gives good service and has good prices on guns and sometimes on ammo. Once in a while I get to chat with him a little, but he's usually too busy with customers for that. I keep going back.

 

[Mudinyeri]

While I don't own anywhere near 150 guns ... of all the guns I do own, I can only think of one that was purchased from a "big box" store. The store was new to the area and I wanted to give them a chance. They had a great sale going on since they were new to town so the gun was well-priced.

Although, I haven't had any really negative experiences I must say the the service I get from my "single shingle" FFL far exceeds that of any of the big box stores locally. If I'm looking for a gun and want to get a feel for it before purchasing I'll check it out at one of the big box stores or rent it at a local range. Then, I'll either place the order through my FFL or, if he can't be particularly price-competitive on a given gun, order it online through a place like Jet Guns and pay my FFL the transfer fee.

 

[A and O]

Couple thoughts.

1. When I was a kid back in the sixties I lived with my Grandmother while my parents were divorcing and learned a lesson I'll share. The paper man (20 yrs +) was always perfect. Paper on front porch 7 days a week a 5:30 am. Suddenly there were missed days, paper broke strings, thrown in wet lawn etc... She put up with it for several weeks until she had enough and made a phone call. She really laid into the woman who answered the phone. To the point of making the woman cry. Turns out Her Husband had died several weeks back and she and the kids were trying to run the Business to make ends meet and that 1/4 of the route had dropped the paper as a result of the poor service. My Grandmother felt so bad and apologized profusely that I cried.
From that point forward I resolved to always give the other person the benefit of doubt in all my dealings. Of course there is never any excuse for rudeness from Gun Dealers or anybody else for that matter. I suppose my point is each case of bad service needs to be weighed in on it's own facts and the response is meted out accordingly.

2. Bought a GM Car years back when GM was giving double rebates to owners of foreign vehicles. Average auto was under 9 grand at that time and the rebates came to $1200.00. I grabbed my check book and pink for my Datson and happily headed to the local GM Dealer. Offered full MSRP price (hey, I was young), just wanted the rebates and no payments. The Manager laughed at me and said "there's the door, use it". I did.
Went home and opened the paper and found a Dealer 80 miles away that had lost it's Franchise (Due to unsavory practices) and was being operated by GM. They had my car on sale for 1/3 off plus rebates. I called them and they said they still had 10 of them in stock. I got up at 4:30 am and drove down to buy it. I treated them well and they treated me like a KING. The Manager from GM like my attitude so much he offered the sale price on any vehicle on the lot including the Vets. I bought what I had come in for and drove back to the other car Dealer. I showed the contract to the Manager that laughed at me. He said he did not remember me (Yeah Right). So I parked near their entrance and told every person coming on to their lot about the deal I had got at the other Dealer. I probably sold 100 GM vehicles that day. Who knows? I do know the bad Dealer for certain sold no vehicles that day. The Manager called the Police and they told him that I was within my rights as long as I stayed off their property. Satisfaction sure is satisfying.

 

[mcdonl]

CZ, there is a guy up my way (Northern York County) that is an FFL and works out of his house. He is awesome. Gets great prices, you sit in his kitchen to do the paperwork... his kids and dogs know me now. He is in the Uncle Henrys... you should give him a shot. Well worth the time, and a good guy.

 

[Roswell_Kid]

There are not many gun shops here and a few of these are not to be found in the phone book. I came across my little CZ shop on the net and these guys could not be nicer. It's a tiny place by US standards, like most everything else here, but the service attitude is exceptional.

One of the characteristics of this country is a very polite, customer-oriented culture. The two brothers who own the local supermarket, for example, go out of their way to shake your hand, smile and make you feel totally welcome every time you walk into the store. No wonder they have in the past four years expanded the store, added a large hardware store, a Honda dealership and a sports center.

It is nice to be treated respectfully. Makes people like spending money. Too bad some folks just don't get it.

 

[Cougfan2]

In NYC, there were two shops, Manny's and Sam Ash who treated anyone - who they did not recognize as a studio or Broadway pit guy - like absolute ****. I put up with this a bit when I was young, but in the intervening years have spent literally tens of thousands on guitars and related gear. Not one penny to Manny's or Sam Ash or their various corporate successors.

Not to go too off topic, I know what you mean about Manny's and Sam Ash. I was in Manny's several years ago when I was on a visit to NY. It was the first time I had ever been in the store and I had heard so much about it I wanted to check them out. It was a Saturday afternoon and the store was packed with people. I could not believe the next thing that happened. One of the guys working in the store climbed up on top of this huge PA cabinet stood up and yelled out over the crowd "Buyers to the left; lookers to the right"! That told me all I needed to know about their idea of customer service.

 

[CraigC]

IMHO, the biggest problem is that shooters don't necessarily make good gun shop owners. Too many treat it like their own personal club and if you don't already know them, you're a lowlife. Unfortunately, few are smart enough to realize that they have zero people skills and should hire a more customer-friendly staff.

 

[danprkr]

IMHO, the biggest problem is that shooters don't necessarily make good gun shop owners. Too many treat it like their own personal club and if you don't already know them, you're a lowlife. Unfortunately, few are smart enough to realize that they have zero people skills and should hire a more customer-friendly staff.

Winner

I had a similar situation to the one 1911tuner described at a car dealer. I went to look at a Dodge Charger in 1984. I got service, but when I got on it to feel the turbo I got chewed out by the salesman. So, went to the next town and bought a brand new Camaro. I did drive by and ask to see that sales man the next day, and explained that I'd bought the Camaro even though it was more money because the sales staff didn't rip me a new one for wanting to test the performance of the new sports car I was buying. Then letting my 19 y/o judgment get the better of me I smoked the tires out of the lot. Oh well, older and wise now I guess, but the sales man was an idiot for not taking my money.