Cabela's: Some things HSTerrific, some less so

Hey guys,

Took a small road trip to the Sidney, NE Cabela's (world HQ) for a little shopping with some friends today with the help of my good friend Christmas money.

Mostly, it was a great time. Grabbed a few shirts, a nifty Buck knife for a steal, and 200 rounds of Federal HST in the non-"chump" boxes.

This would have been entirely a great trip. The HSTs are literally impossible to find in my neck of the woods, and I prefer Federal ammunition. I have found them on sites like LuckyGunner in the non-chump box, but the $15 shipping makes it about equal to chump boxes in pricing.

However, when I was looking for the HSTs, I thought I'd enlist a gun counter individual to help me out. They had 4-5 workers and a pretty busy counter. I waited patiently for about 20 minutes until I saw a worker with an opening. Keep in mind I have roughly $60-70 of merchandise in my hands already. I am obviously a customer. I intend only to ask the gentleman where I can find the 50-count box of HSTs. I am more or less exact quoting here, as the interaction was short and irritating enough to stick in my memory.

Me: "Excuse me sir, are you busy?"

Gun Counter Employee: *slightly irritated voice, looks up from computer* "What?"

Me: "Are you busy, sir?"

Gun Counter Employee: "Yes, I am."

That is IT. He did not say he'd be with me in a few. He did not point out other help. He did not give me an estimated time. At that point, the interaction was over for him and he went back to computer.

Now, I understand being a college-student in my mid-twenties with glasses I probably look not too dissimilar to the Call-of-Duty aces he probably deals with regularly. However, when I have an armful of merchandise, I expect to be treated better than that. I'm a law student for God's sake. I am going to be a HUGE customer for Cabela's if they treat me right. I purchase a good deal of outdoors wear, knives, guns, and ammo already even with my college-kid money.

This was the first negative experience I'd had with the store, and I was quite unhappy. Am I overreacting to a small thing here? Be brutally honest if I am.

On an unrelated question, even though I went with the 50-count boxes of 180-grain .40 HST for $24, they had 50-count boxes of Winchester Ranger 135-grain .40 for $15. That seems like a steal. Is 135-grain heavy enough for social work, and is the Ranger a solid round?

They also had a 50-count box of Winchester Silvertips for $47, which seemed crazy expensive, but as I understand those are prized and rare.

Perhaps he technically answered my question. Having a decent amount of retail experience, though, I have never worked in a place where that'd be an okay answer.

Not a bad point at all, ants. My ego could most certainly use a trimming, even if the behavior of the employee was poor.

youngda, interesting you would assume he was college-aged. I never said that. I would estimate his age at late-40s, early 50s. Oh, and "tattlle"? Here I was thinking this was a discussion forum. I guess any time you complain about a business having bad service you are "tattling".

Though I do agree response #10 was perfect. Thanks ,#10!

As for the gentleman who told me to "wait my turn", I didn't see any number system nor anyone with a number of the 15-20 customers milling about. I didn't hear any numbers called. I waited twenty minutes, patiently, occupying myself, until I saw a salesman who looked unoccupied.

Things I have learned from this experience:

1.) Be more specific with questions
2.) If behavior is truly unacceptable, get a manager
3.) If still unsatisfied, walk away

Thanks for your input everyone, I appreciate it.