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Very Rude/Bad Experience at local Gun Shop yesterday! SW Missouri

70K views 257 replies 153 participants last post by  Eric 
#1 ·
First off let me quick say my main firearm is a G22, but this day I was hunting down Walther P22 accessories... This was my experience at EDI Plus Gun Shop in Nixa, MO.

I know that I'm new here but I'm certainly not new to shooting sports growing up with a 26 year veteran of the Olathe, KS police dept as a Father. Yesterday was far and away the worst experience of my life at a gun shop and I'm not one to bad mouth people or a business, but something must be said about EDI Plus Gun shop in Nixa, MO (Kinder Street).

My neighbor and I went in there just to check out his selection of firearms, reloading equipment and ammo prices yesterday after I called to see if he had any P22 Magazines.

First off we were kindly asked upon entry if they help us find anything, to which we replied "No thanks just looking around!"

Later I asked a man behind the counter about the P22 price they had in the case and he kindly told me he didn't work there and yelled over to a group of guys and said "Steve this guy has a question". Someone from the group of doughnut eating bystanders replied with "What do you want?"... Not knowing which one of them spoke (none of them were looking at me) I said "Which one is Steve I didn't see which of you spoke?".

Steve then stepped from out of the group to once again in a rude tone say "The one that just asked you what YOU want!". I quickly apologized and said I didn't see which one spoke. I then proceeded to ask about the P22. Steve gave me the prices but seemed bothered by my question. I thanked him and returned to looking around the store.

While browsing the store I picked up three manufacturer brochures; a S&W, Ruger and lastly a Kimber. I carried them all through the store while continuing to look. Steve then came from behind to counter and said in a loud tone of voice so all his buddies could hear "You called earlier about P22 Mags right!? FUNNY how I figured that out huh?" Steve then returned to the counter after smugly smiling at me and his buddies. At that time I had had enough of his rudeness, thanked him and proceeded to the door, when Steve in an even louder tone of voice yelled from across the shop "Are you taking those magazine from my store?" (meaning the free brochures)

I responded with "Is that okay? They are free bruchures right?".

Steve - "If you think so - thanks for coming in" (again a very rude tone of voice)

My neighbor who had accompanied me turns and says "Are they magazines or brochures?" (they are in fact manufacturer brochures)

Steve then replies in an even louder tone of voice "LOOK I just want people to be nice to me in my store and ASK before they take things - thanks for coming in now GO"

I then again asked "Are they not free? Is this okay"

Steve again replied "Thanks for coming in" (again rude tone of voice).

WE LEFT despite wanting to get into a confrontation with Steve.

Now I understand I was in there asking about a relatively cheap, low caliber firearm but that doesn't give this gun shop owner the right to treat ANYONE like this. Customer, potential customer or NO. VERY Unacceptable and while I very well could have eventually spent a considerable amount of $$$ in this store I will never go back nor will I let any friends ever go there.

The worst part about this for Steve and EDI Plus Gun Shop is that my neighbor that accompanied me, his wife works for a competing gun shop across town and she now knows the way in which we were treated. Do you think she'll ever recommend someone go to his shop? The kicker is that I work for one of the two largest outdoor retailers in the Country (I'm sure if you shop at either of them and you put two and two together with the location you can figure out which one!) and unfortunately for Steve and EDI I come into contact with more than my fare share of hunters, shooters and outdoor enthusiasts and therefore will have the opportunity to tell this story to many a potential customer.

Again I just wanted to share this experience because no one should be treated this way, and if you have the opportunity to shop at a local gun shop in the SW Missouri area I STRONGLY suggest you steer clear of Steve and EDI Plus in Nixa.

Maybe Steve would have been more respectful had I questioned him regarding Glock Accessories or something of a higher caliber, but simply put this was a terrible experience.

Anyone else ever have an experience like this?
 
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#2 ·
No but there is no reason to act like that towards a potential customer. My family owns a couple of liquor stores and I run them because they are nurses at the hospital. This proves the one thing that I always say as a business manager and that is you only have 1 chance to make a good first impression to a potential customer and get their business. You have to treat people the way you want to be treated, its the golden rule. Oh well I am sure that they have ran off more than a few customers with that attitude, and sorry if I got off on some other rant.
 
#6 ·
No offense, but these matters are impossible to judge with only one side of the story.
 
#7 ·
No offense, but these matters are impossible to judge with only one side of the story.
Maybe a group of us should drop in and sing a few rounds of kumbiah and ask Steve how he feels about P22s and giving away free literature!

:upeyes:
 
#10 ·
can't comment on the guy, the incident, but the TREATMENT part, yeah, i know the words and chorus to THAT song.

A very nice gunshop moved out not too long ago, clean, nice guns, fancy cabinets, and a his n' hers atmosphere..

that sucked for friendly. Rudest people that ever ran me out of their store with a pocket full of money TWICE.

First time I was tire kicking with my daughter, and i got irate. one of those slow burns where it TOOK a while but i got peeved. finally walked out after about 15 minutes of cold shoulder.

aight, maybe they had a bad day for some reason. i got over it and went back, 2nd chance, to buy said daughter a gurl gun.

Dear lord, you'ld have thought i was wearing pink shoes and had elton john glasses on, cause i asked for a ladysmith.

a guy HAS THE MONEY and wants to BUY THE GUN in a gunshop, and he's 50 years old and wearing cowboy clothes, ya take his darn money and say what else can i do for ya? ..

ya don't act like he's light footed and might ought to go elsewhere.

or he will. so anyway they went broke enough to move.

jerks. I wound up buying her a 19-3 4", mint. The redhawk .44 mag was too much gun. :)
 
#11 ·
True, lets assume that a GTer is lying and that a gun shop guy was polite friendly and professional. Thats realistic.
So a complete stranger tells you that your wife is cheating on you. Do you....

A. Pimp slap the stranger

B. Shoot your wife

C. Gather more info


:upeyes::wavey:
 
#12 ·
i had a bum laught at me in a local shop b/c i wanted to rent a glock 27. then he told me how GAP and 10mm ammo is just stupid. should have asked him what he 'suggested' and returned laughter :rofl:
 
#15 ·
My son lives in Boliver, and if you are interested, he has had nothing but very positive things to say about the guy and employees that work in the gun store in Boliver. If you want me to I will ask him where it is located exactly, and the name of it. They will treat you with the 'customer is always right' respect you deserve.
Sometimes guys in gun shops can be jackasses but it sounds like those morons went out of there way to treat you with disrespect. A lot of that going around everywhere and in the end...he will close from lack of business.
Give your business to folks who deserve it...even if the price is a little high sometimes I buy from our local shop anyways cause they are a good bunch and from time to time they do things for me that they don't have to. Thats what it's all about.

Mick:thumbsup:
 
#16 ·
Hatred -

No this gun shop cannot be seen frmo 160/13 highway its off of Tracker Road in Nixa, right on Tracker Road (coming from B West) and then right again on Kinder...

I understand this is just my side of the story but I really have no reason to come on here and make stuff up I've got plenty better to do. Personally I'd like to hear reviews about places before I spend money there thats all. Take from it what you will.
 
#17 ·
In reply to those writing about hearing both sides of the story, and not being there to judge the events for themselves:

It doesn't matter one bit! Any business person should be going out of the way to make customers, even potential customers, happy with the experience of being in their place of business.

This should be true in any business, not just gun shops. My wife called me at the office one day in tears. She was fairly hysterical. She had been at the bank where we have all our personal accounts and my firms business accounts. I only heard her side of the story (granted, after 26 years of marriage, I know her fairly well), but the point was she thought she had been treated like dirt. It doesn't matter what happened at the bank. Anyone there could have seen that she was upset and that should have given someone a clue that at least she felt like she wasn't treated right.

Within the week, I transferred all our accounts, investments, and loans to another bank. We did the same at my firm which ran millions of dollars a year through that bank.

The bottom line: just the fact that this gentleman felt he was being treated badly is a sure sign that the business is not being run right.

That's my two cents.

Warren in Annapolis
 
#18 ·
i've noticed it particularly in young businesses, (run by people with not much experience).. that they develop a 'clubhouse' atmosphere sometimes. it's not PARTICULARLY gunshops, it's just that gun folks tend to get peeved quicker and holler louder.

the same kinds of folks in the restaurant business go broke too.
 
#19 ·
Not worth getting into a battle of minds with a nitwit! Hope his buddies can rob a few more liquor stores and buy more guns from Steve, cause he will at some point lose his real ****omers!
 
#20 ·
we all meet someone like that in the gunstore with the people that work there
mine was with a friend that is a phx police officer when we were looking at glock pistol for his girlfriend to carry for her ccw course that she was going to take
the guy behind the counter kept asking us if we need help and we told in a minute we would like to see the m-19-pistol that was in the case we were talking about if the pistol would be the right size for her
the guy came up and ask us where we going to shop or just look around and not buy anything
when saw the badge on the my friend belt i got real helpfull qiuckly and said that they had a lot of just lookers that day instead poeple that wanted to by
we turned around and walk out of the store with out saying a word
he took me to a another gunshop in the area and it was night and day diffence the guy said hi when we came in and said if need anything just yell and he would be there in a minute also said there coffee on the table to help oursleves to it if we wanted any
we talk to the guy behind the counter and we told him what we wanted and he said that was good idea and and give my friend a great deal with pistol and four mags and 200.rds of ammo for certian amount of cash when he found out my friend was a phx officer gave anthor discount on the ammo with throwing in another 100.rds of ammo for personal defense
i say that my friend has a better idea where to get the best serivce around
the gunshop is off the west 27th ave in glendale az iam not sure right where it is my friend was driveing that day when we were out and about have a guys days out when our girlfriends where doing the shoping trip deal
i have to say that there is gunshops and there gunshops that know how to take care of poeple
plus i will not go the shooter world anymore after the way that they treat a friend of mine
i left az in 2004 to take a job with my company in another state
i go back home every now then for the sar show and my friend and his wife now show me the diff in places where we used to go shoot and hunt in the area have grow over with houses
 
#21 ·
Gun shop owners are like every one else. Some are decent, knowledgable people, and willing to work out a fair deal. Others are not decent, know less about guns than my daughter, and out to rip off people as much as they can. I've been to guns shops around the country. I always found the smaller shops located away from major cities to be the best. They may not have the selection, but the do have decency and stand behind their product. The bigger guys try to oversell you on your needs, and are more likely to be ***** wipes because they are only intersted in making an easy score. IE... selling a fully loaded Noveske with Beta mags, and enough accessories to choke the local SWAT team. Owners CAN be the worst of the lot. I have had one here PHX try to upsell me from a Stag AR he had on sale for $725 (only one in stock, and probably advertised to bring in customers) to a loaded LMT with a fully loaded rail,optics, lazers, etc.. for darn near $3500. When I insisted on the Stag, he told me that it actually was sold but they had not taken it off display. The rest of my visits there for my other needs, I was basically ignored. It's better to find a good reliable FFL and order your products from the net, in my opinion. I get most of my stuff on line any more, just to avoid those types of situations.
 
#22 ·
True, lets assume that a GTer is lying and that a gun shop guy was polite friendly and professional. Thats realistic. :whistling:
Big +1 on that! Most gun shops I have dealt with in New Jersey are incredibly rude and work hard to turn away customers. I will believe the customer almost every time over the gun shop "worker". The gun industry needs improved customer service, no question about it.
 
#23 ·
this is why i buy mostly over the internet, and have them transferred to a local pawn broker, who appreciates the $20 fee

there's only 1 place in vegas that i will occasionally do business with, because the owners are nice and their prices aren't too bad. but i'll only buy from the owner of the store directly, and not the 3 idiot salespeople they employ
 
#24 ·
Having done business with him for the last 19 years, I can only relate my personal experience with Steve, owns EDI Plus: he sells his wares at a fair price, gives good value for trades, and has gone out of his way to accomodate me when he did not have to do so.

Rarely have I been in his store when he did not have a bunch of customers, with more streaming in the door behind me. I wait my turn, get what I need, and leave satisfied. Steve may seem brutally straightforward to some, but I know him as sincere, honest, and hard-working.
 
#25 ·
bbeach,
I'm also from Nixa. I have never been to this gun shop(didn't know it was there) but this guy sounds like the same guy who owned Steve's gun shop that used to be located on 160 right before you get into Springfield. A gun shop called 417 is in the same little shopping center that Steve's used to be. It supposedly has a good rep. If this Steve is the same person, he has a reputation in this area of being a real A-hole. He is famous for always having a bunch of cronies hanging out in his store, doing nothing except bs'ing

I bought my last Glock at a place called Leven Gun Works. Its located north of SPG off of hwy 13 near Fantastic Caverns. He is a SPG cop. Its good to see someone else from Nixa on here. Take care.

Wayne
 
#26 ·
I don't know what it is about gun shops like this, but it seems that I have been in several where the people behind the counters act like you are BOTHERING them, and they are total jerks, and without exception there always seems to be a group of their "cronies" hanging around shooting the bull........but they don't seem too interested in selling anything. It is a wonder how some of them manage to stay in business....Granted, I have worked many gun shows myself, and the "tirekickers" do at times get to be quite annoying, BUT.....you never know which one of those people is walking around with a wad of money burning a hole in his/her pocket, just waiting to buy something. Sometimes you'd be surprised......therefore I think it prudent to treat all of them the way you'd want to be treated. Sometimes the "tirekicker" doesn't buy anything, but lo and behold he comes back with one of his buddies to your table and sure enough, that buddy buys something from you because you were nice enough to answer all the "dumb" questions that were asked of you by the "tirekicker". Grin and bear it, sometimes it pays off, LOL......besides, there is no such thing as a dumb question when it comes to guns, especially from a novice. Sometimes you find a neophyte who is a "fence sitter" and you never know, you might just get a convert who will jump over to our side. I've seen it happen. I try to be as helpful as I can because of this. I want people to have a good impression of gunowners, Lord knows we need all the help we can get!

Sorry I got off on a tangent here, LOL......It just seems like rude treatment seems to be the norm rather than the exception nowadays when it comes to guns shops and gun show vendors...........:upeyes:
 
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