LaX Gander Mnt.

It starts off as usual, wait 15 minutes at the counter for someone to show up and help They are plenty busy you know, talking to each other about what I don’t know. I do know its not fishing because they don’t understand a thing about it.
OK then I will find the transducer myself, yeh right
After looking another ten minutes a young dude comes from the back and offers help. I give him the model # of my locator, no problem he says then looks it up and comes up with the same model number for the transducer that I found on line It is not in stock so the dude tells me he can see if they have it at another store and it would take a couple of days to get or, he will order me one and it will take a week or so. I’m thinking cool not a problem.
While looking for the transducer he can’t find it in the Madison store so he is going to check with the Eau Claire store. This is where the real fun begins Evidently I have got the only guy in the store that knows diddly because a large oph comes from the back and tell the young man he is needed in the back again. The dude brings Earnest T Bass up to speed with what I need and what he was doing then heads out. I knew I was in trouble right away After staring at the terminalfor 5 minutes Earnest calls over another over sized ding bat I believe to be Barney Fife. Barney looks just as puzzled and instead of bringing back the young dude or admitting he has know clue tells me my transducer is obsolete Of course I drew a scene as I proceded to belittle the 2 lards with some true knowledge. They still make it, I can bye it off the web site and, you dumb you still sell the unit.
I left and bought a new locator else where and ordered a new transducer from the 800 number in my book. It will be here in a week like the kid said. If they would have left the young man alone I’m sure I would have bought a new locator and had him order the transducer for me.
This is the forth time in three weeks I have had this experience at Gander Mnt. It is just bodies walking around with no knowledge of there products or service. It is ashame they are the only big player in town. I need to find out who to get ahold of that can make a difference.
Man I feel better. Thanks IDA

Well, dont expect any better service in the Lakeville store, fishing season is coming and they still dont have stuff in stock, service is poor. While checking out the last time I was there the cashiers where busy arguing over who ordered what for lunch while I stood there in line , then cussing at each other while my 6 year old was there, thank goodness Fleet Farm and Cabelas are close by.

I have had great luck with the Gander in Lacrosse I have always delt with Dale and Steve two great guys that fish turnys and know tons about the gear and the equipment they sell and have always helped me out with all of my questions. But I realize they can’t be there all the time sorry you had a bad experience there.

I agree Bret. I think if Cabelas or bass pro was in town Gander would be down the road. I make the drive to Cabela’s if i need a big ticket item. A lot of times i walk out of Gander shaking my head.

I feel your pain Bret. I had similar experience when I purchased my trolling motor. I wanted a 54″ shaft 55 lb 12v minkota powerdrive. The round guy tells me they don’t have one. I reply..yes you do, this one right here hanging on the display. He says it isnt for sale. I reply…funny, it has the sale price tag on it, see? (I hold it for him to see) He leaves, comes back with another guy who tells me its not for sale. I reply..yes it is, it has a price tag..see? (again showing him the tag) He says “thats the display model” I reply…”I am not the one who put a price tag on it, get me the Manager.” He says I am the manager” I reply..”the STORE manager or this dept?” He says “this dept” I tell him calmly…”I want to speak to YOUR boss” The store manager shows up, I show him the tag, explain whats transpired, he says “sell him this one” and walks away. They take it off the display, I carry it to the front…and wait 30 minutes while the gals at the registers try to figure out how to ring something up thats not in the box without a UPC.

The store is great…its the incompetent people who work there that give it a bad rap.

WOW, You guys are hard on the hired help and sometimes deservedly so. I think it may help to keep in mind that Gander Mt. is a specialty store and knowledgeable staff are often hard to come by. We have had both good and bad experiences. Often, when I visit this store, I find that I am more knowledgeable than the person I am speaking to because I have researched this item on my own. As recently as last Thursday, I was in the Gander Mt., La Crosse, and received excellant service. Steve was very helpful.

My boycott on Gander started about 6 months ago! Like many others I had problems with the customer service, no one working there ever knew anything about the products they sell. I dealt with the bad service for a long time, figured if I knew what I needed it wasn’t a problem, In and out, wouldn’t have to deal with anybody but the check out girl. The last straw happened about 6 months ago… A buddy asked if I wanted to run to Gander, when we walked in the door there was a man at the return counter returning a rod, we over heard him tell the girl at the counter that the reel seat was cracked and he wanted a new rod. By now we had passed the counter and headed for the cranks. We shopped the store and made our way towards the rods, while we were checking the actions on some different rods the same girl that took the returned rod was pushing a cart of returns and putting stuff back on the shelves. She walked right past us with a rod in her hand and put it on the shelf, my buddy chuckled and said, It’s probably that broken one. I picked it up and sure as #### it was the same rod with the broken reel seat. She put a broken rod back on the shelf!! I brought the rod back to the front counter and told a different girl what happened, she tells me, ohh she probably forgot about it being broken!! I didn’t buy the b.s. That girl knew axactly what she was doing, she, plain and simple didn’t care. Rather than writing up a slip so it could be sent back to the manufacturer, she took the easy route and put it back on the shelf. These kids they have working at MOST ganders don’t care about the customers or the products they sell and until Gander steps up the customer service and hires some knowledgable people, I will not set foot in any of they’re stores. I know several people that feel the same. I now spend my money at Cabelas or Scheels.

BIRDDOG

Well I guess I have heard enough to have to step up and say something.
I work part time for GM in the fishing dept. at the Rochester store. I will say right off that all of us save one, that work there fish a lot. I am probably the least versitle but I have been fishing all my life. I don’t fly fish very much and don’t know a lot about it. No one knows everything about all aspects of fishing. Last week I had a customer come up to me and ask me where the “tail shaker” lures were at. I asked him if he ment “tail dancers”??? He looks completely disgusted.
customer – “You don’t know what a tail shaker lure is?”
me – “No, but let me ask the other guys to see if they know”
(after asking one man who knows more about fishing than anyone I know and another who is a guide)
me – “sorry but none of us have ever heard of a tail shaker”
customer – “I can’t BEEPing believe it. I drive all the way into town to get this and you morons have never even heard of it. Its the latest and greatest lure on the market. They are going to outlaw its use in tournements because its so deadly”
me – “do you know the company name that makes it?”
customer – “No! I don’t know the name of the company.”
me – “let me search our database and see if any of the other stores carry it”
me – “sorry sir but I can’t find anything like tail shaker lures in any of our other stores”
So he leaves very mad and vows never to return.

Yesterday I had a guy ask me if we had any “whacky devils”. I stood there for a moment trying to think if I have ever heard of such a thing and what the hell he might be talking about. After a litte round of Q and A I find out that he wants wally divers. Have any of you heard wally divers called whacky devils?

Another one from yesterday….
customer – “Hi I’m looking for some fishing line can you help me?”
me – “sure, what kind of fishing are you going to be doing?”
customer – “going fishing for walleyes and I want a high vis mono line with no stretch.”
me – “hmmmm, well I don’t know of any mono line that has not stretch but we do have fire line and several others that might work for you”
customer – “No, I want mono. Isn’t there anyone in this store that knows something about fishing line?”
me – “sorry I can’t help you”
customer leaves shaking his head and mumbling under his breath.

Then there is always the clever guys that are trying to take advantage of a store policy. One guy not to long ago flashed me an ad from cabelas for a minn kota troling motor. He said see they only want $269 for the same thing! I was kind of baffeled because our price was about $400. After looking closely at the add I find out that it is for something other than what the customer was telling me it was. So I point out the difference. The customer proceeds to tell me that “this sucks, you say you will match anyones price but you never back it up”

I will say that there are some people in our store that do as much as they can to do nothing. This happens everywhere though. We don’t get to order what we want to stock in the fishing dept. corporate headquarters decides what store should carry what items. I can’t explain why we get six cases of a model of reel that is not selling and very little of what people want or why it took an act of congress to get a good line BFT plastics.

I don’t speak for Gander Mountian. My comments/fustrations with the place are just my own. But you should step over to my side of the fence and have a look. You just might walk away with a completly new perspective about dealing with any store.

fire when ready….

I’m not firing anything back. I am on the other side of the fence at work. Yes people can be nuts. I love the Madison store. Have had great luck there. LaX for some reason is lacking. Why would they take someone away from a customer that actauly knew what he was doing is beyound me
I will have to check out the Rochester store. I do get that way now and then. Until then
I am making a drive to PDC to shop Cabelas. I have always found good help there. It makes it worth the drive.

I saw that tail dancer thing in an add in BASS or FLW magazines. The thing about it being outlawed, I believe was all a marketing ploy. It was like a info-mercial/add. I would bet they are mail order only from the look of the add. So I’m on your side there.
I hear you on the store only getting what corporate says which is pretty stupid like you said. I spend an awful lot of money on plastics, hooks, etc. every year, but not at Gander because they don’t have it. Cabela’s or Bass pro. Too bad they don’t take customer input to stock what each stores market wants. Oh well.
As far as customer service….I never go in there expecting much. I go in knowing what I need. If I need a reel or a rod and know which one I need and they have it, I buy it, but if I am going to need help choosing and weighing the pros and cons of products I go elsewhere as I have listened before and didn’t get what I really needed. On the good side I have bought some shoes and boots there and had a great girl help me find what I needed each time.

Hey MDP…I’ve always had good experiences at the Rochester store

Ok guys, as I am Barney Fife/oversized ding bat in this so called slam- I thought you all should know the true “Situation” as Bret so greatly imbellished. Bret came in during a complete rush which had five associates all assisting customers. He was looking for a Broad view transducer 90-81 which fits a mid 90’s model magna view or strata view. At the time we were unloading a semi truck of donation seed for the wild turkey federations of our area – thus that is why the “young dude” ran into the back room to assist with this- but that is besides the point. The Earnest T bass associate you were refering to was assisting us from the gun department during the rush and admittedly was not familiar with ALL the transducers eagle has made to date. This is when I Fishing Manager “ding bat” as you call me came over and began to help. We do not currently carry any units that support broadwiew transducers at our stores. We had carried them back in that time frame as the unit was on the market, but no longer do- for us they are obsolete as they are no longer a popular selling transducer- unless special ordered- that is why “young dude” looked in the computer and called around for you to no avail. I was about to discuss this option with you before you took the product number and stomped out the door. LEI has this available on their website for these situations, however most guys will replace or will need to replace their electronics after five to ten years- thus being up to date. Computers/ Electronics do become outdated quickly and parts become diffucult to acquire. I am sorry for your frustration, but patience is appreciated as we help customers in the order they come to us- until you walk in our shoes for a day please don’t belittle us as there is a lot more things we are doing than you think including line winding which I was doing when earnest T bass was trying to help you out.
As for fishahollik this story is all but untrue- for any of you that know me I will sell whatever we have available and I don’t appreciate being refered to as “round guy”. I guess I’d rather be round than being arrogant and lieing on this forum.

Please gentlemen- be patient, cuteous to other customers, and understand when we are busy we cannot drop what we are doing with another customer to help YOU NOW. We try to be fair, take care of the customer, and send everyone away satisfied. Good associates are hard find – maybe one of you should pick up an application to express all of your fishing pralis. Retail sales are not as easy as it would first appear- just ask MPD- Thanks for your business to all who appreciate what we have to offer.

Dale Radcliffe
Steve Tauscher

LaCrosse Fishing Department

I’ll side with Dale on this one. I know him and even went to college with the store manager. There isn’t one person I’ve yet to meet that won’t bend over backwards to help. There’s always going to be the one day where the sales people will spread a little thin. Like Dale said patience is paramount. I know nothing of the instances mentioned, so I won’t speculate. But Dale and his staff have been courteous and helpful whenever I need something.

Name calling and bashing creates nothing but hurt feeling and resentment. There’s been enough of that floating around lately and I for one am tired of it. If you’ve got dirty laundry to air do it on someone else’s website. If you need a list of places to air that dirty laundry, feel free to pm me, I’d be more than happy to pass that list on

Amen Blue!! Until someone has worked the retail side of the world as a part timer, be careful what you criticize. Do you know how many items the fishing departement at GM carries? Thousands!!! I don’t expect the part time kid working in a cool job to know every item, just to be able to point me in the right direction to find the item I came in for. Take electronics for example, how often do they change? Good luck staying on top of those if you don’t get to touch them everyday. I strongly suggest that if anyone has a problem at a local store, not just gander, asked to talk to the manager. Express your concerns in a constructive way. You will be surprised how it turns out.

You are correct Blue and for the name calling I apologize. I don’t need another site because I think IDA rocks. I still however feel if the kid could have finished what he had started I would have walked out with a new locator instead of going else were. Also when a person calls your equipment “obsolete” it leaves a sour taste. I was able to order the transducer in 10 minutes over the phone. I deal with upset people ever day so I do understand the other side and also apologize for being the dork on the other side. I guess I should have given myself the 3 day cool down period
The funny part of the whole thing is I received 2 $10 gift cards with a purchase of $50 or more the next day. I will be in too stock up on Rapalas. I will be ready for my tounge lashing then Dale.
Good luck fishing people

One thing is clear from the stories here is that someone left your shop very unsatisfied.

I for one dislike excuses, like “very busy”, “everyone was helping someone”, “we were unloading a semi-truck”, etc.

Here are a couple of things that you might consider:

1. Don’t take an associate away from a customer in mid-help. You should have let that young fella finish what he started. Note: There is nothing worse than working with someone, after a delay, and when it seems like some progress is being made, a new associate takes over. You will lose customers with that policy.

2. Don’t use the word “obsolete” just because your company doesn’t carry an item. With that mentality, Dick’s Sporting Goods would say that Rapala lures are obsolete. Simply tell them that your company doesn’t carry that item.

3. Customer service is number one priority. Everyone’s job at a retail store depends on it. Associates need to realize they work for the customers and not themselves. Managers need to fire associates that are ignoring customers.

You hit it right on the head FishingScout. I should have put it that way to begin with

Man, am I glad no one brought up fast food…

It’s pretty much a gimee that we’ve all had an experience with bad customer service at one time or another, but by the same token, everyone, at some time in their life should have to be on the other side of the fence and deal with the public in a retail environment and the frustration that goes with it.
Granted, some salespersons have no idea what they are there for, some don’t care, and some are just learning and are trying hard to be the best.
Patience.

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Hey MDP…I’ve always had good experiences at the Rochester store

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Thanks newt. I have been fustrated with customer service myself more than I would like to admit. Now that I work part time in the toy store I feel bad for most of the times I have let loose on those that happened to be in my line of fire. There are times when speaking to the manager is needed. I just feel sorry for the wait staff at Timber lodge. Every time we go there things go badly…..

It’s hard to get poeple that no anything to work for 8-10 dollors per hour.Most high school kids make that.

I think most folks don’t have a problem working with people that don’t know everything. I think most folks have problems working with people that act like they know everything.

At shop that sells fishing equipment –

I think a high school kid that doesn’t know what a fishing pole is, but will work hard to try and help, is worth more than a phenominal touring pro that won’t give you the time of day.

I will never get upset with someone for saying “I don’t know” followed by “I will see if I can get an answer for you”.

I’ll throw this out too. If the excuse of 8 or 10 bucks an hour won’t get a retail shop good associates, then they will probably lose shoppers or go out of business. The salary of associates is not a consumer issue.