Rural King — Attraction in Martinsville

I'm baffled by the good reviews. If only negative stars were possible. I've lived in the area for years, and go here as little as possible. Here's why...

The staff are literally hard to catch. They scurry about as if to avoid the annoying prospect of helping a customer. If you stay long enough to outwit one and flag them down, they will sigh or roll their eyes, or in some other non verbal way convey their displeasure with being stopped. After you ask your question (i.e., "do you have belt pulleys for garden tractors?") you will inevitably hear them answer with, "I don't know" followed by a long blank stare. At this point you have two options:

Stare back in the hopes that they eventually realize you're going to wait until they find out, and they will be forced to help.

Speed up the process and inform them you expect them to help by finding out.

What inevitably follows can only be described as "bare minimum helpfulness". They get on the radio to ask. The person they ask never knows either, but they think maybe they saw some at the other end of the store. What you just heard over the radio will be repeated back to you, and then they turn away to leave.

I have done this literally dozens of times over the years, and I don't think it's been the same person any of the times. There must be some serious managerial issues here, their culture is the opposite of customer service. I avoid going here as much as possible, unfortunately there are some things that I just can't get locally without going through the process I described above. I get those specific items and buy anything I can get...

I want to thank Elizabeth and Ginny personally for the outstanding service I received today. About 3 weeks ago I bought my first pair of boots (Ariat boots) highly recommended by Elizabeth and the fact that they had a warranty. I left with my pair boots and a brand new pair of jeans. Just recently though I was having trouble getting my boot off on my right foot. My right foot seemed to be just a touch bigger than my left. it became more difficult when the liner inside my right boot broke loose so it would wedge my foot in making it very hard to get off. (Wearing different thicknesses socks causes this as well) so today I explained the situation to Elizabeth and she gave me all the options I needed for an exchange and even was going to have the boots delivered to my house. When doing the exchange they could not find my transaction although. I could easily find it on my bank account to prove that I did the transaction. With no receipt and with no proof that the transaction happened Elizabeth made it a personal... She knew I was there three weeks ago and she knew I bought the boots and so they did a exchange for another pair of boots at the same price. The manager come over verified all the loose ends that was going on with the exchange and I walked out with a brand new pair of boots one size larger and a happy camper. It was the best personal experience I have ever felt in a long time. I am now a very loyal customer to Rural King! Thanks again to everybody at rural King and I hope you have a great day!!!!...

Love Rural King!!! Highly recommend this store for anything farm related, hunting and fishing, firearms, clothing, and even live farm birds, such as chickens, guineas, turkey, and ducks! Love the gun barn! Typically a wide selection of name brand, popular pistols, rifles, and shotguns. Ammo is typically widely available. I say typically, because at the time of this review, the entire country is experiencing a shortage of ammo for popular calibers, and the gun supply is in a high demand due to the pandemic and the current political climate, and as such, every FFL is pressed for demand and supply. Normally this is no issue at Rural King, and I highly recommend this retailer for consideration when buying a firearm. I love the entire atmosphere at Rural King. Great owners of this chain, who represent a family oriented, farm-based, competent, caring portion of America that I am proud to support! The staff is friendly and helpful. They are knowledgeable in all topics related to their department within the store. They sell feed, and supplies related to the care and maintenance of pets and live stock. Just an absolutely great place to shop! I love Rural King stores and also recommend that you check out their RK Guns online, and their regular online site for odds and ends that you may have missed in the brick and mortar store. Check out Rural King. You will not be...