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I get the sense that there may be considerable variability depending on location. The one in Lake Forest closest to me is staffed up well, and with professional employees who are pleasant to work with. The bottleneck with firearm purchases is oftentimes on my end filling out the 4473, and I don't think I've ever taken more than 10-15 minutes completing a purchase. In recent memory, I don't think I've ever waited more than a few minutes to get service, even during the peak lunchtime hour.
The pricing is a bit higher than what I could probably get at a smaller store, but the PITA factor of the other places doesn't really make it worth my while to go to there. When I wanted something specific and ask for it to be ordered in, it was a crapshoot whether I'll even get a call back. They take forever and multiple follow-ups to get any information one way or the other, and they're usually crowded with a bunch of looky-loos and tire-kickers asking a million and one questions or talking about how much of an operator they are. I'm sure this goes on to a certain extent at Turner's too, but the main difference is that these smaller stores have one, maybe two or three employees who have to entertain these jackwagons instead of the ~8, 9 on staff that my local turners seem to have around most of the time. Even the next best local retailer, RifleGear, has such a long wait time if you're going in without an appointment, that I only go there for specific reasons and only with an appointment. Even with an appointment, I end up waiting longer than I would at Turner's without an appointment.
During the pandemic all of these issues were exacerbated so it may be that the situation has improved. But my experience during that time, and even a little bit after it, turned me off so much that I haven't gone back.
As others have mentioned, Turner's has a lot of inventory in stock, and I like the fact that I'm no more than a couple of days for something that has to be shipped in from a different store. This is contrasted from the weeks it would take to get even a stupid .22 bolt action in at these smaller shops.
In and of themselves, these individual gripes aren't that big a deal. But they add up and make gun-buying more of a PITA that it has to be. I'll pay a slight premium to avoid this, and especially when Turner's has what I'm looking for in stock, I'll just go with that instead of trying to price-shop. I've seen much worse pricing at the Stockade/Fowler Gun Room.
The pricing is a bit higher than what I could probably get at a smaller store, but the PITA factor of the other places doesn't really make it worth my while to go to there. When I wanted something specific and ask for it to be ordered in, it was a crapshoot whether I'll even get a call back. They take forever and multiple follow-ups to get any information one way or the other, and they're usually crowded with a bunch of looky-loos and tire-kickers asking a million and one questions or talking about how much of an operator they are. I'm sure this goes on to a certain extent at Turner's too, but the main difference is that these smaller stores have one, maybe two or three employees who have to entertain these jackwagons instead of the ~8, 9 on staff that my local turners seem to have around most of the time. Even the next best local retailer, RifleGear, has such a long wait time if you're going in without an appointment, that I only go there for specific reasons and only with an appointment. Even with an appointment, I end up waiting longer than I would at Turner's without an appointment.
During the pandemic all of these issues were exacerbated so it may be that the situation has improved. But my experience during that time, and even a little bit after it, turned me off so much that I haven't gone back.
As others have mentioned, Turner's has a lot of inventory in stock, and I like the fact that I'm no more than a couple of days for something that has to be shipped in from a different store. This is contrasted from the weeks it would take to get even a stupid .22 bolt action in at these smaller shops.
In and of themselves, these individual gripes aren't that big a deal. But they add up and make gun-buying more of a PITA that it has to be. I'll pay a slight premium to avoid this, and especially when Turner's has what I'm looking for in stock, I'll just go with that instead of trying to price-shop. I've seen much worse pricing at the Stockade/Fowler Gun Room.
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