How Do You Handle Gun Shop Lurkers?

[skrazo]

Was in a LGS a few days back. Another fellow was trying to talk to an employee about different revolvers in the showcase. Within earshot was a local "self appointed expert" who "knows(?)" more about any gun (model, performance, history, etc.) in the store than the people working there. The guy keeps interjecting his "expertise" and won't hush. How do you folks deal with a situation like this without getting "ugly"?

"Tact" is a word I heard once, but never learned how to use it!

 

[zzzippper]

Ignore it.

 

[Sprefix]

Find out what he is driving and tell him you are a master mechanic. Ask him how many miles on his vehicle, and proceed to tell him every mechanical horror you can imagine until he decides to leave YOU alone. I've done this or just faked a few sneeze/coughs, and ask if the flu is going around again. That one usually works fantastically. Have some fun with the offending loafer!!

 

[chud333]

A load of High Brass #5's usually does the trick.




Chuck

 

[Herknav]

Another vote for "ignore him."

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

The clerk is there to sell guns and one way is to allow the potential customer to unload his "expertise" and eventually come back with "well then you know that this Taurus Judge is just the high quality multi-purpose handgun you are looking for" etc. We are all at different stages. The LGS clerk should be more than equipped to handle his customers of all stripes, and we all have to start somewhere. My two cents.

 

[GatorFarmer]

Tell him that he is pretty and ask if you can smell his hair.

 

[TTSH]

Gun shop groupies (folks hanging around who are neither buyers nor sales staff) can be a pain or they can be harmless. All depends on the particular shop and what you are trying to achieve there. I first try to understand the relationship between the shop owner or employees and the groupie... then I take it from there. I find some are a friend or relative of the owner (or of an employee) and some are past customers. One was just a local gun owner-wannabe who liked to hang out. Once you understand the relationship, you can sometimes even use it to your advantage in your negotiations.

One small (one-person) shop I frequent actually likes their local groupie to hang around for a bit of enhanced security (or at least the perception of enhanced security) at the shop. I think they figure the shop is less likely to get robbed or shoplifted with two folks present rather than just one.

 

[Grayfox]

Some years back when I was much younger and still learning about guns, we had a local hardware store/ gun shop which had a small seating area where the "experts" hung out.
While their primary business was the hardware, the little gun shop was actually pretty good. Unfortunatly you couldn't buy so much as a box of .22s without some comment from the peanut gallery. And heaven help you if you walked in with something to sell or trade. These guys would be all over you mostly telling you what a piece of junk it was and making low ball offers.
I never knew why the owners let these guys hang around. But the place developed such a bad reputation that nobody even wanted to buy hardware there. It eventually went out of business.

 

[3dots]

I agree, ignore. Zero response, eye contact or anything else. If he gets offended or persists, ask him if he works there. "Oh you don't? Thanks for your input but I'll wait to speak with someone knowledgeable".

 

[rwsmith]

Look over your shoulder......

Look over your shoulder at him and say, "Shut up" and turn back to what you are doing. That works sometimes.

 

[ErnieDeBord]

I love the smell of napalm in the morning

 

[M29since14]

I first try to understand the relationship between the shop owner or employees and the groupie... then I take it from there.

I actually do that too. When I am done, it usually throws the guy into the "ignore" category. Once it a while you will find a blonker who actually knows something useful, but they usually are the fairly quiet type. First you have to identify them as such, and then you have to ask them. I know a couple like that. When asked they will give their opinion and some facts/data to support it and normally let it go - i.e., your decision beyond that. It can be a plus. Lots of times they point out something I didn't know or had not considered.

As to why hangers-on are tolerated, there is long list of reasons, but chief among them must be a reluctance to bite any hand that feeds you. Even if the hangers-on never buy anything themselves but somehow "encourage" sales, that might count as well.

Some are harmless, even humorous/useful/agreeable - and some should be sent packing. No shop owner has ever asked me to help him sort them out or to decide what to do with them.

 

[357-RevolverGuy]

It's a good question. I once went into a shop and asked to see a single action revolver they had under the case. An older gentleman who kept giving me unwanted comments the entire time I was looking at it stepped up between me and and the sales guy and asked if he could "have a quick look at it" while I was in the middle of examining it. We both stop and gave him a dead stare for about a minute... he got the message and walked off into the holster aisle.

Have no idea why people are like that. I think it starts from when they are children and just don't get enough attention.

 

[the ringo kid]

Was in a LGS a few days back. Another fellow was trying to talk to an employee about different revolvers in the showcase. Within earshot was a local "self appointed expert" who "knows(?)" more about any gun (model, performance, history, etc.) in the store than the people working there. The guy keeps interjecting his "expertise" and won't hush. How do you folks deal with a situation like this without getting "ugly"?

"Tact" is a word I heard once, but never learned how to use it!

Id revert to speakenzie im mein limited Deutsch. Done so before and pest left.

 

[the ringo kid]

Ignore it.

~~~OR~~~ What ^^^^^^^he said.^^^^^^^^^^

 

[raisedin99]

"Tact" is a word I heard once, but never learned how to use it!

Long ago I read, Winston Churchill was quoted as saying:

"Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip".

terry

 

[Triathloncoach]

I'm just glad I'm not that guy. That's his punishment.

 

[Stu1205]

Tell him that he is pretty and ask if you can smell his hair.

Thanks. That was a great response and visual.
I actually laughed out loud when I read it.
I just might use it.

Stu

 

[LL617]

I guess I am guilty of being a gun shop loafer but not a know-it-all. There is one local store I occasionally go into, but I usually get a little something while I am in there. I usually ask a lot of questions that might drive them crazy while I am in there.

I saw a rifle suppressor that I hope to buy within the next month or so the last time I was there. I also have a standing order for a S&W TR8 at the shop; someday, I expect a call...