First and probably last visit to Gilbert Indoor Range

[chilipeppermaniac]

Rather than coming back and saying, "I had no idea that your wife felt she was snubbed, and felt that it happened because she was a woman - I'll make sure to confer with my staff to mitigate that sort of thing from happening again." Or you could have said something to the effect of, "I'd like to offer our apologies - we had no idea regarding the turnout we were going to have, and our staff was overwhelmed at times - please give us another chance to show you that we really are a business who cares about our customers." You could have even gotten together with them in a Private Message and offered them another round of free range time as a means to show them that you do care about them as people and as customers.

You didn't do any of those things. Instead, you came on here and berated the customer for what was clearly an unsatisfactory experience on their end due to deficiencies on yours. It doesn't matter if those deficiencies were intentional or not - from the perspective of the customer, they happened, and it seems to me that FN509Fan was pretty reasonable in their expectations. You had a golden opportunity to come on here and make it right, and you could have handled it any number of ways that would have worked out in everyone's favor - not only with FN509Fan, but with the rest of us reading this thread, some of whom are close enough to be patrons in your establishment. Instead, you criticized and berated the customer and attempted to put it on them for their lack of understanding and appreciation for the event you CHOSE to host.

Again, it's all about mindset and attitude, and how you chose to approach a customer. We live in an area where we have choices about where and how to spend our money, and customer service and support is paramount. People in the firearms community are not generally very tolerant of what they perceive to be poor customer service.

There are entire lengthy threads dedicated to the customer service of the ranges and shops that are focused on gun owners and hunters - Select Fire, Continental Arms, Cindy's Hot Shots, On Target (now also owned by Cindy's) and Worth a Shot are a few that immediately come to mind. We care about it enough that we create threads on it and discuss it. With that in mind, I just think you approach should have been conciliatory rather than accusatory.

One other thing Gilbert missed the chance to address, and I am not meaning it as a pile on Gilbert and the Range post, but where FN509fan experienced a potentially life taking incident at the hands of one participant, THIS needed to be acknowledged and commented on in order to reassure FN509fan, me, trickg, any and all MDS members and ALL other shooters of the community that might frequent Gilbert's that all proper measures would be put forth to train and provide RO's so that there will be a 0% occurrence of Death/accidental shooting by poor firearms control.

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

Brass BELLS! I'm a trumpet player!

I purposely left my wording open for interpretation as I knew YOU would catch that.

 

[trickg]

One other thing Gilbert missed the chance to address, and I am not meaning it as a pile on Gilbert and the Range post, but where FN509fan experienced a potentially life taking incident at the hands of one participant, THIS needed to be acknowledged and commented on in order to reassure FN509fan, me, trickg, any and all MDS members and ALL other shooters of the community that might frequent Gilbert's that all proper measures would be put forth to train and provide RO's so that there will be a 0% occurrence of Death/accidental shooting by poor firearms control.

That's a valid point. I mentioned the various other threads about other ranges in the area, and one of the common themes was people getting flagged at On Target.

To be fair, I've seen some wacky things at On Target, and even a diligent RO can't prevent ignorance when it rears it's head. One day I was in there with one of my kids when the guy from the couple in the lane over had a malfunction with his 1911. He was literally pointing at his gal's back while he was working to clear it. I yelled at him - "STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" He looked all surprised - he had no clue he was doing anything wrong until I loudly let him know. At that point I packed up and left because I didn't feel like getting ventilated that day.

Apparently Gilbert's has their own in-house range safety test. (I learned about this while going through their Google reviews - that's some entertaining reading.) I don't know if this was in effect for the first responders for the open house that day though.

 

[Squaregrouper]

I always skip the 1 star reviews when researching a product, as they typically have a vendetta. The 2 star reviews tend to be the enlightening critical reviews.
When the vendor replies negatively to criticism then I likely won't purchase from them. We saw that here.

 

[outrider58]

So the next MDS meetup is at Gilbert's Indoor Range?

View attachment 420085

That would be up to alfabrew

 

[Occam]

Meh. Every retail style operation of every kind has good and bad days, good and bad front-line employees that need straightening out sometimes, I get it. But:

As someone who lives in Montgomery County, I'd be delighted to occasionally patronize a range that can itself tolerate operating in this hostile place. I'll give Gilbert's credit for that. But three visits in a row for me were characterized by straight up rude face-to-face behavior from the moment I walked in, bordering on spoken disdain for my wanting to spend money there. Each time it was me prepping to show a different new shooter the ropes, and each time we ended up turning around and leaving - and making an hour and a half round trip drive to someplace that demonstrably wanted our business. Schlepping up to Frederick or over to the NRA range in Fairfax isn't a hardship when the staff plainly understands that repeat business IS the business model.

I'm a pleasant enough guy and very slow to boil on manners-related matters. Someone has to work pretty hard to run me out of their geographically convenient/unique business. Gibert's mastered that for me three-for-three, permanently losing my business and likely that of the three new MoCo-based first-time shooters I was hoping to turn into 2A-loving folks feeling the kindred spirit of local gun shops and a nearby range they could take themselves to. What a waste of time, gas, and more importantly, good will in a county where diplomacy surrounding 2A stuff couldn't possibly be more important.

Am I piling on to a thread based on a single anecdote? Maybe. But I was piled-onto three visits in a row and had my fill. Life's too short to have started a thread about it, but if the range's management is still reading this thread, I hope they take away an understanding that the hard work (!) of encouraging their staff to simply be civil is a minor investment up against years of revenue from multiple local shooters who DO talk about their experiences online. Hard to imagine that lesson is so lost on some operations in the age of online reviews.

 

[RFBfromDE]

I come from the Old School.

Basil Faulty was my mentor.

 

[adit]

I'm sure "Gilbert" is under a lot of pressure. With that can come some frustration. Thin skin running a business is not a good thing. Defending yourself is a natural reaction.

Everyone should be happy there is another range they have as an option. I'm sure they made a huge investment in the place, and continue to do so.

Give them a break and be thankful you have somewhere to go. Every day is a learning experience for everyone.

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

Meh. Every retail style operation of every kind has good and bad days, good and bad front-line employees that need straightening out sometimes, I get it. But:

As someone who lives in Montgomery County, I'd be delighted to occasionally patronize a range that can itself tolerate operating in this hostile place. I'll give Gilbert's credit for that. But three visits in a row for me were characterized by straight up rude face-to-face behavior from the moment I walked in, bordering on spoken disdain for my wanting to spend money there. Each time it was me prepping to show a different new shooter the ropes, and each time we ended up turning around and leaving - and making an hour and a half round trip drive to someplace that demonstrably wanted our business. Schlepping up to Frederick or over to the NRA range in Fairfax isn't a hardship when the staff plainly understands that repeat business IS the business model.

I'm a pleasant enough guy and very slow to boil on manners-related matters. Someone has to work pretty hard to run me out of their geographically convenient/unique business. Gibert's mastered that for me three-for-three, permanently losing my business and likely that of the three new MoCo-based first-time shooters I was hoping to turn into 2A-loving folks feeling the kindred spirit of local gun shops and a nearby range they could take themselves to. What a waste of time, gas, and more importantly, good will in a county where diplomacy surrounding 2A stuff couldn't possibly be more important.

Am I piling on to a thread based on a single anecdote? Maybe. But I was piled-onto three visits in a row and had my fill. Life's too short to have started a thread about it, but if the range's management is still reading this thread, I hope they take away an understanding that the hard work (!) of encouraging their staff to simply be civil is a minor investment up against years of revenue from multiple local shooters who DO talk about their experiences online. Hard to imagine that lesson is so lost on some operations in the age of online reviews.

Well, this is definitely and on point, valid point, and point taken assessment of a large enough sample size to warrant the critique.
Thanks for sharing, Occam. Sorry you and the new shooters experienced this.

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

I'm sure "Gilbert" is under a lot of pressure. With that can come some frustration. Thin skin running a business is not a good thing. Defending yourself is a natural reaction.

Everyone should be happy there is another range they have as an option. I'm sure they made a huge investment in the place, and continue to do so.

Give them a break and be thankful you have somewhere to go. Every day is a learning experience for everyone.

Not piling on again, but if Gilbert can see the very real complaints here,. maybe he will take measures to improve.

 

[adit]

Not piling on again, but if Gilbert can see the very real complaints here,. maybe he will take measures to improve.

I'm sure he will. Don't know the guy. Ranges are a PITA to get started and keep running. I hate to see any of them not make it.

Here in LSD, prior to a few months ago (before Best Guns in Lewes opened), we had to drive 45 minutes+ to the indoor range in Dover or 30 to Georgetown to shoot outdoors with the cats and mosquitos.

It's for the best that both they and MDS don't alienate each other.

 

[Alan3413]

Please share your crystal ball to predict the staff needed and to make it pretty simple for me too.

Whelp, I've never been there, and now I never will.

 

[doggyjacket]

I don’t know what time this all happened but I was there Sunday and they were definitely busy. I’ve never really had any feelings about Gilbert’s one way or another. I only stopped going because buying their ammo was expensive. I found out recently I could bring my own ammo and started going again. Sure, some of their staff may be gruff or terse but I’ve had decent service and there are a couple that are definitely friendly and will chat you up if they have time. Like someone else said, every person/business has their good and bad days and their friendly or all business staff. Personally, I’ve never felt disrespected or slighted or talked down to. That said, Gilberts probably needs to cool it a bit in this thread.

 

[Biggfoot44]

I think there is still a way out of this where everyone comes away feeling ok, but it isn't there yet.

Gilbert's has a quasi - captive audience of several hundred K people who live within 15 minute radius , And are not inclined to travel to Fredrick , Forestville or Owings Mills when there is a range nearby .

Said population also overlaps with those with no other shooting venue experience , and they're largely satisfied.

In the big picture , it's better to have a Range existing in MoCo than not .

 

[babalou]

We are a little taken back on your critical post on Maryland Shooters forum from your visit for the free-range time on our First Responder & Volunteer Appreciation Day. Instead of a thank you for opening our range free of charge, showing our appreciation to you guys, we got criticized.

This event was a non-commercial activity to show our appreciation to our first responders and community volunteers that dedicate their time to our fellow citizens. This was a free social gathering of first responders and volunteers, and for other volunteer organizations to get to know each other.

How would you feel if you invited me to your house for a barbeque, and I later complained to my friends that the hamburgers were overcooked, and I had to wait 10 minutes for my free meal? I am sorry that you had to wait 10 minutes to check the integrity of the ammo and that the parking lot was full.

The session was exclusively open to first responders and volunteers and not open to our general membership, it was just for people like you that have a common interest in firearms and volunteering. We had limited staff on hand that we had to pay out of our own pocket, plus the expense of running the lights and ventilation system. Plus, we had no clue how many people would come in for the free session. However, it is not all about money.

There were more 2 women, we had over 8 women participating in the event, and they were most appreciative of our service and our assistance while they were on the range. (Free of charge), some of who were first time shooters.

I do not know of any range in the area including MSAR that will open their range and services to you free of charge. Again, it is not all about the money.

The side that we put you on is still under construction waiting for the glass panels and skins for the booths.

Also, I hope you were able to enjoy the free donuts, bagels and coffee that we provided.

Best regards,
G

wow you are what you eat. Customer is always wrong at Gilbert's.

 

[Biggfoot44]

[QUOTE="4g64loser, post: 7130668, member: 320"

Ranges (except for private clubs) are for-profit businesses. The VERY few that existed could, for some time, do just fine at any level of service due to their mere presence/lack of competition. In the central MD market, there is now greater competition with new indoor ranges opening in more recent years. This will either result in shift of market share or modification of business structure. Not specific to gilbert's in any way, just the facts of the market in the area.
[/QUOTE]

Maybe I blinked . What new Ranges in lower MoCo ?

 

[zx10guy]

I'm sure he will. Don't know the guy. Ranges are a PITA to get started and keep running. I hate to see any of them not make it.

Here in LSD, prior to a few months ago (before Best Guns in Lewes opened), we had to drive 45 minutes+ to the indoor range in Dover or 30 to Georgetown to shoot outdoors with the cats and mosquitos.

It's for the best that both they and MDS don't alienate each other.

Getting anything related to firearms going in Montgomery County is worse than an act of Congress. While this is not a real firearms range, I was tracking the drama with an airsoft range called Tactical Airsoft Arena in Rockville. The County did everything they could to make it miserable for the owners to get permitting and such. I'm sure the County officials were hoping the owners would give up but they didn't.

I'm sure the same applies if not even worse for Gilbert's.

I've been to Gilbert's once as a Groupon promo many many years ago. My experience then was pleasant. But I am a bit alarmed by how Gilbert's responded in this thread. I would have liked to have gone to the event being a former first responder.

 

[4g64loser]

[QUOTE="4g64loser, post: 7130668, member: 320"

Ranges (except for private clubs) are for-profit businesses. The VERY few that existed could, for some time, do just fine at any level of service due to their mere presence/lack of competition. In the central MD market, there is now greater competition with new indoor ranges opening in more recent years. This will either result in shift of market share or modification of business structure. Not specific to gilbert's in any way, just the facts of the market in the area.

Maybe I blinked . What new Ranges in lower MoCo ?
[/QUOTE]
Never said lower moco.

I said central MD.

And I am a definite outlier in that I am happy to drive two hours to shoot outdoors in an environment where the kind of stupid OP describes will result in ejection.

 

[Biggfoot44]

Gotcha .

But that won't effect the Range being discussed in this thread .

The population within 5 mile radius of Rockville is 350K .

 

[eruby]

If it must be Gilbert, let it be O'Sullivan