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Finally made another purchase at Cabela's

2K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  Gator89 
#1 ·
A while back, there were some threads (some I started, others I participated in) calling out Cabela's for all their ridiculous rules and regulations following their takeover by Bass Pro Shops. I still buy ammunition there, but I vowed never to purchase another gun there.

I guess I should never say never... last night I went there, and saw a used Colt Combat Commander (it was a newer Combat Commander with G10 grips), and I asked to look at it, and well, you know the rest.

So why did I change my mind? Well, the salesperson was patient, polite, and agreed to let me take off the gun lock and let me inspect the gun in detail. He did abide by the store's rules (many of which I still consider ridiculous), but he was also very accommodating to me. So I guess it all boils down to something I haven't seen at Cabela's in two years - good customer service.

I'm not going to take back my previous criticisms of Cabela's (I still believe those comments were well-deserved); but I'm hoping that management has listened to some of the suggestions I've made in the past. Call me a dinosaur if you want, but I still believe that good customer service overrides a low price.
 
#2 ·
It’s great to read that your experience was positive. I started one of the threads and my experience was, like yours, not an employee issue. The employee taking care of me truly wanted to meet my needs but their rules did not allow them to allow me to check the timing on the revolver I was considering.

Your experience is encouraging if they are now allowing one to check the action of a gun. I will reconsider buying a gun from them IF my local Cabelas does the same. I truly like the customer service I’ve received in the past and would like to continue doing so under these new guidelines. Thanks for posting your experience.
 
#3 ·
I hope they've changed, too. In the past, I had mixed experience with customer service from Cabela's. I made several suggestions and things did change, so I hoping they're listening.

One thing I've noticed at Cabela's is that the number of older guns available for sale has decreased greatly. I'm still not sure why that is. The Gun Library - at one point reserved for antiques and high-end firearms - is more lower-end now... think of used ARs and slightly older and used guns. Not bad, but nothing "special".

Last night, it was very noticeable that all the salespeople in the Gun Library were older gentlemen. I'm guessing that's one of the reasons I was treated well last night. Older people understand that making customers happy is important; while younger people are more inclined to be impatient and think customers with questions are wasting their time.
 
#9 ·
I bought a pointer grade superposed from them once for about 2k. Sold it about a year later to someone that wanted it way more than me for 4.5k. I have seen some other guns that weren't bad deals but I wasn't in a position to buy them. The Ft Worth store usually has some good deals, granted its been about a year since I stopped by. I have seen some prices on 1st gen SAAs, diamonbacks, and even pythons that were better than what you find online typically. A friend of mine picked up a CHE Parker Bros shotgun at a Florida Cabela's for about 2 grand a few years back. He was offered 7 grand for it at a national side x side last spring. Of course the only parker I have ever seen for sale was one with a broken stock and loose rib for way more than it was worth.
 
#10 ·
Yes, that's the one. As I've said, I did receive good customer service when I was there last week, but the Gun Library doesn't have nearly the number of antique/older firearms that they used to. Now it's mostly used guns - some steel & wood, but a lot of polymer.
 
#12 ·
Just to share my story this week.

I completed a transaction last night via Cabelas/Bass Pro. I saw a Colt SAA Frontier Six Shooter at a cabelas half way across the country. I emailed the store and got a response that I was behind one other buyer who was interested prior to my email.
This was on a Thursday. I waited and called on Sunday to see if there was any news, however the “online guy” wasn’t available and they thought it was sold. I wanted to know Sunday is they had gift cards 10% and I would go buy gift cards at my bass pro in Springfield, Mo and end up saving $200 or so. But I assumed it was sold and didn’t buy the gift cards.
Late Tuesday I get a call and asked if I was still interested in the gun, the first buyer had backed out. I said yes and asked if I could get any better deal. They said it had not been there long enough to deep discount, but they took $100 off. I asked then if I could get it sent to my local bass pro to pick up (free shipping and no transfer fee) and they said yes. So that saved me another approximate $75 too, which was great.
Yesterday I got a call that it was in (shipped overnight) I went to pick it up. Smooth pick up, no issues.
This was a very positive experience and went smooth. I wish I could have made the 10% gift card deal work, but I can’t complain.
Thanks
 
#13 ·
That Lone Tree, CO, Cabelas is the one closest to me. When they instituted the "you can't check it and you can't return it" policy on used guns I swore I'd never buy another gun from them. That was four guns ago.

Two Pocket Hammerless .380s, a .38 WCF New Service, and a nickle Smith 19-3 snubbie - all at a decent price, and perfectly functional.

And the veteran's discount is back, so that helps.
 
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