my RANT about Epp's service!!

[A-zone]

My experience with Ellwood Epps has been very positive. They've been great over the years and theirs is one of the websites that I visit regularly to see just what sort of gems might be sitting in their "used guns" listings.

If the rest of Canada's independent gun stores worked at being as professional as Epps, it would be an improvement.

Are they perfect? Of course not, but they're pretty darned good and will continue to get my business.

[badboybeeson]

I fully understand that position not offering discounts for cash payments, however, many CGN sponsors are doing it now, offering 3 % discount for EMT payments.
.

Thats only because they have had there CC service taken a way from them.
For those that dont know, many banks charge you to deposit cash, cash is not allways a good thing to have in a store.
Having 20k in cash as the end of the day is along more to deal with then hitting send on you POS machine for visa and debit.
Anyone as busy as epps would im sure much reather pay the 0.68% for visa and MC then take cash.
bbb

[arcticcathonda]

I believe there is a technological solution - For example, you can have a company "ipad ". Use the ipad to slap a picture and email the pic directly. All can be done in a minute. It is annoying to take pictures because you have to take a picture with a camera and download it. It is a lot of hassle, andtherefore people drag and dread it by trying to do couple of requests at the same time, which means it never happens on a timely basis. A tablet or even a smartphone with a good camera will save a lot of time and make the employees much more motivated to get things done.

Too bad not everyone has "facetime" - I can see the future of online retailing with a skype video call or similar technology.

You hit the nail on the head there. Tablets are a nice easy way to upload photos and one of the best tools for people in sales departments.

[FastFord58]

Nothing but positivity from me so far. Put in an order for a CZ yesterday, all through email.

Emailed to check stock - reply literally within 10 minutes. Filled out order form and sent it in - CC was charged and transfer initiated within 30 minutes. Now that is fast!

[mullet maniac]

right on FF58, hope the rest of the transaction goes just as smoothly.

update on the score of Epp's vs. T.U.S.O.O.O. (the ugly side of ordering online) : with the score 4-2 in their favour, Epp's was assessed a 2 minute penalty for delay of game. Happily, they did manage to negotiate a solution to my concerns, and were able to kill the penalty without difficulty.

All that remains is to see how they execute 'our' solution and what exactly they decided to send me.

[RRCo.]

Ok lets pick on another store. Is Epps the only gun dealer in Ontario?
s**t HAPPENS people lighten up

IMAT

I could be wrong, but I don't have the impression anyone is "picking on" Ellwood Epps Ltd.

This kind of thread gives retailers a chance to demonstrate their attitude to customer service, as well as allowing those who have had positive experiences to recount them.

Personally I notice an improvement already over the last thread.

And I applaud it.

[Crack]

I've been waiting for pictures of a gun for a week now. Three emails and three phone calls and I can't even get an employee to describe the gun to me. I asked one employee "do you have the gun in front of you?" He says "no...it's behind me." I said "Can you turn around?" He turns around, says he can't find it. I ask him to look for it and he says he doesn't know where it could be. So I hang up. Phoned back twice and nobody could describe it to me. The only thing keeping them from a sale is me seeing a picture of this gun or having it described to me and they can't even do that. I'm ready to drop hundreds or maybe even thousands of dollars at your store and you can't give me the time of day...you musn't want my business too badly. It continues to shock me that people praise these people. I have felt more appreciated as a customer through a voicebox in a Tim Horton's drive through.

I work in a gun shop. They tend to get busy. Really f^&%'n busy actually. In a room behind me there are X # of guns. Many shelves. When I usually have 3-8 people standing in front of me, wanting to physically see a gun, I look after them. They were the ones that DROVE, sometimes quite a distance to SEE what they were potentially paying for. I don't concern myself with someone with a sense of entitlement who wants me to tell them, OVER THE PHONE, WHAT A GUN LOOKS LIKE. Get a life or off your ass.

[BlazinDayz]

I work in a gun shop. They tend to get busy. Really f^&%'n busy actually. In a room behind me there are X # of guns. Many shelves. When I usually have 3-8 people standing in front of me, wanting to physically see a gun, I look after them. They were the ones that DROVE, sometimes quite a distance to SEE what they were potentially paying for. I don't concern myself with someone with a sense of entitlement who wants me to tell them, OVER THE PHONE, WHAT A GUN LOOKS LIKE. Get a life or off your ass.

Then why the hell would they have a website? In this day and age only catering to the people directly in front of you will only lead to your demise as your competitors who understand customer service rolls over you.

[mullet maniac]

I work in a gun shop. They tend to get busy. Really f^&%'n busy actually. In a room behind me there are X # of guns. Many shelves. When I usually have 3-8 people standing in front of me, wanting to physically see a gun, I look after them. They were the ones that DROVE, sometimes quite a distance to SEE what they were potentially paying for. I don't concern myself with someone with a sense of entitlement who wants me to tell them, OVER THE PHONE, WHAT A GUN LOOKS LIKE. Get a life or off your ass.

I have seen, over and over again here on CGN, complaints that go along the lines of "...yadda yadda yadda, i went into (or called, or telepathically contacted) so-and-so shop, and they were really condescending, and acted like they were doing me a favour..."

This sort of sounds like the other side of that coin. "You come in here and I'll help ya. But you try using that phone thingy, and I won't even concern myself with you, your questions, your business, your dollars".

Wow.

and, sense of entitlement?? Maybe, maybe not. But you'd be doing yourself a real disservice (and also your business and your boss) by confusing a "sense of entitlement" with "I worked my ass for for my paycheque, so I expect reasonable answers to realistic questions".

Finally -
In maintaining the integrity of the original theme of this thread, perhaps now might be a good time to point out that I am extremely happy Epp's extended me some professional courtesy, and didn't treat me like a second class untouchable just because I used the phone.