Why i'll never give gander mntn another dime ever... a rant

[ttousi]

**** the goose...........told by one employee......."glock doesn't have a warranty" But that's another story

[Stradawhovious]

My favorite is still the $449 used Hi-Point fohtay.

Still there at the Lakeville store as of Tuesday.

[Squib Joe]

Speaking of Gander Mountain, I just picked up a real nice Ruger target rifle from the Blaine location. The manager was a in a bad mood because of a bad interaction with a previous customer, so I used a little haggling trick I learned in Mexico. I slipped him a couple of twentys on the side and he knocked 30 bucks off the price.

F gander Mountain. Nothing feels better than sticking it to the man!

[Shipyard]

Speaking of Gander Mountain, I just picked up a real nice Ruger target rifle from the Blaine location. The manager was a in a bad mood because of a bad interaction with a previous customer, so I used a little haggling trick I learned in Mexico. I slipped him a couple of twentys on the side and he knocked 30 bucks off the price.

F gander Mountain. Nothing feels better than sticking it to the man!

i love it

[Thunder71]

Their prices aren't that out of line down here in Rochester I guess... plus they openly support our 2A rights with a huge sign as you walk in.

[Pezhead]

My favorite is still the $449 used Hi-Point fohtay.

Still there at the Lakeville store as of Tuesday.

maybe they put the decimel point in the wrong spot.

[Shipyard]

I guess i don't get the outrage. If you don't want to go there, don't. If you think the prices are too high, don't pay them. If you don't think the staff is smart, don't talk to them. Not sure why there is such animosity for this particular retailer..............

Save the blood pressure and quit expecting something you aren't going to get.

I personally won't get gas at Holiday anymore, the guy wouldn't knock off the taxes for me to make the gas $3/gal - what a rip off.............sheesh

We'll use Shipyards example and this is not intended to be just directed at ShipYard, the entire rant goes to all you guys who pile on Gander Mountain everytime someone says they have bad deals and too expensive.

You say $20 isn't a big deal, than pay it or don't................its Your choice to pay it and there's for not giving up on it. If I want to sell my car, I can sell it at whatever price I want - doesn't matter that you don't think its worth it - I would encourage you to not buy it and move on, not stand there and sweat me about the price I chose. Same concept for the For Sale section of this Forum - too high on the price? then you'll know if no one steps up. They bought the rifle and if they think they can sell if for the price marked, then why on earth would they discount it to sell it to you. What is so special about putting a smile on YOUR face - except that it is YOUR face and you want the smile - what do they get, nothing. If they actually gave in and did the deal, would you have published a full page on how great the transaction was? My guess is NO. Maybe a couple of lines with some sarcastic cracks about how you finally got an OK deal on a crappy rifle that should have had a better trigger and better glass and they should have given it to you for half the price...............

Now if they ripped the money out of your hand and pushed you out the door with the rifle and you had nothing to say about it.........then you have a bitch..........

Everyone gets it.......................the world owes you a deal. Your the Bright Shiny Penny that the world owes the deal to - you mother told you how special you were and you never forgot it.

I guess I am not too sypmathetic when people keep putting themselves in the same situation - with all the warning signs going off all around them - and somehow expect the clouds to part and the Hand of God to bless the situation with an outcome that just happens to favor them and not the other side of the transaction. An outcome that has not come about in the last X number of previous situations. You can fart all day long and I bet none of them will ever smell like roses. Fantasy world is what we call that if you want to live in that world Get a unicorn in your avatar................

I get all my used socks off of Craigslist - looking for a team to back me up on the next purchase. I for sure need an overwatch guy with a tricked out bull barrel 10-22.......that only cost $300 out the door..................not a penny more because the mount is crooked.................don't tell me it ain't

I'm starting to see Justa's point of view.

That's my rant. Take it personally if you want, not meant to be just using the situation at hand to illustrate a point.

no personal venom taken. again - i feel a few are missing the point. i'm not pissed that i couldn't get the rifle $21 cheaper - i could care less about the jackson. but don't be really rude at me and then expect me to smile.

and you know what? if i HAD gotten the rifle for $300 even i WOULD have come back here and said "hey guys, here's the exception to the rule - check out the Blane store they get it". it was more than my intent with my visit to see what the deal was in trying to buy a gun from them. i'm pissed that everytime i deal with the store i see really unwarranted bad service from a retailer that seems to think they're the shizznat.

not expecting unicorns, not expecting the hand of god to come out of the heavens and bless me to meet my whims and desires. it's not like i had asked for it for $200 out the door. i also didn't ask to get scoffed at when i pointed out the scope was off cant or that i wanted to upgrade the scope.

customer service is NOT the art of giving people what they want no matter how rediculous. it's the art of treating the customer with respect and building relationships with your buying public. if i'm selling a car, and someone asks for $1000 off the price, i sure don't have to just do it to make them happy - that's poor business. but i sure as hell don't have to treat them like dirt during the negotiation.

synopsis - lots of prople have bad personal experiences with the store. i decided to try my hand. i got the same heartburn.

end result - i won't shop there.

you take it for what it's worth to you.

[Thunder71]

If that is true, why even offer to buy it?

According to your story, all of the things that offended you happened before you decided to make an offer on it... at that point you were further offended that they didn't agree to your offer.

I don't know about you guys, but if I go to a used car dealership and get a bad feeling, I walk - I don't care what is on the lot. I don't stand there and argue with them only to make an offer anyway. I show them how I feel by leaving and not making a purchase, not by acting like it was OK to be a prick by saying fine, I'll buy it but for this much off the sticker.

We weren't there so we obviously can't sense the employees attitude, from your post it sounds like you're crying because you didn't get your way.

That's all.

[Shipyard]

If that is true, why even offer to buy it?

According to your story, all of the things that offended you happened before you decided to make an offer on it... at that point you were further offended that they didn't agree to your offer.

then you need to read the story again.

We weren't there so we obviously can't sense the employees attitude, from your post it sounds like you're crying because you didn't get your way.

That's all

this is the internet - you get what you pay for.

i walk on plenty of things i want becuase the price isn't right. wants are strange creatures like that. i cry when i'm treated poorly by retailers. i've got several rants to the same effect around here.

and feel more than free to spend your money there to make up for them missing out on my dime. free country.

i don't "deserve" a deal. i do however, deserve respect fromt he persons whom i may be giving business to. if you're not going to be nice, i'll take my ball and go home. which is precicely what i did.

in the end, it's really just SAD that there is a locally owned outfitter with great selection and decent prodcuts that chooses to conduct itself in a manner of business where a ton of prople don't want to set foot on their property. it's a shame reeally and i feel sorry for 'em. the world sucks some days

[Shipyard]

also, how much stuff can you hang off of a 10 amp breaker??

[Thunder71]

then you need to read the story again.

I did, everything but the question regarding if they will warranty problems for you was before your offer. Snotty and pushy, in your opinion... but you still continued with negotiations. I think you wanted that bad boy... enough to put up with rude salespeople.

If it was $21 less to begin with, would have have bought it?

So I bust out my line – “tell you what, if I can get it for three out the door you got a deal”. And as if on cue like a line out of the pimply faced teenager on the Simpsons, “I’ll have to ask my manager…”

So now the MANAGER comes over and gets involved. He looks at the computer for a bit and says you know, we really can’t budge on this one. “it’s only been in the store for 10 days”… yeah, so? And that’s when the conversation started to go downhill… to paraphrase:

Manager: we can’t lower the price, but if you want to open a gander mountain charge card I can give you 5% off

Me: well, i don’t want another credit card. How about just $15 off the price then?

Manager: I can’t lower the price.

Me: but you just offered me 5% off, ok whatever. How about $15 in ammo? (which, at their prices is like $8 worth of ammo…)

Manager: no, I can’t do that either. You know, this is a good gun, it’s a solid gun – high quality. It comes with a clip and everything!!! I can’t lower the price because this gun will sell. It’s only been here 10 days and I know someone will buy this gun.

me: how do you know it's quality? it's obviously a build. do you warranty used guns if i have a problem?

manager: oh yeah - we have a GUNSMITH who works here (all snotty and pushy about it...)

Me (so pissed I almost can’t see straight…): OK, fine. but we’re talking about $21 here. I realize that isn’t a whole lot of money, but you can’t give me this for $300 out the door so that I can at least feel GOOD about my purchase here today?

Manager: no sir, I’m sorry but this gun will sell. I can’t lower the price.

Me: I’ll think about it (and just walked away…)

[Stradawhovious]

also, how much stuff can you hang off of a 10 amp breaker??

Uh uh, jackwagon............ This one is all you. I already took my beating for that.

That being said, let's keep the pissing match to a minimum guys, mmmmmmkay?

[Shipyard]

you certanly can troll hard thunder....

i've said my piece.

i'm done.

you can go love gander all you want duder.

[Thunder71]

Back peddle harder.



Next.

[yuppiejr]

It's unfortunate you had the bad experience, CS folks in all of the local sporting goods stores (including Fleet Farm's gun section) can be hit or miss which is why I think it's important to identify the good ones and steer around the punks. My favorite at the Blaine Gander openly joked with me about what they buy guns for and was more than happy to let me know when something that might have been purchased low was going to go on the floor for a reasonable price (implying that most of their prices were anything but). I usually end up in the store only to pick up a loss leader item from their weekly flyer now and again but always take the opportunity to browse the used firearms/clearance sections to see if a gem slipped through the cracks.

Gander Mountain is not a typical gun shop or gun show table where haggling and the art of shaving a few bucks off here and there or wiggling in accessories, etc.. are part of the culture.

Given my take on the situation I might have tried a slightly softer haggling approach... Pick up the rifle and check the scope, then point out to the manager that it appears to be significantly canted. Tell them you'd like to buy the rifle but want them to correct the scope mount before you take it since it's obviously got a significant problem. Assuming the manager can indeed confirm the problem he's not going to want to hassle with fixing it for you or anyone else which would require sending it back to the gunsmith (likely tagging his department with a $60 gunsmithing cost in addition to the cost to purchase the rifle originally) and may well offer you a 10% discount to get it out the door and reduce his overall exposure.