Advanced Arms — Local services in Pittston Township

Bad Business Practices: I am not one to write reviews, but I am frustrated after losing $320 to Advanced Arms and walking away empty handed. I hope this helps someone when working with this company in the future. I purchased a few firearms from this retailer over the years and while the Mary's (owner) customer service skills are pretty cold, she took care of me. That said, my last experience was horrible and I will never give them business again as a result. I have to own part of this issue myself, but in Mary could not be bothered to lift a finger to help me.

They did not have a standard item I wanted from a specific manufacturer, so Mary ordered the firearm I asked her to. I had to put 50% down totalling roughly $850. When working with other local retailers like Piestraks, they NEVER ask for money down, but I figured Advanced Arms was established and trustworthy, so why not.

A few days later, for a few reasons I won't get into, I changed my mind on the caliber. Mary called me the same day and left a voicemail explaining the firearm had arrived. I was planning on stopping by to ask her to swap out the firearm with a different caliber, but coincidentally an immediate family member passed away that day and I was obviously distracted.

I ended up going to the shop 7 days later to ask them to swap it out for a different caliber. Mary was in the shop and knew all about this, but sent a man I do not know to address my issue. He told me they contacted the distributor who told them there would be a $320 re-stocking fee. Going in, I assumed I may have to pay for shipping or some penalty, but a 20% restocking fee for a stock item!?! Especially from a long-time distributor of Advanced Arms. I expressed my discontent but the employee stood fast. He said I could take the firearm, but again, it is not the one I wanted and I was not about to spend $1700 on a firearm I did not want.

I was cool calm and collected and asked them if there was anything they could do, contact the distributor and ask for a favor, anything. I was planning on purchasing at least two more firearms so I let them know that. They couldn't care less.

The employee went so far to say "if the gun was here 3 days, we could have sent it back but since it was here this long, there is nothing we can do". Dude...it is 4 extra days!! FOUR! A total of 7 days.

BTW...Mary, who took my original order overheard my entire conversation with the employee and ignored us. Never lifted a finger to help.

I got to the point where I knew the entire experience would leave a bad taste in my mouth forever. I decided the $320 was not worth my peace of mind and that I could not forgive myself if I gave them one red cent of my hard earned money, so I told the employee to take the $320 restocking fee out of my deposit and refund the balance. I warned him if I went down this road, I would leave and never doing business with them again. They could care less.

BTW, I was the only person in the store at this time so they had all kinds of time on their hands. They could have called the distributor and told them about my situation or at least done something, anything, but no.

Given their behavior, I would not be surprised if they put the rifle on their wall and pocketed the $320 restocking fee.

Never again. Buyer beware. There is a gun store on every corner in NEPA...go...

Edit 1/3/2018- the owners contacted me personally in 2016 and apologized. I have upgraded the rating for this place and also would like to apologize to Advanced Arms for staining their name in negativity. I realize any one person can have a bad day at any time of any day and it can be due to anything from car trouble to serious health issues that can even be life threatening. People aren’t always instantly awesome at everything we do either so...give them a chance, they’re still good people.

Pros - Prices are cheaper than Gander Mountain by 20%

Wes was sort of helpful and readily answered my questions and also pointed out some very good reasons why I should change my mind on owning a shotgun versus an assualt rifle for home defense.

Cons - had to park in Quinn's Grocery store and walk up the street (no off street parking)

I walk in and am not greeted by ANYONE.

Asked Wes why I would want to buy from Advanced Arms instead of a competitor, this Mary lady who I guess is the co-owner, jumps into the conversation, with such attitude, asking what kind of a person asks a question like that when they walk into any kind of store, for she would NEVER do something like that, and makes me feel like an idiot. What kind of store is this?! That isn't a fair question to ask when you don't know a lot about buying fire arms and aren't sure what differentiates dealers etc?! Well I think it is a very fair question. Then I felt so bad as if I was a "terrible" customer and attempted reconciliation by stating that I was nervous and didn't know what to say. Idk where all these positive reviews come from because it is definitely not Advanced Arms!

To me they have the same weapons sold anywhere else, and before you go to this shop do yourself a favor and call them first, ask for Mary, and ask her for a few reasons why you should purchase firearms from there, and see what she says before you go...

Probably my favorite spot for firearms but one person here needs to check their ego.

I get that y'all live and breathe firearms. And I think that's awesome. each one of you probably knows more than 99% of the people who walk through your doors (I'm easily included in that 99%). But when you get to the point where you believe you know everything, you are inviting errors.

And that is precisely what I experienced on my last visit.

First a person behind the counter insisted that my Springfield 1911 mag could not possibly only hold 7 rounds because Springfield simply doesn't make 7 round mags standard for their 1911. I said, "yeah, I wish it could take another couple rounds." So this person insists that I'm incorrect and further presumes that I'm not applying enough pressure considering newer springs. The person then asks me for the magazine so that they could show me. When they couldn't get another round inserted, they brought out a handheld machine to get the job done. Still though, unsuccessful.

Same person, same visit.. but about 15 minutes later. My friend was looking at a revolver that they had in the display case. He told me about an argument between two grunts about whether a revolver can break. I chimed in, "of course they can break- that's an old myth that revolvers are indestructible.". Same employee inserts themself into the convo and says, "you're wrong. It's impossible to break a revolver." Yeah... Ok

Like I said, I love this place. I'll definitely be back. Great staff and great selection. But that kind of attitude is...