My Cabela's Experience

[David R]

Took my son to cabelas to purchase a Mosin. No problems. It was marked 189.00, and when I got to check it out, it was $139.00. I had my son pick up some more ammo for it because the discount.

Every Cabelas has a mountain in the back. I am a welder. My son and I built the steel structure underneath the concrete at the buffalo store.

Nothing but good for them from my son and I.

 

[walkin jack]

I once stopped by the one on I-35 N near Minneappolis/St. Paul. We were on our way to one of those fly-out fishing places in NW ontario and we stocked up on lots and lots of fishing tackle.

I spent a lot of money but I got some really good stuff. the sales staff was very patient with all 7 of us as we were totally unfamiliar with a lot the stuff people fish with in that part of the country. The Lindy Rig, and a very popular color pattern for spoons called the 5 of diamonds. (5 red diamonds on a yellow spoon) just to name a couple. And the selection of EVERYTHING was tremendous.

We have their stores down here too but I've not been any of them and I've never bought a firearm from them.

Bottom line: My experience with them, limited for sure, was very satisfactory.

 

[X Ring Ranch]

You didn't understand the message.

We offer transfers as a courtesy to the public.

These LOSE money for us and expose us to liability.

We do NOT value your time or your willingness to buy a gun and NOT pay us for the service.

You want us to provide you service and pay NO cost.

To be blunt the OVERHEAD cost likely exceeds $35.

In NY the Safe Act mandates ALL gun transfers must be done via a dealer. BUT the cost is $10.

NO gun dealer will make money if they only can charge $10.

Thus in the long run dealers will NOT transfer guns and lose money.

I predict dealers will offer to buy your gun and resell to your buyer at a markup or NOT do the transfers at all.

You are complaining because YOU want Cabella's to let you buy a gun from someone else and bear the costs.

What about selling ammo to illegals which by the way is illegal?

I was standing in line buying some reloading stuff and a group of what appeared to be illegals was in front of me buying loads of 9mm. They could not speak English and paid cash. When it was my turn I asked the cashier why he was selling ammo to illegals which is illegal under Federal Law. He said he could not ask them (according to store policy) for a Texas DL or Texas ID. He could not ask them (according to store policy) if they were US citizens. I asked him who gets arrested you or the store policy? He had a worried look when I left.

 

[pawngal]

What about selling ammo to illegals which by the way is illegal?

I was standing in line buying some reloading stuff and a group of what appeared to be illegals was in front of me buying loads of 9mm. They could not speak English and paid cash. When it was my turn I asked the cashier why he was selling ammo to illegals which is illegal under Federal Law. He said he could not ask them (according to store policy) for a Texas DL or Texas ID. He could not ask them (according to store policy) if they were US citizens. I asked him who gets arrested you or the store policy? He had a worried look when I left.

Research Texas law to see what is allowed and what is not.

Now, comments on Cabela's in general.
IMHO, they are diluting their brand by opening so many retail locations. I think they should have stuck with original idea of regional destination stores. With the vast amount of online shopping now days I personally can't see all of the newer stores being around in 5-10 years. Just my 2 cents.

 

[arjay]

Research Texas law to see what is allowed and what is not.

Now, comments on Cabela's in general.
IMHO, they are diluting their brand by opening so many retail locations. I think they should have stuck with original idea of regional destination stores. With the vast amount of online shopping now days I personally can't see all of the newer stores being around in 5-10 years. Just my 2 cents.

They had a great model that was ahead of its time.I can't imagine how adding all these stores and overhead helps profitability.

 

[loknload]

Not a big fan of Cabella's
They can close up and leave town anytime!
The only one disappointed would be the granddaughter since she couldn't see all the stuffed animals!

 

[JcMack]

Cabelas here has "computered" the 4473. When it's time to fill it out you sit in front of a computer. The form is filled out by you and then printed on a page to be checked by an employee then used when "the call" is made. I sat in the gun library last year and the dean of the library brought up the 20 some gun purchases I've made there since store opening about 7 years ago. Kinda spooky. Are independent gun shops correlating gun purchases by customer like that? 4473's are supposed to be destroyed after 10 years. Are the computer files gonna get purged?

 

[mule69]

I guess that is what is nice about living in the Boonies. There are four or five gun shops within 40 miles from me that I can have a gun legally shipped too. They charge 25 or thirty bucks and they also manage to have the ammo that I need which is something Cabelas and Bass Pro Shops does not have.

 

[df06]

Cabeas

I have never used them for a transfer.
I did watch in their Rogers Mn gun library and incident a couple years ago. Some kid 25 or so years brought in a Browning SA 22, the small take down version. It was a grade II or III and in great condition. He said it was his grandfathers and he inherited it but didn't shoot and wanted to sell it.
They went to the blue book and gave him a real low ball price offer. He said that he wanted to think for a minute and he walked out in the store.
I grabbed him and told him what I thought the gun was worth and I offered him way more than Cabelas did.
He said he probably would further explore his options and went and got the gun and left.

My personal dealings with Cabelas have been fine. I buy a lot of stuff there and have returned some defective (expensive) things, with no questions asked.

 

[Jack Flash]

I did watch in their Rogers Mn gun library an incident a couple years ago. Some kid 25 or so years brought in a Browning SA 22, the small take down version. ... They ... gave him a real low ball price offer. ...

In Cabela's defense, I think you will see that in any gun shop, large or small. They would say they have buy it way below retail to make it worth the overhead they have. Since I don't run a gun store, I can't argue.

Also, most shops would tell you to get out and stay out if they knew you tried to horn in on a transaction.

 

[pawngal]

Also, most shops would tell you to get out and stay out if they knew you tried to horn in on a transaction.

VERY true, especially if still inside the store. I tell them to hit the street, didn't see you, didn't hear you and don't want too. I 've only had that happen with firearms a few times but a lot with electronics.

 

[H Richard]

I have only had one gun purchasing experience at a Cabela's, and it was in a rather new store just south of Denver, (can't remember the name of the suburb). I acquired a .455 MK II, that was in the Fine Gun Room marked "No caliber listed". I thought something looked different, so I had them pull it from the case, and it had been sleeved for .38 Special, and the front sight lowered to regulate it. The gun was very nice, and about 90+% original finish on a 1915 vintage revolver. We agreed on a price and I had cash money, but from that point it took over 45 minutes just to check out. I had a C&R, and only one member of the Fine Gun Room staff knew what it was and how it worked. If it hadn't been for him I would probably have thrown up my hands and walked away. After finding the entry of this gun in the ATF listing of eligible firearms, and making a copy, he then escorted me the the "Gun purchase Check Out" area. There were 4 lines going to 4 clerk/cashiers and he personally instructed the clerk how to process the purchase. From that point it took over 45 minutes before they handed me my receipt and had another clerk escort me to the front door, seems they don't let anyone carry a gun around their store. I'm sure part of it was the store had only been open 30 days, and most of the employees were new, but the tedious Q&A to be put into a computer system, and the multiple pages of paper, made the process very tiring. I realize they have to dot their "i" and cross their "t", but I wasn't the only one mumbling about not bothering to shop there in the future.

 

[tacreload]

The store you speak of is right down the road about 1.5 miles from me. I've bought more than my share of guns there. A friend in the gun dept. told me that the Hammond store is No. 1 in sales in the chain of I believe 64 stores. Gun deals are long gone. A lot of the reason they're No. 1 is the gun dept sales. The store sits right on the interstate and within a couple miles from Illinois with it's new gun carry realization. My point is for the guns sales volume they do, the dept is grossly understaffed. Unlike other depts. in the store they won't let anyone "fill in" in the gun dept. I'm not surprised at your delays. I hate the place because it's too expensive, and every, and I mean every employee tries to sell you on the Cabelas card.

I think JC here illustrates most of the problem. What you are up against is a corporate mentality that really doesn't care what we think. They tell you they do,but they are known to lie. Understaffing goes hand in hand with the way they think. Many of the bad experiences with the folks working at these places are probably a direct result of that mentality. There are probably some good people working at a lot of these locations but they are probably overwhelmed most of the time. Of course I am sure they are paid quite well.(sarcasm) When they sell you on that credit card that is the jackpot in the corporate eye. They use you to make it easy to buy with that card. Use them back and only buy what they have on sale at a good price and use your local "Non Corporate"businesses for everything else when possible or just accept the unacceptable.

 

[OPinOKC]

There may be others here who are old enough and New York enough to remember when Abercrombie was THE high class sporting goods retailer. I think Cabela's owns that niche today nationally, and at the same time they seem to pull in plenty of middle income customers along with the wealthier segment. Anyway stock investors seem to think they still have an upside: Cabela's (CAB) is up 222% in the last five years, compared to 78% for the S&P 500. [Smith and Wesson (SWHC) is up 244%]. We don't have a Cabela's here yet, so I can't comment on transfers, but there is a chain of local pawn shops that seems happy to do $10 transfers. Since they're not in the business of losing money, I figure that these pay for themselves in profit and/or good will.

 

[linedo50]

I visited a the Cabela's store at East Grand Forks Minnesota on Saturday. it was a very positive trip. I bought a new Ruger LC9 and the checkout was fast. The guy the helped me was easy to work with and answered all of my questions although I'd read about the gun before we went up there so I knew what I wanted. After I settled up for the gun I carried it with me as we walked around the store and bought a few other things including the best jelly beans I've been able to find anywhere. That alone was worth the trip. When we checked out with the other stuff we bought the clerk stuck my gun in the bag. I also need to add that the LC9 shoots well.

 

[ditrina]

Food for thought

A dealer MUST process and enter firearms in the log by the end of the next business day after recieving.

The exception is shipments from a distributor or manufacturer still in sealed shipping cartons with the packing slip showing continents and serial numbers. that exception is up to 7 days to process.

So yes the individual entry/transfer should have been done before the " Hundreds of Guns"

Now it may have taken one more day after the log book entry to get it into the retail system.. but no more than that.





From the ATF
Generally, licensees have to enter the acquisition or purchase of a firearm by the close of the next business day after the acquisition or purchase and shall record sales or other dispositions within 7 days.
However, if commercial records containing the required information are available for inspection and are separate from other commercial documents, dealers have 7 days from the time of receipt to record the receipt in the “bound book.”
If a disposition is made before the acquisition has been entered in the “bound book,&rdquo the acquisition entry must be made at the same time as the disposition entry.
[27 CFR 478.125]

In my opinion after personally processing thousands of guns,
it was still poor customer service.

 

[CCantu357]

While I cannot say much about Cabela's policy on transfer services, or buying a new gun from the gen pop counter, I have had great experiences from buying from the Gun Library. I was treated more like man of experience rather than a "newbie" gun buyer. Dare I say, it was a better experience than some LGSs. Again I have stress it was the Gun Library room, not the big counter where it seems to be a walking CF of fun.