Bass Pro.......

W

William Suter

Well-known member
....is a mess. I got my new scope mounted on my Contender and thought instead of reloading i would just run out to BPS and buy a box of factory ammo to use to at least sight it in. Got to the ammo racks and what a cluster %$#@! No organization what so ever. The racks are 5 shelves deep. 30-30 ammo was on the top shelf and on all the rest of the shelves to the floor. Three or four brands, mixed weight on each shelf. There was a lady there checking for something and I ask her if Stevie Wonder stocked these shelves? She laughed and agreed. I just grabbed a box of the cheapest 30-30 and left. What a mess! No wonder Scheels is booming.
 
Umpteen years ago I got sent to a school in Atlanta. I think at the time it was the only Bass Pro in the state. I’d saved up some money (we was POOR back then) and had a list of things I wanted. Now when I mean saved, I had about $700 I could spend with the wife’s blessing.
Long story short I had a buggy full and wanted one more item from the gun department couldn’t get anyone to wait on me because of the “suits” that wanted to look and hold, but never bought. Once they left they looked at me in flip flops, shorts, and a T-shirt and acted disgusted they had to help me. The guy said what I wanted was in the back and they get it for me. After a 20min wait I asked a new guy that showed up if he knew how much longer it would be? I told him who I asked and he laughed and said that guy went to lunch.
I pushed my buggy up to the register, let them ring everything up and asked for a manager. I explained what happened and told them I’d never shop at one of their stores ever again in my life…and I haven’t.
When I got home from the school I ordered everything from Cabela’s out of their catalog. Once they were bought out I used Roger’s or Scheels.
We just had an Academy open in Albany yesterday and they’ll be my new store.
 
Customer service at the gun counter is horrible here. Although, I've gotten several good deals on used firearms there but it takes forever.
 
Back when you had to fill out and mail a paper order form Bass Pro was often a viable and cheapest option, rarely the case anymore.
 
Way back in the day, Cabela's and BPS had things that I couldn't source locally. Every spring, a couple of buddies and I would make the 3.5-hour drive to BPS in Springfield, Missouri, and stock up on fishing lures for our bass fishing needs. It was always a good time. Nowadays, BPS is usually the highest-priced place to buy about anything, and ordering online has about replaced visiting a brick-and-mortar store. Especially when you live in the sticks, any big-name store that stocks hunting and fishing supplies is a 2-4 hour drive away. And I hate going to big cities. I do most of my shopping online and can find the best deals that way. I have one local hunting/fishing store that I patronize heavily. The owner and I are good acquaintances, and he gives me a decent percentage off the sticker price on most things in the shop.
 
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We got a new Scheel's store in Tulsa recently. It's a great store if you get past all the clothing and still have money left. The reloading and firearms is very nice to. The "con" is they are located in the busiest mall in Tulsa and I hate the mall. Bass Pro is just a mile or so from my house so its very convenient. I also get a military discount so that helps to. Most of the store is pretty much organized but the ammo shelves is a train wreck. Counter help is usually nice people but it seems it takes three of them to sell a firearm and do paper work. Like I said, I've got some very good deals on used firearms but the length of time to get out the door is terrible. But I still go there to save driving to the far side of Tulsa.
 
I "USED" to go to Cabela's in Hamburg Pa, pretty often, now that it has turned into Bass Pro Cabela's I rarely go there, it's definitely not the same.
Like GC I'm ordering more and more online, unless I need or want a fit or feel, that started when I would go to Either Cabela's or the now Bass Pro Cabela's with a list of 10 items and come home with 6 of them if I was lucky, and then need to order the remaining items online. I love Cabela's Super slam fleece hunting gear, and I really liked their Cabela's brand neoprene waist high waders, both gone since Bass Pro acquired them, and you know what they can do with their Readhead junk!
Cabela's used to send out frequent sales flyers with decent sales, and EVERYONE loved the bargain cave, still get the occasional sales flyer from Cabela's/Bass pro but the bargain cave went the way of the dodo!
I "USED" to go there to buy reloading supplies also, their inventory now is nowhere near what it once was, no problem, Midway, Midsouth, or Natchez, will keep me supplied, and I can buy powder and primers locally.
IMO, Bass Pro ruined Cabela's, they should just put their name on it and be done with it, the original Cabela's is gone!
 
Cabelas was going down the toilet long before BPS showed up. I used to buy all my hunting stuff there, camo, arrows, broadheads, boots, reloading stuff. But their prices got even worse and the quality of their branded products continued to go downhill. Most of their stuff is now the cheapest made chinese crap. I still have a Cabelas credit card and I often struggle to find ways to spend my points. The only great thing I have bought there recently is a lined wool shirt, its my favorite and the quality is good, I've had it now for almost 2 years and it hasn't fallen apart. I like it so much I bought two more, at $17 each on sale.
 
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