knife shops - yeesh

[fishface5]

I know this has been talked about before, but man those knife shop clerks can make you crazy. I was at a shop around Tacoma WA. The male clerk is trying to tell a girl who wants a $50 knife for her boyfriend that CRKT knives (in his display case) are crap, and she should go for the BM Griptillian - which is a great knife, but they want $95 for it! I try to ask her a few questions while the guy steps away, to help her out, but the clerk sees me talking so he has another clerk run interference.

She's an older lady who starts showing me Kershaw Chives as an office knife - I say I'm looking for something with better blade steel, she says "oh, you can't find better blade steel." I point out that this is not "technically," i.e. in any conceivable way, correct, and she blusters "well, there's lots worse!" I leave. But only after telling the first clerk he might like to check out Bladeforums, and he replies "I get my information from Blade magazine, an unbiased source."

Yikes. Thank goodness I come around here & get all that "biased" information, like reviews, reasonable prices for knives, learning about the difference between 440A and S30V, etc. etc.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Amazing that he even knew about Blade magazine! They were obviously only trying harder to sell what they had the biggest mark-up on.

 

[psdrew]

Tacoma...

That male clerk didn't refer to the knife as 'sweet' and you as 'dude' did he?

(edited to add color)

 

[Moondrop]

Originally posted by fishface5
I know this has been talked about before, but man those knife shop clerks can make you crazy. I was at a shop around Tacoma WA. The male clerk is trying to tell a girl who wants a $50 knife for her boyfriend that CRKT knives (in his display case) are crap, and she should go for the BM Griptillian - which is a great knife, but they want $95 for it! I try to ask her a few questions while the guy steps away, to help her out, but the clerk sees me talking so he has another clerk run interference.

I don't suppose she asked the clerk why on earth the store is selling "crap" and tell him she's gonna move on to a store that doesn't sell "crap" did she?
Idiot clerk.

Disclaimer: I'm not saying that's what CRKT is. I have two of their knives myself.

 

[yam]

Knife shops aren't the only ones like that. You ever been to Radio Shack, Circuit City, Best Buy, etc, etc, etc? Many of those poor clerks barely know what the sales literature says.

Like they say ...... "Buyer Beware."

Mike

 

[Ashes]

Please don't be biased toward knife shops. I'd never treat a customer like that. As stupid as some customers may be, I always try to make them look/feel less stupid. Being condescending doesn't sell anything.

And, if someone who truly does know more about knives than me comes in and tries to tell me something I don't know, I'll thank him/her, not feel insulted or annoyed. People respond much better to you when you can admit what you know and don't know. Of course, most people who come in here don't know ANYthing about knives, so I do get a lot of stupid (and often insulting) questions.

~ashes (nice knife store manager )

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Ashes, I think we all know there's a difference between an owner and an employee, especially an employee in a mall chain store where the premium in hiring is on getting a warm body to make correct change, and no one expects the customer to be real knowledgeable.

Even so, a few of our members have worked as that clerk, and made their own interest in knives lead them to treat customers as part of our club. I'm glad you do. It is never easy dealing with the public, but it's more fun than shuffling paper all day. And at least you get to play with knives for a living

 

[scfishr]

i have experinced the same deal in a knife shop-if the person you are dealing with is an employee- i think you owe it to the owner to let them know whats going on-if its the owner treating you like that- i would go eat some onions,canned baked beans, pickled pigs feet and drink a gallon of chocolate milk with a huge chunk of garlic and go back and look at every knife in the case and have plenty of questions-and then just run out of time and leave

 

[fishface5]

Uh, Ashes, if I was in your knife shop I imagine I'd just start stammering and hand you my wallet. Are you SURE you're not some trucker named Al? You look suspisciously fictional, like something that a lonely guy knife-nut would dream up: "I go to a knife store with all the latest toys, which of course happens to be run by this super-nice cute girl who's so helpful, and then I discover I've won the lottery, and then Tsui Hark calls and says he needs me to co-star in his next hong-kong cinema flick . . . . "

 

[Daniel Koster]

Unfortunately, I have had the similar experience in every knife shop I have been in. Even the more "knowledgable" places like Bass Pro Shops, etc. Forget Home Depot, Lowes, etc.

It's a shame that the lure of inexpensive (read teenage) sales clerks manning the counters has replaced truly knowledgable staff (who would actually sell more knives, even though they're more expensive to have) and become the norm.

Nevermind the markup...I don't mind markup as long as I feel like I've put that money toward a certain quality of service.

I'm sure, Ashes, you are the exception - and your customers certainly benefit.

It's like fancy restaurants. The food costs relatively the same. It's the great service that makes the difference. A restaurant I frequented in Savannah, GA had a great wait staff and they knew my name/face. I'd approach, and Mike would already be setting up a table. Walk right in, sit down, order. Of course, he always got a nice fat tip...