I just wanted to vent and this is a great place to find out what other people think. There’s this LHS in my area that is only open short hours a night from 6:30pm to 9 or so. It’s not the hours of operation that got to me it was the lack of customer service. I walked into the LHS to find one person inside at the front of the store working (I think?) on the store layout, I said hello to this person and got no response. Ok, I’m still ok with this he’s running his trains. I spent the next 5 or 10 min. looking around making a list of things that I would really like to get, but there was this one thing that I just could not find so I went back up to the front to ask if he had it for sale. Still running his trains around the tracks he tells me if he has it that it would be over there pointing to the back of the store. I looked did not see it so I went back up front with a new way of thinking. Lets talk about this wonderful layout that he is working on this way I will get his attention.
Wrong… I tried first a nice comment then a question and this blockhead just kept on blowing me off!
That was that I walked out to never return. One other thing that just boggled my mind, every train was out of their boxes either on a shelf or sitting on a box on the floor all LIONEL just getting dusty. He only sells trains at this LHS nothing but trains I wonder how he does it? [xx(]
I hate stores like that. The hobby shop that’s easiest for me to get to, usually only has one guy working there, and I always feel like I’m bothering him. I’ve also been totally ignored when I mentioned that there was something I neede, that they were out of. Their other store (it’s a local chain) usually has at least two people working, and they always make you feel like they’re happy to see you again.
Then there’s Hobbytown USA. I’ve never had another store try so hard, to get me to spend my money someplace else.
Find their e-mail or snail mail address, and send a copy of your post addressed to “Manager”. The jerk playing with trains may be a $5.00 an hour clerk who does not get paid on commission, so customer service means nothing to him. If he is the owner, perhaps your message will waken him up as to why customers are staying away.
Bob Boudreau
Hobby Lobby (Edm AB) - staff/owner fairly surly at best (and don’t seem to be in any hurry to help anyone), used overpriced stock obviously not part of the Hobby Lobby chain in the U.S (I went there several times so it wasn’t an “off day”). Round House sales (Edm AB) the staff are a bit abrasive, but they get what I want on order compared to a couple of the other local hobby shops with the staff that are eager to please but take their sweet old time ordering items that are easily obtainable elsewhere (internet hobby shops, ebay, manufacturer websites) even with prepaying the entire purchase price. As long as the staff are effective at getting my order(s) in a reasonable amount of time I can live with an ornery streak over eager to please and no action.
This guy sounds like a part time operation.
He gets his trains at the wholesale rate and gets to write off his layout as a business expense. Now if only he could figure out a way to keep those bothersome customers away - oh wait he has figured out a way, don’t provide service.[:(]
Enjoy
Paul
With the short business hours, it sounds like the person is using the hobby shop disguise just to get trains at a wholesale price for his own enjoyment. The simplest answer to the problem is, shop elsewhere.
Maybe the store is just a storage area for his Internet store. Some manufacturers only will sell to stores, not home based Internet stores, that could be his way around that and it could explain why he is only open for a short time during the day.
That sucks.
Most LHS are owned by people who are very much into the hobby. Some figured that they could indeed get stuff for themselves and make some $$$ by owning a store (in their spare time). Too many of them have no business savey or customer service knowledge. Some don’t care to as in your case.
Guess I am one of the really lucky ones since I have an excellent (but small) LHS in Geneva, NY that stocks most common items and will order anything you need for you. They often get it into the store faster than ordering it direct from Walther’s or the internet places. They also will call you as soon as the order is in. Friendly, helpful service and a place I spend all too much of my time and money. They treat the customer well. It is also owned by a model train enthusiast who has some good business sense.
I agree with Greyryder, Hobbytown USA stores try very hard to send you to other stores, that is the case here too! I will not buy from our local hobbytown USA store they are ARROGANT and do not have to be bothered by customers! Several smaller stores here have bent over backwards to accomodate my needs. Hobbytown USA evidently doesn’t want my money!
To think that some people run their households the same way!
If I feel that I am being treated indifferently, I attempt to have it made clear that that is the intent. I ALWAYS ask the clerk if they are interested in serving me…with exactly those words. If they get huffy, I explain to them that I would not have asked the question if I had the clear and positive feeling that I was a valued customer. Then, I leave, always wishing the person a good day.
…then he doesn’t deserve your business! I have three LHSs in my area (all a 1/2 hour drive for me.) that are all good and helpful, and I give them 90% of my hobby business. Like the neghborhood Ace Hardware store, I’ll give them the extra business for the small stuff (over Home Depot or Lowe’s) in order to keep them afloat.
Tom
FWIW, Hobbytown USA is a franchise, in other words, each store independently owned, not some ‘corporation’ that owns/manages all the stores. They actually have some pretty stringent guidelines/rules on running their stores (I looked into franchising it), but very little oversight other than the honor system (and, one would hope, self-interest by store owners who’d like to do business).
I mention it only because my local Hobbytown USA is quite good and I don’t think we should ba***hem all based on a few bad apples… Then again, maybe it’s mostly bad apples with the “nice shiny ones” like mine being the rarity? YMMV, but if it’s your only or one-of-few options, might be worth a trip so see if you have a good apple or a bad one…
Interesting topic - I’ve yet to go into a hobby store that was as bad as some of these. I wonder if some of those mentioned mainly deal by mail order - I have one LHS that specialises in large scale, they frequently keep odd opening hours and sometimes don’t open at all on a given day. In that situation it’s worth phoning ahead to check!
my LHS is a good run bussiness.It is small but the man that owns it is freindly and knoledegble, he will order anithing you want for you.He will let you run the store layouts. Also his prices are very compettive!!! Tim
Getting creative are we?
6-30 to 9 pm? means he has a day job.
All dusty Lionel sitting around, sure its an actual hobby shop and not some guy using a storefront to build his layout or a club layout that you just happened to wander into? Did you actually pay for something? Sounds wierd to me but I live where rental spaces are pricy.
Retail space is expensive unless its in a crappy part of town. Sounds like a guy whos spending up his Uncle Joey’s inheritance to pay for the place, using the pretext of a dealer to buy stuff at wholesale prices then using it for his own little kingdom, or maybe a club or group operated layout thats using the space from the owner?
Still sounds odd to me…If its a single owner, wonder why the pretext of even selling to the public if service is going to be so poor?
Wow! A hobby shop that actually has convenient hours for those of us who work for a living! Amazing!
OK, I agree that the service level described is unacceptable (it sucks), but I think it would be great to have a hobby shop open during the evening. Nearly every shop I have dealt with in the past closes at 5:30, 6:00 or 6:30 pm on weeknights. If there’s something I need during the week, there is rarely time after work to get to the shop before they close. Obviously, the proprieter would like to be able to go home in the evening like everyone else and may not wi***o stay open into the later evening hours, but it sure would be easier for me if he had later hours.
One solution for this would be for shops to have one or two nights a week when they are open to 8 or 9 (and they can certainly open later in the day than usual to make it a 8-9 hour day for the shop owner).
Of course, most shops are open on Saturdays, and that’s when I usually visit them. I don’t know whether I would spend more money at a shop just because it was open late during the week, so maybe there’s no economic incentive for the shop to open late.
Tom
I guess I am very fortunate here in central Massachusetts, I have Henry’s Hobby , West Boylston, Mass., who has been here since the 40’s, Tucker’s in Warren, Mass., and if I want to drive a couple of hours, I have The Brass Caboose in Intervale, New Hampshire, and Maine Trains in Falmouth, Maine. Every one of these LHS were very helpful and social. Tucker’s had a stock that would choke a horse, plenty of everything, and if they didn’t have it, they would get it for you at competive prices with online. The Brass Caboose has a terrific stock also, and, many European models as well.
I think most of us who run our own business figure out in a hurry that we need to be professional. I hate to hear of people who have an attitude in retail because they turn so many people off. I had a bad deal at a couple of Hobbytowns because they were populated by younger people more interested in RC cars than old people looking for trains.
I love my LHS, but even there the service is spotty. The owners are great, but i think one of their BIL’s is also on staff and he is the prototypical unhappy camper. I tried being pleasent with no improvement so i just deal with it and go about my business and get out when he’s there. The point is unless you are just looking for a tax write off bad service will close you in a hurry every time. There are lots of alternatives to any store, and there are only so many new customers each year. The key is repeat business. It’s not your resposibility to train these guys so don’t be afraid to vote with your feet (out the door). J.R.