I think I just got bait-and-switched at Gander Mountain

When I worked for Gander Mountain, my biggest complaint was that it seemed like we had to turn a lot of customers away because we didn't have what they wanted. I kept track one day of the dollar value of lost sales because a customer asked for something and we didn't have it. I came up with over $200 by myself. Mostly little things.

It also seemed that many of the things in the sale ads were out of stock. I worked at one of their smaller stores, though.

Go to a new grand opening and you will find all the old hands from other stores providing good service. Selection will be great and reloading supplies will leave you in awww. 1 or 2 years later you will not see the primers you want resupplied or the bullets you are looking for. They will have the brands you don't want or have never used before and only one 100 round box of bullets.
Buy the one box of bullets on markdown as it is not sealed. Return a month later and they only have one box of the bullets you are looking for.
Fudds paradise.

The term "bait and switch" is not always correct for every situation like that. I think GM should have offered you a rain check on the item..that would be a good business practice. Bait and switch is only the case when a company knowingly advertises a product that they have no intention of ever actually selling. I doubt that was the case (especially with that item).

Just because one location didn't have that exact item at the exact time you were there doesn't mean they were really baiting you with it. There are very few companies out there that actually use a true "bait and switch" these days. They have better ways like advertising "only 5 items per location" or "limited quantities available" on a great deal to get people in the store. I don't usually fall for that crap but hey...they can do it legally. Bait and switch is a hassle for the company and they even have to have the salespeople in on it to make it work. True bait and switch is starting to become a thing of the past.

I wouldn't shop at GM anyways. The ones I've been in haven't had the best prices or very helpful salespeople.

Very good , atomd.

I had to laugh at the notion of complaining about the situation with GM and ending up with a better deal. It just sucks when things turn out better than expected.

Blank

Jan,

You were treated wrong and it ticks me off when anyone is, and especially when a friend of mine, such as yourself is.

Gander is not the only store that pulls this marketing strategy.

Gander came in near me, and they bent over backwards with item in stock, inventory, customer service, and everything else.

Not only did customers flock, so did those wanting to work for Gander.
Folks that worked for other stores, whether it was a mom and pop firearm store, or another store such as Academy and they worked in the fishing, or camping dept.

GM got the business, got the employees, and hurt other businesses, especially Mom&Pop.

I and mine needed 10 cases of Brennke Slugs when they first showed up.
They had these in stock.
We needed 20 more cases, and GM got these in so fast, it would surprise folks.
The last time I was in, they had zero boxes of Brennke.
They did not have time to speak to me, except to share they did not have, would not special order and basically I "would have to" buy what their buyers bought.
No Brenneke.

They talked a gun smith fella into coming to work for them, he is gone.
They talked some other firearms folks to come work for them and they are gone.
Archery, same deal.

Everyone that went to greener pastures, went back to where they come from.

This is how business is done.
Steal the business and employees from others, then later be a rude, don't care about customers, repeat business and service type of place.

We call it "Con-Angry".
Con everyone to get sales at first, then make them angry when the true self comes out.
Applies to employees as well.

chuckolater,
the dicks around here beats out gander by about 50 bucks on guns. The only local gun shop is high on some ammo, lower on others. I can get .22 lr cheaper at the local, but the 9mm is wayyyyyyy over priced at the local. It's about 10 bucks more a box there.

Ask to see the store manager, not the department manager.
A store only has to have one actual item in stock to constitute a "Sale".
It is the stores descretion to allow rain checks or lay-a-ways on unstocked items.
Most stores having a similar item for sale will match the item to the advertised sale item pricing if they can.
Attempting to sell a higher priced similar style item after the sale items are out of stock is generally considered to be a poor business decision because customers end up feeling ripped off by the merchandiser.
Good store mangers normally dictate that higher priced, similar style items are removed from display and offering until the sale time has passed.

Gander isn't any better here.
The local one currently has a Taurus PT92, listed as a "certified used gun" that they want $479 for.....

I stood and listened while a salesclerk explained how buying guns was a good investment because they always appreciate in value. Garaunteed the guy would at least get his money back later on if he bought such and such gun....

I about got tossed out when I overhead a clerk trying to sell a guy a stevens 200 rifle, claiming it was IDENTICAL to the high priced savage in the rack, and interupted to ask if he knew what an accutrigger was.....

Ammo is more expensive than any other store in town.

I thought they would get better when dick's sporting goods opened up down the street and they had some competition, but I think they actually got worse. I only go there if I'm in a bind now, and most of the time they don't have what I'm looking for either.

I too am not very impressed with Gander Mountain. They have pretty much no reloading supplies or equipment, poor service, no knowledgable employees, and focus way too much on cheesy rustic furniture upholstered in hunting camouflage. Why do they even let that stuff waste valuable retail space?

Plus, the last time I was there, the gunsmith had the day off and the counter guys were clueless, so I took my gun 2 hours away for servicing at a small gunsmith business instead. Well worth the drive time to deal with knowledgable people even though GM was only 15 min away from my home.

The only good thing about GM is that you can try the action on hunting rifles at your leisure and then buy them somewhere else. All the above is probably why they've had negative net income the past 3 years:

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=GMTN&annual

From my years of working in retail, I can safely say that the guy you talked to didn't know his stuff, was probably seeking better employment, and was too lazy to ask a manager for info.

If an item is on sale and you run out, and you can't issue an R/C, you offer a comperable substitution at sale price, in this case the other $299 Bersa. It's basic retail sense. In your case, they lost a sale worth over $300 with the tax.
The very least the guy could have done was call a manager and ask if he could sub it. If he already had earlier in the day and knew what the manager's answer would be, he should have been sympathetic enough to you to explain that or call the manager to explain it to you. Sometimes the guy in the trench has no control over things, but that's no reason to seem like a jerk about it.
You were treated wrong, and you were better off going elsewhere. Not to mention what they were asking for a Mosin is obscene. Better service and knowledge is always worth a few bucks more.

I too am not very impressed with Gander Mountain. They have pretty much no reloading supplies or equipment, poor service, no knowledgable employees, and focus way too much on cheesy rustic furniture upholstered in hunting camouflage. Why do they even let that stuff waste valuable retail space?

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Large retail operations have inventory control that tracks what sells and what doesn't.

In a new store they pretty much stock alot and allow a sales trend to develop for the area.

Future ordering is based on this trend. If stores don't stock stuff, its because either they have trouble getting it, it doesn't sell well, or the profit margin is not worth the space.

Despite what the complainers of the world think, they're not in business just to piss you off.

Despite what the complainers of the world think, they're not in business just to piss you off.

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Maybe not, but it doesn't seem like they're in business to make the customers happy, which is what I learned to do when I was growing up -- give the customers what they want, at a price they'll like, and they'll come buy more stuff from ya. Don't, they won't.

GM pile on, I have experienced many of the same things.

Not all these "big box" stores manage inventory as well as they should. Why in the world would you sell centerfire rifles in much more than varmint calibers in Ohio? You can't hunt deer with a centerfire rifle in Ohio but all some of them have is 270s and 30-06 and the rare 243 and never a 22-250 or 223. I realize there are some folks that hunt out of state but to have a vast majority of big bore CF rifles on your shelf, seems you might be out of touch with your demographics.

I miss the days of the small gun shops, alot of them are gone in the central Ohio region. Bottom line is to consider avoiding those big retailers as they will kill those who in the end will offer the best service and support 2A causes. I realize this may not be very realistic in todays business model but you reap what you sow. Which is funny, why is GM prices so stinking high, considering their buying power?

I suspect that if GM can make more money selling camo clothes and furniture to the Yuppies then guns to us, that's the direction they'll take. And we are greatly out numbered by the Yuppies.

Never shopped at a Gander Mountain but I did get similiar treatment at a Walmart on a Wii my wife wanted. Turned out that the internet add went out before the Sunday flier and they were trying to keep some in the back for Sunday, I bought mine on Thursday. I was told they were out but one of the younger associates goes "we got 20 in the back." I got it at sale price plus a deal on a second controller by the time I stopped talking to managers.

If you check at the service counter, GM has (or at least used to have) a price match guarantee. I bought a fish finder there, then found it at a competitor cheaper. I went to return it. They refunded the difference plus 10%. They will usually call the competitor to make sure the item is in stock.

I'll go to their website just because and look at their prices just for laughs. I can get guns cheaper, and would rather, at a local gunshop than GM.

Having said that, my last three were purchased from 1) friend, 2) WallyWorld(!), and 3) CDNN.

qajaq59

I suspect that if GM can make more money selling camo clothes and furniture to the Yuppies then guns to us, that's the direction they'll take. And we are greatly out numbered by the Yuppies.

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LOL.