A really bad experience with a gun dealer.

^ Way to handle it Geetarman!

Its really not that hard to give good courteous service. Your customers are the reason you make profit in your business. Why would you treat them any less knowing that its bad for business?

Doesn't make sense at all. If you're having a bad day, don't take it out on a customer because they dont deserve that.
 
Nordeste, may I begin by saying it's a shame Astra and Star went out of business, they were excellent examples of the fine Spanish gun making traditions.
I must needs agree with my countrymen in that voting with the feet and the wallet does an excellent job when the government doesn't intervene. With some of the screwballs WE have around, they'd probably commend him!
 
Some guys seem to get worn out running their own business. Could be personal problems, dementia, bad day, previous customer was a jerk, or a failing business. Not sure it is more prevalent in gun stores, but I seem to only find about half of retail clerks/owners care one whit about prospects or customers. Goes for restaurants, car dealers, gas stations, etc.

Pretty outrageous though to have been a 30 year customer and the owner rants about you whether you ought "enough" in the last two years to warrant his time. Wow!
 
sounds like the typical thing that can happen in 'relationships' where people become close and/or personal in one form or another. As an example, if he had never seen you before this wouldn't have happened. This kind of behavior is very unacceptable, so you did the right thing. Sometimes people like to 'go back', make amends, and/or a host of other things(usually when it is family or w/friends where it has become the norm and also when one is younger it puts up with this kind of stuff unnecessarily). In this case and most, you should never do business with him again. If he approaches you(usually the other way around unfortunately) and apologizes then consideration should be given to bad days and honest amends being made which shows true grit.
 
the truth is unless you have an extremely large boycott just going somewhere else doesn't really change much. and why should he have to pay more gas and go out of his way or feel uncomfortable? I mean the old dude probably does want the gun sale, but he was complaining about him specifically. He probably figures: 'outta sight, outta mind'. spain has a point, you midas well use avenues at your disposal but I agree in this case that isn't a choice of mine
 
Regarding Post 11:

"I don't know if there's something like that over there, but here, if you receive such a treatment at a shop, you request a "customer complaint form". It contains three copies, one for the shop, another for the customer, another one for the Municipality. The case is reviewed and upon the circumstances, the owners get a fine. It's a good way to keep owners and employees friendly with those who enter there to spend their hard-earned money."
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and Post 16:

"As a customer, I have some rights, which also assist me as a taxpayer."
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I wonder if the Government has copies of the form for citizens to complain of bad service from their Government? If so, who investigates those complaints?

As far as how to treat the bad Gun Dealer, I don't give it much thought. Obviously I will prefer to find a Gun Dealer who treats me better. But I also know that someday I might need that one thing the bad dealer has that the good dealer does not, and I need that thing now. I want my options open. My motto is "Be kind to everyone."

The bad Gun Dealer isn't going to improve if I shove a receipt in his face and it won't make my life any better. Life is difficult enough without intentionally making it more difficult.
 
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In my town we have a gun dealer/gunsmith who fits that came scenerio. And overpriced on his firearms prices.
Him and his wife are well known for being established for over 20 years. and there a times he could be a crabby, arrogant bastard.
He has been upset with so many people buying off the gun auctions sites.
Now within the last couple years, three other new gun shops opened within a 15 mile radius of is store.
And from what I heard, today he's really crabby.
 
"Hey Rifleman. What can I do you for? Screws? I might be able to find those. Surely if I can't we can order some, or I think Ol' Jim down the street might have them. Oh, here's a couple. No, no thanks they're just screws, forget the $0.50. You need help putting them on? No? Alright. You all set on ammo and targets? Ah, I thought so. The usual .38 special? Sounds good. Oh, and I got some new little paper targets in, would you mind taking just a couple and telling me how you like them? Great. Have "Linda" ring you up in the front. Have a great one Rifleman, don't be a stranger!"
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Yep - that's the best response - perfect, it deserves repeating.
 
One of my local stores was getting grumpier and grumpier. I finally had it when I bought a high end brand pistol and it had a factory flaw. They told me it would run anything and was well thought of. After I had sent it back to the manufacturer for repairs I went to the store and they didn't recognize me. I thought I would play a little game.

Me: "How is it going?"
Him: "Fine"
Me: "I was looking for a .380 but I hear brand X jams a lot and has slide trouble, you heard anything?"
Him: "Oh yeah, they ain't what they should be."
Me: "Trouble running type X ammo?"
Him: "Yep."

That is how I remember the conversation.;)

I started watching, any gun that they advertised on sale I would search the forums for complaints and sure enough it was more often than not they were pushing something they wanted off the shelf, which of course makes sense that they want it off the shelf and lower the price. But I was working under the naive premise that they were lowing the price to be competitive.

I still get ammo and oil there when they are the only ones that have what I need, but no guns.

And to let you know what that has cost them, 2 Browning Hi-Powers, lots of ammo, one FN SCAR, and an optic purchase is in the works.

I have found a much friendly and honest place to shop. I need to go there today and get some 5.56 PMC ammo, I like that stuff.

p.s. The owner of the shop sold me the pistol. A young clerk is the one I questioned a few weeks later, that was forthwith.
 
Just going someplace else usually does no good. That is why you tell your friends and hopefully they pass it on to their other friends.

Word of mouth has probably shut down quite a few businesses.

I have saved my receipts for reloading and gun purchases and sent them to Bass Pro explaining that none of my money was spent there and why. I actually got a gift card from them, asking me to "Give them another chance."

My nephew really enjoyed the gift card and I still do not shop there.
 
People do not always meet our expectations every single day

I remember a new soldier who was always angry and was the most unpleasant person to be around. I avoided her and never engaged in any conversation with her. I kind of wished she had not been assigned to my unit. In time, one of my friends got to know her and in time, I understood what the anger was all about. She was going through a nasty divorce and it was crushing her emotionally. She never shared that information with most of us. She eventually became quite a decent person to know, but I saw none of it at the beginning.

I was going through a tough divorce at the same time, but my way is to leave my problems at the door. We all deal with stress differently. I became a workaholic and worked out a lot.


Your dealer may be going through tough times. Not all of us can deal effectively with problems. It can be financial or health related. It can be something personal. Unfortunately, many can not keep their cool all the time. Maybe he had another reason to be angry with you, but this was the opportunity to tell you off. And there is one more thing... He might have wanted to fool with you and, in a strange way, thought he was being funny. I now work with a guy who gets people defensive with accusations or statements he does as a joke. Some people misread the guy and overreact.

Whatever it is, business is an arms length transaction. If the relationship means anything at all, I would tell him that you were offended by what he said and that you feel he has driven you to do business elsewhere. He should ask himself, why would a paying customer want to be abused?
 
I do not blame you at all. I would have made it very clear to him that he just lost ALL of my business. That is one of the most common issues I see, with most small businesses and shop owners.

I know of a few small (local) shops that are very similar. In one of the shops there is an older gentleman that does not come off as friendly or helpful at all. It took me quite a while to warm up to him and him to me, just because of his body language and attitude. He can be helpful, but he is very blunt and could care less about making a sell. When you talk to him, he gives you the impression that you are a nuisance and wasting his time. I have read a bunch of shop reviews online where people complain about their first encounters with him and the shop loses a lot of business because of him. It’s just the way he is though. I can deal with his attitude but that is where it stops. If he were to lose his temper with me or another customer while I am present, they would undoubtedly lose my business.
 
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Whatever it is, business is an arms length transaction. If the relationship means anything at all, I would tell him that you were offended by what he said and that you feel he has driven you to do business elsewhere. He should ask himself, why would a paying customer want to be abused?
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Why even bother? If he was a great shop owner who frequently gave me deals, then yes, I'd be curious enough to know what his problem was and give him some slack. But with gun shops everywhere nowadays (at least where I live) I'd walk out without ever looking back.

Some things just aren't done. A shop owner being rude to a repeat customer and questioning his "loyalty"?? Since when is the consumer suppose to be loyal to anything but a good price? That's the definition of consumerism, isn't it? He should be competing for your business, not questioning your "Loyalty".
 
I agree that gun shop guys can be pretty grumpy.

I think the internet is making it worse. The game has changed. 15 years ago a small percentage of real "gun guys", guys who themselves were just short of getting their own FFL, surfed shotgun news, got deals, had them shipped in, etc.

Now with auction sites, buds, etc. many more folks are doing this. I suspect many shops are frustrated and are missing previously higher margins and resent being forced to compeate on price. The smart shops will find ways to adapt to this new market, heck there are a lot of "upstart" gun shops doing a lot of volume on low margins and transfers.

The non-smart ones will get bitter and resentful and take it out on the customers, play games etc. I have seen the same thing in other fields.
 
It seems like the key to having a successful gun shop is building up a substantial inventory of used guns, and keeping that inventory fresh. Then, figure out which new guns and equipment etc, provide solid returns. I don't know, but

Here's what I observe:

1. Lots of folks are buying guns.
2. Lots of folks are buying ammo
3. With more CC's than ever, holster sales have to be on the rise.
4. More women than ever are buying guns.
5. Once you buy your first gun, it's not much later that you're going to buy another.
6. Gun manufacturers are still coming out with a large variety of new and interesting guns.

So, some gun dealers are raking in bucket-loads of money. And, some aren't. It seems that those gun stores/dealers with the largest inventory are winning - doing both face-to-face deals, gun shows and internet sales. It also seems that the small guy is getting squeezed out. Am I on to something here??? Or am I way off?
 
Skans, the small guys are squeezing themselves out, some with lousy service, the rest with under-capitalization, lack of inventory, poor pricing structure on buy and sell ends, 'gone fishing' signs whenever they feel like it, condecension, no-transfer policies, refusal to use the internet, things like that. With national sales up over 10% past two years in a row, no one should be going under.
 
With national sales up over 10% past two years in a row, no one should be going under.
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National sales can be up 10% year over year but if you have the number of gun stores in existence increasing faster than that, there's going to be a problem.

Gun sales seem to have largely leveled off from the post-election panic buying, when you could hardly find an EBR or other politically incorrect firearm in stock, but many people with some financial backing and interest in the industry got a FFL and hung out their own shingle. I know there's about double as many gun shops around my area as there was three or four years ago, and that just squeezes everybody.
 
Some things just aren't done. A shop owner being rude to a repeat customer and questioning his "loyalty"?? Since when is the consumer suppose to be loyal to anything but a good price? That's the definition of consumerism, isn't it? He should be competing for your business, not questioning your "Loyalty".
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Then just like the cut-rate airlines, be prepared to pay extra for ANYTHING extra besides the gun - that means service, friendliness, in-store service and assistance, etc.
 
It seems to me that the guy with the most money to invest in a gun store and the most business experience is the formula to "win" and squeeze out the smaller competition. Mind you, I have no problem with fair competition squeezing out the weak - that's capitalism and I'm a hard-core capitalist. The consumer ends up with more choices, better prices and better service. The "gone fishin....I can't be bothered" folks are forced to move along.
 
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