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  • damosan

    Active Member
    Feb 21, 2009
    261
    I've purchased 3 guns at Gun Shack in Mt Airy -- never had a problem there and will go back.
     

    i.c.spots

    Active Member
    Jul 27, 2010
    125
    Finksburg
    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.

    My issue is with the counter "experts" speaking about the 7-day wait period. They quote it as a matter of law that the waiting period is 7 to 10 business days. Even the LEO saleman misquoted the law. The fact is COMAR states it is a 7-day wait period. There is no reference to business days. The only logical reason I can see for it taking longer than other gun shops is that someone isn't faxing the applications in a timely manner or they are using snail mail to send them to the MSP.

    I purchased an LC9-LM last Friday. It was posted on my account the same day. Late yesterday afternoon, I made the mistake to call the store to ask someone to check to see if my application had come back yet. I was told "If we haven't called you, it's not back. Don't call us, we'll call you. It takes 7 to 10 business days." Please excuse me; but, was that supposed to make me feel like I should ever do business with BassPro again?:sad20:

    I did send an email to Aaron letting him know how I was regretting purchasing a firearm from BassPro. No response so far.
     

    Redcobra

    Senior Shooter
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 10, 2010
    6,422
    Near the Chesapeake Bay
    Recently they advertised Remington Gun Clubs for a good price, so I ordered a bunch on line. They then said "back ordered." Now I get an email saying my back order will be cancelled in 30 days if they can't fill it.
    Don't advertise it if you ain't got it!!
     

    Blaster229

    God loves you, I don't.
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 14, 2010
    46,410
    Glen Burnie
    I love going to Bass Pro to listen to the experts who love to listen to themselves talk. I love listening to that.
     

    BRASS

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Jun 29, 2012
    61
    I love going to Bass Pro to listen to the experts who love to listen to themselves talk. I love listening to that.

    Yes and don't forget the "whose-dick-is-bigger" routine when they finally get around to helping you.
     

    Jackalope

    Active Member
    I made the mistake of thinking I could go to BPS to get some stuff for my new 1911, after I got a sales guy and we went out to the isle to look for what I wanted another sales guy came up, interrupted us talking and then my sales guy seemed to forget I was even there and just walked away with the other sales guy. I followed them back to the counter where they were now helping some other guy and when I walked up and excused myself and asked about the other things I wanted both sales guys got very annoyed and said someone would be right with me to which I replied funny I thought someone was helping me, the second sales guy actually replied with a deep sigh and whatever. I dropped everything that I was holding, about $180 worth of stuff on the floor and walked out of the store. Screw BPS they're customer service is the absolute worst I've ever had the utter misfortune of experiencing and will not make the mistake of going there again.
     

    Kotyaer

    Member
    Jan 14, 2012
    55
    ESVA
    *This post does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of any of my employers, former, past or current.*

    As a former counter-jockey (for Dick's Sporting Goods), I can assure you that there are good reasons for the employees behind the counter to take their sweet time with the paperwork.

    At my store, after four mistakes (not four messed up forms, but four mistakes at all), we were supposed to be removed from the gun counter pending termination. So there is a lot of stress to be careful on that stuff.

    Also, as far as the window shoppers, I've had a few customers who were just window shopping become multiple purchasers, either because I took the time to explain something to them, or because I went in the back to get a different finish of the same firearm for them to inspect. Additionally, according to policy, we had to help anyone and everyone who came into the store, regardless of whether they seemed like a sale or not. So everyone from the wanna-be gangsta who wants to see "dat gat", to the tacticool know it all(who after 30 seconds of convo, has convinced us he knows nothing), to the septuagenarian who wants to get a .22 like the one he had when he was a kid, has to be helped, or at least greeted.

    Frankly, as crazy as it would get (with management and corporate cutting hours every week) during the holidays and hunting peak season, all of the upset customers, cranky staff, and short tempered management, there were those of us who still loved the job. I would read gun rags, forums, blogs. If we got something in that I hadn't seen before, I'd do my research. This was more or less standard for when I was hired 6 years ago.

    Now? Not so much. The new system seems to be to get counter drones, pay them just enough to get them to come to work, and that's it. Since visiting several Dick's stores after leaving NYC, I've noticed that the situation is not the same at each store, and that there may be one person who is really into the stuff, but once they're taken by a customer, you have to deal with the person who's sitting on the stool, sexting behind the cover of the counter.

    I was proud of the work I did with DSG, because I know that I changed a few people's perceptions on the shooting sports (In the NYC metro area, nonetheless!), got a few people filing for their NYC Rifle & Shotgun permits, and welcomed a few new shooters into the fold, and gave them the best advice I could. Sometimes this took away from other customers at the counter, other times it would draw them closer so that they could learn a bit too, or offer their own input.

    We even had "regulars" who would come in for ammo purchases, or just to shoot the breeze, and those saints would help hand-hold some customers for us, without us asking. Not only does this help us out with the workload (we can leave those two customers to talk while running a scope up to the checkout lanes), but it helps the new shooter get an affirmation of what we've said (since we are just counter jockeys who generally know nothing) from another shooter. Add-on sales that we would have had trouble making, usually come easier if recommended by another customer. This gets the person out faster(and maybe with a bigger purchase), happier, and with a little more knowledge. As far as the customer who helped? You can bet that we're going to try to hook them up with the best service we can, and maybe talk to management about getting them a token(10% was the usual) discount for the help.

    As far as doing multiple sales at once, my store had an unwritten policy against that. Simply to avoid stupid mistakes on the paperwork. During the black friday period and holiday sales, we would have to ignore it, but that's when the most errors would come up on the 4473s, so a few of us (myself included) would simply not take multiple sales on, so we wouldn't lose our jobs.

    As much as I hated all of the other ******** that happened there, with the ever-cut hours (we ran a Christmas season once with a skeleton crew). You can bet that we'd love more help behind the counter. But they will either hire someone new(who almost always would be next to completely useless, or have some legal defect that meant they'd not be able to handle guns) and siphon hours from the rest of us, or just cut hours in general. But I still loved that job and loved that store.

    Some days, yeah, doing gun sale 40+ on an 8 hour shift, without a break because:

    1) I got tied up clearing the counter of customers,
    2) The new kid can't do a damned thing right,
    3) Someone else in the department has decided he's not doing anything today, but management can't fire him for whatever sensitive reason they have.
    4) I just got finished moving a (gun safe, several kayaks, canoe) to a customers car on my own, because of 2 & 3 above
    5) Some liberal just came up to the gun counter ranting and raving about how we're merchants of death, evil, so on and so forth(happened every Christmas season for my last 4 years with the company. First year it was a good laugh, second year it was surprising, third and fourth it was grating on the nerves).
    6) I just saw a bunch of kids steal airsoft/paintball guns or wreck the airsoft/paintball aisle, and couldn't do anything about it because company policy ties my hands.
    7) Combined with a second job I picked up during the slower portion of the year, I'm now on my 75th work hour of the week, with little sleep.
    8) The customer in question has asked to see EVERY SINGLE NiB 10/22 in the back to find the right wood grain, before finally deciding on the synthetic model...
    9) The customer I just helped, found out that he didn't have the $ on his CC for the purchase.
    10) The customer I just helped assured me he knew what he was doing with the 4473, and to let him handle it... Only for me to find 10+ errors on it and have to try to squeeze in all of the corrections, then hand it off to a manager, only to get reprimanded because it looks like a mess.
    11) My coworker is (very?)late again for his shift and I can't leave the department unmanned. Yeah, this means more money for me, but it also means my better half is waiting for date night, or I'm running late to the aforementioned other job, because of this brain donor.
    12) Someone has just informed me that a homeless man dropped a deuce in the sink in the public bathroom.
    13) Someone took out a display of water bottles
    14) Some Jersey Shore wanna-be's are busy wrecking our apparel, "bra".
    15) A(or several) customer(s) have muzzle swept me today
    16) I just heard an air rifle fire a few rows down, but by policy, I can't leave this counter
    17) I just heard, for the 1000th time today "Oh MY gawd! Are those real guns?!?!"
    18) My new brain-donor coworker looked down the barrel to check if a shotgun was cleared.
    19) My new brain-donor coworker took a gun sale downstairs about an hour ago, and just now came back, smelling like an hour long cigarette break.
    20) I just got talked to for not selling enough of the store's warranty(even though we don't offer them on firearms, and I'm usually tied up back here behind the counter).

    So with all of that happening (possibly all in the same shift)I might come off a little grumpy, impatient, or slower than usual by the time I get to your paperwork. I do apologize on behalf of counter jockeys everywhere, but please do realize, we are human, and sometimes we just aren't with it.

    As far as this particular BPS incident, I haven't been to that store. But since there was a general disapproval of big box counter jockeys, I had to speak up.

    *This post does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of any of my employers, former, past or current.*
     

    Kotyaer

    Member
    Jan 14, 2012
    55
    ESVA
    My issue is with the counter "experts" speaking about the 7-day wait period. They quote it as a matter of law that the waiting period is 7 to 10 business days. Even the LEO saleman misquoted the law. The fact is COMAR states it is a 7-day wait period. There is no reference to business days. The only logical reason I can see for it taking longer than other gun shops is that someone isn't faxing the applications in a timely manner or they are using snail mail to send them to the MSP.

    I purchased an LC9-LM last Friday. It was posted on my account the same day. Late yesterday afternoon, I made the mistake to call the store to ask someone to check to see if my application had come back yet. I was told "If we haven't called you, it's not back. Don't call us, we'll call you. It takes 7 to 10 business days." Please excuse me; but, was that supposed to make me feel like I should ever do business with BassPro again?:sad20:

    I did send an email to Aaron letting him know how I was regretting purchasing a firearm from BassPro. No response so far.

    Never had to deal with wait times (except for NICS delays) when I worked for DSG, but I do have to say, we had people with special orders who would be given an estimated time for the order to be filled, and would call us back every day, starting the next day, to check on the order. So we would have a canned response for that, and NICS delays. That does seem a little bit rude, but ours was along the same lines:

    "Sorry, we haven't heard anything yet, but once we do, we will call you. Was there anything else Sir/Ma'am(or dude, if it was the brain donor from my previous post, who got to the phone before me)?"

    If we started to recognize a caller because it was their 5th call in 3 days, hoping for a different answer, we would ask that they not call back until a period of time had passed (a week for a NICS, since policy was not to release it without a proceed anyway, and a week or two for special orders) without hearing from us.
     

    Jackalope

    Active Member
    I used to manage an Advance Auto parts store and local warehouse, I had at one point almost 160 employees and had to deal with running the store, delivering to customers shops and other Advance Auto parts stores, so I can understand and relate to how busy you can get and how not every employee may be as good as the rest but none of that is an excuse for poor customer service. The only reason the store exists is to service the customer, the only reason anyone has a job there is to service the customer, you lose your customers you lose your income the store goes out of business and you are out of a job its that simple. There is a very old saying I had hanging in my office, "IF YOU DON'T TAKE CARE OF YOUR CUSTOMERS SOMEONE ELSE WILL" I would pound that into all of my employee's heads. If I found someone not taking care of the customers I would cut their hours till they either woke up and took care of them properly or other employees would pick up their hours and they would be without a job.

    There is NO excuse for poor customer service, PERIOD.
     

    sailskidrive

    Legalize the Constitution
    Oct 16, 2011
    5,547
    Route 27
    I've purchased 3 guns at Gun Shack in Mt Airy -- never had a problem there and will go back.

    The service at the Gun Shack is very good, selection is okay; their prices are high. I like the fact that they do consignments.

    Shooter's Discount is only a few hundred yards away with much better deals.
     

    i.c.spots

    Active Member
    Jul 27, 2010
    125
    Finksburg
    Never had to deal with wait times (except for NICS delays) when I worked for DSG, but I do have to say, we had people with special orders who would be given an estimated time for the order to be filled, and would call us back every day, starting the next day, to check on the order. So we would have a canned response for that, and NICS delays. That does seem a little bit rude, but ours was along the same lines:

    "Sorry, we haven't heard anything yet, but once we do, we will call you. Was there anything else Sir/Ma'am(or dude, if it was the brain donor from my previous post, who got to the phone before me)?"

    If we started to recognize a caller because it was their 5th call in 3 days, hoping for a different answer, we would ask that they not call back until a period of time had passed (a week for a NICS, since policy was not to release it without a proceed anyway, and a week or two for special orders) without hearing from us.

    The end of the story is I got the call that the handgun was ready to be picked up on Tuesday. I picked up on Wednesday after lunch. Considering all the checks and rechecks of paperwork, I am actually happy I wasn't able to get it on Saturday. I can only imagine how much worse it is when they are packed with the window shoppers and all customers have to get a number and wait. The world didn't end because I had to wait a few days and I will still shop at BassPro. It one of the few stores that appreciates the whole family including dogs. Best of all I think it pisses off liberals and PETA.
     

    smokey

    2A TEACHER
    Jan 31, 2008
    31,412
    Yes and don't forget the "whose-dick-is-bigger" routine when they finally get around to helping you.

    I must've missed this sales training. I typically just try to see what the store has to offer to best solve the customer's problem. Solving a customer's problem has only rarely included swinging my tallywhacker. I'm working tonight 2-10 if you want to give it another try.
     

    jtb81100

    Ultimate Member
    May 28, 2012
    2,234
    Western HoCo
    The only problems I've ever had have been with some of the younger workers, and really that's just what's going to happen in retail. I work retail in the GB area and its pretty much the same thing with us. Don't know what the pay rates are at BPS, but you are going to have issues getting kids to work when they aren't making much money. Sometimes you get lucky, but you have to go through a LOT of bad ones to get good ones who don't stay long because they go on to better things.
    BPS gun counter specific suggestions:
    Split the department. Move the optics down with the knives and have people pick up their handguns there. Have the other side dedicated only to new sales with one person handling the paperwork and the others getting through the customers as quickly as possible. It honestly may not make things much quicker, but it at least gives the impression you are trying.

    Now for some compliments: Thank you for calling when the paperwork comes back instead of leaving it on the customer to call and check. Also, the gray/white haired man behind the counter and the young girl who sometimes is working the floor have both always done a great job of answering questions and helping me find things.

    The only other complaint I have is you guys automatically thinking I want tacticool guns just because I'm a young guy although in your defense I'm probably the only person under 35 who comes in there who prefers a revolver to a semi-auto :P
     

    i.c.spots

    Active Member
    Jul 27, 2010
    125
    Finksburg
    I must've missed this sales training. I typically just try to see what the store has to offer to best solve the customer's problem. Solving a customer's problem has only rarely included swinging my tallywhacker. I'm working tonight 2-10 if you want to give it another try.

    :lol:

    That is a scary visual.

    BTW: Is that your dalmatian? I have only brought my two to the store for Photos with Santa. You guys appreciate dogs; but, the rest of the area establishments don't share you canine appreciation.
     

    EL1227

    R.I.P.
    Patriot Picket
    Nov 14, 2010
    20,274
    WTB M&P Shield

    When will you be getting in the Smith and Wesson M&P Shield ?

    My BP gift cards are burning a hole in my wallet and my points are about to expire. ;)
     

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    pop-gunner

    Ultimate Member
    May 8, 2008
    2,270
    When will you be getting in the Smith and Wesson M&P Shield ?

    My BP gift cards are burning a hole in my wallet and my points are about to expire. ;)

    Ed,
    We have been told to expect the shield sometime this month. I'll keep an eye out and let you know when they arrive.
    Are you looking for the 9 or the .40
     

    EL1227

    R.I.P.
    Patriot Picket
    Nov 14, 2010
    20,274
    Ed,
    We have been told to expect the shield sometime this month. I'll keep an eye out and let you know when they arrive.
    Are you looking for the 9 or the .40

    THANKS P-G !!!

    9mm

    Are you on staff at BP along with Smokey ?
     

    HeatSeeker

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 18, 2012
    3,058
    Maryland
    I like Bass Pro, I just don't think I would buy a gun there. The problem with the gun counter is simple. Not enough help for the volume of customers. I think that is on management. They need 10 guys back there, but probably just do not want to pay 10 guys to work 1 shift. When you go in there and there are 30 customers at the counter, 4 employees just cannot give good service to that volume of people.

    I bought my last 2 guns at Barts and Pasadena Pawn and Gun. I was the only customer in the store on both purchases and was helped right away. These kind of shops are better choices to buy a gun. Bass Pro for everything else.

    (I would say that I probably will not purchase at Barts again. Just not a good feeling in that place.)
     

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