What's up with Frontier Firearms

[drewmn185]

Hmm, last time I went to the range there, ( i guess about 4 months ago ), it was like 40 degrees in there. It was like someone built a range inside a walk-in beer cooler.

[analog_kidd]

Been a mixed bag for me. Some times I go in there and they are very helpful, other times not so much. I really think it's the person that helps you. The last time I was there I had some guy help me who thought he was a real comedian, I found him to be quite annoying and walked away. Their gunsmith was extremely helpful to me once and I would use him again. I have had some difficulty getting certain guns from them. Seems like they are frequently out of stock on the one I want, "but we can take your money now and order you one". I took that offer once. I've also bought a gun or two from their inventory. Personally, they often dissappoint me, but not enough to keep me from visiting.

[kwe45919]

The old shop was by far my favorite. Super crammed and shoulder to shoulder most of the time. Bought tons of ammo and a few guns there. I remember the old fountain drink dispenser they had...always offered me a coke.

I'll say when the new place opened they were really stocked and stocked well. Two weeks ago my dad and I went in there to look around and the inventory was definatly low but not sparse by any means. Every space under the glass was full and the rifle rack looked well stocked. I think they've rearrainged some stuff and it's opened up alot of room to make it look like the inventory is low. They treated my dad and I very well and were really trying to help my indicisive dad out.

Never had a bad experiance........of course haven't had a chance to use the range either...

[Sandman]

For a few reasons I will never step foot in that store. I went to the old store and wasn't treated so nicely...then a fiasco on TGO involving Frontier sealed the deal for me.

[Guest tngw1500se]

For a few reasons I will never step foot in that store. I went to the old store and wasn't treated so nicely...then a fiasco on TGO involving Frontier sealed the deal for me.

Just researched the "fiasco". Wow! Talk about foot in mouth!

[East_TN_Patriot]

For a few reasons I will never step foot in that store. I went to the old store and wasn't treated so nicely...then a fiasco on TGO involving Frontier sealed the deal for me.

Same here. I bought a couple of firearms from them in the past, but I will no longer do business with them. Part of the reason is the TGO rant. The other part is based on personal experiences in their shop. My wife ordered a gun for me for Christmas last year and placed it almost 2 months in advance. She was told the gun was in stock, put money down, and never heard anything else from them for quite some time. As the holiday drew near, she started to call them about it. The manager told her that the gun was on backorder and they weren't sure when it would be arriving. In other words, they told her it was in stock, took the money, found it was not in stock, but never bothered to call her and let her know. Well, then started the phone calls back and forth. At some point in all of this, someone was lying through their teeth, either Benelli or Frontier (or both), but the guy at Frontier was NOT forthcoming or proactive about keeping us informed in any way. First the gun was on it's way, then it wasn't. She was going to cancel the order and get it from another shop, but they said it had been shipped, but days later with no word from Frontier, we'd call back and be told it wasn't shipped yet. This went on well into February (for a gun my wife was told would arrive in early November). When the gun finally did arrive, we both went to the shop to pick it up. While we were there, I was discussing the situation with the manager and the owner walked up, butted into the conversation without so much of an "excuse me for a second, sir" and started talking with the manager about an unrelated issue. After a couple of minutes, he walked off. That just reinforced the perception that the guy is an arrogant gold-plated jerk. The outcome? My wife - who is not a gun person at all - has made it very clear she will never buy me another gun as a gift because of her experience with the employees there. I asked for a gun for my birthday and her response was a clear, "I already told you I am NEVER buying another gun." She wasn't kidding and now holds gun salesmen in the same category as used car salesmen. When I go to a gun shop, she waits in the car. Thanks a million Frontier.

Shortly after that, I was shopping around for a gun that I was kind of in a hurry to get and called to get a price. The salesman said he was busy and would have to call me back (understandable). I never got a call. I called again the next morning. Same story, then no call back. Called a third time later that afternoon, talked to the co-owner. She was not particularly pleasant on the phone, said they were busy and she'd have to call me back. I said OK, knowing full well I would never get that call. I didn't. So, now all of my gun shopping is done at other local shops, especially since the mood at CCA has seemed to improve over the past year or so (and at one point I swore I would never shop there again).

As far as the original question, my suspicion is that they are over-extended after building the new shop and can't afford the inventory. I can't remember for the life of me where I saw or heard this (it may have actually been one of the retracted comments from the TGO bashing party he threw in the previously mentioned rant), but a comment was made that the economy took the dump around the same time as he made the capital outlay for the new facility and he was in tough financial shape. I bet the new CCA range over there will further put a dent in their business as well, especially if it turns out to be as nice as they claim it will be. This will be a battle of customer service and with the long-term track records of both Frontier Firearms and CCA, it should be an interesting battle.

Edited September 30, 2011 by East_TN_Patriot

[Sandman]

Same here. I bought a couple of firearms from them in the past, but I will no longer do business with them. Part of the reason is the TGO rant. The other part is based on personal experiences in their shop. My wife ordered a gun for me for Christmas last year and placed it almost 2 months in advance. She was told the gun was in stock, put money down, and never heard anything else from them for quite some time. As the holiday drew near, she started to call them about it. The manager told her that the gun was on backorder and they weren't sure when it would be arriving. In other words, they told her it was in stock, took the money, found it was not in stock, but never bothered to call her and let her know. Well, then started the phone calls back and forth. At some point in all of this, someone was lying through their teeth, either Benelli or Frontier (or both), but the guy at Frontier was NOT forthcoming or proactive about keeping us informed in any way. First the gun was on it's way, then it wasn't. She was going to cancel the order and get it from another shop, but they said it had been shipped, but days later with no word from Frontier, we'd call back and be told it wasn't shipped yet. This went on well into February (for a gun my wife was told would arrive in early November). When the gun finally did arrive, we both went to the shop to pick it up. While we were there, I was discussing the situation with the manager and the owner walked up, butted into the conversation without so much of an "excuse me for a second, sir" and started talking with the manager about an unrelated issue. After a couple of minutes, he walked off. That just reinforced the perception that the guy is an arrogant gold-plated jerk. The outcome? My wife - who is not a gun person at all - has made it very clear she will never buy me another gun as a gift because of her experience with the employees there. I asked for a gun for my birthday and her response was a clear, "I already told you I am NEVER buying another gun." She wasn't kidding and now holds gun salesmen in the same category as used car salesmen. When I go to a gun shop, she waits in the car. Thanks a million Frontier.

Shortly after that, I was shopping around for a gun that I was kind of in a hurry to get and called to get a price. The salesman said he was busy and would have to call me back (understandable). I never got a call. I called again the next morning. Same story, then no call back. Called a third time later that afternoon, talked to the co-owner. She was not particularly pleasant on the phone, said they were busy and she'd have to call me back. I said OK, knowing full well I would never get that call. I didn't. So, now all of my gun shopping is done at other local shops, especially since the mood at CCA has seemed to improve over the past year or so (and at one point I swore I would never shop there again).

As far as the original question, my suspicion is that they are over-extended after building the new shop and can't afford the inventory. I can't remember for the life of me where I saw or heard this (it may have actually been one of the retracted comments from the TGO bashing party he threw in the previously mentioned rant), but a comment was made that the economy took the dump around the same time as he made the capital outlay for the new facility and he was in tough financial shape. I bet the new CCA range over there will further put a dent in their business as well, especially if it turns out to be as nice as they claim it will be. This will be a battle of customer service and with the long-term track records of both Frontier Firearms and CCA, it should be an interesting battle.

Oh yeah...happened to me too about the not calling back. Forgot about that one.

[Guest bkelm18]

If the new CCA range is as nice as Frontier's, I might consider giving my business back to CCA. The convenience for Frontier's range is too good for me to drive to west Knox to go shooting.