I sent the link about the lack of customer service to the Manager at Bass Pro.Here they are.
The store manager and marine manager.

Matt,

I appreciate you letting me know of customer issues I was unaware of. You are right in pointing out that we cannot make everyone happy, however we strive to do so at Bass Pro Shops. It is our goal to exceed the expectations of every customer every time they are in the store. If at anytime you are ever not satisfied with the service you receive bring it to a member of management�s attention while you are here so we can correct it at that point. Thank you for your e-mail. I am the marine department manger and have read through the post. We try our best to give great customer service but we do fall short on occasion. This is a situation that all retail stores face. Unfortunately I was never asked to resolve the issue. If you or any one you know have a problem please ask for me or the manger on duty. If I am here I will handle it personally and I will do every thing I can with in reason to take care of the problem.

Matt,
Thank you for your e-mail. I am the marine department manger and have read through the post. We try our best to give great customer service but we do fall short on occasion. This is a situation that all retail stores face. Unfortunately I was never asked to resolve the issue. If you or any one you know have a problem please ask for me or the manger on duty. If I am here I will handle it personally and I will do every thing I can with in reason to take care of the problem.



I have many tools at my disposal to get trolling motors here. We carry a very large inventory of trolling motors unfortunately we can not carry every trolling motor that is in the catalog due space and lack of sales. We have a special order program on trolling motors and can usually get any motor within a

week�s time. This of course depends on the manufacture having it in stock to ship. We are in the process of removing the under water camera display which is why some were not working.



The customer that started the post should have been giving the option to special order the trolling and this apparently did not happen. This is one of the areas we fell short. This should not have happened but if I was given a chance to correct it would have been done immediately



As I stated above I will go above and beyond for any customer who walks in to our store male or female. Here at Bass Pro Shops we value our customers and know you can spend your money any where you want. We will resolve any situations as long as we get the chance.

If you need any thing please fell free to e-mail me or ask for me at the store. Again thanks for letting us know.

Brent Brice

GSM Bass Pro Shops

Marine Department

Grapevine Texas

972-691-5208

bbrice@basspro.com







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I, for one, can attest to the fact that Bass Pro will do everything possible to "make things right" for you. I bought a grizzly boat from them a few years ago and had them rig it out for me with everything I wanted on it. The only thing they didn't have in stock was the graph I wanted and they placed it on order for me and asked me to come back in a few days to have them put it on.

As it turned out, the boat had 3 holes in it and almost went down that same day. I took it back to them and they really did make it right. Apparently, this boat had fallen from the truck and wasn't supposed to be sold, but I ended up with it.

How did they make it right? Well, they gave me the next larger size boat at no charge, told me to pick ANY graph they had in stock at no charge, and put every guy in the shop on it. So, about 2 hours later, I had a fully rigged boat with a much more expensive graph than I'd originally ordered, and all new components (including motor).

So, as I said before, I KNOW that Bass Pro WILL make things right for you if you give them a chance. And that very experience with them has made me a life-long customer. I'd say that since that day, I've probably spent around $5000 there, and that's being a little on the conservative side (just in case my wife ran across this post).

Like the man said, we can spend our money anywhere. So, it's the service they give that keeps us coming back.

I agree with you Verne....I have never made a purchase that big from them but the ones I have made came with no problems and help from their staff when needed. I have met several of their employees thru this forum and I think all of them are great people on the job and off...you are not going to please everyone all the time but I think they do a dang good job trying.....

Im not trying to beat up on BPS but point out a major problem that they have that needs to be fixed.

As you can see from my original post that there are 25 others that feel the same way and have had similiar experiences. Thats 25 to many.

I too have had good experiences with them on returning two trolling motors, but that is just good customer service-- remember--the customer is alway right and the manufacturers will stand behind their products. I they dont you simply drop the product. Ask the question--What did it cost the saleman to replace the item??? Absoluting nothing, just one happy customer. I learned that when I worked in retail 30 years ago. Making an unhappy customers is fairly easy. But cant getting people to wait on the customer or having to find a manager is poor management.

Verne-- How happy would have you been it you left on vacation and drove 500 miles with that boat that had three holes in it? That shouldnt have never happened in the first place.

The point Im trying to make is that on big ticket items you will have qualified personnel to deal with customers and that if you cant youll find someone that can. If your not going to stock particular items then make it be known. I dont want to find out that after I or others spend hours getting to the store you dont have it in stock, but you can get it in 7 to 10 days.

And I know someone is saying to call before you go--if you cant get waited on at the store level whos going to answer the phone?

To all of you that were wondering, I heard they are accepting applications. They ordered the trolling motor that I wanted, had at the store in three days. I believe the time of year was the Christmas Holiday's

Pat Delaney

I called them they ordered my tm it was there in 3 days also. Took me 4 days to get the time to install it.

They have ALWAYS treated me great. I have had nothing but good service. They have some excellent employees that really strive to provide the best services they can. I know also though that the electronics department stays busy with customers. They get a rush of folks at times and it can get hectic. By nature those guys in that department have to act as both salesmen and educators. most units and TM's on the market will require more in depth knowledge from the end user thus requiring more time with each customer.
I thought it was good that they responded and I bet they will try to make it right if you give them the chance.

When you are a company that size, and deal with the THOUSANDS of people that go through each location over the course of a year, I think they do a WONDERFUL job at taking care of their customers.

Yes, there will be breakdowns every now and then. But if you look at the number of people that go through there, vs the number of problems, They would probably be in the 98-99% range of having good satisfied customers. I don't know very many businesses that can say that.

I had a problem in the Marine Dept. as well. I went in to buy a new trolling motor and apparently the tags were switched because they gave me the wrong one in the back. I didn't look at the TM in the box (my mistake) and had the marina shop that I use put it on my boat. When I went to pick up my boat, I freaked out because the wrong TM was on my boat. I called BPS and they really did everything in their power to help me out. They gave me the TM that I wanted, which was $150 more expensive than the one that I bought for no additional cost. They also gave me a $150 gift card for my trouble.
I was really pleased with the way they handled the situation.

I have to add that I have never had a problem at Bass Pro - I make a purchase at the Grapevine location almost every week.

If you feel a situation has been mishandled, you need to immediately seek a manager. If the manager doesn�t handle the situation to your satisfaction, then it may be time to express your concerns on a forum or contact the corporate office. Give them a chance to rectify the situation before you start spreading bad PR.

Also, ditto on what Michael Bristow said.

I'll add my .02

The bad PR I've been reading has been thrown at the Marine / Electronics department. The reel guys, tackle guys, clothing, etc etc are a bit different. Just about every customer that goes to the Marine / Electronics guys is looking for a demo and/or has tons of questions regarding the product that they may or may not be buying from BPS. Because the Marine customer takes so much more time than the lures or other customer those guys have a much harder time satisfying everyone.
Now before you say "BPS should hire more electronics guys, ask yourself if you want prices to go up 30% in that department so BPS can have a 1 to 3 employee customer ratio. Just plan on going to the marine guys during low periods.

Man that's my longest post ever.....whew
And no I don't work at BPS. But I should own stock

Mrppl2, most people wouldn't buy a boat and then pull it 500 miles before they tried it out first. People make mistakes. I had a biz for 17 years, and I made plenty of them. But I had a good biz because I treated people fairly and corrected my mistakes. It amazes me how some people can be extremely rigid about others mistakes, and yet overlook their own so blithely. He who is without sin, cast the first stone.

Artie

Well said Michael and JP.

Make a mistake? I'm sure none of us have done that. In my business like many mistakes can cost you money. I think one of the best points to keep in mind, is it appears the manager is taking responsibility and offering to make things right. We all have bad experience whether it be at a store, restaurant, at work. I've always looked at how the situation is handled more than how or why we got there in 1st place. In the end that says a lot about the person and the company.

You know, one of the main problems in corporate America is the mindset that "trimming the fat" is great. Working "lean" is an easy way for companies to keep under budget and, let's face it, make money for their shareholders. Even at Christmas time, the director that is beating these guys up about customer service is the same guy saying that the labor can be performed with "less people." In retail, this is the norm. What they don't see is that their businesses would more than likely do better if there were more people to be able to provide excellent customer service. In a specialty store such as BPS, the focus should be on VERY much on customer service. A wide variety of personnel should be available to answer and assist as many people as possible. Look at the size of this forum. Angler's come in all shapes and sizes with different approaches and techniques. The variables are infinite in our fishing world so the amount of help available should match, if not outweigh the demand. BPS stores are supposedly the guys to answer questions and provide service. If they want to trim the fat, cut down on the amount of money some guy gets sitting on the board of directors so that they can hire three or for more customer service reps to be out on the floor and assisting customers. Alas, I'm just an average guy, making middle class money. Can anyone guess where I want to take my hard earned money? If this doesn't make sense to some CEO, then so be it. Anyway, that's my two cents.