WARNING THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS A RANT, Expletives are being left out of course.. OK, been starting to see a loco I've been waiting to come out forever show up online, and it finally has, (perhaps just a rash of old stocks being sold as new.. but either way.. I'm in hunt mode. So I decided to go in to the local trains store, not even 10 minutes door to door. First I'm greeted with a complaint about interrupting his lunch and some mumbling about not ever buying anything.. Why would I buy when he has pitiful selection for years now.. After a few minutes of looking over the slim picking, probably the only thing slim to do with him... I asked about the loco I was hunting (and I've been in there before looking for it) and was bluntly told "I ain't going to get any of the American c@#$ Your just waiting your time, I'll only get the [Canadian counterpart's name]" And I forget exactly how he said it but it was implied not to come in the store again. What a jerk.. So I left with no plan on ever going back. I've been hearing for year 'support your local hobby shop" but I sure am not going to do that with that kind of moron running it. Keep in mind there was another customer in the store at the time also..
And bussinesses wonder why they have to close their doors. Some people shouldnt be in bussiness to begin with. Gotta love store owners with 'attitude'.
While most of us have had run-ins with our LHS through the years I'm not sure we want to do without them. This fellow has problems and they have probably contributed to his lack an everyday 'good attitude.' Still there are many other choices for shopping these days. I understand the mails, but customs and stuff is a small price to pay to avoid this particular shop I'm thinking. Jim
Had the same thing in this area and may have been the same fella's twin brother both in attitude and girth. Also slim pickings for N and marked up way above anyplace else. Between the attitude, poor selection, and excessively high prices, the only reason I endured the store was I could get my resin casting materials there and my Tungsten which happened to be at least reasonably priced. Was a few years after the last unpleasant encounter I happen to be out that way for something else and stopped in for some Tungsten. The old crotchety geezer was gone, replaced by a much younger and actually friendlier and helpful staff. Some body must have finally told the old $%^#& what they thought of his attitude and prices, plus lack of selection, and the old #$%^& must have dropped on the spot with a massive coronary. Been at least three years since I was there last so I don't know if the shop is even still there.
Your not alone. Finding a good shop is hard. I love dealing in person but sometimes the internet is the best way to go. Sorry you ran into this. Even the local shop I go to has its characters. You sometimes wonder what the heck are such people doing in the business let alone the hobby if they are so miserable?
Oh yea...gotta agree. BUT...as a shop owner/employee you need to smile thru it and make a sale. You can always P&M and cuss about the customer AFTER they leave the store ;-)
While I feel your pain about the grumpy owner. There are always two sides to a coin. Why was he like that? Was he naturally that way? Or was he molded that way from other customers? We had a pretty decent LHS here in town years ago. The owner was a great guy, calm, cool and would bend over backwards for you. He had a decent selection, and if he didn't have what you wanted he would more than happy to order it and/or try to track it down. Then if found it, he would charge you 15% less for a special order. Not a bad deal. One day while I was loitering there, a new customer came in and the more he talked the more red in face the owner got. He kept his cool for as long as he could and then he finally told the guy he needed to leave and walked him out the door. The customer was ¤¤¤¤¤ing cause he did have what he wanted and that the store in his home town had a much better selection to choose from and the prices was better. Then he hit the owners sore spot! He said he could go online and get just about anything he wanted and at a much better price! The owner normally would bite his tongue and would vent to us after they left, but not this time. I feel for the store owners in that respect. I'd get tired of hearing that same old crap from customers who have no common courtesy or respect for a someone who is trying to make a buck or two. If you don't like the store, the owner or what they have to offer, say "Thanks" and move on to another store. You don't need to be rude about it, just move on. Now I'm not saying the OP did anything like this, but there may be a reason for the non slim store owner had this attitude? After a while, you can get to the point where even the littlest things will get through your skin and catch you're hair on fire. Regardless, both parties should have a little more common courtesy. Again, this isn't pointed at the OP just saying there are always two sides to the coin.
It does not matter what kind of day the owner was having. If you are in business, you will have to deal with turds. I agree that some people are just total jerks, but it is not conducive to good and repeat business. I am not an unreasonable person, but if I got that kind of treatment, I would also cross him off my list of suppliers and tell EVERYONE I knew about how rude he was. I had an online retailer that gave me that routine when I was new to the the hobby. Rest assured he will NEVER get my business. Dealing with the public can be a trying excersize, but if you want to make the sale, you make the attempt. Trey
There is, to my mind, still some value in the adage about the customer always being right. After all, a business will never be successful if they drive away customers. Yes, there are people who are trying, obnoxious or just downright rude. The point that bears remembering, though, is that it is ultimately easier for the bad customer to find other places to buy than it is for the business to find other customers.
Do you refer to the place near Potomac Mills? From what I understand, the guy to whom you refer did die. There was a custom painter who rented work space in the back of that shop. He wound up trying to operate it, but, I suspect, the damage had already been done. It is gone. The painter is still around, he still paints and seems to buy up more than a few estates and sells them at the shows. At one point, he had bought a rather large N scale collection from an estate, and was selling it at shows. He had a number of N scale dealers quite unhappy with him. Still, he is a nice guy and deals straight up. The old guy was a rather militant smoker and had all sorts of vitriol for anti-smokers. I still went there after I stopped smoking and frequently took GF, who still smokes. He liked her. I heard more than a few unpleasant stories about him. Or do you refer to that place that used to be across from Seven Corners (and down the street from where the Tar-ZhAY now stands)? This would be the same one that later moved to Broad Street in Falls Gulch and is now gone. As I recall, they had even less N than did the one in Potomac Mills. I do not remember any nasty, four hundred pound geezer, there, though. The place that I miss most is Obie's Trains, that used to be in that Motel off Edsall Road. I understand that he does now have a brick and mortar in Arizona, where he moved. I never had any problem with the old guy, if, in fact, you refer to that place by Potomac Mills. He had a large number of C-C N scale sets, and, some other stuff, but, as you state, his prices were high. If you looked, on occasion you could find a bargain or hard to find item there. I suspect that I did not have problems with him because, at the time that I first went to the store, I still smoked.
Wow, lots of replies, at least I know I'm not alone. For the record, I behave in a respectable manner when out in public. The owner of that store has always been grumpy, I've talking to other people that have been to the store and all agree he's a grumpy old [bleep] I just had to rant a bit about it today to blow off steam. In today's world of online shopping, evil action sites and so on, a local hobby store is not nearly as retentive as it was even ten years ago It's the grumpy old buggers to spoil the hobby for the rest of us that just want to buy our toys and gadgets and have fun with them. I hate to say it, but maybe the grumpers will die off before the take the hobby with them. I'm also am sort of in to ham radio 5 years, and hold an Advanced class license. And there's some real grumpy old goats there to. I was listening to a local round table chat ("net") a few weeks ago that I USED to take part in and heard the worst wind bag in the bunch complaining about newer has (ie like me and a few others) were not as good as he was. And the other old guy in the group was talking about putting his dead cats in the freezer.. I turn it off and removed the frequency from my radio.. And I say "sort of in to am.." because that's how I feel.. I lie teh tech side of it, but the clicks and snobs make it so I don't want to be part of that... Ok, that was a way off topic branch.. but just making the point that the grumpy people that are harming that hobby that claim to be part of.. And I think those that put of my little rant and venting AT least I know I'm not along even though it sure feels that way.
I don't really deal with hobby stores anymore, but... I deal with tons of businesses in my biz. In general, there's no shortage of horrific business people. Sometimes people will do stuff, where I just don't even know what to say. And it's not just confined to brick and mortar establishments. Some people somehow manage to actually be complete disasters, even through the internet. It takes real skill to to that. I mean, if you can't even fake being nice, when all you have to do is write to people, that's pretty bad. Running a business can in fact drain the life out of you. I think a lot of people, rather than just quit... instead, just slowly descend to a very ugly place, and just sort of subconsciously kill off their ball a chain slowly. But I never let it affect my attitude with other places.
I still remember when I visited a LHS in Manchester, Connecticut, the one which is in an old church, where I walked up to the floor where the trains were, I walked through the door and past the front display case where a "worker" and a shopper were shooting the bull. I then made my way to the N scale section of the room and proceeded to browse their selection. While looking about the N scale area I saw a locked display case about 15 feet from where the "worker" and the other customer were standing and I proceeded to look through the glass of the display case at all of the N scale rolling stock. They had quite a selection of rolling stock, however I could not see all of the cars because some of them were covered up by other cars stacked on top of them. I looked at the case for about 10 minutes and the "worker" never once said "can I help you?", she just continued to BS with the other customer about the weather or something else non-LHS related. I finally gave up and walked out. On the way out the "worker" finally said, sort of off handedly, "can I help you?", which at that time I had had enough and just continued to walk out of the store. Yes, probably should have asked the "worker" if she could opened up the display case. But just the same, she should had at least offered to help a customer who was interested in purchasing one of her products, that being me, rather than just stand there, BS with another person while waiting for the whistle to blow so she could go home.
IMO, there is no excuse for being rude. I owned/operated a small HO/N scale store for a little over 10 years. I had all kinds of great people and all kind of @#$# %$#%#, visit my store. I don't really blame the guy for not wanting to special order a US road name for his store in Canada, for a guy that has never purchased anything. When I first started I would order anything that someone would ask for, after getting burnt several times, I stopped and would only do it for regular customers. I also had several customers that would come in, ask to see an item, check it out, then go on line and make the purchase, even though everything in my store was marked 15-20% off. Cheaper you say, on-line, yes because they buy large amounts and receive whole sale prices, were a shop gets the old standard dealer 40% off.
I'm with you. I'm just 40 now, but I think I have an "old soul" so to speak. I can't stand losing out to cell-phone or texting people when I'm standing there in person, and also what that "worker" did was just as bad. No matter who she's talking to, that person will surly understand that she's working and a quick, friendly "may I help you?" when you first appear would be the right and proper thing to do. I'd have walked out as well.
Years ago, when I was in high school, I worked part time at a decent hobby store (full time in the summer). We had a rival hobby store run by "Herb" who was known for his crabby attitude. When we had a customer who was very hard to deal with, we would suggest he might find what he wanted at the store run by "Herb"--they deserved each other.
The place you refer that was near Seven Corners went to hell and a heartbeat after the son took over from the widowed mother. Back when they were in the old what used to be called Parkington Shopping Center they were a first rate shop with a good staff. But no not them. This was a shop out close to the Loudon County Line that was the source of my annoyance and irritation. And the old Obies was a N Scalers sensory overload as soon as you walked in. My unique snow dozers came from there. Obies had pretty much one of everything that was made in N scale.
