# Sportsmans is still a joke!



## Greenhead_Slayer (Oct 16, 2007)

Seems like every year a topic like this resurfaces, I always chime in and agree how horrid their service in. I was feeling rather generous today and thought I'd go give the Riverdale store some business. I got a gift card for there for my birthday and a nice bonus from work so went today to buy me a new goose call and some binocs. Walk up to the optics counter and stand there for 5 minutes or so. A few associates walk by and don't say a thing..... Ok, I'll come back! So I make my way to their call cabinet and stand there staring at the calls for another 5 minutes, a few more associates walk past me, make eye contact, and don't say a word! A bit perturbed, I start heading out the store but see a guy at the optics counter this time, so I go back. I stand there looking into the cabinet, he puts down his magazine, and walks off! :?: Long story short, went to Smith and Edwards and got my binocs there and ordered my goose call from Cabela's. Sportsmans definitely has a great selection, especially with waterfowl gear, but learn some basic customer service skills!!!


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## Al Hansen (Sep 7, 2007)

Hmmmmm. I was there also today. Picked up some Shooters Choice and Vmax bullets. Spoke to the guys at the gun counter. Pleasant experience. Must be my good looks.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Boy, I always have good luck at the Riverdale store and I'm ugly. :|


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## Bhilly81 (Oct 18, 2009)

i have never had a problem there so far but i have only recently started to go there i have had good help with the muzzle loader stuff as well as the reloading stuff


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## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

Did you bother to relay your bad experience to the store manager? Nothing will ever get fixed if nobody complains about it. Believe me, when it comes to customer service, the squeaky wheel gets the grease!


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## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

PS- I don't blame you for buying elsewhere. They definitely did not earn your business, and did not deserve your money. An explanation of how much you would be spending elsewhere definitely helps to get the manager's attention, especially when their pay/bonuses depend on the financial success of the store.


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## Mojo1 (Sep 8, 2007)

:lol: We were there picking up stuff for the Youth Fair today, we kept them fairly busy for a while. 

You ain't gonna like my thoughts, lots of people wonder thru just looking and wishing they could get stuff, trust me those guys get sick of it. And I did notice a whole lot of restocking going on today, so most of those guys were busy working.

If you didn't complain to the manager, (Mark was in the store, we talked to him) that is on you.


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## stuckduck (Jan 31, 2008)

Did you think to ask for help??? or just expect to get someone to ask you if you needed help? I cant complain about the place because they have been good to me. there is alot of people that just stroll in and look around. sometimes just ask to be helped. you might find that they are friendly and eager to help.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

The Midvale store didn't have crap for duck decoys when I was there last weekend. I was ready to load up on some new ones and instead walked away empty handed.


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

> Did you think to ask for help???


Bingo!

You've got a tongue in your head, use it!

A lot of times the "help" won't ask a customer if they can "help" them because 99% of the time the guy says "no thanks, I'm just looking" So, a lot of sales people get a little apathetic when it come to being friendly. They just figure Hell, if he really needs something he'll just ask me... Think about it, do you really think the type of folks that work in a hunting and fishing store have black belts in salesmanship and people skills? No, they're just average johnny-punch-clock people like you. Having worked retail in sporting goods for a lot of years taught me that it works both ways. If you really do care and want to make a good living selling sporting good retail you have to posses a certain amount of salesman skills. And, on the same token, if you're a customer and you're dealing with someone of lessor caliber, you need to open you mouth and ask sometimes.


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## killinem17 (Dec 18, 2010)

Hey fowl mouth 
What you looking at midvale.
There is a great duck hunter there he knows his stuff. I went in and they did not have it and the guy said give me your name and number and he will see what he can do. SO I would go talk to him he is a hunter and knows his stuff.


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

Mojo1 said:


> If you didn't complain to the manager, (Mark was in the store, we talked to him) that is on you.


So it's his own fault the customer service was terrible because he chose to not make a scene and just leave???? Sorry, Jimmie, but that don't make a bit of darn sense! Pull your head out of your OU rear end so the Longhorns can kick it, would ya?  (just messin' dude, but I still don't think your comment makes sense)

Sorry fellas, but it's not the customer's responsibility to make up for the short comings of a retail store's sales staff. I generally don't want to be bugged when I'm out looking. I probably fit into that category of "no thanks" 95% of the time. It's really not that often that I go to store where I haven't already done the homework before going. But nothing bothers me more than when I do need to talk to someone and there isn't anyone to be found. I've had this happen more than once at the Sportsmans in Provo. I go there when I already know what I want because it's convenient. But if I'm going somewhere to "shop around" not really sure what I'm getting yet it will never be to Sportys for that above mentioned shortcomings.


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## huntingbuddy (Sep 10, 2007)

Fowlmouth check again in a few days at the midvale store. I am starting to see decoys come through the distribution center so it should soon that they will get decoys in the store.


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## huntingbuddy (Sep 10, 2007)

TS30 said:


> Sorry fellas, but it's not the customer's responsibility to make up for the short comings of a retail store's sales staff.


I disagree, yes the staff could have said something. But he never asked hey can I get some help with this or Can I look at this. They can't read your mind, if you want something ask for it. It would be another thing entirely if he asked them for help and then they ignored him. But he didn't even ask for help so the fault falls equally on both parties.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

huntingbuddy said:


> Fowlmouth check again in a few days at the midvale store. I am starting to see decoys come through the distribution center so it should soon that they will get decoys in the store.


Will do. I usually have pretty good luck finding what I need. Why didn't they do their waterfowl weekend this year? Or did I just miss it.


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## tshuntin (Jul 13, 2008)

This is a problem you commonly run into when salesman don't have some sort of commision/sales based incentive. But if they were, then people would complain that they are too pushy.

You would hope that the staff would be more helpful without having to be asked, but personally I want to be left alone until I need help and at that point I will ask for it.


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

huntingbuddy said:


> yes the staff could have said something.


Should have stopped there. That is what customer service is about. Guy said he sat at the counter for 5 minutes waiting for someone. Isn't that a pretty good indication someone is looking for something???

Customer service sure ain't what it used to be....that's for sure.


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## Greenhead_Slayer (Oct 16, 2007)

I guess I can see both sides of the argument. Yeah I could have found someone and asked, but I still think if you are in any job and see a customer standing there obviously waiting for something, you go speak to them. That's your job as an employee, NOT just in sales.... No other sporting goods store I've been to will allow you to spend twenty minutes in a store without an employee speaking to you.


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## killinem17 (Dec 18, 2010)

Hey Fowlmouth 

Midvale has i guy working for them that knows his fowl stuff. I was in there a week ago and talked to him . The store Did not have it but he talked a while and then took my name and number and got me what i was looking for he is good. Knows his stuff guns.decoys,blinds ,calls ,shells. gear,ect....... anyone needing waterfowl stuff he is the guy to talk to for sure. But if he is not there i would not waste my time i would come back when he was there. GOOD LUCK


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## Hoopermat (Dec 17, 2010)

I have never had a problem at the riverdale store. If anything I am asked if I need help too often. I will go there over cabelas any day.
Maybe I look lost when I go in the store.


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## Mojo1 (Sep 8, 2007)

TS30 said:


> Mojo1 said:
> 
> 
> > If you didn't complain to the manager, (Mark was in the store, we talked to him) that is on you.
> ...


Tyson do you really think not saying anything to the manager is gonna help change things at the store, man law school has melted your brain, either that or you wear that utah hat too tight. :lol:


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## drsx (Sep 8, 2010)

hahah, got to chime in on this one. Everytime i've been to either Riverdale or Midvale its the same thing, terrible customer service. They do have a good selection but definitely lack in their customer service skills.

SIMPLY PUT, the employee was hired to HELP customers make a purchase at the store, why because its the customer is who keeps the store in business. Yeah he could have asked for help, but the point is she shouldn't have had to.


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## huntingbuddy (Sep 10, 2007)

drsx said:


> but the point is she shouldn't have had to.


haha he just called GHS a girl -_O-


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## drsx (Sep 8, 2010)

Hahaha oooops my bad


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## Josh Noble (Jul 29, 2008)

Fowlmouth said:


> huntingbuddy said:
> 
> 
> > Fowlmouth check again in a few days at the midvale store. I am starting to see decoys come through the distribution center so it should soon that they will get decoys in the store.
> ...


The Riverdale and Provo locations Waterfowl Weekend is the 24th! The week before the waterfowl opener. I'm sure Midvale will be hosting one that same day.


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## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

If I'm in a store looking for something, I go to that section and hunt up help. Sometimes you need to have someone paged to the area, but it works well. 

I went down to Cabela's the other day to pick up a mold I'd ordered. I took my wife over to the waterfowl section, hoping to show her that Vortex thingy. The guy told me they hadn't oiled it and the motor burned up. I asked him where the decoys were, and he pointed to a jumbled pile of boxes. I don't think I've seen a more lame display of decoys.


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## Josh Noble (Jul 29, 2008)

Hoopermat said:


> I have never had a problem at the riverdale store. If anything I am asked if I need help too often. I will go there over cabelas any day.
> Maybe I look lost when I go in the store.


This is what commonly happens to me at SW. In fact if you rewind two-four years ago there was another thread on one of the forums about people getting asked to often if they needed help at Sportsman's. In a couple circumstances the customers even felt "bothered" by it. Ah shoot the comments regarding retailers in general are for the most part spot on. It's not the customers responsibility to approach the sales force, it's just not, but sometimes that's the only way to get help.


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## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

There is a certain amount of intuition that a salesperson needs to possess in order to be effective at their job. I would think that most stores have one or two associates that work any particular area or department of the store. That being the case, they should be able to know who has/has not been approached, and then act accordingly with each customer. Sure, a guy hanging over your shoulder is annoying, but so is one that cannot be found when needed. Personally, I love it when I am welcomed to the store, asked if I need any assistance, and then invited to ask for that salesperson by name if they need anything. Customer service is definitely one of those things that has diminished over the years, but it is an art that some still possess, and anyone can learn. If an associate is apathetic towards CS, it is generally a symptom of a bigger issue that runs deep into the culture of the whole operation. That's why I suggested to speak with a manager. If they show the same attitude, swear them off, vow to never come back, and spread bad word-of-mouth as rampantly as you like. But if it seems like the associate was the issue, the manager should take care of the problem, and then the next poor shlub that walks in there won't get the same treatment.


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## tshuntin (Jul 13, 2008)

Again, put both Cabelas and Sportsmans sales people on a commision plan and see how much "attention" we all get.


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## Royal Retrievers (Nov 24, 2009)

Its a change that needs to take place. If customer service is not the top goal of retailers then they will be left in the dust. Key word is service. Asking if they are finding everything OK is not service. Its the open ended questions that matter. My wife went in there to get me decoys for my birthday and was treated so poorly and if I didn't want them so bad she wouldn't have got them. I told her she shouldn't have got them. CHANGE.


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## huntingbuddy (Sep 10, 2007)

tshuntin said:


> Again, put both Cabelas and Sportsmans sales people on a commision plan and see how much "attention" we all get.


I think I will pass on that idea. Most of the employees I have met at Cabelas have no idea what they are talking about. Now there are those who do, I used to spend a lot of time there and the ones I ran into were not sportsmans themselves so it was hard to trust their opinion.


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## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

huntingbuddy said:


> tshuntin said:
> 
> 
> > Again, put both Cabelas and Sportsmans sales people on a commision plan and see how much "attention" we all get.
> ...


Care to make a wager on how quickly they'd learn what they are talking about if their livelihoods depended on it? Its called incentive. If that doesn't give them enough incentive, I'm sure they would be able to hire someone who would. Again, this can be a two-edged sword if it turns associates into overbearing, pushy mosquitoes. But that's an easier problem to deal with IMO.


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## RubFub (Sep 11, 2011)

Man, that's too bad about the poor customer service. I spend a ton of time in the Midvale store(in fact 7 hours today). Never saw a hint of poor service. I have seen some customers get upset because they are asked if they are "finding everything", but those guys are always good about asking, and stop whatever they are doing to help customers. Corey and Wacey are awesome waterfowl guys. If they don't have the answer, they know where to get it! Their decoy selection is stocked and ready to roll, and their Waterfowl weekend is September 24th. Hopefully everyone finds what they need to get into the field!


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

RubFub said:


> Man, that's too bad about the poor customer service. I spend a ton of time in the Midvale store(in fact 7 hours today). Never saw a hint of poor service. I have seen some customers get upset because they are asked if they are "finding everything", but those guys are always good about asking, and stop whatever they are doing to help customers. Corey and Wacey are awesome waterfowl guys. If they don't have the answer, they know where to get it! Their decoy selection is stocked and ready to roll, and their Waterfowl weekend is September 24th. Hopefully everyone finds what they need to get into the field!


The Midvale store is the only one I frequent and my experience is similar to yours. No one should have to ask for help; if I am standing at the optics counter I am not looking for a prostate check. I was just there two weeks ago at the optics counter and provided excellent customer service then to teh muzzy section and same experience, very pleased! I always have to ask for help at Cabela's not to mention having to wait in line for firearms every single time.


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