I'm not here to defend anyone - but as for Shiloh Arms - I know nothing about their operation or how big it is. I do know that not every business can afford a showroom or a person to manage and man it. I owned and operated a custom millwork/cabinet/custom woodworking shop. I primarily dealt with custom work. I did have a show room but the long and short of it was that if I was in the showroom talking with a customer or potential customer, I was in the shop producing work that paid my bills.
I enjoy looking at guns a much as the next person, but I also realize in a smaller business, those who work there have to "wear many hats". I ended up limiting my hours of the showroom as I would have numerous people stop in who just wanted to "chat". That chatting took up many minutes which added up to hours over a week's time that I was away from the workshop where I could produce work. If a person wanted to call and set up an appointment (which I encouraged in my advertising), then I could plan around it but for every hour I was not in the shop, that meant an extra hour I had to work and get home late - often times into the late hours of the evening.
There are two sides to every situation - before criticizing a company for not having a showroom or "let ou in" - consider these things. Yes it was a "spur of the moment" thing that you hadn't planned on - but if you had called ahead, they probably would have made arrangements. in this day and age, many small businesses depend on their websites to show their products - most will accommodate a customer if they call ahead - but they just can't carry the overhead of another employee to accommodate "drop in lookers". Let's face it - their product line has a limited customer base - they aren't a furniture store or a sporting goods store they are a speciality shop producing specialized work. Like anything in life - before you criticize someone else for how they do things . . . you need to walk in their moccasins first.
