Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

If this has been covered adequately already, apologies...

While I absolutely advocate supporting your local gun shop, some of us don't have one in convenient proximity or worse, the one closest by has terrible service. Latter being the case here, a pimply-faced gun shop hero refused to sell my wife a gun before Christmas because he considered (as he explained it to me so eloquently by phone) that the likelihood that the purchase could be a gift = straw purchase. And the thing is, he was exceedingly rude about it.

So I found what I was looking for at MidwestHuntersOutlet.com. Located a very friendly FFL nearby who charges $15 out of his house unlike a lot of places trying to make money off the transfer. A few clicks, a call that it was delivered, and a trip to meet my FFL. We spent 10 minutes on the formalities and another 50 or so just talking about guns like two men can.

Baffling that with the Internet availability, a gun shop wouldn't go out of its way to legitimately move inventory and cultivate good word of mouth to keep folks coming back.

derek141 wrote:Baffling that with the Internet availability, a gun shop wouldn't go out of its way to legitimately move inventory and cultivate good word of mouth to keep folks coming back.

Doing transfers isn't moving your inventory, it's moving someone else's inventory. Of course, the guy at the shop who refused to sell his own inventory deserved a trip to the woodshed from his boss (and I hope you let managament know, otherwise there's no way for them to take corrective action). It's a sad reality that there are a lot of dealers in the gun business who probably shouldn't be, the biz attracts some very odd ducks who wouldn't know customer service if it butt-stroked them with a Garand.

By the same token, if you ever spend some time on the other side of the counter, you'll quickly learn the depressing fact that there are lots of really, really stupid customers out there, and that they outnumber the really stupid dealers only because there are a lot more customers than dealers.

Diomed wrote:

derek141 wrote:Baffling that with the Internet availability, a gun shop wouldn't go out of its way to legitimately move inventory and cultivate good word of mouth to keep folks coming back.

Doing transfers isn't moving your inventory, it's moving someone else's inventory. Of course, the guy at the shop who refused to sell his own inventory deserved a trip to the woodshed from his boss (and I hope you let managament know, otherwise there's no way for them to take corrective action). It's a sad reality that there are a lot of dealers in the gun business who probably shouldn't be, the biz attracts some very odd ducks who wouldn't know customer service if it butt-stroked them with a Garand.

By the same token, if you ever spend some time on the other side of the counter, you'll quickly learn the depressing fact that there are lots of really, really stupid customers out there, and that they outnumber the really stupid dealers only because there are a lot more customers than dealers.

Yep, that's what I meant- they have overhead, so they need to move inventory out of their own shelves, which was what they were being given the opportunity to do. I understand that it makes no sense for a gun shop to transfer, as it undercuts their own business. But, with their mistake came a brilliant lesson to me in the ease of buying a gun at the click of a mouse. Liberating! Just the first of many to come!

To the extent possible, I did inform the senior owner; however, the offending sales rep was the snot nose heir to the business (not the guy who built it from the ground up), so I doubt I got much traction. Who knows. I know I will never spend a nickel in there again.

A friend of mine had to burst this kid's bubble when the latter was telling him all about how to make his precision .308 loads... my buddy had enough and just told him, dude. I was on a sniper team in Iraq. I think I have this figured out, thanks.

derek141 wrote:To the extent possible, I did inform the senior owner; however, the offending sales rep was the snot nose heir to the business (not the guy who built it from the ground up), so I doubt I got much traction. Who knows. I know I will never spend a nickel in there again.

Important business lesson...

A happy customer tells his friends.
An unhappy customer tells anyone who will listen.

And in this day of the internet that unhappy person continues to tell people for years, or perhaps decades to come... because these forum posts tend to never go away.

jdonovan wrote:

derek141 wrote:To the extent possible, I did inform the senior owner; however, the offending sales rep was the snot nose heir to the business (not the guy who built it from the ground up), so I doubt I got much traction. Who knows. I know I will never spend a nickel in there again.

Important business lesson...

A happy customer tells his friends.
An unhappy customer tells anyone who will listen.

And in this day of the internet that unhappy person continues to tell people for years, or perhaps decades to come... because these forum posts tend to never go away.

Very true wisdom!

derek141 wrote:A friend of mine had to burst this kid's bubble when the latter was telling him all about how to make his precision .308 loads... my buddy had enough and just told him, dude. I was on a sniper team in Iraq. I think I have this figured out, thanks.

You can't buy that kind of entertainment.

[quote="skeeterss0
I'm a firm believer in capitalism and agree with the above post. I didn't see a mention of the business's name. did I miss it or was it intentionally left off? I think the power of the dollar should support businesses that provide good customer service. Those that don't should suffer.[/quote]

Yeah, I left names out intentionally, and appreciate your interest. But suffice it to say, you would know the offending behavior when you see it, like, a mile away. And thank you for your service.