My rant against Anthony Arms (West Mifflin, PA)

[shelley66]

This is the email I just sent to Anthony Arms via their website:

I am extremely disappointed in the customer service I received on two occasions at your store. Last week, I stopped in to purchase a holster and a spare magazine. I wandered throughout the whole store, looking at the merchandise without one sales person approaching me. Finally, I went to the back counter where three staff were talking amongst themselves behind the counter. I inquired about thigh holsters. I was told the store did not carry them. I was given no other information or an offer to possibly order one for me. I did purchase a leather holster and the magazine. I decided that the holster was a bit too tight for me to comfortably remove my firearm and came in to return/exchange it. Again, no one approached me until I went to the back of the store. The salesperson was extremely condescending to me and talked to me as if I had absolutely no knowledge about using the holster. I decided to think about keeping it, and looked around the store in case I saw another holster that I would use for an exchange. Another employee emerged from the back room, said "hi" and continued walking. I returned to the counter and said I would just keep the holster. I would have made a comment about the salesperson's disrespectful tone and facial expressions, but there were two customers at the counter by this time and I decided to be polite and just leave. As I left, I vowed to NEVER spend one more dollar in this store. Either I must appear as though I have no money to spend (which I doubt is the case) or your store has no need for money if it comes from the wallet of a female. FYI, this particular female has purchased a S&W 642, Springfield XD 9 mm, Diamondback DB380, range bag, several sets of ear protection, eye protection, holsters, and countless boxes of ammunition all within the last year or so. My husband, in the same period of time, has purchased a Beretta PX4 Storm, Remington hunting rifle, AR-15 and similar amounts of gear and accessories. We are members of the NRA, a local gun club as well as PAFOA and FOAC. We will be sure to let our acquaintances know that there are other firearms dealers who welcome my/our business and are more deserving of our hard-earned dollars.

Grrrrrrrrr!

[K.C.]

This is just ANOTHER reminder why I'll never shop or shoot there. This type of ignorance and condescension is the worst thing for a business. Surely they have been told about this before? Maybe they are the owners or their relatives? I'll never know though, like I said I heard of this too many times here on the forums and don't plan on going there. Ace Sporting Goods in Washington Pa. is the place for me.

[BimmerJon]

This is the email I just sent to Anthony Arms via their website:

I am extremely disappointed in the customer service I received on two occasions at your store. Last week, I stopped in to purchase a holster and a spare magazine. I wandered throughout the whole store, looking at the merchandise without one sales person approaching me. Finally, I went to the back counter where three staff were talking amongst themselves behind the counter. I inquired about thigh holsters. I was told the store did not carry them. I was given no other information or an offer to possibly order one for me. I did purchase a leather holster and the magazine. I decided that the holster was a bit too tight for me to comfortably remove my firearm and came in to return/exchange it. Again, no one approached me until I went to the back of the store. The salesperson was extremely condescending to me and talked to me as if I had absolutely no knowledge about using the holster. I decided to think about keeping it, and looked around the store in case I saw another holster that I would use for an exchange. Another employee emerged from the back room, said "hi" and continued walking. I returned to the counter and said I would just keep the holster. I would have made a comment about the salesperson's disrespectful tone and facial expressions, but there were two customers at the counter by this time and I decided to be polite and just leave. As I left, I vowed to NEVER spend one more dollar in this store. Either I must appear as though I have no money to spend (which I doubt is the case) or your store has no need for money if it comes from the wallet of a female. FYI, this particular female has purchased a S&W 642, Springfield XD 9 mm, Diamondback DB380, range bag, several sets of ear protection, eye protection, holsters, and countless boxes of ammunition all within the last year or so. My husband, in the same period of time, has purchased a Beretta PX4 Storm, Remington hunting rifle, AR-15 and similar amounts of gear and accessories. We are members of the NRA, a local gun club as well as PAFOA and FOAC. We will be sure to let our acquaintances know that there are other firearms dealers who welcome my/our business and are more deserving of our hard-earned dollars.

Grrrrrrrrr!

Well written!

[Azzy]

Ive never had a problem up there, other than some of the prices being a tad high. But to mention another store as was in a previous post.. Ace seems just as bad on prices.

[mpi]

high prices, willful lies to get you to come in, very poor customer service, what else could you want in a store?

I never shop there!

[Adam-12]

I paid them $30 to put tritium sites on my carry gun. Whoever did it, apparently hammered on the front site and broke the gas tube. I ended up replacing the front site myself, after the supplier kindly gave me a new one.

[bnkrtstk]

Off topic- put the pistol in a plastic bag and put in the holster for a day or two and it should lossen up.

[shelley66]

Off topic- put the pistol in a plastic bag and put in the holster for a day or two and it should lossen up.

Thanks...yeah, I just heard about that, I'll try it.

I'm honestly thinking about starting my own little crusade to help educate some of these places about customer service in general, and about how to treat female customers. No one is asking them to paint the walls pink and put up pictures of bunnies and kitties. Just treat us like valuable customers who might actually know something. Even if we don't know, heck, there are plenty of men who walk into gun shops who don't know the first thing about firearms. I am sick of being treated like a second class citizen in a gun shop, at the car dealer, at the mechanics. There have been times when I have told the mechanic the problem and gotten "Well now...you just let us take a look see and then we'll tell ya". Then, of course, I would be right but nooooooo.....how could that be? I'm just a girl after all!

It's all about the bottom line...women have money, men have money, men have wives and girlfriends, men have wives and girlfriends who might encourage them to spend more money if they share the same interest....I'm just saying...

[MuzzleFlash]

I was given no other information or an offer to possibly order one for me.

Sounds about right. I went in a few weeks ago looking for a 9MM pocket gun in the $300 area, they had 3 shelves of .380s but no 9MMs. Two employees were waiting on me, I think I was the only customer there. one began to trail off about how Kel Tec or Bersa are hard to get, something to do with "special warehouses," just an excuse to not order one. He then showed me a larger gun that wouldn't fit in my pocket, the conversation went something like this:

Me: That one looks too wide, I'm looking for something that I can drop into a pocket (I motion to my pant pocket to show the width.)
Him: Well the thing about this gun is, it's thinner than those other ones.
Me: It could be as thin as a pancake but I couldn't fit one in my pocket.
(both starting to laugh at this point)
Him: You could if you folded it.
Me: So does this gun fold?
(he laughs and shakes his head, I laugh and walk with him back to the .380s)

My only complaint, and it's not a big one, is that they don't seem to have any drive to keep you in the store or as a returning customer. If they don't have what you want, tough luck, pick something in stock or be on your way. I felt the employees were friendly and sociable, but passive to the extent that they're more interested in talking about whatever movie's on the TV than trying to make a sale.

I shop at The Gun Rack in Belle Vernon, it's a small store but no matter what I want they just flip open a book, tell me the price, and order it. The problem here is it's not really "shopping" if you know exactly what you want, and I don't know where to go to handle a few guns before choosing one. I'll check out Ace.

[mak47]

I went to Anthony Arms once, when I had driven out to Pittsburgh to buy a gun from another forum member. It seemed like your typical "established" gun store. I was in there for an hour (they do have a lot to look at) and not once was I approached by an employee, even when I was looming over the handgun cases and they were standing right there.

I'm a man, I don't think they're attitude was based on you being a woman, I just think they (like so many shops) don't know anything about customer service.

Unfortunately, working in a gun shop is kind of like working in a record store. It seems like one of those jobs that has to be cool. The mindset of people seeking a job because it's going to be cool or fun is often inappropriate. They don't understand that just because your job is fun, doesn't mean you don't still have to focus on customer service and growing your customer base.

People get particularly incensed when gun shops have this kind of attitude toward customers. Unlike a record store, when I go to a gun shop I may be planning on dropping $500-$2000 in one shot. Even though their margins may be low, that's a lot of money to spend at one time--and they have to understand that there's a certain attitude and demeanor that people who are willing to hand you that kind of cash are expecting.

I can't help but think it has something to do with the scare of '09 as well. When everyone was clamoring for guns it didn't matter how you treated your customers. We would come in, pay whatever psychotic price was being demanded, and then thank them for being so gracious as to take our money.

A lot of shops increased staff during that time and I'm sure many of those employees are still working. If you learn about the gun business during a time like that, you certainly won't develop any lasting customer service skills.

I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience, as apparently many have had there as well. I'm sure there's another shop that will be happy to have you as a customer.