Today, last shopping day of my hollydays as I am returning tomorrow to my country after a week under the sun...

So I went once more to Bass Pro Shop's decided to buy whatever I want.

I bought more camo clothing that I will use in my life but those thick expedition fleece jackets and pants are cool

To make a long story short, I headed to the bow section, I grabed a Stryker crossbolt and I fell in love inmediately with it, I went to the man in charge of the section and asked about it, I told him that I was a rifle hunter avid of starting new hunting techniques.

He recomend me against te crossbolt saying it was to difficult to "load it" and he reccomend me a bow instead. I say ok no problem, it was my last day and I really wanted to buy something different to play with and I know some places that I will be allow to hunt with a bow and not with a rifle.

Show me one for pigs and deers I asked him, he looked at me and asked "have you ever shoot a bow before?"

"Nope" was my answer..

So he told me that better return next week for a shooting class and then see if I still want to buy a bow.

By that time I was tired of trying to buy a bow or a crossbow so I just said thanks see you next week.

OK, the guy have been very honest and maybe he saved me spending a bunch of dollars, but I don't know, it was strange, I went completly decided to get myself introduced into bow or crossbow hunting but after talking with the chap that was there to sell them I just walked away to never return without buying anything..

L

I was so decided to buy something new

You should have asked him if he had ever shot a bow ! Always sad to see a "salesman" who turns customers away !

Lorenzo-

That is strange, but it has happened to me as well. Earlier in the week, my wife took me to Cabela's to get me a couple Father's Day presents. Well, there was a feeder I wanted, so I called in advance and was told that they had at least 3 of them. When we get there, I see all feeders except the one I want.

THe first 2 people did not want to help. One told me they didn't stock them -- that I would have to order it. Then I told him a couple hours ago they had 3 on the floor, which drew a blank stare. The next guy looked them up in the computer and said they do not have any, either.

I told my wife I was giving up, but then we asked a guy at the firearms checkout. He located someone, and this guy knew exactly where they were. A minute later, I had the feeder in the basket. ANd yes, despite what I was told by others, they did have exactly 3 of them on the floor, just like I was told on the phone earlier in the day.

Bummer on not getting the Stryker Lorenzo. You would have enjoyed it!

I believe that crossbow comes with a cocking crank that even a little girl could use. But apparently that's still too tough for "stupid" sales associates".

At any rate sounds like that was not the guy you needed to help you get set up. No telling what crazy suggestions he'd make.

I use a crossbow for bow hunting that guy didn't know what he was talking about i have a excaliber and have taken elk moose and blackbear with mine if you do your part it will do its part as far as loading goes mine has a small rope with 2 pulleys to load it with works pretty slick you can even get a little battery powered winch. mine has a 200# pull i can do it by hand but after about 12 times it's not fun

I am quite convinced that the only people who know LESS about guns, bows, and hunting than the "handgun international" or your average gun grabbing elected offical are the salepeople at bass pro and gander mountain....

like the IDIOT that told me a 416 rigby would "blow a deer in half, leaving nothing to eat"... so I asked him what he thought was the best deer rifle in the store....

he grabs an ar15 clone, short barrel..

I asked him if it was a 5.56 or a 6.5,... he tells me NEITHER.. it's a 223, the most powerful military rifle in the world

i decided one should walk away before making this person ... oh, i didn't mention that he had to weigh at LEAST 400 LBS..

jeffe

Jeffe-

Way back when, Carter's Country used to employ knowledgable gun people before shifting to sales-oriented individuals who knew little -- and that was on a good day.

I had several run-ins with them, the most notable of which was once when I asked if they had a used Rem 700 or any other bolt rifle in 7mm-08.

The guy proceeds to tell me there has never been a bolt action in that caliber...that's it's for lever rifles only.

He actually got a bit loud and argumentative when I tried to convince him otherwise and that he was thinking of the 7-30 Waters.

Courtesy and diplomacy didn't work, so I finally gave up. And I didn't intend for it to be said aloud, but before I turned and walked, the word "idiot" slipped off my tongue as I looked him in the eye.

These are the same individuals who tried to tell a customer he could shoot 22 Magnums in his 10-22 just by switching magazines.

These are the same individuals who tried to tell a grandfather that he was basically a piece of crap if he bought anything less than a Leupold VX-III for an NEF single shot he was buying for his grandson.

And these are the same individuals who insisted a customer purchase .300 Weatherby ammo instead of the correct .300 Win Mag because his Vanguard "was a Weatherby."

They never cease to amaze me...

Another thing that happened to me that very last day at Bass Pro Shops was after paying everything (except the crossbolt ) was when I just want to have a Coke.

My brother in law went to the SawGrass Mills so he dropped me at Bass Pro Shops and took the car.

I have spend something around 800 bucks and I need to wait my brother in law to pick me up in 45 minutes.

I went to the coffe shop and they make me wait for 30 minutes after that I told that I must leave and that the only thing that I want was to have a Coke, the chap answered me that I can buy it from a machine that was in the entrance, so I ended without my crossbow and sitting in the street outside the Shop drinking my Coke...

In my country some things are much more simple..

L

I want to be honest and say that not everything was bad at Bass Pro Shops. The rest of the people that help me were GREAT, the man at the gun deparment was really nice and the same the people that help me with the clothes and with the boots !!

Given the oportunity I will buy again in that shop anytime, bad apples are everywhere and we must not allow them to run us away from good shops with lots of good hard working employees...

L

Yo, Lorenzo ! I like big noisy rifles ....

You have to shop at places like BP and Cabelas with your own mind made up on purchases. You should hear some of the ridiculous BS the salesman have tried to feed me over the years.

You can't expect someone working for 7-8 bucks an hour to actually know much about the equipment in those stores.....

Reloader

quote:

Originally posted by Bobby Tomek:
Lorenzo-

That is strange, but it has happened to me as well. Earlier in the week, my wife took me to Cabela's to get me a couple Father's Day presents. Well, there was a feeder I wanted, so I called in advance and was told that they had at least 3 of them. When we get there, I see all feeders except the one I want.

This is becoming a common technique that REALLY gets to me:
You call and ask if part XYZ is in stock and they tell you "Yeah we got several of them." You drive x number of miles and it's not there, no one knows anything and the name you were given doesn't exist. BUT! They are more than willing to sell you something else that's close... I think it's Sears' way of competing with the internet. (/rant)

I hate to dredge up this thread again but I was so infuriated after my trip to BassPro this morning that I just have to vent to folks that will understand. I was wandering through the ammo department hoarding .308 when the gentlrman standing next to me asked a sales associate if they had any handgun ammo. The following conversation went like this.
Customer: Do you have any handgun ammo?
Salesperson: Nope, unless you have a .500 S&W.
Customer: No 9mm or .45?
Salesperson: None.

I then proceeded to take three boxes of 9mm +P Winchester off of the shelf and told the customer I had found some. Then, before asking anymore info from the customer regarding his pistol or his needs the 500lb associate says:

Sales Associate: That is +P ammo and most people can't handle it and most guns aren't made for it.

I didn't want to get into a pissing contest with this dumbass over the fact that every pistol they sell there is +P rated or that the customer may have been looking for a quality defensive round, so I just shook my head and left. How do these idiots get hired?

Lorenzo, Sorry to hear of your experience, but as you can see from the other responders, the "Big Box" Sports Stores are more interested in selling the stuff they have been instructed to sell, than selling customers what they want.

Stupid salesmen really get my hackles up. I usually wind up wagering a months pay that I am right and they almost always back down. I had a guy at a Walmart store telling me because he had been there ten years, he made more than a tool and die maker could ever dream of and he didn't want to take advantage of me. I found his supervisor he was just as much an idiot but made the wager with me in writing.

They insisted that Lipsey's was a manufacturer not just the name of the catalog distributer, that they made all of the brands in their catalog. Kind of the way lots of folks think Ford owns Cummins. I took their money and gave it to beggars on the street.

If more folks would take a stand there will eventually be less idiots in our world!

Andy B

My personal experience with buying my crossbows is that most salespeople know absolutely nothing about them. Nine of of ten have never shot one..except in the back room, at best. Some know something about vertical bows and think it translates to crossbows----mostly, it doesn't.
First question I ask THEM is: 'How many different crossbows have you shot?'
The best advice I got was from the various crossbow sites I visit. Now own and hunt with three. And while I can no longer pull a vert (at 69 with two bad wings)I would have used one long ago had I know how much fun they are.
BTW, not at all a great advantage in using as some would have you think. (louder, heavier, one shot only, shoot as far as a comparable vert but steeper trajectory due to lower ballistic coefficient of the shorter arrow.)

PS Never argue with an idiot...those watching may not be able to tell the difference.

Cossack,

The other caveat...

Never argue with an idiot... They'll drag you down to their level, and beat you with experience.

Lorenzo,

I have shot a large assortment of crossbows. They are a pleasure to hunt with, and if you're not used to shooting a compound, much easier to pick up and shoot accurately. I have handled the Stryker, but never fired one. Initial response was - a bit heavy, and oversized. If claimed velocity is accurate, it would be worth the excess size and weight. JMHO Crossbows are a wonderful hunting tool, and a superb way to introduce youngsters to the sport of hunting. I'll hunt until the day I die, and if I'm lucky, I'll get to use a crosswbow annually until then.

gd

In the U.K., If you want a job operating say for instance a forklift truck, you need a licence for that item, same goes for most other trades, how comes someone can pontificate on equipment they know nothing correct about?, If I owned or operated a store for outdoorsmen/women, I would in depth interview them & stick em in the right dept commensurate with their knowledge, or if they were willing to learn, pair em up with a real well versed person, "DICKS",don't they realise what they are doing to their countries output?

I was in a big outdoors sports store once and there was two young guys with a used "lefthand" recurve bow, looking for a string. The salesguy, who they were referred to, because he was an American indian and an "expert" on bows was trying to fit a string to it and finally I had to intercede and tell them,"its not a lefthand bow, its a righthand bow and the reason the string won't fit is that you are trying to string it backwards"!
The problem is not really that the salespeople at BP or Cabelas are incompetent, its that MOST salespeople anywhere you go are incompetent and as most of them are making slightly over minimum wage, you get what you pay for! I was just at a gun show and one of the dealers told a customer that a .30-06 WON'T KILL a deer at close range, because its going so fast, it just zips right through without doing any damage!

quote:

I was just at a gun show and one of the dealers told a customer that a .30-06 WON'T KILL a deer at close range, because its going so fast, it just zips right through without doing any damage!

I'd have asked him if he'd like to demonstrate-- using his own body as a stand-in for the deer...

I think they hire sales people in the higher ticket item area to discourage customers.

Last time I ought a higher dollar item I was fit to be tied by the time I got out of the store and when I got home and opened the case I found that they had forgot to take their trigger lock off of it.

Lorenzo,
Which city were you in? It sure sounds like our store in Springfield Mo.