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I talked to a girl that was there for the grand opening that works out ofn the Missouri store. She said they were stocked for the holiday season and would have more fishing in the spring, nIf you looked ta the hunting dept it was better stocked than the fishing,I think they rotate there merchandise for trhe season. Fish2win
The irony is that they might not see the demand for the striper tackle, because the serious fishermen will figure out pretty quickly to go somewhere else for it. How can they measure sales for items they don't carry?
That's the problem with the "big box" stores - they just will never be in touch with what's going on locally like a small "mom and pop" store can be. They plan their merchandizing based on what some guy puts on a piece of paper a thousand miles away. Here in Nashville, our Bass Pro has a bunch of high-end saltwater gear like you'd see on a boat trolling the Atlantic. In the meantime, you're a cast away from Cherokee with no striper tackle for sale.
It may be cheaper to buy stuff at Bass Pro, but if we let them run the small shops out of business, in the long run the sportsmen suffer.
bd
I have been a customer of Tom's in Morristown for 40years or better and I'm not going to stop now .To tell the truth Tom's is cheaper on a lot of stuff and they have repaired reels and rods that I purchased there many years ago at no charge .They also carry Big Mac's for the Striper fishermen which they don't make any more . I think this is the last of them at $7.00 or $8.00 they sell on E-Bay for as high as $20.00.But I will purchase from Bass Pro.when I can't get it at Tom's or Bucks and Bass
.Bass Pro is good for the area they put people to work not like some of the big car companies ..YANK
Yank:
I am a rep for a major manufacture of fishing tackle. Unfortunately, I have to call on the Bass Pro stores. The people in Springfield dictate what and when merchandise is to be sold. They do not care about the major companies that have been in the businees for years. They are concentrating on promoting their labled merchandise. Notice how much tackle has there label now. They coerce other companies to sell to them at lower prices because of volume. The mom and pop stores cannot compete. However, try to get service at the local BPS store. They refer you to Springfield. I will not buy from BPS because of the unfair pratices that they promote. You mentioned that they provide jobs. Talk to some of the employees. The majority of the positions are part time with no benefits and the hours really #####. I support the independent store whenever and wherever I can.
LTFUZZ..and Fish2win --Thanks for the come back and good imput ..SGT.YANK
That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard of, a BPS built in one of the biggest striper fishing areas in the world not carrying striper gear. Not even cast nets? Sounds like grounds for divorce to me. I quit buying all 'expensive' BPS products like rods and reels due to their godawful warranties and cruddy quality and durability. Try to take a rod back after a year and a half, good luck. I'm sticking to my Falcons, All Stars, St. Croixs, and GLoomis's which all have at least a 5 year warranty if not lifetime. They do provide "jobs" but also take many businesses and livelihoods away from local folks. If you must shop there, do so, but don't buy their big stuff because they won't back it up. My .02.
Shawn McNew
Seein' Stripes Guide Service
Wildlife Fisheries Science UT
Georgia Forestry Commission
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Dec-08-05 AT 11:21AM (EST)[/font][p]I got burned on a BPS rod because I didn't ask enough questions. It was several years ago, and I was just getting into fly fishing. I was looking at the different rods in BPS - Loomis, TFO, things like that. The sales clerk told me BPS had one big advantage because if you broke a rod, you could take it back to the store and get it replaced free of charge, whereas with the other name brands you'd have to ship it back to the company and pay about a $30 handling charge.
What he did NOT mention was that the BPS warranty is only one year, whereas all the other major rod manufacturers carry lifetime warranties.
Unfortunately, I was convinced, and I bought a BPS flyrod. Not an "el cheapo" model either - I bought one of their nicer rods and it cost me a little over $200. Don't get me wrong - I have spent more than that on fly rods since then, but $200 is still a significant sum of money by any standard, especially for someone just getting started fly fishing.
So anyway, the inevitable happened, and I broke the tip on the rod a few months out of its warranty period. I was very disappointed in the way BPS handled the situation. I understand it was out of warranty (once they clarified that their warranty is not lifetime as I'd thought), though I did complain that the limited warranty catch wasn't clearly explained at the outset. However, what really bothered me was their attitude - I never got any apology, any sympathy, or anything - just a "***** to be you" attitude as if I had some nerve even asking about the warranty. I even wrote a letter to the head of their customer service department, and I did not even get a reply. Every company I have ever dealt with has at least had the courtesy to send a response letter to a complaint - except BPS.
So now I buy my rods at local shops - Fly South and Cumberland Transit here in Nashville - and I'm much happier with the service. Considering how much I've spent on fly fishing since that day, BPS literally lost thousands of dollars in sales because they couldn't bring themselves to even give me a simple "I'm sorry" over a $200 rod.
bd
Me too, BD. I will never buy much of anything again from BPS. My experience was similar to yours with the "stinks to be you" attitude. That was at the Nashville store. Put a bad taste in my mouth for sure. I spend lots of $$ on fishing gear, and they aren't going to see any more of mine. Found a helluva deal on All Star classics today at a store called Academy sports..buy 1 get 1 for $50. Where else can you get an All Star for $25 with a warranty?
Shawn McNew
Seein' Stripes Guide Service
Wildlife Fisheries Science UT
Georgia Forestry Commission
Seenstripes..Where is that store located?? Yank
So what you are saying is, I shouldn't bother taking my BPS rod back to the Nashville store. I had a tip break off. That's ashame. I've took a Berkley rod that the tip broken off of for no reason, back to Wal-mart after I'd had it for 2 years and they swapped it out. I'll have to think twice about buying from BPS if they won't stand behind their own products.
>So what you are saying is, I shouldn't bother taking my
>BPS rod back to the Nashville store.
That is correct. If it's over a year old, Bass Pro will not replace it. The serial numbers on the rods are coded by year and the clerks are required to check before replacing a broken rod.
In my view, a one-year warranty (or no warranty at all) is fine on a $19.95 rod, but some of Bass Pro's rods are priced in the $100 to $200 range. A one-year warranty on a $200 rod is just plain lousy - especially when the rod probably only cost them a fraction of that to produce in some sweatshop in China.
With other brands, such as G. Loomis, Sage, or Falcon, you may be paying a couple hundred bucks or more on the rod, but I view part of that price as an "insurance policy" that the rod will be replaced if broken. This is especially important with flyrods since they're so long, thin, and fragile, that you're bound to break a tip sooner or later (especially if you're rough on tackle like I am). Bass Pro's high-end gear is priced as if it were in the same league as Loomis or Sage, but they rip you to pieces on the warranty.
bd
>My experience was similar to yours with the "stinks to be
>you" attitude. That was at the Nashville store.
I'm talking about the Nashville store too. I used to love the Bass Pro catalog back in the days before the store came to town, and I was overjoyed when it opened. I was a regular customer for quite a while, but time after time I kept running into indifferent or rude treatment there. At first I credited it to isolated incidents and the idea that any store that large is going to have a few bad apples. But over time, I've become convinced that it's sort of a "lowest common denominator" mentality - they seem to prefer people who work cheap to people who treat customers well. There are still some good folks there but there are too many unfriendly ones in the mix.
It took a lot of bad attitude to run me off, but they eventually did it.
bd