giggitygiggity
Member
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2009
- Messages
- 2,252
We’ve seen threads on things that customers do in gun shops that are annoying/off-putting. However, I’d like this thread to focus instead on the things that gun shops and gun shop employees do that are frustrating.
The point of this thread is to share some personal accounts and perhaps garner a few laughs or even help anyone on here who sells guns get a feel for what to do/not to do to win favor with customers.
For me, the things that some gun shops/employees do are as follows:
1. Prices: Make your prices know/easy to see. I’ve gone into quite a few gun shops in which prices of the guns were either not displayed, on tags on pistol trigger guards but upside down and under the counter, and/or not readable because they were too far behind the counter. This is even more common with ammo, which could be remedied by placing a sheet of paper with the different ammo available and the prices. I know what most guns and ammo should cost and I often peruse gun shops to see if something catches my eye… when there are 100 guns, I am not inclined to make it awkward and consume everyone’s time by asking an employee to tell me the prices of every gun.
2. FFL Transfers: Similar to my first point, I like being able to visit a gun shop’s website and know 1) if they accept transfers, 2) stipulations for transfer from individuals, and 3) the cost of the transfer. Some shops do a great job and make all of this information extremely clear, but others do not even mention anything about transfers and others that do transfers often do not list their policy/process/price.
3. FFL Copy: It is annoying when I buy a gun online, but the company/person from whom I am buying the gun does not have my FFL’s license on file. As such, I have to call/email and ask my FFL to provide a copy of their license, which sometimes requires a follow-up because the FFL forgets or send to a wrong email, etc. A practice that I really like is when shops post a transfer copy of their FFL to their website, which enables the sender to obtain the FFL from the recipient FFL’s website of for me to download and provide that license copy to the sender.
4. Websites: While I don’t necessarily think that every gun shop requires a full blown website, I do think in the 21st century that gun shops should have some sort of an online presence in which customers can obtain information such as hours, holiday closings, fees/policies, etc.
5. Handling of Guns: I often buy guns online and then visit my local FFL to conduct the transfer. I have had employees unnecessarily handle my firearms. When I say “unnecessarily,” I mean that the employee touches/plays with the firearm more than is necessary to obtain the information required to complete the transfer. For example, I had one employee tell me, “I was dry firing your gun before you arrived… it’s got a great trigger.” I had an employee at another shop start digging through the my PSA RK-1 case to see what all it came with. I pay gun shops to conduct a transfer… my guns are not there for the employees’ amusement.
I understand that some of the above items might come off as complaints, and that wouldn’t be an inaccurate categorization. However, I hope that my descriptions and feedback are reasonable and might help anyone in the industry to enact some best practices.
The point of this thread is to share some personal accounts and perhaps garner a few laughs or even help anyone on here who sells guns get a feel for what to do/not to do to win favor with customers.
For me, the things that some gun shops/employees do are as follows:
1. Prices: Make your prices know/easy to see. I’ve gone into quite a few gun shops in which prices of the guns were either not displayed, on tags on pistol trigger guards but upside down and under the counter, and/or not readable because they were too far behind the counter. This is even more common with ammo, which could be remedied by placing a sheet of paper with the different ammo available and the prices. I know what most guns and ammo should cost and I often peruse gun shops to see if something catches my eye… when there are 100 guns, I am not inclined to make it awkward and consume everyone’s time by asking an employee to tell me the prices of every gun.
2. FFL Transfers: Similar to my first point, I like being able to visit a gun shop’s website and know 1) if they accept transfers, 2) stipulations for transfer from individuals, and 3) the cost of the transfer. Some shops do a great job and make all of this information extremely clear, but others do not even mention anything about transfers and others that do transfers often do not list their policy/process/price.
3. FFL Copy: It is annoying when I buy a gun online, but the company/person from whom I am buying the gun does not have my FFL’s license on file. As such, I have to call/email and ask my FFL to provide a copy of their license, which sometimes requires a follow-up because the FFL forgets or send to a wrong email, etc. A practice that I really like is when shops post a transfer copy of their FFL to their website, which enables the sender to obtain the FFL from the recipient FFL’s website of for me to download and provide that license copy to the sender.
4. Websites: While I don’t necessarily think that every gun shop requires a full blown website, I do think in the 21st century that gun shops should have some sort of an online presence in which customers can obtain information such as hours, holiday closings, fees/policies, etc.
5. Handling of Guns: I often buy guns online and then visit my local FFL to conduct the transfer. I have had employees unnecessarily handle my firearms. When I say “unnecessarily,” I mean that the employee touches/plays with the firearm more than is necessary to obtain the information required to complete the transfer. For example, I had one employee tell me, “I was dry firing your gun before you arrived… it’s got a great trigger.” I had an employee at another shop start digging through the my PSA RK-1 case to see what all it came with. I pay gun shops to conduct a transfer… my guns are not there for the employees’ amusement.
I understand that some of the above items might come off as complaints, and that wouldn’t be an inaccurate categorization. However, I hope that my descriptions and feedback are reasonable and might help anyone in the industry to enact some best practices.