Bass Pro...

[trbr81]

Went to BPS last week to buy a gun - waste of an hour and a half. Poor customer service and lots of disgruntled customers

Went to the Gun Shack in Mt Airy today - great customer service and all paperwork done in about 5 minute. Will definitely be going back

[pop-gunner]

I hear that a lot at Bass Pro, mostly about the wait time.
Sorry your experience wasn't a good one.
With a staff of 3-4 on the counter and it taking 30-45mins per transaction to buy a gun the wait can be more than a little annoying and we all know that.
Nobody likes the number system used there but it's the only way we know who the next customer is.
I try to keep one or two people working the customer side of the counter to grab things like knives. powder, electronic dog collars, etc... so the people buying firearms don't have to wait quite as long.
I'm open to suggestions if you have any on how to make things run smoother.

[-Z/28-]

We could of saved you the trouble on that one. The BPS gun counter isn't very popular around here. They don't really want you to buy the gun because they don't want to do the paperwork, is the general feel we get from the staff there. Good place for clothes, but not guns and ammo.

[SmokingGun]

So........wadya buy?

[pop-gunner]

Originally Posted by -Z/28-

We could of saved you the trouble on that one. The BPS gun counter isn't very popular around here. They don't really want you to buy the gun because they don't want to do the paperwork, is the general feel we get from the staff there. Good place for clothes, but not guns and ammo.

I hope that isn't the general consensus of the hunting dept. over there.
Please know that there are many enthusiast working over there who share the same passion for the shooting sports that you do.
Please let me know what can be done to improve your experience and you can rest assured your comments will be seen by the upper echelon in the store.

[TyFromMD]

What I find kind of silly is that a small shop with only a few people working can more efficiently handle a crowd of 10-12 customers than a sporting goods powerhouse like Bass Pro.

[-Z/28-]

Originally Posted by pop-gunner

I hope that isn't the general consensus of the hunting dept. over there.
Please know that there are many enthusiast working over there who share the same passion for the shooting sports that you do.
Please let me know what can be done to improve your experience and you can rest assured your comments will be seen by the upper echelon in the store.

Ok I might have been a bit harsh. Maybe I just got the wrong guy on a bad day. About a year and half ago, my father and I bought a pair of shotguns there. It was on a Saturday night and y'all were busy, so that might of been part of it, but the guy just didn't seem that interested. He seemed to get a little impatient with my questions. Never had any problem with the rest of the staff.
Thinking about it more, I suppose I'd get tired after awhile too with some of the folks you get in there, being in the mall and all. I mean the guy before us in line spent 30mins deciding on a handgun, then when he found out he'd have to wait 7 days, he decided he didn't want it.

[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.

[smokey0118]

Originally Posted by -Z/28-

We could of saved you the trouble on that one. The BPS gun counter isn't very popular around here. They don't really want you to buy the gun because they don't want to do the paperwork, is the general feel we get from the staff there. Good place for clothes, but not guns and ammo.

swing by sat's 2-10. You'll be taken care of. I can't tell you to send me PM's anymore, they'd prefer you have email correspondance through more official basspro channels...(send me a pm anyway), but I'll do what I can to save you time and get you what you need when I'm there. People at the counter are paid hourly, there's no reason why they wouldn't want to do paperwork on a gun sale(other than increasing the chances of being written up for paperwork errors).

The fact is that there's only so many man-hours available and it doesn't always meet the demand of the surges of customers. If you're #32 and the sign is on #17, it could be an hour and a half wait time or 5 minutes. It just depends on the needs of customers and how quickly the available staff can meet them. Customers sometimes wait with a number to find out where to check out with ammo. Others may want to look at a dozen different scopes, to get them in their hands and then just buy them on opticsplanet. Others may need direction on a home defense tool that works best for them(sometimes means sending them away for more training before buying something, sometimes means expaining the pros and cons of shotguns, ar's and handguns and having them fondle them all before they make a decision).

The fact is, basspro is a box store with lots of volume and on average 5 people working in hunting, one or two being leads(supervisors) that are running around to the customer service desk, backstock, the gun room, the aisles and getting the hourly guys to where they can be productive. Some of the workers are very knowledgeable, some spout off complete nonsense and can fairly be laughed at(I do).

Thousands of people come in and out of the basspro doors. Depending on what those people need will have a large impact on your wait time. Depending on which salesperson you deal with, you'll have a great experience or one that sucks. Please let the managers know if your worker was helpful or if they weren't. It'll help them keep good people and get rid of bad people.

In the past, msf had a basspro bashing thread. I printed it off and brought it in to management to look at. I'm not going to say they're entirely supportive of me trying to help/meddle on here, but they do appreciate good and bad input from customers. There are also basspro workers on this forum that report back to management. What's said on here ends up on the ears of management(I may know from personal experience), so feel free to make recommendations of what you'd like changed as a customer.

Summary:
SOoo...yeah, pm me and I'll try to help. Swing by sat's 2-10 and I'll try to help. Post comments on here and they'll be read by management. When in the store, report to management which associates were helpful and which ones need to be fired. Wait times are just the nature of box stores. Gunconnection is one of the best customer service experiences i've had anywhere, ever if you're looking for more of a small-store, personal feel.

[HarCo.45]

I have purchased a few guns there because I work less than 5 mins away, Benelli SBE II, Supernova turkey gun and a sako 85. I go at lunch and the wait isn't too bad, but my last experience of getting my crossbow restrung really turned me off. I'll just say they have no clue as to what they are doing, not that the small shops are much better (autumn sky outfitters specifically).

[smokey0118]

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.

Basspro's upper-upper management is some of the best in retail. As a company, they're very good at taking care of their workers and doing what they can for sporting conservation groups. Home depot sure didn't give the perks of the job that basspro does. The arundel mills basspro hires handicapped people all the time. There's one mentally challenged supervisor in hunting with great taste in ZT and emmerson knives that i can think of right now. He may not be very useful for anything, or know anything about guns or shooting(especially idpa and competition), but he can be downright decent most of the time.

[-Z/28-]

@Smokey, see my second post, I explained what happened to me. I'd heard similar stories from others, so I made a bit too broad of a statement. Good to know there are some good guys there, I just didn't get one. Only other neg. experience I've had was asking for 8mm mauser ammo, and getting a dumbfounded look from someone who'd never heard of it.

[HarCo.45]

The best guy in hunting dept is the shorter blonde dude from out west... He is a great guy.

[pop-gunner]

Originally Posted by smokey0118

Basspro's upper-upper management is some of the best in retail. As a company, they're very good at taking care of their workers and doing what they can for sporting conservation groups. Home depot sure didn't give the perks of the job that basspro does. The arundel mills basspro hires handicapped people all the time. There's one mentally challenged supervisor in hunting with great taste in ZT and emmerson knives that i can think of right now. He may not be very useful for anything, or know anything about guns or shooting(especially idpa and competition), but he can be downright decent most of the time.

I know that guy....
He's kinda like a Slinky...
Not good for much but always brings a smile to your face when pushed down stairs.

[smokey0118]

Originally Posted by pop-gunner

I know that guy....
He's kinda like a Slinky...
Not good for much but always brings a smile to your face when pushed down stairs.

[Mtairy Biker]

Originally Posted by trbr81

Went to BPS last week to buy a gun - waste of an hour and a half. Poor customer service and lots of disgruntled customers

Went to the Gun Shack in Mt Airy today - great customer service and all paperwork done in about 5 minute. Will definitely be going back

You did better they will remember you and take care of you. I would not buy a rifle or pistol from Bass pro ,walmart ,Dicks .The price is NOT THE BOTTOM LINE for me. I like to support the little gun shop hardware store type . I also have bought guns from Gun shack . Belive me those big shops that my guns by the trailer load would love to swallow up and put the little guys out of business.

[Deep Creek Rock]

You think Bass Pro is bad ..,. Try Cabelas in Wheeling. WV


They have one of those take a number thingies..

Back in fall I wanted to buy a holster for my 1911, I wanted to check the fit with a 1911 they have behind the glass. So I take a number. Meanwhile theres 3 employees "helping" one guy buy a shotgun. One is doing the sales the other 2 are just bullshitting.There was a line for help. I waited a half an hour to take up literally 30 seconds of time. Pathetic service over there.

[Redneck]

My suggestion for Bass Pro is make designated times to do paperwork and have one guy take care of the paperwork for multiple people. I'm sorry, but I too find it a total waste of time to purchase a firearm at Bass Pro. From the service I have had they do not know much, some do, most don't. You can get the same deal and better service at a local gun shop. By service I mean that as a general statement, less time, more knowledge, easy to do with if you ever have a problem.

[Mtairy Biker]

I don't think you can even dry fire a gun there or put you finger in the trigger guard THEY put a trigger lock on them .

[Yoshi]

Originally Posted by Mtairy Biker

I don't think you can even dry fire a gun there or put you finger in the trigger guard THEY put a trigger lock on them .

Absolutely correct! Sort of silly from a purchasers standpoint, but I understand why.