Antioch Armory must hate customers.

[GunLover]

A bitter taste can be left in a customers mouth due to one jerk sales person. That one effects the whole store. I think some of these stores should have CS training classes.

[PaintItBlack]

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.

Sorry to stray off topic but there is no law requiring a store to sell something at its marked price. I worked in a retail store years ago and people would try and switch labels or tags and try to get a 100$ item for 25$ then pretend to be lawyers and say "by law you gotta" my manager would laugh at them and say either pay the full price or leave.

[joedogboy]

Sorry to stray off topic but there is no law requiring a store to sell something at its marked price. I worked in a retail store years ago and people would try and switch labels or tags and try to get a 100$ item for 25$ then pretend to be lawyers and say "by law you gotta" my manager would laugh at them and say either pay the full price or leave.

I've known retailers whose response to people trying to "negotiate a better price" was simply to raise the asking price for that customer.

fx
"I see you have that 9mm for $450. Would you take $400 for it?"
"This one? Naw, couldn't let it go for less that $475 if we're negotiating. There's a $25 labor charge for negotiating. You sure you wanna negotiate, or will the list price work for you?"

[offdeez]

Back to the topic AA does suck. I hate shops that have large dogs in them walking around, and AA has one. Why do they need the dog? All their employees are armed, the prices are too high and the service is sub par. It's the only gig in town, so I guess they feel like customer service is an option. Guess what, in my book, it's not!

[joedogboy]

AA has a certain "vibe". It seems to work for them, but isn't everybody's cup of tea.

[Lazy eye]

Maybe you should actually read the posts before commenting. As for your suggestion that I leave, I will respond with the classic "make me". I have done nothing wrong, just suggested that it is well within a businesses rights to stand by their listed price.

Oh, don't worry, I read the post. I've also read where YOU are the only person claiming this was haggling. I never it wasn't in the business' rights to stand by their listed price, just as it's within the customer's rights to take their money elsewhere. It's also your right to be the only one saying he was haggling, and it's my right to say you're wrong. And since this is never gonna go anywhere, let's just enjoy our right to sit smugly in front of our keyboards and think to ourselves what an idiot that other guy is.

[BillCA]

Sorry to stray off topic but there is no law requiring a store to sell something at its marked price. I worked in a retail store years ago and people would try and switch labels or tags and try to get a 100$ item for 25$ then pretend to be lawyers and say "by law you gotta" my manager would laugh at them and say either pay the full price or leave.

only item so marked. The same thing applies to merchandise that has been replaced on a wrong peg or shelf space.

If you put a sign up that says Cavim .308 Nato ammo $7.99 20-rds then a box of Cavim 5.56mm or .30-06 does not need to be sold at that price. (If you omit the caliber, then the presumption would be all Cavim ammo is the same price).

[Rigma]

I have experience in both sales and sales training. Making a comment while storming out does NOTHING. It is usually dismissed if even noticed, or is completely ignored.

Complaining on CalGuns or to any unrelated party has a very minimal effect. To cause a change in behavior takes a more direct, and often fruitless approach.

In the situation described I would have walked over to the "customer service rep." listened and remembered a bit of the conversation, and if it was unrelated to his job...I would have interrupted and:

a.) asked politely for service
b.) asked for him to kindly GET someone to help me
c.) if the situation is grievous enough tell him to get the manager or his immediate supervisor. Then discuss with that individual how it is unacceptable to leave cusomers standing there while this employee takes a personal phone call and talks about (insert topic here).

90% of the time it will get an apology and service. 60% of the time it will change behavior (although sometimes only temporarily), 10% of the time it will change POLICY, and 1-2% of the time they will tell you to shove it.

You just have to then make your own decision based on response.

[ZX-10R]

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).

You are a good man for saying that. Yes, some of this is through stupid parents.

[ZX-10R]

I do the same. I live in Antioch, but tell everyone about J&R in Livermore. AA hasn't given me the service I want, so I go elsewhere.

J&R is open on Sundays too, which is a big plus for me.

That is good to know when I am on way back from the Castro Valley back to Irvine...I usually leave Sunday.

[joedogboy]

Oh, don't worry, I read the post. I've also read where YOU are the only person claiming this was haggling. I never it wasn't in the business' rights to stand by their listed price, just as it's within the customer's rights to take their money elsewhere. It's also your right to be the only one saying he was haggling, and it's my right to say you're wrong. And since this is never gonna go anywhere, let's just enjoy our right to sit smugly in front of our keyboards and think to ourselves what an idiot that other guy is.

Because "haggling" is somehow wrong, but doing things that match the definition of haggling (even one that you provided, btw), but are called something else, is totally different? I didn't realize that the word had such a negative connotation - when I go (as a buyer or seller) to a swap meet, garage sale, bazaar, or car lot, I plan to haggle a bit, because it's an accepted part of that type of shopping experience.

My point is that the OP had two complaints.
1) The guy on the phone made eye contact with him (which acknowledged his presence), but didn't drop everything else to serve him.
This is slow/poor customer service, since the shopper felt ignored.

2) He tried to negotiate a lower price on a gun, and the shop wouldn't lower the price for him.
This is not a customer service issue at all, and is just a standard business practice - the seller sets a price, the buyer accepts the price or chooses to take their business elsewhere.

However, the OP decided that the failure to lower the price for him was so outrageously offensive that he left the store angry and vowed never to shop there again. He wasn't nearly as angry about the slow/poor service as the shop not lowering a price for him. The slow/poor service isn't what made him leave. The slow/poor service isn't what made him vow to never shop there again.

If the OP had said that he got slow/poor service, and felt neglected and ignored, he would have had much more sympathy from me - as I expressed in my first post to the thread. However, this was not the case. The OP's main complaint - the thing that made him pledge to never "support" the shop "EVER AGAIN" was that they wouldn't lower a price when he demanded it - and that is ridiculous.

More ridiculous is the fact that others have jumped in, because I somehow questioned their "right" to dictate price to the seller and badmouth any seller who doesn't lower prices when asked.
I have said - and have been consistent in this - that of course they can ask for a better price, or for the seller to throw something in to "sweeten the deal", BUT that there's nothing wrong with the seller refusing to "wheel and deal" with them.

[joedogboy]

Back to the topic AA does suck. I hate shops that have large dogs in them walking around, and AA has one. Why do they need the dog? All their employees are armed, the prices are too high and the service is sub par. It's the only gig in town, so I guess they feel like customer service is an option. Guess what, in my book, it's not!

A dog is more frightening to some criminals than a gun, because a gun is an option of last resort, and people are a lot easier to BS than dogs.

As I said, the shop has a certain vibe (much of which I think is intentional), which turns some people off, but that other people are comfortable with, or at least willing to overlook.

I think that the dogs are more to keep out the casual shoppers/non-customers than anything else (unless they remain there at night as part of the security plan).

The store is pretty much a hole-in-the wall, has lots of random crap/junk in the front, has big "ghetto" dogs roaming around, doesn't have a lot of attractive product displays, isn't really organized/merchandised well, and has "hit and miss" customer service, depending on who you are dealing with (different staff members seem to work better with different customer types - I do best with the crusty old vet, but I'm also a crusty old vet), but it does have decent prices, a decent selection of long guns, handguns, and ammo, and does carry reloading supplies and gear. An additional feature, for me, is that it is within 15 road miles of my house.

[NotEnoughGuns]

I never had a bad experience there and I understand why they have the dogs. The prices seemed fair last time I was there(5 years ago). But I think not taking off $10 for a serious buyer was a bad business decision. A.A. will never make a dime off the OP ever again. Dumb.

[PaintItBlack]

OK I get the labeling, Advertising issues but I don't see anywhere where it say the retail store has to sell you anything.

Also having this posted helps.
"We Have The Right to Refuse Service to Anyone"

[DaveInOroValley]

This is an unfortunate fact in so many businesses now. Home Depot was one that came under such scrutiny that they did implement a company wide customer service training program.

I'm starting to believe that there is a need for customer care consultants on a large scale. It's all too often that wew are being treated as nuisances rather then cash paying customers. Personally I speak with my wallet.