This is how you do it. You make it totally clear that the guy did something stupid, really stupid, and that it is something that would cost him his cushy job at a gun store if he worked for anyone with a little class. Then, you are letting him and his supervisor know that the customer is getting shafted, that they are being mistreated, and that the howard stern wannabee is driving off customers who are there to spend maybe even thousands of dollars on new firearms.
I'm on several other BBs; one in particular is really good about praising good service.
Every, and I mean EVERY time, someone comes in with a big complaint, I do two things.
I remind them that they need to burn that customer service line up.
Then, I C&P the initial complaint into an email to the CS dept. I point out that I take my business only to where service is good, and that screwing my friends is enough to lose them my business for a long, long time. Why should I trust a company that just did something horrible to a friend of mine?
The email also includes links to all pertinent pages and information about their screw up, specifically to show them that the thread has been viewed by hundreds of people, commented on by dozens of ****** off current and maybe former customers, and is generating the sort of publicity that only a really ****** off customer can create.
Some people have said that I should mind my own business.
It IS my business. If I have spent even a nickel at a company, and find out that they are doing things like this, I will stop doing business with them until it is fixed. Period.
A business is like a stubborn steer in the chutes at the slaughterhouse. It's not going to listen unless you kick it squarely in the nads, and shout in its ear.
You need to point out the errors they make, you need to demand satisfaction for those errors, you need to demand that they improve their service, and you must punish them.
Don't tell them you're never coming back, and don't tell them that the door is closed.
"fix this or I'm going to find a better company" works. Personally, when someone screws me, I tell them how angry I am, and add "I figure that it might be over a year or two before I get tired of driving past your store (home depot) to get to Lowes, and spending all of my money there, but if losing a few thousand bucks over the next two years to lowes is fine with you, I'll be glad to do it. I'm not coming back until you either (fix the problem) or I get tired of telling everyone I talk to about it."
I spent 20 years in management of retail establishments. People who lipped off like that weren't always fired, but I have more than once held one down and wrote "I'm an idiot" on his forehead with indelible marker.
