Dicks sporting goods

[Jeff_NHBA]

I work at Gander Mountain in fredericksburg Va in fishing and its appaling going to other stores, i'm only 20 years old but still know what i'm doing on the water but often times i get discriminated against because of my age. Especially at bass pro for instance i will be looking at the shimano curados and chronarchs and other high end reels and the sales people dont even seem to notice me, and when they do its almost as if they dont respect me, and At dicks i dont even wanna go there i look for clearance stuff and thats it got a few bags of senkos there last month for like $3.50 a bag but dont even try to ask them anything, i was looking for 3/0 gamakatsu EWG hooks and he takes me to the hook isle and started trying to show me #3 octopus hooks, I dont know about anyone else but i have issues with walmart too, i walked up to the counter and asked an associate for help and not trying to be critical or condiscending but there was someone with a learning disability working fishing, bless his heart he tried to help me find gary yamamoto baits but started looking through crank baits and spinnerbaits for them, the worse part was he was supposed to be selling firearms and ammunition, is it just me or is costomer service and educated employees a thing of the past. I hope that noone thinks that of me or my store but i try my best to help where i can.

GM in F'Burg is one of my favorites!  There's always someone there that knows fishing.  As for Dick's, I usually shop at the one in Fairfax, VA.  It's hit or miss but I think they try to have someone on staff that knows their stuff.

S

[Guest the_muddy_man]

I, the other guys are all morons.

That is not a nice thing to say about trout fishermen ;D

[roadwarrior]

Well, I am NOT beating up any retailer in particular, but let's face it...All they are looking for is someone that can fog a mirror. "Showing up" is 95% of the job requirements. I have shopped at most of the big retailers from time to time and ocassionally run into someone with a clue, but that is the exception to the rule. At my local BPS I have had the good fortune to meet a couple of guys that know a little bit about fishing. Still, just because a company is an "outdoors store" doesn't mean their employees are outdoorsmen.

At the other extreme is the local "bait shop." The mom & pops are owned and usually run by FISHERMEN! They may not have everything you're looking for, but for the most part, everything they stock is tackle that will help someone actually catch a fish (and come back!) That's my kind of store.

[timmyswetarded]

the dicks sporting goods in topeka isnt too bad, i have bought a shotgun there and lots of fishing tackle. the sale bins are ALWAYS full of cranks and plastics so thats nice, and they carry a nice selection too; about 8 aisles and a few walls.

[ww2farmer]

I, the other guys are all morons.

That is not a nice thing to say about trout fishermen ;D

Your right...........that title is reserved for the walleye fisherman

[5bass]

I just returned home from DSG and noticed that they have gone up on their prices on all their plastics.(Yum,PowerBait,ZOOM,etc....) On the other hand,I bought the display model Revo SX which was just put out on Tuesday for $120....I aint mad at 'em  

[Jnamo]

Who goes to Dick's looking for advice or help?  Whenever I go to most stores I do not ask for help nor do I want to talk to anyone working there.  I just want my stuff and then it is to the register for me.  

Dicks is only good for some quick picks the night before a tourney.  If I am doing major shopping I will go to Cabelas or BPS.  Even then I only want help finding the aisle with hooks, or where are the worms at?  That is the limit to any help that I would want from a store employee.  

I am not bashing employees, that just isn't the place I go to for advice or help.  

Jeff

[bow3022]

The dicks sporting goods here is like what the threadstarter said. Its horrible, the service is terrible. THe people in fishing know nothing about fishing. But what's even worse is walmart. I asked them to get my a reel in the glass case, took them 30 minutes to come, and the guy doesn't even look inside and already say that its sold out. I tell the guy to look but he refused....

[Baconstrip]

I used to be a department lead at a Dick's when I was doing my undergrad, and the problem is not the store, but your unrealistic expectations.  

At the end of my tenure at Dick's, I was doing some of the hiring, and we started our Lodge employees off at 7 dollars an hour.  SEVEN.  And you guys expect avid fisherman versed in multiple species and multiple styles for 7 bucks an hour?  

And even if I looked on the application and saw, unbelievably, that they did, in fact, fish tournament bass, spend their summers fly fishing on the Blackfoot River, and spend winters ice fishing in Michigan, he would still be grossly underqualified to work in my department by your standards for you see....  

...with all that fishing knowledge, he probably couldn't tell me the difference between a sabot and rifled deer slug, he couldn't tell me the benefits of a split limb design on a compound bow, or which paintball gun is truly electric and which merely benefits from a response trigger design, which kayak is good for rough waters and which is for recreational lake use, which camping stove can be adapted to the full-sized propane tanks and which can only use the smaller, hiker-sized tanks, how to fit a camper for a external frame pack, how to boresight a rifle, which speed boat tubes can withstand high speeds and which will pop under heavy wake, which airsoft guns are springloaded and what the benefits of springloaded action are over CO2 design....etc.

When I hired people, by your standards, they needed to know ALL of this, because if they didn't, some guy on a soft-air web-forum would be complaining that he was grossly unqualified just as you guys are.  The point is, if you want advice, but you don't want to pay for it.  You want the cheap prices that Walmart and Dick's offer, but you also want the advice of a dedicated tackle shop.  Unrealistic expectations.  

Even if you say you don't shop at Dick's, your next door neighbor does and his next door neighbor probably does too, and so forth.  This is what the general public wants.  They want to walk in, pick up what they need for cheap, and walk out.  Dick's is simply filling that need.  If you want advice, that is what these forums are for.  That is what expensive, dedicated tackle shops are for.  If Dick's were to hire more qualified people, they would have to pay them more, which means raising prices, which means the brunt of their customers walk out the door and go shop at Walmart.  

If I would've hired guys who knew everything that you "needed" him to know, plus all the stuff every other sportsman in every other outdoor sport "needed" him to know, I would have to pay him $50 dollars an hour, but the company only budgeted me $7.  See the problem here?  The benefit of places like BPS is that their employess are put in one department.  If you know boats, you sell boats and thats it.  If you know fly fishing, you work in their fly shop.  No such luck at a place like Dick's.  You have to know a little about everything, and most of the time, you are simply overwhelmed by mid-expert level questions on your amateur level knowledge base.  Combine that with high turnover rates because as the employee puts in time, they become better, and command a higher pay that I could simply not give them, Dick's becomes what it is...a warehouse sports store.

And for not being able to find someone to lead you to the aisle?  You try monitoring 7 different departments under the guise of it being one "lodge" department, and see how well you can respond to customer service calls when it gets busy, especially when you are alone.  Again, service costs money, it ends in higher prices.  You get what you pay for...as the saying goes.

And to put the rumor to death finally.  Dick's lodge managers cannot order anything besides guns and SOME compound bows (both special orders requiring 50% payment up front).  If you want them to start carrying a specific lure, write corporate a request, because the lodge manager cannot help you.  He has ZERO control over what goes on his shelves...none...nada...zip...  The stuff shows up on a truck, and the employees put it out.  Corporate makes all the decisions.

I normally am just a reader of these forums for general opinions and advice, but this topic I could not ignore.  I'm sorry, just so many of you are more ignorant than you really know.

[Banor]

At the other extreme is the local "bait shop." The mom & pops are owned and usually run by FISHERMEN! They may not have everything you're looking for, but for the most part, everything they stock is tackle that will help someone actually catch a fish (and come back!) That's my kind of store.

My local tackle shop does not have everything but man he is well on his way.  The great thing about these shops is if you get to know them they can order just about anything you want from their suppliers at MSRP and get it to you within days.  The guy at my local shop will order a single specific crank bait if I ask him to.  If you hang out enough you'll run into Reps too.  That's a bonus!!

All the more reason to support your local tackle shop as opposed to the big chain stores.

I'm not even going to get into my experience at Dick's Sporting Goods.

B

[Dan:]

baconstrip, you're post makes absolute sense to me.

[Live.2.Fish]

Posted by: c312 Posted on: Today at 1:45pm

baconstrip, you're post makes absolute sense to me.  

Yup, me too, since I did work there for about 4 months during college.  I can relate.  As a "lodge associate" you get stretched way too thin.  Yes, I know a lot about fishing and I think that I gave pretty good advice on bass fishing.  But someone wanting to get really technical with all the features of a framed backpack or get some really specific info on muzzleloaders, or what parts they need for their Yakama roof rack for their vehicle, I couldn't give.  Yes, I have been hiking and have shot a muzzleloader, many times, but its not my specialization.  Also, I can attest to their insane budget on payroll.  They put managers on a VERY short leash with payroll.  They only get so much money to spend on it and when its gone, its gone, which equals no service.

  There were many times I was working either by myself trying to hold down all the departments.  If that isn't crazy, if I were to sell a firearm, boom there goes 20-30 minutes with filling all the paperwork and walking the gun out the door.  20-30 minutes of having NO ONE in the lodge.  Zilch, none, nada.  It's just insane and that was one of the main reasons that I quit.  I love it when people need help with fishing, we would talk fishing for a long time and it was nice to help them,  but I hated it when people wanted specific answers to other questions and I just simply could not give it to them.  

 If they are serious about getting better help and service, they need to pay their employees a lot more.  The saying "you get what you pay for" does not hit home harder then when it applies to employees.

[bugman]

I shop at Dick's because of the good deals that they have at times. The staff has always been friendly if not helpful. My only beef with Dick's is that the sale price on the display is not always in the system and won't ring up at the register. Almost every time I buy sales items they charge me full price. If you don't catch it before they print the receipt then you will have to wait for the manager to come up to the checkout and ok the return then go through the whole check out again.

[CrazedL.IFisherman]

I just personally wouldn't have the mentality to ask a ton or any for that matter questions at a dicks or a walmart, i would just go in select what i want and head for the check out line, at a smaller personal tackleshop is where i would stay and talk as much fishing as possible and have my questions answered, they immediately give off a store that has a decent to good selection slightly different than bps or cabelas with some of their own personal store brands but not a store to ask questions and expecting great answers

[lmb7]

We don't have a Dicks in Canada but we have a Baa Pro wich is really good for selection.

[Dan:]

I just personally wouldn't have the mentality to ask a ton or any for that matter questions at a dicks or a walmart,

that's what I do. If I want to learn stuff about fishing, I ask questions on this site. Once I have learned about what I need, I will go to Dick's or wherever to buy it. I don't need to ask questions, I just need supplies.

[Maxximus Redneckus]

We have three Dick's Sporting Goods stores in the geographical Richmond, Virginia area.

The one in the Stony Point Fashion Mall is a disaster in the fishing department. No one knows anything about fishing.

The one at Short Pump is a little better, but not by much. However, they do have a better selection than the Stony Point store.

The one by Chesterfield Shopping Center is the best. They guy who runs the department actually is a bass fisherman and he is very helpful. He does not have the knowledge of a true tackle shop but he is helpful and pleasant.

And the selection is OK. Not up to par with Green Tops, Castaways, Gander Mountain, BPS or Dance's; but OK if you are in a pinch and do not want to drive many miles to go to a good tackle shop.

When I was growing up I was taught that 1) when you want jewelry, go to a jeweler. When you want to buy a house, go to a realtor. When you want to buy nice clothes, go to a small clothier. So, it you want to purchase good tackle and talk to people who know something about fishing, go to a tackle store.

 Man i love greentop BTW where is castaways ????

[FishTank]

Here is another little thing that Dick's has done to tick me off.

Every year I go their to get my fishing license and if you spend $50 or more they would refund you the amount of your license. I went yesterday to renew and the new manager had never heard of this. I told him that this store has been doing this since it opened 8 years ago. I even showed him my old license that had the receipt stapled to it. He said that was the old days and we are here to make money not give fishermen free stuff.

That is the last time I will ever go in there for fishing equipment.

I also asked him if they sold a left handed Shimano Curado. He said "What's a Curado?" Training and knowledge=sales.

I should have asked for a 1/4 pounder and fries.

[=Matt 5.0=]

I just returned a brand new Shimano Stradic to the Dicks where I purchased it. I already have one Stradic, but the second one I bought was making some wierd noise right out of the box. When I went to the lodge to try another one, the kid said that "they all do that" and that he owns NINE Stradics. So I said "You really own NINE of these? :-? He said "Yeah, the noise you're hearing is just the air." Um, okay I said, "so the other brand new Stradic I have must be the only one that doesn't sound like....air...???" I don't understand does air sound like? So, as it turns out I returned the Stradic, and will probably not return there again. I'm almost 32 years old, and I don't like being punked by some 20 year old "Dicks" employee who own nine Stradics...Give me a break....Nine Stradics my arse.....

[ejtaylor822]

I went into the Dick's Sporting Goods here in Durham (NC) Friday before last late in the afternoon.  Just to look around and pick up a few things.  Really wanted to get that new Dancin' Eel.  Anyway, I get the eel and a few other items.  Get to the front and there is one register open and the line is about 30' long.  Meanwhile, there are two other employees up there just chit-chatting.  PTI was on the monitors and after three discussions = 9 minutes, one of them decides to actually do something and opens a register.  Wound up standing in line for about 20 minutes total - really wanted to throw that eel over the weekend.  The busiest afternoon/evening of the week and they have two registers open.

I go back in Tuesday after seeing they had some pretty nice Quantums on sale in the paper.  I pick up a new spinning reel and a bunch of lures bait monkey was really working me hard from the past Friday.  Go to the front one register is open and the line is about 15' long.  After about 10 minutes, I walked to one of the closed registers, put my stuff down about $250 worth - and left.  Went home and ordered the lures I was wanting from Bass Pro and Cabela's.

The fishing department at the Wal-Mart a few doors down from Dick's is great.  There are two guys that work in the fishing/hunting dept. that know there stuff and always willing to help.  I always go there instead of Dick's, but, Dick's seems to get new stuff sooner.

Wish they would open a Bass Pro or Cabela's here in Raliegh!

[Avalonjohn44]

The Dick's I shop at in Sterling VA is relatively new, and still in good shape.  They are as well stocked as the Gander Mountain in Winchester VA.  I have never had a problem with an employee there, but I notice that like most retail stores, they will have high school kids and senior citizens making up their staff, and in both instances it can be frustrating.  But... I know what I want, have usually researched it, and knowwhat a fair price ought to be for the lure/reel/rod I'll be buying.  

I see the same problems at BPS and Gander (never been in a Cabela's) that you all describe.  Every once in a while you run across somebody that knows what they're doing, but since this is rare, I think it should be incumbent on you as the consumer to know what you're doing.  It saves you grief in the long run, and probably saves the poor old guy or dopey high school kid trying to make a few buck some grief too.

Something I really like about Dicks is they will usually have a discount bin filled with some pretty good old lures.  I got a nice assortment of yamamoto cut tails, terminator spinnerbaits, and yo zuri rattle-vibes simply because some plastic worms had melted all over the packaging and they were discounted.  Last time I went there were a ton of excalibur lures in the bin.  

[Dan:]

yeah, i almost always see xcalibur lures on sale at Dick's

[SPEEDBEAD.]

I work at Lowes part time as my second job. To the people complaining about the lack of service at Dicks....Have you ever considered a P/T career in retail? I am sure that with all your expertise and customer service credentials, you would be able to deliver the superior service that is lacking in your local stores.  

This is the same thing as the complaints that keep popping up about UPS. Unless you have been there and know exactly why there are so few people to help, then I dont know that your opinions carry that much weight.

I dont suppose any of you took a pro-active approach to the situation, talked POLITELY to a manager and voiced your concern? Believe me, when you think the absence of good help is ridiculous.....You should see how ridiculous the scene is when customers puff out their chest, raise their voices and make a$$es out of themselves.

To the people that say high schoolers and senior citizens work there, how would you feel if that was your kid or one of your parents.

Have a little common sense, give someone a break. They are there trying to make a living (or some extra spending money) just like the next guy.

Wayne

[TrickyVT1887]

I hate the stereotype of being the high schooler because thats what i always get identified as, I'm 20 years old and work at Gander Mtn because I like the atmosphere, the people, and my love of fishing, but often times I am the one that is often discriminated against because of age. I'm not very old I know this, but I have been fishing since I was 3, I am on the water over 70 days a year and know whats what in fishing but because of my age customers almost seem to look down on me as being an "ignorant youngster". Its the same way when I go places like Bass Pro they look at me differently and often times will not even acknoledge me while looking at reels but rather go help an older gentleman that gets there after me. I apologize for the rant but this is something that has irritated me for a while.

-The funny thing is all of the older guys in the department ask me to help with selling the fishfinders and GPS though so I guess being young isn't always the worst thing.

[Lucky Craft Man]

Having people who have no clue what they are doing behind the counter can sometimes be a benefit. I purchased a Quantum Accurist PT at Dicks the other day and while looking at the display model, the guy looked around and told me he didn't have any in stock and that he can give me that one for a discount (which came with the box and everything). Well, right behind the guy was four of them sitting on the shelf. Needless to say, I didn't want to call the guy a liar, so for the discounted price I bought myself a new reel.