In response to GunMart’s recent opinion piece titled “There is No Such Thing as a Bad Gun Customer“
By Roy Huntington
San Diego, Calif. –(Ammoland.com)- Eric ~ Thanks for your comments. While I understand what you’re saying about the responsibilities of gun store owners to cater to customers’ needs, there is another side to the story.
As the editor of American Handgunner, I find many of my readers are very new to the industry.
As such, they don’t always understand the gun culture, bring loaded guns into gun stores, haven’t put any thought into the questions they want or need to ask, and frankly, are often simply afraid to go into a gun store, often due to the rude reception they’ve gotten in the past.
As someone who has worked behind the counter of several gun stores, I am as tired of the gun store commandos behind the counters as the rest of us, but I got quickly tired of the know-it-all customers to brought loaded guns into the stores (four times in one day was the record), customers who talked my customers out of buying guns and accessories or otherwise wasted our time as we tried to help paying customers.
Yes, there are stupid questions, the customer is not always right and gun store owners are often their own worse enemies.
And, just as you should know what your needs are when you take your car to your mechanic and understand their own challenges in running their business, the same applies to any business, including your visit to a gun store. Not every small family-owned gun store can afford to hire more people in today’s economy. Being understanding of the daily grind of being in business — any business — is part of getting good service. If you’re a jerk, you’ll likely storm out saying what crappy service you got. But if you’re a “good customer’” (can you say, “polite, patient, etc.?) I’ll bet any business will bend over backwards to be helpful.
In today’s world where a sense of entitlement seems to be rampant, a lesson in good manners and how to apply them is always in order.
We’ll be doing a “How to deliver good service to your clients” video down the road. Will dealers cry foul when we ask them to be patient with new buyers, stock a broad cross-section of merchandise and handle guns safely?
We’ll see, won’t we? I welcome any comments at editor@americanhandgunner.com
Roy HuntingtonEditor, American Handgunner Magazine
