Me: "I want to buy a new carbine on the market made by JR Carbines."
Emplyees: "What do you want me to do about it."
Me: "Ok..." Looks around and Ted, the owner, isn't in.
Not the first time I've had this kind of conversation. Left out of the conversation because of the abrupt end: "... and I'm willing to put a deposit down on it, and I'm gonna need gunsmith services on it, and on services to fit a new threaded barrel in my 1911, and I'm gonna need advice on which of these fine suppressors you have in this display case that will fit on both and work the best." So that's a $700 gun, a $700 suppressor, and work for the gunsmith over there munching on a whopper and bs'ing with another employee, both of whom also too distracted to help me right then.
Why don't gunstores like to sell people stuff and provide a service that they essentially have a monopoly on? Oh, right, that 'monopoly' word. Well, this isn't the only gunstore in Maryland that can sell me a suppressor. I know they'd rather sell me an item they have in stock right then, but still. Money is money. I thought everyone liked money. That's why they call it "money."
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17 comments:
Are you buying this now? $2000 of fun and adventure!
I've had a Maryland gun shop tell me that a gun I wanted was no longer manufactured and therefore impossible to get ahold of when I had *just* looked it up on the manufacturer's website and Bud's before I came -- presumably to avoid having to order it for me. WTF, gun shops.
Can't help you with the suppressor thing... but for getting your hands on the gun itself I have two possible suggestions:
1. find another gun store. One with better customer service.
2. Check out the list of FFL holders that will do transfers in your area. Looks like Gunbroker.com has about 8 pages of people who would be more than happy to order the gun for you and receive it either from the manufacturer or from a dealer on Gunbroker. Fees vary for this, as does the quality level. Drop emails and feel them out. I have a wonderful FFL near my home that i located this way and I've made many problem free gun purchases for $15 xfer fee and the cost of gas to drive 15min to his house to pick up the gun when it arrives.
Customer Service? What's that?
MORON!
Thanks to new gun shops opening up in NoVA, I've noticed a few of the more established stores have started to treat people a little better.
Hey T-Bolt, OT but I pinged you via email. May have gone to an old email address. Can you ring me on email?
borepatch at gmail
I've fired people for less.
I had a gun shop here actually decline to do the NFA transfer for that Ruger .44 that you saw because I had the work done elsewhere and did not buy the suppressor through them. They initially told me when I was in the shop that they would do the transfer and they sent their SOT to the builder, but when it came time for the finished rifle to be sent to me, the shop owner's son who now runs the shop reneged, telling me that they don't want the liability of storing my little old rifle in their big old stocking gun shop while waiting for my Form 4 to go through, and that because of that "liability", they only transfer suppressors that they order.
Translation: "Unless we can broker the deal ourselves and mark it up to grab a cut in addition to the transfer fee, we're not going to facilitate the deal even after one of our employees promises to do so to your face."
Screw them. They lost my business, and I'd been spending a ton of money in there regularly for over a year.
Yep, Andy's guys at NOVA are good, and so are Virginia Arms, I'm SURE either will do what you need...
Further note: There's a gun shop very close to where I live. They have the only shooting range (an indoor one) in the county where I live. I've bought guns from them in the past. When i got ready to do my first on-line purchase (gunbroker auction) they said they'd be happy to do the transfer and receive it for me... For an ungodly transfer fee that made it more expensive than if I had just bought the gun from them in the first place.
Haven't been back there since. They probably don't miss my business, but I sure don't miss their B.S.
This is what comes of teaching kids to have self-esteem. They know how wonderful they are, and anybody who asks them to do something that they don't know how to do is threatening that self-image.
I have had the same reaction from clerks in department stores when I ask them a question - they will go through all sorts of evasions to avoid saying "I don't know."
The thought that they aren't the best clerk ever just never occurs to them. Admitting ignorance is the first step of therapy to self-improvement, and they don't want to take that step. They always act like it is my fault for asking a question that is too hard.
Shop Elsewhere, but tell Ted the Owner the next time you see him WHY he didn't get the Sale. Then leave the premisses.
I've gone to the good old boy gun shop in town and played with the guns that they have on display. They got in a S&W I wanted. I played with it, decided I wanted it, and told them "Nice gun. Not really interested." I knew I couldn't talk them down a penny from their $575 price tag because there was demand for the gun.
Went to another shop. His cost on the gun (he shares that with me) was about $300. He let me have it for $340.
Do you tip gun store employees? If the money you spend in the store doesn't make it to them, what incentive do they have to help you?
For most employees, their only customer is their manager. If the manager has communicated (a) no chance of a raise ever and (b) can't afford to replace you, then there is no external motivation. If you aren't providing motivation, they are you just complaining that people aren't self-motivated in your interest.
Tip? The 5-10% commission on each sale, paid by the owner, they make isn't enough
How bout this for motivation, dusty?
"If you employees don't sell more guns to people Ima gonna have to let 2 of you go."
If an employee on 10% commission is treating you poorly, either (a) he has judged you and decided you are wasting his time, (b) he is playing a car-dealer type mind game, making you wait to break you down (c) he's busy making even more money, d) he isn't getting a commission , or (e) he is too stupid to earn money.
For Glen Burnie, I'd go with e and b, but I don't know where in Maryland you shop.
As to why a small business owner doesn't stock products that sell, doesn't work hard, or doesn't motivate his employees - I'd guess lack of focus and mischanneling their frustrations at their customers. A businesses can start to think of customers as a problem the gets in the way of their plans (expecting to exchange money for goods and services, coming into the store when it is convenient for the customer, expecting honest and consistent information). If management starts to feels that way (because they are insulated somewhat from the customer), then the customer service folks will act that way. Several government agencies suffer from this disconnect.
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