Wholesale Calgary... painful
- Thread starter Ardent
- Start date
I sure do. At the time I didn't appreciate it as much as I would if it were here now. Peter was a great guy!
When I think back we sure had a good collection of gun shops such as: Mcrae-Pioneer; Simpson and Lee; the down town Russels and Barotto's - even the gun shop in Woodwards was not bad (thanks to Ken). I bought my first handgun there, a Ruger Super-Blackhawk - I know, a stupid choice for a newb, but young and stupid!
I sure do. At the time I didn't appreciate it as much as I would if it were here now. Peter was a great guy!
When I think back we sure had a good collection of gun shops such as: Mcrae-Pioneer; Simpson and Lee; the down town Russels and Barotto's - even the gun shop in Woodwards was not bad (thanks to Ken). I bought my first handgun there, a Ruger Super-Blackhawk - I know, a stupid choice for a newb, but young and stupid!
Wow, you are sure going back in time... There aren't many of us who remember all those stores...
Ah- 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.
What a stupid rant thread to start another one of - I suspect it gets deleted.
I would wait in line at WSS and have if could not find what I want or need. But WSS is the last resort
I know what you mean. I never thought that I would be one of the "Old Timers" we used to make fun of when we were young punks. I'm sure that when I now come to the gun counter, the resident young "know it all" clerks say to each other: " Hey Jason, check out the old fossil - he is probably going to tell us again how flintlocks are just a passing fad and that soon people will returning to the reliable old matchlocks!"
As an aside, I always had the feeling when visiting the Simpson and Lee store that the owners were still taking a "wait and see" position on this new smokeless powder that all the advertising telegrams were going on about.
A 15 minute wait is nothing, it only starts to get boring after 45 minutes!! I'm from out of town, If it is a non explosive purchase, I'll phone mail order and wait for it to come in. I try to plan ahead so I have time available. If it is an explosive purchase, well there is the gunshows in Calgary, Lethbridge, Hanna & Maple Creek. The prices are higher, but the service is better.
I live in Calgary. I could not find the rifle I was looking for at Bass Pro, Russell's or WSS, but found it at the Sportsman's Den in Red Deer at a competitive price.
I was then looking for another rifle - nothing at Bass Pro. Phoned WSS several times, but could not get through to the gun desk at all. Russell Sports, after several attempts to get through on the phone, eventually spoke to a guy in the fishing department. He was very helpful, but could not really assist me. Eventually spoke to a guy at the gun desk - he told me they can order the rifle for me, but it will take at least 8 months.
Phoned Sportsman's Den - got through the first time. Guy said he will phone me back. He did so shortly afterwards. Even though he did not have what I was looking for, I still appreciated the effort.
Sportsman's Den in Red Deer is fast becoming my preferred gun shop, even if it means I have to drive 150 Km and back.
I was then looking for another rifle - nothing at Bass Pro. Phoned WSS several times, but could not get through to the gun desk at all. Russell Sports, after several attempts to get through on the phone, eventually spoke to a guy in the fishing department. He was very helpful, but could not really assist me. Eventually spoke to a guy at the gun desk - he told me they can order the rifle for me, but it will take at least 8 months.
Phoned Sportsman's Den - got through the first time. Guy said he will phone me back. He did so shortly afterwards. Even though he did not have what I was looking for, I still appreciated the effort.
Sportsman's Den in Red Deer is fast becoming my preferred gun shop, even if it means I have to drive 150 Km and back.
- Location
- Southern MB
Well, WSS sure is good here in MB, so far that is.
I agree
He's not the owner as far as I know, but he thinks he is...had real issues with him a few years back, and I had to get one of the owners involved. When I still do walk in there, he never looks at me, always steps into the back room when I show up. I consider myself fortunate in that regard.
He's not the owner as far as I know, but he thinks he is...had real issues with him a few years back, and I had to get one of the owners involved. When I still do walk in there, he never looks at me, always steps into the back room when I show up. I consider myself fortunate in that regard.
Not only do the staff at Russel's not know anything about their stock or even where in the store I can find it most times, but I had some douchebag ignore me while I stared at him saying "excuse me" last time. Wholesale on the other hand has fairly unknowledgable staff but they are quick to help and don't rush me at all. I know where I am going when I make a run.
It's been a couple of years since I was in calgary, but I always had good luck at Russels, particularily when Jim was at the counter.
P&D were good this summer as well, Phil always was a bit more relaxed than the missus, she could be spirited at times, but found them both pleasant to deal with. Like what they have done with the store, it's come a long way from the 90 plus sks's on a personal liscence. Although the guy at the handgun counter needs to spend some time researching product lines a bit, told me you can't get the LEM trigger on a HK2000 in Canada, Ryan at Wolverine seems to think otherwise.
WSS has their moments, some good, some not, but in defence to all gun store owners and staff, spend some time talking to some of the gun community characters and you really start to wonder about some of these people........
Bottom line, if you don't like the service, vote with your wallet and shop elsewhere, but do make mention to someone that you feel the service is less than appropiate, and why. And try to keep it civil.
P&D were good this summer as well, Phil always was a bit more relaxed than the missus, she could be spirited at times, but found them both pleasant to deal with. Like what they have done with the store, it's come a long way from the 90 plus sks's on a personal liscence. Although the guy at the handgun counter needs to spend some time researching product lines a bit, told me you can't get the LEM trigger on a HK2000 in Canada, Ryan at Wolverine seems to think otherwise.
WSS has their moments, some good, some not, but in defence to all gun store owners and staff, spend some time talking to some of the gun community characters and you really start to wonder about some of these people........
Bottom line, if you don't like the service, vote with your wallet and shop elsewhere, but do make mention to someone that you feel the service is less than appropiate, and why. And try to keep it civil.
ive had good and bad times with wss and russell's. i havent been to russells in 12 years. somethings wss is good for, like calls and fishing stuff. but for guns not so much. i hate waiting in line to chat with someone youd think should have some info on what your looking at. but really dont know sh*t about anything except what they did last night. the problem with basspro is they have no control over what the get for stock. give basspro some time before you write them off. i was at bp a weekago and they had more guns and shooting supplys than ive seen there since they opened.
- Location
- Saskatchewan
"You just can't find good help anywhere nowadays..."
I couldn't agree more that gun shops/hunting stores are notorious for p!$$ poor customer service in general. Unfortunately, like most specialty stores these days, you pretty much have to know exactly what you need going in. If you depend on the teenage pimpled-faced brick or the grumpy old bugger to educate you, you're in for a bitter dissapointment... I recently dropped over $1000 at Russell's on a slow Saturday morning myself and was made to feel like I was disrupting the salesperson's coffee drinking more than anything else. I pretty much had to "drag" him along with me through the store for him to show me what I wanted to see...
Later that day while everybody else was at Bass Pro for their grand opening, I was at Wholesale Sports where I stood around at the counter for about 15 minutes or so without as much as having anyone offer assistance. As actions speak louder than words, I just walked out and never went back.
And don't even get me started on mail order from Cabelas/S.I.R. or Wholesale... I guess it's true what they say: "You just can't find good help anywhere nowadays..."
I couldn't agree more that gun shops/hunting stores are notorious for p!$$ poor customer service in general. Unfortunately, like most specialty stores these days, you pretty much have to know exactly what you need going in. If you depend on the teenage pimpled-faced brick or the grumpy old bugger to educate you, you're in for a bitter dissapointment... I recently dropped over $1000 at Russell's on a slow Saturday morning myself and was made to feel like I was disrupting the salesperson's coffee drinking more than anything else. I pretty much had to "drag" him along with me through the store for him to show me what I wanted to see...
Later that day while everybody else was at Bass Pro for their grand opening, I was at Wholesale Sports where I stood around at the counter for about 15 minutes or so without as much as having anyone offer assistance. As actions speak louder than words, I just walked out and never went back.
And don't even get me started on mail order from Cabelas/S.I.R. or Wholesale... I guess it's true what they say: "You just can't find good help anywhere nowadays..."
And now a word from the management. 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?
I know where your coming from but as a former employee of WSS that quit after being constantly frustrated by the CORPORATE management philosphy "If we are making money who gives a rats a$$ about customer service" IMO the UFA management that took over is largely to blame for the crappy service. I got ##### slapped numerous times for trying to facilitate special orders because "thats not how we do things now"
The employees lack of enthusiasm is understandable when you get crap for trying to do a better job.
Another WSS sucks thread. Love it.
My final visit to Calgary was a few months ago, I needed some Lee bits and pieces. No one had everything in stock except for WSS. I called ahead and confirmed stock the day before. I went there early on a Sunday morning to beat the crowd, not one thing I confirmed stock on the day before could be found.
I wrote a letter to WSS and got a reply from on of their Admins. who was concerned with the poor service. I gave her a list of what I was looking and she promised to look into it. I never heard from her again.
My final visit to Calgary was a few months ago, I needed some Lee bits and pieces. No one had everything in stock except for WSS. I called ahead and confirmed stock the day before. I went there early on a Sunday morning to beat the crowd, not one thing I confirmed stock on the day before could be found.
I wrote a letter to WSS and got a reply from on of their Admins. who was concerned with the poor service. I gave her a list of what I was looking and she promised to look into it. I never heard from her again.
- Location
- Calgary, AB
If you really have no choice but to go to WSS, make a list of what you need and give it to the sales guy. Makes life easier for both parties. Then, whatever they don't have, go to Russells
