Fun story about Gander Mountian

[jjlaughner]

After reading several posts about Gander Mountains high prices, poor customer service, and misleading sales; I wanted to make a post but didn't want to hi-jack another thread. So I'll start a new one...

Mind you this was in 2003-04, shortly after the Castleton area Gander Mountain had opened when I was living in Fishers.

I'm on my way home after work one day and decided to checkout the opening sale prices at Gander Mountain. I was looking around and seen, what looked to be a decent small spotting scope, it was a Remington, small viewfinder with a cheapish looking tripod stand sitting inside the display case, it was marked $19.95. I asked to look at it and after a few minutes I said I would take one (I had just built or was building my AR and was shooting .22 rifles and thought it might be fun to try out). The guy puts the spotting scope back in the case and grabs a stacked box from the other side of the counter and rings me up for $199.95 plus tax.

WHAT? I asked 'is this the same scope as the one I looked at?' and he showed me the model number and said the boxed version was the same but the box had a hard shell padded locking case and binoculars. Ok cool, but I want the $19.95 spotting scope out of the case. He walks over looks at the scope and says oh that's mismarked and proceeds to take the sticker off and toss it in the trash as he walked back to void the sale. I told him I would take the floor model spotting scope not in the case for the $19.95 price as marked and he walked away laughing...

So I wait about 10 seconds, he never returned after voiding the sale, I walk over and ask can I talk to a manager? He says he's the manager of that department. I ask to see the store manager and he says that person is not in today I had to deal with him and he was not going to sale me the scope for $19.95 even though it 'WAS' clearly mismarked.
I steam all the way home that the guy A: laughed about the whole thing and refused to give me the marked price and B: said he was manager, would not honor the price and I had to deal with him otherwise go home.
So I went home... Sat down at the computer, found the Gander Mountain website and wrote a huge email into corporate clearing stating how I was treated and how the 'manager' of that department acted when he seen the scope was mismarked and then refused to help me after that. And stated I would NEVER shop that store again and would be informing others of my issue. About a week later I get a phone call from the regional manager asking me to come into the store and talk to him about the situation. Reluctantly I went in, fully expecting to waste my time once again. I get into the store and found the regional manager. We talked for a couple minutes about the store and how they are changing some things in corporate... yadda yadda yadda. I showed him the item, told him how things went down and pointed out the areas 'manager' (which ended up not being the manager at all).
Story ends... with a $20 Gander Mountain gift card from the regional manager in hand with a Remington Spotting scope in box with hard case and binoculars marked $19.95 under my arm in the checkout line. Final price... about a buck after taxes and gift card!

I told the Regional Manager despite his actions I would likely not be back to the store but I appreciated his selling the scope for the marked price.

I have been back to the store a few times to price shop and waste time while the other half was in JoAnn's next door, but never really spent more than a few bucks in there after that.

I think I've used that spotting scope maybe twice since and the binoculars once... typical impulse buy on a 'deal' I guess

EDIT NOTE: in my email to Gander Mountain, I did not ask for the scope to be sold to me for the mismarked price. I was only alerting them to my treatment by an employee.

 

[Panama]

That is one of their favorite tricks.

I went in there one day and they had this super tricked out Remington 700 in .308 with Knoxx VS recoil reducing camo stock, Bushnell Elite 4200 6-24 x 40mm scope, bi-pod and a few other little things, it had a hanging tag that just said $799.00

Now SERIOUSLY, I knew there was now way, but I ask the guy behind the counter if the price on the tag was right, and he laughed and said, " sure for the rifle only with standard stock" I told him he was a dick for displaying it with the wrong price like that, and he just walked away and so did I.

Now in hindsight, it looks like I should'a wrote corporate a big ol' nasty hairy email.....................DAMMIT!!

 

[U.S. Patriot]

I bought a Remington 597 three years ago for like $129 from there. Bought a B.S.A. red dot scope there for $49.99. Same scope was $99.99 on B.S.A.'s website. Bought a bi-pod for $49.99, same price I saw at other local stores. Have bought some .22 ammo, and a magazine for my Savage .22. They have a good deal on a Savage .22MWR rifle I want, but no funds. They do have good prices, on some things. Just have to look.

 

[snapping turtle]

I still kick myself for not buying a carbon fiber barreled buckmark rifle for 539 there, I have never seen another for sale anywhere, It was very light weight (under 4 pounds) and would have been a perfect walking around rifle. It was a special run only available to browning gold dealers and it was about when the gander in Hassleton opened.

I came back with 539 plus tax 2 weeks later and the only 2 they had were gone. For once I should have put it on the plastic and felt the wrath of the wife when i got home.

 

[Boilers]

I thought Gander's current sales paper with $299 LCP, and $329 Taurus .380, is decent price-wise.

 

[trnsplntfrmohio]

ZX Guns in Goshen has the absolute cheapest price on LCP's in the country. 279.99

 

[Benny]

Cool story jj, thanks for sharing.

This has NOT been my experience at that POS store...I'm very surprised the regional manage honored that price based on just your word alone, but that's pretty cool regardless.



On a side note, I wish I could find a spotting scope for a $1.00.

 

[jjlaughner]

Like I said this was several years ago, I hope since then their customer service has gotten better. I generally avoid talking to anyone unless I'm checking out or getting a price check. Some of their used handgun prices are not bad (I stopped in about a month ago as a last ditch effort for 45 ammo). When I was looking at their HK and Kimbers a year or so ago they where in the case for MSRP, not even retail prices. Some of their Sale prices sometimes require a Mail-In rebate of some form.

Last time I was in there I was in a pinch for 45ammo as the 3 Walmarts I hit were out. Speer Lawman 230gr round nose ammo was $25/50rd box (WWB at walmart being $33/100 if you can find it). Their .223 ammo seemed extremely high but I don't recall the exact price (it was close to $5-600/1000 I think, if you bought it in the individual 20rd boxes or 100rd bulk packs).

As with most places somethings are high, some are normal, and in a few instances there are deals. I have in past seen some .22lr rifles for good prices, but could never bring myself to buy one.

 

[jjlaughner]

Cool story jj, thanks for sharing.

This has NOT been my experience at that POS store...I'm very surprised the regional manage honored that price based on just your word alone, but that's pretty cool regardless.



On a side note, I wish I could find a spotting scope for a $1.00.

It's not a high end spotting scope, not real high powered but it works.

I'll sell ya one basically new box for $100
Comes with the hard case and binoculars too!

EDIT: I guess its a Winchester, similar to this

Looks like its about $109-149 online now at different places...

Ok $75 bucks... haha

 

[IndyMonkey]

ZX Guns in Goshen has the absolute cheapest price on LCP's in the country. 279.99

Midwest has them for Standard model $259. HC was $299.

 

[IndyMonkey]

It's not a high end spotting scope, not real high powered but it works.

I'll sell ya one basically new box for $100
Comes with the hard case and binoculars too!

EDIT: I guess its a Winchester, similar to this


Looks like its about $109-149 online now at different places...

Ok $75 bucks... haha

Will you trade it for a 20.00 GM gift card?

 

[rhart]

When you have tens of thousands of items, your gonna end up with price mistakes. You act like the evil villain employees are in the back purposely mismarking items by 100 dollars. It just doesn't happen. You can just as easily find a under priced item as a over priced item. Its a urban legand that stores have to honor mismarked prices. They do it to go above and beyond to keep the customer happy.
If you cry and moan to the right person at Corporate, your gonna get your way. They just want the problem to disappear. The bottom line is they raise the prices for the rest of the customers next year to make thier margins. The way I see it, its no different then getting too much change at McDonalds. Its dishonest to keep it. My opinion.
We once had a duma$$ buy a 99.00 single shot full choke 12 gauge shotgun. He proceeded to take it home and shoot slugs out of it and split the barrel. He came in and demanded his money back. He said a new gun should be able to shoot anything. I said no way, sorry. We will send it back to the factory and see if they will help you. He cried to corporate and his argument was that we didnt tell him when he bought it that he couldnt shoot slugs in it. He got a new remington 870 pump with a rifled barrel and a scope. No charge,
Dont get my wrong, I'm not in love with Gander, just offering another point of view.

 

[E5RANGER375]

im suprised they had it priced at all. seems like a lot of stuff at gander is never priced and when it is its wrong. sometimes the item rings up less than the tagged price. Some of the employees in the gun department of the southside store are jackballs. they are rude and dont care if you spend a couple thousand dollars, they still treat you like crap. there are a couple good ones though.
i try to avoid it if i can.

 

[jjlaughner]

When you have tens of thousands of items, your gonna end up with price mistakes. You act like the evil villain employees are in the back purposely mismarking items by 100 dollars. It just doesn't happen. You can just as easily find a under priced item as a over priced item. Its a urban legand that stores have to honor mismarked prices. They do it to go above and beyond to keep the customer happy.
If you cry and moan to the right person at Corporate, your gonna get your way. They just want the problem to disappear. The bottom line is they raise the prices for the rest of the customers next year to make thier margins. The way I see it, its no different then getting too much change at McDonalds. Its dishonest to keep it. My opinion.
We once had a duma$$ buy a 99.00 single shot full choke 12 gauge shotgun. He proceeded to take it home and shoot slugs out of it and split the barrel. He came in and demanded his money back. He said a new gun should be able to shoot anything. I said no way, sorry. We will send it back to the factory and see if they will help you. He cried to corporate and his argument was that we didnt tell him when he bought it that he couldnt shoot slugs in it. He got a new remington 870 pump with a rifled barrel and a scope. No charge,
Dont get my wrong, I'm not in love with Gander, just offering another point of view.

If the guy hadn't been a poke-hole then I would have walked away and just been upset for a few minutes. His actions are what I complained about, along with mismarked items. I never asked for the item at the mismarked price in my email to corporate or to the regional manager. If he had offered it for $19.95, I probably would have declined and walked away. It was his idea to offer and give me the gift card to make it basically free. I just accepted his offer.

As far as the fast food places, I've heard people talking at parties about working drive through and pocketing $100 a shift by short changing people $1 on change. I know there have been a couple times I got home and been $1 or $10 short, getting change for a $10 bill when I know I handed them a $20 out of the ATM. It all evens out in the end, for Karma anyhow.

 

[jjlaughner]

im suprised they had it priced at all. seems like a lot of stuff at gander is never priced and when it is its wrong. sometimes the item rings up less than the tagged price. Some of the employees in the gun department of the southside store are jackballs. they are rude and dont care if you spend a couple thousand dollars, they still treat you like crap. there are a couple good ones though.
i try to avoid it if i can.

Yup, most of the time items are not marked, or shelf tags are missing. I seen ammo for $22.99 one time and it rang up for $24.99, I just paid it and informed them the shelf tag was wrong/out of place. The couple times I've been in even if it is marked on the shelf and I'm thinking about it I'll have them price check it before I have them ring it up. The last time I was there I had to have 3 different boxes of 45acp price checked because none of the shelf tags where in the right place and the sku numbers didn't match the boxes.

 

[Tactical Dave]

Or price tags are hidden some do you can't see the entire price..... or it looks like the tag is attached to another gun.

 

[LPMan59]

people who demand an item for the mismarked price are dishonest at best. i know people who come to my place of employment with the sole intention of getting items for free. i am so tired of Big Box Stores handing out gift cards and freebies to people over any little complaint...like lab rats, these people learn to just complain for the heck of it because they know they will get free stuff. mistakes happen. tags get misplaced. that hardly entitles you to anything. remember when BestBuy posted a TV ad for $99 instead of $999? do you really think people should have gotten them for $99? maybe fire the ad editor.

now, i agree that the guy was a complete jerk and in this case you deserved the scope at that price since a manager laughed in your face.

 

[Antelope08]

There is no excuse for the employees behavior, he should have apoligized for the mistake and explained it was mismarked.

A store DOES NOT have to honor a mismarked price tag. If they did thiefs would constantly retag merchandise (It happens). Stores DO NOT have to honor signs/price signs on the wrong rack or the wrong items on a rack. Stores DO NOT have to honor ad misprints. These are "invitations to shop" only. None of this excuses rude behavior of store employees, especially management. I thing Gander Mtn. did right in this case not because the item was marked wrong but because the employee acted inappropriately. The store took responsibility for an employees actions in an attempt to keep a customer and should be commended.

 

[Tactical Dave]

people who demand an item for the mismarked price are dishonest at best. i know people who come to my place of employment with the sole intention of getting items for free. i am so tired of Big Box Stores handing out gift cards and freebies to people over any little complaint...like lab rats, these people learn to just complain for the heck of it because they know they will get free stuff. mistakes happen. tags get misplaced. that hardly entitles you to anything. remember when BestBuy posted a TV ad for $99 instead of $999? do you really think people should have gotten them for $99? maybe fire the ad editor.

now, i agree that the guy was a complete jerk and in this case you deserved the scope at that price since a manager laughed in your face.

With all the times you hear about stores having all these miss marked prices it does get old Im sure...... but I do see your point and agree with you when it comes to people just looking for freebies...... when I was in retail if the price of a product was marked UP we had to remove the old sticker witht he lower price because people would peel off the new sticker and say they want the price that was now shown.

 

[Armed Citizen]

Gander Mountain Story

I have to share this story. On Thanksgiving Day 2009 Gander Mountain had a sell that was only good on that day. They were selling a Smith & Wesson 9mm or a Smith & Wesson 40 cal. The flyer I got in the paper stated "Your choose of either gun for only $359.00. The family was over for dinner so my brother-in-law and I decided to go look at them (This was against our wives better judgement, but women don't understand a good deal on a gun) But hey it was a one time deal. So we went. The sales ad stated. $359.00 what you get - A $50.00 mail in rebate from S&W, a oil coated storage sock, a lifetime membership to Gander Mountain's gun club, a coupon for a free complete cleaning by a licensed gunsmith, a free trigger lock, and a free magazine. So, I was under the impression that if the gun was $359.00 and I was getting a $50.00 rebate from S&W, I was only spending $309.00. WRONG!!!!! When we arrived there was a line all the way back to the entry door. So we waited for over an hour before it was our turn. There was an older man and woman in front of us in line. When it was their turn they asked the "kid" behind the counter to see both the 40 cal and 9mm. The older man than asked what the is difference between a 40 cal and a 9mm? The "boy" behind the counter said and I quote "40-9=31. So you get 31 more of something when you buy the 40 cal" He then went on to state "I have no idea, I work in clothing and I'm filling in because we are so busy". I interupted the conversation and told the man what the difference between the two guns were. The "boy" was relieved that I helped him out. But on with my story. I selected the S&W 9mm. When the "boy" rang up my purchase the gun rang up at $409.00. I told him that the ad was for $359.00. He was perplexed and called for a "little bit older boy" over for help. The older one told me that it was $359.00 after I got the $50.00 rebate from S&W. I told him that this was misleading from what the sales ad states. He said and I once again quote "this is what everbody has said today" After an hour in line, my brother-in-law and I both decided to go ahead and purchase the guns. All this being said, it's just another reason why I NOW do ALL my business with Beech Grove Firearms. NEVER again will I EVER buy anything from Gander Mountain.
If you want a good deal, honest and reliable information you must make your next purchase at Beech Grove Firearms.