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Four Seasons Firearms, Woburn, MA

Had a great experience at Four Seasons when I picked up my Hk. It was pretty busy in there but the guy was very friendly and helpful and took his time explaining everything. I will definitely go back again.
 
Finally got to go for the first time yesterday, they've got a larger selection then most places and the prices are cheaper but DAMN that place was PACKED for 11am on a Wednesday, wow!
 
Well another good trip tp Four Seasons!!!

I had a good gift certificate to there so I used it to buy a Ruger LC9 W/CT, a bunch of 9mm ammo, a bunch of 556/223 ammo, two holsters for the LC9,pre ban AR Mags, a bunch of little stuff and some more stuff ( no the GC didn't cover all of it [wink] ).

The folks there were great to deal with, they helped me bring stuff out to my JEEP and even opened the door for my wife.

I went back in after buying the gun and storing it in my JEEP, bought some more stuff and took that out, than went back in for a 3rd time to pick up something else I almost forgot to get.

I think I delt with 4 different folks there and they all were very helpful.

I keep trying to get Carl to open a shop out here in no mans land because the 4 to 5 Hour round trip is not good for my wife and I.

He told me he would love to open a store out here and one on the south shore ( I quess that's the cape for us inlanders [smile] ), but he is way to busy with one store he said [thinking] [grin] .

Thanks again Four Seasons for a GREAT DAY !!! [thumbsup]
 
I live less than 2 miles from Four Seasons and I feel like I make some kind of excuse to go in there every week. Great bunch of people there and always willing to help.
 
wildwest said:
The price is shown directly underneath the image/ad on the main page of the website...currently the first ad on the page
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I haddn't checked since last weekend and I didn't see it then...doesn't mean it wasn't there, time to get the eyes checked. I see it now, Thanks All, decent price for it...might by my next purchase
 
Raoul Duke said:
It is amazing how Carl remembers everyone. I email him with "can you find me this" or "that" every few months as I am rarely in Eastern MA and every time he dutifully finds me a price and availability estimate even though I only buy half of what I send him looking for. Yet, every time I show up in person, he always knows who I am...amazing.

RD
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Carl took his time helping my wife and I today with our Sig purchase.

It might not have been as busy as a Saturday morning, but no fewer than five times did employees interrupt him holding the telephone for him to accept a call, and each time he quietly said, "No, I'm helping these people now."

My wife noted the excellent customer service, the unhurried explanations, and the joy Carl had in what a good deal we were getting!

(And it was a good deal.)

Thanks again.
 
Gibbs said:
My wife noted the excellent customer service, the unhurried explanations, and the...

Thanks again.
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+1 for excellent customer service. Even though they were busy, everything I asked for, or where it was they would leave the counter space and get it from the sales floor. Then offered to help carry it out. Great place with a great team.

FS is at the top of my list for shops. Expect a well above average experience when compared to some other shops. Oh, and watch the website and sign up on his mailing list. Both are active and you find out about great deals. Again, FS is one of the few shops figuring out how to bring customers in through social networks/Internet.

Keep it up Carl!!!!
 
Had a good experience there recently. I've been critical of how I was treated there in the past, but tried them again and all went very well. Credit where credit is due.
 
I went to Four Seasons today and the local traffic was crazy (construction on 128), not to mention the crowd in the store. I had about 30 minutes to spend but found it impossible to get service during that time frame. Woburn's just not convenient to get to from where I am, so I would be interested in hearing opinions about alternatives to Four Seasons, such as the Collector's Gallery or Undercover Arms (which is much closer to where I live so a promising idea). Anyone have any experiences with Nick's Firearms in Dracut MA?
 
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I have been to Collectors 3 times. Once to put a Smith 1911 on consignment, and purchased a Smith model 60 Pro during that visit. Other two time were ammo stops. Very good service with no problems at all.
 
It's about time Carl comes up with some expansion plans. He loses business to other shops due to the crowds. And there are some very good "other shops". You listening Carl? We've been hinting for years.
 
Billsail said:
It's about time Carl comes up with some expansion plans. He loses business to other shops due to the crowds. And there are some very good "other shops". You listening Carl? We've been hinting for years.
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YES. Man, the things that store could do if it even twice that size. I just bought some Tula .223 for $4.99 a box. His ammo is usually very fairly prices. Cheaperthandirt.com is only a few cents cheaper. Collectors is also a great shop with great guys and a good selection of rifles/shotguns. I was there today and there was about 4 people in there.[laugh]
 
Billsail said:
It's about time Carl comes up with some expansion plans. He loses business to other shops due to the crowds. And there are some very good "other shops". You listening Carl? We've been hinting for years.
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Very true. I don't know a lot about the money these gun shops can make. FS must be making enough to either rent a bigger store, or expand somehow. It seems like whenever you are in there, someone stepped on an ant hill.
 
Well, here's the thing. I say this as constructively as possible, certainly not meaning any disrespect. I went to Four Seasons today knowing exactly what gun I wanted and ready and willing to plunk $600 down on it plus the ammo and holster - no questions or bartering. I understand the store is popular and busy, but I found myself stuck behind lookie-loos not actually buying anything but just engaging the clerks in talk. Others were milling around, apparently uncertain as to where to stand or who to talk to. The computers were down too, which made things a bit tougher, and I saw the clerks were manually filling out paper forms and knew I'd never get my purchase completed in the 30 minutes I had, so I exited.

I think it would be great to have separate lines for the lookie-loos who just want to ask questions and get information versus the guys like me who say "Yup - that there is the gun I want, here's my LTC A and the money" and want to get out the door as quickly as possible. Now I'm on the lookout for a gun shop with less crowds so I can breeze in and breeze out without dealing with a 2 hour wait. Definitely checking out Collector's (thanks LoneWolf and ColdDay) and Undercover Arms; I am trying to get an appointment with the clerk at the latter shop so I can come in and spend 10 minutes then walk out with a concealed carry weapon.
 
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You know, an "express lane" in there isn't a bad idea!

But please don't take this the wrong way - 30 min to purchase a gun in FS, or any shop is really a long shot. It would have to go perfectly and get helped right away. In my experience at least.

Sorry you left empty handed. that's no fun at all!
 
Amazon said:
You know, an "express lane" in there isn't a bad idea!

But please don't take this the wrong way - 30 min to purchase a gun in FS, or any shop is really a long shot. It would have to go perfectly and get helped right away. In my experience at least.

Sorry you left empty handed. that's no fun at all!
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I think Carl already implement an express lane for ammo/supplies only register. All you need is shout out and some one will be available to help.

I'm very close to FS. If it's too crowded, I just walk away and come back some other time.

Sent from my iPhone 5 using Forum Runner
 
I'm pretty sure they do have an express lane, but I think they use it just for ammo/accessories and not actual gun purchases.

The idea of FS's business model is that people come from all around for the prices. When you rent more space or hire more people that increases costs and when you increase costs you increase the price to the customer. Carl has to do a balancing act with keeping his overhead costs down so he can keep his overall prices down. If his costs get too high people won't come and there will be less of a base to spread your overhead to and theoretically your costs go up even more, not to mention he won't have the same buying power he has now! Its a whole tricky game and from the times I've been in there I think they do a damn good job. I've had some less than stellar service there and I've had some awesome service, but I try to avoid peak times and know what I want before I step inside. Don't be shy. Grab someone's attention and take no prisoners!
 
I hear ya - 30 minutes was optimistic. Lord knows I wish FS well; running a gun store in this state must be tough. I'll get my gun at some point so I'm not upset. If I went there and spent 2 hours waiting in line behind fellow gun purchasers that'd be one thing. However, I firmly believe the guy with cash in hand and model in mind should get precedence over the guy with no intention of buying anything who just wants to chat about guns for 45 minutes during a busy Friday lunchtime then go home and "think about it" for a while.

Amazon said:
You know, an "express lane" in there isn't a bad idea!

But please don't take this the wrong way - 30 min to purchase a gun in FS, or any shop is really a long shot. It would have to go perfectly and get helped right away. In my experience at least.

Sorry you left empty handed. that's no fun at all!
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mreilly said:
I hear ya - 30 minutes was optimistic. Lord knows I wish FS well; running a gun store in this state must be tough. I'll get my gun at some point so I'm not upset. If I went there and spent 2 hours waiting in line behind fellow gun purchasers that'd be one thing. However, I firmly believe the guy with cash in hand and model in mind should get precedence over the guy with no intention of buying anything who just wants to chat about guns for 45 minutes during a busy Friday lunchtime then go home and "think about it" for a while.
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Doing what he does is what "makes customers" rather than "make sales" which most businesses do! He (and staff) can't be clairvoyant and know what the person is there for until they provide service for the customer and then you can't say, "sorry, you'll have to wait another xx minutes while I wait on the guy that walked in with the cash in his hand"!

I've bought a lot of guns/ammo/supplies at FS over the years and I wanted to pickup a certain gun and had to be somewhere at a certain time, so I called Carl in advance to make sure they had the gun I wanted and explained my time constraint. I was in and out of the shop within 20 minutes with gun in hand! The shop was busy and I'll admit that it was before the deli-counter number system was installed, but it can be done and he'll do anything he can for a customer who gives him a heads up about the situation in advance! That's why people continue to shop there.

Also those people you claim are clueless and just there to chat, will most likely come back over and over again and spend a ton of money there once they figure out what they want. Customers are built over time. We all go to WM to "just buy" and know that there is no customer service so you damn well better know what you want. That's not the model of a successful small retail business, which Carl runs!
 
Just wanted to say that Carl has gone above and beyond for me, more than once. I'm a loyal customer of that place, even if it's a pain to wade through the crowds.
 
But that's my point - they don't need to be clairvoyant, but having a separate counter for Q/A versus immediate purchases was my suggestion. That way the people who need information can get it while the people ready to lay down bills and pick up metal straight off can get what they're after too. Calling ahead to set up an appointment is another great idea. The process should be streamlined and any business that figures how how to do that is going to come out ahead and be successful. It can be argued they're already successful enough so who needs every last potential customer to come in or come back, but the fact is I'm planning on going someplace more convenient as of right now so the business model at FS hasn't encouraged me to return.

LenS said:
Doing what he does is what "makes customers" rather than "make sales" which most businesses do! He (and staff) can't be clairvoyant and know what the person is there for until they provide service for the customer and then you can't say, "sorry, you'll have to wait another xx minutes while I wait on the guy that walked in with the cash in his hand"!

I've bought a lot of guns/ammo/supplies at FS over the years and I wanted to pickup a certain gun and had to be somewhere at a certain time, so I called Carl in advance to make sure they had the gun I wanted and explained my time constraint. I was in and out of the shop within 20 minutes with gun in hand! The shop was busy and I'll admit that it was before the deli-counter number system was installed, but it can be done and he'll do anything he can for a customer who gives him a heads up about the situation in advance! That's why people continue to shop there.

Also those people you claim are clueless and just there to chat, will most likely come back over and over again and spend a ton of money there once they figure out what they want. Customers are built over time. We all go to WM to "just buy" and know that there is no customer service so you damn well better know what you want. That's not the model of a successful small retail business, which Carl runs!
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I agree with most posts already. I think Carl actually likes the small store so he can clearly see what's going on and keeps big crowds from surging in. A smaller store has less overhead and Carl still manages to buy in HUGE bulk which amazes me. The last couple times I have been in there it wasn't that bad, yeah there were some window gazer's but most people were being helped.I had my ammo in hand and some employee asked if I was all set and I told him I was just buying some .223 and he quickly rang me up. I love FS and I like Collector's as well. North Shore firearms on the other hand[rolleyes]. I hear bad things, have had bad experiences there, and they seem to always get letters from the ATF. I just heard a crazy story about them last night from my cousin involving a full auto AK they had in stock.
 
Well I guess all that I have to say is don't ever go to Cabelas in either Hamburg,PA or Scarborough,ME. Every time I go, is always on a weekend though, has been so busy even with the ticket thing they have people standing around in the way like its a zoo. For trying to purchase a firearm in 30 min, do you really think it's like ordering a pizza? Also every time I have purchased a firearm from them, you still have to do the paper work and call it in, the computer use is what looks like to me so they can have the item put into the mass system faster.

Charles.
 
Amazon said:
You know, an "express lane" in there isn't a bad idea!

But please don't take this the wrong way - 30 min to purchase a gun in FS, or any shop is really a long shot. It would have to go perfectly and get helped right away. In my experience at least.

Sorry you left empty handed. that's no fun at all!
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Actually, I have had two 30-min gun experiences at FS. I bought a Mosin Nagant and a M&P15 from there on two separate occasions. Both times I showed up on some odd Day thought that I felt traffic might be light when the store opened (pouring rain or bad weather). I was the first person in the door, and pretty much said "I want this rifle...here's my cash" and was out the door fast.

Of course, I can't always do that. I made exceptions to get the rifles I wanted. I realize it's not convienent for many, and to be honest there have been times I've said "let's go to XXX shop because I don't want to deal with the crowd at FS" for ammo and accessories.

I would still purchase a gun from FS...but would make every effort to go when it's dead. I think I bought my M&P15 during a snow storm. Worked out well


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
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