Gun store employees that are just plain full of it...

[Mule Packer]

Very few LGS owners or businesses care what your depth of knowledge is or your level of experience. They like how well you treat customers.

Consequently they don't wish to pay any sort of premium for employees who really know a lot about guns, shooting, etc., etc.

You don't get much for $10/hr.

Old Corps hit it dead center! Unfortunately, the old adage about "When you pay peanuts, you get monkeys" is often true in this case.

Knowing several of the folks on this forum, I know I'm not the only one who "does his homework" before purchasing anything. Not just guns, mind you, but anything! So, when I walk into a retail store, I have somewhat of an inkling about what I want, what it does, how it works, and what other people think about it.

I'm not a pro by any means. Not by a long shot, but I'd like to think that I'm not totally "in the dark" either.

Sadly, this is not always the case, especially when people who are unfamiliar with firearms go into an LGS for an "emergency purchase."

They realize they know absolutely nothing about firearms and trust (let me emphasize the word trust) the store employee...the so-called "professional," to lead them in the right direction. They forget that, more often than not, the pimply faced kid behind the counter is only there to make a sale.

Sure, we might get irked when we hear some of these sales people, but we have to remember what Old Corps said. Many of the LGS aren't willing to pay an employee who is knowledgeable about firearms when they can get someone who will work for minimum wage....even though some of them may not know that ".22 Long Rifle ammunition can also be shot from a pistol!" (Yep. I actually came across a sales clerk who insisted to a customer that .22 Long Rifle ammo was for rifles only.)

Even though it may exasperate us to no end, about the only thing we can do when confronted with such employees is just smile and wish them a nice day.

 

[Warren Sear]

Many more from the other side of the counter, from my experiences. No shortage of bull scat.

Yep; I also have been on both sides of the table. Plenty of bull squeezin's to go around.

Same holds true for home improvement and hardware stores.

As posted above, the best advice is to do your homework ahead of time and know what you want.

 

[Walkingwolf]

Well not to defend him, but IMO a trigger that when pulled the gun goes boom is a great trigger. If the trigger is prone to not going boom sometimes, it sucks.

"The trigger pull measured slightly under six pounds, and was very crisp and consistent."

Jeff Quinn/Gunblast from a NAA Ranger review.

 

[bigwheelzip]

I go to LGS to fondle the goods, and rarely look for a lesson from the perpetually busy folks behind the counter, but I think most do their best.

I recently asked a counterman at a major big box store to let me handle an M&P R8. As he hands it to me, he proclaims he does not like it because it is ported. I explain the holes in the top are for mounting a rail. He rattles off his extensive "Special Forces" resume and repeats the barrel porting claim. I corrected him again and had him look carefully and understand the design concept.

Then he says he just dosen't like revolvers. Takes all kinds.

 

[Walkingwolf]

I have seen numpties on both sides of the counter. But my main LGS/pawn shop all the employees do is sell. The problems I have seen is mostly at big box stores with overpriced guns. I guess they have to make up stories to sell.

 

[TTSH]

My favorite gun shop line (heard constantly outside of my local favorites): "This gun is going for a lot more on Gunbroker" or "I can get a ton more money for this gun on Gunbroker"!

If they can get so damn much more money for it on Gunbroker, why the heck don't they just put the gun on Gunbroker and be done with it?

 

[Walkingwolf]

My favorite gun shop line (heard constantly outside of my local favorites): "This gun is going for a lot more on Gunbroker" or "I can get a ton more money for this gun on Gunbroker"!

If they can get so damn much more money for it on Gunbroker, why the heck don't they just put the gun on Gunbroker and be done with it?

Some of them do. There are hundreds of dealers on Gunbroker, and they list guns, and have them also behind the counter. Occasionally you will see that an auction has been ended by the selling dealer. Personally I do not like Gunbroker, if I buy off the internet I want to know somebody is established. And those people usually have the lowest price.

It amazes me that people buy guns from GB for more than buying them from say Galleryofguns.

 

[TTSH]

Some of them do. There are hundreds of dealers on Gunbroker, and they list guns, and have them also behind the counter. Occasionally you will see that an auction has been ended by the selling dealer.

And that is perfectly fine. But as a customer relations/selling strategy, is it really smart to tell a potential customer that the shop can get a whole lot more money for their gun on GB? I don't think so.

That line certainly never worked on me. I've told the story before about how that line backfired badly on a shop owner who wouldn't take my offer (very close to his tagged price BTW) and later ended up dumping the gun on GB for far less. I remind him about it every time I'm in there. It drives him crazy, but it sure stopped him dead from using that line on me ever again.

 

[USMC6094]

Best B.S. I heard was that the FN FAL and its variants weren't built with bolt releases......
Then the same guy told another customer that the Romainian PSL and the Russian Dragonov were essentially the same rifle, just built in different countries....

 

[Walkingwolf]

And that is perfectly fine. But as a customer relations/selling strategy, is it really smart to tell a potential customer that the shop can get a whole lot more money for their gun on GB? I don't think so.

That line certainly never worked on me. I've told the story before about how that line backfired badly on a shop owner who wouldn't take my offer (very close to his tagged price BTW) and later ended up dumping the gun on GB for far less. I remind him about it every time I'm in there. It drives him crazy, but it sure stopped him dead from using that line on me ever again.

It would depend on the customer. I sold boats, and marine supplies at a marina in the keys for a couple years. More than one occasion I took *** customers out the front door to point out US1. This is what I said "See that road, if you get on that road and drive north, you can get up north prices." A couple complained to the owner, he backed me up. Some people behind the counter get just as fed up as people on the other side of it.

 

[TTSH]

It would depend on the customer. I sold boats, and marine supplies at a marina in the keys for a couple years. More than one occasion I took *** customers out the front door to point out US1. This is what I said "See that road, if you get on that road and drive north, you can get up north prices." A couple complained to the owner, he backed me up. Some people behind the counter get just as fed up as people on the other side of it.

Not the same unless I am missing something. It would be more like you telling your boat customer that the next guy in the door will pay a whole lot more for that boat so you better jump on it fast.

 

[Walkingwolf]

Not the same unless I am missing something. It would be more like you telling your boat customer that the next guy in the door will pay a whole lot more for that boat so you better jump on it fast.

After hearing over, and over again, "I can get it cheaper up north" then they are given the option of going up north. I am sure there has been a few gun customers have said "I can get it cheaper somewhere".

Disclaimer~~not to imply that anyone here has said the above.

 

[Watchdog]

Tell the truth, by the time I make it to a gun shop and am serious about buying something, I've already thoroughly researched the product...so I don't pay much, if any, attention to what LGS employees have to say.

Really, about all I need to do is handle the gun a bit. And the only info I need from the employee is how much it's really going to cost me. They don't need to sell me on the gun or demo it for me.

Regarding what they tell other customers, I'm not interested at all.

 

[daniel lawecki]

When I go to a gun store I know what I want. All the chit chat from the counter person is white static. Remember went TV was off the air in the sixties white test pattern with noise I just block it out.

 

[TTSH]

After hearing over, and over again, "I can get it cheaper up north" then they are given the option of going up north. I am sure there has been a few gun customers have said "I can get it cheaper somewhere".

That's a game I don't play... but I'm sure gun store clerks do get that response at times. If I know I can buy the same gun much cheaper somewhere else, I simply leave (politely) and do so. But for the record, I am far, far more sensitive to cost than most gun buyers.

 

[forrestinmathews]

Well not to defend him, but IMO a trigger that when pulled the gun goes boom is a great trigger. If the trigger is prone to not going boom sometimes, it sucks.

"The trigger pull measured slightly under six pounds, and was very crisp and consistent."

Jeff Quinn/Gunblast from a NAA Ranger review.

Up until very recently, I was certain that the trigger pull was not the process that ignited the primer. I wonder how the hammer fall will take this news?

 

[JJEH]

Usually it's easy to spot when someone is lying or just making stuff up.

What's more annoying to me is when people don't know something and rather keep talking in circles or non-sense instead of admitting that there something is they don't know.

Another thing is when the clerk always points a customer to the same gun because of the greater profit margin rather than what the customer wants.

 

[rwsmith]

It's everywhere, it's everywhere.....

FEW people consider it important to learn aspects of business they are in. Get by on BS and get a paycheck is what they are interested in.

It is DELIGHTFUL to have a knowledgeable sales person anywhere, especially one that knows more than you about guns.

 

[Rustyt1953]

The lady at the cash register told me I looked good.

 

[jmace57]

I have about a dozen firearms at my FFL up for consignment. I was selling an item (.45 ACP) that had two spare mags with it. The FFL had me on the phone, and a potential buyer in front of him...and he was going on about how much more expensive .45 mags were than mags for 9mm or .40. And, darned if the guy didn't believe him. He got more than my asking price for the gun.