try having them check ammo prices or get you a box from behind the counter. "up, to the left, no, your other left, down, right in front of you, you got it"

 

That's like ammo shopping at WalMart. At my Rural King, they open the cage and let you choose what you want. In the other Rural King I go to, the rimfire ammo is just out on the shelves.

 

same here

i had the same problem it was a very funny expierence
me: i would like to look at the ruger 10/22
Sales man: wich one
Me: the one rite behind you the semi auto 22, the ruger
Sales man: this one (pointing to marlin)
me :no the one beside it
Sales man: ohh this one (remington)
me : no the ruger 10/22 the one in between the marlin and remington
Sales man: ohh ok it is a nice looking gun

after that it made my girlfriend seem like a gun expert I WAS SCARED WHEN HE STARTED THE PAPERWORK

 

...or get you a box from behind the counter. "up, to the left, no, your other left, down, right in front of you, you got it"

YES!!!

The "hot/cold" game! Been there - done that!

Last weekend I actually was handed a box of .38 rather painlessly, but when I asked for +P, I got "We only have Winchester and Remmington" . I said , "I know, but do you have any +P in stock of either of those?" He said, "I don't think we've ever carried Plusspee brand, but I think I saw some at Gander Mt."
So I gave him a sweet smile that I reserve for Grandmas, babies, and "special" people...and went on my way.

 

Thats funny as hell!! Be thankful he didn't take it into the head and bring it back all dripping wet. Well, sir. You asked for 38 special plus pee. Why? I don't know but the customer is ALWAYS right.

 

Y'all are being kind

Calling most of the people in the Dick's gun department "gun salesmen" is very kind. They can sell you a gun but, in most cases, that's as close as they come to being a "gun salesman". :shakehead I had a similar experience asking if they had a 10/22 when the Dick's was opened on the northside of Indy. "Do you see one?" (Me: "No, that's why I asked") "If you don't see one, we don't have one". True answer and he also avoided saying "I have no idea what you're talking about", which was obvious. The glaring exception is some of the guys in the hunting/fishing department at the Dick's in the Greenwood Mall. There are still 1 or 2 who transferred from Galyan's when that fiasco took place. They are actually shooters and used to call me whenever Galyan's had a gun sale. They are also fishermen. Used to hook me all the time.

DRob

 

I've had just the opposite experience at a place called "CheaperthanDirt" if Fort Worth. There is a salesman there by the name of Robert. I've bought a couple of guns from him that he recommended, and sent friends to see him. When he starts talking and spitting out statistics about different guns, I feel like a complete moron (a feeling I've become accustom to).

The thing different there is that the salemen get a commission on everything that they sell. So when I buy ammo (by the case), I go to him and tell him what I want, he gets it, takes it to the register and gets his commission.

I think the fact that they get a commission motivates them to know more about what they are attempting to sell. However, it is never high pressure i.e. they don't say things like: "tell me what I need to do to sell you this car today".

 

Our two local Dick's have dicks behind the gun counters. If the BC Hot Lips magazines weren't in bright packages marked "BANANA" the poor kid would have never found them for me....even though there was a rack full of them right behind his head! I finally pointed and said, "I'd like a BANANA please". Good monkey, nice monkey, smart monkey.
Now the guys at Both Gander Mountain stores are a lot better. And there the .22 cartridges are on a shelf in an open aisle so you can browse and pick out what you need, then take them to the checkout counter yourself...easy!
Only one Wal-Mart here is worthwhile. It has two guys in the sporting goods department who are knowledgable shooters and collectors. They KNOW guns and they walk you through the paperwork line by line....it's easy there.
Jack

 

My local Dick's has a guy that usually sets there and acts like he's mad because I disturbed his nap time.

At least three times he managed to talk me out of buying a gun there. First time they had the Savage MKII 17Mach2's on sale for $149 or something. I went to buy one...he said the Mach2 was going out of production and ammo would be IMPOSSIBLE to get in a few months. I knew he was full of IT, so I went to Gander Mountain and had them match Dick's sale price.

The other two times I made the mistake of going into Dick's he was there, grumpy, and tried to talk me out of whatever gun I ask to see. I ask for their sale paper and went to Gander Mountain again and had them match the price.

I did buy one gun at Dick's last year and found out that most of the people working there are very anti-gun and have an "attitude" about people buying guns. Screw them!

 

I really don't know why they hire special people or retards however you want to call them, to do gun sales if they have no idea what the hell they are doing, these stores should give them some basic, and I mean just basic training on whats a rifle, a pistol, a revolver, rimfire, centerfire, semi auto, bolt, lever, and just general brands they carry, if I knew that working in my local sporting goods store would match me what I make, I would gladly work as a gun sales person, I would have a log of repeat clients calling them when specials arrive, or when there is an ammo sale stuff like that to get them to come to the store and buy from me. One time I was at Academy and they had a tard behind the gun counter, I just couldn't take all the bad information this customer was getting so I stepped in and advised him about the rifle he wanted to buy, even if the tard gave me a funny look and didn't like it, I only know of 2 employees that work there that know their stuff and only one or two also at walmart.

 

My local Dick's has a guy that usually sets there and acts like he's mad because I disturbed his nap time.

At least three times he managed to talk me out of buying a gun there. First time they had the Savage MKII 17Mach2's on sale for $149 or something. I went to buy one...he said the Mach2 was going out of production and ammo would be IMPOSSIBLE to get in a few months. I knew he was full of IT, so I went to Gander Mountain and had them match Dick's sale price.

The other two times I made the mistake of going into Dick's he was there, grumpy, and tried to talk me out of whatever gun I ask to see. I ask for their sale paper and went to Gander Mountain again and had them match the price.

I did buy one gun at Dick's last year and found out that most of the people working there are very anti-gun and have an "attitude" about people buying guns. Screw them!

Thats the reason I usually shop a gander (although their prices are a little higher then the rest it seems around here) Ammo right out on the shelves and everything, several of the guys behind the counter I see at the range every once in a while too.

 

man i guess im lucky then.

i went into Academy sports just lookin at all the .22-250s they had.
Saw the Remington 700 and liked it.. it had a matte finish and black stock and really good price.
Started talkin to the guy behind the counter, he knew his stuff!
before i knew it we were talkin about Kimber .45s, So then he went to his manager and made several phone calls just tryin to see if they could atleast speical order them... he apoligized to me about it.. i said its ok, because im only price cheking them.

after it was all said and done, i bought the .22-250, weaver rings and mounts, scope.. he put it all on there for me while we were talking, and when he checking the eye relief and crosshairs, he handed it to me to see if i liked it,,
first thing i did was check to see if it was cleared, and saftey on, even though the bolt was not in it. First thing he asked me " Are you in the military?"

Goes on to tell me i was the first one to ever check for a cleared chamber that he has ever seen in the 5 years he worked there. I just looked at him and said..."Second Nature".

It was a good day, he tried to get rebates and any sales he could for me. He help me save $50, and got the Scope for half off.

Now that is my kindof Gun Salesman!

He told me to come back and he can try to get me some ammo with rebates and stuff.

 

nonnieselman:

That's the kind of salesman we all dream about....:t

 

Gun Salemsan at Dick's

Ok, I had to chuckle to myself after going to Dick's <snip>

This must be the same store that mounted the $7 Tasco scope on DW's Marlin 60 - BACKWARDS!

We got to the range and she shoulders it for the first time since it's trip though Dick's and says "Hon - things look FARTHER AWAY!"

Of course, the bright side of all of that is that I got to shoot her gun a bunch sighting the scope in after turning it around.

All the best,
Rob

 

This happened at gander mt but is partly my fault due to lack of knowledge....

Recently purchases a SKS and needed a cleaning kit. Went into gander mt. and realized there were no kits lable "7.62x39" so i figured the hoppes .270/7mm would work. Went to a older guy that was behind the pistols and
"excuse me will these clean a 7.62x39 gun?"
him "what??"
me " I just bought a SKS and wondered if this is considered the same size."
him "Ohh an SKS, Yea that will work."

got home realized it was too small and the proper size would be a .30. Ill make sure to ask all my questions in the store rather than research myself next time..........

 

try having them check ammo prices or get you a box from behind the counter. "up, to the left, no, your other left, down, right in front of you, you got it"

Walmart...Dicks...I suppose you might find a reason or excuse to get that from a minimum wage counter jockey (no offense to minimum wage counter jockies intended ), but this is the same story as the good folks at my local gun shop.

"UP...no...left....the [brand - caliber]...no...down.....between the [other brand] and [third brand]". You would think that they would catch on to the scheme that they arranged by caliber and then by brand within that caliber, especially since they are the ones who put them in that order!

 

i used to think that minimum wage slaves who worked behind counters were complete morons until i became one of them.
imagine your an 18 year old who never has even held a gun applies to stock shelves and suddenly your stuck behind a counter being talked to like your an idiot, when in fact you had no choice in the matter.
sure they need to be trained properly, but remember, no one here came out of the womb knowing the ballistic coefficency of a 22 lr compared to a 50 bmg.(don't ask i don't know, i'm not sure if i know what that means).
sometimes being jammed behind the counter is the only way that some stores(walmart) train there employees.
and could you imagine having old guys, all day, that automatically thinks your stupid, treat you like dirt because you might not be able to find a box of 38sp.+p, when its next to 20 other boxes of 38 ammo.
empathy people.
and yes i still think they're morons.
if someone is always rude, that is unacceptable

 

I was in Dick's today picking up some odds and ends, there was actualy a sales guy in the gun section who knew what he had in stock and was helpful.

Of course the fact that he was present was even more amazing.

Many is the time i've spent 10 minutes vainly looking around for a any employee at all before getting annoyed and getting the ammo out from behind the counter myself and taking it up front.
----
btw i agree with Shelby's comments...a LOT of kids today couldnt tell you the difference between a rifle and a shotgun. Literaly no idea at all. Often the only time they see firearms is on TV, much of which is hilariously wrong.

Blame rather the store for putting them there, I like to think im a pretty smart guy, but i bet i would be pretty clueless (and grumpy) if i worked at Walmart and they dumped me in the fabric section for example. "what color is mauve anyway?"

 

-----

 

When I buy my ammo at Dick's, I have to wait for the salesman to be free enough to carry it to the check out in the front of the store so that I can pay for it. There is no register at the gun/ammo counter and I guess they don't trust us to pay for it. Or maybe they think we're carrying and are going to shoot up the store.
Does anyone else have to go through this?

 

Yeah i like dealing with places that sales firearms and they dont know the difference in rifles or shotguns. Dick's is the worse. They put in a gander mt 1st around here. They have a good staff of people but takes half hour to get waited on it seems like. I usually buy guns from a friend that owns a shop he knows anything you'd need to know about firearms and so forth and they carry a decent amount. Around here good gun shops and gunsmiths are few and far between. Thats why i do my own work lol


Scott

 

What we all need to purchase is one of those laser pointers and use it to point to the ammo and firearms we want to look at at these stores that don't know anything about what we are trying to buy.

 

Woohoo! Got one for Christmas! :bthumb:

 

When I was looking for a new shotgun this fall, I went to both Dick's and Gander Mountain to peruse:

The salesman at Dick's was wonderful, knew everything about the guns, had an actual interest in the items he was selling.

The salesman at Gander Mountain was horrible, had no interest in shotguns, he couldn't even tell the difference between a 12 gauge and a 20 gauge. In the end, they didn't even have the gun that I wanted, so I moved on. If he had shown more interest and actual work ethic, I would have dropped $1200 there and then.


Now, when it came to my 10/22, I went to the Gander Mountain in Duluth, MN and talked to salesman who, I think, might have had more interest in the items that he was selling. Very nice, very straightforward, and actually seemed like he enjoyed his job.

I know that these are individual experiences, but when I worked minimum wage, or right above it, I always worked hard and tried to have an interest in what I was doing. :coco: :bonk:

- Jordan

 

What we all need to purchase is one of those laser pointers and use it to point to the ammo and firearms we want to look at at these stores that don't know anything about what we are trying to buy.

That's one of the best ideas I've heard in awhile. I have one of those laser pointers that looks like a ball point pen, clips to a shirt pocket. I think it would be hilarious to whip it out next time I'm in Wally World to point out what I want. (Not to mention I've sighted two rifles with it.)

On a better note, my local gun shop (which is rather on the big side) hires only guys that hunt or have been in the firearms business. I've bought three guns from them (one just this morning) because I know three things before I even walk in the store.
1.) They'll know exactly what I'm talking about.
2.) They'll have it in stock.
3.) All new guns come with a 3 year warranty, no matter the brand and no
questions asked.

That is my idea of a great store. Even a forth (4th) thing and that is when you buy they'll help you pick out the best ammo for the gun for what you'll be doing with it. And they always have tons of ammo on site. It's incredible, you ask and they'll have it. (They even have 4 of those 50 caliber rifles in stock, man I'd love to have one of those. Just can't afford the 4 grand...)

 

Not having a Dick's anywhere nearby to shop at, I can joke about this... lol..Why would anybody shop at a place called "Dick's"? Wouldn't the name give you a clue about the people there?

 

That's one of the best ideas I've heard in awhile. I have one of those laser pointers that looks like a ball point pen, clips to a shirt pocket. I think it would be hilarious to whip it out next time I'm in Wally World to point out what I want. (Not to mention I've sighted two rifles with it.)

That really *is* a great idea!