Customer Service Stories

[Mango]

I visited a few shops the last few days looking for a CM9. 3 shops 3 different customer service stories.

Shop #1: Waited about 15 minutes before someone came over. I tried to get someone's attention but they did not even acknowledged that I was there. It was not that pack either. When someone did come over he seemed in a hurry. I was ready to get a pistol be they where out. He did not even bother to see if he was able to get it in. Just wanted to be done with me I guess.

Shop #2: They also where out of the gun I wanted but he check to see if he could get it in. He spend a lot of time telling the difference between the 2 models. Took his time and all. Before we ended our discussion another shop attended interrupted us because there were others there waiting in line. I can understand that but I am a well known customer there and they know that I do buy stuff. I guess he felt that the guy helping me was wasting his time. The guy that interrupted us is one of the worse shop attendant I have dealt with. He should watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t4ukIDRkxs .

The next day a came back to this shop looking for a holster. I asked if they had it and one of the attendants said "I don't know". (ok that's fair) The other attendant with a smirk / annoyed look said. "You just have to look there. We can keep track of all the holsters we got". The way he said it just bugged me b/c their holster section is not well organized and there was no one waiting to be helped. He could have at least pointed me to the right place.

Shop #3: Smooth as anything. Ended up doing a transfer there because they where 10 bucks cheaper. That 10 dollar saving resulted in me getting a new gun there and the guy who bought my gun also got some other stuff.

Is it just me. Am I expecting too much?

[bpgood1]

No but it seems to me that gun shops are asshole magnets. These guys deal with hundreds of people per week doing nothing but lookin and asking stupid questions. So those of us that are actual buyers sometimes receive less than satisfactory service

[Yamo1231]

Shop #2: They also where out of the gun I wanted but he check to see if he could get it in. He spend a lot of time telling the difference between the 2 models. Took his time and all. Before we ended our discussion another shop attended interrupted us because there were others there waiting in line. I can understand that but I am a well known customer there and they know that I do buy stuff. I guess he felt that the guy helping me was wasting his time. The guy that interrupted us is one of the worse shop attendant I have dealt with. He should watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t4ukIDRkxs .

Unfortunately I think you hit the nail on the head when you said that the other sales guy thought your salesman was wasting his time. Instead of valuing their repeat business I have worked for a gun shop where the owner told me to "ignore the regular customers when we are busy, because they will be back later. The first time customers might not be."

I think that kind of attitude is reprehensible and does not show the kind of repect that regular customers should be shown. It's a mixed bag, and when you find a good shop like #3 stick with them and don't look back.

[Emptymag]

While searching for a magazine online, I found one site that had it listed at a price considerably lower than any of the other retailers.
It was listed as out of stock "accepting backorders".

Before I placed the order, I used the "contact us" form to ask for clarification. I wanted to verify that I would pay the advertised price, and NOT a higher price when the item becomes available.

Since I sent it via the "contact us" form, I don't have a record of when I sent my inquiry, but it was at least three days ago - maybe four.
I have not gotten a reply, so I sent the following via the "contact us" form.

Dear Sirs,

Thank you for ignoring the question I posed via email several days ago.

At least I know now to remove you from my online retailer bookmarks.
I will order the items elsewhere at a higher price with no regrets.

I appreciate your non-attention to this matter.

Lost customer,
Emptymag

Sure, they may have been "too busy" to reply, and I can believe that may be the case, but it reflects poorly on their service, so I will simply buy elsewhere. No big deal.

Note that it wasn't any of the readily known "gun retailers" - just some obscure place that sells everything from lunch boxes, to BBQ grill covers.

[Mango]

Here is another one...maybe my expectations are set too high.

I have been a customer of an area gun shop and range for 3 years now. I have made several purchases and have used their range plenty of times. I think I am a good customer. I consume, clean after myself and leave :-)

This past weekend I want to do a person to person transfer. When I arrived they where not busy at all. There where about 3 customers and 2 of then buying guns ...maybe 5 or 6 chop attendants. I was waiting there for a few minutes an no one said anything. So I said to one, "I want to do a transfer when you get a change". I new he was busy which is why I said "when you get a chance". He told me he was busy which is fine. I waited a few more minutes and then ask someone who I did not think was busy. He responds. "We don't do face to face on the weekends". I have never hear of this before and the place was not busy at all. But not my shop so I don't make up the rules so I left and when to Tanners.

Tanners was packed so I was afraid they would tell me the same. I just waited until someone noticed and said. "You guys look like you want to do a transfer". I said yes...he was busy but found someone to help us. BTW it was not one of the owners. This was one of their shop attendants. So we did the transfer and I ended up getting some other ammo as well.

I really do like the first shop. It is my local range and I have been a member there for 3 years now. I can't say I will stop going there but it made me rethink renewing my membership there. I would have thought that I have earned the benefit of the doubt. I asked the next day about the policy and they told me it is not a policy but more up to the discretion of the shop attendant.

Part of me wants to have a chat with the owner. Not to dime anyone out. I have no interest in doing that. Just as a friendly jester from a customer who wants his shop to succeed. The other part says its a waste of time...

[Hokkmike]

Here is another one...maybe my expectations are set too high.

I have been a customer of an area gun shop and range for 3 years now. I have made several purchases and have used their range plenty of times. I think I am a good customer. I consume, clean after myself and leave :-)

This past weekend I want to do a person to person transfer. When I arrived they where not busy at all. There where about 3 customers and 2 of then buying guns ...maybe 5 or 6 chop attendants. I was waiting there for a few minutes an no one said anything. So I said to one, "I want to do a transfer when you get a change". I new he was busy which is why I said "when you get a chance". He told me he was busy which is fine. I waited a few more minutes and then ask someone who I did not think was busy. He responds. "We don't do face to face on the weekends". I have never hear of this before and the place was not busy at all. But not my shop so I don't make up the rules so I left and when to Tanners.

Tanners was packed so I was afraid they would tell me the same. I just waited until someone noticed and said. "You guys look like you want to do a transfer". I said yes...he was busy but found someone to help us. BTW it was not one of the owners. This was one of their shop attendants. So we did the transfer and I ended up getting some other ammo as well.

I really do like the first shop. It is my local range and I have been a member there for 3 years now. I can't say I will stop going there but it made me rethink renewing my membership there. I would have thought that I have earned the benefit of the doubt. I asked the next day about the policy and they told me it is not a policy but more up to the discretion of the shop attendant.

Part of me wants to have a chat with the owner. Not to dime anyone out. I have no interest in doing that. Just as a friendly jester from a customer who wants his shop to succeed. The other part says its a waste of time...

Print out your post and hand it to him.

[carrguy1]

I'm not sure what it is about a lot of gun shops and their poor customer service. There are some exemplary exceptions like Tanner's which has already been mentioned, but some of these places treat you like you're bothering them. You'd think they'd want you there, in a good mood, spending money.

I help someone sell Christmas Trees every year and sometimes it's slow. When someone comes in I'm happy to help them/make a sale/take pictures of them and their kids, etc. It would seem counterintuitive for me to ignore them, be rude to them, or tell them we only sell certain sizes on the weekends.

While it seems this way for a lot of gun shops it's certainly not only gun shops. A few years ago my wife and I got coupons from Ford at the Philadelphia Auto Show to take a test drive at any local dealer and get $25 or $50 (can't remember which) Visa gift cards in return. The promotion was meant to get people who wouldn't normally consider a Ford behind the wheel to change their minds. I thought it was a good idea because I hadn't been considering Ford as we were shopping for cars at the time. We went on a Saturday and a salesman came out pretty quickly. I told him we were interested in test driving two different models and showed him the coupons we got from the show. He took them, said he'd be right back, and went inside. He came out a minute later with both of them signed (proof to Ford that we had taken the test drives) and told us they didn't do test drives on Saturdays but since we had the signed papers we could still get our money. At that point I was completely turned off by the salesman, the dealership, and Ford in general (even though it may not have been the manufacturer's fault). I know in his and his manager's minds they probably thought we were just there for the money and weren't serious buyers so we were a waste of their time but that was kind of against the point of the promotion: to get people to drive them and change their minds. I could have tried to tell him we really were shopping but because I was turned off at that point we left. I got my money a few weeks later and then bought a Subaru... and another since that one. I won't go to that dealership ever and I probably won't get a Ford ever. I guess that promotion backfired. I would have been less annoyed if the guy told me they didn't want to do test drives unless you were a serious customer rather than tell me they didn't do them on Saturdays.

[streaker69]

One day I was working at one of the many stores I had worked in, it had been snowing since before we opened and had continued throughout the day. When I got to work there was already at least 6" on the ground the parking lot was fairly covered.

Around 10AM I saw a lone car pull into the parking lot right outside our store. Guy gets out and makes his way through the now 8" deep snow, since for some reason the mall hadn't bothered to plow it yet. He comes right up to the counter, slams a small clock radio down on the counter hard enough I though he was going to break the glass and yells "This goddamn thing hasn't worked since the day I bought it!"

I looked at it, looked at him, and asked him if he had a receipt for it. Sure enough he pulls out a receipt, which clearly showed he bought it 7 years before. I looked at the receipt, looked at the clock, looked outside and then looked at him and said "Let me see if I understand this, you bought this 7 years ago, it hasn't worked since the day you bought it and you chose today, during a blizzard to drive in here and return it? You actually risked your life driving through the snow for a $20 clock radio?"

He looked at me rather dumbfounded, grabbed the radio and walked out.

[Sir Knight]

No but it seems to me that gun shops are asshole magnets. These guys deal with hundreds of people per week doing nothing but lookin and asking stupid questions. So those of us that are actual buyers sometimes receive less than satisfactory service

+1.

..... Just typing to fulfill the 10 character limit .....

[Mango]

well if you are not able to adapt and recognize who are your trouble makers then you should not have a customer facing job...