That east side gun store 9/24/10

[sonovasailor]

I went into this shop when it was on 10th and Mitthoeffer. The owner was behind the counter, I was the only other person in there. I pointed at a nice SXS and said "that looks like a nice double". He said "yes it is" and walked past me and started to look at some paperwork. I have never purchased a firearm from him. However, I have purchased well over 100 from Bradis and about 25 from B&G Firearms. Hmmmmmmm, there may be a connection.

 

[Indy317]

If you don't wait on them how will you know who is buying.Or better yet what does a non buying customer look like.

There are some folks who trade in guns, just like folks in the classifieds here. They buy a certain gun, shoot it, play with it, and it is up for sale. Those are the types of customers these guys know. If you don't care about making the most, I can see not caring about scrambling to wait on every person who walks in.

 

[Old Reliable]

I get great service from my gun shop. Of course, "my guy" has to be working there or I get what is described in the previous posts.

 

[Squib]

Isn't it great we all get to vote with our pocketbooks? I live in Castleton, but if I'm looking, shopping or buying, I cheerfully drive down to Bradis or out to Plainfield Shooting Supply.

 

[rfontes]

i just went there today. i bought a magpul mbus for my dpms. the mbus was 10 dollars over retail price compared to prices on internet websites, but then again i have to figure in s & h, and waiting for it to arrive in the mail, so the extra ten bucks didnt bother me too much. the staff was nice and helpful, and their handgun collection was better than average, prices weren't dazzling though.

 

[PatriotPride]

If it's spoiled to expect good customer, then yes, I AM spoiled. If I am dropping $1000 a visit, I expect the store to give me their attention and give me good customer service. I can just as easily drive 10 minutes in another direction and hand another store my money.

Not a difficult concept.

 

[Thumper]

There are some folks who trade in guns, just like folks in the classifieds here. They buy a certain gun, shoot it, play with it, and it is up for sale. Those are the types of customers these guys know. If you don't care about making the most, I can see not caring about scrambling to wait on every person who walks in.

OK sorry if you are offended but i work for a gun shop and treat every customer with respect.If i didn't i would be fired.

 

[Cemetery-man]

I think after awhile gun shops know which customers are there to buy and which ones are there to just browse. Especially past customers or browsers that frequent the business. I am always greeted with smiles and handshakes when I go to Midwest Gun Exchange in Mishawaka. They magically seem to know when I am in a buying mood and will put clerk with me the entire visit and at the same time they seem to know when I'm just there to look at the goodies and check for new items. Even when I'm not there to buy they still treat me great, smile and talk when they have a chance. that is the kind of treatment that keeps customers coming back (even with their above average prices) and the thing that will make a new or potential customer feel welcome.

 

[Gungho_1989]

OK sorry if you are offended but i work for a gun shop and treat every customer with respect.If i didn't i would be fired.

You betcha was on the other side of the counter too long both broke and buying. After a time some guys forget for various reasons.

 

[JJGatesE30]

We went to an "east side gun store with a range" one time a couple of months ago. We had never been there and they were open on sunday...could not get any service whatsoever. Prices were a bit high but we would have been interested in a couple of guns anyway. But, without the service, well we just left.

Not really interested in going back anyway, since then we found PSS and Bradis.

 

[Joe Williams]

I don't mind browsers. Our store isn't a gun store, though we frankly have more guns and goodies than a fair number of the gun stores I've been in. Still, we make very little on the guns, they are viewed by the owners as more of an "attractant" that gets people into the stores to buy the stuff we actually do make money on. As such, my primary job is to try to make the customers happy, and make them want to come back. If they want to fondle every gun in the place (some have) I'm more than glad to do so, even if it is frustrating sometimes merely because I have LOTS of other work to do. The customer is the main job, everything else is secondary.

Not to mention, some folks (like us) will fondle guns several times over several visits before making a decision. I'd just as soon they feel welcome to come back to make the actual purchase.

The only people that really bug me is the peckerheads that take an hour of my time, telling me with every gun that they can get it cheaper on the internet and only want to see what the guns are like. These are the turkeys that I'd like to charge a fee!! Did get a sense of satisfaction from one such dude recently, who thought he was getting a great deal because he got a gun on the net for $15 less than we charged. He ended up torqued because he had to pay for shipping (bye bye $15 savings) and didn't know that people charged transfer fees

 

[dhdoug]

you think we are spoiled now............cant wait for the new beech grove store. suck an egg pops guns. i dont even drop money at "That Fun Place" in greenfield because its "that" guy. its my two cents and i will spend it where its appreciated

 

[cornfused]

I've not had any bad luck at Pops myself, other then the door being locked and I can't get in to use the range after I drive out there. Then when I call from thier parking lot I don't get an answer. That's happened 2 times. Ammo is more than it should be, I've only bought 1 box from them. Ya know, now that I think about it. I can't get what I feel is good service from anyone execpt Gander and Wanamaker, ....that just shouldn't be. I know others have had near horror stories.

This happened to me too!!!

 

[pute62]

If you have to buy at pop's you must be really hard up

 

[cornfused]

you think we are spoiled now............cant wait for the new beech grove store. suck an egg pops guns. i dont even drop money at "That Fun Place" in greenfield because its "that" guy. its my two cents and i will spend it where its appreciated

What do you mean by "it's that guy"?

 

[TopDog]

If it's spoiled to expect good customer, then yes, I AM spoiled. If I am dropping $1000 a visit, I expect the store to give me their attention and give me good customer service. I can just as easily drive 10 minutes in another direction and hand another store my money.

Not a difficult concept.

Its not spoiled to expect good customer service. That is not what I meant. We have a ton of great stores here with really good people working in them. We have a lot of choice on our side. To have a bad experience in one store and condemn gun shops in general reflects a spoiled attitude.

We have a large selection of gun shops here and as far as I can tell only two get consistently bad rep / reviews. Now stack that against some place where there is hardly any competition, where the store knows they pretty much have you by the balls. Think about it, if you get bad service here (especially around Indianapolis) you can walk out get in you car and within a few minutes be dealing with another well stocked gun store.

If you get bad service from a store by all means let everyone know. That kind of information is useful to everyone. Just don't like seeing the grouping all the stores together (not that you did), there are too many great stores here for that. From my experience its hard to get bad service from a gun store around here.

I have lived in too many places not to fully appreciate the abundance of gun shops here and the great service I consistently get from them.

 

[ejm874]

What do you mean by "it's that guy"?

I believe I heard that the guy who opened Pop Guns has moved on to other ventures and opened "That Fun Place" in Greenfield.

E

 

[tbhausen]

Wow, I wouldn't expect a direct response from the guys at that "east side" gun shop here... But I would expect someone from that shop to be reading this (or one of the owners' or employees' acquaintances) to call it to their attantion--swiftly followed by a genuine, sustained effort to improve their reputation for poor customer service and uncompetitive prices.

 

[PatriotPride]

Its not spoiled to expect good customer service. That is not what I meant. We have a ton of great stores here with really good people working in them. We have a lot of choice on our side. To have a bad experience in one store and condemn gun shops in general reflects a spoiled attitude.

We have a large selection of gun shops here and as far as I can tell only two get consistently bad rep / reviews. Now stack that against some place where there is hardly any competition, where the store knows they pretty much have you by the balls. Think about it, if you get bad service here (especially around Indianapolis) you can walk out get in you car and within a few minutes be dealing with another well stocked gun store.

If you get bad service from a store by all means let everyone know. That kind of information is useful to everyone. Just don't like seeing the grouping all the stores together (not that you did), there are too many great stores here for that. From my experience its hard to get bad service from a gun store around here.

I have lived in too many places not to fully appreciate the abundance of gun shops here and the great service I consistently get from them.

Thanks for the clarification. You, sir, have been badged.

I prefer to shop in a gun shop as opposed to the Internet. I prefer to discuss the pros and cons of a firearm I am considering purchasing with staff who are more knowledgeable than I.

I don't condemn the many for the actions of a few. If a store has not given me the service I require, I simply take my money elsewhere. For example, I have been so unimpressed by a few of the local stores around me that I will gladly drive 3 hours to Bradis to purchase a firearm as opposed to driving 10 minutes down the road. The personal service I have recieved as well as the pricing have been top-notch, so they have earned my business. Capitalism at it's finest

 

[littletommy]

See, now I've always heard people say this kind of thing about Kieslers/Orion in Jeffersonville, but every time I've been in there in the last couple of years, I've had nothing but good customer service from them, friendly, helpful, and willing to deal a little on prices. I will say that in just about all the shops here in southern IN, there are more than one employee working at any given time. I would not return to a shop where they ignore customers, maybe they have their reasons for what they do, but I get muscle spasms when money is getting ready to leave my hand, and if I get the feeling the dude behind the counter doesn't care one way or the other, I'm frikken walkin.