Or is it possible that the headcase is actually on the other side of the counter?
Truly, spend a full day in our store. I'm not talking about 1 hour, or even 2, but spend 9.5 hours, five days a week dealing with some of the clientele that we deal with, and then come back here and tell us where the real issues lie.
Let's start with the customer that has made absolutely zero effort to even begin to educate themselves on any possible purchase they might wish to make, or even what they intend to do with that purchase. Then drop them in the store at about 1.30 on a Saturday afternoon when we have more than 40 people lined up waiting for service. Let's see what sort of service level you can offer at that point. I am quite certain that your efforts would no doubt be stellar.
Or let's try the customer with a warranty service issue that cannot seem to grasp the concept that warranty servicing means the item in question must be serviced by the warranty depot licensed by that manufacturer. If you buy a brand new Ford and experience an issue that is covered by the manufacturer's warranty, do you take the car to a local Honda dealership and expect warranty servicing?
Then let's try the "I know everything" customer who insists upon having a Tikka T3 chambered in .223 Remington rebored (not rebarreled!!!) to .338 Lapua Magnum. [This actually happened, believe it or not!] Try explaining to that person why this is not a possibility when they insist that they read somewhere on the Internet that Joe in South Dakota had it done, so we must be able to do that for them, too.
This is not a challenge, Ballox, just an eye-opener and a suggestion for you to rein in your contempt for we "hardass" individuals with minimal IQ levels until you have had a chance to experience the whole story.
Would it surprise you to know that some of our employees are actually university graduates? Or that others have served many years in the Canadian Forces? Or that several of them are retired police officers, with many years of service behind them? Would that sway your opinion of us at all? I suspect not.
Perhaps the microscope should be turned upon those who can so freely speak of the shortcomings they have projected upon not only the staff at Ellwood Epps, but the staff at virtually any gun store in Ontario (or elsewhere, as I imagine your contempt would not be so easily hedged in by political borders). Perhaps there is a possibility that at least a sizable portion of the issues that seem to pop up here on these discussion boards on a routine basis might actually originate with the customer, just as surely as they are placed at the feet of the retailer?
