i post this here cause it would be stupid to solicit info from people all over the country regarding an arizona ffl/store.
we have lost 2 good gun stores this year. one is phoenix arms. i dont know why they closed but i bought my first rifle from them on my birthday in 1988[turned 18]i delt with them for almost 14  years as they became smaller. they were good people who were always ready to listen even if rick [i think that was his name] looked like he was pissed all the time. lol.this was a mom and pop place.
going there always gave me confidence in what i bought no matter what the name on the box.
in the last few years i started dealing with machine gun kellys. they were a small junky store untill bought  a couple years back by mark-----.he turned the store into a very good place to shop buy and order thru. he always gave a fair price on stuff be bought from you.[i know never never never never never never sell a gun]he did transfers for free some times and always went over time to find what you wanted.he taught my dads concealed class and was fast building a reputation for excelent service.well then came the iraq war.he got a too good to ignore offer to do private security over ther for companies doing reconstruction. every time i see a story about a new hostage i look to see if it is him and am releived to find it isnt.well we didnt lose his store right off as he sold it to another owner. this is where i get pissed. i am not a small buisness owner but i am not stupid either. this guy will be in the new edition of guiness book of world records for the fastest way to run a gun store in the ground. it only took him a few months. they screwed up all the basic paperwork. accepted guns without logging them in then sold them and didnt record the sale in the bound book. of course they had all the paperwork for this but it was all over the place. they couldnt find it and they just didnt do it properly.they even had calss 3 stuff that wasnt recorded anywhere it was just there. I found this all out as i knew the employee who worked there. they had a slowly depleted inventory cause the new owners would never buy new stuff.the whole thing blew up over piss poor customer service. they had a guy who bought a class 3 weapon or an AOW . he was waiting to get the stamp and approval back from the ATF. he was being an ass but was excited. he kept trying to get them to release it early whitch they wouldnt. well the day came when he got all his paperwork back and came to get his weapon.the new owner thought a bit of payback was in order so he said it would be a few days till he would release it.well they customer was pissed and called 911 and said his class 3 weapon was being stolen. so lights and sirens came from all around. he got a ticket for false reporting but also got his weapon. the police department called the ATF and all the other crap with paperwork guns they should have had and couldnt locate and some they had but shouldnt have blew up in their face  . so during this time i have a gun on consinement. i got a call from my friend stating my rifle cleared pawn and to haul ass to get it before it was seised [in arizona any gun that comes into a gun store for any reason has to clear pawn even though i bought it from them] .i got there and there were a few atf agents raiding the place. lucky me all my paperwork was in order and was set to be picked up that day or i dont know if i would have got it back. the atf closed the store confiscated a lot if guns and  then gave them like 30 days to sell off what could be reconciled with the records. they then  took the ffl so no more store.It makes me mad as good gunstores are few and far between. i know there are good stores all over but, to develope that first name basis and outstanding customer service is a process that takes a while to build.
so anyone know a good store that goes out of their way to treat the customer nice. i miss my two local stores. they were close and always did all they could to help in what ever you want.
we need to support our local places all we can as they are dwindling in number.i never minded paying 10 extra dollers for peace  of mind. Bear arms  is the only other store i shopped regularly. they are quite a ways away so i guess i will have to drive to get that peace of mind. i also likme seeing the[french i think it is or it may be swiss]military vehicle sitting in front and seeing him drive it cross town brings that peace of mind. [i always know where to find him]

so list the stores where you get outstanding service. i live in north phoenix but have high speed transportation to anywhere. i dont need that stupid light rail i got a hemi powerd dodge it is fast as i need.

Yeah, we generally are our own worse enemy.
You want cool class 3, try the Armory, a little on the high side, but oh well.

also likme seeing the[french i think it is or it may be swiss]military vehicle sitting in front

Yeah, his old Pintz, there was a company in AZ that used to sell them for about $15000.00.

paragraphs please.

I feel your pain, but please try to use some capitol letters, two spaces after a period and a few paragraphs here and there.  It helps some of us that want to read your post.  No flames.  Just a suggestion.
George

At least there are a few periods in it.

At one point I looked at buying Machine Gun Kellys.

I didn't.

I believe there was likely more to it than just bad management, though that can DEFINITELY be the deciding factor in a business' ability to continue.

TimW
Phoenix

I hear ya about Phoenix Arms. Every once in a while they would have smokin' deals on some HK stuff, including some NIB rifles that hadn't been imported in a while.

The folks at Bear Arms have been pretty decent to me, but mostly I use them for handling transfers.

Pistol Parlour has pretty good service, and carries Wolf MT and ME every now and then. Makes my .22's happy! Plus, they're just down the street from me.

12 minutes later....

The basic jist of it is that our dear CC2 is looking for reputable stores around the valley to spend his hard earned cash.

I post this here cause it would be stupid to solicit info from people all over the country regarding an arizona ffl/store.

We have lost 2 good gun stores this year. One is phoenix arms. I dont know why they closed but I bought my first rifle from them on my birthday in 1988[turned 18]  I delt with them for almost 14 years as they became smaller. They were good people who were always ready to listen even if Rick [i think that was his name] looked like he was pissed all the time. lol.This was a mom and pop place.  going there always gave me confidence in what i bought no matter what the name on the box.

In the last few years I started dealing with machine gun kellys. They were a small junky store untill bought a couple years back by Mark-----.he turned the store into a very good place to shop, buy, and order thru. He always gave a fair price on stuff be bought from you.[I know never never never never never never sell a gun]  He did transfers for free some times and always went over time to find what you wanted. He taught my dads concealed class and was fast building a reputation for excelent service.  

Well then came the iraq war.  He got a too good to ignore offer to do private security over ther for companies doing reconstruction. Every time i see a story about a new hostage i look to see if it is him and am releived to find it isnt.  Well we didnt lose his store right off as he sold it to another owner.

This is where i get pissed.  I am not a small buisness owner but i am not stupid either. This guy will be in the new edition of guiness book of world records for the fastest way to run a gun store in the ground. It only took him a few months. They screwed up all the basic paperwork. Accepted guns without logging them in then sold them and didnt record the sale in the bound book. Of course they had all the paperwork for this but it was all over the place. They couldnt find it and they just didnt do it properly.  They even had calss 3 stuff that wasnt recorded anywhere it was just there. I found this all out as i knew the employee who worked there. They had a slowly depleted inventory cause the new owners would never buy new stuff.  

The whole thing blew up over piss poor customer service. They had a guy who bought a class 3 weapon or an AOW . He was waiting to get the stamp and approval back from the ATF. He was being an ass but was excited. He kept trying to get them to release it early whitch they wouldnt. Well the day came when he got all his paperwork back and came to get his weapon. The new owner thought a bit of payback was in order so he said it would be a few days till he would release it.  

Well they customer was pissed and called 911 and said his class 3 weapon was being stolen. So lights and sirens came from all around. He got a ticket for false reporting but also got his weapon. the police department called the ATF and all the other crap with paperwork guns they should have had and couldnt locate and some they had but shouldnt have blew up in their face . So during this time i have a gun on consinement. i got a call from my friend stating my rifle cleared pawn and to haul ass to get it before it was seised [in arizona any gun that comes into a gun store for any reason has to clear pawn even though i bought it from them] .

I got there and there were a few atf agents raiding the place. Lucky me all my paperwork was in order and was set to be picked up that day or i dont know if i would have got it back. The atf closed the store confiscated a lot if guns and then gave them like 30 days to sell off what could be reconciled with the records. They then took the ffl so no more store. It makes me mad as good gunstores are few and far between. I know there are good stores all over but, to develope that first name basis and outstanding customer service is a process that takes a while to build.

So anyone know a good store that goes out of their way to treat the customer nice. i miss my two local stores. they were close and always did all they could to help in what ever you want.

We need to support our local places all we can as they are dwindling in number. I never minded paying 10 extra dollers for peace of mind. Bear arms is the only other store i shopped regularly. They are quite a ways away so i guess i will have to drive to get that peace of mind. I also likme seeing the[french i think it is or it may be swiss]military vehicle sitting in front and seeing him drive it cross town brings that peace of mind. [i always know where to find him]

So list the stores where you get outstanding service. I live in north phoenix but have high speed transportation to anywhere. I dont need that stupid light rail I got a hemi powerd dodge it is fast as I need.

I have to laugh at my self some times. I dont always capitolise and form proper gramatical prose. I guess i just type faster than the old brain workes, I apologise if i confused anyone. I do shoot better than I type and can prove it.  I hope someday that  I will always slow down and write properly. Till then Ihave to reminde my self I am gramatically challanged.

Quoted: I do shoot better than I type and can prove it.

That's a good thing you know?

Sorry but I just couldn't resist. I'll tell you now, I am a sarcastic little SOB.

Quoted: Pistol Parlour has pretty good service, and carries Wolf MT and ME every now and then. Makes my .22's happy! Plus, they're just down the street from me.

Agreed. except for the part of being down the street. They have good prices too.