Parting ways

[tracker01]

I asked for a store manager once at BPS and once at Cabelas. The associates are limited as to their discision making. Both times the respective store manager worked out my situation to my benefit. Like “volzfan” said, there is always a 800 number. Do not take no for an answer till you have exhausted your options.

[NYWayfarer]

4 hours ago, Brew City Bass said:

This would be great if DSG stocked half of what I wanted to buy. I've yet to go in there and even see a reel I would consider. 

Also, do they even price match ebay? I've never had a store price match ebay.

That rod probably only costed them $15-20 to be honest. 

I just returned a reel to cabelas, nothing wrong with it, just wasn't what I expected. No problems on the return. I just bought a cabelas rod when I was there doing the return as well. Hopefully I have no issues if it ever breaks. 

Sorry to hear they shafted you over some bullshat like that.

They match EBay as long as it is a brand new reel purchase, no used reels will be honored. 

 

I get get that they don’t stock everything but I use the in stock locate button to see what DSG near me carries the reel I am looking for. I have 3 DSG within 50 miles of me. One of them carries what I am looking for 

3 hours ago, volzfan59 said:

Our DSG in Knoxville, TN got rid of "The Lodge" when Academy came to town. 

 

Eric J and others, please don't get mad at the associate's. I promise you, they are being forced to ask about the credit cards. As I was told, every associate in every department is to ask.

At my former store, most are trying to feed their families on their salary. I was fortunate in that I wasn't. If you want to complain, and please do, ask for a store manager or call 1-800 basspro.

I agree, don’t get mad at the associates. My niece is one of them. A tip/trick is when they approach you is to tell them you have the card already and you love it. Pretending to be hard of hearing works as well. Especially if you have gray in your hair 

[Eric J]

3 hours ago, volzfan59 said:

Our DSG in Knoxville, TN got rid of "The Lodge" when Academy came to town. 

 

Eric J and others, please don't get mad at the associate's. I promise you, they are being forced to ask about the credit cards. As I was told, every associate in every department is to ask.

At my former store, most are trying to feed their families on their salary. I was fortunate in that I wasn't. If you want to complain, and please do, ask for a store manager or call 1-800 basspro.

volzfan, just some background as I agree with you 100%. I have been in retail for 40 years and have managed big box, mom and pop and everything inbetween. My current company is also all about getting that credit card app. I have lost great salespeople responsible for bringing in significant revenue because they were sick of the Credit App pressure.

 

I actually joked with the sales people at BPS about it. I do plan on emailing BPS. Being on both sides of this coin for many years I have a lot of empathy for retail store team members. Its a tough job and very underappreciated. A bad experience can ruin a customer's day while a good one has them leaving smiling.

 

I was once asked during an interview, what is my style of selling? I replied that I've never sold anything to anyone. I forge relationships with my customers. Sadly too few in our business really understand that...

[Log Catcher]

2 minutes ago, Eric J said:

volzfan, just some background as I agree with you 100%. I have been in retail for 40 years and have managed big box, mom and pop and everything inbetween. My current company is also all about getting that credit card app. I have lost great salespeople responsible for bringing in significant revenue because they were sick of the Credit App pressure.

 

I actually joked with the sales people at BPS about it. I do plan on emailing BPS. Being on both sides of this coin for many years I have a lot of empathy for retail store team members. Its a tough job and very underappreciated. A bad experience can ruin a customer's day while a good one has them leaving smiling.

 

I was once asked during an interview, what is my style of selling? I replied that I've never sold anything to anyone. I forge relationships with my customers. Sadly too few in our business really understand that...

In the world today true customer service is a lost art form. The good ones can help you pick what is best for your needs. Most of them now just want the paycheck and go home. I have run in to both types many times.

[Falkus]

On 6/30/2018 at 6:59 PM, NittyGrittyBoy said:

BPS lost my business to tackle warehouse long time ago

Same here -- I rarely buy at BPS as tacklewarehouse has more selection on items/colors and prices.

 

Heck, free shipping over 50 bucks. 

[greentrout]

 

BPS has no minimum free shipping and some great sales going on...loyal customer for 20 plus yrs... 

 

good fishing...

[Armtx77]

On 6/30/2018 at 8:30 PM, FishTank said:

Most of the big box stores have gone down hill.  It's kind of disappointing.  Most of the gear is over priced and not on the higher end of things.  Most of the selections have been of their own brands.  I am not sure what is going on with this trend but I miss the way it used to be. 

I have some old Cabelas winter camo, probably from the mid 90's. Some of the most durable stuff(polar fleece) I have ever owned...made in the USA.

 

BOTH Cabelas and PBS, sold out to profits long ago. I stopped recommending both, probably 10 years ago.

[Mobasser]

Good luck on whatever type of new job you choose.

[TOXIC]

Retail is a salt mine environment and many times very thankless.  As for BPS and Cabela's they are profit driven and as a result hire a lot of "Associates" or "Outfitters" on a carousel.  During the 15 years I was pro-staff for BPS through one location, I'll bet the management I worked with turned over 7 to 8 times.  Every new GM, Store Manager, Department Manager, etc., had their own ideas and management style.  I might still be with them (actually, my contract is still active) if it weren't for a new store manager who I didn't see eye to eye with.  I changed it up and went with a Rep Group and now get a lot better deal.  Just my experience.  I do grand openings and events in both BPS and Cabela's all over the country for both hunting and fishing products so the gig is much better.  I could NEVER work retail in the store.  I would take a hostage after a week.  Good luck on your next step.  

[MrFrost]

On 6/30/2018 at 10:12 PM, volzfan59 said:

WRB and islandbass, I did have something. I deliver auto parts part time for a small, family owned auto parts chain. I deliver only to dealerships and garages. It's not BPS management money but I really don't care. My wife and I are both blessed to have really good pensions after over thirty years each in law enforcement. BPS basically paid for my fishing. Sounds crazy, but at this point I really don't care about the money.

 

For the guys talking about the time shares, it's only going to get worse except it's now credit cards. That's the main reason I walked. Since the Cabela's purchase, credit cards, excuse me, Club Cards are now the focus. All associate's, in each department, are required to sell c/c's. All managers are required to ensure that associates are selling c/c in addition to selling them themselves. All associate's have a quota. Before I left, customers were complaining about being asked 4 or 5 times if they wanted a c/c. I agreed with the customers.

 

I had two problems, four actually. None of them will make sense to some of you.

1. I don't believe in credit cards, heck I don't believe in debt. To many people get in serious trouble with debt. Proverbs 22:7 speaks to it. I personally refuse to have anything to do with them. Sadly, people have to have mortgages and car payments, they don't have to have c/cs and BPS sells nothing that they have to have.

2. I absolutely refuse to make an associate do something that I won't. Even when I was in L.E., I wouldn't make my guys do something I wouldn't do or hadn't done myself.

3. I won't be given a quota. I never had quota's in over 35 years in L.E., believe it or not.

4. When I hired in, selling c/c was never a requirement. Gear guards were.

 

When I spoke to my supervision, I was told it was non-negotiable. I guess I agreed. Before you say anything, I realize they are 100% within their rights to require employees to do things, including selling cards. I'm just not going to be a part of it.

 

Thanks for the good wishes!

 

Yeah, I work part time for Cabela's, but thankfully my position does not require the sale (or sign up rather) of a single "Club" card, aka Credit Card.

 

Don't think I'd last a week with a "quota."  I have the Cabela's "Club" card, because I like the perks, but don't agree with making someone push it.  Aside from the front door greeter.  Let them offer it, but let the sales staff focus on assisting the customers with their needs.  

On 7/1/2018 at 12:28 PM, Log Catcher said:

Sorry to hear Cabelas is doing people that way. I thought about buying one of their fish eagle rods when they put them on sale again. Guess i will stay away if they are going to be that way about it.

I can't speak for his location, however at mine, it is NOTHING like that.  Matter of fact, I have seen Customer Service associates ask the customer looking to return something for the date of their transaction so they could find their receipt since the customer no longer had it.  Sure, it took the customer a few minutes of looking at bank statements on line, but they were able to return a year old rod and exchange it without their original receipt.

 

I honestly think that Sully got the wrong associate that day, because my Cabela's (IL location) is definitely still honoring the lifetime warranty.  

[J Francho]

On 6/30/2018 at 11:12 PM, volzfan59 said:

Thanks for the good wishes!

Good wishes to you from me, too!

[volzfan59]

Thanks Toxic and J. Francho, I really appreciate it. The new gig is pretty sweet it's gonna offer any chance of time off for fishing.

 

MrFrost, That's how it used to be at my store before the Cabela's  purchase. Front end staff handled the credit card stuff, the department folks handled customer service in their respective departments. Now all associate's are required to push them. I agree with you about Sully's experience, at my old store the customer service associate's, and management, did everything possible to help with returns. 

[LxVE Bassin]

On 7/1/2018 at 12:34 PM, Boomstick said:

I was just at Cabela's yesterday and what I couldn't get over is they now charge $6 for RoboWorms. tacklesupplydepot.com or tacklewarehouse.com here I come...

$6 for roboworms? What the hell? Lol

 

On 7/1/2018 at 4:03 PM, volzfan59 said:

Eric J and others, please don't get mad at the associate's. I promise you, they are being forced to ask about the credit cards. As I was told, every associate in every department is to ask.

At my former store, most are trying to feed their families on their salary. I was fortunate in that I wasn't. If you want to complain, and please do, ask for a store manager or call 1-800 basspro.

I agree totally with @volzfan59, I recently stopped working part time at  Cabela’s due to family obligations. I never tried to offer the card to any customers but I provided great customer service to anybody that had questions or needed help. One day I got called up to the office because I hadn’t got a single customer to sign up for the club card and they made me go through some training to help me get people to sign up. My whole reason for working there was to get some extra cash while working in the fishing department, not selling credit cards. I have a full time job with a fortune 100 company so I wasn’t going to stress or lose any sleep about selling credit cards for a part time job when the incentives are just a new t shirt or your name being on the wall in the break room. But with that being said I had some great relationships with my coworkers, some of them retired and some needed to be there to feed their families. They were all great people, so please be aware that that the powers that be made it to where they have hound people

for club cards.

[Steve1357]

First and last time yesterday I will get ambushed to sign up for a credit card at the Little Rock Basspro...

 

I thought it was just "somewhere else" and not my store. But it's a weird felling. Kinda like getting ambushed by little kids guarding the front door when you're running into Walmart....

[CTBassin860]

On 7/1/2018 at 1:01 PM, Eric J said:

I madw a trip to the Ct location yesterday and tbh it was a great experience. Spent 69 bucks on lures. 

 

However... I was approached no less than 7 times to be told about their credit card.  When we first walked in we were approached by a woman. Who seemed very helpful until we realized she was just trying to get us to sign up for the card.

 

It bordered on harassment. 

 

Outrageously annoying.

 

 

The Hartford Cabelas is pretty sweet. Never had anyone push the cards on me. I went a couple weeks ago. BPS in Foxboro MA was in my backyard for a few years and it got to the point that I stopped going. They stand at the bottom of the stairs heading into the fishing section waving flyers in your face. Plus they wont price match. They would rather lose 45$ than make 25$. Makes no sense to me. Even Best Buy will match Amazon as long as its bought and sold by Amazon and not a 3rd party seller.