Bass Pro sucks

Just wanted to vent this cuz I'm feeling a little vain pulsing in my temple. If I don't get this out I might not make it. Is it just me, or does Bass Pro focus too heavily on taxidermy and waterfalls and too little on actual products and good customer service? The last few times I've been to BP I've been incredibly disappointed. The customer service is terrible. Especially in the gun section. They don't even look at you when you're talking to them. Not everyone, but I've had that experience twice already at the gun shop. Another thing, I wandered the aisles looking for xmas gifts for my dad and realized that the shelves are filled with almost all gimmicky crap. I think if you took out all the taxidermy animals, and removed the gimmicks and left only things that people might use, you'd be left with a store about the size of your average Tim Hortons. Phew.... I feel better now.

This topic come up almost as often as 'What is the best caliber ?"...Haha

However agree, I went with some buddies once some 8 yrs ago...never spent a dime and haven't been back.

I've been to BassPro,once. Sales people behind the gun counter hadn't a clue what they were talking about. It was like they'd memorized
their dealers PR talking points. I didn't see anything that remotely resembled a "good deal". Their taxidermy work seemed to be quite good,though. I like Sail much better. I've yet to go to Cabella's. It's easier for me to order their stuff on-line because they ship from Winnepeg or Regina,not like BassPro which ships from their warehouse in Missouri. You pay GST,duty and extra shipping. Honestly,I like to shop at local dealers like Gagnon's,Williams Arms,Saugeen Shafts and Accuracy Plus.

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Originally Posted by Karl Marques

Is it just me, or does Bass Pro focus too heavily on taxidermy and waterfalls and too little on actual products and good customer service?

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It's not just you, and it's not just your local store.

In all my travels for work, I always drop in Bass Pro, Cabela's etc. It helps pass the time when you're stuck someplace for a week or more. I make the tour without buying anything and leave. ;)

Bass Pros are (naturally) all the same, and they all suck. They're the worst of all the big box outdoor retailers.

Some people I know spend more time there than in the field & wonder why they don't fill their tag. I also think it's become more of a fashion show on how much camo you can possibly own & wear. Many don't hunt or fish just want matching outfits to parade at the local Timmies!:silly:

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Originally Posted by trimmer21

... Honestly,I like to shop at local dealers like Gagnon's,Williams Arms,Saugeen Shafts and Accuracy Plus.

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Amen brother! I've been converted.

They have their up sides and down sides. They've been great to me this year. In June I broke a BPS rod that I'd had for years and really liked (I tried to put it down across my gunnels to pickup another one and didn't realize that I had managed to perfectly thread the tip into the cleat, snapped the tip clean off about 8" down). Went to bass pro, showed it to the fishing counter, they said hmm haaa we don't even make this model anymore...let me ask the manager... Manager said we'll give you 60% (or something like that) towards another BPS rod. Super happy! A rod way past warranty that I broke by being stupid and they'er going to give me $$$?? Then in November the zipper stop on the Frogg toggs rain jacket I bought there last Dec or Jan fell off, thought I'd kept the receipt but couldn't find it, stopped in and took it to the customer service and asked if they could see the purchase on my membership points card and he said they don't go back that far but.... let me ask the manager. Manager asked: Does he have a membership? Do we have one in stock? The answer was yes to both of those questions and I walked out with a brand new jacket, no hassle.

In some ways I think we are spoiled. Wasn't that far back we had to put up with atrocious service and inventory levels at LeBarons. These are box stores who operate like boxstores which means minimal salary costs ( so you get what you pay for ).They live off volume and marketing. The customer count at BP is probably 100 times what it is in LeBarons now. Add in Sail and Cabelas and you need to be cut throat on expenses to enable the thinning margins.

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Originally Posted by terrym

Wasn't that far back we had to put up with atrocious service and inventory levels at LeBarons.

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Don't remind me, I used to have to buy ammo at LaBaron's (Ottawa) and it was all I could do to suck it up and skulk across their threshold. Haha. Nasty experiences.

I'm lucky in this area we have a plethora of small family businesses within about a 45 minutes drive and I'm happy to drop my money on their counters. It costs more, but it's worth it to me to have a good repore with the owner.

I know their customer service isn't very good at times but I like the store. It's a great store to walk around while the wife goes shopping in the mall. I would much rather spend an hour in there then in the mall. You just need to know what to expect and you won't be disappointed.
You can sit in a boat, ATV or get your picture taken with Santa for free.... I for one, am grateful they took up shop here in Ontario.

Big box stores like bass pro or cabelas have their moments, typically for some "draw" items that are meant to get you in the door, but asides from these feature items the regular merchandise is so-so.

I think Elwood Epps has fantastic customer service and is truly a hunters store (no gimmicks). LeBaron is also good as I have been going there for years so they know me by name (this hobby is an addiction when you are Norm of Cheers at your local store).

Also Sail Outdoors is getting better, their prices are alright and they occupy that mid section between a big box store and an independent.

You can say what you want about them but I walked in and found a sale on rem 870 shotguns .left with a 12g for under 300$ plus I got a rebate of 25$ from remington. Thy were selling the 12ga 28 inch and the 20g youth model for the same price. Wish I would have bought a dozen of each as I see then used here on the EE for 400$ ..lol..Dutch

I like bp, I like to find the guy or gal dressed in full camo not matter what is or isn't in season ! Lol but really every sporting store has good and bad


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Originally Posted by dutchhunter

You can say what you want about them but I walked in and found a sale on rem 870 shotguns .left with a 12g for under 300$ plus I got a rebate of 25$ from remington. Thy were selling the 12ga 28 inch and the 20g youth model for the same price. Wish I would have bought a dozen of each as I see then used here on the EE for 400$ ..lol..Dutch

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Once you learn how too play the game can walk out with some amazing deals. Best so far Heavy metal 3" BB with manufacture rebate a case came out to $10.00 a box.

I visit their store and only buy stuff on sale in their hallway bins or from their flyers, everything else is overpriced.
Like the previous posters said, Elwood Epps, Williams Arms and small stores is where the service is at!

I'll stick with Cabela's both here and State side. I have found a lot of good buys for the money lately both .ca and travelling State side even with the exchange. Their customer service has been great especially in states like Wisconsin and Oklahoma, many of the Cableas in the States seem to avoid the large metropolitan areas (and I think they find more people with actual outdoor experience). I too am anti Bass Pro and found out through experience that anything with "Redhead" written on it is junk. From the small retailers I have had a lot of luck with Distribution Plein Air and Canadian Waterfowlers Pro Shop.

I started hunting just about 4 yrs ago, been to the BP in TO and Calgary, but had lots of stuff, but nothing I wanted was in stock in both stores (reloading). Was super stoked for BP opening in Ottawa and started to order online, then they decided to cancel the Ottawa store. I sent them a nasty email and told them I would never go to BP and I am glad Cabelas's is coming to Ottawa. I was in the EDM Cabelas in Sept and if I was not flying already heavy I could have spent a cool 1000.00 on in stock stuff. BP will never see my business again.

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Originally Posted by line052

BP will never see my business again.

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Unfortunately, it sounds like they're going to be one company...we can only hope they take the good of Cabela's into the BP organization....but when it's all about the profits, I'm afraid they'll continue to hire substandard managers.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ca...0SU2JY20151105

I'm just taking it as given that Bass Pro will get rid of the best of Cabela's and leave us with the worst.

The store-branded products at Cabela's vary in quality but overall they're better than the Redhead stuff. Cabela's has a store-branded shooting shirt that's tough, well made and inexpensive ... the Redhead equivalent is a piece of excrement. Which one do you think will be on the shelves after the dust settles?

Similarly, you can bet we won't be able to order online from a place in Canada after the takeover.

I think this whole market is over-retailed. Just like home improvement has been. Home Depot, Rona etc. kept on building stores even though the retail market was saturated ... the whole idea was to get everyone overextended so someone would fail. This overextension has brought lots of stores to Canada, with more promised. But now that Bass Pro has come out on top, I expect some of those promised stores will never be built.

yes Bass pro is not the best.

However down here in Windsor the only hunting store we have is Canadian Tire & it's not much better.

Now I do jump across the border to Michigan now & again & they have plently of really good outdoor stores if I need something... :)

The biggest deterrent for me to even enter Bass Pro is that bloody parking lot. I get within 2kms of that Vaughan Mills complex and I begin to perspire. It's a nightmare no matter what time of day. The level of customer service at BP hasn't changed since day one. It was sub-par then and it remains that way today. As some have mentioned, you can get the occasional good deal so long as you know what you are after and as long as you don't have to ask anyone working behind a counter for assistance. I do my best to avoid that entire Wonderland/Vaughan mills block. Gong show.

i have learned with the big box stores its best to go after you have done your homework got your list and price match list
i like gagnons i shop there as much as i can i like putting money into local business that being said the stock in the little stores is not as extensive as BPS or cabelas or sail if you want to talk to people who know their stuff and really care about what your needs are go to the little store but the box stores almost always have more variety as long as you know what you want
i

In this digital era, I find you are best to research the heck out of the product you are looking for and treat any of the big box stores as just a means to buy the product.

I don't live close to any BPS unless I travel home(Southern Ontario), Usually at christmas time and find that even at the local SAIL in burlington, they don't take you seriously at the gun counter unless you're buying a Tikka/Sako or something in the $1500 range..Next time I'm going to ask them.. "Why is my business not important as a customer willing to give you $500 of my hard earned money as opposed to buddy who drops $2200 on a complete setup.."

Was at Cabela's in Barrie on boxing day and was treated great, the service was prompt and professional (Dan at the gun counter.. if you're reading this, Thanks!) and I was in and out in 30 minutes which was amazing considering how busy they were.

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Originally Posted by Karl Marques

I wandered the aisles looking for xmas gifts for my dad and realized that the shelves are filled with almost all gimmicky crap.

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So true. There are no shortage of companies trying to sell us hopes and dreams in order to separate us from our money.

However, I much prefer our current hunting/fishing retail environment (gimmicky crap aside) to the one that existed when I started hunting in the mid-1980s. Back then I had two options: CT or a couple of local mom & pop stores with their small, dusty, never-changing inventories.

Since writing this post I went back again. The wife was shopping so I went in to kill time. There are things that I like about bass pro. If nothing else it's a great place to window shop. I suppose my biggest beef is with the staff in the gun department. ZERO customer service skills and very little knowledge. I went with my dad to help him pick up his first shotgun. The guy behind the counter seemed like he was just spitting out slogans from the Beretta and Browning ads. I'm fairly new to guns and hunting but I really felt like I knew a lot more than him. The last time I was there I asked if they had any 7.62x39 non-corrosive. The guy asked me what that was. He had no idea. I could get that if I asked the guy in the shoe department but to get that reply from the gun dept is amazing. Most of the time thy don't even look at you when you're talking to them. Brutal.


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This is why I loved my experience at Al Simmons Gun Shop in Hamilton. I didn't get the name of the guy behind the counter but he showed me a lot of stuff. I'm now waiting for my PAL to come through so I can actually purchase a few guns at that store.

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Originally Posted by Karl Marques

Since writing this post I went back again. The wife was shopping so I went in to kill time. There are things that I like about bass pro. If nothing else it's a great place to window shop. I suppose my biggest beef is with the staff in the gun department. ZERO customer service skills and very little knowledge. I went with my dad to help him pick up his first shotgun. The guy behind the counter seemed like he was just spitting out slogans from the Beretta and Browning ads. I'm fairly new to guns and hunting but I really felt like I knew a lot more than him. The last time I was there I asked if they had any 7.62x39 non-corrosive. The guy asked me what that was. He had no idea. I could get that if I asked the guy in the shoe department but to get that reply from the gun dept is amazing. Most of the time thy don't even look at you when you're talking to them. Brutal.


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Voicing such impressions in a forum is fine - doesn't achieve much though. It would be more effective to take the time and communicate directly to the store manager and/or corporate office citing one's experience (mentioning specifics i.e. employee name/date/time/other directly relevant details etc without any exaggeration or malice).

A brief, properly composed email is all that would be necessary to get one's message across where it may actually have an impact.....

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Originally Posted by hunteronwheels

i have learned with the big box stores its best to go after you have done your homework got your list and price match list
i like gagnons i shop there as much as i can i like putting money into local business that being said the stock in the little stores is not as extensive as BPS or cabelas or sail if you want to talk to people who know their stuff and really care about what your needs are go to the little store but the box stores almost always have more variety as long as you know what you want
i

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Exactly...Good annalist

Dick

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Originally Posted by sharps4570

Voicing such impressions in a forum is fine - doesn't achieve much though. It would be more effective to take the time and communicate directly to the store manager and/or corporate office citing one's experience (mentioning specifics i.e. employee name/date/time/other directly relevant details etc without any exaggeration or malice).

A brief, properly composed email is all that would be necessary to get one's message across where it may actually have an impact.....

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Very good point. I was venting frustration but you're right. It doesn't accomplish much.


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Originally Posted by Miller97

I don't live close to any BPS unless I travel home(Southern Ontario), Usually at christmas time and find that even at the local SAIL in burlington, they don't take you seriously at the gun counter unless you're buying a Tikka/Sako or something in the $1500 range..Next time I'm going to ask them.. "Why is my business not important as a customer willing to give you $500 of my hard earned money as opposed to buddy who drops $2200 on a complete setup.."

Was at Cabela's in Barrie on boxing day and was treated great, the service was prompt and professional (Dan at the gun counter.. if you're reading this, Thanks!) and I was in and out in 30 minutes which was amazing considering how busy they were.

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I think it's hit and miss at the sail gun counter. I was just there a couple of weeks ago, and I bought a 600 dollar shotgun. The guy that helped me ( didn't get his name ) was very helpful for me. I didn't know exactly what I wanted, and he helped me through the process, took his time, and directed me to the least expensive of the three guns I was looking at, after hearing my needs and intentions with the gun



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Went in there today with my rain check for bullets. .they tell me my rain check is to old...but I tell them every time I come in for there shells they tell me there not in so how can they tell me I waited to long to redeem my rain check ..sounds like b.s to me

All in all we (outdoor enthusiast) have some much more options then we did 10 years ago and I do agree that BPS sucks and is way over priced. I really enjoy SAIL for the customer service and they do carry good quality brands. My score card would read SAIL first, Cabelas Second and BPS a Distant Third.

Cheers!

I went in to the Vaughn location to look for smokeless powder for my Savage. Waited for my number to be called. Asked for the powder I needed. The guys behind the counter all laughed & said "we have not had loose powder in years & won't be getting any". Hmm I said I thought this was a real outdoor store I guess not. :(

Nice to have close by you..... We get Cabelas in spring if all goes well in Ottawa.

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Originally Posted by gaucir2

All in all we (outdoor enthusiast) have some much more options then we did 10 years ago and I do agree that BPS sucks and is way over priced. I really enjoy SAIL for the customer service and they do carry good quality brands. My score card would read SAIL first, Cabelas Second and BPS a Distant Third.

Cheers!

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Originally Posted by line052

Nice to have close by you..... We get Cabelas in spring if all goes well in Ottawa.

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My daughters boyfriend drives truck delivery for Rona's...he drops building supplies off at the site all week....he says it's a go !!!...even gave me a $50 gift certificate for the Grand Opening sales event !!

I'll go once, like I did for Bass Pro...see what the hoopla is about, but I can't see it will become a regular place to shop for me, I like my small Mom and Pop places in Brockville and Smiths Falls.

I got pretty the same experience at basspro gun section and vowed never to go bqck. I go to sail for all my outdoor gear.

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Bass pro has its ups and downs, if your from a small town like me with a limited selection of good stores that carry gear, bass pro is the place to get that stuff you don't normally see, on the other hand the staff leave something to be desired, but there was one older fellow at the Niagara bps gun counter that was very helpful, almost bought a new gun but they didn't have the one I wanted. I guess its like you go to those stores and have to remember its a box store, if you want gun specialist go to places like shooters choice, and I use them as an example not saying they don't have the odd bone head working there!

With the limitless on line suppliers at reasonable cost and free or reduced shipping I find myself only browsing when I enter these stores. Almost everything I buy arrives at my door:)

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Originally Posted by skeeter1

With the limitless on line suppliers at reasonable cost and free or reduced shipping I find myself only browsing when I enter these stores. Almost everything I buy arrives at my door:)

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I'm pretty much the same, haven't bought much of anything hunting related in a 'bricks and mortar' store in a long time.

As long as a potential buyer is KNOWLEDGEABLE (regarding the desired product) he can deal anywhere with any-one . The problem arises if a person is "clueless" or too trusting . During the last ~ 60 years I've dealt with quite a number of different "suppliers" . There are good-ones as well as not-so-good-ones and even crooks . One "highly-touted" gun-store (N. of Whitby) once (~ 35 years ago) tried to sell me a USED #451 S&W as BRAND-NEW . --- Since I had bought guns and related goods there on previous occasions they knew me well . --- Needless to say that we had a bit of a "session" about it and I never stepped into that "clap-trap" again . --- Yes , they are still in business . --- The fairest gun-dealers I ever dealt with were : Don McGregor (McGregor's Hardware in Bowmanville) and Roger Pardy (Gagnon's in Oshawa) . Unfortunately are both of them dead already . --- Don died ~ 45 years ago and Roger was murdered (in his store) ~ 23 years ago . --- *** --- Employees of "big-box-stores" are notoriously incompetent ; however , I enter a store (any store) in order to purchase an item , not to YAP . --- Price is the deciding factor . --- Bear in mind that you are seen as a customer , --- not a friend .