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dman2112

RTSP - Customer Service Concerns

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Have to say, I have changed my opinion on RTSP. I think before everyone was just adjusting to the new stress level put on this industry. This last experience was great. I found the staff more than willing to accomodate me and they were quite friendly. I was asked multiple times if I was being helped and nobody seemed to mind my questions. I'll probably be back again to purchase another firearm in another month and change depending on NICS. Thanks again RTSP.

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I'm a member there and have had a positive relationship with them. In the past few months they have had to deal with a mob in the store half the time due to the panic buying going on, while at the same time having to work twice as hard to obtain goods to sell. I'm going in a bit less lately because of the crowds, not the employees. I would recommend the place but hey, I'd like the crowds to disperse. :-)

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I'm a hotel manager and can sometimes be a service snob. I stopped in for a quick purchase expecting the same sub par service I received in the past. Boy was I wrong! Courteous, professional and anticipated my needs. 10 out of 10 for my last visit...

 

Sorry to hear about the dip spitter...was hoping to see it for myself.

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Glad to see you guys on the forum. I've only had positive experiences with you guys except showing up a few times with an hour wait and then leaving:(

 

 

Sent from my hidden under ground bunker between Taco Bell and the dry cleaner

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Well I stopped by RTSP yesterday with 3 other buddies, one being a somerset country swat officer. This was out first time there and overall we had an enjoyable time. The wait time was minimal, considering it was 2pm- less then 10 minutes. The counter help was fantastic; sorry I forgot her name but she was the blonde-ish girl.

 

My only complaint was the price of ammo. Roughly 17 for a box of 9mm for members, but 27 for non members. Now I get the drive of supporting your member base, but that seemed out of line. Clearly if you can sell a box to a member for 17, you're not losing money, but to charge a non member 10/box more seemed unfair.

 

Just my .02

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Well I stopped by RTSP yesterday with 3 other buddies, one being a somerset country swat officer. This was out first time there and overall we had an enjoyable time. The wait time was minimal, considering it was 2pm- less then 10 minutes. The counter help was fantastic; sorry I forgot her name but she was the blonde-ish girl.

 

My only complaint was the price of ammo. Roughly 17 for a box of 9mm for members, but 27 for non members. Now I get the drive of supporting your member base, but that seemed out of line. Clearly if you can sell a box to a member for 17, you're not losing money, but to charge a non member 10/box more seemed unfair.

 

Just my .02

 

Although with the shortage 17 a box is a good price I would say the 10 premium to non members is rough unless the aim is to ensure continued stocks for members. I would still say 27 is steep.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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9mm is a hard topic as it relates to cost, especially nowadays with such limited availability. There are several different variables that go into the pricing of ammo that most of you could probably not give a rats ass about, but I will give some incite.

All distributors of ammo do not have a constant price scale across the board. For example: We have purchased CCI Independence 9mm FMJ for $8.99 all the way to $12.00. Now this ammo is listed at the range at $17.50 (member) and $25.95 (non-member). We have chosen not to adjust our margin on the ammo and just let the margin fluctuate with our cost.

 

Recent ammo shortages have forced us to buy whatever we can get our hands on. That said, we do have ammo that is in the $27.00 to $32.00 range, but most of that is "Home Defense" (hollow point) ammo and there is some ball thrown in there from federal that was a much higher cost to us than even the $12.00 CCI.

 

Ok, what does all this mean, our prices are higher because the type of ammo is higher. We as a company have always told our customers that ammo will always be cheeper online and if you can get it, get as much as you can. We are selling ammo at the same cost as we did when we opened in 2011 (less margin for us, but better and more consistent pricing for the customer).

 

Probably not going to get alot of sympathy on this one! LOL

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Actually having owned a retail business I will offer some sympathy. You are entitled to make your desired margin, and people are entitled to decide if they want to buy or not. Anyone that has a problem on these margins should ask themselves what they think the margin is on clothing, or fast food or most other retail goods that they purchase. Your margins are not out of line, and may actually be on the low side. Further, you are providing ammo as a service and are not trying to be a distribution house competing for bulk sales. Its sort like the media that likes to b'tch about Exxon and how much money they make, but they never look at the fact that while Exxon is huge their margins are much thinner than companies like P&G or Coke, and no one bitches about those guys. Bottom line, it is what it is.

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Actually having owned a retail business I will offer some sympathy. You are entitled to make your desired margin, and people are entitled to decide if they want to buy or not. Anyone that has a problem on these margins should ask themselves what they think the margin is on clothing, or fast food or most other retail goods that they purchase. Your margins are not out of line, and may actually be on the low side. Further, you are providing ammo as a service and are not trying to be a distribution house competing for bulk sales. Its sort like the media that likes to b'tch about Exxon and how much money they make, but they never look at the fact that while Exxon is huge their margins are much thinner than companies like P&G or Coke, and no one bitches about those guys. Bottom line, it is what it is.

 

Oh don't get me wrong, I'm all for an owner making his money. That's what America was built on. it's just the huge premium over member pricing that shocked me. I'm sure the owner is not losing money on the ammo at 17/box since its what other ranges a charging. If the owner is concerned about bulk sales, simply limit sales to 1 box, like other stores have done. Again, having been there just 1 time the pricing shocked me.

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9mm is a hard topic as it relates to cost, especially nowadays with such limited availability. There are several different variables that go into the pricing of ammo that most of you could probably not give a rats ass about, but I will give some incite.

All distributors of ammo do not have a constant price scale across the board. For example: We have purchased CCI Independence 9mm FMJ for $8.99 all the way to $12.00. Now this ammo is listed at the range at $17.50 (member) and $25.95 (non-member). We have chosen not to adjust our margin on the ammo and just let the margin fluctuate with our cost.

 

Recent ammo shortages have forced us to buy whatever we can get our hands on. That said, we do have ammo that is in the $27.00 to $32.00 range, but most of that is "Home Defense" (hollow point) ammo and there is some ball thrown in there from federal that was a much higher cost to us than even the $12.00 CCI.

 

Ok, what does all this mean, our prices are higher because the type of ammo is higher. We as a company have always told our customers that ammo will always be cheeper online and if you can get it, get as much as you can. We are selling ammo at the same cost as we did when we opened in 2011 (less margin for us, but better and more consistent pricing for the customer).

 

Probably not going to get alot of sympathy on this one! LOL

 

Any idea when you're going to get the regular 9mm back in? The last 3 times I was in all that was available was the finnochi(sp) frangible for $22.50. I'm not complaining just hoping to save a few bucks in the future.

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Ammo was supposed to loosen up after April 1. That is when all of the manufactures raised their prices. I was told that all the distributors where holding back large ammo dumps until then. Well I haven't seen anything but a few cases here or there since then, so no I really can't say.

As far as being surprised about the big disparity between members and non, yes we do give members a break. They are the cruks of a lot of our business and they should benefit from that.

I hope to have some more average prices ammo in the near future.

 

Thanks for the replies, it is all helpful and all taken with respect and consideration.

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Ammo was supposed to loosen up after April 1. That is when all of the manufactures raised their prices. I was told that all the distributors where holding back large ammo dumps until then. Well I haven't seen anything but a few cases here or there since then, so no I really can't say.

As far as being surprised about the big disparity between members and non, yes we do give members a break. They are the cruks of a lot of our business and they should benefit from that.

I hope to have some more average prices ammo in the near future.

 

Thanks for the replies, it is all helpful and all taken with respect and consideration.

Thank you for the reply. all in all it was a fun place and we did say we'll be back. wishing for continued success

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I have fun when I go to RTSP and It looks like they are doing well and I am happy for them.They have this one young woman who works the counter who may appear to come up short at times with you but she is just messing with you.I like the place and all my buddies are always asking me to take them their .

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I'll give a +1 to RTSP. Shot my first gun ever there about a year ago and have been back numerous times, always with perfectly acceptable results. Made my most recent purchase there...came in with permit in hand, knew what I wanted, and even on a busy Thursday night was out the door in 15 minutes.

 

Yes, they've gotten crazy busy in the last few months and sometimes seem a little overwhelmed, but I don't need hugs and kisses when I go there any more than I do when I go to Sports Authority or Kohl's or anyplace else. As long as my needs are met, I have no issue...and all year long, my needs have always been met.

 

I'm sure people have had less-than-stellar experiences there (same as anyplace else)...but I for one thank god a place like RTSP exists in this area. If not for them I never would have learned to shoot or gotten involved in this sport.

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+1 For them. Bought 1 gun, sent my father to get one, now my buddy from Texas will be ordering from them (no guns left there). I try to go to range during the off hours, like take my lunch at 2 o clock. Hopefully won't have to do that once they build some more lanes.

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Thank you all for the kind words, we are truly trying to make the business work for everyone. As far as inventory, I am awaiting the information to become a vendor/sponsor on the forum and then I will begin posting our dailey inventory much like we do on our FB page. I feel kind of awkward posting it now being that we have not contributed to this very important media in several months.

 

On that note, I am not sure how to handle posting of our prices in that I am sure not everyone will be completely satisfied (ever) with prices on everything. I would love some thoughts on that from you all. I personally feel that if an item catches your eye, it is easiest to just call the store for pricing. (Just a thought).

 

Thanks again for all the input.

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Peter, why not just update pricing and inventory on your own website instead. That way you can just post links here and on facebook that go back to your own site and don't violate any issues FB might have as you are free to do whatever you want on your www.rtsponline.com site.

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Yea that is something we are working on. Our POS system allows us to do that, but we are currently focusing on the buildout and once that is complete, we will be pushing the web app version of not only our inventory, but range wait times etc...

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Some newbies working there. Won't go into details but very rude.

Why can't retail firearms places act like normal freakin people and not have an attitude???

 

I've been there 3 times. Twice for a purchase/pickup, once for shooting. My only gripe, if you can call it a gripe, is that the place has been crazy-insane busy every time. Can't blame them for that. The lady with the pallindromic name who took care of me all three times was extremely pleasant, even though the day I picked up my S&W 617 she was constantly being badgered by customers and her colleagues.

 

Sometimes people confuse "business-like" with "unfriendly." Be cool. Put yourself in their shoes.

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