Bass Pro...

[INMY01TA]

Originally Posted by Mtairy Biker

come on ..$10 hole dollars WOW!!!!!!!!

no really, it's true!!!!!!

[Lanceman_1]

One suggestion would be to have a pick up counter or a seperate line for pick up. That way people do not have to wait all over again just to pick up a gun they have purchased. I could take the hour wait to buy the gun. I did not like the fact that I had to wait again even longer just to pick the pistol up.

[TripleChris]

BPS has better powder selection than any of the smaller shops in the area, that I know of. If you cringe at the hazmat fees for ordering one measly pound of Bullseye, brick and mortar stores are it. I have never purchased a gun from Bass Pro, but I have bought primers, powder, and other components there. Been happy with the selection (although not nearly as good as Cabela's for presses, dies, bullets, and brass) and service.

[byf43]

I've bought several firearms from BPS in Hanover, but, the wait times are terrible.
(G19; G30SF; Remington 799, just to name a few! They were all on sale, btw!)

The last time I went in there, I wanted to buy a scope that was on sale.

My son and I took our number, and there were a few people ahead of us, including one Baltimore City Police officer, in uniform.

Some guy comes strolling up to the counter, and called one guy behind the counter, by name.

They shook hands, then the two went to the far-end of the counter.
The BPS employee then walked back up to the handgun enclosure and retrieved a S&W M&P, then walked back down to the far end of the counter, to help 'his friend'.

The Baltimore LEO and I looked at each other and just shrugged our shoulders.

By this time, my son and I had been standing there for over an hour.
This 'sale' took another 1/2 hour.

The Baltimore LEO TRIED to get someone's attention, but, the two guys standing by the knife cabinet were too interested in talking about "The Bachelor" or some other bovine scatology.

He walked out.
My son and I followed.

I won't buy anything from BPS that's behind the counter, again.



Lastly, the Richmond, VA (Atlee, actually!) store is much nicer than Hanover!!

[MDGolom]

Originally Posted by Mtairy Biker

come on ..$10 hole dollars WOW!!!!!!!!

Now hold on there a second. I think saving $10 is well worth the hour wait for your number to be called.

[Petar]

I have purchased a gun from BPS in Arundel Mall in the past. The salesman was polite and friendly. However, the stand in line time sucked beyond anything that would make me go back to buy from that place again. Not only do you stand in line for 1 to 2 hours to buy, but after the 7 to 10 day period you get to stand in line to pick-up.

[mr h]

Originally Posted by Petar

I have purchased a gun from BPS in Arundel Mall in the past. The salesman was polite and friendly. However, the stand in line time sucked beyond anything that would make me go back to buy from that place again. Not only do you stand in line for 1 to 2 hours to buy, but after the 7 to 10 day period you get to stand in line to pick-up.

The only firearm I've purchased from them was a rifle, and when there was no line. Simple, straightforward, and only had to correct one counter-jockey mistake after the fact.



But...

Having seen the madness that can be the gun counter at BPS, I doubt I'll ever do it again, unless the planets align 'just so' with sale price and no line...

I would prefer, though, to seek out a small shop... preferably an IP, but as an On Target member, they get consideration too. BPS is too impersonal and crowded for me to do anything more than just browse at the counter... sorry, guys.

[07cummins59]

Every time I go to BPS I have to wait way too long! Friday I decided to never shop there again. It was the last straw. I'm emailing there store now to let them know how unsatisfied I am. I can see that several of there employees are on this website, so please chime in and I will email you a copy. Also if you have any management's email addresses I would love to send it to them too.

BTW, I'm new the forum, how ya'll doing

Sorry it took BPS research to get me here

[sailskidrive]

It's a "tourists" store... the kind of place you visit when you're interested in something but not really into it enough to know a lot or demand higher end gear. I suppose if you're into hunting apparel or women's silver jewellery it's a good place to shop. They do a nice job with the fish tank and lure demos.

I was in there last week after a lunch meeting at Chevy's and they had some really crappy neutered ARs on the rack.

[hornet]

I think the difference with the regular stores with no more than 3 people attending is, in bass pro you have not just people who go to buy a gun for real, bit kids and other people who went to buy a tshirt and then they get curious about a gun and they ask every single question they can.... They ask about guns and they dont even plan on buying i just bought a shotgun coyple days and i had to wait almost two hours for my number but after that took just 15 mins to do all paperwork

[sailskidrive]

I bought a few O/U shotguns back when they first opened. They used to carry some higher end stuff in cases in the aisle, but now it's all behind the counter.

I agree with you about people asking questions... the staff is usually pretty nice though.

[hornet]

They should have a separate line to gun pickups, somebody in charhe of the line tickets askimg first what do they need, so if they see is a real purchase and will be done that same moment they give a ticket if not have them take a look at the guns behind glass or have somebody who will be in charge of explaining details about the guns. Somebody standing in front of the desk. Or something like that but waiting the tickets to pick up your gun? When there are 15 people before you that are waiting to ask whatever about the guns because they have nothing else to do other.than walk in the mall?

[rivertamer]

It was much better when they first opened..... Better staff and management... Really used to like going in there... But not as good now...... Support your local shops!

Sent from my tricked out Synergy Evo!

[Maryland Hunter]

Originally Posted by hornet

i just bought a shotgun coyple days and i had to wait almost two hours for my number but after that took just 15 mins to do all paperwork

2 hours?!!!

In that time you could have driven to one of several of our IP's here, and been done and on the way home.

MH

[Blaster229]

Originally Posted by Baccusboy

My bass pro back home employs a handicapped Iraq War vet at the gun counter. He's in a wheelchair. Glad to see they are proactive about hiring both the handicapped and veterans.

Sweet thought but doesn't help customer service any if it is lacking. I don't care if you are handicap or not. If you give poor service you give poor service.

[Blaster229]

Originally Posted by sailskidrive

I bought a few O/U shotguns back when they first opened. They used to carry some higher end stuff in cases in the aisle, but now it's all behind the counter.

I agree with you about people asking questions... the staff is usually pretty nice though.

The staff LOVES to hear themselves talk. I HATE standing there listening to some counter kid explain to a woman why an XD .45 is a better self defense pistol than a revolver for her night stand.

[Baccusboy]

Originally Posted by Blaster229

Sweet thought but doesn't help customer service any if it is lacking. I don't care if you are handicap or not. If you give poor service you give poor service.

Well, it's Iowa, so I don't know if it's as busy there as where you're at.

Mostly, people just like to hold guns, although it kinda sucks when you they keep a big trigger lock over them (although I understand why they do it).

[Redcobra]

Bought a shotgun at Bass Pro about 3 or 4 months ago. Never again.
Although everyone was very nice, it was an interminable waiting process. We were there 4 hours including waiting 20 minutes to find someone to walk us to our car. We could not just leave after we bought the gun.

[smokey0118]

Originally Posted by Blaster229

The staff LOVES to hear themselves talk. I HATE standing there listening to some counter kid explain to a woman why an XD .45 is a better self defense pistol than a revolver for her night stand.

basspro sells ear plugs

Plus 13 rnds of .45 with a 5lb consistent striker-fired trigger could prove advantageous over 5 rnds of 10-12lb double-action trigger. There's a reason police moved away from revolvers for defense and to simple striker-fired guns. I may have been more partial to a m&p9 or g19 over an xd45...but depending on the customer it could have been the right advice. Depends on if he went over the pros and cons of both....not to mention what kind of revolver. gp141 or 686....okay...but a taurus m85 with snubby barrel...i'm pretty sure i'd take the m&p.

It's important to know what basspro is before going...it's a box store. Do you go to home depot expecting the kid working there to know everything about a speciffic lawnmower, how it's made, and how it compares to other lawnmowers? Prolly not. Some do, but others are just familiar with what's on the manufacturer's website and what some magazines write about it.

Box stores are also high volume and VERY sensitive to waves of customers. We can be completely caught up on numbers and then be 40 behind in the span of 10 minutes. It just depends on how many of the thousands of people that come in and out every day decide to wander over to the counter at any given time.

The hunting department is going to be changing soon and getting more aisle space, more "tactical" stuff and better(less nuetered) ar's. It's good for people that don't want to pay shipping and wait for internet stuff, or for people that generally know what they want. People just starting off can get some rudimentary guidance, but the store just isn't set up to be a gunconnection, it's just flat out got too high a volume of people.

I think the point about the customers not being traditional gun folks is a good one. When i'm behind the counter, I get lots and lots of people that have never shot a gun before and know absolutely nothing about shooting. They are in the mall for other reasons and come up because someone they're with wants to see something, or just because they're toying with the idea of a gun for home defense and saw some in basspro on their way to get shoes. These people are going to take time because they don't even know enough about anything to know which questions to ask yet.

Before complaining about how long of a wait they're causing you, just consider that every new person that gets into shooting is more support for our cause down the road.

The wait does often suck bad, but lots of times we're caught up and can help you right away. Any business has staffing vs. customer flow problems.

It's going to be hard for a box store like basspro to EVER meet the customer service of a specialty store like gunconnection. If you need someone to suggest things for you, fix things for you, shoot the breeze with you and make you feel like family...Dan's the man. People go to him BECAUSE he's got such great service and knowledge. If that's important to you, it's going to be hard for basspro to meet your expectations.

If you need a big box store with decent knowledge at decent prices to save you some days postage buying things online...basspro is there. With dicks in columbia losing their gun section and walmarts losing their gun sections, it's nice to me to have a basspro around the corner to swing in and see what sales are going on. If for nothing else, to continue to mainstream shooting.

[pop-gunner]

Originally Posted by 07cummins59

Every time I go to BPS I have to wait way too long! Friday I decided to never shop there again. It was the last straw. I'm emailing there store now to let them know how unsatisfied I am. I can see that several of there employees are on this website, so please chime in and I will email you a copy. Also if you have any management's email addresses I would love to send it to them too.

BTW, I'm new the forum, how ya'll doing

Sorry it took BPS research to get me here

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to PM me if you don't want to post a copy of your letter here.