GT Distributors — Local services in Pflugerville

Let me start by saying I love shopping here and have always had a pleasant experience. I hate writing reviews, but today's experience pushed my buttons. Sorry this is long, but with how unprofessional and rude the guy was, that was completely uncalled for. We took a number like everyone else and waited in line just like everyone else. When our number was called we got to the counter and explained what we were looking for and that we both were purchasing a handgun. The first gentleman explained the inventory and so forth, took our license, verified credentials, and had us go to the computer to start filling out the background check. Mind you we had already explained we both were purchasing a weapon. As I'm filing out my background, he comes back and says oh you'll need this and proceeds to hand me a number. Me thinking okay, maybe it's to pick up my gun that we selected and you put to the side because we already have a number. It was his lunch time so he had another employee, Ben, step in. As my wife is at the counter finishing up her sale, I finish my background and walk over to where we were being helped. As she goes to the restroom Ben asks me about my wife mentioning the purchase of a rifle and I stated oh I dont know about that, you have to speak with her. As I'm standing there, I didn't see my application that the other employee had me fill out. So I asked Ben about it and with the nasty attitude he had, proceeds to tell me yeah you have to wait. I just said okay thinking I'm waiting on the other guy who took my license and verified my credentials. So I wait for my wife to get back and explain to her that he's not doing mine that I have to wait, we were number 6 and the other number handed to me was 23. She asks him and as she's trying to explain, he begans to over talk her and gets a real nasty attitude, never once listening to what she's trying to say. She keeps trying to explain that the other guy hadn't told us we needed to 2 separate numbers until after he already started to help and if she had of known she would have grabbed 2 from the beginning, yet again he's over talking her and getting louder and I tell her just pay for your gun and we will get my paperwork and leave. You can't fight ignorance with ignorance, no need to make a scene with someone who refuses to try to understand the situation. As she's trying to ask for the manager, mid-sentence Ben walks away, highly unprofessional and extremely rude for nothing at all. THANKFULLY, Brent comes over and says to me, ma'am don't worry I'll help you. I tell him thank sir, I truly appreciate it as we had been standing in line already waiting, got the number like everyone else and once helped was told to grab another number. My wife asks Brent to speak to the manager, and he says I'll get him for you ma'am. As Brent goes to tell him (manager) his first reaction was eye rolling and said I dont have time for this. The manager was helping a gentleman at the counter, to be exact since the customer put his two sense in, an african american gentleman, bald, glasses, wearing black mesh basketball shorts, black shirt, and brown flip flops (irrelevant yes, but the same customer the manager refers to later on). Anyways the manager comes over and my wife begans to explain how rude and unprofessional Ben was and first thing he said was, well another customer (mentioned earlier) said you were told to get a number. The same customer you were helping, caught 2 minutes of my conversation as I was filling out my application when I was handed another number.🤦🏾‍♀️ I told her let it go that Brent came up to me to say don't worry ma'am I'll take care of you. Even though it was a hassle dealing with Ben and how rude and unprofessional he was, I would like to say thank you Brent. You were superb, if I could have handed you a $100 tip, I would have. You were just an ear shot away from what was going on and rather than telling me what someone else said, you helped no questions. The manager said he would address it but who knows. BRENT...

I have had exactly three dealings with GT Distributors.

One was in their store in the Dallas area where I found some handcuffs on clearance and bought them. No problem. Transaction happened and I was out the door, no complaints.

Next time? My agency was updating our duty weapons (in my agency our weapons are issued). We were given the option of buying back our old duty weapons, which I decided to do since it had been issued to me new and I was the only one who ever owned it. I knew that gun. It was a Gen 3 Glock 22C. We had to turn in the old weapons so they could be sold back to us through GT Distributors. When I received the weapon back I would have sworn it was a different weapon if not for the serial number being the same. There was a significant ding inside the crown of the barrel that had not been there before, the magazines had been traded out for completely different magazines that were noticeably more worn and worse than my old magazines, and it came in a different case than my original case. I take very good care of my weapons and accessories and it seemed like they picked through the trade-ins and made sure to sell back the worst of the bunch. Over time as I have shot my old duty weapon I noticed a recurring malfunction problem with the magazines failing to feed.

Which leads me to my third dealing with GT Distributors. Figuring that second disappointment might be a fluke, I ordered three 15rd Glock 22 magazines from them through their online store. I live in Galveston County, so it's not worth it to me to blow a whole tank of gas driving to Austin and back for a transaction, and anyway they have online ordering. I placed the order on Monday in the week. By Thursday I received a UPS notification that the order was being shipped...to some random place in Brenham, TX. So I called GT's that evening and spoke to a lady who was very nice and seemed concerned, and whom I forwarded all my emails to concerning the order and explained the situation. She looked over what I had and assured me that the order was shipped to me at my actual address, not whoever it was in Brenham. Okay, so I considered them warned and waited to see what would happen. Friday I checked UPS and the order status was delivered to the address in Brenham. I emailed the same lady I spoke to at GT's about it, then called Saturday and spoke to some other person about the order and my problem. He seemed mystified and said that I would receive a phone call Monday about this issue.

Update: I was called back as promised on Monday by Susan, the customer service manager. She was apologetic about the problems I've had with GT's and promised to ship me a new order of magazines. Also it's clear that she read my complaints about the problems I've had with GT's.

I bumped my opinion of GT's up by another star, because there is a lot to be said for someone following up and taking problems seriously.

Second Update: Susan from GT Distributors not only called me on Monday but called me again on Tuesday to tell me that my corrected order was en route to me.

Received my order when she promised it would get to me, and additionally there were a few thoughtful extra items (a pen, baseball cap, and lanyard) included in the package. Honestly the extra things count less for me than the proactive contact and Susan's obvious concern for my problem.

Changed my rating for GT Distributors from an original 2 stars to now 4 stars, simply because I believe the good deserves to be rewarded just as much as the bad should be exposed. If you have occasion to deal with this business, I would say now that it's worth a chance. At least one person there cares about...

UPDATE: Ben, the District Manager at GT Distributors, reached out to my husband concerning our experience. I returned his call and explained the situation. I appreciate him reaching out to us and listening to our concerns. He apologized for his associate's behavior and sounded genuinely concerned about our experience. I appreciate him reaching out. I am adjusting my rating from 2 stars to 4 stars based on the effort being made to try to fix the issue.

It had been many years, until yesterday, that we'd actually gone into the store. We purchased the items online and drove to Austin to pick them up. We sat down to wait for our turn and watched the staff and customers at the counter. When it was our turn, we spoke up and rushed up to the counter so we didn't miss our turn (the guy went through the numbers so quickly allowing very little time for customers to speak up that it is their number). I immediately noticed a change in his demeanor as we walked up. It was NOTHING like what I saw with his last customer. No smile and a very uninterested, monotone greeting. We brushed it off and proceeded with our transaction since it was a bit of a drive there. The guy (I really wish I remembered his name) was very arrogant and short with his answers. My husband asked a few questions and his immediate response was "I have no idea". 🤔 I started to get annoyed, so by the third time he said this, I pulled out my phone and started googling one of the questions myself. I was trying to be polite, but finally I made a comment "I would think there would be a book or something here to explain if an item is compatible with these." He just looked at me. Eventually, after finding out what my husband's occupation is, he tried to be a little better but still referred to my husband as "Bud" the WHOLE time. That is NOT my husband's name and not what he referred to the previous customer as. 😒 He was very respectful to him (previous customer), answered EVERY question politely and that customer purchased NOTHING! We were spending our hard-earned dollars and drove to pick up our items to be disrespected! We were older than his last customer also. If he didn't know an answer, there is a way to say that.... but take some steps to find out. He was SUPPOSED to be the professional and expert, since he works there. I eventually walked away from the counter to let my husband finish the transaction, but we both agreed that his customer service sucked! I gave 2 stars because we received our items and he eventually answered one of the questions concerning the bullets. We well definitely look elsewhere before going back...