Wholesale Calgary... painful

vader_z said:
Well, even a busted clock is right twice a day.
Click to expand...


Okay....... well I called the camping today and talked to David there (WSS).
Super nice chap answered right away and took my name and number and went in search of my tent footprint. Said he'd call right back and I said to myself "heh, yeah right......" Off back to the salt mine I go and before I get the machinery roaring I hear my phone ringin. Lo and behold there's a message from him saying he put one on layaway for me to pick up. David's alright in my books. He should teach the gun desk some etiquette.

A Co-workers buddy dropped $1500 at BassPro on a 223....... guy behind the counter grabbed some ammo for them and tossed it in the bag.....it was 222 Rem which they discovered after finding they wouldn't fire!:runaway:
Same guy used scope mounts that were too low and they found the scope wouldn't clear the bolt handle until they got home.

We were in there two weeks ago (BPs) to pick up some gear that by fluke was actually there...... stood at the till for ten minutes until my wife got fed up and went and grabbed the clowns visiting down the counter. They knew full well we were there the whole time.:rolleyes:

It is time to clone David and put him everywhere. Either him or Chuck Norris.:p
 
I won't waste time or money going to WSS or Russels or any other shop in that food chain. I already had a bad attitude due to a particular old guy at the Edmonton store's gun counter. Constant miserable attitude from the guy despite my personal and unbelievable patience and the dollar$$$$$$ I was dropping. Then found out that there are not many behind the gun counter that really know much about firearms and shooting, especially after a clown tried to flog a Mossburg rifle on me when I was trying to buy a Nosler 48. I then got boned on the purchase of a new, higher end rifle that arrived damaged, well used and no longer serviceable.

F*** WSS, Russels and UFA. I do everything possible to drive my colleagues, friends and contacts away from that business chain. Besides, there are much better deals elsewhere if you are willing to spend some time on the internet.
 
powder burner said:
Support the little outdoor shops in your home towns and you wouldnt have to wait forever at the "outdoor malls."
Click to expand...

I have to drive approx 380 km round trip to get to my favorite little gun store in Victoria and approx 290 km round trip to get to my other favorite little gun store in Campbell River.

So when the New Wholesale opens in Nanaimo approx 160 km round trip away I can only hope that it will be better then the Alberta WSS we keep hearing about.
 
Last edited:
powder burner said:
Support the little outdoor shops in your home towns and you wouldnt have to wait forever at the "outdoor malls."
Click to expand...



Until a few months ago, our "local store" was providing me worse firearms service than any "outdoor mall" I had ever visited. Thankfully, I found out about a little local gun shop, and the outdoor store actually hired someone who gave a rat's behind about firearms...
 
Noel said:
A Co-workers buddy dropped $1500 at BassPro on a 223....... guy behind the counter grabbed some ammo for them and tossed it in the bag.....it was 222 Rem which they discovered after finding they wouldn't fire!:runaway:
Same guy used scope mounts that were too low and they found the scope wouldn't clear the bolt handle until they got home.
Click to expand...

Some of the guys behind the counter don’t have a clue. Not all But some. I cost a guy at WSS in Calgary a sale once. This guy come in and was looking for a semi-auto varmint gun in 22-250 because he heard it was a good cartridge. The sales guy told him they don’t have any in right now (or ever by my calculations) but he should look at this other rifle. It was a 7.62X39 Ruger mini 14. He then went on to tell the poor guy who is obviously new to guns that it is almost as good as a 22-250 for varmints. He said the 22-250 was around 3600fps and the 7.62 should be close to that because the case is roughly the same size and would work very well for varmints at even longer ranges. This is where I walked over and asked the sales guy where he gets his ballistics info and what not. I gave the customer some more info and he thanked me and left.
 
Screw WSS. People who shop there pay too much and brag about it(for no reason I can comprehend). I said that 15 years ago... P&D in the North, and TSE in the South. Nowhere else required...
 
BassPro/Wholesalesports ect... Top heavy box stores, made in China, part of our "insert stripmall here" land scape. Ever wonder why that nice "what ever store you used to shop at" is no longer there? Support "mom and pop" local businesses. Box stores do not care about repete business. Local or small business is good for the town good for the local/prov/fed economy. STOP BUYING CHINE_SS SLAVE JUNK!
On a side note, I have noticed in Kamloops, their mom and pop local store has been more pleasant to deal with since Holesale opened up there.
 
An addendum to my last 2 cents, is that Dedmonton lost a great store when Kearns and McMurchy closed.... I'd even take Trail over WSS/Custom...LOL.
 
if you want to see a hurtin wss, go to grande prairie.

for a little while, I thought I was just good at finding lame stores... but I see it's more like shooting fish in a barrel(refer to mythbusters episode):)
 
Ah :bsFlag:- bottom line - if WSS has something you want and nobody else has it you'll wait in line and endure staff blinking at you while the crickets chirp between their ears....and you'll LIKE it because they have what you need. Gotta love supply and demand....right now there's way more demand than supply unfortunately, so customer service IS taking a mean dip in quality.

I've encountered rude/ignorant staff at ALL the popular gun shops in Alberta.

Ask around what P&D was like when Phil and Dianne were brand new "off the beat" cops....they've mellowed to human level now....thank God....personally I swore that place off at least three times in it's infancy, yet, when a gun I want is on the racks, my ever widening shadow darkens the doorway there.

Sadly Doug from WSS Edmonton gun counter passed away recently - that ol boy was always good to me....I waited in line up to an hour just to speak with him on occasion...always had something to sell me....even if not what I walked through the door intending to purchase.

Honestly if I had the money to start my own gun shop, I would, but then I'd end up hiring some flunky by accident and someone would slag me on the internet for doing so. It must suck to be a business owner....really I can't see how they sleep at night.:p

What a stupid rant thread to start another one of - I suspect it gets deleted.
 
Doug was a Good Friend and one damn fine Gentleman and I will forever miss seeing him in Wholesale.
Happy Hunting Pard till we meet again.
 
444shooter said:
Yeah, Russells is good for most things, but the guy with the beard is a real ass****.
Click to expand...

AMEN BROTHER!! That guy makes me so angry I get an urge to punch small animals....he must be the owner right??? Normally a-holes who own shops are like that and they know it so they hire staff to deal with the people they'd scare away. He sure was trash talking another one of the employees in there there a couple weeks ago - to the point where I debated commenting that I had children nearby....instead my youngest rather loudly proclaimed "that guy's having a bad day Mom!"
 
walther said:
*** Next point. The majority of the problems is the managment. People have been working there for 5 years and still only make $12 an hour. This year, managment has decided not to give raises. People all over are quitting, and I don't blame them. The reason they have to hire whoever they can get is because they can't keep employees. I work in the guns and archery department, and I can tell you right now its a joke. They won't even tell us what or when we're getting things in, how long it will take to order something, it seems that they're getting rid of more and more of our suppliers that we can custom order from, and we're not even allowed to order our own stock inventory! I've heard of stores having to buy things from their competitors to sell for themselves, because they can never get any stock in. Even for things like glue, or wax, for making arrows, has to be bought at local competitors so the store can make arrows for its customers.

There are many things that need to be changed with the managment at Wholesale Sports, and that is the underlying cause for nearly all problems. **
Click to expand...

And now a word from the management :D. No walther, I have nothing to do with WSS so not to worry, but my wife and I do own a retail business with more than a 1/2 doz FT employees, who are well trained and paid for what they do. That said, as owner I can tell you you've got to kiss a lot of frogs in search of the few princes you want as employees?

Don't know the product ? Haven't had a raise in 5 years? Don't know enough about inventory and ordering to be entrusted with the task ? This is all someone else's fault ? I think I know the problem.

Check out the guy there who does know what he's doing and you'll see he reads product material (that comes with the product) on his own rather than stand there bleating that someone should infuse him. He'll also ask for more responsibility rather than stand around waiting for things to happen. He'll understand the difference between sales and order taking and try to match customer needs with what is available rather than responding "no, don't have one of those". These are the guys management try to keep, so they invest in them. The rest are warm bodies and lucky to be getting their 12 bucks.

No business owner/operator wants to invest time and money developing demanding generation "Y" types. Performing well in spite of difficult scenarios is what successful people do. Blaming management may well be justified. How's it working for you?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom