I'm tired of the piss poor customer service in the firearms industry

[mes227]

Originally Posted by crazynova

Why is it that only in the firearms industry, hot items such as kydex holsters have lead times of 45+ days? If demand is that high, the companies need to add production capability and increase supply.

I don't think this is a customer service issue. As long as they are honest about it, it doesn't much matter if the wait time is 24 hours or 24 months (I work in mining and plenty of key things have 2-years waits). That's just supply and demand, and if there's a sufficiently robust demand the supply will rise to the occasion. In my mind bad service is saying it'll be 1 week when they know it's going to be 6 and I've little patience for that.

[mes227]

Originally Posted by colddeadhands

I recently went in a gun store in Carson with $1200 burning a hole in my pocket and every intention of buying a gun. I didn't even have anything specific in mind, just something new to me. After getting the stink eye from all three employees behind the counter and no help for five minutes I left. It wasn't the first time I've been in gun shops run by people who thought they were too good for their customers, but it was the last time I will set foot in that store.

I went up to Reno and got great service at Maccabee Arms, and bought a nice AK!

That's exactly how I deal with poor service. There are 4 shops in the Carson-Moundhouse-Minden area, and at least 7 in Reno-Sparks, a couple more FFLs who custom order, plus various on-line options. So within 40 mins of my house I have over a dozen options. Treat me bad and I won't spend money at your store. Today or likely ever (as a consumer, I have a long memory). Treat me well and I'll give you every chance to earn my business, and I'll intentionally spend a little more on something because I know it comes with good service.

I am also occasionally a lookie-lou and make an effort to stay out of the way of real buyers. Just a few days ago I was in Mark Fore & Strike (Reno) to look at 1911s (great selection, BTW). I made it clear to the salesman that I wasn't buying and just wanted to check out a few models; get my mitts around them, so to speak. He was gracious, hugely helpful, and I hope not annoyed when I didn't buy anything.

[Guido]

Its a tough crowd, I'll say that. I know my guys try their absolute best to give GREAT customer service, and I know that 90% of the time they are giving it the best they can. The other 10% I can't blame on them.....here's some of the stuff their dealing with that other stores outside of the industry don't have to bother with:

1) BG checks and registration paperwork, and waiting for them to get called in. Yesterday for example it took over an hour just to get the checks back from NICS. So know the store is backed up with 14 customers just waiting for their checks to get back to us.

2)The phone ringing off the hook (all 4 lines) all day long with people that are too lazy to do their homework online to find store hours, address, where the local range is, CCW laws, etc, etc, etc and price shopping. When I go grocery shopping I go to the grocery store. When people go ammo shopping they call every gun store in town to check prices before they go. I don't call Smiths and Albertsons to see who has the better price on bannana's. We answer all of our phone calls and e-mail very promptly, but it does take away from the service we can give our in store customers.....which brings me to the next point....

3)"get more employees if you're too busy" I would love to have 5 more sales guys on the floor. That would add $1K in expenses daily and then we would have to raise prices, if we did that then we wouldn't be able to offer competitive prices and then not as many people would come, and we wouldn't need the extra employees. ;-)

Its a tough business from a customer and a business standpoint. I don't disagree with you, but just wanted to share some of the problems from the other end to take into perspective.

And its not just on the retail end. The distributors and mfg's are horrible too. They advertise "new" products a year before they go into production, and then take another year to get a good flow out to the distro and dealers all the while by not giving good lead times on their products, etc, etc.

Its one of the only retail businesses that needs this much customer to employee time and the fact is there's only so many employees to go around to make the business make sense on our end.

I appreciate all the feedback from you guys, and I actually printed this to have my employees read so they have a better idea of how much this means to our customers. Like was mentioned, a simple hello is all some people are looking for if they can't get taken care of right away. We try our best to do that, but sometimes it just gets too crazy to give everyone the high level of service we like to give to everyone.

One other thing that seems to come up often is the "BS'ing with their buddies" thing. I actually get e-mails from time to time with people saying they left the store because someone walked in and was greeted by name and taken care of differently, etc. I've been keeping an eye on this in my store, and I was actually impressed that my guys know the first names of 75% of our regular customers and have built a good rapport with them and actually remember their names, the last gun they bought, etc. I don't see it as BS'ing with their buddies, I see it as giving a level of service thats uncommon in any industry and especially the gun industry in this town.

[b0neZ]

I must have great luck. I have been to 3 stores in Carson and one in Fallon and have only had bad service in one of the stores. The rest have been very gracious and accomodating to my and my families needs. Now pawn shops are a different story, but that's not what this thread is about...

[titanNV]

I am so glad I don't have a retail store...

[mdslammer]

Originally Posted by Doc Holliday

I'm pretty much tired of the piss poor customer service everywhere.

Apathy runs rampant in this country.

[titanNV]

If a rant pertains to a site sponsor, please PM said sponsor directly.
I am sure they want the feedback brought to their attention directly.

[crazynova]

Originally Posted by titanNV

If a rant pertains to a site sponsor, please PM said sponsor directly.
I am sure they want the feedback brought to their attention directly.

It doesn't pertain to any site sponsor directly, or even any business directly. It's more a pattern I've noticed throughout the industry. Most of the sponsors here are actually pretty good about customer service.

[Joe LeFors]

Originally Posted by titanNV

If a rant pertains to a site sponsor, please PM said sponsor directly.
I am sure they want the feedback brought to their attention directly.

I read the comment before it was Redacted. I feel in the interest of fairness, and to uncluttered this site, sponsor complements should also be sent to their attention directly, instead of being posted here. By all rights Good and bad comments should be treated equal. Otherwise it looks like you are cherry picking.

[SirLasVegas]

Originally Posted by Guido

One other thing that seems to come up often is the "BS'ing with their buddies" thing. I actually get e-mails from time to time with people saying they left the store because someone walked in and was greeted by name and taken care of differently, etc. I've been keeping an eye on this in my store, and I was actually impressed that my guys know the first names of 75% of our regular customers and have built a good rapport with them and actually remember their names, the last gun they bought, etc. I don't see it as BS'ing with their buddies, I see it as giving a level of service thats uncommon in any industry and especially the gun industry in this town.

Funny, I have bartenders at work that get mad at me for the same thing. Working in a high volume tourist attraction, we very rarely get "regular" clientele. Over the years though I've learned to AT LEAST remember most of the faces of some of my return guests, even if its been a year since their last visit, and a lot of them I remember by name and what they drink. I now have more "regular" business than probably anyone in the building because I like to pay a little bit extra attention to making sure that my regular guests, and their business, is appreciated. People want to be welcomed and love when you remember them. If its someone I recognize I usually come around the bar and shake their hand or give them a hug and welcome them back before taking their order. It actually pisses off some of the other guys I work with because they say I spend too much time taking care of people I know and leaving all "the other people" for them. At some point those regular guests were "the other people" and now come back every time theyre in town because the service I give across the board is above par. They dont realize if they took the time to know some of their guests the way I do, that the whole bar could be filled with regulars and not "the others" as they call them. It doesnt take but an extra second to do those extra things, and they pay off greatly in the long run.