Gun shop level of service

Scrooloose

Well-Known Member
Hi all.

I'm in the process of trying to buy my first brand new firearm. (My existing shotguns and rifles have all been secondhand....) Thing is, I'm struggling to get someone to take my money!! The rifle I want to buy is readily available and together with the mod will put £1300 in someone's till.

I don't seem to be able to get a call back with a price! I called one business about four times and even went to their store, where they were still unable to help me, being more concerned with slating the product I wanted, attempting to sell me something significantly over my budget and being rather unprofessional with their comments about some of their distributors. I'm now on my second store, who were very helpful at the outset, but since then have not come back to me with a price!

I'm a very polite customer and ready to place an order. I run a large retail business, so understand both sides of the coin. If we treated our customers this way, we'd be out of business very quickly....

Is this normal for gun shops?
 
I can hazard a guess by your location who tried to get you into something more costly and sladed what you wanted...

Have you tried Greenfields in Salisbury? A bit of a drive for you but not too bad. They'll give you good advise and customer service. Ask for Matt.

All the best with the purchase.

WH
 
It's not unusual for a shop to try to steer you towards something they carry in stock or which has a higher margin. You have to remember that gun shops are normally run by opinionated "characters", otherwise they'd find an easier way to make a living. We used to have a gunshop in Southsea, it's owner would almost make a point of mocking anyone asking about taking up the sport.

I've used Greenfields too and they are a professional outfit to deal with, you should receive something more recognisable as customer service there.
 
Talk to Ivor Dadswell (Old Mill Guns) - he has a website www.oldmillguns.com & is a real gentleman - not far from you & you will get proper, polite, honest customer service from him.
He won't try & foist his current stock on you & will get you whatever you request within reason. A real breath of fresh air to deal with.

Ian
 
As in most if not all other avenues of the services industry it so often comes down to the person/s doing the job rather than any considered approach to a deeply unattractive business plan.

How else could one explain the delight in being treated as the most important Customer on the planet when Richard Whitley welcomed you into Chris Potter Guns? Then there is John Forsey of what was once Gentrys and who back in the 70’s would sell a boy a tin of air rifle pellets with no less approach to their value as customer as he might close a deal on a 4 bore fowling piece with one of his pipe-smoking KWFA friends.

K
 
"Opinionated characters"? I've occasionally been left with the impression that some have borderline personality disorders! I'm sure that more than one of us has stood at a counter, plastic bubble accessory packet/tin of pellets/item of clothing in one hand and cash in the other waiting to get served while the owner chats or sups coffee with a bloke who comes in every week but never buys anything.
Can you immagine going into a greengrocer's and asking for 1/2 a dozen apples to be told "apples? You don't want apples mate,, they're crap. Pears is what you want."
 
Why bother buying new? Save yourself the hassle and money and buy second hand... I have not bought any new guns or optics for the last 10 years...
 
When I've bought brand new rifles I've travelled all over the place for them to whoever had them in stock. Gun trader is a good place to find someone who has stock.

If there is no stock anywhere then that brings the importers into the equation. If the importer has stock then not usually a problem, however if they don't have stock and there are none in the country then my advice would be to find a good shop with good service no matter how far from home they are because you'll need them to go into bat with the importer for you (I've had the old moving delivery date nightmare with both Edgars and GMK) and you'll need a helpful and friendly dealer who will keep the pressure on them for you. Driving a 100 miles to then pick it up is the easy bit! :D

Basically if your nearest shop is crap don't feel duty bound to stick with them!
 
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There should be a college course for gunshop owners / employees to learn how business works and how customers should be treated I'm lucky I've found a good one at last but I've tried a few before I found it .if you know what you want keep going till you secure it then rfd to yr rfd .
norma
 
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