Antioch Armory must hate customers.

[GTKTony]

Tried to give Antioch Armory a second chance, but of course they blew it!
Went in there with cash to purchase a Springfield Armory XD .40 sub-compact. Antioch Armory had it for $555. I went in there and stood at the counter, while one employee was on the store cordless phone at the front counter with his feet up not 8 feet from me. Looking straight at me and then continuing on with his personal conversation! He didn't acknowledge me at all, just kept talking. Another employee was helping a customer with a shotgun and the two other employees were in the window in the back office. A female customer walked in and stood next to me with a gun case. The employee on the phone kept talking and ignoring us. After a few minutes the other customer started laughing at how rude the employee was for not saying "I or someone will be right with you". When the shotgun customer was done the other employee finally came over. I asked him if he could sell me the .40 for $545. That is the price Diablo Valley Gun Works was selling it for. The employee went to ask the owner, but as he was waiting the rude phone employee walked up and bumped him and shook his head no. He walked back and told me they couldn't, so I left pledging I will not support Antioch Armory EVER AGAIN! I went out to Diablo Valley Gun Works and purchased it there. They are nice and friendly and greet you with a warm welcome. If you ever go to Antioch Armory and even see a hint of thier arrogance, just remember that you had been warned!

[alex00]

I would have walked way before they told me they couldn't sell the gun for that price. When I worked in retail I was always told that the customer in the store takes priority over the one on the phone. It's even worse if he actually was on a personal call. Glad you found a store that gave you better service.

[Rob454]

I woudl of walked out WAY WAY before the gun purchase even came to a offer. IF you cant even give me the courtesy of a hello ill be right with you I guess you must be independently wealthy and you sure as hell dont need my measly 550$ to keep your store open or food on the table.

[xlimey]

Sorry to hear about your experience at Antioch Armory. I ran retail businesses for almost 30 years and know that it can get busy behind a retail counter but there is absolutely NO excuse for failing to acknowledge the presence of a customer - and letting them know that their visit is appreciated - and that someone will be with them ASAP. I see it all the time in many different types of business - the underlying reasons may be lack of good manners, poor business smarts, wife/GF put them in a bad mood - any one of a number of reasons - all of which are unacceptable in a crappy economy when a business should be delighted that they have the opportunity to make a sale.

My own retail staff were always reminded "You never get a second chance to make a first impression!"

Words to live (or die) by in business - in any economy.

That said, I live in Contra Costa County and have bought 3 handguns and a rifle from Antioch Armory in the last 18 months. I have not received the treatment you describe there - although I must admit to receiving the "cold shoulder" at your other LGS - Diablo Valley Gun Works. On the occasion of my visit the counter help were all busy - but they ALL also failed to even acknowledge my presence. I have since spent a few grand at Antioch Armory - go figure...

The failure of Antioch Armory to price match an XD for the sake of $10 seems beyond silly - particularly if you had already pointed out that you had been ignored and would STILL like to spend $545...

Sound like you had already had an unsatisfactory experience there before - I can only say that it has not been my experience. I have also always been able to work out a deal with the guys in Antioch - sorry that your experience went so poorly in this instance.

[cdtx2001]

Next time you see a situation like that, very loudly ask "EXCUSE ME, AM I INVISIBLE???"

[dixieD]

Unfortunately your experience at AA is the norm. I've purchased three firearms and a safe from them, and still receive this BS. At the risk of outing myself the last straw came when I attempted to purchase 500 rounds of 223. They have the 500 rds packaged and sealed, and clearly labeled. I picked up the box on top and went to pay. Midway through the transaction the owner comes out, agitated, and says the box is full with 1000 rds despite the labeling. I didn't know. I bought the 500 at the listed price, but was ribbed by the staff and a customer for trying to pull a fast one. Well I left for good.

My suggestion is J&R at Livermore. They are standup people.

[Cyc Wid It]

the underlying reasons may be lack of good manners, poor business smarts

These days, I think it's mostly lack of good manners which can be attributed to poor parenting (and I'm in my 20's).

[BigDogatPlay]

Unfortunately your experience at AA is the norm. I've purchased three firearms and a safe from them, and still receive this BS. At the risk of outing myself the last straw came when I attempted to purchase 500 rounds of 223. They have the 500 rds packaged and sealed, and clearly labeled. I picked up the box on top and went to pay. Midway through the transaction the owner comes out, agitated, and says the box is full with 1000 rds despite the labeling. I didn't know. I bought the 500 at the listed price, but was ribbed by the staff and a customer for trying to pull a fast one. Well I left for good.

The owner has a real problem. Doesn't matter what the round count is or if he and his staff "made a mistake". The price tag dictates what the price is and he has to honor it. End of story. I got a watch one time for about half price because the store had it mismarked. An employee tried to hose me, asked for a manager and that person said, too bad for us, got to sell it for the marked price. And as I was leaving the manager was reaming the employee whose counter it was to go back through the case and verify every tag against the price book.

Your county weights and measures office, typically, will investigate merchants who refuse to honor the price tag.

[Vacaville]

The phone call thing seems to be pretty common at gun shops lately. Recently I've waited patiently for service while two different sales guys at two different shops talked on the phone for 10+ minutes. One shop I put back my stuff I was buying and left, the other I was stuck because I was picking up a PPT. Sure makes me not want to go back. Unfortunately most gun shop employees don't seem to be hired for their customer service skills.

[warbird]

As laws was get more restrictive and gun shops feel they have you by the short hairs because you have to go through them for anything including ammo after this year expect some bad service. The loss of the internet was a big loss for us. It gave the gun shops a lock on us and no reason to treat us farily or nicely. Spread the word on the bad ones and promote the good ones. Every store is going to screw up once in a while or have a customer no one can please. I don't consider one bad expereince or one good one as grounds for making a judgement but that second time in to the store had better be a good one or I will ding the shop by refusing to spend my money there ever again. One unhappy customer talking about your shop can cost you between 10 to 100 future sales and that is a lot of money.In the future with the laws shaping up like they are in california I think you are going to find some gun shops to be as bad as the politicians in sacramento. Gun ownership is going to become an elitist issue and that is wrong. I think a possibly good counter measure might be for gun owners in an area to get together even on Calguns and list the area shops say in a county and those gun owners from that county rate them and publish that rating. Let the pressure of one of them being rated the worst work for you in changing their attitude.

[paul0660]

The loss of the internet was a big loss for us.

Mine is working fine. Wiggle the cord.

[bruceflinch]

So the OP made his first post to rant about a Vendor.
Good Start!

[jeffyboy]

You should have done a little more research first. There are a lot of bay area shops that treat you great and those are the shops that deserves our support

[TRICKSTER]

Antioch Armory was a friendlier place when it was at it's little hole in the wall location and had the Great Dane greeting everyone that came in. That dog inspired me to get a Great Dane for myself.

[bruceflinch]

Antioch Armory was a friendlier place when it was at it's little hole in the wall location and had the Great Dane greeting everyone that came in. That dog inspired me to get a Great Dane for myself.

The original owner, Ron. He was a good guy, no BS. Loved his little doggy, too!

Alan is a pretty good guy, IMO. The guy can't do everything. Sounds like some of his help could use some training.