Maryland Small Arms Range, Inc. — Local services in Westphalia

I just had the worst experience ever visiting Maryland Small Arms Range. I was so excited to get a groupon for this location and go try this activity all for the first time in my life, all by myself. I have never touched a gun before and I had worked really hard to get the courage to even enter the place on my own.

So I go there and see the guy behind the counter and tell him about my groupon. He doesn’t even look up from what he’s doing and just asks me whether I got a “rifle” groupon or a “pistol” groupon. I say “rifle” and he just says curtly that he doesn’t even know how long the wait will be and that it would probably take more than an hour and a half just to get in. I said “ok, is there an alternative? My sister and brother-in-law came last week and the establishment allowed them to use a pistol instead of a rifle to forego the long wait”. He says “nope, that never happened” and just starts doing something else.

At this point I’m just standing there with my mouth open. I have a video even, ready to show him how my sister and brother-in-law came last week and how they did exactly what I just described. But this guy literally just made me retreat back in my shell and never want to come back here again. He didn’t give me any information about the process, he didn’t tell me what I should expect if I decided to wait, he didn’t assure me that this was going to be a cool experience and one worth waiting for even if I had to wait a while... So, what the hell?

You can’t seriously tell me that this establishment doesn’t get first-time customers or that if a customer comes to this place, then they need to know everything about gun ranges and rules about firearms already (what exactly would be the point of this location then anyway?).

So to end this review, I would say that I had the worst customer service experience at this location and my groupon (worth $85) is now going straight to garbage because I won’t be able to use it.

I would say that if you are a man or coming in a group, then I’m sure you’ll have a great time and be able to negotiate stuff like my sister and brother-in-law did a few weeks ago. But if you’re a single girl, going alone by yourself, then I WOULD HIGHLY DISCOURAGE YOU from coming to this location. Thank you Maryland Small Arms Range for taking away all of my courage and all of my excitement for using a gun for the first time. I will never ever forget...

I had my first experience with this place today. I had a class scheduled for which I paid $325. I arrive having not received any communication (while signing up said I would) before the designated time as stipulated. I attempted to call and email prior to the day of my class but received no response. I arrive and enter and am asked who my instructor is. I make it clear that no communication has occured but my money was taken immediately after signing up. The woman at the door says she cannot help me without an instructor's name. I state, again, that I received no communication. Another gentleman came in for the same class and had the same scenario. She then decides to go to the counter to get information. She returns only to share that the class is cancelled. I ask where do I get my refund? She tells me I can go to the counter, but they do not open until 10 (It is 9:50 am). Mind you, the space is full of people and instructors preparing them for fingerprinting and class. So while standing there waiting, I decided to call. A gentleman answers and I explain what is going on again. He proceeds to say, "yea that class is cancelled and there's nothing he can do. Call back on Monday and talk to Briana because she handles the schedule and payment." I express how this is poor busines and why didn't we receive an email. I don't live around the corner and took time to drive all the way there. He states, "I don't know what you want me to do. Briana handles that."

The dismissive and unprofessional attitude of the staff here is infuriating. I am curious to know how this place even remains in business. Once I get my refund, I want no parts of it. I will figure out somewhere else to go where people have simple respect and care for paying customers. Ya'll suck! The star given is only because you cannot post your review without giving one....

The person who originally checked us in zipped thru everything and refused to give us any basic instructions. I was in a group of 4 and the associate stated “does everybody know how to shoot a gun” I interjected twice that I DID NOT- and was met with “well that’ll eat up your time” as if gun safety is secondary and optional. It was obvious that the clerk had an attitude and did not want to be bothered. He finally gave us instruction but zipped thru it like he was in the running for the worlds quickest safety training to the point where everyone in my party had to ask him to go over it again and SLOWLY. After repeating the instructions we were told to go to lane 5&6 but were never motioned where the door was or even which later found out we needed to only open one door when the other door is closed. We finally get to our lanes and the more experienced ppl in my group struggled to load and fire the guns for about 15minutes and finally got assistance from other customers on the range. That’s when we later found out one of the guns we received was jammed. Then when one person in my group went to go tell the clerk who helped us he dismissed he because he felt that the amount of shooting time that was left was insignificant for him to rectify the matter and then told my friend to go find someone else to help 😳 Thank God this one employee is not a reflection of the rest of the staff or even management at this location because everything was rectified by an exceptional employee by the name of Ty who rectified everything and even gave us exceptional safety instructions and and a little more time since we had not been able to successfully fire a single round prior to his help. Thank you Ty and to the manager on duty what saved our my first time range experience. They are the only reason my review is...