Dick's Sporting Goods

A quick follow-up on my earlier Dick's rant (the one about the Millbury store which had been out of "state forms" when I'd tried to make a gun purchase):

A couple weeks back (on the MA tax-free weekend), I decided to give Dick's one more chance. I called down to the Millbury store, and spoke to the store manager about the situation. He turned around and transferred my call back to the gun dept., where the guy behind the counter informed me that, after two weeks, they were still out of the state forms. When I offered to bring an FA-10 of my own with me, he refused along the lines that their forms were custom printed, and the form numbers were serialized to their store. I figured that this was almost definitely BS, but wasn't about to argue the point. Instead, I called around and found that the Natick store had the gun I was looking for, at a lower price than I'd originally tried to purchase it at, and the guy in the gun dept. promised that they had a couple of cases of forms on hand.

When I showed up, I stood around at the gun counter for about 15 minutes waiting for a clerk to wander within shouting distance. Finally, I called the store and said I had a question for "The Lodge", and a few minutes later, someone came by to take my call. It took a long time to get through the sale due to the stream of people jumping in to ask questions while we were filling out forms (My favorite: A guy who wanted black fly repellent, who walked up and demanded "Do you have anything against black flies"? Clerk's response: "Yeah. I hate 'em".), but the clerk got me through the ordeal. In the end, I walked out with the gun I wanted, at a better price than I thought I'd have gotten for it.

Even though I'm satisfied with my purchase (a no-frills O/U for casual skeet and clays), I'm not sure that my savings were really worth the effort. Next time around, I will definitely take my money to one of the several great local dealers with whom I've done business in the past.
 
Here's a good one, about a month ago I walked up to the gun counter at the WestSpringfield Dick's and asked for 6 boxes of 40 ammo. The kid just handed them to me and said "ok just go to the check out line". I went to the check out line and paid for them. Never once was I asked for an ID an LTC or even an FID at the gun shop or the check out.

Now I've bought from them alot and most times there good, this time they were real bad [grin].

I have also walked out with only paying for one box of ammo and had many in hand, I even asked if they where sure they charged me right and they said "yup all set" so I just keeped walking.
 
I have also walked out with only paying for one box of ammo and had many in hand, I even asked if they where sure they charged me right and they said "yup all set" so I just keeped walking.

I had the exact opposite experience last week. I stopped in at the Worcester location. I picked up a case of clays. I waited in line for 10+ minutes (only 1 register open) while the cashier signed everyone up for their rewards program. She gave them the form and waited until they had it completely filled out before helping the next person! When she scanned the box of clays she actually asked me "how many are in the box?". She wanted to charge me $6.99 x 90 or $629.10 for the box! I had to explain to her that $6.99 was for the entire box. I don't think I'll be visiting Dicks again any time soon.
 
I had the exact opposite experience last week. I stopped in at the Worcester location. I picked up a case of clays. I waited in line for 10+ minutes (only 1 register open) while the cashier signed everyone up for their rewards program. She gave them the form and waited until they had it completely filled out before helping the next person! When she scanned the box of clays she actually asked me "how many are in the box?". She wanted to charge me $6.99 x 90 or $629.10 for the box! I had to explain to her that $6.99 was for the entire box. I don't think I'll be visiting Dicks again any time soon.

Same thing happened to me--see my post #11 in this thread. But honestly, who cares? Yes, they're incompetent but you pay cheap prices like at Dick's don't expect any service. When buying clay targets I'm alright with that.
 
Same thing happened to me--see my post #11 in this thread. But honestly, who cares? Yes, they're incompetent but you pay cheap prices like at Dick's don't expect any service. When buying clay targets I'm alright with that.

Sorry, I didn't see that post. I can understand the case vs individual proce. What I mind was the fact that there was only 1 register open. A manager was standing there doing nothing. There were slowing everyone down with their rewards program. They could/should have asked the person to step aside and fill out the application. If I want a cheap price and bad customer service I'll just go to the Hudson Walmart and get my supplies there. It's closer to me and no sales tax.
 
When I offered to bring an FA-10 of my own with me, he refused along the lines that their forms were custom printed, and the form numbers were serialized to their store. I figured that this was almost definitely BS, but wasn't about to argue the point..

While the rest of it sure sounds like BS, that part is actually true, at least based on what I've heard from another friendly and competent FFL dealer in Mass. (I offered to bring some completed FA-10s to speed up my part of a certain recent group order.)
 
If I want a cheap price and bad customer service I'll just go to the Hudson Walmart and get my supplies there.



Thats intreasting, all the WalMarts around here no longer sell ammo and most of them have a real small shooting/hunting section it's a joke to shop there for shooting stuff.
 
I went to the Dick's at Square One Mall in Saugus a few months ago, also last time I will ever go there. I asked the guy working the gun counter if I could have a look at a gun they had, and he asks me for my FID card. I tell the guy I wasn't planning on coming there, which I was but never thought about an FID, and I don't have it with me. The salesman then tells me I can't see any guns without it. I offered to let him hold my license and a credit card while I look at the gun, or even if he will just put it on the counter and I won't even touch it. So, he then tells me he isn't unlocking anything without my FID. Now I am getting a little aggravated. I then ask him why I can't see the gun and explain that I drove 75 miles to get there and would really like to see it. Now this is where I start wanting to beat him like the little girl that he is. He tells me he doesn't have to let me see anything and that I could just hit him over the head and steal the gun if he takes it down. And proceeds to tell me that little punks like me come in there causing problems all the time, and I wasn't doing that to him. Now I am 27, and far from a little punk. I dress nice and speak well, and never have been treated like that in my life! I will never go into that store again for the rest of my life. I would like to spit in that guy's face, but I won't lower myself.
 
All big box stores are the same....its hit or miss you may get some one knowledgeable you may not...I had great service at Walmart yes Walmart...they stick any warm body in those depts. if they don't have someone knowledgeably on hand...

I'm headed to Dicks soon to look at safes..should be an interesting experience...hope the Concord, NH store isn't stocked with morons
 
There's little point in asking to handle a gun at Dick's, they don't take the trigger locks off!
 
The last time I was at Dick's in Leominster the kid (he had big black plastic rings streched in his ears) that was at the counter seemed very knowledgeable about the guns & ammo. They didn't have a big selection that day, but we talked for about 20 minutes, he was telling me what he had at home.
 
I've gotten the "license please" crap at every MA gun shop I visited when I've asked to see a gun. I figured it was a consequence of the laws. Being from NH, I don't have the proper paper work.
 
NO FID/LTC

Hey Kenny 474,whats your bitch? you didnt have your L.T.C. or F.I.D. with you,I wouldnt expect anybody thats 75 miles from my house to show me any guns or ammo either if no ticky in possesion. That license should be in your wallet right next to your drivers license.The guy behind the counter is just trying to do his job, give him a break, plus when you started to get pissed the conversation would have ended right then. Do you even have a license? the employee doesnt know who you are, for all he knows this could be a set-up with his job on the line, learn from your mistakes and dont let it happen again![wink]
 
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Hey Kenny 474,whats your bitch? you didnt have your L.T.C. or F.I.D. with you,I wouldnt expect anybody thats 75 miles from my house to show me any guns or ammo either if no ticky in possesion.that license should be in your wallet right next to your drivers license.The guy behind the counter is just trying to do his job, give him a break,plus when you started to get pissed the conversation would have ended right then. Do you even have a license? the employee doesnt who you are, for all he knows this could be a set-up with his job on the line,learn from your mistakes and dont let it happen again![wink]

+1 That's their policy, no license, no gun.
 
I went to the Dick's at Square One Mall in Saugus a few months ago, also last time I will ever go there. I asked the guy working the gun counter if I could have a look at a gun they had, and he asks me for my FID card. I tell the guy I wasn't planning on coming there, which I was but never thought about an FID, and I don't have it with me. The salesman then tells me I can't see any guns without it. I offered to let him hold my license and a credit card while I look at the gun, or even if he will just put it on the counter and I won't even touch it. So, he then tells me he isn't unlocking anything without my FID. Now I am getting a little aggravated. I then ask him why I can't see the gun and explain that I drove 75 miles to get there and would really like to see it. Now this is where I start wanting to beat him like the little girl that he is. He tells me he doesn't have to let me see anything and that I could just hit him over the head and steal the gun if he takes it down. And proceeds to tell me that little punks like me come in there causing problems all the time, and I wasn't doing that to him. Now I am 27, and far from a little punk. I dress nice and speak well, and never have been treated like that in my life! I will never go into that store again for the rest of my life. I would like to spit in that guy's face, but I won't lower myself.

Huh. Maybe both Dick's AND their customers are to be avoided. [thinking]
 
Dicks

I went to the Dick's at Square One Mall in Saugus a few months ago, also last time I will ever go there. I asked the guy working the gun counter if I could have a look at a gun they had, and he asks me for my FID card. I tell the guy I wasn't planning on coming there, which I was but never thought about an FID, and I don't have it with me. The salesman then tells me I can't see any guns without it. I offered to let him hold my license and a credit card while I look at the gun, or even if he will just put it on the counter and I won't even touch it. So, he then tells me he isn't unlocking anything without my FID. Now I am getting a little aggravated. I then ask him why I can't see the gun and explain that I drove 75 miles to get there and would really like to see it. Now this is where I start wanting to beat him like the little girl that he is. He tells me he doesn't have to let me see anything and that I could just hit him over the head and steal the gun if he takes it down. And proceeds to tell me that little punks like me come in there causing problems all the time, and I wasn't doing that to him. Now I am 27, and far from a little punk. I dress nice and speak well, and never have been treated like that in my life! I will never go into that store again for the rest of my life. I would like to spit in that guy's face, but I won't lower myself.

The salesman sounds like he is burned out,however,even if he wasn't,no gun store in Mass. is allowed to let you handle any firearms without proof of the proper license.
 
no gun store in Mass. is allowed to let you handle any firearms without proof of the proper license.

While I agree the poster is being whiny, and most dealers, fairly enough, want to see a license before letting you handle a gun, it is not true they aren't allowed to let you handle a gun without a license. C. 140 § 129C(m) allows handling a gun at a dealer for examination without needing a license.
 
While I agree the poster is being whiny, and most dealers, fairly enough, want to see a license before letting you handle a gun, it is not true they aren't allowed to let you handle a gun without a license. C. 140 § 129C(m) allows handling a gun at a dealer for examination without needing a license.

You may have a valid point in line M.However,I have never met a dealer who interprets it as you do.
 
You may have a valid point in line M.However,I have never met a dealer who interprets it as you do.

The time it most often comes up is when a new shooter wants to check out their options before their license comes in. Some of the more service oriented dealers will recognize the value of allowing them to handle the guns in this situation, and there is nothing legally preventing it.

Course there are also the dealers who just don't give a crap, and I've been to one in particular, whose name I won't mention, that allowed me to handle whatever I wanted and even purchase ammo without ever even asking if I had a license (which is definitely illegal).
 
FID or not the salesman was a dick. He had an attitude when I said I forgot my FID, and snapped when I tried to explain the situation. He never should have accused me of planning to beat him with a gun. But I guess I deserve to be treated like shit. I drove 75 miles to Saugus from Dick's in Newington NH after being told the gun I was going to order was in stock in Saugus and I could see it in person there. I was told to go there by a Dick's employee, I figured it was OK. If the salesman didn't have an attitude and was decent to me I wouldn't complain, even if I didn't see the gun. I'll stick to the great state of NH, where an ID will get you a gun.
 
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The salesman sounds like he is burned out,however,even if he wasn't,no gun store in Mass. is allowed to let you handle any firearms without proof of the proper license.
You need to get out to more gun stores, like Callaghan's. OTOH, I've bought so many guns from Richie that he pretty well KNOWS that I have an FID, so maybe that's not accurate. Still, I've never seen him ask anyone ELSE for an FID before letting them look, either.
 
Dicks Sporting Goods is not a gun shop - it's a gun department in a sporting goods store. Those on this board who have interacted with me there, will tell you I do my best to make it feel like a gun shop, but that's a little like making a Caprice feel like a Cadillac - nice ride, but not the same. The person behind the counter may have as much interest, (or as litte), in guns as they do soccer balls. Even at the Dicks in Pittsfield, I'm known as the only true "gun guy", (and I'm part time). My field of knowledge is broad around firearms, kayaks, canoes and anything camping gear. Just don't ask me about fishing tackle.... [wink] If you're looking for a "gun shop experience" at Dicks Sporting Goods, you'll likely not find it too often. Dicks Sporting Goods is a retailer that offers value for your dollar and you won't always find service or knowledge to go with it, (for a variety of reasons). There are also policies in place, (trigger locks, no FID no lookie, double check paperwork, etc.), that are over and above state law. I may or may not agree with them, but they are there for liability purposes on a corporate level. Loss of an FFL at DSG = millions.....If you don't like it, don't shop there....Plenty of people will be there to take your place....
 
The time it most often comes up is when a new shooter wants to check out their options before their license comes in. Some of the more service oriented dealers will recognize the value of allowing them to handle the guns in this situation, and there is nothing legally preventing it.

Yup. McElhiney's, for all that some people love to hate 'em, was willing to let me handle and put a deposit down for something when I'd just moved here and was waiting for papers. I think I've seen Carl at Four Seasons do the same for a shopper from out-of-state. (Yeah, coming to Mass. to buy guns is kind of weird, but FS does get some interesting oddballs in from time to time, and shipping guns between dealers really isn't that hard or expensive.)
 
No posts lately. My wife has wanted her own deer, turkey shotgun. I've shown her options at different places. She was in Attleboro store this week looking for clearance clothes. She left with a clearance Remington Shurshot 870, camo, 12 ga, Super Magnum on clearance. Leftover model, good price, has all camo. New model has camo just on the stock and forearm.

She said it went well, took some time as salesman was showing manager how to do it.

Dana
 
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