Why are gun shop employees/owners predominately dicks?

[Bunnykid68]

I know exactly what you are talking about. A dealer that I have bought 3 guns from in the last half year, never answered an e-mail I sent him asking about a 4th gun that I wanted. Saw him at the last E-ville gun show, he never said anything about the gun I wanted. So I bought it from another seller. Guess he doesnt care for my business anymore. Fine by me. I`ll spend elsewhere.

Are you sure he got the E-mail?

 

[verv]

I might have an idea on that. Not long ago I went to Dons guns to do some shooting and when i walked through the door with my sks moded and a couple of pistols the first thing that greeted me was one of the employees pulled his gun and kept it at his side. I went and talked to the other employee and went in and shot a few rounds. About 3 weeks later someone went in to rob them and one of the empolyees shot and killed the robber. The employee was injured but he recovered.

 

[JT21]

i have had similar incidents. Maybe its because i dont look like your typical "gun owner" But there is once shop in my town i enter and always get the same blank stare with one eyebrow cocked "can i help you..." i usally ignore it.

What really gets me is the gunshop owners who believe "this brand is best" i wanted to check out this glock 27 they had in their cabinet, now he wants to be all buddy buddy with me, showing me pics of his glock collection and what not...i just wanted to compare it side by side with my m&pC since those two are constantly compared. "yeah people seem to like m&ps, they buy them whenever we have them, so i guess theyre ok" but you CANT ever go wrong with this g27" well, i can when the price tag is over 600 for a well used glock 27.
So yeah, i think there are places where peoples personal opinions can kinda irritate shoppers.

 

[Pierce]

Like any place of business, you learn what employees know their sh** & who doesn't after a few visits.

 

[Archer]

I know what I want, and I hate when the guy behind the counter says, "we don't have this but check this out, it's pretty similar"
Listen folks...LGSs are having a hard time getting stock in, and it's hard to know how soon they will have exactly what you're looking for. If you are looking for something and they don't have it, they will show you comparable options. They don't know if its something you need right away or if you have your heart set on a specific model.

Rude Phone Calls
Think about how busy as LGSs have been in recent weeks. Somebody calls the shop, and asks how much 9mm is. You walk over to the 9mm, look at the price, and walk back to the phone. You tell the person on the phone how much. They then ask you how much .40S&W ammo is. So you walk over to the .40s, get the price, and walk back. Meanwhile, customers in the shop are being neglected because you're too lazy to drive over and look for yourself. How would you feel if you were in the store wanting to look at something and the employees are ignoring you because someone has alot of bland generic questions. And if you are calling from far away, say so from the outset of the call. That way, the employee understands why you're calling.

I know all about guns, I don't need the opinion of the guy behind the counter.

Well, shoot. Remember, LGS employees don't know you. They don't know what your experience level is, how deep your knowledge base is, etc. As another post said, they deal with people new to firearms, people with years of knowledge and experience, and complete f*****g morons on a regular basis. Not to mention they have to constantly be wary of people bringing loaded weapons into the shop and behaving irresponsibly with them. Besides, wouldn't you rather have a gun shop employee tell you if the feedback he has heard (first hand, mind you, not on the "always truthful" Internet) on a certain firearm has been negative? That's kind of their job, to help customers make decisions by giving them input. Not just to jump when you say so.

Give the owners/employees the benefit of the doubt, realize that it's not personal, and most of them, a few jerks aside, genuinely want you to have a good buying/looking experience.

OP, saying that all gunshop owners/employees are predominatly dicks just because you had a bad experience is a really crappy generalization. As another post said, if you really have such a problem with it, you should have asked to speak to the owner/manager and stated your issues. Or stated them to the salesperson himself.

Just my 2 cents, FWIW, YMMV, and any other usefel acronyms or phrases

 

[eSC]

OP, saying that all gunshop owners/employees are predominatly dicks just because you had a bad experience is a really crappy generalization. As another post said, if you really have such a problem with it, you should have asked to speak to the owner/manager and stated your issues. Or stated them to the salesperson himself.

Reading more than the title might have saved you a whole lot of keystrokes.

To summarize: I never said "all", it wasn't "A" bad experience and anyone that says it would be a good idea to complain of bad service, at the time of bad service, really needs to spend more time behind counters and/or observing exactly how that is normally received. They will soon realize what a waste of time it is.

Note HERE that I said "normally received". I said so in hopes that it will keep someone from again throwing out some anecdotal evidence "proving" that it is not the case.

 

[Hookeye]

Since I no longer work with the public, yeah, I'm a d*ck
Somebody lies or says something stupid, I can now actually speak up about it.
Funny, how working retail puts folks behind the counter in a hostage type of situation.
Too many "customers" abuse that "system" IMHO.

 

[Archer]

Reading more than the title might have saved you a whole lot of keystrokes.

To summarize: I never said "all", it wasn't "A" bad experience and anyone that says it would be a good idea to complain of bad service, at the time of bad service, really needs to spend more time behind counters and/or observing exactly how that is normally received. They will soon realize what a waste of time it is.

Note HERE that I said "normally received". I said so in hopes that it will keep someone from again throwing out some anecdotal evidence "proving" that it is not the case.

I currently have two jobs in addition to being a full time student, both of which are customer service oriented. I have also worked at a local gun shop in the past. At any job, if the level of service I am delivering is not to a customer's satisfaction, I would appreciate getting feedback, either directly or via a supervisor/manager. That makes me do a better job. It has been my experience that most places do appreciate customer's opinions. Sorry for the anecdotal evidence, but if you want a place where people will only agree with what you say, or do what you want them to do, an online forum ain't it.

I am also sorry that my accidental addition of the word "all" to your original title has you so vexed, but even so, your use of the word "predominately" indicates to me that you feel that gun shop owners/employees are dicks more often than not. I still feel that is a very crappy generalization, for all the reasons I outlined in my previous post.

Keep in mind that as employees of a store that sells guns/gun gear, they are in a position to receive direct customer feedback on all items they sell, be it a gun, holster, whatever. This typically gives them more real world (as opposed to internet) data points to help formulate their opinion.

If I were in your shoes, and I was looking at, say, a certain holster, and the salesperson told me it was a POS, I would enter into some dialogue with the individual to better ascertain why they held such an opinion. If that person brought up valid points, not to mention suggested something of superior quality that cost less, I would be happy as I had just saved some money. If my the salesperson's response didn't satisfy me, I would simply say, "Thank you for your input, but I think I'm still going to go with the original product." Perhaps engaging in some discussion with the people behind the counter will make them seem less like dicks to you. Or maybe it will make you seem like less of a dick to them.

I wish you nothing but satisfaction with all your future salesperson interactions, and hope that you continue to describe your experiences, good or bad, so that people who do work in LGSs can continue to gain points of reference and learn what makes some people unhappy or pleased.

Cheers.

 

[eSC]

I currently have two jobs in addition to being a full time student, both of which are customer service oriented. I have also worked at a local gun shop in the past. At any job, if the level of service I am delivering is not to a customer's satisfaction, I would appreciate getting feedback, either directly or via a supervisor/manager. That makes me do a better job. It has been my experience that most places do appreciate customer's opinions. Sorry for the anecdotal evidence, but if you want a place where people will only agree with what you say, or do what you want them to do, an online forum ain't it.

I am also sorry that my accidental addition of the word "all" to your original title has you so vexed, but even so, your use of the word "predominately" indicates to me that you feel that gun shop owners/employees are dicks more often than not. I still feel that is a very crappy generalization, for all the reasons I outlined in my previous post.

Keep in mind that as employees of a store that sells guns/gun gear, they are in a position to receive direct customer feedback on all items they sell, be it a gun, holster, whatever. This typically gives them more real world (as opposed to internet) data points to help formulate their opinion.

If I were in your shoes, and I was looking at, say, a certain holster, and the salesperson told me it was a POS, I would enter into some dialogue with the individual to better ascertain why they held such an opinion. If that person brought up valid points, not to mention suggested something of superior quality that cost less, I would be happy as I had just saved some money. If my the salesperson's response didn't satisfy me, I would simply say, "Thank you for your input, but I think I'm still going to go with the original product." Perhaps engaging in some discussion with the people behind the counter will make them seem less like dicks to you. Or maybe it will make you seem like less of a dick to them.

I wish you nothing but satisfaction with all your future salesperson interactions, and hope that you continue to describe your experiences, good or bad, so that people who do work in LGSs can continue to gain points of reference and learn what makes some people unhappy or pleased.

Cheers.

Not trying to be snide here, but I would venture a guess that I've been on this planet about twice as long as you have and an active consumer much longer than you've been alive.

Having said that, my experience tells me that, although admirable, your belief that CSR's, in general, care at all that a customer feels like they did not get good service is far from the norm. For most, the moment they are called on it, YOU become the problem customer. It's just how it works.

Also, posting anecdotes in the quest for opinions is not the same thing as offering them as proof for a point. And it's not that I only want to hear what I want to hear, it's that I get annoyed at proof that doesn't exist being held up as proof.

I also do not care for behavioral assumptions. I would ask that you please read the thread before instructing one on how they should, or shouldn't have have acted/reacted. Your assessment of the situation is incorrect (to say nothing of being a moot point) again, I used the incident in the OP as an example of the proverbial straw.

My overall point is, and continues to be, that, in my experience, GSE's tend to be less than customer oriented.

And I think the multitude of answers, and additional threads, prove that this observation is hardly in the minority of experiences.

I too wish you many years of happy consumerism. Oh, and keep that attitude of accepting constructive criticism. Is likely to serve you very well in the future.

Lastly, yes.. bad customers exist in multitudes and are indeed bad, what they are NOT however, is a valid excuse for bad service. Those CSR's that allow that to happen should look for a new line of work imo.

Cheers!

 

[danielson]

I think the moral of the story here is, its not EXCLUSIVELY gun shops that suffer from customer service issues.. The title of this post, I think, leads some to be combative on this point.

This is a declination of society issue, that has a much broader reach than just gun shops.

There are still good people out there, and those people will render good customers service, by default. The level of service you receive, is a direct reflection of the mindset of the person behind the counter/vest/register...etc.etc...

 

[Manatee]

There are customers who irritate:

Those who think that talking down a gun is a great way to get me to lower my price.
Those who want retail on their trade-in and wholesale on the gun they want to purchase from me.
Those who throw money on the counter rather than handing it to me to pay for the piece.

There are others who fall into the blowhard category...but generally something can be learned from the biggest braggart: a new manufacturer of parts, a different use of an existing weapon, a new Steven Hunter novel I haven't heard about, etc., etc.,

Mostly, and I'd say 99% mostly, I get great customers. I don't let the remaining 1% dictate my average attitude.

 

[Shootin'IN]

If you take the constant amount of customers complaining & fusing about not being able to buy all they want or the prices being too high.
And take the fact that for the last 3 1/2 months most of them have been living at their gun shops.
That is enough to sour you towards guns, customers, & the whole selling of firearms thing.
The last time I was at my LGS the guy's wife over charged me, it was just a few $$ so I let it go, he already had his hands full. It was closing time they had to lock the doors & still had 20 to 30 customers waiting to buy.
And besides he has saved me way more than a few $$ in the years that I have been buying from him.

 

[DocHoliday]

People at Bradis aren't bad at all. I like how they actually have females working there. The guys can't be that bad.

My LGS has usually one employee and he's the owner and sh*t is all over the place. It's actually kind of funny. The guy will show someone a gun and literally the gun will still be on the counter after that person left 20 minutes ago. He has at least three people that just want to chat with him and have no interest in buying. I'm just waiting for him to tell someone he has no time to talk. All of his paperwork is on the counter. You actually have to push it over to see the first shelf in the display case. All of his deliveries are always next to the front door. You need to almost walk turning sideways just to get into the place. The guy is maybe the most laid back guy I have ever seen in a gun shop.