Let's get one thing straight... Cabela's is like Disneyland for me. Shove a little jerky in my shirt pocket and drop me off at the front doors when they open... I'm good for the day! 
That being said, I rarely make firearm purchases with them, so maybe my experience with their processes are limited, but after this last bout it's not something I will ever do again.
Background: I made an online firearm purchase and was there for a ship to store pickup.
I go to the ship to store counter and wait in line a touch over 15min. The one girl behind the counter spent most of that time with her back turned to customers diddling with something on the back counter (that looked suspiciously like a phone) while sipping her iced latte (or whatever it was). I understand multi-tasking, but the face-to-face customer should have priority.
Get to the counter and find out I must first go to the gun counter for assistance. Makes sense... I need to check it over first, right? Get to the counter and discover I must "take a number" for service. Literally... the little red ticket number dispensers we all love so much. I pull a 74. "Now serving 59". Okay.... there are all of 5 customers in the gun department... where's the other 14 ticket holders? Well... I found out where most of them likely went... they gave up and left. Works for me since my number will come up that much faster, right? I was wrong...
Standing at the counter making myself look as much as possible as if I am not a window shopper but there for a purpose. Not even a single "hi, we'll be right with you" to placate a customer. Over the next half hour it went from 59 to 61. Another guy next to me starts up a conversation. He's #67 and already been there for over an hour. He's not shopping either. He knows what he wants, has the ad in hand and just wants to throw them some money. We watch on as one salesman patiently services 1 and ONLY 1 customer who browses a couple of hand guns. They chat about various features and such.. nothing pressing. They then move on to look at a couple of shotguns... then a few scope... can't pass up looking at some of those nifty knives now can we? After 40min the customer says "thanks" and walks off. Clearly just a windown shopper.
Meanwhile, I just want to pick up an already paid for item and the guy next to me just wants to throw them some money.
Fast forward 1hr 30min. The board reads 65. This is utterly ridiculous! I finally go over to the processing counter and express my displeasure and ask if there is someone that could help. At the rate the numbers were climbing it would be another 3+ hours before my number would come up.
I should have caught his name, but a portly shorter man (55-60ish).. nearly bald with white whisps comes back awhile later... obviously purturbed I was disrupting his day. He tells me it's gone up 7 numbers, currently at 70 and if I don't get back over there when my number comes up I'll have to pull a new number. I glance over from his counter.... it's gone up 4 numbers (to 69) since I first went to "his" counter and currently says 69. I report that fact back to him. NOW I've p***** him off. His face turning a shade of red... "IT WENT UP 7 TO #70 WHILE I WAS STANDING THERE JUST NOW" then gives me the hand wave off as he walks away. I walked off too before I lost my cool.
Of course, you're not free to shop about. They don't announce your number over the PA... just whenever a salesman get's around to it they go to the number dispenser and call out your number in a normal speaking voice. After all... this isn't a meat market, right.
Half hour later I'm up, inspect, then go enter the que for a BG check. I get the "lumbering giant" (Roger). Nice old guy (probably pushing 70) doing his best, but a bit lost. Asks for my DL. I inform him they already have it and point to my paperwork. 5 minutes later he has the right paperwork, found my DL, I remind him he'll need my prints... we're good. Don't get me wrong. I had nothing but patience with him. Nice guy you don't mind cutting some slack. Heck... he's well past retirement age and pulling a sales job at Cabela's? Nothing but respect there.
I "know" a BG can take awhile and doesn't require my presence. Now I can finally go look at all the eye candy so my "calm" returns. Make it back 30min later... all good to go.
Before anyone rips me one... I, of course, understand a salesman must be present and attentive any time they are placing a firearm in a customers reach. While it's out... by all means... pay attention to who your working with. When the customer is perusing the glass case, ask the next person in line if there is anything you can do to help then balance your priorities accordingly. The " window shopper" is perfectly capable of waiting 5 minutes until your return while helping another.
If you're dinking around with your phone and sipping an iced latte while making your customer wait.. that's something else all-together.
I didn't realize that when your number comes up you have your own personal salesperson for the duration of your shopping experience.
Some of the counter gossip was that it was a new policy initated after BassPro acquired Cabela's. Dunno about that... don't really care. It is what it is and I, for one, will never even consider another firearm purchase at Cabela's.
Why didn't I walk out? Well... it was a one'fer that wouldn't/couldn't be repeated. It wasn't even all that much money involved. A normally $260 gun (at Cabela's) you really can't pick up anywhere for less than $240 and, all told, I paid $167. It was "nifty" and I just wanna play with it! So sue me.
Sure glad I went up late morning and had no other committments for the day though. Turned out to be a full on 4.5 hour excursion from NE Salem to Tualatin just to pick up a $167 rifle.
Makes you wonder just how much business they lose for the guy that's "interested" and probably would have bought... if only he didn't have to wait for hours just to look at it... KWIM?
Ridiculous!
Rant over.
That being said, I rarely make firearm purchases with them, so maybe my experience with their processes are limited, but after this last bout it's not something I will ever do again.
Background: I made an online firearm purchase and was there for a ship to store pickup.
I go to the ship to store counter and wait in line a touch over 15min. The one girl behind the counter spent most of that time with her back turned to customers diddling with something on the back counter (that looked suspiciously like a phone) while sipping her iced latte (or whatever it was). I understand multi-tasking, but the face-to-face customer should have priority.
Get to the counter and find out I must first go to the gun counter for assistance. Makes sense... I need to check it over first, right? Get to the counter and discover I must "take a number" for service. Literally... the little red ticket number dispensers we all love so much. I pull a 74. "Now serving 59". Okay.... there are all of 5 customers in the gun department... where's the other 14 ticket holders? Well... I found out where most of them likely went... they gave up and left. Works for me since my number will come up that much faster, right? I was wrong...
Standing at the counter making myself look as much as possible as if I am not a window shopper but there for a purpose. Not even a single "hi, we'll be right with you" to placate a customer. Over the next half hour it went from 59 to 61. Another guy next to me starts up a conversation. He's #67 and already been there for over an hour. He's not shopping either. He knows what he wants, has the ad in hand and just wants to throw them some money. We watch on as one salesman patiently services 1 and ONLY 1 customer who browses a couple of hand guns. They chat about various features and such.. nothing pressing. They then move on to look at a couple of shotguns... then a few scope... can't pass up looking at some of those nifty knives now can we? After 40min the customer says "thanks" and walks off. Clearly just a windown shopper.
Meanwhile, I just want to pick up an already paid for item and the guy next to me just wants to throw them some money.
Fast forward 1hr 30min. The board reads 65. This is utterly ridiculous! I finally go over to the processing counter and express my displeasure and ask if there is someone that could help. At the rate the numbers were climbing it would be another 3+ hours before my number would come up.
I should have caught his name, but a portly shorter man (55-60ish).. nearly bald with white whisps comes back awhile later... obviously purturbed I was disrupting his day. He tells me it's gone up 7 numbers, currently at 70 and if I don't get back over there when my number comes up I'll have to pull a new number. I glance over from his counter.... it's gone up 4 numbers (to 69) since I first went to "his" counter and currently says 69. I report that fact back to him. NOW I've p***** him off. His face turning a shade of red... "IT WENT UP 7 TO #70 WHILE I WAS STANDING THERE JUST NOW" then gives me the hand wave off as he walks away. I walked off too before I lost my cool.
Of course, you're not free to shop about. They don't announce your number over the PA... just whenever a salesman get's around to it they go to the number dispenser and call out your number in a normal speaking voice. After all... this isn't a meat market, right.
Half hour later I'm up, inspect, then go enter the que for a BG check. I get the "lumbering giant" (Roger). Nice old guy (probably pushing 70) doing his best, but a bit lost. Asks for my DL. I inform him they already have it and point to my paperwork. 5 minutes later he has the right paperwork, found my DL, I remind him he'll need my prints... we're good. Don't get me wrong. I had nothing but patience with him. Nice guy you don't mind cutting some slack. Heck... he's well past retirement age and pulling a sales job at Cabela's? Nothing but respect there.
I "know" a BG can take awhile and doesn't require my presence. Now I can finally go look at all the eye candy so my "calm" returns. Make it back 30min later... all good to go.
Before anyone rips me one... I, of course, understand a salesman must be present and attentive any time they are placing a firearm in a customers reach. While it's out... by all means... pay attention to who your working with. When the customer is perusing the glass case, ask the next person in line if there is anything you can do to help then balance your priorities accordingly. The " window shopper" is perfectly capable of waiting 5 minutes until your return while helping another.
If you're dinking around with your phone and sipping an iced latte while making your customer wait.. that's something else all-together.
I didn't realize that when your number comes up you have your own personal salesperson for the duration of your shopping experience.
Some of the counter gossip was that it was a new policy initated after BassPro acquired Cabela's. Dunno about that... don't really care. It is what it is and I, for one, will never even consider another firearm purchase at Cabela's.
Why didn't I walk out? Well... it was a one'fer that wouldn't/couldn't be repeated. It wasn't even all that much money involved. A normally $260 gun (at Cabela's) you really can't pick up anywhere for less than $240 and, all told, I paid $167. It was "nifty" and I just wanna play with it! So sue me.
Sure glad I went up late morning and had no other committments for the day though. Turned out to be a full on 4.5 hour excursion from NE Salem to Tualatin just to pick up a $167 rifle.
Makes you wonder just how much business they lose for the guy that's "interested" and probably would have bought... if only he didn't have to wait for hours just to look at it... KWIM?
Ridiculous!
Rant over.
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