Bass Pro Shop Experience

[J Francho]

I'd rather have driven an hour to Auburn and pick up the pontoon cover than go through the online ordering process.  That is one maddening online checkout!

[Rpratt]

What kills me is every time I go there to buy something in particular.... Well an example. I went Saturday to buy the BPS Flicker Worms. They had every other worm in sizes and colors imaginable, and just one pack of the flicker Worms left. It never fails, what I want is always out of stock. 

 

As far as the vacation thing goes. I have done it a few times at Branson, and it's well worth it IF, you know how to work the system. Last year I went to Branson 6 times for 4 days and 3 nights, and a full week in Michigan. If you don't want the people to bug you, of which they do, just say your already a member, and they instantly back off.

 

I always go to BPS at least with a plan with what I am looking for, because it is so easy to become overwhelmed. 

[kickerfish1]

Reasons to go to BPS for me:

1. Try on apparel that I may by elsewhere to for cheaper (Costas for example)

2. Get a feel of a new rod or reel

3. Kill time in the winter when everything is frozen

 

BPS is not what it used to be. The selection is average at best, prices are significantly higher than many other places, customer service is not good at all, not to mention the closest is about 35 minutes away.

[Buffdaddy54]

I shop at my local BassPro every month. Store is only 10 min from my house. Now with that said most of my shopping is for cloths. They have a pretty good selection of XL TALL and XXL TALL shirts. I'm 6'5 260 and they always have something I  like and fits. The sales people were pretty nice and helpful. Lately though that has not been the casejust before this last trip an associate treated me like I was imposing on his time so I walked out without buying anything. Now with that said I bought a Daiwa BG 3000 on EBay that turned out to be too big and heavy for my liking so I went to BassPro to see if I could exchange it for a 2500. Keep in mind I did not have a receipt, not only did they exchange it but I got 10.00 back because it was a smaller size. Used that store credit and bought a shirt..

[Brew City Bass]

1 hour ago, Buffdaddy54 said:

I shop at my local BassPro every month. Store is only 10 min from my house. Now with that said most of my shopping is for cloths. They have a pretty good selection of XL TALL and XXL TALL shirts. I'm 6'5 260 and they always have something I  like and fits. The sales people were pretty nice and helpful. Lately though that has not been the casejust before this last trip an associate treated me like I was imposing on his time so I walked out without buying anything. Now with that said I bought a Daiwa BG 3000 on EBay that turned out to be too big and heavy for my liking so I went to BassPro to see if I could exchange it for a 2500. Keep in mind I did not have a receipt, not only did they exchange it but I got 10.00 back because it was a smaller size. Used that store credit and bought a shirt..

Hate to call you out, but returning an item to a store you didn't buy it from in the first place is a scam and just ruins it for the rest of us honest shoppers.

I'm not a fan of basspro, but if enough people do this they will start demanding a receipt and it will surely be annoying for people who really bought gear there and lost their receipt. The WalMart by my house had a no receipt return policy that they just stopped offering because people would buy **** from ebay or buy it used and return it to the store when it wasn't what they wanted (like you did) and then walmart tries to re shelf it and realizes they never sold that product to you. Then they're basically out the money because they can't re-shelf it if it wasn't in their system to begin with. 

Try to be an honest person in the future please. It helps stores keep no receipt returns which help customers who actually buy from those stores. 

Unless you've gotten permission to do this from BP, then I retract everything I said. But I doubt that's the case at all. 

[TOXIC]

I've worked shows and Grand Openings in Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's for 20 years.  Believe me, the experienced angler is not their target market.  Also remember that for Bass Pro, they are limited to what the corporate buyers order and store in their distribution centers.  The stores have a "pecking order" based on things like sales volume.  Bigger stores get first "dibs" on what is in the distribution center.  Smaller or low volume stores get what's left.  

[Buffdaddy54]

11 hours ago, Brew City Bass said:

Hate to call you out, but returning an item to a store you didn't buy it from in the first place is a scam and just ruins it for the rest of us honest shoppers.

I'm not a fan of basspro, but if enough people do this they will start demanding a receipt and it will surely be annoying for people who really bought gear there and lost their receipt. The WalMart by my house had a no receipt return policy that they just stopped offering because people would buy **** from ebay or buy it used and return it to the store when it wasn't what they wanted (like you did) and then walmart tries to re shelf it and realizes they never sold that product to you. Then they're basically out the money because they can't re-shelf it if it wasn't in their system to begin with. 

Try to be an honest person in the future please. It helps stores keep no receipt returns which help customers who actually buy from those stores. 

Unless you've gotten permission to do this from BP, then I retract everything I said. But I doubt that's the case at all. 

Wow! Called me a dishonest person and you don't even know me! Did not know there were people on this forum who had the gift to see who people are without KNOWING ANYTHING ABOUT THEM! OR THIS COMPLETE STORY!!

[RPreeb]

My closest BPS is in Denver, more than 2 hours away, and they stuck it in an area where it is very difficult to get to if you don't know the neighborhood.  I stopped in there once just to see what it was like and had to use the GPS in my F-150 both to get in to the store, and then to get out of that maze and back to where I was going. 

 

I have a Cabela's about 30 miles north of me right off I-80 in Sidney, NE.  No traffic, 2 lane highway most of the way, easy to find.  There is even another Cabela's on the north side of the Denver area that's easier to get to than the BPS.

 

I'll probably never go back to that Denver BPS store.

[blckshirt98]

There's a BPS a mile away from me and I only go there for clothing sales (I'm a fan of their denim jeans and their fleece tops when they're priced at 50% off or more).  As for their bass/fishing stuff, it's almost all BPS branded items or items from the major manufacturers.  BPS is definitely not a first choice for "enthusiasts", but I can see the allure of the place for casual/novice fisherman who just want to get a line wet.  Four local tackle shops have closed the past few years and one had to relocate to a smaller space.  The one remaining local tackle shop standing that hasn't had to relocate is the one that gets all of my local fishing tackle money.

[flyfisher]

Most times i go there because i have gift cards and i do have a rewards credit card from there so i use it during their spring sale which has some good deals.  it is also a nice place to check out stuff in person before ordering.  All that being said, I usually go to the local place about 2 miles form my house whenever possible.

[Bankbeater]

Over the years I have learned that it's best to steer clear if they have a bunch of name brand items in a bargain bin. 

[Sam]

Trauma, we are talking retail. Not bass fishing.

 

Retail stores have only "X" amount of space to present their stock. Highest priced, best sellers and high profit products are at eye level. Other, less favorite or lower profit margin products are on the bottom. Just like at your grocery store.

 

BPS buys "X" number of baits and tackle from specific suppliers and manufacturers and they present these products in a manner subjective to the BPS brand. This means that the Cavitrons will be at a lower level or be in less space than the BPS or other buzzbaits based on profit margin who have more space.

 

In addition, BPS has only "X" number of retail feet to stock with products and they do so with those items that not only are their own brand or have a strong profit margin but they have a high turnover rate. The more turnover the more sales and less products to have their clerks invest their time to reprice to move them off the shelves or reprice each one plus use the IT guys to refigure the computer/cash register system.

 

You will find Suffix line at BPS stores but not Gamma. Why? Because Gamma costs more and has a smaller following than Suffix. Throw in the less expensive BPS line and there is no room for Gamma or other higher quality brands. After all, there is just "X" feet of space on the wall to handle the various types and brands of line and BPS wants to move the line as fast as it can.

 

BPS will handle specific brands as they have contracts to purchase the products from the manufacturers. These brands get the retail shelf space.

 

Same is true in all retail stores. Things we used to be able to purchase in the past are no longer on the shelves. But they are on-line or in their catalogs.  Thus Tackle Warehouse is very successful as are other on-line fishing industry companies with on-line sales catalogs and great service.

 

Let's face it, isn't it easier to stay at home in front of your computer and find various tackle, compare prices, styles, colors, etc. and place the order than it is to get dressed, get into your vehicle, put gas in the tank, hit traffic on the road, find a place to park, go into the store, talk to someone who has no idea about bass fishing and not find what you want?

 

When commission was taken out of retail we now have "clerks" who try to help us but since they don't have any skin in the game they don't care if you buy anything or not. Then there are the smaller tackle shops like Green Top outside of Richmond, VA, that has some great people in the store to help you and they have a great selection of bass fishing products, many of which you can't get at BPS.

 

And Castaways on Route 1 towards Chester has an outstanding Zoom selection. Best I have ever seen other than for the Zoom distributor.

 

So get used to it. Times, they are a changing!

[mwh33]

I live on the coast and the basspro near me sells more saltwater than freshwater. They have a small selection of lucky craft, but no megabass stuff. Only a few GYCB and no Keitechs. I go to OKC to hang out with my buddy and hit up basspro there. They have a huge selection of lucky craft, GY, keitechs, and megabass. I was so jealous.

[Traumabrew]

I am in the same boat as you here in Florida. The BPS stores here seem to have more saltwater stuff than bass. And the problem I had was that there was sort of a delineation of saltwater and freshwater but the terminal tackle was comingled. The fishing rods and reels were all mixed up and the only high end reels they had were saltwater. I actually had a guy there keep showing me Penn reels (which were obviously for large saltwater game fish) when I was trying to find a new spinning reel. He obviously had no clue about bass fishing. And trying to look for a new rod was impossible.

 

My initial post was about the irony of a huge outdoor sports store being named "Bass Pro Shops" but really sucking at selling gear for actual bass fishing.

 

It is sad that the days of mom and pop tackle shops are gone. I have known some shops that are specialized, like fly fishing or are set up in a prime location that are able to survive and even thrive. The nice thing about the local tackle shops are that they usually stock items that are specific to that area or body of water. There are some really good tackle shops near Lake Okeechobee that I got to visit on my trip and sell baits specific to the lake (I took the long, I mean scenic, way home back from Miami which just by chance took me along the western part of the lake and amazingly I "forgot" to take my rods and tackle bag out of the car before leaving home).

[Brew City Bass]

On 6/12/2018 at 10:30 AM, Buffdaddy54 said:

Wow! Called me a dishonest person and you don't even know me! Did not know there were people on this forum who had the gift to see who people are without KNOWING ANYTHING ABOUT THEM! OR THIS COMPLETE STORY!!

What you did and bragged about was completely dishonest, so yeah, you're dishonest. 

Don't go bragging about working the system and expect everyone to pat you on the back. 

[Sam]

6 hours ago, Traumabrew said:

I am in the same boat as you here in Florida. The BPS stores here seem to have more saltwater stuff than bass. And the problem I had was that there was sort of a delineation of saltwater and freshwater but the terminal tackle was comingled. The fishing rods and reels were all mixed up and the only high end reels they had were saltwater. I actually had a guy there keep showing me Penn reels (which were obviously for large saltwater game fish) when I was trying to find a new spinning reel. He obviously had no clue about bass fishing. And trying to look for a new rod was impossible.

 

My initial post was about the irony of a huge outdoor sports store being named "Bass Pro Shops" but really sucking at selling gear for actual bass fishing.

 

It is sad that the days of mom and pop tackle shops are gone. I have known some shops that are specialized, like fly fishing or are set up in a prime location that are able to survive and even thrive. The nice thing about the local tackle shops are that they usually stock items that are specific to that area or body of water. There are some really good tackle shops near Lake Okeechobee that I got to visit on my trip and sell baits specific to the lake (I took the long, I mean scenic, way home back from Miami which just by chance took me along the western part of the lake and amazingly I "forgot" to take my rods and tackle bag out of the car before leaving home).

The fishing department buyer for the BPS noted above stocked with more saltwater gear as he/she thought, or the sales showed, more saltwater sales than freshwater sales.

 

The Wal-Mart near my house and the Historic James River stocks catfish equipment and baits as fishing for catfish in the Historic James is more prevalent than other types of fishing in my geographical area.

 

Head down I-64 to Hampton and that BPS has a lot of saltwater gear due to where it is located and the guys and gals heading to the ocean for vacations and fishing adventures.

 

Remember, it is all about sales and profits.

 

P.S.  Fishing the Potomac this weekend and I am going to Green Top to purchase some bass baits and terminal tackle and bypass the BPS five miles to the north as I know Green Top has what I am seeking.

[Buffdaddy54]

11 hours ago, Brew City Bass said:

What you did and bragged about was completely dishonest, so yeah, you're dishonest. 

Don't go bragging about working the system and expect everyone to pat you on the back. 

Brew, 

Just to clarify a misstatement on your part ,I in no way shape or form "bragged" about the transaction. And there was never any intention of me scamming BPS. Again you made an assumption based on incomplete info. There was ALOT more to the conversation and subsequent transaction. The great news is I donot have to answer to you nor justify myself to you. 

Have a great day