I was at a GM last night and the sales rep in the archery dept. was clueless. He was trying to sell a Truth bow to a guy for a gift for his son (who was not there). The man wanted a left handed bow in a certain model. The rep didn't know how to tell which Truth it was. Also he had a right handed bow he was selling this poor dad. My son and I told this dad that the bow was not a left hand bow and the sales rep was surprised that it wasn't.:dizzy:

The salesman's shirt said "bows bucks and broadheads welcome to my world.":frusty: I just wonder how many kids in my area will be getting a big surprise for Christmas.:Cry:

Yeah...Like that here too...
Bunnyman and I went to shoot some bows at our GM and I had to tell the guy to put a nock on the string...:doh: :doh: :doh: :doh:

I was at a GM last night and the sales rep in the archery dept. was clueless. He was trying to sell a Truth bow to a guy for a gift for his son (who was not there). The man wanted a left handed bow in a certain model. The rep didn't know how to tell which Truth it was. Also he had a right handed bow he was selling this poor dad. My son and I told this dad that the bow was not a left hand bow and the sales rep was surprised that it wasn't.:dizzy:

The salesman's shirt said "bows bucks and broadheads welcome to my world.":frusty: I just wonder how many kids in my area will be getting a big surprise for Christmas.:Cry:

its the same at ALL these "PRO" shop's........these guys are clueless and a menace to the archery community........these kids will get frustrated and there goes one more wanna be archer.......

these places pay crap wages, and fire anyone who knows anything what so ever......

i asked the store manager at the Gander near me, what his outdoor specialty was.......

he said to me "what do you mean??"

I said well whats your favorite outdoor activity???

He said..." I am not an outdoor kinda person"......

I said well what is your speacialty??

his answer....."Retailing!"...

I said ohhhhh thats why you have the guys rearranging the hunting section,a week before the fishing season opener, and there are 3 pallets worth of fishing tackle over there in the corner.......and I cant find a single pack of friggen hooks onthe wall........

I ended it by saying......Well good luck Retailling.......

I agree w/ the lack of knowledge part but what bothers me most is the lack of selection in the archery department. They never have what I'm looking for. The store is ok for most other things, they just need some serious help in archery depo. As far as that goes I only get advise or work on my bow done at a local shop.

Like that here too, what I don't like about the main guy there is that he is very subjective about everything and will try to sell you something that you don't need. I don't even go there anymore for archery equipment, Chris has everything I need. Anytime I did go to Gander to pick up something I did need they did not have it and they did not know when they would get more. How do you not know when the next truck comes in with something you are out of? I am tired of wasting my time going there.

its the same at ALL these "PRO" shop's........these guys are clueless and a menace to the archery community........these kids will get frustrated and there goes one more wanna be archer.......

these places pay crap wages, and fire anyone who knows anything what so ever......

i asked the store manager at the Gander near me, what his outdoor specialty was.......

he said to me "what do you mean??"

I said well whats your favorite outdoor activity???

He said..." I am not an outdoor kinda person"......

I said well what is your speacialty??

his answer....."Retailing!"...

I said ohhhhh thats why you have the guys rearranging the hunting section,a week before the fishing season opener, and there are 3 pallets worth of fishing tackle over there in the corner.......and I cant find a single pack of friggen hooks onthe wall........

I ended it by saying......Well good luck Retailling.......

See BM you know what I am talking about...:frusty: :frusty:

Like that here too, what I don't like about the main guy there is that he is very subjective about everything and will try to sell you something that you don't need. I don't even go there anymore for archery equipment, Chris has everything I need. Anytime I did go to Gander to pick up something I did need they did not have it and they did not know when they would get more. How do you not know when the next truck comes in with something you are out of? I am tired of wasting my time going there.

BECAUSE THE INDIVIDUAL STORES DO NOT ORDER THERE OWN STUFF.......

they are SENT what they are supposed to sell!!!!

I only went there because a friends wife gave me money to shop for her husbands Christmas gifts. I wouldn't buy my archery stuff there, I would rather pay a few pennies more and support my local shop.

Don't they realize how much money they could make if they just stocked the shelves and put people in there that have a clue.:doh:

I only went there because a friends wife gave me money to shop for her husbands Christmas gifts. I wouldn't buy my archery stuff there, I would rather pay a few pennies more and support my local shop.

Don't they realize how much money they could make if they just stocked the shelves and put people in there that have a clue.:doh:

dont you relize how much money they do make.......selling to people who dont know as much as we do????

how many fathers did this guy sell bows too, when you wearnt there???

I guess we are just lucky in Rochester. They just moved into a new building and they hired the best bow tech. from the local archery shop. He is top notch and has been working as a bow tech. for at least 15 years. The store manager and several of the department managers are bow hunters.
I just bought a 2008 Diamond Black Ice with all the accessories. I couldn't be happier with the experience.

MNOutdoorsman

I guess we are just lucky in Rochester. They just moved into a new building and they hired the best bow tech. from the local archery shop. He is top notch and has been working as a bow tech. for at least 15 years. The store manager and several of the department managers are bow hunters.
I just bought a 2008 Diamond Black Ice with all the accessories. I couldn't be happier with the experience.

MNOutdoorsman

IT WILL CHANGE......it was the same way when it first opened here also:frusty:

Those guys are going to be let go. The store is about moving merchandise not helping shooters fine tune their equipment.:doh:

I hope not but we will see.

Rochester has been lacking on good hunting and fishing type stores. This year we got a new Mills Fleet Farm, Dick's Sporting Goods, and the new Gander. We can stop driving 60 miles to Cabelas, or at least cut down on the trips.

Hopefully, the local shops will survive. I'm sure their business will suffer for awhile.

MNOutdoorsman

Imma head up to he cabelas this weekend, they got anything good?

Imma head up to he cabelas this weekend, they got anything good?

Just incase you didn't know it, Cabelas has layaway for all your hunting needs.:biggrin1:

Just incase you didn't know it, Cabelas has layaway for all your hunting needs.:biggrin1:

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

BECAUSE THE INDIVIDUAL STORES DO NOT ORDER THERE OWN STUFF.......

they are SENT what they are supposed to sell!!!!

You're exactly correct, with a few exceptions though (which are too few to mention and waste people's valuable time).

I worked in grocery retail/supply chain for a long time. They call that wonderful process "Merchandising" !

It's definition is roughly this:

Merchandising: "Where some dumb-butt buyer in a corporate office decides what the clueless sales staff will attempt to sell to an inexperienced customer and make the most profit from..."... The kicker is that the dum-butt buyer usually knows even LESS than the person on the sales floor...

GM's merchandising and sales staff stinks more or less all around... Hunting, fishing, archery, camping... None of them have a clue from my experience.

Beginners beware of GM. They could potentially drive you away from the sport instead of bringing you in...

Ron

i have been unsatisfied with GM too.........
but i get every thing for 20% off so i still get every thing from there:peace:

i have been unsatisfied with GM too.........
but i get every thing for 20% off so i still get every thing from there:peace:

even at 20%off most of there stuff is over priced........

Is a 20% discount really worth the hassle of dealing with the uneducated.:noidea:

Is a 20% discount really worth the hassle of dealing with the uneducated.:noidea:

NOPE......I dont expect the guys to be ARCHERY TUNING GODS.......BUT THEY SHOULD KNOW WHAT A NOCK POINT IS:mad: :mad:

The Rochester store hired lots of kids that like to hunt and fish and quite a few older guys that like to talk hunting and fishing.
I think the employee discount of 20% on everything and special employee days where they get up to 50% off draws in the outdoors minded employees. Cabelas (Owatonna) has done the same.

For the time being, it's a good place to shop.

I know what you guys are saying it but so far we haven't seen it.

The Rochester store hired lots of kids that like to hunt and fish and quite a few older guys that like to talk hunting and fishing.
I think the employee discount of 20% on everything and special employee days where they get up to 50% off draws in the outdoors minded employees. Cabelas (Owatonna) has done the same.

For the time being, it's a good place to shop.

I know what you guys are saying it but so far we haven't seen it.

they hire kids, because they can pay them less.......:laugh:

I like going to Gander Mtn, I just don't expect them to know anything. :noidea:

I like going to Gander Mtn, I just don't expect them to know anything. :noidea:

me too if I need a good laugh

The GM here is a joke. And I can get my archery needs cheaper at my shop.:rockon:

We don't have a GM here, nor a Cabela's. Our Bass Pro shop is an hour away. But I found that there prices are 20 percent higher than our local shop. And our local shop is 10 to 20 percent higher than I can order online

I really like my GM. Sorry to offend you guys. The bowtech is the best, stolen from a local store), and an indoor range can't be beat. Most of the time i have the range all to my self. And by far the best part about shooting there is that i paid for 2 months of range time and have been shooting for 3 months now. Back to their tech, I got a spot hogg whammy not too long ago and the tech spent 2 hours just getting it right. You can't get that service anywhere around here.

On a side topic my bow has steel cables and we got a whammy to work with some tru ball speed balls to attach it to the cables

Later

When I first bought my new bow, I had the whisker biscuit from my old bow in my car, and the guy offered to put it on for me... so I said what the heck, he has a level and all that stuff, so I let him do it. He starts to put it on, and has to call "the main guy" that "knows everything about bows" to tell him how to do it. It was kinda funny, he had the mount upside down and everything. Ridiculous.

Yet a few months prior, I put the whisker biscuit on my old bow in 5 minutes.:rockon:

I really like my GM. Sorry to offend you guys. The bowtech is the best, stolen from a local store), and an indoor range can't be beat. Most of the time i have the range all to my self. And by far the best part about shooting there is that i paid for 2 months of range time and have been shooting for 3 months now. Back to their tech, I got a spot hogg whammy not too long ago and the tech spent 2 hours just getting it right. You can't get that service anywhere around here.

On a side topic my bow has steel cables and we got a whammy to work with some tru ball speed balls to attach it to the cables

Later

You're not offending anybody I don't think. You're GM may have gotten lucky in being able to hire a ligitimate tech. And, it's probably a full time position that somebody can at least try and making a living from.

The experience I have had with GM teems from the archery tech position being a part time position. If they actually had a full time tech they would probably be able to keep them around. That position has been a revolving door for years, which is part of the root cause of the poor ability to help customers. I go in my GM for stuff fairly often and I have not even seen the archery shop light on for weeks... The thing is that their archery department is pretty damn big and it costs GM to have all that stuff taking up floor and shelf space. They have stuff hanging on the peg board that looks years old because the blister packs are so dusty. The last time I was there they had a Diamond victory bow on the rack, which is not being sold any longer. no, they don;t sell used bows, it was new-old-stock...

It's really pathetic.

Ron

The problem here in El Paso, Texas is that there is no Pro shops here. In the next town over, Las Cruces NM, the is a pro shop, but the guy who runs it is not the best in the world. He sells Mathews, but I did not buy from him. Where I went was a town about 3.5 hours away. They do have a Sportsmans Warehouse there in Las Cruces, and an Academy Sports that just opened here in El Paso. I have not been to Academy (no time), but I have been to Sportsmans. Their archery section is extremely limited. I have run across some of the Archery techs at Sportsmans who have less than a clue, so I can empathize with ya'll.