The store is called Guns of Tahoe. It should be called "Guns of Ripoff." It's along the main…read morehighway in South Lake Tahoe, right next to the mini Sears store.
Where do I start? The store is disorganized, and the old man who runs the place is unbelievably rude. He looks 75 or so and I think he needs to retire, if my customer service experience there was anything near typical.
I went into this store hoping to check out his antique firearms collection, old tools, knives, and other items. Problem number one is that the guy needs some help in there. He's trying to wait on four customers at once and can't keep them straight.
Problem number two is that he has no idea what he is selling in there. I was looking at some old military surplus ammunition behind the counter, and he's got a bunch of cartridges of different calibers in the same box. Next, he has mixed-up the shells that go to Argentine Mauser rifles and Russian Mosin-Nagant rifles. (I even found a .308 round in there.) None of these are interchangeable. He's trying to show me things and can't even keep his bullets sorted properly. I'm picking through them and finding a complete mish-mash. Then he wants to argue with me about what shells go to which gun...when I'm a federally-licensed Curio and Relic collector and he's just admitted that I know more about this stuff than he does.
Problem number three is that his wares are unbelievably overpriced. He's trying to sell me these old cartridges for a dollar per round. (That's ONE round, as in ONE shot, ONE pull of the trigger.) The ammunition he has priced this way is old, corrosive stuff that I can find online for about seventeen CENTS per round. I realize SLT is a tourist town and everything there is overpriced, but come on. I can't imagine there is a huge market for old ammo in a town known for its bicycling and snow sports.
I loitered in his store for about twenty minutes, but I would think that's to be expected in a store full of antiques, curious, relics, and that sort of thing. This isn't Wal-Mart we're talking about here, where you know exactly what you need and are basically in-and-out as quickly as possible.
Problem number four is that the guy is rude to his customers. He tried to sell me about sixty rounds for $65. I asked him to take away part of the lot and give me a new price on the rest. Price was still too high. Finally I asked, "What about for this and that," the last two boxes on the counter actually marked at a price I'd consider reasonable. He says, "NO NO, I'm done, I've spent too much time with you already." I said, "You're not going to sell me those?" He says, "No, I offered you a good price." (Again, boys and girls, he's asking up to FIVE times what I would pay online. I came in there looking for a good deal, not to get ripped off.) I said, "It really isn't." I bought some scope covers for about four bucks; he threw my change bills at me across the counter and muttered something else I didn't quite make out.
I almost said, "I find it curious that in addition to trying to rip me off on the Mauser rounds...you're also trying to sell me 1980s Russian surplus copper-washed steel-cased Mosin Nagant bullets at a dollar a pop. I can buy those in bulk online for 17 cents each."
This sort of behavior is not only unacceptable, it caught me off-guard. Up until then, I thought we'd had a pretty good rapport - we talked about a sheep-shearing tool, he showed me some reproduction WWII knives, and so on. It wasn't until I found his stash of old ammo that we really got down to brass tacks.
I realize it's not possible to know everything about such a diverse assortment of merchandise, but I certainly wouldn't dare to argue with a customer who clearly knew more about the product than I did. I think I know what a Mosin-Nagant cartridge looks like. (Interestingly, he called these guns "junk," when they were good enough for the Soviet Army 70 years go and still regarded today as some of the finest bolt actions ever made.)
I have spent years in customer service, including retail, and I would have gotten fired on the spot for talking to a paying customer that way. I guess I've been taught throughout my career that you don't mouth off to people who are paying your bills, and you certainly don't refuse to sell them something just because they've pissed you off. I mean, did this guy want my money or not?
Besides that, the stores in SLT are aimed at tourists. I wasn't some local yokel in there to chit-chat; I was there to see what he had for sale. But he seemed to think I was in there to waste his time. I should think you'd want to be even kinder to touristy customers than you would people shopping at Wal Mart or something. Aren't most of these people on vacation, not just running errands and sighing?
Definitely don't linger in there. The jerk will get pissed-off at you. Better yet, save your money and stay the hell away from Guns of Tahoe. Go over to the Heavenly area and buy a T shirt instead.
