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  • smokey

    2A TEACHER
    Jan 31, 2008
    31,412
    2012-06-20 14.51.22.jpg
    This was the counter for most of today. With hunting season gone and the classic coming up in august, there's just not a lot of traffic right now during the weekdays...especially before 6. The weekends get a little looney, but they just hired about 6 new guys to ease the pain(also means 6 people learning their way around...so your guy may or may not be 100% on everything quite yet).

    I will say it again though. Basspro is a box store in one of the areas busiest malls. Basspro deals with thousands of customers a day and sells lots and lots of guns. What that means is the store is often able to bulk order guns and beat out prices of competitors(and if not, they match prices of storefronts in md for in-store stuff). It also means occasionally, there will be a flood of people that overwhelm the staff. I've been to Gunconnection a lot of times because of his excellent service and great prices, but he'd have similar problems if 50 people came in to his store all at once for anything from finding out what gun to buy for home defense to just picking up a gun they've already bought. It's just one of those things that happens with a high-volume store, occasionally you'll have to wait.

    The store tries to make the wait less painful by making the store itself a fun place to be. They have a shooting gallery, games, fudge shop, a rock wall to climb, lots of mounts to look at, a fish tank, summer camp for the kids...and so on. So if you do come during a rush, it shouldn't be terribly painful.

    Even if you choose not to use basspro because you like supporting the guys that give back to our community like chad at scotts gunsmithing or dan at gunconnection, think about this next tidbit and how it impacts 2a in md. Basspro is a store that sells guns in one of the most visited malls in md. That fact makes the workers at basspro ambassidors to the gun world for people that may not be in to guns.

    Yesterday, one of my students was walking through the hunting section with her mom. She saw me holding a customer's handgun and lit up, saying, "Hi Mr. SMOKEY0118! What are you doing here with a gun?". After the quick uncomfortable explaination of how this random stranger knew their daughter that usually goes along with seeing my kids in public, her parents expressed their interest in getting a gun for home protection. They didn't know anything about guns, and didn't know where to look for information. After a quick conversation and my e-mail on a card, they were on their way to gun ownership.

    The point of the anecdote is the sweet spot of where basspro shines for us as a community. Seasoned gun people may get frustrated at the counter-jockey's lack of knowledge. Some of them are pretty new and may have a base of knowledge in shotguns...but you're asking an optics or handgun question. Seasoned gun folks(and beginners for that matter) get upset at the wait...although the wait isn't very bad during the weekdays or if you pm me. Where the store really shines is for the new person thats thinking of maybe possible getting something for home defense after that thing that happened. Or that person that went shooting once with a friend and thought it was fun but doesn't know how to get into it themselves. These people(beginning folk) often won't seek out and go to a gun store, because of various degrees of apprehension. However, they're at the mall anyway, might as well swing in to basspro while waiting for the movie to start ... since I heard they've got guns there.

    I've been happy to introduce new gun owner after new gun owner to their first firearm behind the counter. There's definately room for growth with customer service to better serve our dedicated gun crowd, and the manager is working on that. Since he's taken over, we got reloading back, more counter and aisle space for merchandise, a bigger knife selection, black rifles, black rifle accessories, computerized 4473's(my tinfoil hat doesn't like it, but it sure does eliminate errors and streamline the process...plus shortly after the hard copy is printed, the digital copy goes bye-bye), and are now allowed to do external transfers.

    One of our leads frequents this forum(he may be hard to look at with rough people skills, but occasionally he turns out to be a decent person ) and many of the counter-jockeys read the pages here. The more feedback the store gets, the better they can identify areas in need of improvement and the urgency to fix these areas.(you may notice the number system is now gone during slow times...it acts as a little motivation for the workers behind the counter to help instead of jabber-jawing between calling a number...that's largely your voices on here changing the way they do things to try to be better).
     
    Last edited:

    Boxcab

    MSI EM
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 22, 2007
    7,867
    AA County
    View attachment 60345
    This was the counter for most of today...

    Stopped by last night at about 7 pm and it looked the same (Except no smokey standing in the isle taking pictures). I had a $10 off a $50 purchase coupon and picked up some ammo (getting 20% off). Nice and quiet, A/C was cool and no lines at the registers! :thumbsup:


    Edit to add that it looks like Fathers Day wiped out your Zombie Ammo!
     

    Keystone70

    MSI Executive Member
    Apr 14, 2012
    748
    HoCo
    View attachment 60345
    This was the counter for most of today. With hunting season gone and the classic coming up in august, there's just not a lot of traffic right now during the weekdays...especially before 6. The weekends get a little looney, but they just hired about 6 new guys to ease the pain(also means 6 people learning their way around...so your guy may or may not be 100% on everything quite yet).

    I will say it again though. Basspro is a box store in one of the areas busiest malls. Basspro deals with thousands of customers a day and sells lots and lots of guns. What that means is the store is often able to bulk order guns and beat out prices of competitors(and if not, they match prices of storefronts in md for in-store stuff). It also means occasionally, there will be a flood of people that overwhelm the staff. I've been to Gunconnection a lot of times because of his excellent service and great prices, but he'd have similar problems if 50 people came in to his store all at once for anything from finding out what gun to buy for home defense to just picking up a gun they've already bought. It's just one of those things that happens with a high-volume store, occasionally you'll have to wait.

    The store tries to make the wait less painful by making the store itself a fun place to be. They have a shooting gallery, games, fudge shop, a rock wall to climb, lots of mounts to look at, a fish tank, summer camp for the kids...and so on. So if you do come during a rush, it shouldn't be terribly painful. If you're a msf member and in a super hurry, feel free to pm me and i'll see what i can do(when i'm working) to knock that wait time down for you .

    Even if you choose not to use basspro because you like supporting the guys that give back to our community like chad at scotts gunsmithing or dan at gunconnection, think about this next tidbit and how it impacts 2a in md. Basspro is a store that sells guns in one of the most visited malls in md. That fact makes the workers at basspro ambassidors to the gun world for people that may not be in to guns.

    Yesterday, one of my students was walking through the hunting section with her mom. She saw me holding a customer's handgun and lit up, saying, "Hi Mr. SMOKEY0118! What are you doing here with a gun?". After the quick uncomfortable explaination of how this random stranger knew their daughter that usually goes along with seeing my kids in public, her parents expressed their interest in getting a gun for home protection. They didn't know anything about guns, and didn't know where to look for information. After a quick conversation and my e-mail on a card, they were on their way to gun ownership.

    The point of the anecdote is the sweet spot of where basspro shines for us as a community. Seasoned gun people may get frustrated at the counter-jockey's lack of knowledge. Some of them are pretty new and may have a base of knowledge in shotguns...but you're asking an optics or handgun question. Seasoned gun folks(and beginners for that matter) get upset at the wait...although the wait isn't very bad during the weekdays or if you pm me. Where the store really shines is for the new person thats thinking of maybe possible getting something for home defense after that thing that happened. Or that person that went shooting once with a friend and thought it was fun but doesn't know how to get into it themselves. These people(beginning folk) often won't seek out and go to a gun store, because of various degrees of apprehension. However, they're at the mall anyway, might as well swing in to basspro while waiting for the movie to start ... since I heard they've got guns there.

    I've been happy to introduce new gun owner after new gun owner to their first firearm behind the counter. There's definately room for growth with customer service to better serve our dedicated gun crowd, and the manager is working on that. Since he's taken over, we got reloading back, more counter and aisle space for merchandise, a bigger knife selection, black rifles, black rifle accessories, computerized 4473's(my tinfoil hat doesn't like it, but it sure does eliminate errors and streamline the process...plus shortly after the hard copy is printed, the digital copy goes bye-bye), and are now allowed to do external transfers.

    One of our leads frequents this forum(he may be hard to look at with rough people skills, but occasionally he turns out to be a decent person ) and many of the counter-jockeys read the pages here. The more feedback the store gets, the better they can identify areas in need of improvement and the urgency to fix these areas.(you may notice the number system is now gone during slow times...it acts as a little motivation for the workers behind the counter to help instead of jabber-jawing between calling a number...that's largely your voices on here changing the way they do things to try to be better).
    This makes a lot of sense. I agree with the logic here.
     

    annihilation-time

    MOLON LABE
    Jun 14, 2010
    5,042
    Hazzard County!
    I completely agree with you Smokey. You can only get so much from a box store.

    My biggest problem with Bass pro is the waiting period. I don't understand why I have to wait more than eight days for a Maryland regulated transfer.
     

    defygravity

    Active Member
    May 5, 2012
    808
    Baltimore County
    Had a great customer service experience at Basspro the other day (actually, about a week ago). Went in looking for a cheap IDPA holster, and there was an employee putting holsters on the shelf.

    He asked me if I needed help, I asked him what holster would fit the gun I was looking to use (Cougar 9mm). Not only did he spend about 20 minutes with me figuring it out, but he went behind the case to take out a Cougar to make sure it fit, and it was easy to draw from.

    ...all with no number. Wow! That's the kind of stuff that makes me keep coming back. I think his name was Dave...something with a D, a younger guy who used to be a cop in PA. Hats off to him, and I hope you commend him for a job well done!
     

    HeatSeeker

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 18, 2012
    3,058
    Maryland
    I don't want to give the wrong idea. I do love Bass Pro, for the entire store. If you go there to gun shop just be prepared to spend a little more time then you might like too. I think they should definitely keep the number system in place, atleast it gives you a spot in line and an idea of when you will be helped rather then trying to flag down the next guy that looks available before someone else does. As far as the store as a hole, I think they have more accesssories then anywhere else you can find short of driving up to Cabelas. If you hunt, fish, or camp Bass Pro is a one stop shop.
     

    pop-gunner

    Ultimate Member
    May 8, 2008
    2,270
    Had a great customer service experience at Basspro the other day (actually, about a week ago). Went in looking for a cheap IDPA holster, and there was an employee putting holsters on the shelf.

    He asked me if I needed help, I asked him what holster would fit the gun I was looking to use (Cougar 9mm). Not only did he spend about 20 minutes with me figuring it out, but he went behind the case to take out a Cougar to make sure it fit, and it was easy to draw from.

    ...all with no number. Wow! That's the kind of stuff that makes me keep coming back. I think his name was Dave...something with a D, a younger guy who used to be a cop in PA. Hats off to him, and I hope you commend him for a job well done!

    His name is Don and he has gotten a lot of recognition lately for his customer service.
    I'll add this to the list of great things he has done for us and make your feelings known.
     

    pop-gunner

    Ultimate Member
    May 8, 2008
    2,270
    I completely agree with you Smokey. You can only get so much from a box store.

    My biggest problem with Bass pro is the waiting period. I don't understand why I have to wait more than eight days for a Maryland regulated transfer.

    The waiting period is a mandatory one unfortunately and it's business days so if you purchase on a Sat. you have a bit of a wait.
    The other situation you may encounter is a "Hold" from MSP which is completely out of our hands and unless you contact MSP and get things resolved it can take quite a while.
    I recently got a call from MSP stating they were taking a "Hold" off of a customer's application and turning that into a "Disapproved".
    That gun was paid for and the application sent in over a year ago.
     

    huesmann

    n00b
    Mar 23, 2012
    1,927
    Silver Spring, MD
    LOL, I gotta buddy who has a scoped Mossberg 500 he's had for over a decade in storage, who I've been trying to get to take the thing out and lube it up so we can go shooting (with my 5.56 and 9), and he's always saying he's gotta get out to Bass Pro to pick up a cleaning kit for it. Gotta prod him a little harder!
     

    HarCo2ANewb

    Subibro
    Mar 24, 2011
    5,899
    Elkridge
    I was in there at 6pm tonight (Friday) to get some primers to get me thru the weekend and got help immediately from a younger guy named Conrad, IIRC. Had a much better experience than I expected.
     

    rico903

    Ultimate Member
    May 2, 2011
    8,802
    How can doing away with the ticket system be an improvement. In the past if I pulled ticket 50 and they were on 30 I knew I could wander around the dept. and look for other things. Now my time would be wasted just standing there. On another point, I'm partially disabled and it's hard to stand for any length of time so I used to be able to find a seat and wait for my # to be called. Now, if I have to stand in one place to hold my spot I'll leave.
     

    dist1646

    Ultimate Member
    May 1, 2012
    8,758
    Eldersburg
    Rule no 1 for the guy behind the counter, Do not lie to me and tell me that you are out of stock only to have me walk down the counter and see a whole stack of the item I want and be told by another employee that "We have plenty of those.".
     

    annihilation-time

    MOLON LABE
    Jun 14, 2010
    5,042
    Hazzard County!
    The waiting period is a mandatory one unfortunately and it's business days so if you purchase on a Sat. you have a bit of a wait.
    The other situation you may encounter is a "Hold" from MSP which is completely out of our hands and unless you contact MSP and get things resolved it can take quite a while.
    I recently got a call from MSP stating they were taking a "Hold" off of a customer's application and turning that into a "Disapproved".
    That gun was paid for and the application sent in over a year ago.

    I'm quite familiar with how the waiting period should work. When I purchase a firearm from Gun Connection, my wait is always 8 days. If I make a purchase on a Monday, I come back Tuesday of the following week. I've never had a transfer put on hold, but for some reason a Maryland regulated transfer seems to take 10-14 days at BPS.
     

    Rich1911

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 8, 2012
    3,839
    I've bought two handguns from BassPro within the past two years and both times they were ready for pickup on the eight day. The customer service was great also. I would go on a weekday if possible to make a purchase to avoid the tire kickers though.
     

    annihilation-time

    MOLON LABE
    Jun 14, 2010
    5,042
    Hazzard County!
    I've bought two handguns from BassPro within the past two years and both times they were ready for pickup on the eight day. The customer service was great also. I would go on a weekday if possible to make a purchase to avoid the tire kickers though.

    Good. I guess things have changed there since I made my handgun purchases.
     

    Mr H

    Banana'd
    Someone is listening because they removed the ticket taking during the week and now only do it on the weekends....Does'nt make things any easier though, plenty of people are still pissed off at having to wait...

    Going with hit-and-miss here...

    We were there at about 11:15 this morning, and there was no crowd.

    My opinion? They have to serve the customers SOMEHOW, and I would suspect they wouldn't have gotten where they are without learning to flex.

    I do know they've hired a number of people recently to help with the increased load.

    Personally? I'd rather work with an IP, then local shop before going to a bigbox... but as was mentioned earlier, it's hard to beat their selection.
     

    Kizmit99

    Member
    May 18, 2011
    94
    Howard Co
    I was in there on Thursday evening (about 6pm), the number system wasn't in place. My wife wanted to compare field glasses. After standing around for 20 minutes, with 4 folks behind the counter and only two looking like they were actually helping customers, we left. There were several other customers waiting to be helped and without the number system the possibility of actually being served "in order" seemed small.
     

    Goldslammer

    Active Member
    MDS Supporter
    Nov 10, 2010
    710
    Brooklyn Park
    They had a great price on Remington R1911's in their flyer a couple weeks a go. I go up to the counter to check it out, only to be told the gun is not for sale in Maryland ?
    Huh ? :shocked:
     

    pop-gunner

    Ultimate Member
    May 8, 2008
    2,270
    They had a great price on Remington R1911's in their flyer a couple weeks a go. I go up to the counter to check it out, only to be told the gun is not for sale in Maryland ?
    Huh ? :shocked:

    Remington refuses to provide a fired shell case and we can't fire them ourselves. The flyer covers all 58 stores so sometimes there will be something in there that we can't sell in MD.
    We try to find a close substitute that we can sell to our customers but we're at the mercy of the manufacturers and distributors and can't always find a substitute.
    Gun sales are up 45% nationwide as of last month and expected to increase as we near November. I met with a bunch of our reps. last month Ruger, Smith, Taurus, Savage, Beretta, Benelli, DPMS, Remington, etc...and the story is the same from all. They are working 24 hours a day in 3 shifts manufacturing guns and can't keep up with demand. At no point in history have so many guns been sold.
     

    pop-gunner

    Ultimate Member
    May 8, 2008
    2,270
    I was in there on Thursday evening (about 6pm), the number system wasn't in place. My wife wanted to compare field glasses. After standing around for 20 minutes, with 4 folks behind the counter and only two looking like they were actually helping customers, we left. There were several other customers waiting to be helped and without the number system the possibility of actually being served "in order" seemed small.

    I am sorry to hear you did not have a good experience. We do try to help each and every customer in a timely fashion and provide the level of service you deserve.
    If you ever run into this again please don't hesitate to ask for the Team Leader or Manager.
    We will do everything we can to help you.
     

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