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What criteria should I use for choosing a PCP rifle dealer?

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OP - lots of good advice on this post for choosing your Dealer.

As to your original question, geographical proximity to where you live is nice, but not essential. SERVICE, RESPONSIVENESS & WARRANTY are the most important attributes for me, when I purchase a new air gun.

Before you give your credit card for that first new gun, ask the questions previously mentioned in this thread. Red flags for me are unreturned calls, emails, or not wanting to talk live on the phone when I need help.
 
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I have bought about 15 pcp rifles over the last decade. While I never had a bad expirence from any of the dealers, I will say that some of them are not very personable & lack good communiction skills. Some of them are grumpy. Some of them act like they are doing you a favor & can't wait to get you off the phone. So IMO i don't think you can go wrong with most of them, just don't expect all of them give a rats butt if you buy from them or not. To tell you the truth, a lot of companies are like this nowadays. 


 
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I cannot speak to other brands, but I have purchased 4 FX rifles from Ken Hicks at SPAW and have been very happy with his service. He was also very helpful when I was a newbie and gave excellent advice on the comparison between (for example) the Impact and the Wildcat (for both Compact and Sniper). Every gun comes tuned with a Chrono sheet showing velocities for a particular pellet as well as advice on what speed to shoot , say, Hybrid or other slugs.

I have also had excellent advice and service on my first FX Crown from Utah Airguns, so I can second them as well.

I have only ever purchased Marauders (2) from Pyramid Air. No problems, but nothing special either. To be fair, we are not talking about high end airguns here, so I also didn’t expect anything special.

Chris
 
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Primary places to go -

Georgia Airguns - one man shop, knows how to tune, very knowledgeable, and...is a nice guy. Takes the time to verify that your gun is what it's supposed to be, No leaks, can hit the bullseye, etc.

Airguns of Arizona - While you hardly ever talk to the same person, unless you write his name on something. Nice folks, They check your gun before shipping.

Utah Airguns - While you hardly ever talk to the same person, unless you write his name on something. Mostly nice folks, but can be a little pushy. They check your gun before shipping.

Secondary place to go -

Pyramyd Air - Very hit and miss with the sales, and the "help" guys. Not a normal place for guns, though the one's that I have bought from them have been good. You have to "pay extra" for the check / inspection that the other guys do as part of the basic price. If no one else has a gun, check Pyramyd. Good place to go for parts, other "things" and ammo.

Edgun West - Mostly a good experience, but has a habit of not answering emails or phone calls. Nice guy when you catch him in a good mood.

Bad experience - 

Talon Tunes - Shipped a badly broken gun case with an expensive rifle. Would not answer the phone (three calls), would not answer emails (three emails). I gave up. And yes, the gun case left his shop broken. The double "shipping box" was in VERY good condition. NO dents at all in the area of the broken corner of the plastic gun case.

No experience with a few other known shops.

MIke
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Just wow on the Talon Tunes. Good to know and glad I just canceled an FX from Tony.











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Which one? I'll buy it from Tony. 
 
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I have bought about 15 pcp rifles over the last decade. While I never had a bad expirence from any of the dealers, I will say that some of them are not very personable & lack good communiction skills. Some of them are grumpy. Some of them act like they are doing you a favor & can't wait to get you off the phone. So IMO i don't think you can go wrong with most of them, just don't expect all of them give a rats butt if you buy from them or not. To tell you the truth, a lot of companies are like this nowadays. 

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This post, and your words really hit “home” with me when I read this. It made me reflect and relate to my own life experiences. 

Prior to retiring ( IBM - 32 years and AT&T- 9 years ), I would sometimes get frustrated when some people would not be responsive and return phone calls or emails. Literally, not responding to necessary business and need to know requests for information. Additionally, the whole “attitude” and unprofessional email replies were more common than not. “Pick up the phone and talk, and stop throwing harsh sentiments via email,” is what I used to think. I was taught differently and I am grateful to my parents for instilling good manners and a work ethic that was expected in the work place. My father drummed this into me after getting my first career opportunity after college. 

The AG Dealers are pretty good, but can do better. There is always room for improvement. It doesn’t cost any money to make an effort to be nice and more importantly, responsive and professional. Whether a person buys a $300 gun or a $2000+ gun, both of these Customers should be treated the same. 



 
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For the OP. I'm not going to advise about a dealer. You have already received good advise. It is obvious you are new to the sport. You need to go into this sport with wide open eyes. It is very expensive and it will be even more so for you. You did state that you are many hours away from any dealer or scuba shop. The gun is not so expensive, but high pressure air is. There is no such thing as cheap air. You will need all kinds of bits and pieces as well and it all adds up. If you do not have $10,000 spare, think again. You will have to do almost all your business by email and the internet. You will most likely have to stock much more supplies than most. You most likely will not like or accept this advise, but you can do your own research if you doubt me. 
 
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Utah airguns aoa new england. I too would stay away from the joe b guy reminds me of a used car salesman.
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Joe Bran. knows his stuff. He was the one who explained to me what I needed when I started PCP's and knew nothing about what I was getting in to. And after the years rolled by and I became an experienced PCP air gunner, I came to realize that he knew what he was talking about.
 
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I've done business with Joe for years. Always treated me well. One dealer here mentioned more probably than any other, has a better rep. that they use too. Still, I wouldn't touch them with a 10 foot pole.

I did see one surprise here. Although I havej not done much business tony, In all these years,this is the first time I have ever heard a bad word about the man. He has a rock solid rep.



Knife
 
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Thanks again to all that contributed. It was not my intent to get dealer feedback/suggestions but, still very much appreciated. And I suppose it's only natural that the thread did go in that direction.

Any business of any type will have devoted repeat customers, and a percentage of customers that will never give them another dime. Everyone's customer service expectation is different....which can muddy the waters a bit too.


I intentionally did not mention any brands, or businesses. But I was fishing in the context of: if I were to purchase a Daystate or Brocock, why would I choose AOA over Utah over Baker over whomever.....or if I was to purchase an FX, why would I choose Baker over Utah over Pyramyd over AZ over SPAW over Talon over whomever....because the transaction will strictly be online/over the phone, sight unseen.
 
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