Bass Pro Shop ALERT!!!

[Sprinter]

Please BEWARE! I placed an order with Bass Pro Shops over the internet in the amount of $135.52 Bass Pro has free shipping over $135.00. To my dismay they backordered and cancelled $14.97 worth of merchandise that was out of stock bringing the total of my order to $120.55. Since the new total was below $135.00 they charged me $9.95 in shipping charges. WHY IS IT THE CUSTOMERS FAULT THAT THEY ARE OUT OF STOCK AND CANCEL BACKORDERS! I just spent a very UNPLEASANT 20 minutes with 2 different customer NON SERVICE rep's with Bass Pro. The $9.95 wasn't the issue with me but it was the fact that BASS PRO cancelled the item's and not me! The 2nd NON Customer service rep. Finally said she would credit my account for $9.95 but not to let it happen again.I DON'T THINK THAT IS GOING TO BE A PROBLEM!
Beware,
Sprinter

[Boycott Bass Pro Shop]

I have always had good transactions with them but if your story happened to me I would really be mad too. In support of the hassle they gave you I will boycott Bass Pro Shops for 6 months. If enough of us respond maybe you can send them a copy and maybe those customer service reps can learn a thing or two. I was just about to order for spring too. Thanks for the alert.

[Boycott Bass Pro Shop]

I have always had good transactions with them but if your story happened to me I would really be mad too. In support of the hassle they gave you I will boycott Bass Pro Shops for 6 months. If enough of us respond maybe you can send them a copy and maybe those customer service reps can learn a thing or two. I was just about to order for spring too. Thanks for the alert.

[Mr.Pike]

I played the over $135 free shipping game a couple of weeks ago! Thought I was a winner when they duplicated part of the order and sent me TWO 1000 yard spools of fireline. Thought I was getting A great deal, Wrong. I called and was told that someone in sales made A mistake, I got charged for the second spool, their mistake and I got charged $75. Worst part of the game is I had to waste MY TIME and send the spool back before they would issue a credit to my Visa acct. I'm not a thief but in my humble opinion if they send me something thst I haven't ordered TOUGH CRAP. I never had this happen on phone orders, guess I wasn't meant to order online.
<;{{{{<<( Mr.Pike

[Phil T.]

As you all get your Cabela's catalogs, credit cards, and telephones out, remember to compare the prices among the various Cabela's catalogs you may have. Last year (I haven't bothered to compare this year's issues yet.), the green Master Catalog was much cheaper on many items than the spring catalog with the fish on the cover.

[eyewinder]

I had to call Bass Pro and have them send out some items that I was shorted on an order recently. I was charged (credit card) for the items, and they were listed on the invoice, but the three items were not sent until I called. Are customer service and catalog order departments slipping? I've always been very satisfied w/Bass Pro previously(especially guarantee work on rods that failed--I've tried many of their Bass Pro models).
Our city has a Scheel's opening next week--how do their prices compare to Cabela's, Bass Pro, etc.?

Good orderin'!
eyewinder

[Chad]

The Fargo, ND & Moorhead, MN Scheels are great. I try to buy everything from there. Their prices are about the same as elsewhere but their customer service is A-1. I have brought back rods which were crunched in a trunk just weeks after purchase and they took them back without question. They say well send it in to the mfg and see what they say. I also purchase a reel, used it for 3 months and decided it wasn't what I wanted. They took it back with no questions.

They are very interested in what the local customers want. If there is enough request for an item they do not carry they will do their best to get some in.

They do a lot to support our local walleye club, too.

[chesterP]

Ditto for Scheels! They're super for prices, their sales personell are very knowledgable with anything on the shelf. plus, their customer svc. is the very best that I've been through. Sometimes, bigger is not always better, after all, how did they get to be so big.

[Weyes1]

I have had so many problems in the past with them screwing up orders, that Cabela's is my main source for fishing merchandise. I only order if Cabela's doesn't carry what I need. Then I do so carefully. BPS used to be really good up until the last three years. I ordered a catalog but that is all I have ordered from them.

[Pooch]

My vote is for Cabela's. I mail order supplies every winter and am treated great. Plus they have a better selection of the componants. Just my 5 cents worth.
Pooch in central Illinois

[walli]

i haven't had any problems with bps yet - i'll be watching. cabelas has good pricing but it seems they make up for it in the shipping they charge.I possible i buy at scheels - very comparible pricing and no frt.

[Fat Boy]

Just want to say, folks is folks. Some good, some bad. I bought a Pinpoint 7820 at Cabela's in Owatonna, got home and opened it only to find most of the parts missing. Called the store, was told: 1. I must be wrong 2. I must have got it in their bargin bin (would'nt you think they would sell those cheaper)? 3. how did they know I wasn't just trying to get some free parts? And finally, 4. If I wanted to bring it back they would look and see if they had another one in stock, but not till I brought the old one back. Anyway, I called the main office in Kearny, and they took care of everything. They kept apologizing until I got embarrassed and asked them to stop. I won't go back to Owatonna, but Cabela's is still OK.

[Sheila]

Not just online, but even same holds true occasionally for big catelogs. This is awful Sprinter, but I sometimes design e-commerce sites for a living (besides fish) and no matter how slick the site or catelog -- the back office of the biz can be one struggling to survive with bad inventory, bad warehousing practices, low-paid employees and office staff, and much more. I'm finding out too that often many web site run order biz's are fast becoming notorious for poor order fulfillment (a fact that even my ecom. cust's worry about for sake of their reputation). Bottom line of your situation is that Bass Pro should have gladly allowed you to change your order to something else for the amt. they "dishonored" on the order fulfillment.

BUYER BEWARE of the risks and time required to correct this kind of situation.

Sorry to hear. Glad you warned others (us). and hope everyone realizes the diff. & risks taken between web/catelog ordering and going into a store and picking out your goods. BETTER LUCK in future.

[Chris K]

I ordered from BPS for the first time last month. I ordered over the phone, and two items I wanted were backordered so I immediately was told that by the person who took my order. I decided not to purchase them. I was very pleased with the service and the fact I live in Canada it was nice to have the price of what everything would cost landed up here. I ordered merchandise I can not find in Canada and if there are things that I want and can't find them locally, I would not hesitate to order from them again. The big drawback of ordering from BPS over the computer is that there is no one there to tell you if somerthing you want is out of stock while you order. I will stick to the phone. My 2 Cents, Chris.

[wiggle]

Scheels prices don't compare. They are high on most everything. It is hard to beat Cabelas.

[bps customer]

just so you know, they also offer that 6 month credit card thing with no interest. they total your order, and charge equal payments on your credit card once a month for six months, you pay off your card ever month, and don't pay interest.......EXCEPT for the dollar a month handling fee bass pro now charges. guess it isn't really interest free after all.

[Bugtussle]

I know BPS offered the 6 months/no interest plan in the past, but I didn't see that option listed in any of the recent catalogs that I received from them. Also, I noticed that I used to receive orders quicker from BPS than Cabelas, but in the last several years, Cabelas has gotten much better (got my last order in 2 days standard shipping) and BPS has gotten much worse (although the last order I received did seem to arrive much quicker than some previous orders which took 2 weeks)

[miksup]

You don't say what state you're from, but here in Minnesota, if you are sent seomthing you didn't order, the law says you can keep it and not pay for it. Their mistake. Just dispute the charge with your cc company.

[cisco]

I order by phone, never over the net, but I've had no problems with either Bass Pro or Cabela's (or Gander Mtn when they still had catalog). By phone you get to talk with someone and can engage in give and take re various items, colors, etc. I have no reason to stop ordering from Bass or from Cabela's -- What I find incredible is that some indicated a willingness to boycott on the strength of one unfortunate faux pas.

[chadk66]

I'm from Minot, ND and have found Scheels to be rather expensive compared to cabellas and BPS. Haven't ordered from BPS in quite a few years, but have from cabela's and they are excellent. I have returned broken rods to scheels and have yet to have one replaced.
good fishin all.

[Sprinter]

LAST EDITED ON Mar-27-00 AT 00:07AM (CST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Mar-26-00 AT 11:52*PM (CST)

Cisco, Since I am the unfortunate "Faux Pas" you refered to in your post. I feel somewhat obligated to reply even though I normally don't spend much time on your type. Where and how you spend your money is totally your decision. I made my post to "INFORM" others of the shortcomings with BPS online ordering system and their response to those shortcomings. Something I don't get the feeling you would do for your fellow man. I NEVER once implied or suggested that anyone discontinue or change their relationship with any supplier.
Sprinter

[james/loch lomond]

I too am a victim of the bass pro "backorder" scam, I recently ordered via the net 2 rods beacause it is an international order i had to pay $25 shipping. When i got the rods they had only sent one with the other on back order two days later i got a letter saying that the ros was no longer on back order. So it has ended up with me paying $45.90 for a $19.90 rod. This has pissed me off so i sent bass pro an e mail about this and i await their reply with interest.
I also told them to look at walleye centrals message board and read the disscussion about them.

[cisco]

Think what you will. My reference was to those who decided to boycott simply on the strength of difficulty you had with Bass Pro. If you talked to Bass Pro reps with the same audacity exhibited in your reply to me, it's no wonder the exchange was unsatisfactory. I have no reason to boycott Bass Pro in spite of your protestations. Good fishing.

[WESTY]

Try Reeds- free shipping, they did a nice job with a recent order of mine.

[Sprinter]

Hope to see you on the water!!:-)
Sprinter

[BTB]

Definitely try Reed's Sporting Goods in Walker, MN. As was mentioned, they have free shipping and their prices are competitive with Cabella and BPS. Their customer service is excellent!!!

www.muskiefever.com

[Roscoe]

I have also had problems with Bass pro. Awhile back I ordered some items, and among them was a Shimans Castaic reel. When the items came the reel wasn't included. I called customer service, and they basically called me a liar and said it was shipped in the same box with the other items. After going through 4 or 5 reps, they finally sent me a new reel, but it came two weeks late. I'll be ordering from Cabela's from now on!

[SUPERTROLLER]

Same thing happened to me several years ago. When they did finally send me the reel the drag was all chewed up. Looked like they sent me someone else's defective return merchandise. Fixed it myself by filing drag washers smooth. It's still a decent reel for me--- a Shimano. Made the mistake of ordering a cheap ultralight reel from them two years ago. My name must be on the defective list because they did it again! Filed smooth again and bought my reel last year at a reputable dealer. Buy through them at your own risk. I'm not going to argue over the phone with people telling me I'm a crook because they didn't fill a box right and then sending me broken reels out of spite and waiting to charge me extra shipping to fix their mistakes. Just got back on the Cabela's mail order lists. Maybe BPS is still fighting the Civil War. Only been 140 years!

[Weyes1]

LAST EDITED ON Mar-28-00 AT 11:33PM (CST)[p]Last year I ordered over $500.00 worth of merchandise from Bass Pro. Out of that $500. of merchandise I ordered, they screwed me out of at least $25.00 of merchandise, gave me the wrong crap on over $100.00 and sent me 7 boat covers that were all either for the wrong boat or the wrong size. After all the back and forth shipping and crediting of my card, I still don't think they gave me proper credit on my card. Therefore I will only order things (very Little) that I can't get at Cabela's or my local stores.
Just so you Know I used to order an average of over $1000.00 worth of merchandise from them in the past. Good Customer they lost! Their attitude was "So what? No big deal!"
Now you tell me!

[FishAllDay]

Hey, for my B-day my girlfriend bought me a bunch of lures and other fishing products from Bass pro. When she got the order one lure was missing, and she had four things in the box she did not order.
I wonder if Bass Pro does this all the time? They wanted us to bay for shipping. I told them **** no send UPS to pick this stuff up!

[Neal/CO]

The thing that amazes me about this post, is the lack of a reply from somenone at Bass Pro Shop. They either don't know about this post or they are incredibally arrogant.

[Trapper John]

Scheels will meet or beat any price you bring them. If you bring your Cabelas catalog in they will match their prices.

[SUPERTROLLER]

Hey Neil, Why would that surprise you? They're ripping people off for the extra shipping instead of honoring their own pledge to eat those charges themselves. They save money every time they "claim" to be out of stock and then can overcharge on what it really costs to ship something. Just like buying things for $9.99 + only $25.99 in shipping/handling! If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it's a duck. If it looks like a scam, sounds like a scam, IT"S A SCAM !!!!

[Neal/CO]

I have seen several of you mention Scheels. I am not familiar with them, are they strictly an upper midwest chain?

Living in Colorado (trout country), I have a hard time finding reasonably priced walleye gear. So I do order alot of my equipment from BPS and Cabela's. Over the years I have had a couple of problems with both, but they were resolved to my satifaction. I have noticed that retailers here are starting to stock more walleye gear all the time. I hope this trend continues.

[TODD IN MISSOURI]

GUYS, THOSE ARE ALL GREAT STORIES ABOUT BASS PRO, BUT LISTEN TO THIS. I WAS IN SPRINGFIELD MO. 2 WEEKS AGO AT BPS. I SPENT OVER 600.00 DOLLARS IN THAT STORE. WHILE SHOPPING WITH MY 3 YEAR OLD AND WIFE. WE MADE THE BIG MISTAKE OF WALKING OVER TO THE NEW BOAT SECTION. WHICH IS RIGHT OFF TO THE LEFT OF THE FISHING SECTION.(THIS IS IN THE STORE) YOU WOULD HAVE THOUGHT WE WERE CRIMINALS OR SOMETHING. 2 SECURITY GUARDS CAME OUT OF KNOW WHERE AND EMBARRESSED THE LIVING S&&T OUT OF US. I WAS TOLD UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES COULD WE GO IN THERE WITH ANYTHING FROM THE OTHER PART OF THE STORE. I COULD GO ON, BUT I WILL NEVER GO BACK IN THERE AGAIN, AND SADLY THIS IS A PLACE WE HAVE ALWAYS LOVED TO GO. I HOPE THEY READ THIS POST TOO.

[Trophy19]

KUDO'S TO REEDS!!

This past winter I ordered some fishing lures from Reeds. When I opened the box, I found that two were the wrong color. Made a call to Reeds and they said return the lures and they would send me out the correct ones, plus my cost to ship them back.

A few days later they arrived, wrong ones again. Called Jeff Arnold at Reeds at he said that he would credit my account for the lures and I could keep the lures.

Now that is customer service!

My approach, if I can't find it at Gander or Galyans, then I make a call to Reeds. Never had any problems.

Just my 2!

[happy camper]

I ordered a reel and 2 rods on Monday 3/24 from Bass Pro. The reel arrived the 26th the rods the 27th. Shipping was free, items were what I ordered, no complaints here.

[moosekevin]

I'm down with you, you have my support - I will not buy anything from BPS for 6 months!!

Consumers need to take a stand against poor customer service - there are plenty of other places that will gladly take my money and provide me with the service I deserve.

No Bass Pro Shop till 10/1/2000 - let's make a stand together

Moose

[Lucky Jim]

Collectively the above posts are a very sad commentary on service from Bass Pro Shops, and they really do get my attention. As a result I am reluctant to send them any more of my money when there are other stores who treat us like the highly valued customers that we are. I prefer to order from Cabela's and have always been treated fairly and first class there. I do like having the option of Bass Pro Shop though and probably spend several hundred dollars each year with them. Like alot of you I also hunt and camp so that is alot of potential new equipment every year. I think that collectively we do owe it to ourselves to take a stand on this and maybe that will shake up that customer service department enough that we can get better service in the future. I'd like to keep that BPS option open but not if they treat us like shtttt. In support I will join the rest of you and boycott BPS for 6 months. I hope we get a few hundred posts on this and someone alerts them to read this. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

[Jeff]

Does Reeds have a web site. Any info would help. I was comparing x75 prices between cabelas and bass pro and cabelas beat them by 30 bucks. Thanks Jeff

[DJRojek]

On April 03, 2000 I placed a $163.00 order with Cabela's. On April 04, 2000 I placed a $156.00 order with Bass Pro Shops. Both orders had about 16 items on them. I placed the PBS order over the phone as there web site was down. I placed the Cabela order online. I will post details as my orders are received.
I placed a $69.00 online order with Mepps on March 23, 2000 and received my complete order and a few extras (book, lure, patch) 10 days later.

[eyewinder]

My experience with Reeds this past fall/winter was not as good.
I ordered four tipups--I received four items that weren't tipups (electric fish-on alarms or something like that), but the invoice in the package was for tipups.
I called & told Reeds of the problem and received response similar to Trophy's: "Send them back and we'll send tipups and pay postage."
I finally (approximately 2-3 months after placing original order) received the tipups, but no postage reimbursement.
Probably won't order from Reeds again--there are too many other catalog and retail outlets to put up with that sort of frustration.

Good orderin'!
eyewinder

[eyewinder]

Neal/CO:
Scheel's opened a store in Lincoln, NE, last week.
They stock an excellent selection of walleye gear, but I've heard some bass fishermen crying. The prices are not astoundingly low, nor are they astoundingly high. The store fills a niche for me. When I "need" something in particular, I can drive across town & find it. They stock quality, name-brand gear that I can't find in either Bass Pro or Cabela's (Wave Tamer drift bags, planer board tamers, bottom bouncer tamers, Beckman landing nets, a wall of Northland jigs & baits, etc.).
They also have a beautiful area devoted to firearms (new & old), a nice selection of Terry Redlin art. . .I could go on & on.
If you're ever in town for Buffs vs. Huskers, be sure to visit.

Good shoppin'!
eyewinder

[Bart SD]

Got my aqua-view jr. from reeds without any problems, but seemed kind of like there not set up for mail-order. Seems to me they should get a system set for phone sales.

[DJRojek]

On April 07, 2000 I received one of the three orders from Cabela's. No problems with the order (three items).
On April 07, 2000 I received my order from Bass Pro Shops. Out of twenty-seven items ordered one was missing and I had a double of another. I called BPS customer service and was told to keep the doubled item ($5.99) and they will ship the missing item ($2.69) soon. I guess if I receive the missing item I'll be doing good.
I still have two more orders from Cabela's coming.

Work Little, Fish Hard

[Dobblr_86]

I had a simmilar problem....But much differnt. Bass pro had shipped my product but I never recieved it....To my disabliefe they told me that I even sighned for it. It was a order for $300. But someone else signed for it. To say I was mad would be a understatement! I called and they said that I have to file a police report and give them the # so that They could ship my product too me.

[Kevin in CO]

Hey folks, this is the year 2000. Customer service is a thing of the past. Better get used to it. Warranty's mean nothing nowdays. Guarantees are not worth the paper they are written on. Craftsmanship is a thing of the past. You do not have to "be good" at anything, you only have to have good marketing. It is cheaper to replace than repair. Must I go on or do you get the picture? BSP doesn't give a crap whether YOU boycott them. They are in a world market now (thanks to the internet) so one person's business ($135) means nothing to them. And, things ain't gonna get any better!!! - Kevin in CO

[DJRojek]

On April 08, 2000 I received part of my BPS. Complete and in good shape. I should be receiving my Cabela and the rest of my BPS order soon!

[DJRojek]

On April 10, 2000 I received my final orders from Cabelas and BPS. With the exception of one mis-cue from BPS (see above) my orders have been complete and on time. Perhaps they have been reading these posts! I would place future orders from both of these companys.

Work Little, Fish Hard