Hi-Tech Archery — Attraction in Fullerton

I was so looking forward to taking a private archery lesson for my birthday on Tuesday Aug.17th that my boyfriend had setup for us. However, things went super left when we tried to follow the Living Social fine print that stated to call the establishment and setup a reservation!!! My bf spoke to a man by the name of Rick, who cut him off at every attempt of a question (he literally could not get a word in), with "first come first serve". After finally getting a few words in and inquiring about Tuesday slots, Rick interjected again with "only private lesson on Tuesdays", to which my bf responded "yes that what I purchased" then Rick mentioned that we needed to send an email. When we tried to inquire about an estimated response time to the email Rick replied "first come first serve" yet again which didn't really answer our question. When my bf stated that he was merely trying to call to redeem our Living Social voucher according to the fine print which said to call but couldn't because he was constantly be cut off by Rick, Rick began to rant on about how busy and booked they were (which I get can be stressful but should not negatively impact new customers who are following the fine print of your Living Social post.) Rick then ended his rant with "I wasn't trying to cut you off but I should have just let the phone ring". At that very moment I gasped out of shock from the blatant disrespect, and unprofessionalism - I told my bf to immediately cancel his voucher. If your so rude to new customers inquiring on how to redeem a voucher over the phone then I can only imagine how nasty this individual would be in person. Now seeing all the negative reviews about the actual experience at the location, it looks like we dodged a major bullet or a bow lol.

Update 8.15.21 Message Received from Manager SueAnn @ HT Archery: I am so sorry about what happened on the phone yesterday. We were unusually busy yesterday and short handed. Rick is an older gentleman that has not been working do to medical issues. He came into work yesterday and he should have not been answering the phone. I am so sorry for the phone call. I understand you were frustrated. It would have been nice if you would have email us and we could have resolved the issue. It is unfortunate that you did not give us a chance to make it right, but instead felt the need to write to negative reviews on yelp about your experience. We are a small business and we have been trying to do our best through the pandemic, sorry your feelings have been hurt and now you have hurt our business back with negative reviews, which we could have rectified if you would have...

I'm a new archer, having picked up a bow for the first time just a few weeks ago on Nov 28th at a group lesson. I went in with mixed expectations since the online reviews of all three of the archery shops within driving range of my place including Hi-Tech tended to be quite mixed.

The Good: Huge selection of equipment, has a public shooting range and a separate dedicated range reserved for lessons and private parties. When I went in for my group lesson, I knew that I would only get out of it what I put into it -- if I wasn't willing to ask questions then I wasn't going to get a lot out of it. I wasn't disappointed. The group lesson had 3 children (2 young boys and a girl) and the girl's mother. The instructor and his son handled the class very well, providing some one on one time for me at the start (I was the only new shooter) and watching us throughout the whole hour giving advise on how to improve our stance, draw and aim. I didn't time it, but I suspect they gave me about 10 to 15 minutes of personalized time during the one hour group which was more than I had expected. I've since gone back for three more group lessons and some practice time on the range. The instructor also gave me a lot of advice on a bow and helped me through the process of purchasing a bow for both myself and my girlfriend. So far I've mostly worked with Art (the instructor I had -- I believe there are a few different ones) and David (one of the salesmen downstairs), both were very knowledgeable and professional. On the sales floor the staff really takes all the time needed to answer your questions when purchasing a bow and will fully rig and assemble your purchase while you wait.

The not so good: The huge selection and lack of alternatives means the shop gets busy very fast. Add in the time and care they spend with each customer to make sure they're getting exactly what they need and time spent assembling and tuning your purchase, means that you can have...

I went to the shop to take some lessons and get more info on recurve bows since I'm a complete beginner. First the positive--Joe was an absolute professional and couldn't be nicer or more understanding--explaining everything that goes into a bow and what I would need to get started and giving options from entry level to pro equipment. Can't say enough good things about him.

So the negative: the "lesson". There were about 10-12 people in their training area. I would say 8-9 were under the age of 13. Which I don't have any problem with, it's great watching kids get excited about a sport. There were 2 instructors, one seemed like he taught for a living and the other seemed like one that just worked at the shop. The lesson for me consisted of the following: Here's how your left hand holds the bow Here's where your right hand goes Right hand under the chin and string on the nose Now go shoot

The worst part is that I didn't get any personal instruction at all during the hour. I get it's a group and you can't spend a lot of time with each individual--but I didn't get so much as 5 min. or tips on how to stand or aim. The instructors spent the majority of the time with 2-3 people and walking around the rest of the time moving elbows. Waste of money as far as I'm concerned.

I was so frustrated that I went to another shop in the Inland Empire and was SHOCKED that their lesson (same price $15/hr) had half the amount of people and proper instructions on step by step what to do and how to do it. Would not recommend Hi-Tech lessons at all--if anyone would argue that you need private lessons for more 1-on-1 time, I'd say if the group lessons are any indication on how they teach, definitely don't waste your hard...