Gun Shop Clerk interaction....

Had the same experience at A O in Atlanta a few years back when the wife was looking for a handgun. The counter guy was so rude and contemptable that she put the gun down back on the counter and walked out. I told him where to put the gun. Went back a few days later and had a wonderful older counter guy. He answered every question my wife had. Asked about the rude guy and was told he was fired.
 
Counter folks at the gunstore are simply employees. Some couldn't care less about technical knowledge and definitely are not passionate about firearms. There is a nearby shop and no matter who you get, if you want a handgun but have no idea what, they'll sell you a Glock. They'll let you know just about everything else "won't work." Joe
 
A gun shop about 5 miles from me, where I'd been doing business for years, changed owners about six years ago. A very young guy -- early 20s -- bought it, and his father works there part-time helping him out. Dad is, shall we say, a little rough around the edges.

About 18 months ago, I had an out-of-state purchase shipped there for transfer. I got the notification that it arrived late on a Tuesday morning and called the shop around noon. Dad answered the phone, told me that yeah, UPS had made some deliveries to them, but he hadn't unpacked them, and he would call me when he did.

My route to and from work takes me past that shop, and I stopped by there on my way home around 5 PM the next day...about 30 hours after the gun had arrived at the shop. When I walked in the door, Dad looked at me, and in front of about 8 customers, yelled out sharply "Didn't I tell you I would call you when I got it unpacked???"

I left and drove home, and about 20 minutes later, Dad called me and very quietly told me that I could come in any time to do the paperwork on the gun. (We have a mandatory 7-day waiting period here.) I went in the next day on my way home, and the day I picked the gun up was the last time I've been in there.

I started using another LGS for my transfers. The new guy asked where I'd been doing business, and when I told him, he immediately guessed that it was the owner's father who'd caused me to take my business elsewhere. Evidently, I wasn't his only new customer...
 
Many years ago I had a pair of Justin peanut brittle lizard cowboy boots
with round toe and walking heel. Most comfortable boots I ever owned.
So when they were about to fall apart from use, I thought it time to look
for another pair.

Went into a western wear store downtown and was met by a young man
who asked how he could help me. I gave specific details just like I did above.
He asked what size. I said 13B Justins seem to be just right.

He laughed and said we don't carry any of those oddball sizes. I told him
he better look for another line of work because he sure wouldn't ever make
it as a salesman.

Went to a second downtown western wear shop. Was greeted by an
elderly gentleman who asked how he could help me. I gave him the
same detailed description. He said I don't have those in stock, but I
can order them, and they will be in in about a week.

Guess who got the order.
 
Bro. Dave said:
On a bit of a tangential note, one must not make snap judgments on dress either. I have been in the gun store here in TX when an older gent in ragged looking jeans, western shirt with
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I'll always remember this from when I was a wee lad, 50 years ago. Mother and I were in the bank. Ahead of us in line was a gent much like that, a Sam Walton type of fella. The clerk was somehow rude to him in some manner, so he closed out his account/s, right then and there. My little-boy eyes swelled right up at the site of him folding stacks of bills and stuffing them into his front pants pockets....$60,000.

I'll let someone else figure out what that is in today's money, LOL.
 
Many of the sales help in gun stores are "wanna bee's". I have seen many sales people who pontificate about guns and self defense without even a clue of reality. For the most part, LGS sales people make about what they do at McDonalds or barely over minimum wage and unfortunately LGS do not attract the brightest people. Don't get yourself bent out of shape too much - while he was absolutely stupid in saying what he did, this is unfortunately par for the course. Sometimes it cracks me up when I see someone who is normally timid, shy, and not a confident person grow into "Superman" as soon as he straps on a gun that's larger than him - HA!

Yes, there are some retired guys and other case scenarios who take a job at a LGS to get out of the house a few days a week, who know plenty about guns and are genuinely polite people - but they are few and far between. BTW, this is NOT isolated to LGS!
 
demkofour said:
Since retiring from a LE career, I now work very P/T in a LGS… That being said, customers here on Long Island (and many other places I'm sure…) have a few choices as to where they shop and buy. A clerk behind the counter who represents the LGS in that fashion is not only doing a disservice to the shop and it's customer base but most importantly to that customer…
I bet a poor Google rating of that particular interaction will definitely get the owner's attention.
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Jim, a respectful, but to the point review, works quite well.
 
Autonomous said:
Wow. My wife and I had a very similar experience at a Kawasaki dealership when we were shopping for a bike for her.
Funny thing is we were dressed in full custom leathers, riding a bike more expensive than anything they had.
Expensive (insert item) for a woman... Did we have the same salesman?
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A couple years ago our daughter wanted to look at a Subie Sti. She was about 31 at the time, has only owned manual trans cars, owned a supercharged Rsx and her hubs had a 500hp s2000 he built that she drove all the time.
The first comment the sales person said to her, was that they only come in manuals and she may want to look at different models. The moron had no clue why when they turned and quickly left the dealership.

Like any business, hire the wrong person or more importantly don't train them correctly and these stories will continue to pop up.
 
After reading this thread I have to admit I have run into very few know it alls behind the counter at a LGS. Personal I think that is good because I have a lot of time inside those places. Even been offered a job a couple times. Most counter people at the places I normally go to are top notch, friendly and very knowledgeable in our laws and product they handle.:)

Possibly good experiences have something to do with the fact I live in the heavily gun law state of NY. Now I'm not a expert on anything but I do have a good general knowledge on most things gun or gun related! So feeding me BS or hearing a exchange between other customers and clerks I can usually pick up on whats what!

Now I do not consider the big boxes a LGS even though they have a gun department and they many times can fit the category of what did I just hear while trying to stifle out right laughter.

As long as were on the subject I will digress to any other type business! Its rather irksome to go to a business to get something, ask a few question before a lot of money is spent and find out I know more about it then the employee does. Now I'm not talking about a fill in person but a clerk that is in a department he is supposed to know a lot about. Example garden tractors,chain saws.
 
I worked for a large "hunting and fishing" store for a while, after I retired, people advanced in their stores because of retail experience, not product knowledge. One manager in particular did not want to learn about hand loading or black powder products, she just called on me. I didn't care to stay there.
 
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Couple of stories. My wife was ready to pay cash for a Toyota FJ Cruiser. Everytime she asked a question, the salesman would look at me and answer. I told him to talk to her as she had the checkbook. I finally got up and walked away. Oh, she can also drive a stick.

I asked if the shop had .38 Super and the kid behind the counter tried very hard to sell me .38 Special +P.
 
In an era when guns basically sell themselves, sales staff is just there to do the paperwork. And in an era when employable adults are as rare as .45 Auto Rim, a rude employee may be the best available. You might be able to train the rudeness out of someone, but who has time and patience for that? Sadly, if rudeness loses a sale, there are three other buyers lined up.
 
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quikdraw67 said:
But getting back to the OP topic...there are a few LGS that I refuse to patronize due to the staff attitude. One is about 3 miles from my house. I'll drive 15 and 20 miles to go to other LGS who know how to treat their customers correctly.
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I walked out of what was supposedly a major chain sporting goods store when I stood at the handgun case for at least 20 minutes and didn't get as much as a "Can I help you?" I walked out and some time later found the same gun I was interested in at a small gun shop near one of my clubs that is veteran owned and every time I go in I get courtesy and immediate attention. And the veteran's shop by coincidence matched the chain store's price so I happily bought the gun at the veteran's shop. I probably would have paid a few bucks more.

Some time later I was driving by and the big chain store was gone.

Another small shop must have trained its people how to ask a question that at first blush might sound somewhat condescending. When the ammunition shortage started, I saw that this shop had some .38 Super shells at a decent price. So when I took them to the cash register, the employee asked. "Do you know what these are for?" He then quickly explained that a number of people had bought .38 Super shells thinking they bought .38 Special cartridges and the shop had to make a bunch of refunds. Just for fun, I did a pantomime of racking the slide of a semiautomatic pistol. I have been asked that question several times in that shop so I imagine that the owners must have made sure that all the employees knew what to do and how to do it so that customers didn't end up getting the wrong ammunition and having to come back for refunds.
 
Same thing happened to my wife years ago. She wanted a smaller revolver so we went out looking (this was the time when Smith was taking heat for bowing to the gun "safety" freaks). She did the talking all the talking. Went up to the counter and stated she wanted to look at a Ruger and Taurus they had. The guy took them out and asked her what the intended use was, "defense" was her response. He proceeded to "lecture" her about why a revolver wasn't a good choice for that (not many rounds, etc...). She gave him a blank look, said "thank you" and walked off. He had this dumbfounded look and I said to him "she has a 629 at home". His eyes got big and didn't know what to say, jerk...
 
Golddollar said:
I walked out of what was supposedly a major chain sporting goods store when I stood at the handgun case for at least 20 minutes and didn't get as much as a "Can I help you?" I walked out and some time later found the same gun I was interested in at a small gun shop near one of my clubs that is veteran owned and every time I go in I get courtesy and immediate attention. And the veteran's shop by coincidence matched the chain store's price so I happily bought the gun at the veteran's shop. I probably would have paid a few bucks more.

Some time later I was driving by and the big chain store was gone.
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There is a very large shop down the street from my work. I have purchased stuff there in the past. Never had a problem with them.

They were sold, and apparantly the new owners either didn't train their staff or they just don't care.

I walked in one day earlier this year. 2 guys behind the counter. One customer filling out the 4473 form. I was the invisible man, they did not acknowledge my presence. All they had to do was say hello, or was I looking for some thing in particluar, etc. I would have replied, just looking but thank you.

But no, I was ignored. So guess who is never going to get another cent from me. And I heard from others that it happened to them as well.

But they are big, and have an indoor range, so the loss of my business won't mean much. And they spend big bucks on radio ads and billboards.

But they won't be getting any more business from me.
 
I guess a quick story on topic; some years ago at a sporting goods chain I was just killing time looking around at the guns in the case. A couple was talking to the clerk about a small 9 (an LCP I think) for her to carry. Instead of going over any gun features or starting up a general discussion on needs, etc the clerk told a story about wild west times and gamblers carrying pocket pistols….. the couple seemed interested and all I could think of is I walked into a Pawn Stars episode lol.
Cute stories are fine for chit chat but I felt a little more in depth knowledge would have helped this couple out more.
 
I thought it worked that way?????

Whatever we're talking about, gun, truck, boots or ????

I'll happily pay 2X whatever I would for me if it's for my wife.

I thought that's how it worked.
 
Stopped by Adve**$$E Out$$@@* yesterday. Supposedly the largest gun inventory around. What a waste of time. Saw a beater 4" RB poorly re-nickeled M&P with broken hard rubber grips. It was the only older Smith there. When I finally got someone to show it to me I realized it was worse than I thought. Almost no legible markings on it under the plating. I told the guy behind the counter what a poor refinish it was and he said, "Really, how can you tell?" That was all for me.

Side bar:
They did have a civilian version of the FN M249 SAW placed on the counter Way down to the end. No one was looking at it, probably because it was not a cheap, compact 9mm.
 
So, by assembling info from two posts I now know there is a gun store in Atlanta called Adventure Outdoors. Thanks for that.
 
bigwheelzip said:
Skeet was my first shooting, and still my favorite.


Sent from my motorola one 5G using Tapatalk
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I did it in the reverse order. I was a frequent shooter and hunter but had never owned a shotgun. About 20 years ago we were up here where we now live for a visit and my BIL has set up a clay pigeon thrower in the front pasture. A bunch of us out and shooting clays that afternoon.

When I got home I bought a 28" Remington 870. It is what my BIL had and I liked it a LOT.

Over the next few years I made many trips to the shooting range that had a great trap and skeet range set up. My first visit was a disappointment. only 5 out of 25 birds. :o

This skeet range had 25 firing positions in a semicircle. Birds coming from the left were coming out of the "low" house and those coming from the right out of the "high" house. On firing position 13 birds came from both houses simultaneously.

It was quite sporty and I enjoyed it a lot. In time I was able to shoot a respectable score with some consistency.

My best ever was the time I hit 23. On firing position 13 I followed the clay from the low house but when I fired, the clay from the high house was right behind it. 2 birds with one stone...:eek: :rolleyes:

The RO running the session freaked out. He asked me if I could do that again. I said I could but I didn't want to be a show-off. :D.

Back inside the range office later it was all the talk. I just smiled sheepishly and said nothing.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. ;)

I eventually had to give it up due to arthritis in my shoulders.
 
My LGS will not hire anyone but retired LEO's. Says they are the best at dealing with customers, knowing firearms, trusts them if he has to leave the shop, and being the job is more a retirement hobby than anything else, they usually spend their pay on more guns at the shop. One of my faves that works there says every once in a while the family member of a recently passed farmers or rancher in the area will come in with a box of 'old' revolvers they want to offload..
 
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However, some customers deserve what they get. Today at local gun show some clown about ( maybe 25) infers my MINT WWII field gear is repro( Im selling a 40+ year collection) Simply told him Ive been collecting longer than he's been alive and when he gets Paid by US Military to display his collection we can talk….Ignorance is bliss….
 
A lot of LGS big and small...

...seem to have a problem if you just go in them to browse.

FTR I go into them for specific items. If they have they those items, I'll pick them up. But while I'm there, I'll look around.

Some employees are polite and ask if they can help you. Others not so much and if I don't find what I'm looking for but look around anyway, the tone changes NOTICIBLY...making it VERY clear unless I'm buying I should not be there.

This isn't just with what I call the "gunstore commandos" (you should hear some of the stuff that comes out of their mouths!) behind the counter, but some of the established old timers as well.

As far as a lot of the people behind the counters....(laughs) well, most couldn't tell the difference between a Colt M1911 and a S&W Model 10.

I can attribute a lot of this to the situation in the city where I live
and the current climate but in actuality it has been going on quite a while and seems to be getting worse.
 
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